#aow open

"Ah .. I'm lost."

She frowned slightly at the sight of the unfamiliar hallway. She assumed it was near one of the other houses, but she wasn't entirely sure due to the lack of color. The only ways were to go back or to go forward, but neither direction was guaranteed to lead her back to the common room.

The girl had went through her mind to attempt to figure out how she arrived to this situation, but she'd been so lost in thought that it was a complete mystery of what route she'd taken to reach there. She vaguely recalled going up a staircase which only led her to gulp. Of all the things to do, the least intelligent idea was to wander around in a place where the pathways changed constantly.

Slow footsteps caught her attention, and Morgiana silently regretted her decision to leave her wand in her room. It shouldn't have been anyone dangerous though. Shouldn't have, at least. She turned around hesitantly to find herself staring at another student. Fortunately they looked as if they knew where they were going, prompting her to ask the obvious with her typical poker face:

"Can you help me find the Gryffindor common room or at least a hallway leading there?"

Cirno sat, her back towards the Slytherin dormitory. It was late at night, perhaps 3AM. The first year had only meant to sneak out for a glass of water, but upon returning, she made a vital realization. Cirno could not remember the password.

She didn't dare yell for a fellow Slytherin to let her in, a professor or prefect would surely get her in trouble for it. The tiny girl simply sat outside the entrance, knees to her chest, hoping that a Slytherin student would enter or exit the dorm, giving her a chance to slip inside. For now, she would just wait. And wait. And wait. Maybe even until the sun rose.

Komaeda liked people -- Komaeda loved people... people filled with such beautiful hope for the future, that they'll become lucky and strike out in life! Some people dreamed of impossible things, striving for something that they would never get, but still pursuing... it was such an amazing sight! 

Even though he loved people, most people didn't love him back. In fact, he was positive that every person in the school hated him. But that was alright! He would die, and that wouldn't matter, because the only thing he was good for was to encourage hope! People didn't understand how he could wake up every day being okay with dying... but only people who had things to strive for fought to live! Komaeda just...

Tumble.

Komaeda swayed for a moment but caught his balance easily, blinking owlishly and looking down on the ground. Once again... he didn't see, ah, stuff like this always happened... his good luck was always overshadowed by bad luck...

"Ah, I'm sorry!" he grinned widely, panting and catching his breath as a thousand thoughts floated his brain. 'Worthless trash,' he thought, 'Knocking into someone... an meaningless apology, you can do better, they deserve better,' he coughed and tilted his head, offering a hand to the person on the ground.

He didn't think it would have taken nearly as long to get this all done, but he was surely relieved and worn out by the time that point came rolling around. Hours taken to unpack his belongings - even with the use of magic, mind you - and get them all sorted out into their correct places. Togami was relieved to see that none of his other roommates have come by to make themselves at home just yet and was pleased that he was able to arrange things just the way he wanted them. 

Granted, it's been days since the new year started. Maybe the little simpletons just forgot the password to their own common room? The blonde let out a dry chuckle at the (highly probable) thought as he wandered out through the narrow corridor leading to the grand staircase. It's been six years now that he's been at this school and the sight of all those flights of moving staircases still makes his blood boil with the irritation only a man of his weight could possess. 

"I think I deserve a light snack for all the work I did today," Togami said to no one in particular, though he always hoped someone would be listening for some odd reason. 

I think that's the last thing you need right now, big guy.

Despite not heeding the mun's words, Togami meandered down the stairs on his way to the great hall in hopes of catching the last few minutes of lunch. However, his good mood quickly turned sour as the stairs beneath his feet lurched from their place, causing Togami to lose his footing and careen down to the next floor. It wasn't a pretty sight, especially for the one unlucky enough to get caught in his path at the bottom. 

"Gh- Watch out!" Through 'oofs' and 'ahs' and muffled strings of curses, he was barely able to warn the poor thing before crashing into them. Of course, he knew he was okay when he propped himself upright, but... "Tch... Are you all right?"

Hiyoko put her bend-out table that she had transfigured from a regular table outside of the library, kicking it to make sure it wouldn’t fall down. Once she was satisfied with the state of her very important table, she reached into her bag and took out a stack of papers, spreading them across the counter. “Hate stuck-up know-it-alls? This is the place for you!” one said in cute, bold, pink letters.

You see, Saionji Hiyoko was on a mission.

A mission to get the “We Hate Ravenclaws” club recognized as a real Hogwarts club.

