(1939-02-02) Great Hall Weekend
Details for Great Hall Weekend
Summary: Hogsmeade Weekend stragglers stay behind to study when sixth years suddenly join the party and cause a stir.
Date: 1939-02-02
Location: The Great Hall, Hogwarts
Related:
Characters
GarrettArtemisNoalanEvelynGeraldSybilMadeline

Artemis would have gone to Hogsmeade on Saturday, but Sunday she stayed at school. The whole day was spent studying or practicing, maybe a break for food, and then right back at studying. So the Great Hall is set up for study time, but there are only a select few here. Everyone else is either off at Hogsmeade or relaxing a little before Monday. Artemis is standing by the Hufflepuff table with her wand raised slightly. She's dressed in uniform aside from her cloak, and her eyes a closed as her chest heaves, focusing on her breathing. Focusing on nothing but her breathing.

The sound of poorly polished shoes click across Hogwarts' ancient floors and clack against the walls like a game of gobstone. Garrett Sykes can't help but smile and march forward, each step heavier and clicky-clackier than the last. And that's just how he arrives in the Great Hall, stomping his way through the high vaulted entrance.
_ _ "I am thunder!" He roars without noticing, or rather, paying much mind, to the other students in quiet study. Although to be fair, there aren't many students in the Great Hall. Most have gone to Hogsmeade for the weekend. The others are likely too lazy, too young, or too Garrett to have been bothered and have thus stuck around.
___ It's time for some mischief. "ROOOOOOARR!"

Studying! Good. There aren't many people here studying. Evelyn never did like big crowds of people. At the Ravenclaw table, she has books spread out in front of her, as well as parchment with much, much notes on them. But then…distractions! Just as she is about to cast a spell on a goblet. She lets out a little gasp. "Why is it always the Gryffindors?"
___ She whispers to herself. "Why can't a Slytherin just come in and say 'hiss hiss' and have it over with." She frowns.

Noalan has spent far too much time in Hogsmeed growing up and in the summer to care all that much about Hogsmeed weekends. With OWL's approaching, he especially doesn't need to waste time there. He enters the study hall with his Muggle studies book under one arm, his weakest subject. Artemis immediately catches his eye upon entering, and he watches her strange meditation as he walks to a table near her and sets his book down.

Artemis is focused and calm, breathing and thinking of nothing. At that moment she flicks her wand and states, "Lumos Maxima-EEK!," in a stern voice. Except that as she switches over to focus on her intent, she completely loses it as she lets out a shrill squeak at the end of the spell. The spell fizzles as nothing happens, and Artemis lifts a hand to pat at her chest. Her bright blue eyes glance around to land on Garrett. "Oh my, Sykes," she says, and starts to giggle as she covers her hand with a mouth. "You're lively today. Hi!" She waves a hand at the Gryffindor. "Noalan!" she squeaks out as he catches her sight, turning her head sharply and flinging her arms out around him. "Hi!" And lastly, Evelyn is caught over at the Ravenclaw table and Artemis is beckoning her over. "Evelyn! Come join us."

Garrett Sykes makes his way over toward the Gryffindor benches. A few scraggly cloaks with red patches are lined up on either side of the long table furiously swimming through fat old books as if their lives depended on it.
_ _ "How dull." He sighs, simultaneously plopping a squat while rolling his eyes. "Where's your sense of adventure?" Garrett can't help but goad the studious Gryffindor scattered across the eternal expanse of the dark wood table. "We have the entire place to ourselves… Practically. And we can do anything we want… Nearly." Infused with a growing sense of purpose Garrett stands again, having barely sat the first time round, and climbs atop the seat.
_ _ "We rule this day, we - - !!" Before the poor boy can get his meaning across, his cut short by the shrill shriek of a Hufflepuff. "Eh?" He steps down and walks away from his table, and over toward Artemis'. "Finally finished with studying then?" He glances back at his reclusive Gryffindor cohorts.
_ _ "To think, THEY'RE still at it." The boy extends a hand to all.

"But…all these…" Evelyn sighs and starts packing away the parchment and the books. If she's going to be interrupted, she might as well do so with people who are studying the same things that she might be studying. Once all is packed away, she carries her book bag over to the Hufflepuff table where her Artemis, Garrett, and Noalan all seem to be situated at now. She doesn't speak up, but rather just takes a seat near them all and watches them carefully.

