Hogwarts 1912 [IC1]

[mrwest13]

You've gotten your money for school supplies from Gringotts, whether on loan from Hogwarts or from your parents' vault. Diagon Alley was reasonably easy to navigate to the bank, but now you're facing a wall of colors and banners.

There are some stops to make, and your first choice as a free-thinking 11-year-old is in what order to make them. Looking down at the scrap of parchment in your hand, you make out the following list:

Ollivanders Wand Shop - Wand
Quality Quiddich Supplies - Broom
Flourish and Blotts - Books
Magical Menagerie - Pet
Amanuensis Quills - Quill, Ink, Parchment
Slug & Jiggers - Potion Supplies
Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions - Robes
Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment - Misc. Supplies

You can probably find anything else you'll need at one of the street peddlers.

[mrwest13]

First half hour

Aldous

You head over to Ollivanders. Lucky for you, you're one of the first to show up, as the beginning rush for first year wands is understandable. The man behind the counter sizes you up, then goes to the back, rooting around in piles of boxes. You have no idea how he finds anything in this mess. Coming back about 40 seconds later, Ollivander opens the box and hands you a somewhat average, but undeniably sleek-looking wand. It feels good in your hand, so you give it a wave.

The wood frame of the building creaks slightly, and one of the piles of boxes closest to you spontaneously organizes itself. Ollivander raises his eyebrows for a moment, waiting to see if anything else happens. After an awkward silence, he goes to start writing a receipt.

Lucious

This is your first visit to a quiddich emporium in a long time, but it always fills you with the same glee as the first time. You peruse the stock, fingers going to your coinpurse from time to time, nearly subconsciously. As you look at the brooms, handcrafted by at least a dozen makers across England and Scotland, you hear some chatter from a couple adults in the store.

"I hear they're thinking about prohibiting brooms for first years in the future. Did you hear the story about that poor Langley fellow last year? Fell off his broom after flying lessons when he was 30 feet off the ground! Those first-years really need the supervision of a teacher when they're airborne."

You've narrowed your broom choice down to 2. One broom has some copper inlay in the form of rings, much similar to barrel hoops. It's made out of cedar, and has a light finish with a few knots and imperfections along the handle. The other broom is much simpler, but has fewer imperfections in the wood. The entire body of this broom is made out of walnut wood, and finished with a dark, high poly coat of stain.

After debating between the two for what might appear to the outside observer like an awkward length of time, you choose one and bring it up to the front to pay.

Hogarth & Aldous bump into one another as Aldous is leaving the Ollivanders. It seems Hogarth is showing up as one of the early rush for wands.

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

Aldous is too busy admiring his new wand to see the large boy walking towards him, and accidentally collides. Unused to his new-found height, Aldous topples over, sprawling out on the floor. My wand! he cries, but is quickly relieved to see that it did not even fall out of the box into which it had been secured, and it is completely undamaged. He pulls himself up, clasping his wand tightly to his chest. He sticks his hand out to the other boy."Sorry about that. My names Aldous, Aldous Hawley. What's yours?

[Adlan]

Hog
The Large Boy has not been spilled in the collision, though Aldous is Taller, Hog has the bulk to absorb the lighter boys impact. His pale cheeks flush with embarrassment as he struggles to help his fellow up. Shaking his hand when the lanky fellow is righted again, he apologises.

"Begin your pardon Sir," he helps dust off the dust of Diagon Alley from the strangers coat, a much more magical coat than his own muggle clothes, his best trousers and new leather waistcoat.

"I am Hog of Smith's Farm"

He looks around, but his Mother is busy inside talking to Mr Olivander (the younger). He's never met anyone his age who he could talk about magic too, and now the moment came to it, he didn't know what to say.

"Do you go to Hogwarts?"

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

Yes, I do. Well, not yet, but I will. This will be my first year. I feel it would be a safe assumption to that you will be attending Hogwarts yourself. I'm hoping for Ravenclaw House; my family has been mostly Ravenclaws since the school was founded. How about you?

