“What gave it away?” Seb grinned at Bran and plopped back into his seat before turning his grin on Kai. “Better not keep me up all night with your snoring.” He narrowed his eyes at the other boy, when in all reality Seb was a sleep talker and had no room to fuss. Anyway it would be good to bunk with a friend. Like summer camp, but way more risky for just a handful of people. Once again the thought quieted Sebakhin’s usual enthusiasm. As much fun as traveling and making new acquaintances was… There was the looming task of the tournament hanging in the peripheral of Seb’s thoughts at all times since they had been announced.

Suddenly he was feeling very antsy. Perhaps he had digested enough food for the burst of energy he knew was headed his way. Reaching for a glass of water he took a drink and contemplated excusing himself to go for a run, and a bit more exploring. However he found Brans descriptions of the Ilvermorny houses captivating. Of course he had read a few books on both houses before the journey. But this was way better than hearing it out of a dusty old book. ( +all)

River pouted. "You never have the good stuff, Kai, I swear you do it on purpose. I love meat, fruit and desserts. but some salads and stuff are good too...and I like fish..." She stole food from Seb's plate, he had a tart that looked good. "Thanks Seb," the girl said with a cheeky grin.

Bran snickered and shrugged at Seb's question. "Lucky guess?" he said and then chuckled as Kai joined them.

"Hi Kai," he said. "I'm Bran and if you feel the need for new friends and a new house, I'm pretty sure you'd be sorted into Thunderbird with me. It's where the cool people are," he winked. "Gotta warn you though, the last guy who snored in the Thunderbird dorm woke up choking on feathers from a pillow that just happened to levitate over and fall on him," he grinned mischievously.

[img align=left]https://i.imgur.com/atSPkyg.png[/img] "Hey, I don't snore!," Kai replied to Seb, sounding both defensive and amused. "I swear, I don't," he reiterated to Bran when he teased about dropping a pillow on his face. "Would be cool to be a Thunderbird, though. Or anything really. Our school doesn't do the houses with really cool animal motif thing. We're just ranked...and not even cool rank names or anything," Kai sighed. biting into a ranch-dipped fishstick.

He noticed Seb got a little quieter. "Just bite her hand," Kai said, referring to River stealing the other boy's food. However, he sensed Seb probably was thinking about something else. "You alright, bro?"

"You guys excited? About the Tri-Wiz Tourney, I mean," Kai focused the topic and directed his question at the entire group.

(+everybody)

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/268414.png[/img] "Oh, hi Rain! ( ) Not sure if you recognize me, but I'm a 6th year, too. Thunderbird!!" Lydia wrapped her thumbs together and spread out the fingers on either hands to imitate a bird with wings. Lydia was feeling very social. She flitted about in between groups and conversations, talking with virtually everyone who made eye contact with her.

She overheard Millie () talking about the campus grounds and turned to her, saying, "My absolute favorite part of the grounds is in the highest tower, where we keep the owls. It gives you the most perfect view of the mountain we rest on and the mist that surrounds the middle of the mountain to keep us from being spotted by No-Majs."

Lydia caught another student () waving and only realized after the fact that it was not to her. She thought it was weird that a student from another school was waving at her. But it was too late; she had already waved. So, she decided to embrace it and talk to them anyway. "Hi there!" She said to the one with the mermaid hair. "You are so colorful! I LOVE IT!"

(and other people)

"I want to explore too, but I guess that would be tomorrow. I also want to sleep, that trip was tiring."

"Nice to meet you Lynnie, I'm Terry." She saw the girl fed the cat who slowly took the fish. "He likes you."

Terry listened to Brad and nods. "Good point, I hope the months go slow so I don't have to get back on the boat so soon." She smiles. "I like the sound of that, Thunderbird." She smiled at his sister after knowing she was in an almost equivalent to the Ravenclaw house and then said. "I'm muggle born myself, or no-maj like you people like to call them. There are still people with prejudices among pure bloods, half blood, or muggle born but it has diminished to some degree, but don't think it is gone. Still today some students look at me as if I'm not deserving to be at Hogwarts and call me mudblood." She shrugs. "I won't argue with such little minds especially when I can beat them in any class." She smirks. "Ok, not every class but I try." She giggles.

