Headmaster's office, Headmaster's Tower
6:30 AM
Professor Randwoth Gurgenhiem

Randwoth was laying his head on his arms, extended over his desk, with numerous tomes cluttered all over the desk. Below his arms an open book that cushioned his brief nap. 'Muggle Afflictions and Flaws by Earnest Durag-Sangrid'. He had stayed up all night reading through the book, he lost track of time as he was deeply intrigued by the author's opinions and facts. His hair was messy, his beard itchy. He got up and yawned, stretched his back and extended his arms backwards as he tried to regain his balance. Maximus yawned back and licked its white paws, he was the amazing sight to begin a morning with. An Albino Lion he found in the forests of Switzerland, astray and lost.

The office decor was changed when Randwoth took office, he changed it mostly to accommodate his massive collection of tomes and books. Volumes on Muggles, and volumes on Merlin Era history. The office was decorated by the portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses. One in particular caught Randwoth's sight this morning, he'd always look at it and smile, but today it seemed different. The portrait of the previous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. There was a different language in his eyes, Randwoth shrugged it off and smiled.

"Oh friend how I wished I was there in your time, wish I had the wisdom to come visit Hogwarts. I really should have been here friend, I really should have." Randwoth then walked around and looked for his slippers, the floor was mild, but he wasn't fond of the texture rubbing against his bare feet. He uttered some words before leaving the sight of Dumbledore's portrait. Maximus still licked his paws, the sun was rising. Randwoth gestured his hands to open the curtains, letting morning sunlight leak into the office. It was another glorious day at Hogwarts, been a month since the new year started. Been a month since he addressed the new eager students, some showing promise and potential. He joked around with older students and asked about their summer. It was a good start.

Today he was scheduled to see Hagrid alongside his Deputy, Professor Draven Eldridge. They were to visit him during his care for magical creatures class, give him a sudden and surprising visit. Hagrid was going to give a free class today to mixed students from various years to introduce them to his newest pet, Scrubbles. A giant orange pitbull with an awesome fur.

Randwoth wore his slippers and fixed his robe, scratched his beard and wore his glasses. He walked out into the Gargoyle corridor, as he got off the stairs a student bumped into him and fell in front of him. Randwoth helped the student stand up and then put on a half manufactured angry visage.
"What you doing up this early running around here son/dear?"

“The Gargoyle Corridor”
6:32 AM
James MacFusty

The MacFusty heir was a tall blur of black, red and gold as he raced up the moving staircases three steps at a time, the bristles of his broomstick digging in to the precise beat of his racing heart. With his shirt half-buttoned, his tie knotted around his neck like a noose and his arms full of a garish Quiddich uniform, it was not a surprise that he could barely see where he was going – particularly with a sweat-slicked fringe matted over his eyes like a blindfold.

Thus, when he detoured into the third floor corridor, the one with the twisting statue of the gargoyle that he knew intimately from his various punishments over the years, he only saw the Headmaster at the last minute and had to swerve to avoid him. Swerving, as it turned out, was nearly impossible with untied laces, leaving Jimmy as a tangle of limbs on the floor.

“Practicing my flying, sir! Got to make sure I'm at my best – can't have Slytherin winning, y'know?” he managed out in response to the Professor Gurgenhiem's question, trying desperately not to look him in the eye. The Headmaster was a great man, to be sure, and the Gryffindor felt particularly dishevelled in front of him after flying laps around the school and through the trees on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Jimmy discreetly pulled a few twigs out of his hair.

Jimmy's tortured breathing calmed down, thankful for the break from the exertion of climbing the stairs. “And there's a – a quick path up to the Gryffindor common room through this floor. If I went the... conventional way, I'd never make it before breakfast.” He tried to peer nervously around the Headmaster's frame and vibrant robes to see if the portrait was still empty. Once it was filled with its inhabitant – Lady Lerissa, a witch from the 14th century – the secret staircase would be blocked off... and she always returned from her wanderings at twenty to seven on the dot. “I... uh, am I in trouble?” he asked, sidling his way along the wall as if he were about to make a break for it.

