[x] Gryffindor
[x] Gryffindor
Yeah change my vote to:
[x] Gryffindor
[x] Leaning Gryffindor, but open to other houses.
"I..." Hermione began, only to trail off. "I'm not actually sure. Gryffindor would be nice, since it was the house the Headmaster came from and all, as well as the house of the Potters, who ended the war. But..."
"But?" Ana echoed.
"I like books. A lot. And I think Ravenclaw might be a better place for me? Or maybe Slytherin, since my parents always told me to make the world a better place than I left it, and to change the world, I need power."
"Not Hufflepuff then?"
"...I don't really understand why there's one house that's dedicated to hard work," Hermione replied, her brow furrowing as she said this. "Shouldn't everyone be working hard to reach their dreams?"
"Not everyone thinks that way," Ana responded. "Many people just want to get by as best they can, with as little effort as they can. People with no ambition, people who are brilliant but lazy, it's not exactly rare, you know?"
"...well, that's true," Hermione assented, recalling those sorts in her primary school years. "How about you, Ana? What House?"
"Oh, probably Slytherin, though I'm not set on it," the blonde answered immediately. "It's just that my grandfather did tell me that being on good terms with Professor Slughorn could be useful later on. That, and I've always wanted to see just how the Slytherin dorms look. I hear they extend under the lake, so all you see outside the window is water. Well, and the occasional merman. Or mermaid."
"Mermaid?" the Japanese boy echoed, his ears having picked up on something interesting. "They...they're not just found at sea?"
"Well, the beautiful ones are. Usually in the warmer parts, too. The ones in the Black Lake are not nearly so pretty. Even if they don't use seashells to cover themselves up."
"I...uh, I wasn't thinking about that at all!" Shinji protested, though his tomato red face belied his true thoughts.
Hermione blinked.
"...you know a lot of things."
"I've traveled a great deal with my grandfather," Ana related grandly. "I've been to six of the seven continents of the world, been on adventures in places from Timbuktu to El Dorado." She paused, her voice growing quiet as she looked out the window, noting how the train had begun to move. "I've seen things most people wouldn't believe. Ships aflame on a sunless sea. Spells woven of light and song shining in eternal night. A flight of dragons taking flight at the first hint of dawn. So many moments, and yet, here I am once more, coming to this place, this place from which there is no escape..."
"...escape?" Shinji echoed, his expression almost owlish as he regarded the blonde. "Why would you want to escape?" For him, after all, a chance to gain power was a chance to gain power, so why would anyone want to run away from that?
"Because this place is mired in a past where I don't belong," Ana murmured. "To them, when the war ended, everything was fine, because things were how they were before. And yet, the way it was before was what led to the war. Voldemort or his ilk were terrible, true, but without things being as they were, their message would not have taken root or flourished."
"What...are you saying?"
"That I think there will be another war sooner or later in Britain," Ana stated blandly. "Maybe not tomorrow, or next year, but in the next decade or two. Because the Ministry failed to do what was necessary...as did the Headmaster."
"What was...necessary?"
"...that's something for another time," the blonde said after a few long seconds. "My apologies. I have strong feelings on the matter."
"No, no that's...fine," Shinji responded, reddening as the blonde graced him with a smile.
"And you then, Sir Knight? Which House for you?"
"...Ravenclaw or Slytherin," came the answer. "Knowledge is power, but then, so is power itself."
"Very true."
What next?
[ ] Remain in the compartment with them - there's more to ask
[ ] Take a nap, it's safe and quiet
[ ] Ask Matou to unseal the door so they can roam the Hogwarts Express
Last edited by alfheimwanderer; October 9th, 2018 at 05:00 AM.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[x] Ask Matou to unseal the door so they can roam the Hogwarts Express
[x] Remain in the compartment with them - there's more to ask
Thought I do not mind the roaming around option.
[x] Remain in the compartment with them - there's more to ask
[x] Remain in the compartment with them - there's more to ask
Note: In the event of a tie in this quest, the more conservative/passive option will be given priority. This is done to expedite votes, so we don't end up in no man's land for several days, or need me to just mash options up.
What questions does she have for Matou? (choose two)
[ ] Ask about his dreams
[ ] Ask about his benefactor
[ ] Ask about his childhood
[ ] Ask about the types of magic he likes best
[ ] (write-in)
What about for Ana?
[ ]Ask what its like to be a noble
[ ] Ask about her favorite places in the world
[ ] Ask about what it was like to grow up with magic
[ ] Ask if she can show off a spell or two, since Matou already did
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[ ] Ask about his dreams
[ ] Ask about his benefactor
[ ] Ask about her favorite places in the world
[ ] Ask about what it was like to grow up with magic
You know what, I will second skulkidcachi90 votes here. I don't mind them. It is better than asking Shinji about his family or childhood.
