Open The New Guy

[Shane Ackley]

Shane was very pleased to have been accepted to Hogwarts. He had been near convinced that he wouldn't get in, but he had managed to get in, and after settling in the night before the new Hufflepuff was very keen to get exploring. The boy had put on his normal clothes, thinking that most others wouldn't be wearing the uniform yet, so he didn't have to either. He'd of course tried it on when he'd been sorted but the boy wasn't sure it suited him all that much. Shane walked into what he'd come to learn was called the Great Hall, and despite having only just arrived felt like he'd arrived home. It was annoying to him that he had supposed to have started there when he was 11 but had only been able to come now, when he was older. The years that were cheated from him in this place. he had to start from scratch with people who had likely made their own friends and he was just the extra part. But, it wasn't like Shane had made friends all that often before this either, so why really bother now, certainly the kids in his last school hadn't been the kind that he could've been real friends with, even if he had wanted.​

Shane walked further into the room, he was able to spot which was his table with the others wearing the uniform and colours that he knew were his in hufflepuff, he couldn't help but look at all of the people that were supposedly in his house now. Looking between them with a tentative and harsh look, he wanted to be friends with some of them but he didn't know which ones would be best to be friends with, and he couldn't trust any of them yet. Eventually Shane took a seat, having gone up and done the tables, picking the end with fewer people around it. He could tell the odd person was probably throwing a glance his way, he was new after all, but he just pulled a glass towards him and poured pumpkin in to it. He was making a whole point of not really looking towards anyone. He would need to talk to people and be friendly, talk to a whole load of them, but he didn't know who yet, and he felt a little overwhelmed with it all. It would've just been easier if he had just gone to this school in the first place, instead of joining it three years in and being the new guy.​

 

[April Ward]

Fifth year had begun, and April was excited. For the first time, her dad would be her teacher! It had been the only reason she hadn't dropped History of Magic yet, and now she definitely looked forward to those lessons. She was happy about her fifth year in general, really not that worried about the OWLs. The girl was also pleased not to be a prefect, even though two of her closest friends were. It just sounded like a bore to her, if she was honest.

April wasn't the most attentive person, and certainly didn't know everyone in the school. But the boy she saw sitting down on the opposite side of the table was definitely someone she hadn't seen before. She tapped her fork against her chin as she looked at him, squinting a little. Then she reached over and tapped her fork against his glass of juice to catch his attention. "Hey, are you new?"

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane’s attention wane from where he was looking but he kept his gaze ahead regardless. There was a lot on his mind of course, with this new school, he was going to need to do a lot to get himself to the level of the other students, since he had no idea where they were in the course comparatively with where he was in the course. It would need to be a lot of paying attention, but maybe he didn’t have to do too much his grades here would matter a little less than they had at his last school which had cost a whole boat load of money. A boat load of money that hadn’t been his parents. Here he had told himself that he could relax just that little bit when it came to his education. Sure, keep his grades alright but he didn’t need to go out of his way to do well really. The teen felt himself smile a bit at the thought of having a little less pressure upon his shoulders, but it was broken when someone tapped his glass of juice with a fork to get his attention. ​

​

Shane glanced at the person who was clearly trying to get his attention, and he plastered a far more fake smile on to his face. The teen nodded, ”Yeah I am,” he flashed a more charming smile that he could put on and then held out his hand to the girl, who was clearly a bit older than he was, ”I’m Shane, I just transferred in,” he introduced himself to her, and had as friendly an expression as he could muster, it would be important to make friendly around those that were in his house and given that they were sat at the same table it was likely she was in his house.​

 

[April Ward]

April was a natural curious person, but she also had a pretty short attention span. She hoped this guy would be interesting to talk to, and also hoped he was indeed new. Her question would be kind of strange if he wasn't, but at the same time it wouldn't be her fault. If he had been a bit more notable she wouldn't have mistaken him for a new student. But she soon learned she wasn't mistaken, and grinned at the boy as he introduced himself. She gestured with her fork as she spoke. "Cool! Hi Shane. I'm April, and you're lucky I'm talking to you because I'm a pretty big deal." She grinned, then laughed at herself. "Okay, not really. But I am the Hufflepuff seeker, that's something right? Do you like Quidditch?" She was curious about this boy, as he seemed nice enough. She leaned forward slightly, planting one of her elbows into her food before correcting herself. "Where are you from?"

