Re: Cabin No. 17

[Avangeline King]

"If you want to finish that you can, I'm full." Ava admitted rubbing her stomach contentedly. "Father is pretty cool, he is strict but he loves me. My step-mother can't have kids so I am his only child. I get spoiled quite a bit. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Alys answer regarding her schooling sparked Ava's interest. "Muggle school? I haven't met many wizards and witches, let alone muggles. What are they like? Were they nice? How far have you gotten in your magic training? Did your parents let you cast spells, or did you just do theory?" Ava realized her mouth was running away with her and stopped. She didn't want to sound too forceful, she was just curious.

[Guest]

Breaking the remaining piece of sandwich in two, Alys offered Ava one of the pieces. "Let's half it," she suggested.

The blonde listened with interest while chewing the last of the sandwich as Ava told of her family. For a second, Alys was almost about to ask her what it was like to have a step mother but remembered her manners just in time.

She chuckled good naturally at the flurry of questions, glad that Ava wasn't going to hold attending Muggle school against her. Though the girl seemed very nice, you could never tell in these troubled times.

"No, I don't have any siblings either. Papa says I'm already more than they can handle when he teases me."

She put some thought in her next answers, praying to any higher power that she wouldn't fall into a speech due to sheer habit like her parents. "The Muggles are, well, just like us. Some are nice and some not so nice." Alys left it at that, not wanting to labeled anything even before she stepped inside the school.

"As for the magic tutoring, no, I didn't cast any spells because I only got my wand a few days ago. And well, there are a lot of Muggles in the area so we can't practice out in the open. So Papa just taught me a little magical history and about places while Mama explained potions and magical law."

[Avangeline King]

Ava smiled and took the last piece of the sandwich, pulling it into two pieces munching on one, while presenting the other to the kitten curled in her pocket, enticing the small furry creature to show itself.

Ava looked back up at Alys, "Father says all children are supposed to be a trial to their parents, its revenge for what they have done to their own parents." She was smiling full out at that.

"I didn't think muggles would be that different. Father has said a few things, but I wasn't all that sure what to believe." Ava could tell Alys was getting nervous from her guarded answer, only guessing at the reason Ava was careful in her response. She didn't want to alienate the first person her age she had talked to by saying the wrong thing. Ava was not really concerned with the cause of the war, only what affection she could gain from her father by doing well in her efforts.

"I couldn't practice with a real wand either, but he had me use a practice wand which didn't have a core in it. It let me learn how to say the spell and do the movement, but didn't actually cast magic. I don't know how well I will do now that there is more to my wand than a prettily carved stick. I don't really like theory work, I already said I don't like sitting still. I would rather do practical lessons." Ava hoped she wasn't talking too much, sometimes she couldn't help herself from rambling on.

[Guest]

As Ava continued on about how she didn't like staying still, Alys decided not to mention to her that the blonde's own hobby was watching clouds roll by in the sky, preferable when she was on her back, half asleep in the garden.

"Say, you don't have to save food in your pocket, I'm sure they have some at school," she said alarmed when the other girl made to put a bit of meat in her pocket.

[Avangeline King]

Ava laughed at Aly's comment, petting the cat on the head, before pulling the warm bundle of fur out of her pocket. "I wasn't saving it for me, this is Kai, isn't she pretty?"

Cuddling the spotted bengal kitten close to her, Ava continued. "Father gave her to me so I would have a friend at school. Do you like cats? Would you like to pet her?"

[Guest]

Alys let out an involuntary "aww" as Ava extracted what looked like the most adorable kitten in the world from her pocket. It was so tiny that Alys couldn't help but like it instantly.

"Father gave her to me so I would have a friend at school. Do you like cats? Would you like to pet her?"

"Oh may I?" Alys asked even as she reached for the little furry bundle with shining eyes. "That's so nice of your Papa. All I got was a stupid photo album 'to record my wonderful journey' from my parents." Alys touched the kitten's soft head with the tips of her fingers, afraid she might hurt the tiny thing if she pressed a little harder.

[Avangeline King]

Ava laughed at Alys' excitement. "You can hold her if you want," Ava insisted holding out the little kitten to Alys. "She is little, but tough, you won't hurt her."

"There isn't anything stupid about saving good memories. I am glad I have Kai, although I think she is going to be trouble. I have already had to extract her from many tight spots." Ava continued, "Don't let her looks fool you that's a demon that purrs but I love her. Have you ever had a pet?"

[Guest]

"You can hold her if you want," said Ava, sending the witch into another flurry of adorableness. The blonde held out her hand for the kitten, all the while encouraging her by saying things like "Here kai, here you come."

To Kai's owner she said "No, I've never had a pet before but my friend in Muggle school kept fish. And if I'm being honest, they weren't interesting at all. They just swam in their tank and that was it. Even Annika - that's my friend - got bored of them after a while." Alys could see why no one would ever get bored of little Kai, especially if she got in as much trouble as Ava insisted.