Noalan winces at Artemis's shrill exclamations, "Tone it down Emi." He massages his temples with the thumb and middle finger of one hand, palm covering his eyes momentarily. He shoots a glance in Garrett's direction from under his hand. No fifth year facing OWLs should have that much energy left, "What exactly did you have in mind then?" He asks. His hand only falls from his eyes when Evelyn arrives, "What were you working on that required all that?"

"Oh, but there is so, /so/ much to know before we go through our O.W.L.s," Artemis says matter-of-factly, as if by way of saying she most definitely is not finished studying. But all the same, she giggles at Garrett's performance, amusement twinkling in her eyes. "Artemis," says the girl, slowly as if to point out to remember. "Noalan, and Evelyn." Each are gestured towards and she even pipes after a hiss at Noalan. "Not /Emi/." The blonde haired Hufflepuff lets out a breath. "Seriously, how can you be so relaxed when you know what tests are coming up? Come on, sit down, maybe you can show us some of your spell casting."

Garrett Sykes tries not to be offended by Evelyn's lack of greeting, but his sharply lifting eyebrows give him away. Those damnable caterpillars! Forcing them down and back into submission with all his willpower, he summons a smile. Besdies, the Hufflepuff seems to speak for the others. Must be the way it is with Ravenclaw and Snakies.
_ _Garrett shrugs off all talk of O.W.L.s. "What's to know about tests? All you really need to know about to use is that!" He points squarely at the girl's wand. "That's a nice slice of bark, Hufflepuff… Err, Artemis."
An arrogant set of blue eyes skip from Noalan and Evelyn, then back again. They twinkle as he slips a hand beneath his school robes to pluck out a magnificent ivory wand more than 40 centimeters in length. It shines almost as if silver. "But have you ever beheld one such as this!?"
_ _Garrett looks to Noalan. "I've seen you from Old Sluggy's, but I wager you've never seen Aspen as long as a dragon's tooth, have ya?"
He looks to Evelyn. "Eh, Ravenclaw? Can't read about this in books." Garrett's smile beams like daylight. No, like a Lumos Maxima charm! "Well, not until they write me into those books, that is."
_ _"You don't need O.W.L.s for that! Just courage."

No, Evelyn's lack of greeting is all her own. She lets the others do the talking for her, at least for now. At Noalan's question, she shrugs. She gives him a tap to make sure he's paying some attention to her, so that when she uses sign-language, he'll know what she says. -I'm falling behind more than I had intended to in Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures. I've got lots of studying to do if I wish do pass my OWLs in them!- Her hands and fingers move fluidly as she uses sign-language to explain to him why she has so many books and bits of parchment.

Noalan give Artemis a blank look for a second before gesturing at her, "No, you're Emi." Then Evelyn, "Vyn." Then himself, "and Lan. No need to be formal or anything." And at least it's no Noah. He takes a moment to study the wand presented, "Not bad. I prefer shorter myself. That's not an Ollivander is it? Where you get it?" Familiar hand motions draw his attention like a lodestone and he gives his cousin a momentary sympathetic grin, "Never enough time in the day, is there?" He says to her aloud, -Need help?- he asks at the same time with two simple hand motions.

While Artemis shakes her head in amusement at Garrett, she does roll her eyes too. "Please, that's not /all/ you need to know," announces the blonde in her matter-of-fact tone. Her eyes lower to her wand and she sighs, looking down to her single book that she had opened at the table. There's no way she's going to be able to focus to get a successful spell off now. She bends over to tuck her wand onto a pouch on her bag, and while still bent, tilts her head to look up to Garrett's presented wand with a flicker of her lips. "Why not show us how well it works? Have you been able to cast Accio yet?" Her eyes flick towards Noalan and Evelyn, but she only stares with an impressed look at Evelyn's hand motions. "That is just so impressive. I'd love to be able to do that."

