Saturday, October 11th, 2008
10:00 AM
Outfit

This thread is open to anyone who would want to be part of the school newspaper. Maddie would have advertised it in all the dorms, so feel free to assume your character knows to go there at that time.

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The once dusty, disused and thoroughly cobwebbed classroom was gleaming, literally gleaming, from the dozens of cleaning spells cast upon it. Overturned tables were upright and shined up, broken chairs were either fixed or cast aside, and the once grime coated windows were scrubbed clean and already letting in an almost painful amount of light. There was still a faint haze of dustmotes filtering through the beams of light and a few cobwebs gracing the far corners of the high ceilings, but for the most part, it was CLEAN. Maddie could not have been more proud if she had given birth to the perfect baby.

In fact, she was prouder. This WAS her baby. This formally desolate, dusty and destroyed remnant of days gone by was the womb of her dream. She could see it now: That table over there would have at least 3 rolls of parchment with enchanted copy quills gracefully inking the TRUTH in bold black fonts; The handful of tables over to her left, the ones with the discarded library lamps illuminating them, would be where her reporters sat to write up the newest bit of the TRUTH; The closet in the back, now clean of all it's discarded cauldrons and vials, would be the dark room where the visual proof of the TRUTH would be processed; and in the front of the room, next to the chalkboard, sat the object of her affection. The former teachers desk... the desk of the TRUTHmaster... the Editor-in-Chief's desk. HER desk.

Maddie's breath caught in her throat as she made her way over to the heavy oak monstrosity. Slowly, she settled down into the cracked leather chair and placed her hands on the worn surface of the well used desk, her fingers brushing against the fine grain as though she was a connoisseur drinking in the beauty of the aged wood. Her lids fell closed and she breathed in deeply as an image of what would come filled her mind. Her full lips curled into a satisfied smile as she lapsed into a daydream, oblivious to her surroundings.

Ahh....Saturday. A day of rest for most. But Blake Knight knew better than that. For as long as he could remember, Saturdays had hardly been a restful day for his restless and overactive mind. Even long before heading to Hogwarts, the rest of his family might be spending the day sleeping in or relaxing and Blake would be hard at work doing something productive.

Thus, it was hardly a surprise for Blake to find himself headed towards what was at one point the empty classroom on the same floor as where he went for his Arithmancy classes. He and Professor Levartian had talked many times after classes about how the sixth floor was devoid of much. Her attempt to liven the corridor up with the Sticky Numbers Project was helping, but the addition of the school paper would certainly help. At the very least, there would be a little more regular traffic coming through there.

Blake quietly entered the room that Madeline Pratt had indicated. He readily smiled when he saw her even though he didn't claim to know the older Hufflepuff incredibly well. True, he did have a tendency to hang out with more fourth and fifth year students because he felt he had more in common with them than his immediate peers, but she was in an entirely different house than his and thus that offered fewer opportunities for interacting.

Being on the paper appealed to his intellectual side and since it was something new at the school, it also sparked his desire of being a part of creating something. So his normal shyness, which would have caused him to be more reserved in a setting such as this, was set aside in lieu of his excitement. Without even being told or offered to take a seat, he made his way over to one of the empty tables  not far from where she was and sat down. He deliberately set the notebook he was carrying down along with his quill. He quirked another smile at Maddie and quietly asked, "I'm not early, am I?"

Figaro strode in.  With as much polite timidity as the younger Knight kid displayed, Figaro was boisterous and didn't nearly match the deference.  He just dropped his bag in the middle of the floor and nearly shoved past Blake to get up to Maddie at her desk.  If he and Maddie had been cold to each other lately, it didn't show a titch as Figaro launched sat on her desk and started talking straight away.

"Got your scoops right here, chief," he declared.  Without being bidden, Figaro had collected all the leads he could think of and began listing them off. 

