Open Practice Makes Perfect

[Amanita Castillo]

"We should play Sorting," Amanita announced, kicking her legs against the climbing frame she was perched on and listening to the ping of her heels hitting the metal. They played Sorting plenty at home, Mum made an excellent Headmaster but Dad kept thinking it was funny to sort Ama into different houses each time which was not the point of the game. If he wasn't going to take his job as the Sorting Hat seriously, then she was going to need to find someone else who did. Impartially.

"Chel, you can be a student," she said, glancing at her sister. She'd got into trouble enough trying to exclude Morchella from the game, even if it didn't make any sense for her to be sorted when she was obviously too young, but fine. Amanita didn't want to get home and get in trouble, especially not when Dad had so much extra time on his hands to be annoying about it after he'd taken the semester off. "Hine, do you wanna be the hat or the headmaster?" They'd definitely need extra people at this rate, regardless of what Hinemoa picked, so Ama was already scanning the playground for any hopefuls to rope into the game as well.

 

[Morchella Castillo]

Morchella had been enjoying letting herself dangle from the climbing frame, but pulled herself up to sit on it as Amanita announced what they would be playing. She puffed out her cheeks as she said they were going to play Sorting. AGAIN. It was all she wanted to play these days, and it was getting really old.

But she perked up when her sister said she could be a student this time. "Yay!" She said, happy that the last time she had cried to her parents about not being allowed to play properly had worked. Amanita had made her be the stool and had tried to sit on her. It had not been very nice. Deciding to push her luck, Morchella pulled herself up a bit so she was closer to her sister. "Can I go first?" She asked, though she knew she was pushing it.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Ama kept a close eye on where Morchella was swinging. It'd ruin the game if she fell off and while Amanita had plenty of practice also playing Hospital Wing with Mum, she wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of the afternoon trying to stop Chel from crying if she fell.

"No you can't go first," Amanita snapped, rolling her eyes. This was why she didn't like letting Morchella play, she never got the rules. Merlin little sisters were stupid. "Sorting is alphabetical," she said, enunciating the syllables as clearly as possible. "A comes before M so, obviously, I go first," she said, kicking her heels again smugly.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric had found himself once more at the park, abandoned by his mother as she went to do some shopping. But the last time hadn't been so bad so he was feeling slightly braver this time around. Today he eyed the playground and cautiously approached. He jumped as some other kids screamed as they ran past him. He felt a wave of relief when he saw the swings were free and took a seat gratefully. He relaxed slightly as he gripped the chains in each hand. Carefully he pushed himself back and forth for a few moments as he tried to relax. He felt woefully exposed around so many other kids. He had been told it was an important step to making friends but he wasn't convinced if it was really worth it. He kept his head down staring at his shoes hoping someone else would approach him first, or no one at all. Either way he could say he tried.

 

[Hinemoa Josephs]

School was creeping closer and closer, but Hinemoa still felt like it was forever away. Sure, she had spent plenty of her early childhood toddling around the halls of Hogwarts, but since starting kura she hadn't been back in years. She missed it, the smell of old stone, the noise of chattering students, the quiet calm of Mum's office. She would be back soon, very soon, and she was counting the days until she could return to the peace of the Ravenclaw common room.

It was nice not being alone in the feeling at least, Amanita was going through the exact same thing at the exact same time. Their time was creeping closer and closer, and the two of them would finally be making that train journey together. For now, it was nice to play like this. Though she couldn't help frowning at Amanita's designations. "Why can't I get sorted too? I don't wanna be the hat."

 

[Morchella Castillo]

Morchella made a point of sticking out her tongue when Amanita didn't look. Why did she have to be so by the rules all the time? "Well, we're pretending anyway." She told her as she kicked her legs. "You're not really being sorted yet, and Hinemoa looks nothing like a hat. If we're pretending about that, why can't we pretend M comes before A?" She pointed out. She gave Hinemoa a sympathetic look. "She made me be the stool last time, the hat is way more fun." She said encouragingly.

 

[Amanita Castillo]

Amanita bit back a huff at both Chel and Hinemoa. "Fine. Hine, you can be a student too. But we're still going in alphabetical order. Just because we're playing pretend doesn't meant things can be unrealistic," she said magnanimously, scanning the playground and letting out a little 'aha' as she spotted a kid on the swings.

"Hey, you." Amanita hopped down from climbing frame, ponytail swinging as she strode over to the boy. "Come play with us. We need someone to be the sorting hat and sort us." It was the perfect solution, really, the boy would have no chance to be bias like any of them would and Ama's tone left no room for arguments.

 

[Ulric Vale]

Ulric had heard the girls near by speaking but hadn't given them much of a thought. They already seemed to be friends and he didn't think they'd bother with him. That was until one of them came right up to him. "Me?" he couldn't help but ask even though there was no way she could be speaking to anyone else. Quickly his eyes darted between the girl in front of him and the others near by. They seemed nice enough, even the girl in front of him even with her bossy command. "But I don't know how to be a sorting hat." he protested lightly but still found himself standing up from the swing.

 

[Hinemoa Josephs]

Hinemoa wrinkled her nose, eyeing Amanita. "Come on, you can't make her be a stool!" She insisted, though defending Morchella felt a bit less important when she'd been restored to student status. Still, she felt a slight loyalty to anyone else who was the youngest in their family. It was a relief when Amanita found a boy to fill in, and she nodded in encouragement. "Yeah, you can be the hat." She shook her head. "It's easy, you just tell us what house we're in, like they do at Hogwarts."

 

[Morchella Castillo]

Morchella waved cheerfully at the new boy as he approached. "Hi! I'm Morchella!" She said brightly. She felt a little bit bad for him as he now had to be the hat, but maybe he could be a student next time. She beamed at Hinemoa as she defended her. Sometimes she wished she was her sister instead, she was less bossy than Amanita. But then she felt bad for thinking it. Morchella had a sudden thought and giggled. "You should put Ama in Hufflepuff." She singsonged teasingly.

 

[Pomegranate Bell]

Pomegranate often came to visit the park when someone in the house went shopping, but usually preferred odd hours when other kids weren't going to be there. She only wanted to use the swings, but someone else was already there. Watching from a nearby bench, Pomegranate saw the boy appear to be joining the group of girls playing some game, and locked in her focus to be ready to swoop in as soon as he left. She wrinkled her nose as she overheard one of the girls making a comment about Hufflepuff. Was there something wrong with that house? Her mum and her grandma had been there. Pomegranate decided it didn't matter, as she didn't want to be involved and had important playground activities to worry about.