[HZ514]

Lucius

Lucius feels like a kid in a candy shop, and he can hardly contain his excitement. Each new broom he sees elicits a carnal desire to soar through the sky on it. He saw the types of broom that his father and mother flew on during their careers, but he was determined to find one of his own; one that spoke to him and felt natural to the touch. Whereas most young wizards couldn't wait to hold and use their wand, Lucius yearned for that connection to his broom.

A mix of condescension and annoyance well up in Lucius when he hears about the possibility of first years being prohibited from flying. Just because some fool can't handle it doesn't mean the rest of us shouldn't be allowed to enjoy the thrill of flight. He doesn't express his thoughts to the adults though; he knows better than to antagonize his elders. He bites his tongue and continues to peruse the broom selection.

After looking high and low throughout the store twice, Lucius is torn between two brooms. The cedar one is slightly more expressive, but also suffers a few imperfections. The walnut one is simpler but smoother. He goes back and forth between them for a long time. Eventually, he holds one up in each hand and closes his eyes. Come on, speak to me. When his eyes open, they are drawn to the walnut one in his right hand. "Alright." He places the other one neatly back where it belongs and eagerly goes to pay for his new broom.

[Adlan]

Hog
Hog considered the question. "My Ma was in Hufflepuff, my Grandamama was a Griffindor and I...' in truth he didn't know where the sorting hat had placed all his relatives. All of them had been girls anyway. He didn't want to discuss why his father hadn't gone to any house. 'I don't know if it really matter, we're all going to learn real spells'.

"Did you just get a wand?" Hog asked, changing the topic.

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

"Oh, yes, I did. 12", cherry wood and dragon heartstring." Aldous says, holding up his new wand. I'm quite excited to learn some spells of my own. Neither of my parents' wands ever took to me, so I never had much chance to practice any wandwork.

[Adlan]

Hog

Hog, who had never even thought of being allowed near his mothers wand, was impressed. I guess I'll be getting one when my Ma is done!"

[mrwest13]

First half hour

Hog

After meeting Aldous, you glance back to see the general swarm of first-years heading for Ollivanders. Just beating them into the wand store, you walk up to the counter. The man behind the counter eyes you warily, then walks over to a neat stack of boxes near the entrance and pulls a wand out of the middle. He walks halfway to where you stand, then stops. Shaking his head, he places that wand in another, much messier pile, and walks to the back of the store.

Glancing to the growing mob of 11-year-olds in the front of the store, Ollivander picks up another, shorter box, and brings it to the front. He hands you the box, and opening it you see an even smaller wand than you were expecting. Slightly curved, the wood is heavily textured but reasonably smooth. The handle has what looks like a knight from a game of chess carved into it. You wave the wand, and everything gets darker for a moment. The windows seem to block the daylight, and the lamps in back flicker.

Nodding with satisfaction, Ollivander quickly writes you a receipt and sends you off with your new wand. Your mother pats you on the back as you walk back out into the sunlight.

[Adlan]

Hog
As he was hurried into the shop, Hog touched his forehead in a respectful farewell, for a farmers boy to a gentlemen and not common amongst wizards, who were disinclined to kneel to anyone.


After Olivanders.

He'd seen the odd chart Mr Ollivander had on the shops receipt. It had looked like one of the exotic diagrams in the farmers almanac, patterns and linked symbols. But whatever arcane notes he took on the sale of his wands, they had worked, because the moment Hog held the wand he knew it was his. The wood was like the gnarled willow from the high moors, and he could hardly believe it was strung with a dragons heart.

But he doesn't have time to ponder overmuch, his mother, nodding cordially to her distant relations hurried him to the next shops, keen not to miss the second hand supplies.

[mrwest13]

Second half hour

Aldous & Hogarth

Flourish and Blott's sells all sorts of books, and it would actually be quite difficult to find the ones you need, were it not for the large display near the front of the store labeled FIRST-YEAR BOOKS. It seems like the rest of the student body is stuck browsing the shelves for their volumes, and you decide to do the same. It seems there are a couple books on advanced topics designed with the first- or second-year in mind, as well as some lightly used copies of those books on the required list.

Lucious

You enter Ollivanders behind a large crowd of other students. The shopkeeper seems to be almost sprinting around between piles of wand boxes, tossing them to students. He gives you one glance as you walk in, then runs to another stack, tossing you a wand from the very top. There is no way this guy knows what he's doing.

