Absit Omen RPG

All of Noriko's excitement at her big adventure -- she was at Spellpunk! With her friends! By themselves! -- shrank away at the newest spotting of a fellow Hogwarts yearmate. Mairead ó Fearghail didn't really care about doing well in classes or getting house points or following the rules, and Eirene was rightfully still angry that Mairead had gotten her put in detention last year.

Mairead's disappearance after spring break hadn't particularly bothered her, but she, too, had heard the rumors that their Gryffindor classmate had dropped out of school, or run away to America, or gotten sent to Azkaban or maybe gotten bitten by an Inferius banshee and then turned into a banshee. (The last was from the younger Gryffindor student who was always trying to bite people, so Noriko had taken it with a grain of salt.) Having the other witch reappear now when they were all out to have fun seemed like the worst luck.

Fidgeting uncomfortably, she looked to Tim and then to Frank -- the two boys weren't really involved in the rivalry with Mairead and the other fifth year girls as far as she knew, although Frank would obviously be admirably loyal to his girlfriend if given the opportunity to defend her honor.

"Should we...?" she ventured timidly.

But what did someone even do at Spellpunk? Suddenly, Noriko nervously realized that she didn't know.  She'd been so worried about finding everyone that she hadn't really thought ahead to what they would do once they got here.

Any fear of not being able to find her friends vanished in an instant. It was Frank! And then, with a sudden oomph, she was tackled from behind by a person who could only be Allura; her housemate was the only one she knew who jumped into hugging with such enthusiasm.

"I don't know. Did she say she was coming?" she said concernedly to Frank, as she turned to look at Allura's dress as commanded.

Her housemate looked -- ... Noriko blushed, suddenly extremely self-conscious about the simple green dress with puffed sleeves and a high collar that she'd chosen to wear for the night. It wasn't just because of the Veela charm that was a secret between them. Allura always looked so grown up, like she belonged in an adult club like this. She could probably pass for a recent Hogwarts graduate without anyone ever questioning it.

Tim Pepper found them then, too. Noriko flashed a shy smile to welcome her classmate, who for once was without his younger sugary girlfriend. Like Allura, he looked much older than Noriko felt; their Ravenclaw yearmate had clearly grown over the summer, and he was wearing a very cool wrock shirt that made him look at least like a sixth year. At least with Frank here, she didn't have to worry about being the absolute youngest.

"Hi! It's been alright," Noriko replied, taking a step back to widen their small circle so that Tim could join them. It was something of a relief to hear that it was his first time here, too. "How has yours been? Who else do we think is coming?" she asked, biting her lip as she craned her neck to look back at the growing crowd. "Frank, did you talk to Eirene?"

Just before 6 PM on Tuesday, August 7
Outside Spellpunk
Diagon Alley

She’d been to Diagon Alley a hundred times, but never by herself. Noriko let out a sneeze from the lingering effects of the Floo powder as she skittered down the street, clutching at her brand new purse and staring a little wide-eyed at everyone around her.

When her friend Allura had first proposed the idea of meeting up, the soon-to-be-fifth year Slytherin had been excited. Summer was always the time of year when she saw the least of her school friends. Sure, she and Eirene had had their share of sleepovers, and running into everyone when they were all shopping with their families in Diagon Alley to get their school supplies was always exciting — but they didn’t really meet up, not in the same way that older students seemed to. Noriko had been bursting with ideas as soon as she’d gotten Allura’s owl: visiting a book shop together, or going over to Frank’s house for a little party (although that meant dealing with his annoying older brother), or maybe even dressing up and going for high tea at Puddifoot’s in Hogsmeade.

This, though.  This was a little terrifying.

She had never been to Spellpunk before. Surprisingly, all the reasons she could think of to not let her go — she could get in trouble, she might be out late, she could get lost, she could get hurt, maybe she wouldn’t find her friends, there might be drinking — hadn’t seemed to phase her parents at all. They had laughed and just told her to be home by 11. And so Noriko had been left to worry by herself, to fret and fuss over what she was going to wear, and then, when the hour approached, take a handful of Floo powder from the urn on the mantle where her parents kept it and step up trembling to the fireplace to take her very first trip all by herself.

