Nolan shrugged. "My brothers are all right. It's a normal thing, I think. I mean, we fight and pick on each other all the time. But my brothers are actually really nice to me overall. Sometimes too nice." He made a face as he recalled Tidus and Judoc's over-the-top interest in his well-being from the day before.

Her comments about the paintings amused him. His experience with the muggles and magic folk in his family had shown him that moving photographs and paintings were something that were easily take for granted. "You know, my brother Nolan is a good artist. He learned how to make his work move." There was a bit of jealousy in his voice. He hadn't intended to let the conversation come to his brothers' talents. Over at the Ravenclaw table he could see Roy had been joined by his friends and shaken out of his daydreaaming. "If you want, I could get him to charm some of your stuff..." Then he grinned as put some chicken onto his plate. "Or do you really only just doodle?"

Table Slytherin

"Is he?" Caelum was interested to hear about another student artist. She had nearly gone to an arts school instead of Hogwarts. She was beginning to feel out of place. Now she knew of other students here interested in art, not just magic.

She did not sense the animosity in his voice when he spoke of his brother. "I hope to get better at it, even though I'll be busy learning magic I can't imagine... not drawing. If your brother could help that sounds... I'd like to try..." She shook her head. "For now they are just doodles. I hope to get better than that one day."

Layla and Ajax were led out by Charlotte. Layla was impressed by Charlotte's refined sense of direction. She herself could only find her way using a map.

There was a big selection of food at the Gryffindor table, but only one of which Layla had any sense of interest in; Yorkshire puddings! She grabbed a few and almost immediately dropped them - they were piping hot! - but she managed to get them to her plate, slapping on the gravy.

"My mother was a muggle..." Layla dropped the Yorkshire pudding she was eating.

Table Slytherin

"It's still better than anything I can do." Nolan chuckled, surprised to find he actually did feel fine with the self-deprecation joke. "But yeah, I know he'd definitely say yes... if you can get his head out of the clouds or catch him when he's not busy with a girl. Ohnoherehecomesnow." Roy had glanced over and the Slytherin table and after some quick words to his friends got up. The young men and women at the table looked in his direction then talked in hushed tones.

Nolan sighed. Of course he should have expected this. In the aftermath of yesterday's incident coupled with all the business of the first night, Nolan hadn't had a chance to speak to his brothers. Judoc had seen what had happened but Roy was likely still in the dark.

"So, now that you're a Ssslytherin you're too good to say hi to your brother?" Roy asked as he plopped down across from him with a smile. He said Slytherin in his best imitation of a snake. "Congratulations though. Judoc looked like he'd swallowed a dragon egg whole. It was beautiful. And I think Tidus owes us each a galleon or two now." He laughed out loud, making the students nearby fully aware of his presence. "So how're they treatin' you? First day going all right?" He glanced around the table with a smirk. The faces he saw varied from friendly acknowledgment, to indifference, to annoyance and disgust.

Nolan could feel the attention that Roy was drawing. While his older brother thrived on that attention, it just made Nolan more uncomfortable. He could ignore them right? Just an everyday conversation with his brother. "Uh, yeah actually. Everything's fine. I haven't really met too many people in my house, but they all seem nice. the dungeons are so cool too. There's so much down there. And my classes so far... well, you know...." He trailed off, not wanting to express his difficulty with school in general.

Roy simply nodded. "So I don't know if you heard, but apparently you're a little violent little troublemaker. Did you really knock a kid out with a door?"

That was unexpected. Of course he remembered what had happened last night, what that girl had told Judoc about him being a monster. It hadn't even occurred to him that nobody had heard the actual story. Except the teachers of course. That sort of thing would've earned him far more than a single detention. And that expectant smile on Roy's face. Nolan had no idea what he wanted. Was he hoping he'd say yes? "No."