"First - we've got Waker Nolan snogging George Carter in the library.  Cass Grimlish'll say she's seen that.  And Ethan Krosse finally split with Abbie Gairden and they got in a fight in the hallway in front of Professor Ramsay.  Our old Headmaster's also become a Wizengamot Elder, so we should put that in there.  And I also heard that Professor Bombay was in that Runespoor fight in Diagon Alley.  Wasn't Michael and Fauna too? Gotta print that.  That, and I think Darcy's writing Trent Travis from Azkaban. Should try and get a hold of one of those letters."

Right proud of what he could remember off the top of his head, he started patting his pockets for the list he made.  He dredged up an old quill and held it between his teeth.  He regarded Blake Knight (who he wasn't super keen on, considering his older brother was a genuine thug) with some impatience.

"What're you looking at, eh? You got any leads?"

"I'm not early, am I?"

"Ahh!" Maddie shouted, jolted from her daydreams when a males voice appeared out of nowhere. Opening her eyes, she focused on the dark haired 3rd year sitting nearby, looking refreshingly eager. She didn't recognize him as Knights younger brother, mainly because she rarely got a chance to socialize with the younger years, so she couldn't harbor any bad feelings towards him. Not that she would. She believed in letting peoples actions speak for them and hated those who judged on superficial things like family members. That was something prejudiced morons did, like Callum Knight. She smiled broadly at him, nearly bouncing on her chair as she realized he was her first applicant.

"Sorry about that, lost in thought. You are not early, but you are not late. I suppose that makes you right on time! I like that." She stated quickly, deciding she liked the quiet young man already. Picking up a clipboard that held a single, blank, piece of paper, she continued "Now... If I can get your name..."

Before he could reply, another presence entered the room with the strength, and that ever boyish smell, of a thousand bulls. "Got your scoops right here, chief," the previous applicants quiet enthusiasm was quickly eclipsed by the burning sun of energy that was Figaro. Before she could ask him to sit quietly and wait his turn, which she knew as well as anyone he was incapable of doing, he burst into a million words, stringing them together so quickly that she barely managed to grasp one and hang on.

"First - we've got Waker Nolan snogging George Carter in the library.  Cass Grimlish'll say she's seen that.  And Ethan Krosse finally split with Abbie Gairden and they got in a fight in the hallway in front of Professor Ramsay.  Our old Headmaster's also become a Wizengamot Elder, so we should put that in there.  And I also heard that Professor Bombay was in that Runespoor fight in Diagon Alley.  Wasn't Michael and Fauna too? Gotta print that.  That, and I think Darcy's writing Trent Travis from Azkaban. Should try and get a hold of one of those letters."

"Fig---Fi---FIGARO!" She shouted his name and slammed her hand on her table to get his attention. "First off, Mr. Sellaphix, Mr... uh..." She snapped her fingers at Blake, having not gotten his name yet "... He was here first. You should wait your turn. And secondly..." She sat up straight and leveled her shoulders, trying her best to look professional. "...This is going to be a legit paper. No fluff stories... no tabloid reporting... no gossip column... Just Cold. Hard. Facts." She punctuated each comment by poking the table firmly. "Are any of those 'leads' cold hard facts or just rumors. I won't publish rumors. It's a downhill slope into a pit of mud, that one..."

Leaning back, she crossed her arms and waited impatiently "Well... go on... Some of those are promising, but I need a bit more before I will consider them. You... Take notes until I can find you something better to do..." She motioned to Blake, still eying Figaro. She wasn't sure she trusted him, but she knew that he had both ears to the ground and a finger in every pot. Perhaps more, if evolution had anything to say about it.

Fig was unfluffed at Maddie shouting him down, but he shut his mouth obediently for a moment.  He wasn't abashed or off-put.  In his world, yelling wasn't really any different than regular talking.  Just louder.  No use getting slumpy if someone was disappointed.  Except maybe his dad who'd not be delighted at all if he found out Fig was nearly trolling out of Runes a second time, had made an enemy of his Herbology Professor and had not requested private tutoring from his Head of House and Potion Master Professor Nicodemus Gunnar.

But Fig was beginning to think his future lay not in the bottom of a well stirred cauldron, but somewhere closer to his vocal chords.