Jordan Mason - 6:32 am - Ravenclaw Dorm

Jordan was enjoying a dream-filled sleep when it was abruptly cut short by her oxygen being cut off. Panicking slightly albeit a bit disoriented still, she waved her hands over her face in an attempt to shoo away whatever was nearly giving her asphyxia. Her hands met something fluffy and big, and as she attempted to move it out of the way, she found that it was extremely heavy. Panicking again, she waved her hands around, hoping in Merlin's name that she wasn't being assassinated in her sleep and that someone would help her. Merlin seemed to be watching over her as she felt whatever was cutting her oxygen off be lifted from her face. She opened her eyes, sleep and her natural condition making her vision blurry, and coughed out something that tasted quite disgusting. She felt around for her glasses and slipped them on as soon as she found them. She sat up and after blinking her eyes to adjust, she saw that what she had coughed out was locks of white fur. Her discovery was accompanied by a lazy meow, and turning her head to the direction of the noise, she found Claude, her fluffy white cloud of a cat, held up by a young woman with fuzzy red hair. "Thanks, Paige," she mumbled.

Paige, still in her pajamas, nodded sleepily. "You're so lucky I can feel whenever you're about to die," she teased lightly before slipping back into her bed beside Jordan's and joining the other female Ravenclaws back in dream land.

Jordan chuckled under her breath as Claude settled at the foot of her bed. The cat purred contentedly, joining the others in slumber. Jordan affectionately petted her, wondering how in the world she managed to find a pet like Claude.

Wide awake already, Jordan decided to get an early start on her day. She changed into her robes and grabbed some of her books. She planned to catch up on some reading in the Great Hall before she had to go see Hagrid along with some other students. She was curious about whatever new creature he would have them see. She made her way there, nose buried in a book.

Adelie – 6:30 AM – Gryffindor Girl’s Dormitory & Common Room

Adelie heard her alarm ringing and reached over to smack it til it stopped berating her. She lifted her tired, disheveled head from her pillow and made a soft growling sound, hating to be woken up. Her long brown hair tangled around her throat and arms, causing her to throw her arms up to try and get it off her as she slipped out of bed. Normally, she wore it in a braid but last night she’d gotten so wrapped up in A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that she’d fallen asleep on its pages. She grabbed a brush and began running it through her locks before setting it down and grabbing the textbook, shutting it and hoping she hadn’t gotten too much drool on its pages.

She got dressed in some jeans and a tucked in white shirt, slipping her feet into some flat boots. All the while, she repeated her schedule in her head. Easily embarrassed, she was not repeating day one where she’d accidentally walked in on the wrong class and sat there for several minutes before she realized her mistake, running out and showing up late to her actual class. She’d been bright red and mortified, and the memory was still replaying in her mind.

With her clothes sufficiently in place and her schedule repeated enough for her liking, she packed her messenger bag with a the books, parchment, quills, and what not she needed for classes. She double checked everything about her before leaving the dorms, heading to the common room and looking around for any of her friends. It was still early however, and although there were a few other Gryffindors up bright and early, she didn’t see anyone she’d sit and discuss lectures with at the moment. She smiled and waved to her fellow housemates before leaving, a few roling their eyes as they found her need for excellence obnoxious, and others smiling and waving back, finding her motherly nature comforting and charming. Adelie didn’t care either way though, leaving out of the portrait that contained the wing and heading down the various changing staircases. She was starving and hoped breakfast was being served or served soon, anyway.

Tessa 6:00 am Hufflepuff Dorm

Tessa snapped awake at precisely 6 am. Her head pounded for a moment as she gathered her wits about her. It didn't matter what time she fell asleep she always woke up at 6 am on the dot. Pushing her dreams away Tessa sat in the bed and stretched reaching for her toes. She made a mental schedule for the day. First on the list, after her shower, was breakfast. Most of her friends wouldn't be awake yet.