"Of course it's an Ollivander," Garrett says, rolling the wand between two fingers. "Why, do you think I should have selected something more esoteric? Like troll bone and werewolf whisker, or something else ridiculous?" The boy puffs his cheeks, thinking so hard over the matter that smoke could've shot from his ears. "Well, you don't truly have much of a choice in the matter. I suspect it chose me as much as I chose it."
_ _ When Garrett Sykes looks away from his wand and back at Noalan, he sees the Slytherin undertaking a rapid exchange of confounding hand motions with the Ravenclaw girl. The curious school boy in him wonders what in the wizarding world is going on with those two. But the noble and generous Sykes in him takes pity. Certainly the poor students must be suffering under some form of enchanted jinx. Defense against the Dark Arts is of paramount importance after all. At least now they've learned their lessons.
_ _Garrett shakes his head with a sigh and turns to embrace Artemis' challenge. "Show you how it works? HAH!" The great Sykes Hope extends his arms, sharpens his gaze, and focuses on the pile of parchment and books littering the Hufflepuff table. His aspen wand takes aim at a single book as he shouts, "ACCIO!"
_ _ The leather bound bird takes flight and swoops directly into his free hand. Garrett's face couldn't look more boyish or boastful. "That's how it works. Indeed."

-I really could use some help with them.- Evelyn replies to Noalan, still signing. She does offer a little smile to Artemis. "I um…well, I'm sure Lan and I could…um, could teach you a bit, if you wanted?" It would probably mostly fall on Noalan to do the teaching in the end, with Evelyn only jumping in to help on the most difficult of words or phrases to sign, or if there was any question as to something regarding signing. She raises an eyebrow at Garrett. "So um…well…the wand…the wand works just like any other wand, then?" She asks of the Gryffindor.

Noalan shrugs, "The way you were talking I just wondered if you'd gotten it somewhere else. What core did you get?" Lan draws out his own wand, in a size comparison, Lan's close to half the length of the Gryffindor's. "I got mine, Hey." He cuts himself off, making snatching for the book as it leaps away from him, but is far too late to even brush the cover with his fingertips. Noalan looks only slightly irritated as he holds out a hand, palm up to Garrett to receive his book back. "A study group would be good. I'm sure Emi knows more about the lore behind a spell than I do."

Artemis straightens again and watches Garrett cast his spell, which leads her to applaud him as she beams brightly. "Nicely done! That has, admittedly, been one of the tougher spells for me this year." She blows out a breath, a touch of colour rising in her cheeks. "But I'm on the right track now after a bit of help from, um, well…" And her cheeks brighten even more as her hand lifts to her press her fingers to her mouth, clearing her throat quietly. "Well," and she ends it there as she turns her gaze to Evelyn with a giggle. "Oh, I'm sure Noalan wouldn't be pleased if he had even /more/ work to do by helping me learn sign language. Perhaps over the summer though," she adds in. To Noalan, gauging him quietly for a second before she smiles at him. "Are you teasing me, Noalan Eibon." She purses her lips in mock anger at him.

Garrett frowns in the midst of his glee. With a bland expression he nonchalantly plops the muggle studies book on the flat of Noalan's hand and makes his way over to Evelyn. "Just like any old wand?" He brusquely questions the finger-flippery Ravenclaw girl.
Jutting the wand tip toward her forehead he proclaims, "This is the best wand money can buy. It's forty point six centimeters of precision crafted aspen. One of the biggest ole Ollivander's ever sold." He continues, turning and twisting the white streak of wood, sweeping it gently through the air.
_ _For a split second his eyes catch Noalan's. "And at the center, the pulsing beat of a Dragon Heartstring. It's the newest innovation. They call it a SUPREME core."
_ _"Did you even note the subtle ornamentation at the hilt?" Garrett's heated words cool to a simmer. "Honestly, I would've expected more from you CrowHeads. You truly are incorrigible." The tone of his voice drops below freezing. "Just like any old wand. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
_ _ And just as quickly, the menace from his face and words vanishes in thin air at the mention of a compliment. "Well, Artie," he deigns to call Artemis something other than Hufflepuff, "It's like I've been saying. Studying is for the birds, like the Ravenclaw. All you truly require is determination."

"Well…ummmm…you never know until you ask him, Emi." Evelyn nods to Artemis. "Would she, Lan? What um…what would be your answer if she asked?" She raises an eyebrow to her cousin. Turning to Garrett, she says, "I um…well, I'm not saying that uh…that I've had the easiest of times with um…well, with Accio, but you're not the only one with…with a fancy looking wand. It's just…overly large." That's what she says and she's sticking with it. "A…well…a wand can be pretty without um…well…without being overly large." She lets her hand brush over her pocket that holds her wand.

