Open Tours for First Years!

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

The sign Kauri had made in his own third year was well and truly battered by now, worn from years of use as he had helped first years find their bearings at Hogwarts. He still remembered his own first year, feeling lost and small in the towering halls of Hogwarts. It had taken him a long time to figure out where his classrooms were, and how to get from place to place, and even all these years later, Kauri was still eager to do his best to make sure nobody else wound up feeling as lost as he had.

So Kauri stood in the Entrance Hall, hoping to catch the attention of as many students as he could, holding his sign high as he repeated the words it bore. "CASTLE TOURS FOR FIRST YEARS!" Kauri called out, waving his sign high as he yelled across the hall. "Don't get lost on the way to class! Take a tour of the castle to learn your way around!" In Kauri's first couple of years running these tours he had worried that people would think he was trying to prank them, but the prefect badge pinned to his chest relieved some of those worries, as he hoped people would have proof enough now that he was trustworthy in his efforts to help.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric hadn't had a great start at Hogwarts. The first night in the dormitory he had managed to make all his roommates dislike him. While it wasn't like he thought they would be great people to hang out with, he did already feel a little like maybe his mother had been right. Maybe he should have tried a little harder to make friends. But at least he had Nova, and at least she was cool. He was walking with his head down and his hands in his pockets when he heard someone call out about castle tours. Eric halted in his step. He didn't like seeming helpless, but he honestly was a bit overwhelmed by the huge castle. The boy recognized the guy with the sign as one of the Gryffindor prefects, and looked at him with narrowed eyes for a moment. "Does this cost anything?" He asked, his voice uncaring as if he wasn't all that interested in the tour.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noël could really use a map around here. The outside of the castle he seemed to be getting a hang of, but all those stairs and they were moving also that made it more difficult. But than Noël saw something that he thought was the most brilliant thing ever. A tour for first years, and that was just what he needed. And a nice way of knowing people he figured. He than walked towards the boy and noticed a boy who seemed to be having the same idea. When he saw who it was he sighted. Eric wasn't really his favorite person around here. He had made a bad impression at their first night at the castle. And it was his roommate also. Noël noticed the boy with the sign as one of the prefects who had been bringing them to the tower and smiled. '' Hey. This is the best idea ever. Can I tag along?'' He heard Eric asking before him if it costed something and if it did the boy had to be rich of it he figured. He waited for an answer for that and than looked at Eric. He could say something but he didn't really felt the need too.

 

[Jatin Tiwari]

Jatin had been running around the castle all day. He did not have enough time to explore though. The older students were too busy staring at him to answer any of the questions that he had, like why was he not put into Slytherin with Kishen. However, the boy knew that those questions were better for the Sorting Hat. He walked into the entrance hall calmly and he saw someone with a huge sign! This excited the boy and he ran over, attacking the boy holding the sign with a hug. Jatin was a hugger, but he should have asked before randomly hugging people. "CAN I JOIN TOO?!" he asked excitedly, looking up at the Prefect, not that he knew what a prefect was.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha was walking around the castle bored out of her mind and nothing to do. When she got to the entrance hall, she noticed an older boy yelling something about first years. This gave her a slight interest in what was going on. She slowly walked up and noticed that the boy was going to give first years a tour around the castle. This is what she needed to do because she knew she was going to be lost when finding her classes. She stood closer to the group and also noticed that mostly the whole group was Gryffindor first years and hoped she wasn't intruding at all.

 

[Amy Jewel]

First year tour? That sounded like something Amy needed. She could never find her way anywhere, so this sounded like it could help. It was mostly Gryffindor first years, but she recognised someone from her dormitory. She came closer to the group, and stood with them, looking a little anxious.

 

[Mark Ross]

Mark knew that Hogwarts was a huge place and it was pretty difficult to find his way around the castle. Lessons didn't start yet, although Mark couldn't imagine how he would find all the classes and be right on time, he would probably have to wake up earlier just to be on time. Mark could always find a way to get somewhere, although Hogwarts was pretty much a different deal than just finding local shops. Mark didn't like feeling helpless.

