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Evening, the sixth floor.


The classroom had been cleared of its desks- nothing but chairs lined the back of it, stacked up high and towering over the tiny redhead who stood with her back to them. Most of Hogwarts had only just dispersed from the Great Hall after their dinners and even here, at the end of a corridor all the way in the back, one could make out the sound of distant footsteps making their way back to common rooms.

Raine had come in to set up the space as soon as she'd been able to swallow the last of her roast beef, working through the meal earlier in the same industrious way she worked at her studies. It was still early and nobody had arrived yet besides Maurice- the black cat had wandered in ahead of her and was now sat by the blackboard, cleaning his paws while his owner tugged off her uniform top and pulled out a less formal one from her satchel.

It had been an exhausting day. Lessons, assignments and then her extra lesson with Storm- she needed a change of clothes that did not reek of the Potions dungeon. The Gryffindor slipped on the sweater and rolled up the sleeves with a practical air. She glanced at the doorway for a moment, having left it ajar for the others, before going over to one of the lone chairs where her books were stacked.

If anyone other than a study group member dropped by now, the scene would appear rather harmless. Raine hadn't brought her texts for revising, of course- they were for reference. She trusted her memory for charms but she couldn't say the same about everyone who would be dropping in. Godric's socks, she didn't even know who they were. Much of this was word-of-mouth... including the mouths of some rather suspect Slytherins.[1]

Maurice mewled softly and the prefect glanced up at the classroom door again, her frown melting into a more civil countenance.

 

1.	See Let's Call this an Idea for more information.

As she leaned against the door frame—her arms folded, her ankles crossed, and mischief lighting up those sharp green eyes—Gracie endowed the prefect with a full-lipped leer. If that hadn’t been good timing, she didn’t know what was. “Flattering,” remarked the Slytherin, as she gave her a saucy wink. “And might I add, encouraging? You’ve never looked that thrilled to see me, before~”

She pushed off the frame then, still grinning as she made her way into the room. Like Raine, she’d gone for a change of clothes some time earlier as soon as the last of her classes had been over; in exchange for the pleated skirt, vest, and blouse, she’d gone for shorts, a hoodie, and a pair of boots that slouched comfortably at her calves. Now she stood in front of the redhead, a hand propped on her hip and her head turned to the side, to give the other girl a better view of her profile. “It’s the hair, isn’t it?” she sighed happily, as she fingered the newly shorn locks. “Should’ve had it this way years ago and oh, that reminds me-”

Suddenly she was rifling through her pockets, frowning slightly as her fingers brushed against a Sharpie, a few paperclips, a half-melted Toffee, and…

There.

A second later, a toad was resting in her hand.

“He’s not an ex-boyfriend, before you say anything,” said Gracie dryly, as she drew out her wand from its pocket with her free hand. “Liberifors!”

-And then it was an old, weathered tome weighing down her hand. Something old and indecipherable had been engraved into its cover, until all that was left were a bunch of worn-looking lines.

“My grandfather’s,” explained the Slytherin, looking oh so pleased with herself. She set it on top of the others. “It’s an old text on Transfiguration—nicked it from his library over the summer. The ol’ bastard hadn’t noticed ‘til last Wednesday, can you believe it? Dunno how much use it’ll be, though, I only use it for the notes on the margins…”

   

Naomi walked in behind Gracie, watching the girl preen for Raine like she was a cat, "Or th' ego," Naomi added as she walked past Gracie's dramatic pose and over to the blackboard by Raine and Maurice.

Her green eyes landed on the black feline, her eyebrow bent into an arch as she dully rolled her voice, "We meet again, Mr. Cat." After Gracie finished her little show with the frog, a clever Transfiguration trick Naomi had seen before by not-so-innocent street urchins--but with les finesse, Naomi pulled out a floppy but heavy looking envelope and turned towards the Gryffindor prefect.
 