Sybil walks into the Great Hall. She can't long have returned from Hogsmeade because she's still dressed in her weekend casual clothes; a soft cream sweater and grey slacks. Around her neck a pale blue and silver scarf hangs and she tugs idly on this as she walks. It doesn't take her long to spot her fellow Ravenclaw fifth-year, together with the knot of people with which she's talking, and without really having to think about it too much, she heads in that direction. "Hello," she greets, an instant smile given before she rubs at her chilled nose with the heel of her hand. She might be inserting herself into anything from an argument to a flirtation between the girls and boys, but she's never one to hang back.

"It's sure something." Lan says, nonplused. He takes the book and sets it back down in front of him, resting a hand on it this time like more summoning practice might be happening soon. "I wonder how fare Olivander will push it. In twenty years will he be selling full on staffs?" Lan fingers his own wand, "Length is supposed to be good for something, was it charms? My wand lore isn't very good." Artemises statement catches his attention though, and he can't help but comment, "It isn't that difficult, Aelus learned it after all." Lan just looks confused about the teasing comment, apparently he is serious, to the point where her question just baffles him. "About the sign language? No, I could teach you some, preferably in the summer or next year."

For once he's not following her, though Gerald arrives almost on Sybil's heels. Moving amongst the slow up dependable traffic in and out of the hall, the older Gryffindor makes his entrance known by the way he slaps a second year in the back of the head in passing, a small and somewhat bad habit he's developed over the past several months. Rumor has it, Medusa Malfoy is singlehanded responsible for brainwashing the 6th year. Others blame hormones. The latter may be to blame for the moment, as Gerald slowly zones in on Sybil as she sits, his steps shifting as he (and the apple in hand), draw him to stand behind her. And to give her hair a small tug.

Madeline has a smattering of snow on her back - from lying in it and making a snow angel. The little Gryffindor also has an excited bounce to her step. After all, she just scrawled her house name in red in the snow. Sure, it'll probably be covered by morning, but for now - it's just awesome! "Hello!" she greets no one and everyone, looking around to see if there's any warm tea to drink in the Great Hall.

Artemis giggles at Garrett, both her hands lifting to cover her mouth as he carries on about how superb his wand is. "It certainly suits you well, doesn't it, Sykes?" Artemis says, stifling her laughter long enough to speak. She shakes her head, looking to Evelyn and Noalan. "Oh, well, you know that summer /is/ probably best," Artemis decides mater-of-factly. "There's so much needed to learn, one more thing just might make my mind go all- all-" Her hands lift and wavers around her head. "All fuzzy and mush!" she finishes with a squeak. And a look to Garrett, "'Cause some of us aren't very good with only determination to get us by. "Oh, hi!" Artemis turns to wave to Sybil happily, looking down to book and suddenly shutting it, deciding that she's not going to get anymore focus in - but then she /has/ been studying all day. "Hey, come on, now," she gives Noalan a look, pursing her lips, and smacking her fingers lightly on his shoulder, "you shouldn't speak like that about your brother." Probably something she's hounded him before - got to be lovely to your family! Gerald and Madeline get a wave too.

"Preposterous!" Garrett shouts at Evelyn's provocation. "The bigger the better." The young Sykes holds his wand high, cooing over its length and shape and colour and texture and the power softly emanating from its core. "In fact, if I ever have the foul fortunes of coming across someone with a longer wand than mine, I'd likely snap it in twain!"
_ _"Noah, knows." Garrett tilts his head toward the Slytherin. "It TRULY IS something." Beneath his robes, the boy's chest swells nearly two sizes with pride and up-to-no-goodness. "It's something wonderful. And length is excellent for everything! I'm simply in possession of such vast talent, skill, power and pure, unbridled potential, that a wand of extraordinary length is absolutely necessary."
_ _Garrett Sykes cuts the air with his sixteen inch white aspen wand and points out the newcomers, gripping the thing as a muggle duellist might handle a sabre. "You there, YELLOW one and LITTLE one, wouldn't you agree that THIS wand is the most beautiful strip of aspen under heaven?" He refers to Sybil and Madeline in kind, outright refusing to acknowledge Gerald on the more-than-reasonable grounds of the upperclassman being taller than himself. That's nearly as horrible an insult as possessing a lengthier wand.
_ _ "Good ole Artie thinks it must be so. A perfect fit for a Sykes!" The cool feel of the pale wand in his hand causing his eyebrows to tremble and crawl like fat, bushy caterpillars over his eyes. "No one but I could possess such a priceless treasure." Although he concedes, for Evelyn's sake… "though some may have relatively, comparatively, similarly bejeweled wonderments of LESSER-size."

