Cora's 16th Birthday Luau
Who: Cora, Richard, Mackenzie, William, Truly and Nuala
Where: Hogwarts, Unused Classroom
When: 31 October 2007, immediately following the Halloween Feast
Synopsis: Wolf roast pig and shares. Wolf gets presents.
Chronology:Cora's first-ever sanctioned birthday party at Hogwarts. Who said an
old dog can't learn new tricks?
Logger: Cora "It's-my-birthday" Petit

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hogwarts Castle - Unused Classroom

This classroom is one of those that are never used regularly, and therefore
has the slightly neglected feeling of a cupboard or storeroom. The floor is
covered with a thin film of dust, marred by a few footprints, some unmistakably
feline. And all of the desks have been pushed to one side of the room and
stacked on top of each other to leave a large open space. The iron rings in the
stone walls that usually hold torches are empty, and the blackboard is actually
propped against the far wall rather than properly hung upon it. A pair of tall,
narrow windows are set in the wall opposite the desks, though they're quite
dingy and don't admit much light.

Contents:
Richard
Mackenzie
William
Obvious exits:
Corridor

So, it's shortly after the Halloween Feast. A steady trickle of students from
all different houses, and all different ages, seems to head down the dusty
corridor, and into this unused classroom. The inside's been transformed,
probably mostly through magical means. Near the windows are several palm trees,
complete with sandy dunes that are nestled right up against the window panes.
The air carries the scent of saltwater and coconuts. Everyone who enters gets a
flowered lei of some sort to dangle around their necks. The desks have been
moved out of the classroom, and in their place along the one wall is an open
pit, and while the flames don't look real, the pig that rests on the spit above
it is indeed completely real, well cooked, and ready for eating. Some spell even
sits there, carving off meat with an unmanned knife for anyone who wanders by
with a small plate. Island-style quiet reggae is the music in the air, though
who knows where that is from.

Cora is talking with a couple others from Gryffindor for the moment, and while
yes, she's in her school uniform, she has reattached the grass skirt over her
school skirt. A flowered lei of orange colored hibiscus rest around her neck,
intertwined with white Tahitian gardenias.

William wanders into the party room and grins, accepting his lei and picking up
a plate and he starts to head for the food before making a detour towards Cora,
"Hey, happy birthday and all that. Nice setup you have for this."

Richard is here. Yes, the Slytherin prefect is leaning up against a wall near
the back of the room, looking supremely bored with the entire affair. But, he
keeps a baleful eye on the students that have arrived at Cora's party.

Mackenzie steps into the classroom and lingers near the door for a moment as she
takes in the scene, looking for familiar faces. She's carrying a small, wrapped
box in her left hand. Stepping further into the room, she greets, "Hey, Cora."

Cora turns some, and greets both William and Mackenzie with a big grin, "Come on
in you two," she says, "Help yourself to whatever. I promise, no exploding
eyeballs or such gore, here. As much as I like blood, I just ... felt like we
should have one last kiss of summer before the snow starts to fall."

Mackenzie offers her small boxed gift to Cora. "Here, this is for you," she
says, before turning her head to look at all the goodies there are to eat.
"Sorry it's not much."

Cora glances down at the box, "Whoa, Fox," she says, "It's alright really...
gifts are ... never required at this shin dig." She's a bit flustered by the
gift, that much is clear.

William chuckles a bit, "Yeah, I'll be missing summer here shortly. Anyway, did
you pull all this off yourself? Nice bit of work if I do say so myself." Rich
gives a wave to Mackenzie, "I see she got you down here as well, eh?"

Richard continues his watching of the room. The boy does take out his wand and
summons himself a bit of the roasted pig, and a plate, which he chews on while
making sure nobody blows the castle up or whatever he's there for.

"Hey," Mackenzie says to William. "I'd attend any party I was invited to," she
replies. "Well, *most* any party. I reserve the right to make exceptions."

Cora smiles to William and nods, "Mostly yeah. I had a little help with the
sand. That was tricky," she admits, sounding a bit of a puzzlement. "The pig's
good though. That one took quite some time to get right. And somewhere around
here is a punch bowl. Make yourself comfy. Have a good time, and don't worry
about getting in trouble," she nods in Richard's general direction, but is still
talking to William and Mackenzie, "This year, this is sanctioned, hence the
badge over there. Not my choice in badges. My choice gets here later," she
chuckles a bit.

Mackenzie smiles. "Would that be Jeoffrey?", she asks, venturing an educated
guess. She briefly steps to the table beside her and picks up a random
confection to nibble on.