[ ] Ask about his dreams
[ ] Ask about his benefactor
[ ] Ask about her favorite places in the world
[ ] Ask about what it was like to grow up with magic
[x] Ask about his dreams
[x] Ask about his benefactor
[x] Ask about her favorite places in the world
[x] Ask about what it was like to grow up with magic
Shinji: [x] Ask about his dreams; [x] Ask about his benefactor
Ana: [x] Ask about her favorite places in the world; [x] Ask about what it was like to grow up with magic
"Is...is that what you dream of?" Hermione asked the boy. "Power?"
"...is it so wrong to want power?" he replied, peering at her with slate gray eyes filled with something like sorrow. "When living without it is like being a powerless corpse, doomed to rot away?" He frowned, looking down. "I won't go back to that. I won't." His fists clenched as his body stiffened, as if he was remembering something horrible, with Hermione's heart throbbing at the sight. "I won't," he whispered.
Hermione desperately tried to think of something to say - anything at all, but the words wouldn't come. The pain in his voice, the determination and grit...it was like she could feel it, and her mouth went try at the enormity of the emotions pouring off of him.
"I..." she began, only for her voice to falter.
"Then you don't have to," Ana said in her place, with Shinji turning to the blonde with a look of shock as her fingers lightly brushed his fist. "Take that feeling, and hold onto it. Let it become your power, as your yourself become glorious."
"Glorious..." Shinji repeated dully. "Me...?"
"And why not?" the blonde asked warmly. "Imagining something is the first step of making it real, is it not? To see - to believe - that is the basis of magic. If you cannot convince yourself, how will you convince the world."
"Convince...huh." The boy's hmm seemed thoughtful. "You may be right."
"I often am," Ana replied, with the boy smiling despite himself at her words.
"Um, so who is your benefactor, anyway?" Hermione blurted out, feeling that she had to say something - anything, so that the two didn't get lost in one another.
Shinji jerked at her voice, blinking as he took a breath.
"She is the Second Owner of the Spiritual Land of Fuyuki," the Japanese boy said slowly. "A...she makes sure the secret of magic is kept."
"How interesting. I would have thought that to be the job of the Council?" Ana questioned.
"Not in Fuyuki," Shinji said simply.
"Ah, so it's a special region, then?"
"...yes." Clearly the boy had more to say, but just as clearly, he wasn't about to say it. "You said...you have been around the world."
"Yes. What of it?"
"What is your favorite place?" the boy asked the blonde girl, wondering what she would say. Perhaps she would say Egypt. Perhaps she would prefer the shores of America. Perhaps she would say something like France or--
"The Isle of Thule."
--or the Isle of Thule, whatever that was.
"The isle of...?"
"It's a mysterious place where the Finals of the Wizarding Schools Potions Competition is held every seven years, with fierce beasts, terrible magics, and wonders one can only imagine. To go to it, one must be a Champion of a competing school, or one of the very few staff or guests."
"You...you were a guest?" Shinji inquired, with Ana nodding quietly.
"I was, thanks to my grandfather, who was a special judge that year," the blonde noted. The Japanese boy's eyes widened, but he only nodded. "I admit, my childhood hasn't been the most normal, because of him, but it's been a good one."
"A magical one?"
"Well, even magic isn't everything, Sir Knight. Even those of us who know how to wave a wand around have troubles, you know? Just different ones."
Hermione remains with the group for the rest of the way to Hogwarts, with questions being tossed back and forth, mostly between Ana and Shinji, though the brunette manages to sneak a word in now and then. Yet as the train pulls into Hogsmeade Station and the boy undoes the seal on the door, with the figure becoming a stone bird once more and flying into his hand, the brunette wonders whether or not she should meet some others on the walk to the Castle.
What does Hermione do?
[ ] Stay with Ana and Shinji - they seem like good people
[ ] Bid them goodbye and find another group - since she has the chance, she should make new friends
[ ] Walk alone with her thoughts
[ ] Help out the poor boy looking desperately for his lost toad
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[X] Bid them goodbye and find another group - since she has the chance, she should make new friends
Might as well. Thought I could also get behind the her being self-reflective option.
[ ] Walk alone with her thoughts
[ ] Walk alone with her thoughts
[x] Walk alone with her thoughts
Stepping off the train, surrounded by chattering, excited students, Hermione Granger felt almost lost, she walked, accompanied only by her thoughts. Her conversations with the enigmatic Matou Shinji (who craved power, but didn't seem to be a bad person, unlike what her parents had always said about power-hungry politicians), and with Ana Spencer (who was related to royalty, and with whom Matou seemed much more comfortable speaking than her), had made her realize just how out of her depth she was.
Ana had seen through her in a moment, identifying her as someone who hadn't been born into a magical family, despite all of the reading she'd done. The blonde was well-meaning, she was sure, but it made her feel...inadequate, as if she was a leaf, being carried out to sea, adrift on the ocean's grey waves.
So now she was playing with her wand, rolling it around, with a stone wreathed with blue flames moving through the air in odd patterns as she did, doing figure eights, loop de loops and more.