"Hi Sybil." Evelyn greets her housemate with a little smile. "Did…um, well…did you uh…have fun in Hogsmeade today?" She asks of the other girl before looking between Noalan and Artemis. "Well…umm…Angelus does still struggles with…with sign-language a bit." She murmurs. "I can't um…I can't go my normal speeds with uh…with my hands like I can with Noalan or um…or Dryden or Uncle and Auntie." She explains. She gives a frown to Garrett. "And, you know…yours is um…well…it's not the uh…the only wand with a Dragon Heartstring. My…um…my wand has Dragon Heartstring as well." She nods to him. "And perhaps some um…do have just as lovely wands that are…well…lesser size."

Sybil tips her head back at the tug on her hair, a protest given in the form of a small squeak. She's quite an easy target with her long hair left loose around her shoulders and on seeing just whom the perpetrator of such a despicable act is, the frown that had been forming, melts into a smile. "Oh. Its you. Hello you. Are you coming to compare your wand with Sykes'?" A graceful drift of her hand in Garrett's direction picks him out where he stands posturing with his sixteen incher before she twists a little in her chair, one elbow hitching over the back of it so she can look properly up at the tall Gryffindor boy behind her. "You can sit with me if you like, but only if you give proper payment." Not telling him what the proper payment, she turns back to Evelyn and offers her a wide and generous smile. "I've had an absolutely wonderful time in Hogsmeade this weekend, though I didn't see you there. Were you hiding?" Madeline also gets a small smile when she's spotted, though not knowing her particularly well, she doesn't hail her with a greeting. The young Gryffindor girl might change that though - firsties, so terribly bouncy.

"I'll trade him to you for a knut if you like him so much." Lan says to Artemis's chiding. Noalan's eyebrow twitches slightly and his attention is forced back to Garrett, "Careful ART, you may just entice someone to… make it vanish. It's Lan by the way, and you should really consider approaching Ollivander for an advertising position." Years of conditioning has Lan listening extra carefully when Evelyn speaks, "Ya, but you didn't need an extra powerful super heart string to be competent at magic Vyn."

Gerald grins at the squeak, though the offer to sit with her is taken up long before he prepares to 'pay up'. He also leans to mutter something into her ear, his words lost as seconds later he leans away to take a obnoxiously loud bite of his apple, something perhaps directed toward the 'Sykes' boy as a grin goes his way. "Oh, is that it then? Talking shit are you Sykes?" his own wand is drawn and given a small twirl before it's pointed firmly at the much shorter boy. "It's not sixteen inches, but I'm also not a virgin." So..there's that. And Gerald even has the mind to make sure he's done eating before he speaks. He also doesn't bother to out of his seat yet. He also sends the others a heavily lidded gaze, though he's quiet beyond that, returning to his apple, and the blond next to him.

"Well, yeah, it's nice for /aspen/, sure," Madeline agrees. "It's mighty fine for aspen. But how's it supposed to compare to /dogwood/? Now that's a proper wand material, dogwood. Is there any tea about? I'm just /freezing/."
_ _And then the little firstie hears Evelyn saying one of her least favorite names - Angelus - and she frowns. Stupid Eibon and his stupid lies and being mean to her friend and he isn't a proper Gryffindor at all, not the way she sees it.
_ _"What's a virgin?" she asks, as she's distracted from hating on Eibon.

Red flashes across Garrett's cherubic face. Not because so many studious girls have suddenly surrounded his person, but because Noalan says such thoughtful things. "Me?" The Sykes boy practically gasps, "In advertising?" He almost chirps. A sound halfway between a chortle and a cocky 'humph!' escapes his mischievous smile.
_ _ "I'd always seen myself in the Quidditch cup. Possible even an Aurer. Or doing whatever father does. But to be in advertisisng?"
_ _ Garrett gushes. "Muggles invented it, you know. My old man would get a kick out of that. Muggle brains are good for something after all, and I could be doing it too. HAH! That'd show everyone, it would. I could even - - -"
The gush stops there. Crude things, like bug parts and toe jam flavored Bertie Botts Beans swim to the surface of Garrett Sykes' mind when Gerald speaks. "Some of us excel at talking shit," he snaps back. "While others excel at smelling of it."
_ _ The young Gryffindor walks away from the fifth years to move closer to Gerald. He stands his ground, looking up and up and up at the older boy, unwilling to back down. Excitement tumbles eagerly behind his blue eyes.
_ _ "That TINY thing," Garrett derides Gerald's wand, "isn't enough to pick my nose."