"It's all facts," he insisted, crossing his arms proudly.  "May as well seen them all with my own eyes.  Cassie Grimlish and two other witnesses saw Waker Nolan in the library.  And half of the seventh year witnessed Krosse and Gairden's breakup.  Common knowledge about Professor Greyfriar on the Wizengamot - was in the paper."

He paused and then shrugged.  "I guess I don't have any proof that Bombay was in Diagon then - he generally refuses to answer my questions.  And... okay, the thing about Darcy's just a guess.  But it would be wicked.  I'm actually pretty sure she's at home since the fire.  House arrest or something.  Maybe she's had her wand snapped."

He shrugged again.  Then all of a sudden, his attention quickly darted to today's most recent Daily Prophet.  "Aw! Are you kidding me?!"  The score of last night's Quidditch match blazed across the front page.  Magpies vs. the Tornadoes.

"Bloody hell.  I owe Dev Matthews ten galleons."

Blake was relieved that Madeline confirmed he was not late, even though he had made sure to arrive in enough time for that to not really be a worry at all. When she asked his name, he hesitated at first before finally saying quietly, "Blake Knight."

They were promptly interrupted by the entrance of Figaro Sellaphix, who just as promptly began to rattle off a bunch of information he wanted to use for the paper. Blake regarded Figaro as if he had five heads, clearly disapproving of his impertinence and the relative immaturity the Hufflepuff displayed compared to his own. Blake was used to being more mature than his fellow third years, hence is reasoning for hanging out with more older students. But on the occasion he came acrossed the older students who were behind in that regard as well, all he could manage to do was shake his head at the misfortune.

As Figaro proceeded to prattle off more ideas for stories, Blake could feel his mouth falling open in disbelief and his jaw quickly headed for contact with the desktop. It crossed the young Ravenclaw's mind was how his classmate would make an excellent tabloid reporter and he was tempted to mention some notable Muggle publications by name. Instead, Blake was met by Figaro's demanding inquiry about leads.

When Madeline cut in to silence her fellow Hufflepuff and then turned to ask him his name again, Blake reluctantly repeated, "Blake Knight." As if expecting some kind of guilt by association comment or assumption (something he was paranoid about and felt the need to apologize for often) from either of his companions, Blake immediately tacked on, "Yes, I'm Callum's brother. No, I'm not anything like him. I promise."

He furtively stressed the last words, something he was prone to doing with anyone he didn't know well. After three years, the majority of his housemates had come to know the truth in the statement, but Blake still found that folks in the other houses had a harder time not lumping him in with the likes of his brothers until they interacted with him more.

Blake proceeded to roll his eyes at Figaro's insistence that his stories were all facts. Somehow he had a hard time believing that. The mention of the Magpies vs. the Tornadoes did give Blake an idea for a potential news story. Ignoring Figaro's lamenting that he owed Matthews, he suggested, "Speaking of Quidditch, how about we do a preview of the four house teams?" Then, spurned by some ideas that pertained just to the school, he also added, "And since we have a bunch of new professors and staff, we could always do a profile on them so that everyone can kinda get to know them. Including Headmistress Snark." His eyes brightened as his mind went zipping through the other thoughts that were coming. "We could have an events calendar too, seeing as we have so many clubs popping up...."

Blake eagerly looked from one Hufflepuff's face to the other, trying to gauge how his ideas were going to be accepted and hoping that they would be received with as much enthusiasm as he gave them.

The explosion of noise after Maddie asked Blake's name was almost entirely Figaro. Blake had just confirmed that he was none other then Callum Knights little brother and claimed he was nothing like him (Something Maddie would have liked to test with some veritaserum), when Figaro flew into another rant about how his leads were all truths. Perhaps some of them were, but witnessing something didn't mean there wasn't a level of bias that twisted the truth. She didn't want to post sensational stories simply to get readers, not if there wasn't cold hard facts involved. If there was, then she more then welcomed it.

When Figaro mentioned Matthews, Maddie's ears perked a bit. With her reputation for being a busy body preceding her, she had never been able to get close enough to Devlin to see if the stories about his underhanded mischief were true. If Figaro was on good enough terms to make bets with him... Perhaps...