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane looked at the girl skeptically as she introduced herself to him as well as informing him of how much of a big deal she was. Shane didn’t quite believe it, but the girl did go on to specify that she was part of the quidditch team, and almost out of spite of her thinking that the team made her something important to talk to he thought maybe he should sign up and try for it. The teen didn’t particularly think that being on quidditch made a person better but he wouldn’t question it either, ”It’s fine,” he said in a light tone, but a light and dismissive tone. He didn’t care much about it and though he was keen to be friends, he wasn’t sure he’d like someone like her. Too excitable for him, maybe too self absorbed and if she was just messing about with him, he wouldn’t like that either. The teen noticed that the girl had put her elbow in her food and then removed it. ”New Zealand, you?” the boy replied, with a little friendly smile, but it was definitely more strained and forced, maybe more visibly so. But he didn’t care, he didn’t have a great first impression of this girl. Sure she was probably really nice, but he didn’t like most of this conversation so he wasn’t enjoying it or her.​

 

[April Ward]

April looked at the boy, not sure what to make of him. He said Quididtch was fine, but he didn't seem very enthusiastic and didn't elaborate. "Well, do you play?" She asked, prompting him with another question. She didn't get why he was being weird. If she was new at a school, she would like people to talk to her and try to be her friend. She frowned when he said he was from New Zealand. "Then why didn't you go to Hogwarts before?" She asked bluntly, not really realizing this question may hit on something personal, or that maybe he just didn't want to share his past. "I'm from New Zealand too!" She added with a smile. "Do you like Hogwarts so far? Do you like Hufflepuff so far? You should. It's the best."

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane shook his head, he had never played, he had no interest in playing before he got to this school and he'd try-out in this school just to go against what she had said about being a quidditch player, it certainly didn't make her a better person than anyone else and it was a rather sad state of affairs if she did actually think that. Maybe this school wasn't all to different from the last. "I haven't before, but I might," his tone was an attempt to be friendly, but it wasn't quite hitting it right. He didn't like this girl, or well, that wasn't fair, her first impression hadn't been good and he doubted he would ever seek her out again. Of course however, the question of why he hadn't gone to this school before came up. He looked at her and wondered what he should say, he didn't particularly want to start out on a negative note, but it would probably succeed in making her feel a little bad. "My........aunt and uncle wanted me to stay a little closer to home," he ended up saying, he had wanted to say it so bad out of spite and annoyance, but he definitely didn't want his first day to be focused on that aspect of his life, "I like the school, I'm not sure about the house, not sure I'll like the people in it," he would've cared about house loyalties years before if he'd been sorted as a first year, but now older he didn't care and he certainly wasn't being given the best impression of the house from this girl.​

 

[April Ward]