Getting from the Leaky Cauldron into Diagon Alley had gone better than she’d worried it would. No one had tried to kidnap her between the fireplace and the door, no one scary was lurking outside in the alley, and she’d even remembered which brick to tap with her wand on the first try. Scurrying down the cobblestones to her destination had gone okay, too. Noriko had whined and whined until her father had taken her to Diagon last weekend so that she could practice finding Spellpunk without getting lost, and just as he had exasperatedly pointed out to her, it wasn’t really that hard to find her way around when everything was either on one side or the other of the alleyway.

The last big step was finding her friends. Noriko had worried about this part of the trip, too, because there were so many things that could go wrong: she might show up on the wrong night, or they’d all forget that they were supposed to meet up, or they’d forget her and go inside before she got there.

It was with a huge wave of relief that as soon as she began to scan the scattered crowd outside Spellpunk, she spotted someone she knew.

“Oh, thank Merlin,” Noriko gushed, probably a little too loudly. She hurried over, adjusting her hair, checking to make sure she hadn’t lost her purse, nearly trembling as the relief washed over her.  She’d done it!

“Hi!” She beamed at her schoolmate as she slipped up to their side. This was so exciting! They were practically adults, going to a club all by themselves and everything! “Um. Who else is coming?”

I was excited to get this in, but this is for consideration for after the time jump!

Special Title Request

Character Name: Noriko Wakahisa
Title Applying For: Fifth Year Slytherin Prefect
Character Biography: https://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=4225.0

What Experience has Prepared You For This Honor?:
Noriko has been dying to become a prefect since she was first sorted into Slytherin. She has become a model student and is quick to speak up in class, especially when she thinks there is a chance of house points. Unlike many students in her year, she does her best to stay out of trouble and has managed to avoid much of the drama that has befallen others.

Noriko is also extremely competitive and would likely murder any of her classmates who risked losing Slytherin point, so the Hogwarts faculty are probably very comfortable with her drive to keep others in line. She has grown to be a decent dueler for a young student, having held her own while practicing against older students during Dueling Club. (She's also still secretly proud of the time when she accidentally splinched Professor Storm.)

What Do You Think the Most Important Aspect of This Job Is:?
Noriko thinks that the most important part of being a prefect is making sure that the other Slytherin students follow the rules so that their house wins the House Cup. Going on patrol at night will be a bit scary for her, but she'll be eager to take on any assignment to help the professors.

If pressed, she might wriggle a little uncomfortably and suggest that being a prefect also means looking out for younger students, especially the first years, who might be especially nervous about coming to Hogwarts for the first time.

Tell a Story From Your Past That Has Proven Your Mettle: 
In September 2011, Noriko helped a Slytherin prefect look out for a newly-sorted student who was upset over joining their house.

Noriko usually had the utmost respect for Ravenclaw House.  Eirene was -- of course, she thought loyally -- the smartest and most clever of the blue-and-bronze-clad students, but most of them at least had a good head on their shoulders.  She respected that they were far more serious about schoolwork than her Gryffindor classmates, who seemed mostly interested in Quidditch and getting into fights, or even Hufflepuff, whose population lately only seemed concerned with shouting loudly about werewolves. 

This Ravenclaw student, though, wasn't making any sense.  Noriko eyed her warily, although she still didn't lower her wand. 

It was beginning to occur to her that this younger student was bossing her around in a way that wasn't very respectful, especially considering that Noriko likely had at least a year over her.  A slight frown crossed her face as she watched the girl shove a very large marshmallow into her mouth.  What was going on in Ravenclaw house?  First Frank Sellaphix had decided he was going to shove his way in and be best friends with Eirene even though he was a year younger, and now this?  Were the lower years in open revolt against their elders?

"None of your business," she said, her eyes narrowing.  "If you don't let me through, I'll tell Professor Storm that you're threatening people and starting duels in the corridors."

The other student managed to fire off a shield, and Noriko kept her wand raised, the ringing sound of Professor Storm's admonishments during dueling class -- Keep your wands up!  Stay focused! -- still sounding in her ears.  But the angry Ravenclaw had crossed her arms, which didn't look much like any dueling stance that Noriko and ever seen before, and seemed much more interested in shouting at her than in hexing her now.

"What are you doing here Hufflepuff?" she yelled.  "This is Ravenclaw turf!"

