Kirah

Librarians and the Savior's Sword.

I have a long break right now... and I just wanna work on a character... so I'm gonna do that then edit later for whatever CS you give us.

Château de Lalune

@AuntFlavia I understand... I work two jobs. So I feel ya

GMing Best Practices

@McHaggis You should come back to it... we miss you

GMing Best Practices

@McHaggis I appreciate and am honored by the shoutout, but I would like to point out you used past tense verbs in your post and Northwood is somehow still kicking...

Librarians and the Savior's Sword.

Color me interested but at work right now I'll chat soon!

Hogwarts World Tour

All right... so Kyle is up. @kittyluna45 We should do a quick collab for what the cousins get up to while at Diagon alley, tomorrow? or ... Uh... Thursday?... nope I'm working from like 1-10 at Quadra that day... and Friday is out because I'm working from like 10am-10pm... Saturday after we get back from the wedding? If we can't tomorrow?

Hogwarts World Tour

Kyle McCarthy

Kyle's cousin, Victor, sat across from Kyle at their late breakfast in complete silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable one as people might expect, but a relaxed silence that came from years of knowing each other. There was no need to fill that silence with banter, or talk of the weather. Besides Kyle was certain if Victor did ask questions it would be about Siobhan, a conversation Kyle did not want to have.

Once the meal was finished Kyle stood up and started towards his room. “Kyle,” Victor said as Kyle reached for the door handle out of the dinning room. “I hope you have a good trip. I'll see you in a year.”

“Thank you Victor.” Kyle started to turn to leave again, but paused and turned to face Victor again. “I appreciate everything you've done for me.” Victor nodded, and Kyle left the room to finish packing.

He really did appreciate his cousin and everything he had done for him. Without Victor, Kyle would have been living on the streets, or worse would have ended up in Azkaban right along side his sister, Maggie. Kyle's brow furrowed at the thought of his sister, thankful though for the walls and distance between the two of them. Almost everyone at the school had known about Kyle's family, they had had a very public trial, which concluded in two lifetime sentences for Kyle's father for the murder of Kyle's mother, and three lifetime sentences for Maggie for use of the Killing curse and Crucio on several muggles and muggle-borns.

Kyle looked over to his nightstand where a picture of Siobhan sat, she was reading something in the picture, probably something about dragons, and the wind was blowing her hair. Kyle didn't remember anything about that day, but taking the picture. Even still it was his favorite possession. He tossed the rest of his clothes into a messy pile in his trunk, but carefully wrapped the picture with a shirt, before closing the trunk. He waved his wand and whispered an incantation, the trunk shrank down to be a bit smaller than his palm. Kyle shoved the now miniature trunk into his pocket and walked back out of his room, giving it one last glance.

It was barely noticeable that someone had lived in the room for nearly ten years, only the wardrobe with too small clothes, or half broken supplies gave any indication that it had been a student's room. All of Kyle's books were either packed, or in his cousin's library, and the only picture that had ever sat in the room was packed as well. He didn't even have a picture of his mother, the only member of his immediate family he had ever gotten along with.

Kyle left the property, and just on the edge of the spell that kept people from apparating or disapparating inside the grounds, he disapparated and appeared in Hogsmead. His stomach twisting even after all the practice he had put into learning the spell. Kyle braced himself for a moment against a wall and then stepped out into the all magical town, his eyes looking for Siobhan.

Hogwarts World Tour

I'm working on my Kyle post, but I'll be at my other job today from 1-10 so I can't work on it until much later....

Hogwarts World Tour

Okay post up for Mary.

I plan on working on a post for Kyle tomorrow during break/after work.

Edit: So, as an FYI (if anyone cares about accuracy): http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_phases.pl?year=2007&month=5&day=30&nump=50&format=p

Hogwarts World Tour

Mary Winthrop

Mary lay reading on a hammock in the shade of an overgrown tree, one foot hanging over trailing lightly and sometimes pushing against the ground. Her summer thus far had been idyllic. Andrew, her father, and herself had spent it at a small sea-side cottage he had bought when he had first brought Mary home. It was one of her favorite places to go now. Most of the time it was a weekend trip or a short trip, this time they had gone for a whole month. It was the first Summer since Mary had started school that they had that much time together. Now they wouldn't see each other for basically another year.