How high could the stone rise, she wondered? She didn't know, and so kept sending the stone higher and higher and higher, until it was out of sight.
"And upon whose head will you bring that down?" came a voice near her ear, with Hermione almost yelping as she turned, the tip of her wand slashing down as a flaming stone hurtled from the heavens with a vengeance, causing a tree some distance behind them to all but explode from the impact, with the eyes of the person - an aristocratic blond, flanked by two rather...substantial boys - who'd spoken to her going wide as he heard the noise.
The half-giant leading the pack of students called for a halt as he went off to investigate, with the group of first years descending into chaos as they milled about, wondering what had caused the explosion.
Or at least, most of them wondered.
"...wicked," the blond stated, glancing behind him to see that a tree had collapsed. "You're clearly someone worth knowing."
"Why?" Hermione asked, trying not to look guilty - and failing. "I...I didn't do anything."
"So you didn't make a rock hover in the air just now, and then send it down upon a defenseless tree?" the boy questioned, his eyebrows going up.
Hermione, not wanting to confirm her guilt aloud, fidgeted. Or rather, she signed "Do you understand me" in British Sign Language - which effectively was what Rune Sign Language seemed to be based on, with the blond's eyes growing yet wider as he blinked, before he signed back the "Yes."
"...you...you can sign?" she asked, taken aback.
The boy signed that his father had taught him, and asked where she had learned.
"My aunt," she said aloud, with the blond nodding approvingly, signing that blood was important, to which she agreed, as without her family, she would be nowhere. "Hermione Granger," she added, by way of a belated introduction.
"Draco Malfoy," the blond replied easily. "About what happened before - it will be our little secret, hm?"
Hermione couldn't help but smile as she nodded.
She couldn't help but think she'd made her first real friend.
What does she talk about with Draco?
[ ] What he expected from Hogwarts
[ ] Who the two boys following him around are
[ ] The half-giant and the dangers of non-human races
[ ] If he met anyone else interesting
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[ ] If he met anyone else interesting
[x] If he met anyone else interesting
[x] If he met anyone else interesting
The golden haired boy's expression faltered for a moment at the question, his eyes glancing over at a fairly distinct purple-haired girl in the center of a gaggle of others. Hermione glanced over to see the dusky skin girl turn and meet her eyes with an eerie violet gaze for a moment, nodding in acknowledgement before she turned back.
'...no way. She shouldn't have noticed me looking over just now.' Still, she had. Somehow.
"Her name is Sokaris," Draco muttered quietly. "A Ravenclaw that one, but with all the cunning of a proper Slytherin. She's from Egypt."
"Egypt?" Hermione echoed. "Does that mean...she's paying her own fees?" the girl wondered aloud, wondering if Sokaris was from a wealthy family. Dressed in black Hogwarts robes, everyone seemed equal enough, but the way the purple-haired girl carried herself...it was as if she was always aware of what was around her, and utterly unconcerned about it. "Aren't they expensive?"
"Not for the International Confederation," Draco muttered. "At least that's who I think is paying her way. Father tells me that Hogwarts' curriculum is up for review this year, so foreigners will be tramping all about the school." He smiled slightly. "Heh, maybe they'll get rid of this Defense nonsense and let us learn the Dark Arts properly again, like Durmstrang."
"Durmstrang, huh?" the brunette echoed."Yeah. Almost went there, but Mother didn't want me to be so far away." Hermione thought that Draco choosing to stay closer to home meant he was a rather good person really. But the boy was speaking again. "Did you want to go somewhere else?"
"...no, just Hogwarts."
"Ah, well, best magical school in the world, some say," Draco said winsomely. "As long as you don't count how history class is taught by a ghost."
"A ghost?" the girl echoed. "Can a ghost even teach?"
"Not well," the blonde replied. "Father was most insistent that Professor Binns be removed before the inspection team came, lest he bore them to death and we all be accused of murder."
Hermione giggled at the boy's joke. "Well, we can't have that, can we?"
"No, we can't all be Hagrid, after all," Draco said quietly, noting the half-giant tramping by. "They say he was expelled, years ago, only escaping Azkaban at the bidding of Dumbledore. Just shows that when you have power like that, the rules are more of a suggestion."
The girl blinked.
"It certainly seems that way," was all she allowed herself to say.
After some further walking, taking boats across the lake and such, the First Years finally enter the Great Hall, where the Sorting begins. The hat is placed on her head, and a voice sounds...
'What did you dream of becoming when you were small?'
[ ] A solicitor
[ ] A lauded professor
[ ] A bestselling author
[ ] A journalist
[ ] (write-in)
Last edited by alfheimwanderer; October 13th, 2018 at 10:13 AM.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[ ] A bestselling author
[X] A solicitor
No way am I picking the bestselling author here. Hermione is already far too much JKR's self-insert without wanting to be an author as well.
Solicitor sounds just like Hermione to me. Someone that reads way way too much law books and memorizes all of them and then goes around trying to convince everyone in hearing range that she is right.
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