Naomi began pulling the envelope at its folded edges and corners, pulling it apart into another large, heavy, floppy, envelope looking thing, until it was the size of a book, "I'm not creative as Gracie, but--" Naomi then pulled at the middle of the folded paper, and pulled it into a large paper box, before reaching her hand inside the clever piece of origami and then shook whipped the bag inside out.

It's innards flapped into an old stack of papers that clapped between the leather-bound cover of a book, which Naomi had her hand now wrapped around. "My dad never took up Divination, but he picked up 'dis book on an arithmetic and supernatural investigative approach to Transfiguration. Like how muggles get wit' science, cept wizarding style."

"He picked it up years ago after helping his friend in 'di Orient on some nonsense, and he's written and pasted in plenty of his own notes," Naomi shrugged a shoulder to her cheek and gave a small smile, "Said I could borrow it, since he used it up when he was younger, already."

Alex was next to arrive, forced to pause at the door by Gracie. The Ravenclaw rolled her eyes slightly at Gracie's posturing, although the  new hairstyle was admittedly elegant. "I'm not surprised your hair reminds you of a toad, you look like a bemused frog," she said instead, her tone free of malice, "with no awareness of what the season is," she concluded, looking at the shorts with a raised eyebrow. "At least it's an improvement," she smirked.

Following Gracie into the room, she grinned at Raine, pulling out her own contribution. Opening the copy of "The Princess Bride" to roughly halfway, she tapped the fold of the pages with her wand and watched the ink rearrange itself to become the words of a book on transfiguration from her Father's library. Alex was silently regretting not doing anything fancier, because although the book cover also changed from the standard-issue muggle paperback to more traditional leather bound affair, it wasn't quite as elegant as Naomi's solution, or as impressive as Gracie's.

Speaking of Gracie's, the book looked interesting, so Alex picked it up, flicking through the pages, "Nice book," Alex murmured appreciatively. The archaic text appeared to be primarily theoretical, while the notes in the margins addressed how the theories could be put into practice. She looked up at Gracie and beamed, "Can I borrow it?"

Regrettably, looking at books wasn't why she was here, so Alex put it back, sitting on the table next to it and looking at Raine expectantly. Although as an informal study group they didn't have an official leader, Raine appeared to be organising it, which amounted to the same thing.

"So, brave and noble leader, any suggestions as to how we should attempt to.... study?" she asked. "Aside from the obvious."

Kiba padded down the hall, having dumped his lousy school robes in the common room, he opted for something more comfortable. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in odd directions and rolled sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. The cloth bag that was secured tightly in his hand hit against his leg with every step he took and made strange crackling and shaking noises as the bag swung, he was quite eager to see what this 'study group' was really all about. In truth, Kiba wouldn't have come if it was just studying, he wasn't in Ravenclaw for a reason. With a cheerful grin, Kiba stepped into the classroom and greeted the current occupants. "Hi guys, what's up?"

Pausing for a second, Kiba glanced around the room to the three girls. Oh great, he thought annoyingly, where are all the dudes? Shaking his head slightly, Kiba walked to the girls and crossed his arms across his chest, seeing the variety of books that everyone seemed to be focusing on. "Oh great, more books." He said grumpily, scrunching his nose slightly. He hoped that they wouldn't be sticking their nose in books the whole time. If he wanted to do that - which he didn't - he could have stayed in the common room. Then, remembering the bag in his hand, Kiba smiled mischievously.

"Well," He said, tugging the drawstring on the bag loose, "While you study those books, I'll study this candy." With a flourish, he tipped the wide variety of wizard candy on a nearby chair, some spilling onto the floor. There were Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Slugs, Fizzing Whizbees, Sugar Quills, Bertie Bott's, Liquorice Wands, a wide selection of toffees and others bits and pieces. All in all, it was in impressive collection. Kiba then looked at Raine with a triumphant grin, tossing the empty bag to the side. "So, what now?"

Even houses on all counts besides an odd Ravenclaw.