Roy gave an exaggerated sigh. "Well, shit. Now what am I gonna tell the girls?" He looked around the table. "Sorry ladies, but contrary to popular belief, I am not the older brother of a crazed lunatic so you can stop spreading those rumors. Rest assured, I have plenty of redeeming qualities."

"Shut the hell up and go back to your table, Archer!" A voiced called from a few seats down. A tall young witch about Roy's age. Nolan seemed to remember a photo of her stashed among Roy's things from his fourth year. She was red in the face with a look of utter contempt.

"Aw hell, looks like I've overstayed my welcome..." He got up from his table, swatting away a balled up napkin that flew at his face. "You might wanna apologize to the door guy anyway. Or tell him what happened. He's a little odd, but a nice guy. I'll be down by the lake before dinner if you want to hang out for a bit."

Nolan watched in complete confusion as Roy... did whatever it was he did. He nodded at his instruction. It made sense. "Yeah, all right." He became aware of Caelum for the first time since Roy had joined them. "Oh, hey! I forgot to introduce you. This is my friend Caelum! She's an artist like you. I told her you'd help her learn to make her art move." Nolan watched the older brother turn to Caelum, clearly just noticing her. His eyes moved back to Nolan then to Caelum. For a fraction of a second, Nolan could swear Roy's mouth twitched into a smile. Oh god...

"A pleasure to meet you Caelum. Promise to keep this guy out of trouble, and I'll definitely help you out. but for now, I have to go." He gave a quick wave to the table and retreated back to his seat.

With his departure, Nolan felt the attention on his area of the table subside. Though he noticed for the first time that some familiar looking older students were still muttering and glancing and Caelum and him. The Quidditch team? Surely they didn't hold him responsible for the events on the train.

He did his best to ignore them, turning back to Caelum. "So that was Roy..."

It was then that the girl from the train scooted down, now seated across from the two. Those intense eyes trained on them. "You're lying. I saw it with my own eyes." He was taken aback. Her severe tone was a far cry from the flippant attitude she'd shown the day before. She turned her gaze on Caelum. "And you, Hufflepuff. You were a wreck. What did he do?"

Still new to the wonders of the magical world, the thought that a ghost could be the prankster messing with her whiteboard never really occurred to her until Roze mentioned the idea, noting that there was a particularly mischievous ghost known as Peeves living in the castle. Before she could respond and ask Roze what they should do if they were in fact being haunted by a trickster ghost, a boy with brown hair and dark blue eyes plopped down next to Roze. It was clear to Dani that the boy was nervous about talking to them even before he opened his mouth to introduce himself, what with the sheepish grin he gave them and the rest of his body language.

Not trusting the ghost to leave her whiteboard alone long enough for her to properly respond to the boy's introduction, Dani figured that she would let Roze introduce the both of them, hopefully explaining that Dani was mute. So, instead, Dani offered a friendly smile to the boy who's name was similar to her own. Hopefully, Rose would get why Dani wasn't trying to use the whiteboard and introduce her as well. Dani certainly didn't want to be rude to the newcomer, especially after he put his face in his hands, apparently bothered by his tongue-tiedness.

The ghost took that moment to burst into sight through the table, sending bits of food flying everywhere and generally making a mess. Despite the fact that no one else seemed to be amused by his antics, the squat old ghost was having a jolly old time playing practical jokes on the students who had somehow not noticed the entire spectacle happening at the Ravenclaw table. When he noticed Daniel, he pointed a finger at him and made fun of how the boy's family was apparently cursed with a lack of punctuality, his lateness to the school being a prime example of said curse.

Unfortunately, Dani had no idea how to go about standing up for the newcomer, as she routinely failed to stand up for herself on a regular basis. And Roze, being as hotheaded as she was, probably wasn't going to be of much help, seeing as how she had been one of the first years to actually fight with the Slytherin Quidditch team on the train the day before according to the rumours. Hopefully, she wouldn't do anything too rash and wind up getting them all in trouble, but Dani couldn't really think of anything to do but watch and hope for the best.