You open the wand box to find a light-colored, slightly speckled wand. It looks to be a little under a foot long, and gets slightly thicker to the end of one side. You pull the wand out of the box, and as soon as you have it free, the empty container zips away from you like a bullet. Narrowly missing a student's parents in front of you, the box smacks loudly, but harmlessly, into the back wall of the shop. Ollivander waves his wand, and a receipt comes floating over to you. Could this really be the correct wand?

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

Aldous walks into the bookstore and stops. He stands just beyond the doorway, grinning like a maniac. After standing like this, and attracting a few brief stares, he bolts off to collect his books. His height and long limbs proves to be an advantage, as he reaches over and around the other first-years. Aldous grabs every book on the required list, plus the advanced topics books.

[HZ514]

Lucious

You enter Ollivanders behind a large crowd of other students. The shopkeeper seems to be almost sprinting around between piles of wand boxes, tossing them to students. He gives you one glance as you walk in, then runs to another stack, tossing you a wand from the very top. There is no way this guy knows what he's doing.

You open the wand box to find a light-colored, slightly speckled wand. It looks to be a little under a foot long, and gets slightly thicker to the end of one side. You pull the wand out of the box, and as soon as you have it free, the empty container zips away from you like a bullet. Narrowly missing a student's parents in front of you, the box smacks loudly, but harmlessly, into the back wall of the shop. Ollivander waves his wand, and a receipt comes floating over to you. Could this really be the correct wand?

Lucius

Lucius holds the wand in his hand, and it feels strangely heavy and light at the same time. He finds himself flicking and swishing it around in the air in mock gestures unknown to him. Amid the chattering crowd, Lucius finds a calm silence in the company of his--his wand. He happily signs the receipt.

[Adlan]

Hog
While his mother is collecting the best of the second hand books on the school supply list, Hog's gaze wanders amidst the nearby shelves of books, His eye falls on a battered tome. Vol. 11 of Theophrastus's Historia Plantarum. It has old wood cut diagrams and engravings. Hog likes illustrations, and the the front piece, Plantum Magica is most impressive. A History of Modern Magic: 1600 to the Modern Day by Horace Arthur Cornwallis is the book behind it on the shelf, and it's cover moves, a magical moving illustration of the history of modern magic(1871 Edition). Though ripped and stained, Hog must have this too, and presents his mother with both books, and the small stack of Sickles from his Pocket money sufficient to buy them.

[mrwest13]

Second hour

Hogarth

Your trip to Amanuensis Quills is relatively uneventful, although the student in front of you seems to take forever paying for his supplies.

Quality Quiddich Supplies is pretty packed at this point, and some of the more expensive models of broom have already sold out. You remember the hand-me-down broom you have and smile to yourself. It may not look quite as nice as some of these other brooms, but you are pretty sure it's significantly more durable.

Making your way over to the Beater's section, you see a sizable amount of gear, mostly pads. It seems to be all new, as the equipment doesn't last long enough to be considered used. It goes from broken-in to simply broken, skipping the state at which things like books and quaffles can be sold used.

Lucius

You make it to Madam Malkin's in what seems to be a lull in business, and two animated measuring tapes help to get your garb in record time.

At Flourish and Blotts, you work your way through the shelves, trying to find something that looks more entertaining than those drab first-year books up front. You find copy of Pap, Smakle, Crock! a book of charms that look easy enough to pick up with some practice. Shortly after, you manage to get a copy of Into the Air: Basic, Vol. III that a clerk just reshelved, which contains what look like various flight- and bird-related transfiguration cantrips.

It takes awhile to find the end of the line for the checkout counter, so it looks like the wait is going to take awhile.

Aldous

Your trip to Amanuensis Quills is relatively uneventful, although it takes you quite awhile to dig out the correct change.

Madam Malkin's gets your robes fitted with reasonable speed. As you're about to leave, you notice that one of your robes hasn't had pockets sewn in. The seamstress that fitted you apologizes profusely and gives you a small refund before finishing the robe properly.

