Morticia, who somehow vanished after Marvo's departure, suddenly appears together with her father, Mr Lagrand, Ambassador to the French ministry of magic who looks much like Morticia herself: small, slim, with fair skin and black hair. Morticia's arm is all in bandages from her fingers till the elbow, it seems, and she looks a bit drowsy and also as if she'd been crying.
"Hiya there, guys." She forces a smile. "Madam Pomfrey thinks I'm going to keep scars." She makes a face. "You could have lost your arm there, dear," her father says and strokes her head. "Be happy it's just scars. Hello, Niki Pheidippides, aren't you? You're as pretty as your father told me." He flashes an amiable smile at Niki and the other Slytherins.
Suddenly another figure appears, a boy, somewhat older than Morticia, very handsome and tall with fair blonde hair. Several students recognise him - it is Nathan, Morticia's older brother.
"Ah, here you two are!" he exclaims and beams at Niki as his father introduces her. "Pleased to meet you." He looks swiftly through the room, recognising some faces and frowning as he sees Kat, but only for a split second. Then he turns to the Slytherins again. "I'm joining Hogwarts," he declares with his softest smile, "Father thinks it's better not to leave Tishy alone after all that has happened."
Morticia grimaces at being called 'Tishy'. "I've already been sorted into Slytherin, so I guess I'll see the lot of you quite often during the next few years..."
"Nat, why don't you try to meet some of your classmates?" his father interrupts him. Nathan agrees and wanders off to find some Slytherin 5th years, while Mr Lagrand leaves Morticia with her friends to talk to Dumbledore.
Madison, noticing Dylan, was about to introduce herself to the new Gryffindor, then decided against it. He was soon surrounded by a group of Slytherins, and didn't look too comfortable. She watched everything quietly, sitting apart from the others to avoid any confrontation. *Delaying the inevitable,* she thought to herself.
Seeing Madison, Niki turns away from Dylan and the others, and approaches Morticia. "Your arm's going to be okay, isn't it?" she says nervously. "I was talking to that new Gryffindor boy, but then *she* came over. I just couldn't stand seeing her..."
Overhearing, Mr. Pheidippides pulls his daughter to the side. "Nicola," he says angrily, "you can't blame Miss Avalon for what happened! It wasn't her fault. I have spoken with Professor Dumbledore-"
"If they can blame Marvo for saving our lives, they can damn well blame *her* for killing my brother!" She turns away, back to Morticia. "Have you met Mr. Fudge's daughter?"
"Uhm... no, haven't met her yet. I have to see Madam Pomfrey twice an hour, so I've been running through Hogwarts instead of getting to know people. My arm... is going to keep working." She forces a smile. "But as I said, I'm going to keep scars, as it seems. Do you really think they'll trouble Maddy? But where are my manners! Hello, Mr. Pheidippides! How are you?"
Mr. Pheidippides smiles at Morticia. "It's quite all right. I'm used to Nicola abandoning me at a moment's notice to go with her friends..." He bursts out laughing at his daughter's face, then apologises. "Nicola, you really ought to talk to Miss Avalon..."
"Maybe sometime," Niki replies. "I'm really sorry to hear that about your arm," she adds.
"Oh, it's nothing," Morticia lies. "Niki, you should meet my brother, I think you arrived after he was here to visit me, didn't you?"
At that moment, she overhears the inter-house quarrels somewhere else in the room and storms off without another word.
***************
Madison, overhearing, kept her eyes on the ground. She was going to miss Marvo, but she had hope that he'd be okay. They should understand what he had to do, under the circumstances...Madison raised her eyes and looked around the room, feeling a sense of dread. "These are the people I'll have to face for the rest of the year," she said very quietly to herself.
Lee wasn't back from home yet, and she had found it oddly comforting to talk to herself. "They all think they're above me...especially Niki..." She began to feel angry. "They think it's all my fault...they'll never understand..."
She glared at the ground, wishing none of this ever happened. "Screw this!" She stood up and headed for the door.
Ember stood as Madison started to stalk past her and put a hand softly on her shoulder. "The Imperious Curse is almost impossible to resist," she murmured. "You can't blame yourself. You weren't in control of your own actions. As for Nicola she lost her brother and needs someone she can blame for it, someone to bitch at and be horrid to, to make her feel better about it. It's harsh, but try not to take it too personally. I know that's easier to say than to do, but it's the only advice I can give. I hope it helps even a little."
