Finally, Loren arrives...

[Loren McGonagall]

"Ah, there you are," Loren calmly stated as he let his cat leap from his arms onto the floor beneath them. His calm, pale-green eyes smiled at his familiar as she stretched her legs and yawned. It had been a long journey and the both of them were quite glad to be in the castle. Finally, their destination had been reached!

Loren thought to himself thoughtfully as his tiny feline of a friend investigated their new home. 'I wonder if this is the right place. Is it possible that I took the wrong train? I mean, did I, by some chance, make a mistake?' His soft lips became creased with thoughtful worries and he place his hand in his dark-brunette hair.

After a few moments, Loren finally decided to look around the enormous room that lay before him. My, it was magnificent! The splendor of the room almost made his jaw drop as he finally noticed the great chandalier that was hung with many brightly-lit crystals. His pale-green eyes carefully scanned the beautiful, yet aged, stones that held the walls firm. The Grand Staircase was gleaming as its polished woods glinted in the candlelight of the Hall.

"This is our new home," he said softly to himself and Salle, his dark-furred familiar, "this is our new home."

[~Persephone~]

Persephone was in the Christmas spirit and she was supposed to meet her friends down at the Lake to go ice skating. She'd been so excited about it that she'd gotten up extra early to find her skates and a cloak that wouldn't cause too much of a problem out skating. She'd even managed to bring a container of hot chocolate with her.

As she bounced happily down the last stair from her common room, Persephone looked around. Her silver blonde hair was down and ended in a cascading waterfall at her waist. Her five foot body and small frame was greatly dwarfed by the large size of everthing in the Entrance Hall. Her emerald eyes were large and expressive and there seemed to be an ever shining light in them.

As she looked around, she saw a boy standing there. He seemed to be a little nervous, and a cat walked around him. She smiled slightly, glad to meet some one on her way out to meet her friends. Perhaps she could even help him relax a bit.

She walked closer to the nervous boy, and when she was close enough to see the pale green of his eyes, she decided it was the right time to talk.

"Hello. I'm Persephone, or as most people call me, Sephe. Who are you?"

[Loren McGonagall]

Whilst Loren was still investigating his new surroundings, a petite girl with flowing, light-blonde hair cascaded down the Grand Staircase with a bright smile on her face. By the way she was dressed, she must have been on her way for a little holiday fun. Loren smiled at this...he was always a bit shy when it came to girls.

In his absent-mindedness, Loren did not remove himself from her pathway and when he finally realized this, it was too late. She had spotted him and came towards him rather quickly. She stopped right in front of him and he looked right into her deep green eyes with a pale-green gaze of his own.

"Hello. I'm Persephone, or as most people call me, Sephe. Who are you?" She smiled and held out her hand.

Loren stood there for a moment, and then he took her hand in his and shook it gently, but firmly. "My name's Loren. Nice to meet you Persephone...what a beautiful name."

[~Persephone~]

"Thank you. My mother named me after the Greek goddess. I like your name too."

She smiled again. Loren seemed shy, and she wondered what else to say to him. She was good with greeting and calming girls, but when it came to guys...well, she tended to get nervous when the guys around her were.

"Do you know what house you're in?"

She asked smiling again. It was a safe subject, and maybe she'd be able to help him out. Even better, he might be in her house. The idea was a good one, and she was happy at the thought of another new person in her house.

[Loren McGonagall]

"Yeah, thanks." Loren smiled a toothy grin at the woman standing before him and put his hand on the back of his head.

They stood there for a moment or two in strangest sort of akward silence one could have imagined. Loren drooped his goofy smile and place his hand beside him once more, and Sephe kept glancing at the Hall surrounding them.

"Do you know what house you're in?" The question came so quickly that Loren had to take a moment to compose himself properly before replying.

"Ravenclaw...and you?" He watched her smile and he couldn't help but smile too all the while wondering wether Persephone could be in the same House as himself.

[Rezna Lardale]

"She's your house prefect," a voice replied as it's owner walked down the stairs and happened to overhear his question. "Sorry for the intrusion," Rezna added as she finally came to stand before them in the Entrance Hall. Smiling lightly at the both of them she decided to brave one more interruption. "I simply figured that if you were asking what house she was in, you were new. Welcome to Magic Horizons, sir."