“Mary,” her father's voice called from the cottage. “Are you finished packing?”

“Yes. I'll be in in a minute I just want to finish this chapter.”

“Okay, I want to take the Knight bus shortly to Diagon Alley.” Mary nodded, her eyes still darting across the page, there wasn't that much left in the chapter. A breeze cooled her burnt cheeks and some sand landed into her eye. With a groan she got out of the hammock and went inside, still reading the book with one eye and rubbing at the other. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just some sand in my eye. Wind kicked it up.”

“Welcome to the beach.” Andrew grinned and went back to his task preparing their late lunches for the bus ride. “What time is the portkey tomorrow?”

“Four pm.” Mary said, closing the book and climbing the stairs up to her small room at the top. She loved the tiny room with its huge windows that opened out facing the sea, it gave her a sense of freedom she had never experienced before living with her father. Mary paused before placing the book she had been reading in the large, though not as large as is should be considering how much stuff was actually packed into it, trunk. For a brief moment she was scared of the future.

Mary had never been much of a traveler, and the next year would be nothing but traveling. It was a scary thought. In all her life she had been maybe a dozen places, and all of those had been in the last ten years. Odd how it had been only ten years, and even odder still how ten years felt like more lifetimes then just the one she had lived. The Mary of ten years ago was not the Mary of now. Things were changing, more than just her. She was done at Hogwarts-

“Mary, bring your trunk down. I'm going to wave down the Bus.”

“Coming.” Mary dropped the book and closed the lid, and with a wave of her wand the lock disappeared and no key could unlock it. Only someone with the unlocking spell could open the trunk now. She picked up one handle and dragged the trunk behind her, it was as light as if it were empty. Mary smiled, magic was wonderful, and descended down the stairs. Her father was standing several paces away from the house with his hand out, waving down an invisible taxi cab.

There was a crashing sound and a violently purple bus screeched to a halt inches from Andrew. He didn't flinch. Down hopped a young man who launched into an explanation about the bus. “Yes, yes, we know.” Andrew cut the man off, placing the coins for both Mary and his tickets. “Two for Diagon Alley please.”

“I wanted to hear his speech.” Mary whispered to Andrew once they had gotten their things positioned between two seats on the second floor. They didn't have time to sit as the bus started moving with a jerk going from zero to at least 70 in less than three seconds. By the G-force alone Mary was forced into her seat, and all the seats in front of them came sliding back into them. A harried looking woman groaned and turned a little more green.

“We could have been saved this suffering.” Andrew looked at Mary with a raised eyebrow.

“I was curious.” She gave a small shrug. “And besides we were told discrete travel.

“Apparating is discrete.”

“And boring.” Mary smiled brightly and looked out the window to watch the speeding scenery. There would be loud bangs and whatever was flashing by would disappear and something new and different was replaced by it.

“You'll have a year of non-boring travel, why did I have to suffer too?” Andrew groaned. “If she hurls I'll hurl too.” Mary giggled, and patted her father on the hand. “You'll write to me won't you?”

“Yes I will, every day.”

“I don't require every day, just regularly.” Andrew wrapped his arm around Mary and kissed the top of her head gently, a sensation she never got tired of.

It was just after the seats were exchanged with beds, as equally not bolted down, that they arrived at Diagon Alley. Andrew checked them into rooms at the Leaky Cauldron, with beds that didn't move. Mary had spent a few nights in the Leaky Cauldron before growing up, though most of those times she had shared the room with her cousin, who Mary hoped would show up soon. She didn't want to have to wait until Paris to see her. Her heart beat sped up at the thought of seeing Paris, and the rest of the world. It was so terrifying and fun sounding.

Once her things were in place Mary knocked on her father's room. “I'm going to go into the Alley.” He gave a grumpy sounding okay. “Do you want me to ask Mrs. Longbottom to bring you up something to settle your stomach?” The responding noise sounded like it could have been please, so Mary found Mrs. Longbottom and requested a soothing drink for Andrew.

Finally she was out in Diagon Alley out of the stuffy air of indoors. She had never been to Diagon Alley at this time of year, and certainly not by herself. She grinned ready to explore.