"I um…I suppose you have a point, Lan…" Evelyn offers her cousin a tiny smile. She tilts her head at Sybil and shrugs a little bit. "I've um…well…I've been studying a lot for my OWLs. I guess the time got away from me? I only uh…I only went into Hogsmeade briefly yesterday to um…well, to get some candy." She explains. She coughs as Madeline asks what a virgin is. "A…a virgin? A virgin is…umm…well…it's uh…" She's suddenly blushing quite a bit, her cheeks as red as a beet. "It's um…anyone uh…anyone else care to answer her?" This is not a discussion she has ever wanted to have with a younger student!

Sybil makes a grab for Gerald's apple, but ultimately misses when its held just out of her reach. "Beast," she grumbles, a small push given his side before she tucks herself in against him. Apparently she's not one of those frozen in ice sort of girls, she more of a hugger, though there's a definite wince when he enters into the battleground of wands and Garrett comes stalking over. "Merlin's nose," she says, a glance upwards given to give the boy due regard before glancing in Madeline and Evelyn's direction. There's a small touch of colour to her cheeks too as she thinks of just how to settle the first-year's curiousity. "The word virgin has many meanings," she tells her. "Its generally used to indicate a state of being where something hasn't been experienced." She thinks about what she's just said, then gives a nod of her head, satisfied with her answer, attention then returning to the tension that's erupting between Gerald and Garrett.

"Good girls are virgins. Especially girls your age." Which causes a glance toward the blushing females. Oups. "In fact, every time a good little girl kisses a boy, someone kills a kitten. So no touching..or, ya know, dead kitten." Gerald has a goal in that, but Garrett stalking over causes his attention to splinter and a rather low laugh to sound against Sybils shoulder as she leans to press a kiss to it. He also sighs, "Hell Sykes. It's a joke..but okay then." And he stands, pushing slowly upward to stand over Garret, and frown. "Seriously?" that's all he offers for the moment, along with a small arch of his brow. "Right now…in the hall, while I'm /trying/ to flirt with my girl…you're seriously going to do this?" He even hands the apple to Sybil for the moment.

If that's all it is, then why is Evelyn so red? Madeline looks from Sybil, to Evelyn, and back again. "Oh," she remarks. "But then… if he's /not/ a virgin, does that mean he's done /everything/? How can anyone do /everything/? I'm pretty sure he's never ridden a unicorn while wearing a pink dress and singing Italian opera and playing the violin."
And then Gerald weighs in. "…Oh. So… being a virgin is not doing things…" and now the first year is starting to blush, too, "with /boys/? I'm a virgin!" she declares firmly. "Kissing. Yuck. /Gross/!"

Artemis' cheeks are rosy as she laughs merrily, stooping down to pick up her bag and pull the strap across to her opposite shoulder. She looks to Evelyn with a soft smile as she tilts her head. "It does look really difficult. How to you shape your fingers so /fast/?" Her cheeks blush as she marvels at the idea of how difficult it is to sign, shaking her head lightly. "Well," she says, picking up her book to hug to her chest. "I need to return a book to the library and grab another." She offers a smile around. "Maybe we can compare notes a little later, Evelyn?" she offers. A friendly tap to Noalan's shoulder as she smiles to him, and yes, a bright blush in response to Madeline even as Sybil answers. She turns from the table after picking up her bag from her seat and turns to Madeline. "Tea on the table," she offers. "Here, you can have my spot." And as she strolls towards the doors, he pause by Garrett and Gerald with a heavy sigh and a roll of her eyes. "You don't have to prove anything you two." A giggle as she reaches up to tap her fingers against Garrett's shoulders. "Thanks, Sykes, entertaining this evening," she says and then offers a wave to him, and a soft smile and a wave to Gerald. "You're older, so don't get dragged into anything." Before she wraps her fingers around the strap of her bag and heads towards the exit.