Noriko blinked at her.  Then, because there didn't seem to be much risk in getting hexed if the other girl didn't have a wand pointed out her, she risked a glance down at her own robes.  No, still green.

"I'm in Slytherin," she said admonishingly.  There wasn't anything really wrong with the Hufflepuffs -- they weren't as annoying as the Gryffindors like Mairead tended to be -- but still.  "And this isn't Ravenclaw turf.  But," she added a bit haughtily, keeping her fingers wrapped tightly around her wand, "for your information, I'm going to meet my friend in Ravenclaw for our Sunday study session."

She'd hexed someone! 

Eyes wide, Noriko scrambled backwards, as if she'd been knocked back by the recoil herself.  Oh, no no no no no!  What had she done?!  Visions of eternal punishment with Professor Storm, hung upside down by her ankles from the ceiling in his office while the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor scowled menacingly at her, swam through her head. 

She'd hexed someone!  She might have even killed her!  Noriko nearly burst into a sob.  She was going to be expelled!  She'd never be prefect or Head Girl, Eirene would shun her, Professor Storm would think she was irresponsible, and Professor Greyfriar would be angry and disappointed enough that he'd shame her in front of the entire school!  Noriko could picture it now, standing pale-faced and trembling in front of the entire school as green emeralds began to fall at first in a trickle, and then in a great deluge, as the Headmaster shook his head in despondency and said, in his great grandfatherly voice, Noriko, I'm afraid you've lost ten thousand points for Slytherin...

"Alright, Hufflepuff --"

Noriko barely had time to register her relief that her poor opponent wasn't dead before she realized that the tiny girl in Ravenclaw robes was now threatening to murder her.

She let out a shriek again and brandished her wand.  "I didn't kill anyone!" she wailed, as she frantically backed up several steps.  What was she supposed to do?!  Dueling was much easier when she was lined up with her classmates in Dueling Club, practicing the same spell over and over again under the watchful eye of Professor Storm.  But now someone was telling her that they wanted her to die!

She had practiced Expelliaramus the most, but if they were really dueling, Professor Storm always said it was best not to be predictable.  She couldn't use the same spell twice, but she also didn't want to hurt the girl!  If her attacker was already this angry because she thought Noriko had murdered her father, how furious would everyone be if Noriko really killed someone?

Panicked, she pointed her wand at the other girl's bum and shouted the first non-lethal spell that came to mind.

"Moliare!"[1]

1.	The Cushioning Charm, which, when unfortunately misapplied, causes the victim's rear to inflate and rise into the air as if filled with helium.

It was Sunday, which meant it was her usual study day with Eirene.  The fourth year students were only a little over a year away from their O.W.L.s, which meant, as several of their professors warned them on a regular basis, that every week counted.  Noriko was determined not to let a moment slip away that she could spend preparing, and so she'd stuck religiously to the schedule that she and Eirene had devised back in the fall.

Except... well, first Eirene had gotten sick and had missed the train back to Hogwarts.  And now she seemed to be spending an awful lot of time with her Ravenclaw housemate, Frank Sellaphix, which wouldn't be weird except for the fact that Frank was both a boy and a year younger than they were.  Noriko was starting to get concerned that Eirene was letting herself become distracted, which had all sorts of horrible implications for their O.W.L. exams, their hopes of becoming prefects, and their entire lives and careers after Hogwarts.

 It had been with that in mind, with a bag full of her books and study scrolls slung over her shoulder, that Noriko had begun the long ascent from the Slytherin's dungeon to the seventh floor where the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower was located.  She had been so focused on going over the plan for the study session today in her head, planning for what they needed to review, that she didn't notice the figure creeping along behind her with catlike stealth until it at charged at her screaming.

Noriko let out a shriek as she realized she was under attack.  Quickly, with a speed and skill owed to years of paying close attention to Professor Storm's drills in class and at Dueling Club, her wand sprung into her hand and she pointed it at her assailant.

"EXPELLIARAMUS!" she shrieked, letting the spell fly with force.

Suddenly, the allure of exploring how Allura's talent worked seemed neither interesting nor urgent.  Noriko was instantly on her feet, her face bright red.

"No!" she squeaked.  "I've got to -- go study for Astronomy.  I forgot; I don't want to be late."