Tessa took her morning shower and dressed. She dressed without particular care for what she put on, her socks were mismatched. She wasn't thinking of her outfit, but instead a plant. Not just any plant, but this one spat ink if it were poked. She wondered if the ink were better quality than squid ink. Tessa decided she'd have to test that out. Under what parameters? Obviously one of the key parameters for the quality of ink was how long it stayed bright and clear. She didn't have time for a test that would take years. There had to be a spell to magically speed up the time on a single space, such as on a piece of paper.

Tessa was so wrapped up in her thought process that by fifteen to seven when she found her way in the Great Hall she still hadn't realized she had forgotten her bag. Tessa took her accustomed seat. Tessa is a creature of habit. She always sits in the same seat, nearly always eats the same breakfast, and never, absolutely never drinks pumpkin juice.

David 6:00 am Slytherin Dorm
“I am never getting out of this bed!” David though for himself when his alarm went off. He always though that to himself. It was the reason why he set his alarm at 6 a.m. he needed at least half an hour to gather himself enough to get out of his bed. Eventually he gathered enough courage to throw off the blanket. Quickly he got washed. After about five minutes of trying to rule in his bed-hair he gave up and settled for most of the hair not standing up. He didn’t care today what he wore. He never cared what he wore on normal days. So he went for a simple jeans and a grey t-shirt. He already made his bag the day before so just had to grab it and walk away. His stomach began to grumble, telling him he was hungry. So he went straight for the main hall for breakfast.

It was 6:50 a.m. when he arrived. Most of his Slytherin friends were still either brushing their teeth or being woken up by other friends. It was always like this. David has always been one of the first Slytherins to take a place and start eating.

Slytherin 5th Year Boys' Dorm
6:39 AM
Anthony Stuart

Anthony scowled into the mirror in the bathroom as he carefully untangled his long, girly blonde hair. He could have and should have cut it years ago, but every time he visited his mother she commented on how handsome and fetching it was for a pureblood of his caliber to have such a style and put him off the idea. Still, when he was forced to wake up at half past five in the morning just to have enough time to deal with it and even then having the occasional 'off-day', like today, where it was just unmanageable...

The first lesson had to be Care of Magical Creatures, too. Merlin, life must hate him.

Putting down his silver hairbrush (an antique!), he tapped his wand on the back of his head to bring his hair into a neat ponytail and sighed at the sudden loss of a reason to complain. Straightening his tie, smoothing down his vest and tucking a few errant blonde locks behind his ear, he wandered outside, picking up his satchel off his bed on the way there.

An irritated grumble sounded out from one of his roommates. “'Bout time, Stuart.”

Acting as if he ignored it, his eyebrows twitched as if they were about to furrow together – if he wasn't already later than usual he would have turned around and jinxed the other teenager's legs together or something equally infuriating. As it was, he headed down to the Great Hall gnawing on his lip, a better alternative to pouting.

Just as he thought there was nothing he could face that could possibly put him in a worse mood, he caught sight of the Slytherin table. Like the icing on an awful, awful cake, one of the few students – a sixth year, if he remembered correctly – looked like a scruffy waste of space with unruly hair and wearing a t-shirt of all things. A shame on Slytherin's name, or something to that effect. Sitting down opposite the boy whose name he thought might be David, he managed a pained smile at him then pointedly looked down at his own plate to avoid glaring.

Actually saying anything would be impolite, after all.

Only after half an hour out of his bed, David’s brain began to work. And of course the first thing that it did was making him worried. He felt like he had forgotten something. Or did he? He wasn’t sure. He never was in the morning. Quickly he grabbed his bag and in it, his Remembrall. The second he touched it, it turned red. “Well crap.” He put it back and continued eating, worrying what he has forgotten.

Right then, Anthony Stuart entered. David had heard of the stuck up 5th year from some Scottish stuck up family. Well, anyone could easily see that he had something special. He walked so confident and looked so sure. David never walked confident, nor ever looked that sure of himself. Except of course with Magical Creatures and Charms.
When the boy took a seat, David realized he was fully dressed in uniform. “Wait, do fifth years have lessons this morning?” he asked the boy.