He was walking around the castle and all of sudden he heard a voice yelling "Castle tours for first year" that immediately caught up his attention. Mark found where that voice was coming from and he noticed that bunch of first years were already there. He noticed some boys from Gryffindor who are also in his dormitory. Mark noticed that the boy with huge sign had a badge that probably meant that he is authorised to do these tours. Mark looked confused and he got closer to the group, standing and waiting for the tour to begin.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

In all the years Kauri had been doing these tours, he didn't think he had ever been swarmed quite so fast. He gave the first boy who approached a friendly smile, shaking his head. "Of course not! I'm just showing you around so you know where all your classes are, and nobody's wandering around school lost in their first week." He said reassuringly, and gave the next boy who approached a friendly smile. "You're welcome to!" He said happily. Looking around, Kauri's thoughts were interrupted by another boy impacting him in a quick hug. Kauri was caught off guard but laughed, letting go of his sign with one hand to give the boy a one armed hug back. "Of course!" Kauri gave each first year a smile as they approached, keeping his sign high with one hand. "Hey guys! We'll leave soon, I just wanna stay here a bit longer to give people some time to join us." He said cheerfully, glad to be able to help so many new students this year.

 

[Xio Havoc]

Xio did not even know it was possible for a place to be this big and overbearing. She hated to admit it, but she did not get used to the halls and changing staircases as quick as she'd like to. Xio regretted not taking up her brother's offer to show her around, but she was so sure she had everything down. And now she couldn't even find the library! Oh well, she supposed it wasn't the worst thing in the world. The castle was truly a work of art, and whenever she was lost she would often spend her time just marvelling at all the small details of the castle. It was beautiful, to put it simply.

After wandering around for a while, she somehow managed to find herself in the Entrance Hall (seriously, how did this place work??). She was startled to see what looked like an overgrown puppy of a Hufflepuff holding a sign for tours, calling for the first years to join. Glancing at the group, she noticed that the majority of the crowd seemed to be a pack of excitable hyena–– Gryffindors... and the rest were Hufflepuffs. Xio took a moment to weigh the pros and cons of joining what seemed to be such an excitable group and maybe finally figuring out what the heck was going on with the castle. Swallowing her pride, she took cautious steps towards the group. "Hello, may I join?" she spoke to the older boy, trying a small smile. Looking around, she saw what seemed to be a quieter Hufflepuff in her year – what was her name, Amy? – and stood closer to her. She gave her a nod. Wow, Xio, brillant introduction.

 

[Chloe Llewelyn-White]

Chloe stopped and looked at the sign. She was still struggling to find her way around the huge castle and a couple of times she had gotten completely lost. A first year round the castle tour? That was exactly what she needed.

 

[Eric Holland]

It was obvious that the guy with the huge sign and who was shouting would draw attention, but Eric was still startled with how many other first years appeared. He wondered for a moment if it was worth it, especially when he noticed Noël. But then the guy said it would cost nothing, and Eric decided he wasn't going to let anyone chase him away. He simply nodded at the older boy, then decided to hang back until they left. He wasn't interested in socializing with the other first years.

 

[Eavan]

Drawn in by the crowd of students her age surrounding a prefect, Eavan decided to join in on the fun. Something about Tours for First years. Boy, did she need that! This castle was the biggest building she'd ever seen! She stood next a girl she believed was named Xio and quietlywaited for the tour to begin.

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah had been spending too much of her time wrapped up in books to explore the grounds. it wasn't that she wasn't curious about the castle and all it had to offer, but she had no idea where to begin! Classes hadn't even started yet, and she was already overwhelmed. Adorah had been wanting to write to her family, but she was nervous about their reaction to another owl arriving (as that seemed to be the only way to communicate with the outside world here.) Without her sister's guiding light, she felt terribly lost. She had only a few brief interactions with other students, but no one had seemed to stick around.