April looked at the guy critically for a moment. "You're what, a fourth year? If you wanna play you should practice a lot, and quickly, because there's probably people younger than you with more experience already." She said. April meant it as genuine and friendly advice, but her tone was definitely a little critical. His answer to her question made her frown a little. "Why?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. The idea that this might be personal information hardly bothered her, if she was prying too much he would say something, right? She frowned even deeper when he said he wasn't sure if he would like the people in Hufflepuff. "What? Why not? Hufflepuff is the best house and has the nicest people. What makes you think you won't like them?" She challenged, not liking this boy's attitude at all.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane was pretty surprised by her response, she assumed because he didn't play he wasn't good. He wasn't good, he had never played before, he could fly, but he wasn't a player. he could learn and to spite her he might just. However, she kept going, her tone grating him and her question frustrating him. He was losing all patience he might've had with her. He wanted to be nice, he was trying his best to have a good first day, where he didn't get into any fights or arguments, where he could just settle in, but it appeared like he couldn't. He wasn't going to answer her question not wanting to give up any extra information about himself, but it was as she continue, asking why he might not like the house, that he could feel himself deciding to just say what was on his mind. "My parents died in a fire when I was ten and my aunt and uncle took me in wanted to keep me close instead of sending me away," the boy replied, keeping his gaze on her, "And I don't think I'll like the people because you're in it and I don't like you," it was maybe a little harsh, but he was not enjoying this conversation with this girl, she was loud and obnoxious towards him. ​

 

[April Ward]

April always had a curious nature, and she didn't understand why this boy was being so evasive and grumpy about everything. She was annoyed by his comments about Hufflepuff too, and starting to think she didn't like this boy at all. When he told her bluntly that his parents had died, she was shocked. She stared at him for a moment, registering that he added an insult towards her at the end. She flushed, glad that that wouldn't be too obvious, then scrambled for some sort of answer. "I'm sorry." She said firmly, but still frowned at him. "But if you didn't want to say anything, you could have said so. I never made you tell me. I only asked." She said, crossing her arms. "And if you don't like me after one conversation, you're someone who judges others really quickly, which isn't fair. I don't know why the hat put you in Hufflepuff." She muttered. "It's supposed to be the friendliest house, for your information, so you should be happy you're in it." She was a little insulted that he said he didn't like her, but mostly brought off balance by the boy's background. She averted her gaze, uncomfortable. "I won't bother you more." She mumbled, annoyed and a little upset by the conversation. She turned away from him and looked ahead sullenly as she ate some of her food, though she had lost her appetite a little.

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane was definitely glad that what he said got the exact reaction from her that he was looking for, he wasn't even annoyed or frustrated with her now, well, he was still a bit, but the so called out burst from him and her now being surprised and scrambling to reply was satisfactory enough. He thought her apology was fairly dumb but he smiled at her when she said it, "Thanks," he said in a fairly short tone, clearly he didn't mean it all that much. He chuckled a little at what she said, "You didn't need to push it," the boy replied with a shrug, sure, he could've just said that he didn't want to talk about it, but he got the impression this overly perky girl would not have taken too kindly to it. He wasn't too surprised when she continued on and he rolled his eyes visibly at her, "You haven't been particularly kind to me," he retorted since he didn't particularly believe that she had been, and he was almost hoping to rile her up a little more. He didn't care so he was happy to annoy her further, happier to turn the tables so that instead of him being annoyed at her, she could be annoyed at him, "Thanks April!" he finally said as she said she wouldn't bother him any more. He definitely didn't feel bad about it, not in the slightest. He had hoped to make friends at school, at this new school, where he had always wanted to go, but he was maybe too jaded to ever be able to. She had been annoying and preppy and in his face too early on his first day, but maybe he could've been kinder or at least tried to pretend. He shook his head, he didn't need to think about it any more. Shane's expression shifted and went a little empty as he just went back to being functionally alone in his thoughts and eating some food. ​

 

[April Ward]

Agitated and annoyed, April frowned at the boy even as he smiled at her and thanked her. When he said she didn't need to push it, she huffed. "I didn't push it. I just asked." She insisted, her frown deepening. She was even more offended when the boy told her straight to her face that she hadn't been kind. Thinking back on the conversation, she couldn't think of any mean thing she had said or done. "That's not true!" She said, getting angry. "You're the one who hasn't been kind. I think the hat made a mistake. " She told him. The way he thanked her at the end made her even more angry, and she decided to get out of this situation. With her chin raised, she got to her feet and walked away to another part of the table, sitting down there. She was over this boy, and definitely wasn't likely to talk to him again. What an annoying boy!