Before she could snatch the prophet from his grasp to grill him further, Blake took the moment of silence to sidle in and give a much more precise and useful collection of ideas. Nodding, Maddie glanced over the list she compiled from researching successful papers to make sure all Blake's ideas were on there. The Professor profiles were not on there, so she quickly added it at the bottom for good measure. Although she disliked the new headmistress as a rule, she would be more then interested in grilling her for facts. Perhaps she could get more information then the normally closed of witch cared to give.

"Excellent ideas Blake..." She said with a pleased smile, giving him a pat on the shoulder. He was being brave, she could tell. Trying to get words in edgewise with people like Sellaphix was a mean feat in itself. "I think we can work in all of those. Now..." She shuffled her papers together and retrieved her quill "... I think our first issue should hit them hard and fast. Something that everyone is involved in, one way or another... Something we KNOW has happened..." She gave Figaro a pointed look, reminding herself to explain to him what was fact and what wasn't.

"That's right, I want to do an issue about Werewolves. I want facts on the creature, Interviews with both Snark and Astrid, she leads SAWS..." She added in case they didn't know, "... Perhaps interviews with those who suffer from the affliction or have family members who do...Any other ideas? I am very open to suggestions..."

Outfit

Everyone thought Reynaud Chancelier was uninterested in life and seemingly weird to be around, but he knew himself well and knew he would be fine with a little after school activities. Astronomy club was simply a given, since he had nothing better to do at night, and he thought he'd give the School Paper a shot since he wasn't the worst photographer on the planet. Of course, he couldn't really compare himself to the scary Slytherin boy who lacked proper hygiene, but he was basically the only other photographer in the school. At least, the only photographer that he knew of. Razzy had stuffed his old camera into his bag and set out to meet up with the people from the paper. Of course, he had no idea who they were. He just remembered reading a flyer and where it was supposed to take place.

Razzy stepped, slyly, inside the room. They were already talking about something that Razzy really couldn't understand. He recognized Maddie Pratt, whom he never really remembered talking to, Figaro... Who was quite the loudmouth, but Razzy had never gotten a true reason to dislike him, and Blake Knight... A nutter that had a crush on Razzy's unwell cousin (Also a boy who Razzy had grew very fond over in the last year). They continued to chatter and Razzy had no idea what he was doing and was debating whether or not he should leave. Then again, he already made it this far.

So, without further debate, Razzy began to tap dance in front of the door, and he was doing very well at it, too. His shoes were very poor for tap dancing, but he was still going through the motions of it. This decision was made simply by Razzy's boredom. It was one of his more sane choices to cure his boredom, compared to the time he jumped off a roof and compared to the time and wanted to see if he could rip the leg off of his desk in class.

After another few minutes of tap dancing, without really seeing if anyone was paying attention, Razzy closed his dance with a vibrant ending consisting of jazz hands and landing on his knees. Bringing joy to the strange boy's heart.

Figaro rolled his eyes as bossy Maddie laid down the law.  But he rolled them with a grin. She was fun when she was on some crusade.  She and Astrid... always on some mission.  When she startled ticking off the things she wanted done, Figaro began to feel a little dismayed.

Werewolves?

But before he had time to really digest that, a cacaphony of stomping and rapping echoed in the stone-masonry classroom.  Oh great. Razz Chancelier.  Certified lunatic.  Figaro considered himself a people person, but from day one, he'd never been able to get a read on his fellow Fifth Year Hufflepuff.  Definitely had a hard time getting to sleep with Razz a few beds over some days.

The tap dancing.  Well, this wasn't what put Figaro off.  It was the other stuff.  Kid seemed to go about melting the doorknobs off their wardrobes as he did buttering his toast.  Tap dancing'd probably be just as normal to Razz as pulling a knife during History of Magic.

Chancelier made some sort of finish and in the silence that was probably filled will imaginary applause, all Figaro could thing to blurt out was:

"Wrong club, Reynauld."

