…In with the New. [OPEN]

[Alejandro Ochoa]

The day went by fairly quickly on September 1st, the day after Alejandro and his daughter Mayra arrived at Hogwarts. Because they were spared the jet-lag experience by traveling via portkey they had awoken at the crack of dawn, spending the day wandering about the castle, entering rooms, climbing stairs, admiring the artwork, and chatting with the resident spirits. Mayra seemed determined to discover every nook and cranny to be had in the castle, looking behind tapestries and poking about the statues in search for any secrets they may contain. He had known that his daughter had found some secret passageways back at the Bermuda Academy and doing so was a source of pride and delight for her. It made him proud too, to know that his daughter was so eager to discover the secrets of the world.

By the time they were on the staircase leading to the ground floor it was late in the afternoon, several hours after they first started their excursion. Ale decided to tell her that they had explored enough for one day, since they still had to get ready for the Start of the Term feast later tonight; but before he could do so Mayra suddenly rushed ahead of him. Hands clamped tightly on her floppy, sunflower-accented straw hat to keep it in place, she bounded down the stairs, her pale blue, sunflower-patterned sundress puffing up with air with every jump she took while the clapping of her (surprise!) sunflower-accented sandals against the steps echoed loudly off the walls. When she reached the base of the staircase she stopped, releasing her grasp on her hat and watching with rapt attention the returning students trickle in and mingle about. They hadn’t had any significant interaction with anyone (living) during their short time here, occasionally spotting someone in the distance but not doing anything other than giving them a polite smile or a hello. It appeared that some students had forgone the train ride and arrived early, being greeted by students who had stayed at the school over the summer. Seeing so many new young people seemed to heighten Mayra’s good mood--the young girl looked like she was about to jump out of her skin in excitement.

Without warning, she ran up into the nearest student and exclaimed “Hello my name is Mayra Rayen Ochoa my daddy is a teacher here I’m 4 years old pero mi cumpleaño es mañana ¿cómo te llamas?”, unconsciously switching to Spanish midway in her vigor.

‘Oh goodness.’ Alejandro thought with a sigh, rubbing his temples as he sat down where he stood on the staircase, curious to see what happened next before he intervened.

[Annabelle Merlin Grace]

Anna was having a blast wondering around the castle grounds by herself, as she had no classes she was not about to spend her time locked up in the school any longer. She had the school robes on, but a pair of black skinny leg jeans and a purple sweater, that was a little fuzzy. She layered that up with a scarf that had purple and yellow to match both her shirt and her robes. She had her pink hair half up, the wind blowing it about it looked a little messy as she arrived at the entrance, fingerless black gloves on her hands she smiled a little less, but enjoyed the warmth held in the room of busy people.

One stood out, for many reasons, one, she was small, adorable and in sunflower print. It was not long before she introduced herself, first tin English, then… well Anna was not sure. She was lucky to understand her own language half the time. “Mayra, it is lovely to meet you.” She said kneeling down to be had eye level, children where indeed cute, playful and Anna could not forget that she was still very much like a child herself.

“I am Annabelle, and I am a student here at the school. And I am 16 years old.’ She said adding a little emphasis on the age, like it was such a huge number, but to a four year old it was. She was delighted to see her, but confused to see someone so young at the school too. Then again some students did have younger siblings running about at the time being. However she had said her father was a professor.

“And What does your daddy teach here?” she said not sure if that was in the first statement or not, she decided that she would go with what she understood rather then make the girl repeat herself. “Perhaps I will be in his class this year.” She said knowing that if it was not an advanced class she would likely be in it. She was by no means advanced at anything.