Roze couldn't help herself by chuckling slightly at the newcomer's flustered state, but she gave him a warm smile to ease him.
"Hi there! I'm Rozalia - feel free to call me Roze or some other nickname, most people do. This is Dani - she doesn't talk, so she uses a whiteboard." At this point, Roze paused as the poltergeist appeared, and Dani keeping tight hold of the said board to make sure Peeves didn't get his ghostly hands on it. She began chuckling again as Peeves began his taunts. Leo had told her all about the mischievous spirit that roamed the castle. Dumping buckets of waters on people's heads, filling ink pots with paper, loosening chandeliers from their fastenings and giving false directions to first-years were some of his favourite pranks to pull, among other cheeky things. While blowing raspberry, he stopped mid-blow and flipped upside down in the air, peering at the three of them from beneath his legs.
"Ooh! You're one of those shape-shifters aren't you? I bet you're not really that good-looking; I bet you have warts and a BIG HAIRY CHIN!" He bellowed the last three words, aimed at Roze, so that it filled the entire hall. The teacher's didn't even look up - although some of the ghosts in the vicinity gave disapproving looks. However, most of the children - especially first years - turned to see the commotion, some of them laughing themselves.
"Not as hairy as yours will be after I hex you, Peeves." Roze shot back in a joking tone, still laughing slightly. "But I'd rather be friends with you Peeves - I've heard some brilliant stories of you and your pranks. My brother Leo told me - I do believe he helped you out sometimes, right?" She asked amusingly. Peeves paused again, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her.
"Oh, so you're the annoying little sister he was always complaining about." He sneered. "Just because he was your brother doesn't mean I won't prank you, or your pals."
"Oh, I expect pranks. However, I do know that there are a bunch of Slytherins over there that you could get a far better reaction from if you, say... dumped a bowl of that fish stew over their heads." Roze replied nonchalantly, glancing at the Slytherin Quidditch team sat on the other side of the hall. Wade had a black eye, and she noticed he was sat rather gingerly on the bench - on a nice cushion, no doubt. Looking back at Peeves, she noticed he gave her a wicked, conspiring grin before fading from sight. Grinning at Dani and Daniel, Roze began eating once again.
"Don't you guys worry about him. He looks for easy targets - I'm not one of them." She said, then burst into quiet laughter as she heard a large clatter and splash behind them, followed by Peeves being chased out of the Great Hall cackling by fish stew-soaked Slytherins. "However, they were. Oh wow... they're going to be stinking of fish all day." Thoroughly amused by the events that had occured, Roze's previously blonde hair had become a pale bubblegum pink. A common colour for her, for she was easily amused by many things, but more than one person had done a double-take at the sight of such a suddenly odd hair colour among the sea of blonde, brown and black.
Once the commotion had quietened somewhat, Roze looked at Daniel, who had remained quiet for the time being. "So, it's nice to have another Ravenclaw! There weren't many this year, for some reason. So, how come you were late, if you don't mind me asking?" She asked, twirling one of her still pink curls around her finger.

Roze's warm smile, turned his sheepish grin into a bright smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Roze! And you to Dani!"

The more he looked at Roze, the more he liked her, really. She was actually kind of cute. Really cute. Wait what! He had just met her! But, in truth, she was actually cute. The ghost caught him off guard, and he jumped in his seat. He let Roze and Peeves chat, or more of rant about things, so he didn't talk much, until Roze asked him a question.

"Oh, um, I prefer not to talk about it. But, I had to get apparated here, because of it, wasn't the most fun thing to do, especially when you haven't apparated before."

He was looking down while he spoke, saddened by the thought of why he was late, but when he looked up, that's when he noticed her hair. It was, pink! Wasn't it just blonde a second ago?! She must be able to change her hair color.

"Whoa! That's cool! How do you do that with your hair?"

@MiddleEarthRoze

@TaliPaendrag?

