[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/328849.png[/img] "Hello Slytherins!" Professor Deidra Morgan, head of Slytherin house, grinned broadly at the students gathered in the green light of the common room. "Quite a winning streak you lot have kept up, eh?"

"I've grown rather fond of the House Cup and hope you'll all prove what worthy Slytherins you are by making sure you fight for it and win again. No resting on your laurels and all that. I see new blood here, welcome, and expect that the other houses will have new and old students who will be dying to show what they're made of, just like all of you." She paused to let her speech sink in and then continued.

"The girls' dormitory is upstairs and the boy's dormitory is downstairs. The common room password this term is Merlin's beard. You can find me in Greenhouse One most of the time. Do be kind to the Giant Squid. Mind the professors. Go to your prefects for help. Write home every now and then.” With that, she exited the room, leaving the Slytherins to mingle and prepare for the start of a new term.

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"It's good to be back!" Callista Zabini says, settling into the couch. Her bags can wait to be unpacked; the cat carrier can't, and shortly there's a serval kitten sitting in her lap, kneading placidly. After she saw the Alexandrian girl's serval during the Tournament, she was not going to be satisfied until she had one of her own.

"I sure won't forget that password!" Merlin said with a chuckle. The sight of Drew made Merlin happy, he had missed his friend now in prefect spot and also Lizzie. "Hey guys, best of luck on your new jobs. I'm free to work on my studies this time and no extra work. I will miss the bathroom but I need to study hard."

Drew heard a familiar voice and hurried over to his friend and former prefect. "Merls!" he called with a grin, giving Merlin a big hug. "You're back! You've no idea how much Mags and I missed you last term with you all the way in the States. So what did you think? Ilvermorny isn't near as good as our Hogwarts is it?" the dark haired boy chattered, excited to see his friend again. Then as the last bit of Merlin's comment registered, Drew smiled and said, "Thanks for the good luck wishes. I'm probably going to need it. What am I going to do without you to nag me about my lessons?" he grinned.

"Thank you, Merlin()", Elizabeth said with a smile and waved to Callista() to greet her as well. She knew it was pretty important to get to know everyone in her house by name now with being a prefect. She chuckled lightly at Drew's comment. () "Ah well, if Merlin won't remind you of assignments, I will for sure.", she said amused and hoped there wouldn't be too much flying involved.

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/359266.png[/img] Rosie rubbed her tummy as she walked into the common room. She had eaten quite a lot at the feast and she wanted to go to her room and nap. Her attention shifted to professor Morgan and she made a note of the password. It wouldn't be too difficult to remember that one. Quickly the new prefects introduced themselves. Rosie chuckled as Elizabeth called Drew by his full name. She felt right at home then and smiled softly. She walked over to one of the large armchairs and plopped down in it. A large silver cat immediately ran down the stairs from the girls dormitory and jumped on her lap. "It's only been a few hours Arian.." she muttered as she rubbed the cat behind his ears.

"I'll bet you will," Drew laughed at Elizabeth's comment. ()

Seeing Callista () and her cat, he smiled. Then Rosie () joined them along with her feline friend and Drew shook his head. "Maybe we should change our emblem from snake to cat," he grinned. A woof from the stairs sounded and a greyish dog entered the common room. "Okay okay, Dodger, not a cat. Your veto has been noted," Drew laughed as his pet padded over to him for an ear rub. "But it is good to see everyone making themselves at home."

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"Hello Elizabeth." Callista smiles. "Congratulations on making prefect! This is Sabrina, she's a serval. Cousin Blaise helped me to get her. An Israeli girl from Alexandria had one--she came to me for advice on restyling some gowns for the dances we had."