[Space Lawyer]

Alodus

Aldous leaves the quill shop feeling quite delighted. His new quill is made from falcon feather, white white artful streaks of black. He had purchased the upgraded model, with the Neverending Ink Charm and the Color-Changing Ink Charm. The Quick-Quotes Quill had been tempting, but it might look bad to sit back in class while his quill took all the notes.

The refund from the robes shop was a nice, unexpected bonus. The robes were, of course, the standard Hogwarts robes. He had longingly eyed the clothing sporting the colors and symbols of the Hogwarts Houses, but it would be highly inappropriate for him to buy such things before his Sorting. Oh well, there was always Christmas.

As agreed upon, he met his parents for lunch. His elder brother and sister also came (6th and 3rd years, respectively, both Ravenclaws). Aldous gladly took the opportunity to show off what he had bought, and received some more money from his parents. They might allow their children to freely wander Diagon Alley (it was one of the safest places in the Wizarding world), but they weren't about to allow children to run around with a small fortune in their pockets.

[mrwest13]

The rest of your shopping is more or less uneventful. After picking up the rest of the things you will need for the coming school year, you are given a small satchel and a piece of parchment with instructions on it as you leave Diagon Alley.

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

Aldous checks in the satchel and reads the parchment.

[mrwest13]

The parchment instructs you about the contents of the bag and how to use it. Apparently a Portkey, it is designed for single-use travel, within a specific time window, to the platform from which the Hogwarts Express departs. You seem to be caught in a transition year, where the Ministry of Magic has not disallowed Portkeys for travel to Hogwarts, but has mandated the use of the train to get there. Bureaucrats.

[Adlan]

Hog
The days of the summer pass as the piglets grow bigger, the apples ripen and the barley turns gold in the valleys. Hog plays with his wand and reads a few of his books while out on the high moor, but doesn't dare try any of the magics. His mother coaxes an owl out of they straw barns rafters, within a week it sits on Hogs shoulder, and is growing fatter everyday off the rats that Hog traps for him as treats.

And Hogg eagerly anticipates the day of the Portakey travel, his first journey by magic. At the appointed hour, his bags are all packed and he excitedly waits dressed in his new robes.

[mrwest13]

You gather your bags on the morning of departure, tying the special string supplied in the bag to all of your things, then tying the end to your finger. You touch the Portkey as instructed, and feel an immediate pull on your midsection. Dragged through what seems like a hole in space so small it turns you into spaghetti, you reappear a moment later at a train platform with all your luggage beside you. The string has disappeared.

Getting your bearings, you make your way onto the Express.

[mrwest13]

On the Express

As you chat, time is going by rather quickly. Before you know it, there is an announcement throughout the train that it will be arriving in 20 minutes.

[Space Lawyer]

Before the announcement

Aldous sits down near the front of the train. His bags are piled up around near him. He spends his time on the train perusing his new books. If any Ravenclaws come near, or sit in the same compartment, he will make a special effort to talk to them. The same holds true if Hog comes up.

After the announcement
Aldous gathers his things and prepares to exit the train.

Sorry, this made its way down the bottom of my subscription list. Glad its still going, though.

[Adlan]

Hog
Before the Announcement
Unluckily for Hog, he automatically gets on the train at the front of the carriage, and though there is no first or second class, up near the steaming smoke of the engine was where he automatically sat. His Barn owl's wicker Cage open on his lap as he fed her shrews he'd trapped in the garden. The Older kids in the carriage ignored him, and he diffidently didn't speak first. His Mother had made him a lunch, and though magic had wielded the knife, the butter on farmhouse loaf was entirely ordinary.

After the announcement

Ovearhearing the older kids that their luggage is taken care of for them, Hog simply coaxes his barn owl, Ullet, back into his cage.

Time, Tide and Buttered eggs wait for no man, but also really glad we're still going.

[mrwest13]

You get changed and exit the train when instructed. Most of the mass of students seem to be going up the hill and toward a large clearing. You are about to follow, then you see the large sign that reads FIRST YEARS in the other direction.

[mrwest13]

You are ushered by the groundskeeper to a lake. Waiting at the dock nearest you is a small fleet of boats befitted with lanterns. As groups of students board the boats, the vessels begin to glide across the lake toward the school.