Raine had considered Gracie's latest fashion statement with a half-smile, resisting the vague urge to ruffle her dark locks- it was a flattering cut for the Slytherin. Before she could remark as much, the toad came out- the trick revealed and then finally- a heavy book that looked like it had no place in the hands of young witches. Perfect. From what very little she know of Grandfather Slant, there was bound to be something worth learning here.

Of course, Naomi was not far behind, and neither was Alex. Maurice mewled appreciatively at the fourth year's greeting (Mr.Cat was one of his preferred titles) and Raine gestured her wand across to the stacked chairs, hoisting several into the air until there were enough arranged around the girls. Another pair of tomes were produced.

"We certainly won't be lacking in resources..." the prefect commented dryly as she watched her friend's novel, presumably some love story based on the heading, was uncovered to disclose its more archaic actuality. "I don't suppose we'll much require my access to the Restricted section." Not so soon, at any rate. There would be no need to alarm the sensibilities of more conservative group members.

At Alex's query of their brave and noble leader, Raine smirked. Not the position she imagined herself in but hardly one she could refuse, being the origin point of their peculiar gathering tonight. "Well, I think tha--" she began and was cut off by another greeting, this one unexpected.

Attwood. His disdain at their literature was unsurprising but Raine raised her fiery eyebrows at the downpour of sweets. That was... a lot of sugar. She leaned against the back of the chair, picking out a jelly slug daintily with one hand. "Food and entertainment," the redhead remarked, tossing a chocolate frog over to Gracie before glancing back to Kiba. What now indeed.

"As I was saying," she grinned, her sense of studiousness mollified by sugary treats. "We're supposed to be learning new things from each other, so let's one of us..." Raine paused, shrugging. "Present a challenge. Something esoteric or really difficult."

Giving up that envious wrinkle of her nose for Naomi’s own fancy trick, the Slytherin shot Alex a quick grin of assent before her book was put away; thanks to Kiba’s arrival, the girl’s attention was soon diverted by an influx of sweets, a bloody tithing of sugar that in return anything stupid said could be forgiven (though she did like the boy, honest). Even with a Frog already in her hands, she eyed the Jelly Slugs with an avaricious gleam, all thoughts of preening and posturing momentarily forgotten. Those things—soft, squishy, and wiggly—were good-

“ ‘Esoteric’?” she repeated, glancing at the prefect once those sharp ears caught up with her brain. She raised her brows at the other girl, clearly amused—and then wolfishly grinned a helpful grin, which probably wasn’t much help at all, considering how “Kinky, Almasy…” was said around a Slug wiggling feebly from the corner of her lips.

But even as she spoke (-well, murmured, really), the Slytherin was thinking, and so words trailed off—albeit briefly—into a thoughtful silence. “Like making up a spell, or something?” she suggested jokingly, as she slanted Naomi a grin. For while she’d harbored a few ideas of her own, but they’d mostly been fancies, something to try in the middle of ennui… or when she could. Even without seeing them to fruition she still didn’t have a lot of free time (or, time left over from what she usually spent these days), and out of school having a Muggle for a guardian often put a crimp on such things—guardian or not, there was still the Statute to consider, after all.

These days the ones that came to mind were either charms or curses. But none of them immediately struck her as useful in the least, so…

She waited, glancing around the room to see who else would supply.

As Alex entered Naomi sourly pursed her lips, but she guessed the Ravenclaw was better than Sandusky could ever think of being. But then another Gryffindor came in with candy. Why couldn't someone just like, bring in normal food? A critical black brow rose on Naomi's forehead, but Gracie seemed much more jovial about the treats.

"Nah..." Naomi said in response to Gracie's grin before she threw the girl her own creeping smile, "How about, someone turn into an animal..." her black boots then carried her stride across the room and towards an old wooden chair. The witch then pulled a wand out from beneath her skirt and put a hand on the chair, turning it towards the older students before she hugged a shoulder toward her cheek and her lilting voice dropped with a roll of her eyes, "Not."