"Yes, the sea is my favorite thing even when I..." She blushes. "I can't swim." She was embarrassed to accept it. "In fact I have only seen the sea in pictures and I was hoping we would go to the Caribbean instead of the United States for the tournament...but well I'm excited to be here too. I just hope I can see the sea before I graduate."

Teresa looked at the new boy that arrived and thought he was funny but didn't say so. "Hello, Kai, I'm Terry from Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts!" She said it so seriously that it didn't sound funny at all but she still tired. "It's a song." She snickers feeling silly. "It's neat you brought some friends, I had hope some of mine have come but were left behind."

“She’s lucky, I couldn’t eat another bite if I wanted to.” He gave River a sideways glance and bared his teeth for good sport. () “Just anticipating the drawing.” He wasn’t being totally dishonest as he smiled over at Kai. () “I’m tired of waiting is all.”

Anticipating was a bit of an understatement. Whoever was chosen he was sure he would feel both jealous and guilty for not having the chance to be chosen himself. Seb had screwed up that opportunity earlier in the year, and was since barred from competition. At any rate he wasn’t going to be caught dead missing out on an opportunity to support his friends in whatever way he could.

Seb’s attention was then drawn to the newest student to join the gathering. () He was pleased to hear she admired Rivers colorful look, saving him the need to butt in and defend his friends honor. From the outfit she was wearing, Seb guessed she attended Ilvermorny. He nodded hello when she glanced his way.

Having finished with his food, at least for now, Bran leaned back in his chair and asked Kai, “So what are the ranks? And which are you? I haven’t read as much about Alexandria as I have Hogwarts,” he admitted. “You could always give the ranks names on your own…ones that the students could call them even if it wasn’t the technical name for them.”

He chuckled as Kai suggested Seb bite River’s hand and shook his head. “She might bite back,” he put in with a smile.

He gave Lydia a little smile as she breezed over to join them. “Hello fellow Thunderbird,” he greeted the girl.

When Kai asked about the real reason for all of them being there, Bran was quiet a moment before answering. “Excited? Yeah…and a bit nervous too. Did any of you put your name in the Goblet as possible champions?” he asked curiously.

(and all the others)

[edit] (missed post)

Lynnie smiled at Terry. “I’m glad he likes me,” she said. “He’s very sweet. I hope he will become more comfortable while you’re here.” After listening to Terry talk about how there was still prejudice but that she excelled in her studies, Lynnie smiled and asked, “What are you favorite classes? As for being muggle or No-Maj born, I bet you know things that we pure-bloods don’t. I don’t blame you for not wasting your time arguing with those who can’t understand that each person is special.”

River stuck out her tongue to Kai. "You're just jealous of my hair."

"Hi," the girl said happily. "I'm River! Thanks, I love it. Your braids are really pretty."

"Well i don't get a lot of ocean where I am, cos you know, desert, so I totally understand. Maybe we'll do a task near the ocean?"

"Oh please," River said, "you don't scare me, not with a thousand cursed mummies." Talk of the champion selection made her nervous. "I wonder who will be chosen."

"No, I won't bite him, cos I don't know where Seb's been." She cackled.

[img align=left]https://i.imgur.com/atSPkyg.png[/img] "Hiya, Terry!," Kai grinned as she recited what she clarified was a song. "Catchy," he nodded. "I bet it's a hit with more energy. Hogwarts, Hogwarts! Hoggy Warty Hogwarts!," the boy started singing, bopping his head to the words like a rocker.

"Oh. Our school ranks are Novice, Intermediate, Practiced, Skilled and Expert. Everyone starts out a Novice and advances from their based on skills and awesomeness," he replied to Bran's question. "I think we're all Practiced here," he added, referring the the 4A students currently in the group. "Right! I guess we could do that! I don't know what kind of names we'd use though."