Garrett Sykes snorts, only halfly considering the Hufflepuff's exit. He's too focused on Gerald at the moment, although the sudden body contact does send a stripe of red across the arch of his nose. But he remains strong!
_ _ "Now how would it look if I went around thumping my seniors just because they don't know any good jokes?" The young Gryffindor, though slow at arithmancy, can put two and two together. He turns toward the yellow haired girl and looks her over for a good long while before turning back to face a looming Gerald.
_ _ "If you were a Slytherin, we might be having a different sort of conversation." Garrett casually lifts his black robes with a flourish and tucks his wand neatly into its specially stitched pocket, one deep enough to handle all that wand. "But since you're a Gryffie, AND my upperclassman, it would be bad form to draw you any deeper into a bludgeoning."
_ _ His face softens once more as a churlish smile cuts across his cheeks. "Don't forget the favor." He nods to Sybil. "Good luck with that one." Garrett marches back over to Evelyn and the little Gryffindor muttering something about dogwood. "Ridiculous."

"It's…it's just years of um…well, years of practice, really." Evelyn responds to Artemis. "Besides, uh…for a long time it was uh…it was my only form of communication." She shrugs a little. "And um…and yeah, we'll compare notes." She responds to her yearmate from Hufflepuff. "See you later." At that, she starts to unload her books and notes on the Hufflepuff table. "I should um…I should really be studying." And with that, she does start studying. Charms and Care of Magical Creatures, primarily.

Sybil had tried to be subtle. She honestly had. There's the faintest roll of her eyes when Gerald speaks up with a bluntness that can only really be attributed to the not-so-fair gender and fingers curl around the apple that's suddenly found its way into her hand. "Right." Its just the one word and she polishes the fruit on the sleeve of her sweater before taking a bite as Gerald gets to his feet. There's a flicker behind her eyes, the sort of flicker that denotes a certain excitement when an object of interest is about to flex their muscles to prove just how manly they are, even if its not a coming together of physical blows, being wizards rather than muggles. The excitement is short-lived however when Garrett steps down, a slow breath exhaled. Disappointment? Yes. "Oh that's a shame," she says to Gerald, a small touch of her hand to his leg as if to comfort him. "You didn't get to show me how good you are with your wand. Another time perhaps."

Gerald manages to look almost disappointed as the younger year backs off, though a glance toward the youngest girl in the room, and then to Sybil causes a different look. One of hesitation perhaps. "I'll see you in duel." He promises with a small grin before he turns and drops back into the seat next to Sybil, only to find her eating his snack. "Oi woman!" He teases, blinking at her, but he also reaches to wrap his arms around her to give her a squeeze. "I'm about to head to study." Yes, yes he's a GOOD student! Believe it or not.

"Ooo! There is tea!" Madeline says brightly, pouring herself a cup, and starting to drink, looking up as Garrett comes closer, muttering about dogwood. "If by ridiculous you mean /awesome/ and /amazing/ and /incredible!/ Dogwood's /great/ for making wands!" The girl beams brightly, drinking her tea again.

A sick feeling rumbles through Garrett's stomach. The kind of feeling one gets from eating too many candy beans, or getting hit with the quaffle, or trying to be a truly noble Sykes and allowing an upperclassman to keep his lunch inside his body and his bones still intact. "I'm just too amiable for my own good," he mutters. It's the curse of Sykes clan hospitality to be overly generous.
_ _Looking back at Madeline, he sighs. Youth. "I'll see you in duel alright! And then hell after that!" There probably isn't one though. It's one of those muggle things, hell. But's fun to say. So Garrett shakes a fist and says it again, "HELL!!"
_ _ Beside him a first year slurps tea. And Garrett doesn't mind at all. He's generous like that.

"You're not supposed to shout that word, you know," the little Muggle-born mumbles. Or, you know. Say it. At all.

Sybil's attention drifts Garrett's way when he walks off, her eyes crinkling in amusement. The amusement only last so long though, because Gerald quickly claims it back with the sudden hug-squeeze-hug she's given. "Oh? Do you want company? I'll walk with you if so." Not really waiting for his answer, she transfers the apple to her other hand and wraps her hand in his, fingers lacing with his own in an intimate fashion. Does she wince like Madeline at the word hell? She does not.

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