[Avangeline King]

Ava watched Kai sniff the newcomers hands, and smelling residual ham, Kai slinked off her hands over to Alys meowing up adorably. "She likes you." Ava insisted. "You are the first person she has met other than my family."

"I don't think fish would be that exciting, no, and with Kai now that would be a really bad idea. I can just picture her perched on top of the bowl fishing for her lunch. Father keeps a few hunting dogs on the estate, but I prefer cats over just about any others. I didn't need an owl as Father is the only one that would write me, anything that comes up I can just use a school owl I guess. What is your favorite animal?"

[Guest]

As the kitten jumped into her palm, Alys felt a little burst of happiness inside her. She had never been interested in animals before but little Kai was definitely going to get her started.

"Well, I've never really hung out around them before," she admitted. "But you seem to be surrounded by them. Kai, your Papa's dogs, owls. Your family must be doing very well to have such things." From the way Ava talked, it wasn't hard to imagine the other girl was well off. The kitten itself was a foreign species and couldn't have been easy to bring in.

[Avangeline King]

Ava chuckled, "Yeah, we have a lot of animals. My family is doing pretty well, but there are plenty of other families richer than ours. I think father would prefer I spend my time playing with our pets than causing mischief in the manor so he encourages me to be around the animals. I always wanted a cat, but he waited until I was ready to go to school to surprise me with Kai."

"What do you like to do for fun?" Ava wanted to change the subject, she liked Alys, and she didn't want her to feel intimidated around Ava. Ava was too sheltered to know exactly how arrogant some of the others of her kind could be, only that something was upsetting this potential new friend.

[Guest]

"Well I..." Alys started before she realized she had nothing fancy to report like Ava. Her parents lived in a normal four bedroom house in a big village pretending to be a small town. Her days mostly consisted of just going to school, coming back, doing homework and chores and listening to endless talks and discussions about the evils of war.

"I just, well, I go cycling. I like my bike. Papa got it for me on my ninth birthday and I always rode it to and from school. It's actually a pretty fun way to get around." Alys also liked climbing up trees and rooftops to cloud watch but she wasn't going to say that out loud. She didn't want to sound completely boring to this girl.

"Sorry I don't have anything more interessant to tell," she said, looking at the kitten curled up in her palm and not at her owner. "Oh, I also like Exploding Snap," she added in, hoping to redeem her "bore" status.

[Avangeline King]

"A bike? I've never ridden one. Is it anything like a broom? Father only allowed my up on his broom a few times, I guess he figured it would be better I learn from a professional, than to knock myself out under his watch." Ava didn't want to say that her father disapproved of anything muggle, saying she was a witch and should act like one. "It sounds fun to be able to ride around, Father mainly kept me in the manor, it was alright but a bit lonely with just the three of us and two house elves."

"I like exploding snap too! I don't get to play it much, my step-mother says the noise gives her a headache. I can get father to play a game with me when she is out to lunch with friends, but that isn't often." Ava knew by the way Alys wouldn't look at her that she was embarrassed about something, Ava hoped it wasn't because of her upbringing, yeah she had grown up in the manor around pets and elves, but she had been very lonely for a very long time.

[Guest]

At the last part, Alys looked up at the other witch and grinned. "Noise, now there's something our house isn't short on. If I'm not listening to the radio, Papa is and when we're not, Mama is yelling at one or both of us to get going for chores and errands and such. When I was little, Mama used to tuck me into bed but as I grew up and figured it wasn't cool anymore, she just shouted good night from the stairs." Alys figured if she and Ava ever played Exploding Snap at the Diederichs, the noise would just become part of the household.

"And I'm not sure if a broom is different from a bike but I guess it must be because you don't have to peddle on a broom. I've never ridden one but I'd love to try at school."

[Avangeline King]

"I would love all that noise. I have to be so composed at home, I'm expected to be training with Father or studying. I don't like studying so I slip away and get into as much trouble as I can before I get caught." Ava admitted with a smirk. The life of an heir was boringly official, her life as an undeclared heir was nothing but boring.

"At least now with school starting I can start getting out more, I was enrolled with my birth-mothers name, so I have a measure of protection if I feel like getting into mischief." No one would connect her to her Father until they were good and ready for the country to know about them, the only one to know of her family name at school was the High Master.

"Flying is a lot of fun, what little I have done of it any way, I think you will like it. I doubt I will get the chance to ride a bike, Father may not approve." Ava knew there was no way he would condone something so obviously muggle, Ava could never disobey her Father's wishes, no matter what happened, she just couldn't.

[Guest]

"So you never got out of the house at all," Alys asked curiously. From the way the girl opposite her had been talking, it sounded like she spent all her time with only her Papa for company inside their big house.

"Enrolled in a different name... Wait a minute, are you someone famous? Should I know you? Damn, I knew I should have listened more carefully to Papa when we were reviewing famous wizarding families of Germany." The blonde looked at Ava, her blue eyes shining with excitement.

"And don't worry about bikes, if I can get my hands on one at school, I'll teach you. And maybe you can give me a few tips on flying before I totally embarrass myself in Lehrer Steinburg's class."