"I know what you mean," Kai nodded when Seb said he was tired to waiting. "I'm pumped to see who will be picked as champions. I kind of wanted to put my name up, but lowkey, it's a lot of pressure. Representing the school. Plus, I'm kind of a clutz at anything not Quidditch," he answered Bran's question.

"Oh. And hey," Kai waved to the girl that Bran identified as a Thunderbird (). "I'm Kai. Kai, I am. Kai," he pointed down to himself with both index fingers. "Hi," he waved again before picking up his fork again and going back to eating. He was starving from all the excitement.

((ooc: off to bed for now!))

Bran snickered at River's comment about Seb. "That's true," he said. "You can't be too careful, right?"

Nodding at Kai, Bran said quietly, "Yeah, it is a lot of pressure." He was quiet a minute thinking of his own decision about the tournament, then he gave Kai a smile again and said, "Quidditch is great. We'll have to try to get a game going while you're here. Or do some flying at the very least."

((ooc: bedtime for me too))

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/268414.png[/img] Lydia grabbed at her hair instinctiively. "Actually, they're dreads, but it's an easy mistake because they're skinny dreads. "She shrugged it off and smiled. "I only just recently shaved the bottom part and it feels so weird. Like, I have half the hair but still all the length. I forget about it all the time." "Oh, hi Brandon. How's it hangin'?" She recognized him from extra curriculars and such, but they didn't talk much. Lydia didn't think there were any problems between the two of them; they just were part of different crowds, she thought. Despite that, she was always willing to try and make a new friend as long as they seemed true. Lydia noticed the other student with long, sandy hair. "You must be an Alexandrian student! Oh! I want to know all about your school! I feel like I already know everything there is to know about Hogwarts - it's just that kinda place, ya know? But I know next to nothing about The Alexandrian Academy for the Arcane Arts." She looked over at Kai as she spoke, including him in her excitement brigade as well. "By the way," she said specifically to Kai. "I want us to be friends. I think you were the one I heard chanting over by the fireplaces? Dude, that was hilarious. I think we'll get a long well." She couldn't help but grin wildly at all the new, friendly faces around her.

"By the way, if ya'll are thinking on doing some Quidditch then please count me in!"

((OOC: night everyone!))

"We could do niffler for Novice, Intermediate could be Iguana, Practiced could be Phoenix, Skilled could be Scorpion and Expert could be elephant," River replied butting in. She had started making a Sphinx sculpture out of her mashed potatoes and was working on the Sphinx's paws. "Wonder what kind of tasks there'd be?"

"I'm Practiced too," River said slightly late to Bran even though Kai answered. "I've never actually played Quidditch that much."

"Oh," she said to Lydia, "I'm sorry. They are very nice though." River felt like an idiot because its not like she'd never seen dreads before. "I'm from Alex too..." she said in a much smaller voice.

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/268414.png[/img] "ohmygosh! Really? Well then, it looks like we both messed up on our first impressions just a little bit." She laughed to try and diffuse the tension. "So, how was traveling all the way over here? What was the best part? What was the worst part? What do you wish would have happened but didn't? Do you miss home already? Oh! Where exactly is home for you? Have you always lived there? Speaking of, how old are you?" Lydia suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth to stop the incessant questioning.

"I'll shut up now so you can answer some of my questions."

(and everyone lol)

River gave a weak chuckle. "Well I enjoyed the bird watching, at least the birds we did see... I love the ocean so I liked the sailing but it got kinda boring too. I wound up reading on the deck a lot. I would've loved if a sea monster would've grabbed Kai and kissed him, but that didn't happen." She chuckled. "Er, well I've been kinda cold... but I don't really miss home. Currently, home is in Cairo. Dad's a curse-breaker and travels a lot. Er no, I'm originally from England. My father went to Hogwarts. I'll be 15 on the 20th of July. How about you? Do you like America? Do you visit many of the states? What's the school like? How old are you? Bran said your in Thunderbird, right?"