As Rezna moved her books from her right hand to her left, she extended her hand to him in greeting. "I'm Rezna Lardale, and sadly not of the wonderful house of Ravenclaw, which I'm sure you'll love." Letting her eyes drift from the boy, to his cat, Rez finally let them rest on Sephe. "And the same goes to you, seeing as we've never properly met."

[~Persephone~]

"Yes, Pleasure to meet you. I think the first time we actually met was in divinations, and well...we remember how that one turned out."

It was true that she'd been there during that fateful class. Fenris had attacked their teacher and then Rezna. She'd seen the Hufflepuff a few times after that, but she'd never had the courage, or the time, to stop and talk to her.


It seemed like she now had a chance to talk to the other. She'd alway meant too...and now she was glad. She was also glad that Loren would meet someone from a seperate house as well. It would do well to socalize with the other houses.

[Loren McGonagall]

"She's your house prefect. Sorry for the intrusion, I simply figured that if you were asking what house she was in, you were new. Welcome to Magic Horizons, sir." Loren's eyes averted to find the person from which the information had come. He quickly found what he sought, a light-haired, green-eyed girl with a graceful step had come forward and, apparently, decided to share her words of wisdom. Loren smiled warmly and was about to openly express his own words of thanks when he saw that she was to speak again. "I'm Rezna Lardale, and sadly not of the wonderful house of Ravenclaw, which I'm sure you'll love."

Loren graciously took the hand that was extended forward with the greeting and took it up anxiously. "Thank you very much, and don't worry, the intrusion was fine by me. Sudden, yes, but fine all the same. My name's Loren McGonagall and it's nice to meet you Rezna Lardale." Loren saw that the just-met Rezna recognized Persephone and was about to take full advantage of the moment.

"And the same goes to you, seeing as we've never properly met." Loren then lifted his gaze from the new acquaintance to the now-known Ravenclaw prefect. Yes, Pleasure to meet you. I think the first time we actually met was in divinations, and well...we remember how that one turned out." He realized that Persephone had become thoughtful of meeting this new acquaintance of his, so Loren decided to ask his new friend a question of his own.

"Rezna, what House do you belong to if not from Ravenclaw?"

[Rezna Lardale]

Yes, I remember, she thought, her eyes suddenly became dimmed. For a moment, Rezna became lost in her own memories, feelings of the past that she much rather stay there, not the present. Nodding her head once in answer to Persephone's statement, she kept further comments to herself.

Averting her green eyes to rest on those of Loren, she let her hand drop after shaking his in a warm welcome.

"I'm from Hufflepuff," she answered, her eyes resuming their usual sparkle and a small grin crept up onto her face. "As you'll find, my house-mates are quite the interesting bunch. There are the heart of all the craziness in Magic Horizons. Still, that does not mean those traits are not found in your house as well. I know of a few Ravenclaws that fit that description beautifully."

Feeling a furry body touch her leg, Rezna's green eyes came to rest once again on the boy's pet. Her grin spread further as she came to speak once more to the Ravenclaws.

"It looks as though your house will have a new animal as well. Maybe this little guy's nature is more calm then that of my own cat, Diamond. He wreaks both fun and mischief in my house. Or is your cat just like that?" she asked Loren as she bend down to rub the cat's chin. "For that matter, does Ravenclaw even have a cat? I don't remember anyone from there mentioning they owned one."

[~Persephone~]

"A lot of us do. It's just that my cat, Dallimar, is too afraid to come down around the rest of the studensts...that or he's too lazy. I'm sure yours will fit in quite well Loren."


She smiled slightly. She'd never thought it odd that her cat tended to prefer the "quiet" common room to the bustling castle. It was just how her kitten had always been, and now a days she had just taken that for being the norm. In her mind, there was nothing weird about that.

Yes, well, you're also the one who brought the cat here. No one else would know about him if they weren't in your house. Most of the guys in there know nothing about him.

[Loren McGonagall]

"Yes, Salle can become a little crazy when she wishes to; most times though, she's quite the quiet one. Just don't let her lay eyes upon a spider. She freaks out when she sees those tiny arachnids." Loren's eyes lit up with joy as he let them lay rest upon his familiar, who did not share his enthusiasm of the situation and decided to glare at him instead.

"A lot of us do. It's just that my cat, Dallimar, is too afraid to come down around the rest of the studensts...that or he's too lazy. I'm sure yours will fit in quite well Loren."