Ajax reacted quickly, of course. Look, this was his crush we were talking about here. A chance to save her day by wiping it off with a napkin made him grateful. He didn't expect Layla to drop her pudding of course, no one expects the dropping of the delicious meal. Still, enough dilly dallying as Ajax dismissed his inner monologue and made the voices go away.

Ajax expertly took a napkin and wiped Layla's robes, giving a smile and kindly wiped it all away. When he paused to look up at her, locking with her eyes, it may seem that they had a precious, intimate moment. Rather, it was two hormone raging tween/teens not knowing how to react to an intimate situation and freezing up. Charlotte, however, did not know what to do so she sat there.

Table Slytherin

Caelum smiled, charmed by Roy. If she was charmed by the smile or by the prospect of animated artworks she could not quite say. He continued to palaver with his brother and then he was gone back to his table.

She had been worried that she wouldn’t fit in with the wizards, with Nolan and his brother being so nice to her, she now felt much more comfortable at the school.

The girl with the green scarf approached. Inquiring into the matter of their conflict…

Caelum fumbled with her words. “I… I’m just… I don’t like… Small spaces.” She explained, stuttering just thinking about it. “And someone locked the door… So we were trapped and… the other boy got hurt… No one hurt him really, he just hurt himself now that I think of it, he was trying to get out… I was just… freaked I guess...”

She was red in her cheeks, not sure what else to say.

“Hufflepuff colors are yellow for a reason.” Someone snickered nearby. Caelum looked around but did not see who had said the words. Her cheeks reddened more.

Someone else took revenge on her behalf. A pot of fish stew rose up off the table and doused the troublesome quidditch team, and anyone sitting near them, in stinking stew. They all yelled and stood up. There would be no time to change their robes before their next class.

Peeves giggled. “Is your mascot a snake or a fish? I get confused! Both are cold and slimy and stinky!” The poltergeist was invisible now, but his voice rang out with pleasure. Taking full credit for the crime committed.

Caelum couldn’t help but smile at the distress displayed by the fishy-victims.

Roze winced slightly in sympathy for Dan. She'd never apparated herself - always preferring broom, floo powder, or just muggle transport rather than journey with her Uncle or Brother in that magical way. She'd heard it was awful though - like being stretched and ripped apart and put back together again in a different place. And sometimes splicing happened. Yeuch.
She noticed Dan's brown eyes dimmed slightly - in sadness? Maybe he was just disappointed that he'd missed the first day. She could understand that, she supposed. However, they lit up once more in amazement as he took in her pink hair, and she let out a laugh. His eyes suited happiness better than sadness - they lit up like a rich mahogany fire.
"Oh, yeah. You'll be seeing a lot of this. I'm a..." she paused, thinking about the term her Uncle had used. "An... em- empathetic met... metamorphus? No, an empathetic metamorphagus! Yeah, one of those. It means that my hair and eye colour changes according to my mood." She said, smiling triumphantly as she remembered the words. Quite the tongue-twister it was. "Pink means I'm amused. Blonde is happy, grey is tired, brown is neutral. It's quite self-explanatory. It means I'm an awful liar though." She said with a sigh, then paused - she'd not mentioned the more negative emotions, and what colours they produced. She didn't like seeing them herself. Changing the subject, she looked at Dan.
"So, whereabouts in America did you move from? I'm assuming you've moved over here for a bit, otherwise you'd be at one of the American Wizarding Schools. I've read a bit about them - I think there's two. Anyways, I hope England is a good substitute for you." She added. His accent hadn't been hard to pick up on - it was fairly prominent, especially among all the British students at Hogwarts. Her Uncle Bobby had an American accent, having spent a few years over there once he'd left the Muggle Army - the Auror's office had sent him to spy or something. He came home when her Mum died (A fact she hadn't mentioned, nor cared to mention to anyone just yet), and stayed in England when her Father was at work, but he was in the States for most of the time. It was only four years ago that he'd begun reporting full-time to the Auror's office situated in London. He'd said it was to mentor her brother, Leo, who had joined the Auror's as soon as leaving Hogwarts - but she could always tell when things became strained in her family, and when they lied to her. Everytime her Uncle visited, she would hear him, her brother and her father discussing things late at night while she was in bed - although never being able to catch a full conversation, the tone was always grim, and words such as 'death' and 'darkness' were often uttered.