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/ozsKJW2.png[/img]

Corvus seemed to be a bit irritated about the student's () response, but he didn't say anything about it and took one of the seats at the table. He nodded at Lydia's question () and smiled even a bit. "I don't know exactly, I've just arrived and been overhearing other people's conversation and looking at the great variety of food.", he replied, then looked at the others. As everybody was introducing himself/herself, he should do so as well. "I'm Corvus Farlan Montgomery, but simply Corvus is fine.", he explained.

(OOC; off for university and then graduation party, maybe I can reply a bit :D )

"Yes, Smith is my rats' name." Carlos replied to River (). "He is my little mystery, found him six years ago on the street and he still seems to be fine. What are your pets? Also, cool that you came here by ship, I have never been on a longer ship travel, seems like a lot of fun, I love the ocean."

In this moment Carlos heard Teresa's () remark and turned around to her. "Oh, I wouldn't suggest your Prince to try that, Smith is a pro in five forms of martial art, one of them being sumo wrestling. Chuck Norris is a joke compared to him." It was hard for him not to grin in this moment but he managed to keep a serious face while telling this story.

When Lynnie () offered him an apple treat Smith immediately grabbed it but in a gentle, not pushy manner. Keeping the treat in his little paws he looked up at Lynnie, again making soft squeaking noises like saying "Thank you." before he started to eat. The apple treat was fantastic in his opinion.

(Sorry if I cannot reply that much today, I'll be off to celebrate my b-day. c: )

"I never said it tasting like pigeon was a bad thing," Niamh said to Seb as he munched his way through River's hot dog. "I've not picked out my bed yet," she replied to River, "I needed some food before I did anything else." Picking another strange looking item of food from the table, she bit into it and was pleasantly surprised that it was tastier than the hot dog.

(OOC: Whoa, lots of posts overnight! Niamh is busy eating, but feel free to drag her into conversation if you want! and anyone else who I missed out )

As Kai ()explained about the ranks, Bran nodded. “And you can tell by the sash color I think I remember reading, right? That’s kind of neat because you have sashes, Hogwarts has different colors, but we don’t really have anything to outwardly show what house we’re in here. I mean we all have our regular blue and cranberry robes with the same brooch. It would be cool if we had a patch or a different color or something to distinguish.”

He smiled at River’s () suggestions. “Those are some good ideas for animals. I think it’s cool that according to your list you would all be Phoenix. “

“Going good,” Bran answered Lydia. () “And no worries, if we do Quidditch I’m sure we can find something for everyone to do who wants to play. That includes you too, River,” he added with a smile. “We’ll teach you.” He then had to grin at Lydia’s bombardment of questions to River and listened to the answers.

Lynnie was delighted with Smith’s squeaked thank you and said, “You’re welcome, Smith. You should be a part of the celebration too.” When she heard Carlos’ comments to Terry, Lynnie giggled and gave the boy a grin. Even though she knew it was silly, her imagination was now picturing the match of rat and cat. ()

Seeing River’s potato sculpture, Lynnie said, “That’s really good, River. Do you draw or paint? Or just sculpt?”

“July 20 isn’t far off,” Bran commented when River told her birthday. He filed away the date and his smile told that he wouldn’t forget and would try to plan something fun.

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/268167.png[/img] Zala had read through a few pages in her book before growing a bit bored. She felt confused as the quietness of the empty dorm would normally be very pleasent to her and she had never felt bored studying before.

Putting down her book and notes on her nightstand she got up and changed back into her uniform. Back at the Academy she would have chosen her dressing gown instead but she didn't want strangers to see her in it. She'd feel vulnerable and exposed.

She padded down to the entrance of the Great Hall and peeked inside. She easily spot her friends still caught up in conversations over food and quietly observed them. Zala felt a bit silly as she had announced earlier she wanted to leave. Now here she was looking for an oppurtunity to step back into the circle and listen in on what was going on.

((did I get everyone?? Also happy birthday !!))