The Great Hall
Anthony Stuart

When Scruffy David opened his mouth, Anthony's first thought was, 'Merlin, why are you talking to me? Why are you talking to me.' His immediate loathing for the boy he hadn't ever talked to in his life wasn't bigotry, though he instantly doubted his blood heritage as no pureblood he knew would ever dress so slovenly. The true reason eluded him, so he settled on an inherent distaste for sloppiness despite it not quite feeling right.

“Hagrid is having a mixed Care of Magical Creatures class today,” Anthony ended up saying, feeling ever-so-slightly bad about his uncontrollably mean thoughts when David seemed honestly confused. “I think it's open to all years?”

That's it, Anthony, he congratulated himself internally. Not a single word about his apparel. Good job.

David had just grabbed his sandwich when Stuart said that Hagrid had a mixed class today. With eyes wide he looked at him. Suddenly he remembered! In both a shock of realization and cursing his own idiotism he dropped the sandwich back on his plate. “Damn it! I totally forgot!” he said out loud while grabbing his bag. Right when he stood up he looked at Stuart. “Wow, thanks man.” He said with a genuine smile. Right after that he ran from the hall straight back to dungeon and the Slytherin dorms. There he frantically got dressed in his uniform, cursing himself constantly. Luckily it didn’t take long.

After 10 minutes or so he arrived back at the table. His spot was still free so he decided to take it up again. “You’re Anthony, aren’t you?” he then asked the boy.

Adelie felt a staircase lurch as a familiar voice called out to her, turning around, she smiled as she saw her friend Evanora behind her. ”Allo der!” she said brightly, holding onto the railing until the stairs stopped. She waved for her friend to come with her. ”Come on then, E. We got breakfast!” she said, hopping off the steps with a bound and heading for the Great Hall. Addy found Gryffindor’s table and the general area where she usually sat, plopping down and reaching out for a bagel and smearing cream cheese on it before thinking aloud.

”I wonder where Jimmy’s gone off ta. Prolly getting’ in trouble,” she said absentmindedly about her other Gryffindor friend. She looked up to Evanora and smiled. ”I got a letter from me mum yesterday. Said she and me dad are headin’ on a cruise over Christmas, so I get ta stay ‘ere over break. Adrienne prolly threw a fit when she got hers, but oh well,” she shrugged. Addy was used to going back home during Christmas break, but honestly the thought of being at Hogwarts, around her friends, books, classes, etc. Sounded much more appealing. She would get a head start on the second half of the year after all. Not to mention continue practicing her animagus abilities, which she had yet to reveal to anyone that she was even attempting.

”What aboot you? Goin’ ‘ome er do ya know yet?” she asked, knowing the subject was far off, but Adelie was a planner after all. She took a bit of her bagel and glanced at the other tables and some others at their own for a moment as well, finding it hard to stay eyes locked on to one thing for a long period of time, though she saw and heard everything near her and retained it.

Elizabeth Fontaine - 6:31 am - Hufflepuff Dorms

Beth woke up to the sound of bustling all around her. She released a loud groan and tucked her head beneath one of her fluffy pillows in an attempt to drown out the noise around her and get a few more minutes of sleep. Her fellow Hufflepuffs weren't gping to have that though as she felt a body jump in her bed next to her. Another seemed to be wrestling the pillow away from her face, and one more was stealing the blanket from her. She groaned and attempted to fight them off, but ultimately, she failed. "Time to wake up, Beauxbaton," she heard a familiar voice say followed by a sharp bark.

She sighed and sat up, eyes still closed. She didn't need them to be open to know who had disrupted her from her sleep. She reached a blind hand out and, soon enough, was met with Diana's silky fur. She gave her loyal companion a pat before she used her free hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Morning," she muttered. She slipped out of the bed and changed into her school robes, still trying to shake away the few remnants of sleep from her body.

The Olivero twins, Diana's accomplice in waking her master up, tossed something towards Beth. "Kid left it behind," Grace, the older twin began. Faith, the younger, sidled up beside her and finished with a deadpan tone, "Again."