Naomi easily lifted the chair up as she continued talking, "Let's apply some wit and work on shifting t'ings on 'di go?Professor Valdaine had me do it as a way to hone certain spells," With the chair held up in one hand, Naomi walked back over to the group, "We start off wit' one object, wit' one property--let's say..." the Slytherin's sage stare wandered over everyone until her gaze focused on Kiba, "mobility," then, with both hands, she tossed the chair at his head.

But without a second's hesitation she also whipped out her wand, said a quick spell and the chair began to suck itself into a wad of warped white wood, before it completely morphed into a soccer ball and it continued its trajectory towards Kiba's head, "Then completely change the object--but keep it mobile."

Without seeing whether the ball hit the Gryffindor or not Naomi turned towards the others with a pleasant smile, "As an extra challenge, you can't change it into somet'ing it's already been transfigured into."

Kiba plopped down on a chair and was happily munching on a Liquorice Wand while he glanced around the room, reclined back and not really listening to the conversation the others were having. When Gracie offered her suggestion for making up a spell, Kiba wrinkled his nose. "Won't that be difficult and really time consuming?" He said, mostly to himself. All these girls were inceribly intimidating. Perhaps not Carstairs, but especially the Slytherin girls.

Kiba glanced over to Naomi as she strode across the room and retrieved a chair, blabbing on about something that Kiba wasn't really interested in. Then, Naomi did something that was totally unexpected, but expected from her at the same time. Kiba's eyes widened as a chair came hurtling towards him. He jumped to his feet quickly but didn't know what to do after that. Stuff using a spell, there was no time for that! He fumbled with his words as he attempted to cuss, so it just came out as a jumbled mess.

Then, the chair started morphing and changing colour before his very eyes and Kiba sighed in relief as it was transfigured into a soccer ball. But, Kiba was a fumbling clumsy mess, so the ball hit its target and bouced right off the side of his head. At least he had the brains to turn his head so it wouldn't hit his face. That would hurt. The ball bounced a few times until it stopped moving and was resting a few steps ahead of Kiba. Scowling at the thing, Kiba kicked it with plenty of force and it went bouncing and flying across the room.

Looking at Naomi, Kiba pouted slightly and crossed his arms across his chest. "Thanks for the demonstration, Foley." He said sacrastically as he went to sit back down, rubbing the side of his head where the ball hit.

Raine's only response to Gracie's rather indelicate remark was, of course, to raise her own eyebrows suggestively.

"You're thinking of a different word, Gracie..." the prefect hinted with a smirk- perfectly aware that anything could be taken indelicately dependent on context. And the mind of Gracie Slant did not make for delicate context. Her idea of creating their own spellwork was one that Raine considered seriously, though personally. She filed it away in the back of her head, jolted back to the group by Naomi.

Something about turning into an animal.... hopefully an obscure reference to Sandusky's animagi talk rather than actual knowledge of Raine's personal ability. The fourth year dismissed the notion quickly enough, lifting one of the chairs in a manner that made one want to sidestep instinctively.

Oh, Salazar's rotten name what was sh-- the hurled chair transfigured from form to form before the thought was finished. Raine's shoulders had tensed in the surprise but she was laughing now, head thrown back divertedly. She didn't even have to see the ball ricochet off the side of Kiba's head, the idea alone was hilarious.

"That is a challenge," she said after finally coming down from the laughter. "Storm might approve. Reactionary rates and wandwork. It's almost a game." How innovative and educational, she thought wryly. Raine picked up the ball off the floor, tossing it into the air a couple of times.

"Let's make the odds more exciting," her gaze met Kiba's eyes brazenly and then shifted to Gracie as she tapped the ball- it deflated, marginally, the surface turning grey metallic. Tiny, almost-harmful steel spikes stood out; it weighed a great deal more. "Pass the object. Transfigure it into something you can catch before it reaches you..."

What better incentive to learn than personal preservation? With a fleeting flash of her teeth, Raine lunged the spiked sphere at the closest member of their group.

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