She decided to jump out of her bed and take the morning to explore the castle, at least until lunch. As she made her way toward the Entrance Hall so she could walk outside, Adorah a large group of similarly aged students gathered around a Prefect. She squinted and noticed the sign that read "Castle Tours for First Years." Today must be going in my favor. She walked towards the group and stood at the back near a couple other female students.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri was excited to see how many people were joining them for the tour, grinning brightly at all the first years who approached. "You sure can!" He said cheerfully to the girl who asked if she could join, and gave warm smiles to the others who approached more quietly. Finally, once it seemed the group had swelled to a good size, Kauri lowered his sign, smiling warmly at the first years who surrounded him. Had they always been so small? Had he been so small when he started at Hogwarts? Pushing away those thoughts, Kauri spoke brightly as he addressed the assembled group. "Hi! My name is Kauri Tipene for anyone who doesn't know, I'm one of the prefects for Gryffindor house. I'm gonna just show you guys some quick routes around the school, so you can find your way to classes without getting lost. We'll start off heading upstairs along one route, then we'll come back downstairs another way, then check out the dungeons. If you have any questions just ask, let's get going!"

Kauri smiled cheerfully as he led the students along to one of the staircases, pausing at its foot. "You've surely noticed by now that a lot of the staircases at Hogwarts move, but it can take a little while to develop a knack for working out how they're going to move. A helpful tip is looking at the bannisters along the landings, you can see there's a gap for a staircase over there to the left, so this one might travel left when it feels like wandering." He took a few steps onto the staircase, then paused. "A few of the stairs are tricky too, you'll need to learn which ones to avoid." He demonstrated, lowering his foot onto the next step, where it sunk clear through. "Those are harder to tell on sight, so try to test where you're standing before committing to a step." He smiled reassuringly, skipping the trick step as he led the first years higher up to one of the landings.

((Though the tour has started, feel free to join in at any point if you haven't already!))

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah stayed at the back of the group as the tour began to move. She wanted a guide around the confusing castle, but she also wasn't really sure how to talk to other students and learn at the same time. As Kauri began talking, Adorah thought she should take notes, as his tips would probably come in handy. She pulled a small notepad and quill out of her bag. As he mentioned the trick stairs, a question popped into her head. She raised her hand high and used her loudest voice: "How many tricky stairs are there at Hogwarts?"

 

[Jatin Tiwari]

Jatin let go of the older Gryffindor smiling. He was so ready for this tour! Once the tour started, Jatin made sure to stay close to Kauri. He was not really listening to what the prefect had to say, but he was just glad that he was around all these first years. These were the people he was hopefully going to graduate with!

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

As Samantha followed the Prefect and the other first-year students, she looked around the castle with amazement. It was more magical than she thought. She noticed a girl she met on the train was taking notes and asking questions. Samantha thought it was weird, but she said nothing of it. 'It could be useful for her in the near future' Samantha thought.

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy followed along with her new classmate's, watching how the others acted. One of the girls started taking notes, which Amy thought was a good idea. Sadly, she couldn't learn from taking notes, she learnt by actually doing it. Which wasn't the greatest thing in this case. She sighed, and tried to link places up with things the Gryffindor Prefect was saying."Stairs, some wander, some are tricky," she thought, forcing herself to try and retain the knowledge.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric shoved his hands in his pockets and waited for te boy to start. Thankfully, it didn't take very long. The boy introduced himself, and while Eric thought he was a bit too cheerful, he was at least also useful. He followed the group as they started to walk, lingering near the back with an air of disinterest. He did pay attention as the boy demonstrated the trick stair, and was sure to skip it on his way up.

 

[Mark Ross]

Mark waited for the tour to finally start. He didn’t know what to expect from the tour, Mark just hoped that the tour would help him get around the huge castle. The boy, who was about to lead the tour, introduced himself as Kauri, Gryffindor prefect. Mark now knew at least one person he could turn to when he had problems or he didn’t understand something. When he said that he was about to show quick routes around Hogwarts, Mark smiled, because that was exactly the reason why he joined the tour.

