[d20 Urban Arcana] Harry Potter and the Dawn of Shadow (Prologue)

[Paxus Asclepius]

"Cor, that's great! What's that under the seal? "Draco Dormiens Nunquan Titilliandus?" Don't tickle sleeping dragons? Let me take a look at these teachers here." Morgan begins to flip through the book, reading the professor's bios. Sam leaps up onto the seat and examines them as well.

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

My first double post. I'm so proud.

 

[Vendetta]

"OH MY!" Basil exclaims. "Those pictures are moving!"

After a few minutes of explaining and several more of just looking on in fascination, Basil rubs his eyes to check one last time. His attention is fully absorbed into the book as he tries to learn as much as he can about Hogwarts. He is pretty much lost, at this point, in the book.

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

Seeing Basil occupied with the book, Morgan starts leafing through his Standard Book of Spells. When the food cart comes by, he purchases a bag of Chocolate Frogs. Slicing the bag open, he reaches in for a frog, which leaps out of his hand and jumps for the door. Reacting quickly, Morgan draws out his wand and shouts "Stupefy!" Fragments of chocolate spray over the compartment. "Whoops. Guess I should've used a touch less power." The rest of the frogs, cowed by this display of violence, put up only token struggles.

 

[Vendetta]

Looking up for a moment, Basil asks, "Did that chocolate frog just try to escape?" With the affirmative response, Basil nods and goes back to reading the Hogwarts Student Handbook.

After a few more minutes, Basil looks up and says, "I've a question. What's all this "house" Ravenclaw and Slytherin bit? I've heard you mention it earlier."

 

[FoxWander]

"Well all the students get sorted into houses. It's like part dormitory and part college fraternity or somethin'. There's this magic hat that figures out what kind o' person you are and announces which house you'll go to. And that's where you'll be at Hogwart's till you graduate."

"The four houses are Ravenclaw (for the smart and clever), Gryffindor (for the brave and chivalrous), Slytherin (for the cunning and ambitious) and Hufflepuff (for the loyal and diligent). Course there's more to it than that, but that's the basics. My Mum was a Ravenclaw, I think that's where she'd like me to end up- that's why she got me a Raven instead of an Owl, I guess. But all the houses seem alright to me. 'Cept maybe Hufflepuff- they come off as kinda boring. And Mum says alot of bad seeds tend to come from Slytherin. There was a real bad one a few years ago, but Mum wouldn't tell me anything about it. People got killed though. Bad business all around."

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

"That's a bit more balanced than Black put it. 'E said that 'Ufflepuffs were dull and unimaginative, Ravenclaws were obsessed with schoolwork, and Gryffindors were reckless and altogether too impressed wit' themselves. 'Course, 'e wanted me in Slytherin, so 'ts'not surprisin'. Cunning and ambitious, you say? That sounds roight anyway. What about you, Basil? Where do you want to go?"

Morgan reaches into his bag of chocolate frogs, pulling out a card. "Wot's 'is, then? It's a card with a wizard on it. Salizar Slytherin? 'E the fellow they named the 'ouse after?"'

 

[Vendetta]

"I... I don't know." Basil says, worriedly. His mind racing though what all the bullies back home would say if he was in a house named "Hufflepuff". Slytherin sounded kind of scary... but impressive. He would love to be impressive. Gryffindor also sounded good... but he wasn't really all that brave. "I'm not very brave, really. So I guess Gryffindor is out. I can be alittle creative when it comes to librarys and research, but I wouldn't say I'm all that smart either. Certainly not obsessed with school work. I... I guess I'm loyal... but I haven't had many friends to really know that. I don't think I'm very ambitious either. So I suppose that hat will send me to Ravenclaw. Which house do you guys want to be in? I don't know enough about them to really know where I would like to go."

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

"Well, Black wants me in Slytherin, but he's one, so I 'spect 'e's got an ulterior mo'ive. I can't say that 'Ufflepuff or Gryffindor 'as much appeal; loyalty and bravery are just pretty names for stupidity. I could go for Ravenclaw, but they seem the type as'd rather know stuff than do anythin' with it. Slytherin, at least, I'd know my way around; I 'magine mos' of 'em are a lot loike me."

 

[FoxWander]

"Problem I see with Slytherin is- 'ow can you trust your house mates? I mean, if everyone's in it for themselves it'd be kinda annoying wouldn't it? Then again, that may just be the stereotype of the place. They may be an ok lot, long as your one of 'em. I still lean towards Ravenclaw though. If knowledge is power, that's gotta go double for wizards, right? And that's what I want to be a wizard for."