She considers Drew's comment. "Snakes are nice, too, but they're not very cuddly and they don't keep you warm at night in the Scots winter. Dogs and cats of all kinds are much better for that! Ilvermorny was a little weird--but everyone was nice enough. I thought it was probably easier for most of us to adjust than some of the Alexandrians. Some of them were very religious, after all. But they were all so smart! Ilvermorny won the Tournament. I wonder how common it is for the hosting campus to win?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "Ah, if you consider changing our mascot, you might want to hear my arguments first.", she said and turned to the two new people. ( ) "Hello Rosie, hello Callista. Thank you! I hope you are well.", she said with a smile before looking at the cats. "They are adorable. Though I really prefer my snakes", Elizabeth added with a grin and eyed the serval. "Huh, I may have seen that cat back at Ilvermory. They tend to grow quite tall, isn't it? I love how exotic and slinky they look. Congrats on getting her, she seems lovely!"

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"Thanks! And I wasn't suggesting changing the mascot, just explaining why I have cats instead. It would probably be different, too, if I could talk to snakes." Callista grins at Elizabeth. "I think Sabrina's related to Tif's cat Aliya. They do get tall. And you can walk them on a lead, which is very fun."

((Haven't posted here yet, and I've gotten terribly behind in the great hall roleplay, so I guess I'll move over to here. haha))

Marcia slipped quietly into the common room, taking notice that everyone present was already engrossed in conversation. She sighed almost inaudibly, partly from relief of getting away from the chaos of the Great Hall, and partly because she may have overindulged just a bit on all of the delicious food. Whatever the reason, it felt good to finally be back in the common room with her like-minded peers.

She settled down into an armchair near the corner, tucking her legs up onto the chair with her in a casual position. She was just far enough away to not feel intrusive in the conversation, but close enough to join, if need be. She eyed the girl sitting in the next armchair and marveled at the lovely cat she had. There seemed to be quite a few cats meandering the room as of now, not that Marcia minded much. They were interesting little creatures.

"I am very well, thank you", Rosie replied. Prior to her return to Hogwarts and their common room she had been feeling a bit stressed. However she felt that feeling of returning home in the dark green room. It helped her relax and open up a little more. Rosie wondered how many old and new faces she'd see so quickly after the banquet.

"To each their own... I have no specific preference for animal companions, but my Arian here is very good with just about anything." Rosie smiled down at her feline. The serval kitten in the other girl's lap looked absolutely adorable. "Yours is very cute too", she mentioned to her.

Slowly other students returned to the common room and Rosie took note of everyone. One girl sat in an armchair not too far away. She raised her hand and waved in greeting.

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"Thanks, Rosie." Callista scritches Sabrina's ears. "It really is good to be back. How was your summer?"

Marcia waved in return, giving a tiny smile. The strap of her messenger bag slipped from her shoulder with the movement, causing her to realize she still had it on, and she quickly removed it and set it on the end table to her side.

"You've got a lovely cat there," She commented, trying to make polite conversation. "It's nice to see such a wide variety of pets here. It makes for quite a... lively common room." She chuckled.

Drew laughed at Elizabeth's comments. "Oh I'd never really want to change it," he assured his fellow prefect. "I was just teasing. I wasn't a big cat person until I came here...mainly due to my cousin's cat not being overly fond of me. But now I like them just fine, though horses and dogs will always be first place in my heart." He smiled as he ruffled Dodger's fur again and then went over to sit cross-legged on the rug near the fireplace. It was one of his favored places both at school and at home.

Smiling at Callista () he said, "I'm glad you had fun. I visited Ilvermorny when I still lived in the States, but I've always felt like Hogwarts and Slytherin would be a better fit for me. I was thrilled when we moved back to where Mum grew up and I was able to be here. As for the Triwizard Tournament...I'm not sure how many times the host school has won, but since Hogwarts has won 63 and Beauxbatons 62 times, I would guess it's pretty high odds that the host wins, other than the years when Durmstrang hosted since they haven't won." Drew blushed slightly when several of the students stared at him. He shrugged and said, "I read about it even though I didn't go to be a part of the tournament."