She shook her head, her auburn hair swinging in a long curtain on either side of her face. "The last thing
we need right now is to be enemies with each other..."
Yvette winked, grinning again and looking almost like her normal self. "They'll probably skin him alive! We'd better!"
"Maddy..." Yvette looked at her quietly, shaking her head very slightly. She couldn't leave her friend alone to deal...especially with all of these Slytherins around. "Don't go..."
She watched her face for a moment, then her silver eyes flicked to look at her mother. She winced, seeing M. Lagrand around. "Oh, dear..."
Madison gave Ember and Yvette a small smile. "Thanks...both of you." She felt her anger dying away. "I just don't know what to do now..." At least now she knew that she had two friends who wouldn't bail on her. She looked around again. "We should go introduce ourselves to the new Gryffindor...he looks a little awkward there. But then I would too, if I was a Gryffindor surrounded by Slytherins."
Winifred lurked about the Great Hall after the awards ceremony. She looked around for someone to talk to, but everyone seemed engrossed in their current conversations. She wondered if there was going to be a continuation of the ball or if a Hogsmeade visit was approaching.
Continuing her scan of the room, she noticed that Ayumi wasn't talking to anyone either. She made her way over to her. "Hello Ayumi. Ogenki desu ka?" she inquired, apparently surprising Ayumi by speaking in Japanese.
Ayumi had been quietly sitting by herself after the awards, carefully surveying her new surroundings, as well as watching the students in the main hall. Although not an avid eavesdropper, she was mentally taking notes on each student by listening in on their conversations. After a while, she kind of dazed off, wondering if this Hogwarts was really all it was made up to be......Living on the other side of the world, she hadn't heard quite as much about the school as she would have presently liked.
But when Winifred came over, she immediately snapped into consciousness, and stared wide eyed for a moment when she heard her own native tongue being spoken. "Aaa--ah...." she stammered. "Eh...Genki desu!" Ayumi smiled, and inquired, "It's Winifred, right? Say, what house are you in?" She was hoping desperately that this one person kind enough to approach 'the new kid' was in Gryffindor, the house she had just been sorted into.....
"Well, I'm in Slytherin. It's not really as bad as rumour makes it out to be. Have you been sorted yet?" asked Winifred. She was feeling a bit uneasy because of some of the heated conversations that were taking place around her.
"Yes exactly! I'm Peesey the friendly Slytherin after all! and it's not what house you're in that I'm bothered about, it's the individual!" Peesemould said with an air of 'I'm a Psychiatrist'.
Arcadia listens to Peesemould speech wide eyed. 'Wow. He is forceful isn't he? And clever too. Is he a Prefect?' she says in a whisper to whoever happens to be standing near her. Pantalaimon looks up at her.
***********
The fact that he was indeed surrounded by Slytherins or Slytherin sympathisers made Dylan even more uncomfortable than he had been before, a fact that slightly amused him for he hadn't wagered that to be possible. His blue-grey eyes hardened a little as he watched, silent, his hands hitched in the pockets of his robe.
Niki grins at him. "Don't worry, Dylan! We won't bite your head off. At least... I won't."
"Hello! Who are you?" Peesey says to Arcadia (obviously he doesn't know who you are!) "I am glad that you've been sorted into Slytherin! That is true that ALL Gryffindors are show offs! They are FAR too big for their own boots" (Not knowing Dylan's house) As Nikki pulls out her kitten Peesey says "He's nice"
When Sarah comes over he says "Hi! I bet you're glad to see the back of Marvo! I definitely glad to say 'goodbye' But Nikki here says that we should praise him for what he did! Enjoy your sleep?" He finishes running out of breath!
At that, Dylan, who had been bristling before at the Gryffindor slights, finally snapped. "You watch yer mouth! You've got no right t' talk about Gryffindor like tha'! Greasy, no-account Slytherin!"
His hands were clenched into fists as he growled at Peesey, and his blue-grey eyes were ablaze with fury. There was no mistaking Dylan's loyalties now.
Before Peesey left he said to Dylan "Now, now! Don't get your little Gryffindor head in a twist! You don't want to be expelled on your first day, now do you?"
Overhearing, Niki couldn't resist. "I wouldn't say *all* Gryffindors are show-offs," she drawled, "any more than all Slytherin's are, what was it you said? Greasy? It'd be awful for you to make a bunch of enemies on your first day here, and that's exactly what you're doing."