Never mind that it was Friday night and class wasn't until Wednesday, or that Eirene, her usual study partner, had only been released from the horrid confines of the Infirmary a few days ago and was mostly holed up in the Ravenclaw common room trying to catch up.  Noriko shoveled her papers back into her bag with a disorganized urgency seldom seen in the meticulous, diligent Slytherin and flung her bag over her shoulder.

"SorryI'llseeyoulater!" she told her friend in a rush, as she quickly fled from the common room in hopes of escaping to the wider dungeons.

Her friend's response wasn't what she had hoped for.  Noriko frowned slightly, sitting back.  For the most part, magic wasn't uncontrollable.  When Noriko had first started at Hogwarts, getting even the simplest spell to work properly had seemed like it was mostly the result of luck, but as she'd gotten older and studied harder, she knew that there was more to it than that.  Making magic do what you want took practice and determination.

Maybe Allura just needed to practice.  Noriko could imagine that if she had Veela magic, she would have been embarrassed and just tried to keep it to herself too, but a talent this useful was too important.  If Allura could only learn how to control her charm...

Dreams of sparkling emeralds raining down, of Slytherin winning the House cup for their four remaining years flashed before her eyes.  Then it wouldn't matter what kind of trouble struck Hogwarts, how many questions Eirene answered correctly in class or how many fights the Gryffindor table got into at lunch.  And, Noriko thought with dawning realization, maybe Allura would even be able to keep them safe from the Hogwarts werewolves, or at least be able to use her innate Veela talent to convince them to leave everyone else alone.

That settled it.  Allura had to master her charm.

Nervousness flashed through her stomach for an instant, but Noriko pushed it away.  An edge that could lead to victory was far too important to let herself be anxious, especially when it came to winning the House Cup.

"Have you tried?"  The words came out sounding far more bold than she felt.  Noriko paused for an instant, almost surprised at herself.  "I mean, could you try?  Like, practice?"  She flashed Allura a smile, halfway between nervous and sly.  "That might be helpful, right?  If you knew how to make it work and how to make it stop when you wanted it to."

Allura was always so bubbly and confident, and even now, after sharing her great secret, it seemed as if nothing could phase her.  It made Noriko feel silly for being so worried about sharing her own secret when hers had been so mild in comparison. 

It was clear that Allura didn’t think so highly of her situation, though.  At the other witch’s blithe dismissal of boys and their attention, Noriko couldn’t help but let a giggle escape.

“Well, you are popular,” she pointed out to her friend loyally.  Allura was pretty, too, which she was sure the boys noticed.  Maybe her part-Veela-ness explained some of that, but it didn’t affect who Allura was.  Noriko had no doubt that the boys in their year would have had crushes on her even if she was just a normal witch.

It made her feel a little strange, thinking of her friends and boys.  Eirene sort of had a boyfriend now, too.  Noriko had liked Frank, but the rumors that had spread about the third year and her best friend made her feel a little unsettled inside.  If Frank got up the guts to ask Eirene out, did that mean that Eirene wouldn’t bother to spend time with Noriko anymore?

But it was rude to think about those things now that she was here with Allura.  Noriko paused, trying to push any thought of Eirene or any hurt that her best friend would rather spend time with her sort-of boyfriend than with Noriko out of her head.

“Can you use it on purpose?” she asked Allura curiously.  That could be useful, especially for a Slytherin.  “Like, can you make them like you more? Or does it just happen naturally without you trying?”

Allura's idea seemed perfectly reasonable to Noriko.  Why couldn't the werewolf girls go to the Ministry a day early so that there was no chance of anything bad happening at Hogwarts?  That seemed like a smart precaution for everyone to take.  At least that way, if something horrible went wrong, the professors would have a whole extra day to figure out a solution and get them somewhere safe.

Noriko glanced down at her History of Magic textbook that hid the forbidden flier.  The words on the leaflet had been harsh and cruel, but it still seemed wrong to cut off all conversation about whether or not the werewolf students were dangerous.  Part of her wondered if that was because Headmaster Greyfriar was a werewolf himself; maybe he wasn't so open to talking about it because he felt like it was an attack on him.