As Marcia () slipped in to join them, Drew smiled and waved at the girl. He tried to recall if he'd seen her before but wasn't sure. At her comment about pets, he asked, "Do you have a pet that will be joining us and adding to the liveliness?"

Marcia shook her head in reply after giving a small wave back to the boy. She folded her hands neatly back in her lap before saying, "My parents do not allow pets at home, so I've never had one."

She followed up with a brief explanation and a dainty shrug, "They like to keep the house perfectly orderly, you see. I shall simply appreciate all of your pets instead." Marcia gave a quick smile.

((OOC: And on the topic of ever seeing me, I joined two terms ago, but suddenly went inactive last term because of life becoming very wild and busy, but I'm back now. lol))

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"Interesting." Callista smiles. "Well, it was fun--but I missed being here in Slytherin. My whole family's been in this House, as long as we've lived in the British Isles, but my great-grandmother Melina went to Alexandrian Academy so it was interesting to see what the students from there were like. They don't even have Houses!"

She glances at Marcia. "Really? But cats are so clean, and snakes mostly stay in their cages. I'm sorry you're not allowed to have pets, but there are a lot of familiars here. I'm going to train Sabrina to be my familiar."

"I think Servals are beautiful and full of grace.", Elizabeth replied to soothe any upstirred waters from the mascot discussion and smiled. "Well, seems like everyone now knows that snakes are friends of my family. No offense.", she said with a chuckle. "How long does it take until Sabrina will be fully grown?", she asked then.

Elizabeth chuckled lightly at Drew's comment. () "Dogs are really great and Dodger is so well behaved", she said and looked at the dog in an admiring way, "I've never dealt with horses, though. Too big and..uhm...tall." Elizabeth blinked shortly when as if the imagination of sitting on a horse frightened her. "We were speaking about cats...right...well, I had a cat when I was a first year, Vincent, but he wasn't getting along with the other cats here...so he stays at home. He's rather grumpy and I bet he has some kneazle in him. Mum loves him to pieces, though.", she explained.

Seating herself in one of the armchairs next to the others, Elizabeth was glad that the students felt comfortable and welcome here. Actually, now with everyone accompanied by their pet, she was a bit sad that she told Muir to leave and was pondering on calling him back when Marcia() mentioned she wasn't allowed to have a pet and was feeling a bit sorry for her and wanted to change the topic a bit. If her memory was correct, the Rainer family was a wealthy pure-blood family and some of these families tend to consider pets as a potential factor for a dirty house. Elizabeth was glad her family wasn't that way, although they had some other strict rules. "So, Marcia, how was your break?", she inquired with an encouraging smile.

(OOC; Arkham, I love your Slytherin HA! It looks so perfect! 💚 )

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/253270.png[/img]

"Sabrina will be grown in about a year and a half," Callista says proudly. "Mamma wasn't sure about me bringing her to school, but I pointed out that there is lots of space around the castle for her to run around in and her collar is properly warded, plus she will never get used to having a lot of people around otherwise."

Callista thinks for a moment. Marcia's a Rainer, isn't she?

Callista's never understood why some pureblood families are so very strict about everything. But then, the Zabini family is old and pure, and has yet to be considered quite respectable in England. Being Italian, Ethiopian and Egyptian, even though their branch of the family settled in London...Callista can trace her lineage back to the Roman Empire. And yet...people like the Malfoys think so highly of themselves. Aren't animals, especially exotic ones, a sign of wealth and power? An incredibly snuggly and loving sign of wealth and power, but...why would you choose to live that way? What's the good of wealth and power if you can't do what you want to do?

(One of Callista's great-aunts was a Malfoy, but she was not so respectable either!)

Then on the other hand the Malfoys have at least got peacocks.

((OOC: --your HA really is great. I thought about getting that sweater but I can't quite see Callie wearing it...unless I can figure out a skirt that will hit at the right width...both my OCs are such girly girls.))