Ravenclaw Common Room: 2nd Term
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"If a bunch of us are staying, we should have some sort of a holiday party in the common room! I bet we could have lots of fun!"
As they talked, Aderyn shifted back into a seated position and dug through her bag, pulling out some parchment and a quill. Chewing her lip as she considered what she was going to say, she began writing a letter to her father. She knew he would miss her during the holidays, but she also knew that he would be proud of her for wanting to stay behind and "study" so that she could continue doing well.
() Gaia felt a little guilty convincing her friend to stay, but was happy she would not be alone. "Speaking of staying I wonder if Charlotte and Fade ( ) will stay. I could ask dad to send me some sweets from Diagon Alley and we can order from Honeydukes!" Gaia made a note to remind herself on the parchment and then stopped "You know Beth might know who might be staying! I wonder when she will be able to come to the common room." ()
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"I'll get us some Christmas crackers! Dad always has a bunch at home for us on Christmas, and I'm sure he'd be happy for us to have them. I'll have to order presents, too! I wonder if we can nip off to Hogsmeade for a bit before Christmas, maybe do a bit of shopping there."
Aderyn scrawled the letter to her father, wrapping it up and tying it closed with a bit of ribbon she'd conjured. She set it aside so that she could bring it up to the owlery later and have Hygieia deliver it home.
() "Oh! I wonder if we could too! We could ask the headmistress. We have the permit from our parents. Maybe Beth as a head girl can go with us! Either way I will make a list for Honeydukes and sent it with Athena. Get some sweets here. I'll be right back I am going to the kitchens and see if I can request some foods for us from the house elves. That would be fun." Gaia jumped from her chair and to the door. She left everything a mess where it was. She was sure Aderyn would keep watch she just hoped she didn't see the gift list hidden between parchments and books.
Aderyn waved off as the other girl headed down to the kitchens and stood from her chair. While there were a few decorations already up - the typical tree and garlands - she wanted to make the room a little more festive. She'd been practicing some spells on her own in her spare time and there was one she wanted to try. Pulling out her charms textbook, she flipped to the page she needed and muttered the spell quietly to herself a few times, rehearsing the wand movement. Once she was confident she had it, she stood and pointed her wand at the ceiling.
"Creas Nix!"
A jet of brilliant white light shot from the end of her wand and exploded like a firework below the ceiling. As the light cleared, in its wake was the illusion of snow falling inside the common room, similarly to how the great hall ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky. She grinned and squealed in excitement. The charm would only last a couple of hours, at best, but now that she knew she could do it, she could just do it again whenever the need arose.
() A few minutes later Gaia walked in to the common room muttering to herself about forgetting her lists. How could she remember things without her trusty list. She really hoped she asked for everything they would need. At least she knew the house elves would always give her extra stuff. Then she suddenly stopped when she saw the white flurries coming down and looked at Aderyn in awe "Was that you?" Gaia started the gramophone with Holiday music and started twirling around.
Aderyn grinned as returned, nodding enthusiastically.
"I did it! I'm not overly good at dueling, but I can handle charms pretty well!"
She sat on the arm of the chair she'd been occupying before, watching the snowflakes fall and disappear around them in midair, enjoying the heat from the fireplace.
() "So much fun! I hope your dad is okay with you staying!" Gaia twirled some more avoiding someone's sleeping pet.
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"He'll be fine with it if I tell him it's for studying! I saw him earlier this term anyway, when he came to give that guest lecture on healing magic."
She moved towards the fire and crouched down beside it, smiling as she enjoyed its warmth. She wasn't good at dealing with the cold and as the winter rolled in, the castle became a little chilly for her tastes so she relished the heat of the fire.
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"OH! I almost forgot! I brought us some stuff from the kitchens! I figured we could have some food here since the common room is so quiet." Gaia went back to where she had stopped when walking in. She had completely forgotten everything about it. "I got some sandwiches, pumpkin juices, chips, and brownies! Wimpy the house-elf said he would bring us hot chocolate and cookies later!" Knowing the house elves by name was an advantage. Gaia was sometimes surprised she didn't end up a Hufflepuff with how much she loves the kitchens. It would have been a very convenient placement. Setting the trade on the chair Aderyn was sitting she moved the small table to hold the tray. "We can sit by the fire. I have to do some assignments and work on the club research."
"That sounds fantastic! Thanks!"
Aderyn shifted her bag out of the way as Gaia moved the table over, she glanced at the spread on the tray. She picked up a sandwich and bit into it, her eyes rolling up at how good it was. She considered Gaia's words as she chewed.
"I've finished my homework, but I should work on practicing some of my spells for dueling club. I think I'll finish eating first, though, since I somehow feel like sandwiches and spells don't go together overly well."
() "Oh yeah that could be a disaster! I need to make a new list. All the scribbles and scratches on this one are making it hard to keep track of all my activities and assignments. I might have to get a planner at Hogsmeade."
"Sounds good! I'd love to visit the book shop anyway."
Finishing her sandwich in a few more bites, Aderyn took a sip of the pumpkin juice to wash it down. After a brownie for dessert, too, she stood from her chair and pulled her wand out of her knapsack. Moving across the common room as not to accidentally injure with a wayward spell, she put up her wand, ready to try some things.
"Protego!"
She smiled as a shield shimmered into place around her, flickering a little but holding steady. She was slowly but surely getting better at her dueling spells.
Gaia watched as her friend managed to do the shield charms. "you are getting really good at it!"
"Thanks! I've been practicing quite a bit."
She put her wand down and the shield shimmered one last time and faded away. Pushing her glasses up a bit, she pondered what spell to try next.
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Eating the last of her brownie Gaia with a mischievous grin on her face said "want to practice that protection charm one more time?" Before Aderyn could answer or even prepare herself Gaia yelled "GRUAIGE Change!" Aderyn's hair started to change colors to a fiery red-orange ombre color then started giggling. "That looks amazing!"
Before Aderyn could react to what had said, she was already hit with the spell and she gasped as the blonde strands that had been hanging down around her face suddenly turned to fiery, fun colors.
"I've always wanted to be able to do that!" She squealed excitedly. "I can change my glamours up a bit when I switch back from my Fae form, but nothing quite this exciting!"
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Gaia laughed with her friend. "My dad helped me perfect the way to do the spell. We use the Gaelic word for hair. Mostly it is in the intention. I can change colors of hair and if I know the hairdo well then I can do that too. The downside is if you change your mind half way the result can be a disaster." Gaia laughed some more remembering some distant memory. "The first time my dad tried it on me I was bald for a week. Of course I didn't really care since I knew he would fix it, but my mom made him feel guilty every time he walked by me. Either way we would laugh together. At least he didn't give me long eyebrow hair or had me grow hair in my ears. That would have been disastrous!" Gaia sat on the floor rolling out a new parchment. "I need more parchment and quills."
Aderyn grimaced, imagining some of the potential disastrous results that could occur with a hair spell going wrong. A picture of an old muggle television show she'd seen once at her friend Emmy's house came to mind - of a man named Cousin It on the Addams Family - and she shuddered.
"I can't imagine what I'd do if I tried that myself and it went wrong. It's awkward enough when I'm frazzled and only manage to halfway change my glamour - I wind up with purple patches it my hair and a green shimmer to my skin until I realize what's happened and concentrate on fixing it!"