After waiting in line, you finally get to a boat. Leaving your luggage in an ever-growing pile, you allow the boat to ferry you across the lake. The sheer size of Hogwarts as you draw nearer strikes you with awe. In a flash it seems you are waiting with the rest of the first-years outside of a great set of doors to the dining hall. The shock of this whole experience seems to be wearing off somewhat (possibly the point of sending the first-years by the scenic route).

[Adlan]

Hog
"Well, Stone me" Hog breathes, as they hove into view of the school. He is manning both oars, and seems handy with them, the other three first years all seem to treat his diffidence with contempt, even 11 year olds can pick up on social cues. Hog's polite tug of his forelock instantly put him in with servants and mudbloods.

But when he got out of the boat, he caught sight of Aldous. The familiar face cheered him up immensely as he ran to catch up with the taller boy.

"Ay'yup Aldous!" he called out.

"Is that the School?" he whispered as they approached the building.

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

Aldous spends the whole journey across the lake simply staring up at the castle when it comes into view, except for when he is peering down into the lake hoping to catch sight of the giant squid. Sadly, the ink-black lake does not so easily yield a view of its inhabitants.

As the first-years clamber out on to the shore, Aldous checks to make sure he has all of his bags. Satisfied, he turns as Hog comes running up. "Indeed it is. It looks just like all the pictures my family showed me. Next up is getting led into the castle, and the Sorting. I don't think I've ever been this excited!"

[mrwest13]

After you are let into the dining hall, first-years are brought up one by one to sit on a stool. An old, strange looking hat is placed on their head by the headmaster. After a few moments, the hat calls out the name of the house they are to be in. Why can't the headmaster just do it? He's right there.

Aldous:

You're called up to the front, and it seems like such a long walk, even though in the back of your mind you know it isn't. Sitting on the stool, the hat is put on your head. The hat talks to itself for a moment, not seeming to care that you can hear. After debating between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, it finally settles.

The hat shouts out "Ravenclaw!"

Hog:

You're called up to the front, and it seems like such a long walk, even though in the back of your mind you know it isn't. Sitting on the stool, the hat is put on your head (not all that delicately). You hear nothing. Did the sorting hat just break?

The hat shouts out "Hufflepuff!"

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

Aldous leaps from the stool and runs over to the Ravenclaw table. "Hello everyone, I'm Aldous," he says to everyone enthusiastically. "What is your name? " he asks to those those around him, trying to greet as many of his new housemates as possible.

[mrwest13]

Aldous:

Strangely, most of your housemates are already stressing about classes the following morning, and you don't get much productive conversation out of any of them.

All:

After all of the first-years have been sorted, the headmaster rises to make an announcement.

"As you know, the situation of the Muggle world is dire. Miscommunication, hate, and greed have caused the worst conflict in the last few centuries. The teachers and I have been meeting to discuss this and other current events, and we have decided that it's time to make a change in the way our school is structured."

"You see, we fear that such rigid separation of houses could create such a conflict in the Wizarding world at some point in the future, if we continue down the path we are on. Therefore, all lab classes for all students will now be integrated with other houses. You can find the listings in your house common rooms. Each class year will have 4 integrated sections, to make sure we don't increase the workload on our instructors. Normal instructional classes will remain in-house. This change is non-negotiable, and we will be strongly enforcing a policy which disallows students from sitting with students from their own house during lab instruction. What you do outside of your lab classes is up to you, and you will still be prohibited from entering other house's common areas besides your own."

"With that out of the way, let this meal welcoming our new students into a new era at Hogwarts commence!"

Food magically appears on the long tables at which you are seated, and you eagerly dig in after getting over your surprise.

[Space Lawyer]

Aldous

Well, at least I'll likely have a chance to converse with Hog during at least one of these lab sections. He seemed to be an upstanding fellow. This mixed-lab policy does indeed appear to be a good idea.

Aldous pulls out his schedule, and the textbooks he will need for the next day. He turns to the first chapter of the first book, and begins to re-read it. Never hurts to get an extra bit of study time in.