Beth caught it expertly, having been used to the twins' antics. She examined it and saw that it was Tessa's bag. Faith was right. This was the umpteenth time that the young Hufflepuff had forgotten her bag, and this wasn't the first time Beth had been tasked to deliver it to her. Even if she wasn't good friends with the girl, she would have still given it to her. That was just how she was. She nodded to the twins and finished her preparations,

Once she was done, she slipped out of the dorms and into the kitchen, stealing a piece of bread from under the cooks' nose. She shot them a cheeky grin when she heard a few indignant shouts sent her direction. She then headed straight to the Great Hall where she knew Tessa would be, sitting in the same place she'd always sat.

And sure enough, when Beth entered the Great Hall at exactly seven, she saw Tessa exactly where she expected her to be. She walked over to her friend and casually tossed the bag towards her. "There you go, Captain Forgets-a-Lot." Beth sat down beside her and took a bite of the bread she stole from the kitchen. She held up the other loaf and offered, "Want some?"

Tessa - Great Hall

Tessa deftly caught it. Her reflexes fast enough for a quaffle easily dealt with the heavy bag. "Sorry. I'll remember it eventually." She smiled as Beth sat down beside her. The warm bread radiating a smell that spread delicious memories through her. "Absolutely." She tore of a piece from the end and slathered butter onto it. She watched the butter melt for a moment before taking a savory bite.

Tessa, even though she was easily distracted, loves animals and plants, she was exceptional with plants and decent with animals. This year being her fifth she had to make some hard decisions, such as what she wanted to do with her future, as of yet she didn't have a good plan. She thought briefly of maybe horticulture, or maybe a vet for magical creatures. Or a scientist, the muggle raised part of her brain thirsted for understanding. She shook her head and finished the bite she had taken, washing it down with some orange juice.

"You going to the special class today?" Tessa finally asked, her friends were used to this episodes of her in deep thought. Because Tessa and Beth were separated by a year they had never had a class together, this would be a chance for them to enjoy class time together. Tessa hoped her friend would go.

Scott O'Riley - 6:42am
Ravenclaw Dorm and Common Room

early, hopefully his body gets used to it. After rolling out of his bed and putting on his uniform, he made it perfectly the the Kenmare Kestrels logo had no bumps on it. Not knowing what to do with his hair he took a quick wave of his wand since it always knew the trick. After making himself look as good as he deemed passable he strolled into his common room to see all faces looking excited about this Magical Creatures class. He walked into a small group of students and conversed about the class.
Student A - "I bet it's a dragon"
Student B - "I think he already had a dragon"
Student A - "What happened to it!'
Student B - "I don't know Jeremy"
Student C - "What do you think it is Scott!?'
Scott - "I think it will be one of a kind, something no one has seen before and above all else, magical"
Group - "Whooooa!'

I guess he expected as much chatting with a group of 1st or 2nd years. So he decided to walk over to a different group of students to see what anyone else was thinking.

Student E - "I heard that Hagrid was experimenting breeding new animals that would benefit the wizarding world with rare ingredients"
Student F - "Yeah well I heard that he was working on a personal project for Headmaster Gurgenhiem"
Scott - " What would make you think that Headmaster would have a personal project for Hagrid, he is one of the most brilliant wizards of our current time, I am sure he would be more than able to complete any project, even if Hagrid is very experienced with creatures"
Group - " Hmmm, yeah, true, good point"

So after listening to a few more conversations Scott decided that it would be a good idea to grab a bit of food and proceeded down to the Great Hall.

Evanora grinned while she followed Adelie to get something to eat. "Great! I'm starving, I could really use some food." She said. She was usually in a good mood in the mornings, if she had enough sleep. She had went to bed early, being exhausted after the days events. She loved her friends accent, she had lived in Scotland with her just a few years, but after her dad died she moved to England to live with her mom, she didn't have much of a Scottish accent or British accent. Both her parents were American, they just traveled, a lot.

"He wouldn't be Jimmy is he wasn't getting into trouble." Evanora joked as she sat down next to Adelie. She grabbed herself a bagel as well, but kept it plain. "Well, that is cool. It'd be nice to get away on a nice cruise, also." She joked, shrugging. "Ah, she'll get over it.. eventually." Evanora said, waving her hand in the air for emphasis. She paused mid bite when Adelie asked what she was doing for Christmas. Truth was, she didn't know. Her mom was in and out of relationships so it was hard to tell if she was doing anything or not. "It's still too early to tell." Evanora said quietly, a little too quietly, but she continued eating.