The CLANG! of the ramrod going down Ember Hawthorne's spine was all but audible. Drawing herself up to her full height (5'9"), she walked forward, black robe billowing, her heels clacking on the floor of the Great Hall in a martial rhythm, and took Dylan's arm.
"Come on with us, sugar. You don't need to be hangin' 'round a bunch of back-biting two-timing no-good snakes anyhow." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the Slytherin students. "And as for me being in Slytherin? I'd rather kiss the north end of a southbound blast-ended skrewt for the next three years. There are obviously some of your number who have a bit of honour--" she looked after Morticia before redirecting her acidic stare on Niki and Peesemould--"but the vast majority of you wouldn't know how to act decent if someone paid you for it."
She spun on her heel, her autumn-red hair spilling around her, and headed back towards Madison and Yvette with Dylan in tow.
Fuming, Dylan allowed himself to be dragged along. He realised full well that it wouldn't do him at all to be scrapping on the first day back to school. After all, he'd fought enough in his previous two years here. He supposed missing a term eliminated some memories. He knew better also to try to explain anything now; all he could do was cursed softly in Welsh as Ember hauled him away.
Yvette laughed under her breath, and smiled at the new kid with her eyebrows raised slightly. "I must say, Ember, with you and him around, we'll never have to worry about using our fists. Tongues are worse!" Her silver eyes widened as she grinned.
"Sorry about the outburst." Ember shook back her curtain of auburn hair. "I can't STAND people who think they're better than everybody else is all. I'm afraid I inherited my mama's temper." She flashed a friendly smile at Dylan. "I hope you don't think I'm too forward, but you did look like you needed a bit of rescue--and don't mind Peesemould, he's got more mouth than sense."
Peesey hearing this comment twirls round "Oh and you would know! You've been here for soooooooo long!"
They ignored him of course.
"Hi, I'm Maddy...No doubt you've heard about me already..." Madison introduced, smiling at Dylan. "I'm not a bad guy, and I won't kill you. Any questions?" She was only half joking.
"Really!" Peesemould shouted at Ember. "How dare you say that we've no honour! I doubt if anyone remembers, but when Riala was accused of Joss' murder, I stood by her! And, now, when Maddi has been overcome by the curse, and SHE killed Joss, but not of her own will! And now I still say that if she could have stopped what she was doing then she would have done! I'm not blaming her or anyone else for what happened."
He then went quite quiet and stared, then said "Where is Riala anyway?" He then snapped out of it. He turned his attention to Arcadia, "Are you alright?" Without waiting for an answer stared at something different. It was a dark shape. "What is that?" He said cautiously.
Arcadia beams at Peesemould when he speaks to her and again flicks her hair.
"Oh.. I'm fine.... I...I'm just worried I may have given the wrong impression is all. I do so much want to be liked. My brother made me so miserable at my old school, spreading all sorts of horrible rumours about me, and trying to get me blamed for all the horrible things he did'
She sniffs and smiles, then as Peesemould turns to look at the shadow she frowns. 'Is it one of your Ghosts? I hear you have a lot here?'
At this point Sarah caught sight of the Prefect whom she'd had such a good time with at the Yule Ball, and excused herself from the Slytherin group. "Catch you later guys. Maybe Ravenclaw isn't so bad after all. I mean you do have Snape as Head of House and he's so strict whereas Flitwick is a great deal easier to manipulate in oh so many ways."
She winked at Peesey and bounced off to see her friend.
As Sarah had wandered off towards the 'boy', Arcadia had leant in closer to Peesemould. 'Hey. Is that the girl who, you know, killed those students?' She secretly points towards Madison.
Morticia hears this and calls out furiously: "No, she isn't! It was this evil wizard who put her under one of the Unforgivable Curses! Can't you all just leave Maddy alone?"
Nathan appears next to her and whispers something about 'manners' and 'appropriate behaviour', but Tish only shrugs and walks off, leaving him standing there. He glares after her and then goes back to his new Slytherin 5th year friends.
"Well spoken," Ember called over to Morticia. "I'm glad that someone has the intelligence to realise someone who's controlled can't be held responsible for their actions." Her aqua eyes swept over Nicola and Peesemould, sparking with electric anger. "If SHE isn't blaming Madison, the rest of you have no right to either."
Peesemould looks shocked at what this new student has to say cause she wasn't there at the time. "Morticia's right! She didn't kill anyone! I'd like to see you break that curse!" After this he stands up and walks off to the other side of the hall. He bumps into Winifred.(Not the only linguist) "Oh, hello! How are you?" He then sees Ayumi and says "Yes, ges denki deska?"