Dani was rather glad that Roze had gotten the hint and introduced her to the new boy, even including the fact that she was mute before he could pester her with questions about why she wasn’t saying anything. Peeves, apparently growing rather bored picking on Dan, turned his attention towards Roze and speculating that she was probably using her shape changing talent to hide the fact that she was ugly.

Roze took it in good humor, mock threatening to hex him and give him a hairy chin, before introducing herself as the sister to a boy named Leo who had apparently been a comrade of the old ghost and suggesting that he might get a better reaction if he pranked the Slytherin Quidditch team by dumping a bowl of fish stew on their heads.

Dani, who had been finishing her meal in relative peace, couldn’t help but give Roze a disapproving look as the ghost went through with her suggestion. To her, that kind of behavior went a little too far, even if Roze wasn’t on particularly friendly terms with the Slytherin Quidditch team for the events of the previous day. From the shaking heads around the table, most of the other Ravenclaws didn’t approve of the ghost’s antics either, though it didn’t seem like they knew that Roze had had anything to do with it.

Resolving to send the poor Slytherins an air freshener or two if she got the chance, Dani placed her utensils on her plate, unable to eat another bite despite having eaten very little, and grabbed her drink as the new boy explained that he had been Apparated, whatever that was, to the village outside the school because he had missed the train. That’s when he noticed that Roze’s hair had changed color, asking why that was.

Dani, having never asked for an explanation due to feeling that she would be thought of as dumb if she did so, was kind of glad to hear that someone else had the same question, especially because that someone wasn’t a Muggleborn like she was. Roze explained that she was something known as a Empathetic Metamorphmagus, and that her hair and eyes changed color according to her mood. Honestly, Dani was a little disappointed with the explanation, as it did nothing to answer the why or how.

Roze, however, apparently felt that it was an adequate enough explanation, shifting the conversation to talk about Dan’s time in America, though Dani didn’t remember him mentioning where he was from. Maybe Roze picked up on some clue that other Americans that she had met displayed? Dani did notice that, shortly after asking the question, Roze seemed to be a bit more somber, though Dani couldn’t guess why that would be.

Feeling as though she would just be intruding on their conversation if she gave any input, Dani simply listened while she enjoyed her drink, her whiteboard at hand in case either of them wanted her to join in on the conversation despite how much it would slow everything down waiting on her.

Dan was in awe. He couldn't believe that she was a Metamorphagus!

"That's cool! My dad's taught me some stuff, but I haven't actually met one in person!"

Roze then asked him about America. So, she had picked up the accent, which most people did the first time they talked to them. But not many talked to him, as he had no friends, except for Dani, and Roze. But he decided not to delve into that topic, as it made him very sad, and most of the time, he cried. But now he was at Hogwarts, and he would make many new friends, who had the same talents as him.

"I was in California, but my mom got a really good job offer at a major fashion company in Britain, so we moved. And she worked there, until she- So, yeah, California. What about you guys?"

The truth was, that he was late to school, because his mom had died, and the funeral ended before the train had left. He then noticed he was looking down again, so he looked back up to see Dani and Roze, and he smiled, waiting for an answer.