Evanora couldn't help but laugh inside at her friend. Ever since she could remember and in the time she has known her, she always planned everything out- even their play dates as children. Evanora could never be that organized, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't be.

Elizabeth Fontaine - Great Hall

Beth thought about Tessa's question. Apart from being in the Hufflepuff Common Room and Quidditch practices, she'd never seen what Tessa could do in classes. She'd heard about the special class where Hagrid would be introducing some form of mutated dog or whatnot. Initially, she wasn't that interested in it, but the look on Tessa's face definitely screamed that she hoped Beth would attend. So, the good friend that she was, Beth grinned and said, "Only if you're gonna come with."

Beth finished what was left of the bread and thought about what the special class would bring. Seeing the creature would definitely be amusing and informative. Beth gave an internal shrug. The creature could turn out to be something epic. Another plus side would be that it was a mix of students from all years. She could meet new people that she would normally never talk to. That was something to look forward to.

She turned back to Tessa, grinning slightly. "What else do you have planned for the day?" she inquired. She herself had full classes for the day, but she hoped to spend the free time she had to catch up on some practice - whether it was for Quidditch or her music, she still wasn't sure. Maybe if Tessa had something nice planned out, she could join her.

Tessa - Great Hall

"Absolutely," Tessa's face lit up with shear joy. She worked her way through the rest of her breakfast mostly in silence.

"What else do you have planned for today?"

Tessa pulled her bag over a shoulder. "After the class I've got classes, but during my free period I was going to see if there was a spell that does localized aging so I could test the quality of two inks. After dinner I was going to fly some laps." The unspoken line there was as long as none of the houses had decided to have quidditch practice. Tessa finished her orange juice and glanced at her watch. They had time still, "You?"

The Great Hall – Slytherin Table
Anthony Stuart

Clearly, he wasn't fast enough to escape Scruffy Dave, who returned not so scruffy and in complete uniform. His French Toast wasn't even halfway done, mostly because he was contemplating the meaning of that smile. It wasn't a smirk, it wasn't false, it was genuine. Nobody smiled at Anthony Stuart, not in Slytherin at least – he was the guy who took too long in the bathroom and pulled consistently high scores on his test and was a stickler over uniform. With no answers, when the older boy sat down, Anthony felt like screaming.

(A small part of him knew he was being dramatic for the sake of it, and he didn't actually mind this David person, but he ruthlessly squashed it under an imaginary heel.)

"Yeah, I'm Anthony," he said. "Anthony Stuart." Get the surname in there, that's right. His father would be proud. Making unexpected acquaintances with those below him would warrant a pat on the back, too. Using a slight grin and an exaggeratedly pompous upturn of his nose, he sarcastically (with a hint of truth and arrogance) continued, "I'm not surprised you've heard of me."

"I think you're David."

David grabbed a bagel. He was still hungry, especially after all the running. “You thought right.” He said in between two bites. “And I did hear about you. You were pretty impressive back when you dueled.” David had remembered the kid a few years back. He was in the audience. There was no way around it, Anthony had skill and talent. Though while David was eating and speaking, his mind was somewhere else.

It was the last name that troubled him. Stuart. His father had told him after his third year in Slytherin about his past. A little because he wanted to scare David out of magic or at least make him more cautious. Never the less the name Stuart often dropped. “Stuart, you say?” David then asked, a little more serious and careful. “I think I heard that name before. Now that I think of it. My dad often told stories about the Stuarts back when he lived in the United Kingdom.” He took another bite from his bagel, buying himself time to overthink his words. “Yeah, I remember. He used to work with the Stuarts back in the old days.” He looked straight at Anthony, trying to read his face or see a reaction. In the meantime he was also worried. What if the kid wasn’t from the same Stuarts his dad worked with? Maybe he said too much already?