William smiles to Mackenzie, "I see. I was invited too of course. I'd be
disappointed if she didn't ask the team to come on down." Will nods to Cora,
"Ahhh, I see. I was heading for the food before coming over to say hello and
all." Will takes a look over at Richard before turning back to Cora and mack,
rolling his eyes a bit, "And who else would it be, the headmaster?"

Richard idly chews on his slice of ham, and watches the world go by. Though,
every few moments his eyes dart to whomever is getting punch from the punchbowl.

Cora's dark cheeks color a bit at Mackenzie's words, "Yeah," she admits, a
little bit of bashfulness in her words. Then she snorts at William, "Oh yes,
let's just /drag/ old Hawk Nose in here," she jokes back at him, inadvertently
blurting out her nickname for the dour man.

The inside of this classroom has been transformed, probably mostly through
magical means. Near the windows are several palm trees, complete with sandy
dunes that are nestled right up against the window panes. The air carries the
scent of saltwater and coconuts. Everyone who enters gets a flowered lei of some
sort to dangle around their necks. The desks have been moved out of the
classroom, and in their place along the one wall is an open pit, and while the
flames don't look real, the pig that rests on the spit above it is indeed
completely real, well cooked, and ready for eating. Some spell even sits there,
carving off meat with an unmanned knife for anyone who wanders by with a small
plate. Island-style quiet reggae is the music in the air, though who knows where
that is from.

Cora lingers in the middle area, talking with William and Mackenzie. A small
wrapped box rests in her one hand, held down by her side. Richard lurks over
near the door, munching from a plate of roasted pig, eying those around and
occasionally speaking for whatever reason.

Richard continues his eating, and looking over at the punch, but it would seem
he's not much engaged in conversation at the moment. Though, Cora's mention of
'old Hawk Nose' seems to catch his attention. Yet, he seems to be wise enough
not to dock points in a room full of Gryffindors.

William snickers a little bit at Cora's name for the headmaster, though he tries
to suppress it for the most part, "Anyway, I'm going to grab some of the food.
I'm little bit hungry at the moment." and with that he wanders over for some of
of the roast pig before coming back with a small pile back towards Cora

Truly slips in to the room with a small long box wrapped in colourful paper,
ribbon and a bow. After spotting Richard the girl flicks a little wave with her
hand then quickly crosses the gap between herself and Cora. Just a few feet she
stands away from Cora and her little group.

Mackenzie sighs at William's earlier snarky comment about Snape, and pays him no
attention. "I think it's a good match with him," she says to Cora. "Not that my
opinion should matter." With that, she wanders closer to the pig to get her
plate filled up.

Nuala slips in through the door not long after Truly, not noticing the
surroundings immediately for all the looking back over her shoulder she's doing.
Once she's safely over the threshold, she turns to face front and her eyes widen
a bit at a look at the spread Cora has put on. Noticing Richard there by the
door, her eyebrows quirk up and she doesn't move much further herself.

Cora is still a little flustered at Mackenzie's topic of choice. "Yeah. Me too,"
she admits, blushing a little bit redder. Then she is truly grateful at the next
arrival, and the distraction it brings from the topic of the moment. She grins
widely, "Small!" she says, waving the girl in further, "My gosh girl I feel like
I haven't seen you in two years."

Richard glances at Nuala, and then smiles a little at Truly's wave. He returns
it in kind, but otherwise simply watches the festivities.

"Small?" Truly shrugs her shoulders then juts out the hand holding the package
destined for Cora. "Well, " Truly says when she looks at the gift, "I suppose it
is sort of small, Petit. Nothing but a brush." The girl blushes as she continues
to hold the present out for Cora to take.

William gives a wave to Truly and Nuala though he says nothing to them at the
moment, perhaps 'cause his mouth is full though he does give them a touch more
space.

Cora grins and takes the box. She's now got a box in each hand, "Remind me next
year everyone. No presents required, though they are appreciated." She then
turns to find a place to stash the boxes. She apparently, is not one to open
gifts right away.

Nuala looks a little relieved at that; it seems she didn't think to bring
anything for the birthday girl anyway. Richard gets another glance before the
younger Slytherin pushes forward further into the room, standing just a little
awkwardly on the outskirts of the gathering, clearly listening in while taking
in her surroundings.

Richard has another bite of ham, lets his eyes wander over the group at large.
Yup. That's about it for him right now.

