To The Family

[Kerryn Howard]

"Bear with me, bear with me for another year of ridiculous semesters" Kerryn glanced to her sister with her fingers running through her wooden light brown wand that had been specially carved by an artist. Her eyes scanned through the mark of the 'G' symbol, confirming that the magical tool belonged to one of the descendants of the vikings, potioneers, herbologist, merchants, voyagers; Gudvalsson. She looked at her wand with pride flaring in her heart, proud of her ancestors, of her past, of her future, and of herself. Kerryn had been self assured and knew for sure that her future was nothing but sparkling lights of opportunities. The heels of a pair of black humble shoes echoed across the room as Kerryn made her way toward her sister, took arms, and locked her eyes on hers. "I vow to you, Nicolette Howard, I vow to you that I will never betray you and that I'll always have your back. I swear to you in the name of Merlin" the twins were going to graduate soon and she was prone to be separated from her twin sister, the chance of rivalries between them was big but Kerryn had grown to love Nicolette more than she loved her self, hence she didn't want to do anything that could hurt her very own sister.

There were at least eight owls that had been sent to the rest of the Howards, and one to Calvin Taylor the Gryffindor, who had been considered as one of them. Three of them were sorted into Ravenclaw, and the most vicious got herself into Hufflepuff which was very ironic. Regardless their houses, they were still a family and family ought to be there for each other. This short and hopefully peaceful meeting would be about confirming on which page they were standing on, something like an agreement between them; who to be avoided, which professor to be respected, who were considered as allies, who were their preys, etc.​

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[Satchel Howard]

Satchel had been summoned. That was the way it worked as a Howard. When you were summoned to a family conference, you came. Sometimes he felt like they were a business, rather than a family. They all worked together, and seemed to care much more about how much profit was being taken in, how much power was being won, than about the actual family members they were meeting with. Satchel cared though. He sometimes thought he cared too much, because while he would work to keep his family safe, he sometimes felt they would just as soon throw him to the wolves should it prove most beneficial to them. Sybil, he knew, was protective of him, but he felt she saw him as something he was not; some sort of evil mastermind. As he approached the student lounge, he saw some other students headed his way, and quietly informed them it may be best if they avoided this area for the time being; there would quite probably be a lot of noise in this corner of the castle. He stepped into the room, and saw he was one of the first. "Cousin Kerryn, I trust you are well," his voice was quiet, and calm; unusual for a Howard. "I guess this is a strategy meeting, but we probably shouldn't start until some of the others arrive. I know Sybil wouldn't be pleased, and she isn't best pleased about her house, or anything at the moment, so annoying her would be bad." He was oddly fond of his violent, raucous cousin. "As for a small bit of strategy; I do like Professor Pendleton. He's very good at his subject, we should be kind to him." He was fond of his quirky professor, and he hoped his cousins would respect him.

 

[Augustus Jin Howard]

Augustus Howard had received a note about another meeting between his family members and a few minutes later he was entering the student lounge. He found Kerryn and Satchel pretty easily and didn't bother giving anyone else a second look, considering the only reason he had come here was for the family meeting. He sat down at the table and nodded towards them; they'd have to wait for the rest of the Howards, but he didn't care, all he wanted to know was what the meeting was for. "Hello," he said finally before listening to whatever his younger cousin was saying. Gus shook his head at his words, not quite believing what he was saying. When he was done, Augustus spoke up. "I don't think that should matter, if Pendleton were pure he would be worthy enough to be kind towards. However, I don't see him as an equal to us so we shouldn't treat him any differently." The second year could not understand what Satchel was going on about. He hadn't been at the school long enough, in Augustus's opinion, to know who should be respected and who shouldn't around here. His reasons were quite unnecessary as he should know the Howards wouldn't treat anyone seen as inferior to them any different than they were already.

 

[Calvin Taylor]

Calvin had never been to a family meeting before. Granted, the people to whom he was blood related didn't count as proper family after they'd thrown him out of the house without a second glance. Apparently, he was more trouble than he was worth. Calvin made sure to arrive on time and immediately took a seat next to Sybil's sister and was just in time to hear a conversation between Satchel and Augustus. He rolled his eyes at his dormmate's words. Calvin wanted to respect everyone in the Howard family, especially as they were the ones who had taken him in as one of their own but those were some wasted words. Who was going to respect such a man who didn't exactly fit into the pure status? To Calvin it would be a waste of energy and respect. He only respected those he actually cared about, and the number was small. He didn't say anything, except for after both Satchel and Gus were done talking. "With all the respect, Satchel, you honestly do not even need to waste your time worrying about respecting people you shouldn't be. Take it from someone whose family disowned their own son." ​

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[Satchel Howard]

Satchel couldn't understand why the others couldn't just forget about blood status for a moment. He loved his family, and he wished they could be better, but he didn't want to cause an argument. "Is Pendleton not a pureblood? I hadn't thought to ask," because it didn't really matter. Satchel had never really believed the whole pureblood superiority thing. The Howards were all purebloods, and half of them were certifiably insane. His father seemed the most normal, and yet the man had married Kay, who was crazy, so what did that say about him? None of his family seemed to really love each other, they understood loyalty, but not love. When Calvin spoke, he didn't really know how to respond. This boy was new, and as far as he understood it, they had sort-of adopted him, but he wasn't entirely sure what was going on, he'd have to ask Sybil. "But surely, it takes more of an effort to be disrespectful? Should we waste time aggravating professors, who may not be pureblood, but have more power than us in here, when we could be picking targets more carefully? We shouldn't get on anyone's bad side when we can help it. Being too visible takes away our power, because staff will watch us," Once again, Satchel found himself voicing a plot he didn't want to undertake. He didn't want to pick targets, or gain power, he just didn't want any trouble for his family. Perhaps if he could convince them to at least not aggravate and antagonise every person they met, he might make some progress in getting them to see the error in their ways.