@MiddleEarthRoze @TaliPaendrag

The abrupt change in tone and conversation wasn't missed by Roze, but she knew not to pry in people's business. When she went to a Muggle Primary school, she always clammed up about her Mother and that side of the family - having to lie to her Muggle schoolmates anyway about the magic, she often just said her Mother travelled with work a lot; the truth was a bit too painful for a young child to admit to. Because then it brought forth questions of her death, and the manner in which it occurred. Not something child should have to lie about all the time.
"Well, my Dad's family was originally from Italy, but I'm from Yorkshire; I've never really kept the accent though, considering we moved around a lot." Due to several extensive holidays in her Father's native Rome, and moving around various army bases down South, she'd never picked up the rather prominent Yorkshire accent. Even now, with her home now firmly settled in the moors, she was sure she'd retain her classic English accent. However, whenever she went on a rant in Italian (she and her brother were brought up with both languages, much to the insistence of her father,), she found it hard to drop the accent of it afterwards when speaking English.
"What about you Dani? Whereabouts are you from?" She asked, turning towards her other new friend. What with the lack of speech and all, there was no guessing from an accent. While asking, Roze glanced at her watch. 20 minutes til lunch ended - plenty of time for poor Dani to write something up. She was defintely going to have to learn sign language for her.

Having been to the United States only once, specifically New York City and Niagara Falls, for her aunt’s wedding many years ago, Dani wasn’t familiar at all with California. As such, Dan mentioning that he was from California didn’t really evoke any kind of specific response from Dani apart from the mild curiosity that usually accompanies hearing of an location with which one is unfamiliar.

The way that Dan’s tone and posture changed as he mentioned his mother did not go unnoticed by Dani, who figured that something had more than likely happened to his mother, like some sort of serious illness. Though she felt bad for him, she couldn’t imagine something like that happening to her mother, Dani kept her speculation to herself. It really wasn’t any of her business, and if had wanted to talk about it, he wouldn’t have cut himself off like he had.

After a brief moment of silence, Dan asked where they were from, though Dani assumed that he was mostly interested in hearing a response from Roze and was just including her to be polite. As expected, Roze answered the question immediately, explaining that she was from Yorkshire, though her father’s family was from Italy, and that she had moved around a lot when she was younger.

Figuring that it would have been rude to have written down a response to Dan’s question while Roze was talking, Dani didn’t have a response prepared, leading to a few awkwardly silent, at least in Dani’s mind, moments as she wrote down a response. ”You mean it’s not obvious?” the board read when she revealed it, an expression of surprise on her face.

After she was fairly sure that both had seen it, she erased what was written and began writing again. ”Just kidding. I’m from Seaham in the North East region. It’s not a very big town, but there’s plenty to do when you’re bored and it’s right on the coast.” She had many fond memories of going on day trips to the beach with her family, especially when her extended family came in for a reunion or something.

Around that time, Dani noticed that most of the other people in the Dining Hall were getting up and leaving, presumably to carry on with their schedule. As she was thinking that it would be a good idea to get up and get moving as well, an older Ravenclaw student paused on her way passed them. ”You should probably get going to your next class, you guys. You don’t want to be late and give the professors a bad impression on the first day.

Nodding, Dani placed her glass on the table and spun around to slip off the edge of the bench, though she opted to wait for Roze and Dan to come with her, taking the time to gather her bag and her whiteboard.

---

@MiddleEarthRoze @AbysmalDemon

Rozalia grinned at Dani's quip - she was glad to see that despite her disadvantage, she was still able to make jokes. She was also interested to learn where Dani lived; Seaham was about an hour away from where she lived herself. Perhaps, if their friendship grew stronger over the year, she could invite Dani over to her house in the holidays. She'd never had many friends round, mainly because she didn't really have many good friends as a child, not with moving so much.
"I've been to Seaham a couple of times - it's really pretty there." Roze replied with a smile.
At that point, the older Ravenclaw boy had recommended for then to be moving on, so Roze waited for Dani to pack up her whiteboard before standing up herself.
"Do you guys know what we have next? I hope it's as interesting as this morning; apparently some subjects are boring-" Roze trailed off in her sentence as the three of them exited the Great Hall, only to see a stew-soaked Wade about ten feet away in the corridor. He was giving Roze a glare much akin to a lion seeing a gazelle; a triumphant fury. For a moment, Roze felt fear, her hair lightening to show it. He must have noticed her laughing at him after the fish-stew incident. His wand was already raised, pointing directly at her. Roaring 'Diffindo', Roze was lifted off her feet and thrown backwards, a sharp tearing pain springing across her arm, which she had thrown up before her instinctively. Falling to her back and skidding a few feet backwards from the force of the curse, she clutched at her arm, blood trickling from the wound. From what she could see, it wasn't too deep, but it was enough to scare her, and cause enough pain for her previously pink curls to become an almost black colour. Panicking, she scrambled around for her wand as Wade walked forwards, ready for a second attack.