The boy started walking to the staircases and Mark was going somewhere near the end, because he didn’t want to be way too close. Mark noticed some familiar faces that he had seen before, but he didn’t talk with anyone, because no one really did. Kauri started explaining the staircases and some of them really moved! Mark moved forward along with everyone, holding his hands in his pockets.

 

[Xio Havoc]

The older boy's cheery attitude was almost irritatingly infectious, and by the time the tour started Xio found herself considerably more excited for it. Not quite excited as that one Gryffindor boy, who she thought looked at the rest of them once or twice like they were already family or something (she made sure to stay a bit further away from him, a little bit frightened by such giddy behaviour) but excited nonetheless. A Hufflepuff girl who she believed was named Evie or Eve or Yvonne or something stood next to her and Xio tried smiling towards her. "Hello," she muttered softly. ​

Once more and more first years joined, some more familiar than others, the tour was off to a start. Xio listened intently as the Kauri boy talked about the staircases, noting it all down as useful information. She noticed one of the Ravenclaw girls taking notes and frantically wondered for a moment if she should be doing the same. He wouldn't give them all like a test or something afterwards, right? Should Xio be making acronyms?​

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri paused when one of the first years asked a question, laughing softly. "Oh, I'm not sure about that. There are a lot of them. Not on every staircase, but enough that it's not uncommon to get stuck in them. If you get stuck don't panic, just try to lift your foot out. If it's too difficult, see if there are any older students who could help you out. Chances are, we've all been there, anyone would be happy to help you out." He smiled reassuringly, continuing up the stairs.

Reaching the next landing, Kauri paused and waited for the group to catch up. He gestured to an empty balcony to one side of the landing. "Well, there clearly isn't a staircase here right now, but this is the way we need to go. We'll just wait a moment, see across the hall there? That one is moving in our direction." He waited for the staircase to come closer, smiling as he set foot on it once it had arrived. "Sometimes it's just a matter of looking around. Mind your step, the second stair is a trick one." He said, skipping the step as he led the first years further up. "This is the first floor, you'll find several important classrooms here." He led them along the brightly lit hallway, pausing when they reached the first clearly marked door. "This is the classroom where you'll learn History of Magic from Professor Sword and Professor Ward. The classroom is pretty easy to find, since this is one of the first subjects you'll be taking. It's an interesting one! I didn't know much about magical history when I came to Hogwarts, but there's lots to learn!" Kauri gave the group an encouraging smile, then continued on down the hallway, towards their next destination.

 

[Amy Jewel]

One of the other students - a Slytherin girl - muttered a hello. Is she talking to me? Amy thought. In case she was, Amy muttered back a "Hi." She hoped that this girl was talking to her, because that would be embarrassing if she wasn't.

The group came to a landing that didn't have a staircase, but the Prefect didn't seem to mind. Apparently, the stairs often moved around. It wasn't long before some moved, and the group continued on their way. They came to the first floor, and the Prefect said that there were some classrooms here. History of Magic? That sounds like something I need, Amy thought. She wondered how little she actually knew about the magical world, and worried that she could be really far behind the other students. She made a mental note to study before classes started. She didn't want to be scrambling to keep up.

 

[Mark Ross]

Mark was listening to the boy very carefully, especially about the moving stairs as he didn't want to get stuck or would get lost in this huge castle. A staircase was moving towards their direction and Mark tried to keep a poker face all the way through. Moving staircases made him a little bit scared. He walked up the staircase, skipping the second step, as Kauri mentioned and lead to show the first classroom - History of Magic. A class that Mark definitely wasn't looking forward to, because he never really liked learning history and knowing that they would have to do that for the next seven years didn't make him anymore excited for this class even if it meant that they would learn about magic and wizarding world history.