[Avangeline King]

"So you never got out of the house at all," Alys asked curiously.

Ava shook her head gently, "Not much, it wasn't very safe for me to be outside the manor. My family isn't famous, but my father is the last of a pureblood line, and I am his only child. The reason I have to go to school under a different name than him is because my parents were not, and never were, married. Without the official sanction of a wedding, even though Father really is the person who sired me, I must be named heir as it isn't automatic for me. He doesn't want to officially claim me until I come of age. Thus coming to school with my British mother's last name, rather than Father's German one." Ava did get a bit of a chuckle out of Alys' thinking she was famous, wait until she met the truly famous instructors at school.

"I would love to show you some flying tips! I don't know anything about the flying instructor at school, if they are any good you probably won't need me, but I will if you would like me too. I think it would be fun to learn to ride a bike. Father warned there would be a lot of snow and ice at the school though, do you think it would be safe?" Ava was curious about riding a bike, but didn't want to get her hopes up encase it didn't happen.

[Guest]

The more Alys talked to Ava, the more ignorant she felt. "You have an English last name? What is it?" she asked, choosing the safest of the questions that were on the tip of her tongue. The blonde settled little Kai on a seat before turning to Ava again.

"Your life sounds way cool. And you're totally pureblood? I only ask because there are so few of them left now. My Papa is always going on about how blood makes no difference and Mama's no better either, lecturing me on how Muggles deserve the same respect as us. But I know purebloods get treated like royalty in some places."

[Avangeline King]

"I do have an English name, its King. Not incredibly uncommon other places though." Ava watched Kai wander around the cabin searching the place for things to do.

"As far as I know I am totally pureblooded, my Father definitely is, and my mother most likely is as Father would probably not have taken me in if she wasn't. I wouldn't know about the royalty thing though, as you can probably tell I grew up mostly isolated. I know Father doesn't really like muggles, but I don't know much about them personally." Ava admitted, hoping her heritage wouldn't come between them.

"I hope the instructors treat us all the same, the students probably won't, but if the instructors don't pick sides we stand a chance."

[Guest]

"Your name is King?" Alys looked at her oddly before bursting into laughter. Ava's life seemed a million miles different from hers and yet they had similar last names. Alys stopped laughing long enough to say. "Here, let me reintroduce myself. My full name is Alys Diederich." She winked at Ava, hoping the girl would join in the joke.

"And I too hope the teachers won't care about backgrounds. But from what I've seen so far, they seem to be alright. At least, Professor Vikki is very nice. She's the one who made me the sandwich."

[Avangeline King]

Ava got a slight chuckle out of Alys' reintroduction, catching onto the humor in it. She full out laughed when she heard the blonde girl call an instructor by their first name.

"Well if she makes such tasty food, she can't be all bad right? I've heard some things about the instructors from Father, but he won't answer me outright, he thinks I will learn more if I go in without preconceptions. They may have changed in the years since he had them for teachers." Ava explained.

"What class are you looking forward to? I think I'm going to like Dark Arts and Dueling the best." Since they were on the subject of school Ava felt she may as well ask.

[Guest]

"Well, I don't any any teacher except Lehrer Vikki. But I think they're too young to have been around when your Papa was in school..." she trailed off, wondering about that herself. Lehrer Vikki barely looked to be out of her teens so did that mean other teachers were as young too?

"I honestly think I will like psychology the best," Alys admitted. "You know Muggles study it too. And its supposed to teach us why people act and think the way they do. I find that really interesting."

[Avangeline King]

"Hmm," Ava pondered, "I didn't sign up for Psychology, I tried to get out of any classes where there is more theory than practice. I understand how it could be interesting though. It's just not for me."

Ava scooped Kai back onto her lap when she realized the little furry monster was looking too bored for their own good. Kai started purring as Ava started petting her, "I just realized something, there is going to be a lot of owls at school, I hope Kai doesn't run into trouble with them."

"So what do you know about the houses yet? I know their names, but nothing more."

[Guest]

As she watched Ava scoop Kai back in her arms, Alys laughed at the mention of Kai getting in trouble with owls. "Well, they would probably be kept high up in a rookery so unless Kai finds her way to their nests, I think she'll be okay. They're trained school owls so they just deliver post most likely, and don't pay any mind to a student's pets."

The questions on School Houses she had to consider. If she gave a real answer, she might sound like Mama. And it would have been too much information anyway. So Alys simply opted for saying "No, not really. I heard there are four which is a bit odd but that's all I know."

[Guest]

Entering the ship had been much less daunting than he thought. Tarragon smiled to himself at how easy the whole ordeal had been. Making his way down the ship, checking each window for a free compartment or one not full of older student. He finally finds a window with two girls of his own age, and what looked like a tutor.

Quickly checking his reflection in the window, with a quick flick of the hair out of his eyes, he knocks the door confidently and enters.

"Hi ladies," He smiles with confidence before taking a seat within the compartment, "I'm Tarragon, Tarragon Zeverai. How are you all?"

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