As they walked out of the great hall, Roze started to talk about subjects. One Daniel really liked was flying, he really hoped that was next. He was paying attention, but then Roze trailed off, looking a boy, drenched in fish stew. Oh No. That doesn't look good at all. It doesn't smell good either. The infuriated Slytherin roared an incantation, sending her flying backwards, with a gash on her arm.

"Roze! Daniel walked over to her, with his wand out just in case. The gash was small, but there was a lot of blood. Dan was infuriated at the Slytherin, but held his senses. The boy them shot another blast at Roze. Dan was quick enough to deflect it, sending it up into the ceiling(and protecting Roze. Wink wink), bursting with red.

"Dani, take Roze to Madam, whatever her name is. I'll take care of this."

Dan knew some spells, but he was a first up year, and didn't want any of them to go wrong, so he just flicked his wand a couple of times. Red bolts came out of them, but they were deflected by the Slytherin, as he backed up onto some stairs.

"You idiot! You think that's going to stop me?! Everte Statum!" Before Dan could act, he was shoved into a wall with immense force. The Slytherin was still on the stairs, which was good for him since he had the upper ground, but Dan knew a spell.

"Honestly, no I didn't, but this will! Glisseo!" Like he suspected the spell had a blooper, but, surprisingly, still worked. Kind of. Dan was shoved back into the wall, but, the stairs turned slippery, and the Slytherin upperclassman slipped and skidded down it. When he got to the end of the ramp, and stood up, he slipped again, and he fell down face first on the concrete floor, and got up with blood on his lip.

@MiddleEarthRoze@TaliPaendrag

In the corridor outside the great hall

“Diffindo!”

Wade’s pride had been hurt, and he had little in the way of honor. He set his eyes on the girl who had humiliated him… twice now. He felt as if he had no choice but to put her in her place. He had to show her, and everyone who had seen her humiliate him, that he was the one in control.

“Everte Statum!” This spell would bring pain to the one that tried to defend her. He was foolish to intercede on her behalf. He would pay the same price as she…

His brow furrowed, the boy had a good defense, yet his offense was lacking. The first year boy cast a spell that Wade didn’t recognize. Wade laughed at the boys failed efforts, but suddenly it seemed liek the stairs had a thick layer of butter upon them. He found himself slipping. He made sure not to drop his wand as he fell hard, his shoulders and legs hitting the edges of each step as he tumbled.

When he hit the ground he was ready to straighten and had the next curse upon his lips…

“Immobulus!”

A flash of light and a woman's voice. The old voice was thin and shrill, yet, commanded great power and respect. All four students would find themselves unable to move.

It was the Headmistress herself.

She walked quickly, her heels clicked on the stone floors and echoed through the too-quiet corridor. Seeing blood, she waved her wand and Roze and Dani would find themselves unfrozen.

“Miss Éathliel… Episkey!” The headmistress cast a small spell upon the wound. “That will stop most the bleeding for now, but you will need to visit Mrs. Longbottom to mend the rest properly.” She touched the arm gingerly inspecting the wound. “You are quite lucky that this wound is not more severe… Visit the hospital then my office as soon as you are well enough. Both of you."