"Oh, PLEASE! All of you, just SHUT UP!" yelled Morticia, "I can't stand this stupid my-house-is-better-than-yours for just one more second! Joss is DEAD! Maddie was cursed! Marvo is gone! And you guys war about stupid houses at school as if it was the most important thing on earth!"
Morticia has problems getting a grip on herself again. From the other end of the room, her father is looking at her with a clearly shocked expression -he isn't used to his little sweet darling girl behaving like this. "You guys make me sick!" she hisses, glaring at Peesey. "I'm gonna find Kat, poor little thing!"
Arcadia considers the situation carefully, then seems to change her attitude instantly, her does not look so self confident now, an air of 'lost little girl' appears over her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I'm new here and didn't realise they way things are. My brother told me that the houses hated each other, and that if I wanted to get on with people I should act like that. It's not like me at all really, please. I'm sorry"
She looks like she is about to burst into tears. The wolf cub whimpers at her side.
Andy was sick of hearing all the nonsense about the "battle" of the houses, and when Ember went mad he hit the roof. He began to think about Marvo and how Kat was handling things. He desperately wanted to talk to her, but he had no idea where she went after talking with Marvo. He couldn't believe so much had happened in such little time. He felt tiered. Classes would be starting soon, but he had a feeling no one would be attending them.
Then all of a sudden Andy's owl, Skieth, flew in the room. They hadn't seen each other since yesterday morning. But what Andy noticed was that Skieth had mail in his claw. He took the letter, opened it, and read the contents inside. After about five minutes of reading rather sloppy handwriting, he folded up the letter and put it in his robe. Now he really needed to talk to Kat.
As Randal walked across the room. He spotted his sister doing her 'I'm actually really innocent, my brother is guilty' act. He could tell just by the way she moved and looked. He caught the eye of the wolf with her and his yellow eyes locked with Pantalaimon's eyes. He was lost for a minute and then the wolf turn her back on him with what could only be called disdain. Randal ignored the wolf's attitude. "I will deal with them later," he mumbled.
However, seeing the owl go to a boy standing on his own, he decided to go introduce himself. Here was someone who at least looked like he had no cats lurking around, although he was obviously looking a little anxious. He smoothed his shoulder length blond hair, which was trying to escape from it's leather tie again, straightened his posture a little, and looking more the young good looking boy than the sinister corner lurker he approached Andy.
"Hello. I thought I'd introduce myself. Don't you feel outnumbered here with all these girls? Could have a bit of fun with so many!" He smiled at Andy.
"Yes," said Andy. "I know. Way too many girls, but I'm sure that won't cause a problem."
He laughed. There was something about Randal that made him loosen up, yet he had no idea what it was. "Why don't you sit down?" he asked pointing to the chair next to him.
Randal grinned at Andy. "Thanks. I'm Randal by the way. I only arrived this term. For some reason my dad decided to move my sister and I to Hogwarts. Although why I couldn't say. That's my sister over there." He pointed to the good-looking blond with the snow wolf.
"She's showing off again. She never seems to get enough attention. I didn't catch your name by the way..."
"My name's Andy," he said. "Andy Warden." He looked across the room and saw Randal's sister. He'd introduce himself later. "Did you just arrive here last night?" he asked pushing his hair away from his eyes.
"Yep. We arrived quite late so this is the first chance we have to meet anyone. So was that your own owl that brought you that letter? I hear there is quite extensive housing for owls. I have no idea what to do with my Shadow though. He really doesn't like all these big birds."
"Yea," Andy replied. "That was Skieth, my owl. He's stubborn but we get along."
Andy looks to see where Skieth had gone. "Looks like he left to go eat. That's all he ever does. That and sleep. Just like his owner," Andy laughs. "I'm teasing you. What say we go join the others?"
Passing by, Niki says to Andy and Randal. "Hi," she says shyly, "I thought I might introduce myself? I'm Nicola Pheidippides. You're Randal Fudge, aren't you?" She smiles, slightly embarrassed to be coming over and introducing herself to a complete stranger.
"Hey Niki," said Andy. "I was just talking to Randal about Hogwarts. How have you been holding up?"
Niki shrugs. "What do you expect? I'm not on the verge of a nervous breakdown, if that's what you mean." She turns to Randal. "I don't know how much Andy's told you, but my brother was... killed a few weeks ago, last term. I've only been here for a few days total," she confesses, "so I don't know much about the castle either."