As her housemate cleared her throat, Noriko glanced up at her, startled.  A few questions?  She had no idea what it meant to be part-Veela.  Could Allura shoot fireballs from her fingertips?  Was that why she seemed to be so popular with everyone?

"How does it...work?" she asked hesitantly.  Now that she'd been given permission to ask, more questions started to spring into her head.  "Does anyone else know?  Was it your mother or your father who was one?  No," she said, suddenly catching herself.  No one ever talked about boy veelas.  "It has to be your mother, right?"

Allura's first secret made Noriko blush.  It hardly seemed fair -- it was just her housemate teasing her in her usual flirty manner, which definitely qualified it as a bad secret but also didn't make Noriko inclined to trust her. 

But then Allura leaned in closer, lowering her voice even more, and whispered her second secret.

"I'm half Veela."

Noriko stared at her, her eyes wide.  She didn't take Care of Magical Creatures, but everyone knew a little bit about Veela.  Muggly the Bear had even done a WWN safety special on them a few years before, which had warned young listeners not to go home with strange witches that they didn't know, especially if they happened to be especially attractive or threw fireballs at you. 

What did this mean?  Was Allura even telling the truth?  Being half Veela didn't seem like the sort of thing that someone would lie about, but maybe this was just a prank, a plot to see if Noriko was still as gullible as she'd been as a little first year.  Besides, rumors had persisted about her housemate for years, but Allura had always laughed them off before.  Why would she tell Noriko this now?

Because she was trading, Noriko thought as she swallowed hard.  A secret for a secret.

All of the questions that she might think to ask felt stupid now.  How long have you been half-Veela? had an obvious answer, Can you shoot fireballs from your fingers? seemed a bit rude, and Does anyone else know? didn't really matter.  Even asking if Allura was teasing her seemed a bit silly.  There was no one else around to see, and even if Allura liked to flirt and bait people sometimes, she was never outwardly mean.

"Oh," Noriko said at last, because it seemed like she ought to say something.  She swallowed again, shifting awkwardly.  Allura had certainly told her a secret, assuming it was true, which meant that she was honor-bound to share her own in return.

But knowing her housemate's secret also begged the question of what Allura thought about werewolves.  If she was part-Veela herself, maybe she felt a sort of kinship with them, even if they were different kinds of creatures.  Maybe she was testing Noriko, trying to find out what she thought so she could spread it all over school.  You weren't supposed to be suspicious of werewolves.  Muggly the Bear had had a special about that, too.

"I don't think werewolves are bad," Noriko started uncertainly.  They weren't bad, and everyone knew it wasn't their fault that they'd gotten bitten, but that didn't mean that they were nice.  Everyone knew how snappish and grumpy Temple had been since she'd come back to school in the fall, and Noriko had just seen the other Gryffindor werewolf start a fight at breakfast. 

"I just, um...I'm not sure if it's safe?" she ventured hesitantly, risking a glance at Allura.  "They seem kind of...angry.  Do you think it's dangerous, having them here at school?"

Noriko slipped the flier back into her History of Magic textbook and carefully shut the cover.  After everything that had happened at breakfast, she'd surely lose points if she were caught at it, but Slytherin wasn't like the do-good Hufflepuffs or the rule-loving Ravenclaws or the nosy Gryffindors.  Surely if she kept it squirreled away, none of her housemates would tell on her.

She'd tried to avoid her dormmate's second question, but Allura wasn't prepared to let it drop.  Noriko paused, concern knitting her brows as she considered her friend's offer. 

Slytherin traded in secrets.  The students here were much more subtle than those she knew in other houses; it was one of the reasons that she liked Eirene, who never bothered to hide what she thought of anything.  Normally, her best friend in Ravenclaw would be the first person with whom she'd share her thoughts on anything.  But Eirene had been spending an awful lot of time around Frank the previous semester, even before they'd both been stricken with the magical measles on the way back to Hogwarts and had been relegated to the Hospital Wing together.  And it was awfully hard to say no to Allura.

She glanced around the room, just to make sure that no one else was close enough to listen, and then lowered her voice to match her housemate's.

"What's your secret?" she asked curiously.  It was probably something to do with who had a crush on whom, or which students had been sneaking off together.  Allura always seemed interested in that kind of thing, even as Noriko stayed more focused on her studies.