She turned then, slowly, and set her eyes upon Wade and Dan. "I will unfreeze you. You will both hand me your wands. You will follow me to my office!” Her words were as certain as prophecy. She was livid. She seemed like a bending willow ready to snap, yet she kept her dignity and composure. She waved her wand and set both boys free. She held out her hand and waited for their compliance. Then she would lead them to her office and sit both of them down before her large oak desk.

“Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

Daniel gulped. He had to be the one to speak first, so that Wade wouldn't go ranting about lies to get him in trouble, but he was at a loss of words. He didn't want to point to wade and say 'he started it first' but, it was, true. He did start it first, he just needed a more refined way of saying that. Whatever, he just went for it. "Well, as me Roze, and Dani were walking to go to our next class, he intercepted us. He used a curse on Roze, and it was clear he wouldn't stop, so I tried to slow him down so that they could get to Mrs. Longbottom."

When he was finished Dan looked down at the floor. This was serious. His parents would no doubt be furious if they found out, which they probably will, and this was the headmistress giving punishment to them, she could do anything she wants, worse than detention. Dan tilted his head to the Slytherin boy, who did not give a response, and the headmistress was clearly waiting for his side of the story.

She regarded Dan without sympathy or empathy for his case.

"Do you know why there are laws for under-aged wizardry? It is because magic is not a toy it is a tool. A very dangerous tool. You think what you did was admirable. In truth you are lucky you did not hurt yourself or your friends. Yesterday on the train, one of your classmates attempted a spell. He sent himself and another student straight to the infirmary!" She placed Dan's wand gingerly on the desk. "I will give this back to you before your detention this evening. I am not so cruel as to send you into the forbidden forest empty handed. I will return it to you with the absolute expectation that you will not perform or attempt any spells outside your classes."

Then she turned to Wade.

"I didn't start it. I always finish it. You know me Headmistress." He mouth was a hard line. There was no remorse inside Wade.

"I will be keeping your wand for awhile longer. I would like to meet with you and your team mates tonight to discuss the full extent of your punishment. That is all for the moment." When Minerva finished speaking, Wade stomped out of the office. Leaving the Headmistress and Dan alone.

"I did not expect to see you back in my office so soon, though, perhaps I should not be surprised." Her face softened. "Mister Arrowmyner... You have been through a terrible ordeal. It is certainly not the ideal time to find yourself in a strange new environment with new freedoms and responsibilities... Yet, we do as we must." She was, of course, referring to the death of his mother.

"It is not unusual for children... Or even adults to lash out at others under such duress. That is no excuse for you behavior, mind you, but I do understand." She placed Dan and Wade's wand in a desk drawer. "If you feel the need we can arrange for you to speak with someone about how you are feeling. I think it would help you work through your grief and transition into your new life here at Hogwarts."

Daniel fully understood the punishment he was given. Having his wand taken away is one thing, but the Forbidden Forest, that was another. How could she do that. Dan knew she had the power to, but why must she. That wasn't a detention, that was like a death penalty, on the first day. Well, at least she was giving his wand back to them. He nodded to the headmistress in acknowledgement, awaiting to hear the Slytherin's punishment.

Of course, he had to make a smirk remark, probably extending the punishment he was supposed to be given. When he marched of infuriated, the professor turned to him and spoke. She delved deeper into a subject, he knew she would, but hoped she hadn't. It was hard for him to hear someone talk about it, but now to talk about it himself.

"Thank you, but I'd rather not. I-it would b-be to hard for me to talk about it. I-I'd rather just keep it t-to myself." Dam s on the verge of crying, but he held it in, long enough to be dismissed and go wipe his tears with his robes.

Next he had to go to class, which, according to his schedule was flying. He made his way down some corridors, and out to where it was being held. He saw that many stragglers still getting there, and that he was not to late. He wiped the remaining tears from his eyes, and walked out. (@Eyeris where exactly?)