Cora's dark eyes then turn, and spot Nuala. Her eyebrows arch up some, but she
gives the girl a smile, "Hey there," she says, trying to place her name, and
failing, "Come on in. It's been a while since I've seen you," she says. "How's
Slytherin treating you this year?"

Mackenzie finds a spot to sit down, then enjoys a bit of ham and sips some punch
while glancing toward Truly and Nuala.

"Oh, well I just thought..." Truly's voice tails off before she can further
insert foot in to mouth. "Happy Birthday then Cora." As she looks around the
Ravenclaw says, "Great theme." Without further word she walks off, a moment's
nod to Mackenzie as she heads over to get something to eat.

Nuala gives her shoulders a little shrug, but does take the invitation to move
in and join the group more properly. "It's good, thank you," she replies, polite
if a little more aloof when she first met Cora as an ickle firstie. "Happy
birthday. How are you?"

William blinks a bit, looking after Truly, "Well, you have a lot of friends it
seems, Cora. Can't say I know many of them myself of course." He offers for
Truly, "It tastes really good so I'd say try some of everything."

Richard pushes off from the wall and heads in the direction of Truly. He sets
his plate on a desk as he goes, shoving his hands into his pockets. The boy
glances in the direction of the punchbowl yet again.

Cora chuckles to Nuala, trying to cover up any awkwardness that might be there,
"Oh, doing good, real good. 363 days left to freedom," she comments. She shrugs
then to William, "This year I did things a little different. Since Professor
Hagrid actually knows about this bash, I kinda opened it up. I can't control
everyone that comes in that door," she motions towards it, "Or anything that
guards it either." She smirks in Richard's direction as he moves towards Truly.

Truly smiles at the skinny 11 year old lad, "Smells good. Cheaver, right; how's
your first year going?" After grabbing a plate she picks a few choice bits of
food then she nears the meat, watching it go to her plate. Richard's approaching
presence is felt, but for the moment she sort of doesn't let on. Oh,okay, so she
glances at him in a coy fashion.

Nuala glances back over at Richard as Cora mentions him in reference, before
turning back to the rest of the group. "So a professor actually knows about
this?" she asks, sounding a little skeptical about that. Then again, it is
Hagrid. She gives her shoulders a little shrug, dismissing the thought.

Cora nods to Nuala's query, then motions to the furthest wall. It's mostly bare,
except for a parchment that she mounted on it, with what looks like a dagger
really. "There's my permit," she says, sounding a little proud, "I was as
stunned as anyone really. I never expect anything from anyone, least of all,
permission to do something like this."

William grins at Cora, "Well, I'm surprised you got permission given your thing
for point loss and all, though Hagrid does seem to be a lot more relaxed than
some others around here." Will turns towards Truly, "It's going alright. I think
I've finally settled in, though still getting used to some of the castle
oddities."

"Good evening Ms. Smart." Richard says to Truly as he passes by her, "If you get
a free moment I'd love to speak with you," he comments, continuing on his walk
off towards the other side of the room, away from the door.

Mackenzie stands up, refills her punch, and heads towards the others to listen
in on conversations.

As if it were a matter of importance, Truly glances towards the writ of
permission. "Certainly, Jepson." The girl is all a flutter with -I'd /love/ to
speak with you- at least he didn't say - I loathe to speak with you. Or maybe he
did and her hearing isn't so good. Finally she walks over to Richard.

Nuala looks over at the dagger-mounted parchment, her eyebrows going up a bit
again. "Yeah, that is rather ... remarkable. Must be they got so tired of you
breaking the rules, they decided to change the rules since the other way clearly
wasn't working." She smirks just a bit with that as she drifts over to grab
herself some punch.

Richard leans up against the wall that he has apparently selected to lean
against and asks of Truly, "How've you been?" If he notices she's all a flutter,
he doesn't comment on it.

Cora follows Nuala it would seem, or else she's just thirsty, "Yeah well, a lot
of rules need to change. This is just the first one. I've got about a hundred
others to change now, but only three more here at Hogwarts," she comments
peculiarly, fetching herself a cup full of the tropical flavoured punch.

William looks a little surprised at Cora's words, but just shrugs and he begins
wandering around the room himself, not heading in any particular direction.
While picking up a pineapple ring from her plate Truly smiling. "I'm doing well,
thank you for asking. How about yourself; how did that practice go the other
day?"

"I know about the asinine anti-werewolf laws--and I completely agree that they
shouldn't exist--but what did you have in mind for Hogwarts?", Mackenzie asks
Cora with great interest.