There was no such thing as a Slytherin-Ravenclaw rivalry, but there was such thing as a Hiyoko-Ravenclaw rivalry. And lately, every single Ravenclaw she had run into had been absolutely insufferable. First of all, whenever she taunted them, they always responded by stringing together a bunch of big words. Second of all, Hajime Hinata was in Ravenclaw, and he was an inappropriate pervert. Third of all, she was second in her Transfiguration class to a Ravenclaw, and she had to be first.

“Hate Ravenclaws?” she called out. A few lower-years glanced at her and shuffles back, disgusted looks on their faces. “I know you do, secretly! They’re snobby and too smart, right?! Join the ‘We Hate Ravenclaws’ club! For some reason, the school won’t recognize us as an official club, but we’ll show them.”

This was possibly the longest day in the world. The eternal turmoil was too much for Hijikata Toshiro to handle, and he could feel himself going insane with each passing moment. The reason for all of this? He ran out of mayonnaise about an hour ago and is in a major cholesterol depression. His life force was draining quickly and all of the magic in the world would not be able to save him. Well, unless of course, said magic created gallons and gallons of mayonnaise, just for the vice chief's pleasure. He was lacking the mayo, the source of his strength, the reason for living.

The only thing that kept him well and standing were the cigarettes he kept with him, but once he ran out of those, his legs completely gave him. He fell to the ground with such great force, but he didn't care. The ultimate pain was in the lack of mayo.

Hijikata's spirit was quickly depleting, but being the most stubborn man in the world, he just simply could not give up now. He had to make it, he had to live! He didn't want to die here, not now! He was far too young, he didn't even get a chance to read the latest edition of The National Mayo, so he must survive.

A hell hound would have been more capable than this owl was at sending messages.

To be fair, Emizel was trying to send it to a place it had no knowledge of - the Netherworld - and he was getting increasingly more frustrated when the owl, a tiny little jungle owlet (with a beard taped to it's face, whose idea was that huh), returned to him mere minutes after he let it loose, hooting its confusion.

"You're freakin' useless!" The demon exclaimed, batting the owl off of his shoulder. He refused to let this failure of a messenger perch on his person; Emizel wistfully thinks of the mystical beasts back at home with their curving horns and wind-tousled hair. They were extremely vicious but were also, surprisingly, easy to tame. There were always a few of them wandering around the blight house; he should have brought one along with him before journeying to the human world, and cursed himself for not doing so.

The owl hoots indignantly and flies around, searching for a spot to rest at. There was somebody nearby...and they seemed to be his owl's target. Oh no. He would not be saying sorry to anybody anytime soon because of something stupid that damn owl did. Whipping out his wand, Emizel casts a quick shield charm on the person with a few flourishing waves of his hand and a quick 'protego' uttered.

Now, whoever it was could hopefully ignore the loud thud and surprised squawk of a bird who suddenly halted mid-air, a mere inches from them. That, or they could help it...but that would be giving the owl more attention than it needed.

Things finally quiet downed a bit after the start-of-term feast. New first years with their wondrous eyes are nowhere to be seen, must’ve all went to their rightful common rooms. Thank Merlin, he vaguely thought in his mind. The food was enjoyable and all, but Tsurugi never liked huge crowd and loud noises. Call him anti social all you want, he likes his solitude no matter what others think.

It’s already pass 8 pm, one hour until curfew. After witnessing such a huge crowd of people and enthusiastic new faces, Tsurugi is far from feeling sleepy. Going back to his dorm certainly is not a top choice for him; in fact, it’s the last place he wants to be right now. With his incredibly loud roommates, who knows what he’ll do under the entire “dorm welcome-back party” atmosphere.

Tsurugi walked alone in the quiet hallways, his Munchkin cat Kiku followed behind him enthusiastically like always. The dark hallways and corridors are now familiar to Tsurugi like a second home. After all, three years has already passed since his enrollment to Hogwarts. It still seems a bit unrealistic for him, whether it's being able to study magic in Hogwarts, or reunite with his nii-san Yuuichi, or finally went back home. Just the thoughts of all the events made it hard for him to keep his calm face, his lip cured up into a tiny smile. He’s going to join the Quidditch team this year too, he was promised a position as a beater. It’s hard to admit, but he IS a bit excited about the new school year.

With all the thoughts flowing through his mind, he did not notice Kiku went missing until he stopped and turned around.

Tsurugi raised a surprise eyebrow, Kiku never leaves his side, NEVER, not even when he goes to the washroom. He called his name several times, but no answer nor any sign of Kiku. So where did he go?

Just before he's about to search in the library, he heard a voice behind him, “hey, did you lose your cat?”