"Yes, that is quite normal. Did your cat have a traumatic experience when he was younger, Persephone? Because, sometimes, that can do the trick and they just don't want to be around anyone but the one person they trust." Loren became fascinated by this subject of traumatic experiences in a young familiar's life and wished to know if Rezna's pet was anything similar to that of Diamond.

"Is Diamond anything similar to Dallimar...I mean, does he ever become frightened easily by loud noises or such incidents related? Or is his crazieness just provoked by such incidents?"

[Rezna Lardale]

Rezna smiled apologetically towards Persephone, seeing how mistaken she was on the whole pet cat issue. Still, she was happy to see that they didn't mind her company and was even more happier to share their's. As she listened silently, letting her eyes roam from the cat and her peeved expression to the two speakers, she almost missed the question that was directed at her.

"Oh, Diamond? He's quite unlike Dallimar," Rezna replied in a halted manner before she collected her thoughts. "Usually, he's bursting with energy and hardly ever stays in one place. And on top of that, he has some sort of hidden intelligence that unnerves me at times. Let us say, he knows than a normal cat should. Recklessness and smarts are a bad combination to be sure, but he's also quite collected and serious when he wants to be," she finished, hoping that did her cat justice.

Upon finishing her rather long response, Rezna noticed how many of those traits were reflected in her. She knew that intelligence was lacking, at times, but the recklessness was a definite. After all, most of her adventures through her years at Magic Horizons, the past year especially, were due to that trait, well that and curiosity.

Looking up, she noticed how quiet it got between them. Figuring she best explain her sudden silence, she offered them a half smile before saying, "Sorry. I just noticed how much my traits coincide with those of Diamond. Can either of you relate?"

Sure, that was a rather odd question, but it did break the silence and move the conversation along, one way or another. Still, Rezna had to wonder if she hadn't planted a seed of worry in either Loren or Sephe's mind. After all, there were a handful of people who considered her crazy already.

[~Persephone~]

Persephone thought about Rezna's question. Oddly enough, it seemed that the Hufflepuff was right about the traits of their cats being like them. It was strange that she'd never exactly thought about that before. She usually was the first to bring up similarities between people and pets.

And it was strange how much Dallimar was like her. Her kitten was afraid of strange people, Sephe had been terrifed of strangers when she first came. Dallimar tended to stay in the common room, the place where Persephone felt the most at home. Her kitten even had that hidden intelligence just like it's owner. There was even that slight streak of mischeviousness that followed the flow of the people around her that was shown in her cat.

"You know, I think you're right. Dalli is a lot like me, even though I know I sound like I'm off my rocker. But it's true too. We're so much a like that it's kinda scary. How about you Loren?"

[Loren McGonagall]

"Sorry. I just noticed how much my traits coincide with those of Diamond. Can either of you relate?"

Loren looked thoughtful for a moment of how to respond to the question, for, it's not everyday that such a question is asked. Finally, knowing exactly what he wished to say, he decided to respond rather carefully.

"Yes, I can relate. Salle is quite a bit like me; she's inquisitive, terrible at holding grudges, and does not forget easily...exactly like me, except for the whole feline thing." Loren smiled at Rezna for a moment. 'She thinks on the same level as myself, I find this very unexpected.'

[Mina]

Pushing her strawberry-brown hair over one of her shoulders, Mina yawned to herself and continued along a hallway toward the entrance hall. Her small-heeled boots tied all the way up to her knees, and they were a brown leather colour. Her plaid and pleated mini skirt was black, and it matched the black stripes along her long, beige sleeveless top. A very long, dark red scarf was wound loosely around her neck, dangling off her shoulders.

She kept singing softly to herself; a tune she had been singing over and over all morning. After making her usual stop at the dance hall to have a jam with her guitar, she made her way to the entrance hall in hopes of getting to the grounds and spending some time out in the beautiful snow. Her aquamarine eyes sparkled like the silver stud in her nose and the hoops in her ears, eager to reach the snow before a lot of the other students did.

Mina's nails clicked gently on the banister of a nearby staircase, before she rounded a final corner and came face-to-face with three other people; two girls and a guy, all people she had neevr met before. Looking slightly sheepish, she quickly closed her mouth but smiled a warm smile, throwing one side of her scarf over her shoulder again. "Uh, good morning?" She said with a wiggle of her fingers as a wave.

"I'm Mina." She introduced herself, holding her hand out to whoever would take it.