"Three?" Nuala asks, blinking as she turns away from her task of pouring her
punch. "Er, which three exactly?" Her brow furrows as she tries to figure it out
herself in advance. "Just seems such an awfully specific number."

Richard either pretends or really doesn't overhear Mackenzie and company
discussing rules and the changes that need to be made. Rather, he answers Truly,
"It went well. Though.." and he lowers his voice a little to speak to the girl,
so as not to be overheard.

Cora gives a confident toss of her long raven locks, "Rest assured, Fox,
Chittenden," she says, "I am always specific about things like that. As for
which three, all I have to say is, just watch. You'll figure them out soon
enough."

William frowns slightly, "Well, just as long as you don't pull something that
will cause the headmaster to pull you off the team. Despite you trying to
clobber me in practice, I'll feel better in our actual matches."

Cora nods to William, "I'm not going anywhere," she informs him solemnly, "No
matter who tries to nudge me out, or push me, or trick me. This wolf's sticking
it out until NEWTs are complete. And until we pulverize Slytherin, of course."
This leads to a rowdy calling out of "Gryffindor!" by some of the more hearty
housemates present to the birthday girl.

Nuala's eyebrows arch at that, and she manages to look highly doubtful as she
turns back to get her drink. It's hard to tell whether her skepticism is
directed more towards Cora managing to change more rules, not getting kicked
out, or simply Gryffindor managing to beat Slytherin; possibly a combination of
all three.

"Oh?" Truly smiles neatly. "Well...that's wonderful news." says Truly in a low
voice. "Won't say no more, then." She looks over her shoulder to Cora and the
others grinning from ear to ear. "Soo, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I just wanted to talk with you." Richard says, rolling his eyes ceilingward at
the Gryffindor cheer. He smiles a little at the girl, adding, "I think things
are becoming uncomplicated though."

William chuckles a little bit at Nuala's reaction, "Don't take it personally. I
haven't been a Gryffindor long, but if we could only win one match a year, it
we'd always prefer to beat Slytherin. A bit of a rivalry between the houses and
all in the general sense."

Cora finally moves over to where she tossed the two almost forgotten packages.
She carefully unwraps the small one from Mackenzie first.
You paged William with 'Me too'.

Mackenzie puts her cup down and stands closer to Cora as she begins to open
gifts.

Nuala looks over at William as if only just noticing him. Ah, to be a lofty
second year. "Well, I know /that/. There's always been a rivalry between the
Houses," she states in a matter-of-fact sort of way. "Though I'm not sure it's
so general." With a shrug, she turns her attention to her drink.

Truly humms lightly. "Really?" /the girl/ seems happy about that. "In what way?
I mean, that's wonderful. Did, you ...well want to go in to Hogsmeade together
next time we're allowed?" She pauses, glancing towards Cora and the others.

As Truly asks him to go to Hogsmeade Richard chuckles a little, and then nods
once, "I think I'd enjoy that, yes." he replies, before glancing over at the
students in the room. Yup, still keeping up with his prefectly duties it would
appear.

Cora finishes unwrapping Mackenzie's gift and squeals with delight once she's
opened the box. "Brutal!" she cries out as she spies the golden colored
earrings, shaped like, fangs. "Great choice Fox! Thanks so much," she says to
the girl.

Mackenzie smiles sheepishly as her gift is well-received. "You're welcome. I saw
them in a catalog and thought of you right away."

Cora then moves to unwrap the gift from Truly, taking the spare ribbon and using
it to tie up her hair as she does so.

"Fantastic, Jepson." Truly rocks back and forth on her feet then quickly glances
towards Cora and the others. "I look forward to it. I'll show you some of the
places that I like to go. My family and I live in the village." She blunders
out, "But I'm sure you knew that."

"Really? I live close to Hogsmeade, too...in Dovetown, actually. But
underground. My family calls it the Foxhole," Mackenzie chimes in.

Richard chuckles a little and nods, "I think that information passed through my
head at one time or another, yes." he comments to Truly. He straightens up a
little as Mackenzie speaks up, tilting his head in her direction.

Cora peers into the box from Truly, and pulls out a rather plain looking
wooden-handled, black-bristled, hair brush. She arches an eyebrow, and turns
with a slightly questioning look to Truly, "Um, thanks?" she says, trying to
keep the puzzlement out of her voice.

"You're welcome, Petit." says Truly with a slightly disenfranchised tone in her
voice. "Perhaps, I might have mentioned it a few time Jepson." She glances at
Mckenzie, "Yes, not far from the train station actually. I would sometimes sit
in my room and watch new and returning students flock out of the train."



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