Aaand then he took a step behind Blake Knight.

Having rolled up the sample newspaper she held in her hand, Maddie was prepared to smack Figaro upside the head with it. Don't think she hadn't seen those big puppy dog eyes of his roll at her! She will have ORDER! She will have OBEDIANCE! They shall crown her queen of the newspaper and carry her on a throne of newsprint and quills. IF she could figure out how that was possible first. There had to be some way to make it dense enough to carry a full grown girls weight... perhaps lots of sticking potions....

Tap tap tap tappity tap

She didn't know what caught her attention first: Figaro's surprising silence or the sound of someone dancing like a loon in the doorway. Glancing over, she wasn't surprised to see who it was. Chancelier was one of those guys that people described as a "loner who danced to the beat of his own drum". A rather ...unique... drummer if his tap dancing was any indication. She fell silent and watched him warily until he finished. Also not surprisingly, Figaro spoke before she did.

"Wrong club, Reynauld."

"Shh Fig... Don't scare him off..." She hissed in a tone that sounded quite like a mother trying to quell a disobedient child who couldn't keep his hands to himself. The proper tone for people like Figaro. "... What is it Chancelier? Are you here to try out for the newspaper? What's that...?" She eyed his bag almost warily. It could have been a bouquet of flowers and she would have regarded it as a potential bomb. It was very hard not to do so when Razzy was around.

"Wrong club, Reynauld."

Normally, Razzy would slap the boy silly or tear off his pants and make him cry. But, this time, he just gave Sellaphix a malicious smile and said "With humor like that, it's no wonder girls don't like you, Fijiro." Of course, he meant to say Fig's name wrong. If someone can't pronounce "Reynaud" then just say "Razzy". Rahh-zeeeee. Even though Razzy was annoyed at how simple Fig could be, he remained calm. He did just tap dance his heart out, but there was no need to rip out Figaro's. Instead of violence, he decided to leave like a normal human being. Even though he put on a strange show for their enjoyment (Well, HIS enjoyment, really), he was welcome to keeping his good mood.

"... What is it Chancelier? Are you here to try out for the newspaper? What's that...?"

"Oh-" Razzy paused before he grabbed the doorknob. "I have- Err..." He pulled out his camera, shrugging, "I'm sort of into photography... I guess." He didn't have any suspicions that they were afraid he had some sort of cursed object, but he was thinking about pulling out his calender of 'Naughty Witches'. But, Maddie was too respectable for such actions. This sort of was also the first time he openly told people (Other than Ainsley) that he enjoyed activities... For once. It was sort of strange.

"Anyways. I'll just leave if you really-" Razzy flashed Fig a disturbing scowl, "Don't want me here." He had no mind for explaining WHY he had tap-danced to begin with. Definitely not explaining why he came there in the first place. If he knew Fig would be there, he probably wouldn't have gone at all. Since, after all, Fig seemingly ruined everything.

Blake quirked a brow at the entrance of Razzy into the room and all other conversation appeared to stop for the time being. Even his slight annoyance at Figaro had been forgotten. Until Figaro had seemed to say the wrong thing--again--and caused Razzy to get annoyed. Figaro really was batting a thousand today, wasn't he?

Figuring the best thing to do was to keep the conversation moving forward, Blake returned to the topic at hand--the issue and the vision that Maddie had for it to start with. "I definitely think that an issue on Werewolves would create a big stir." Even as he said it, the third year could feel a bit of aprehension creep in. Covering issues like that was sure to get him into a lot of hot water with his family. Part of him relished that thought and the other part of him dreaded it.

But the first part actually the better of him, and another idea came to his mind. Clearing his throat, he said to Maddy, "So I have another idea too that I'd like to run by you sometime. But I'd prefer to speak to you in private." With quick glances at Figaro and Razzy, he added, "No offense, mates. But it's something I'd like to bend the Boss Lady's ear about on my own...."

"I have- Err... I'm sort of into photography... I guess."

"Oh." was all Maddie could say as a slight blush touched her cheeks, embarrassed that she had assumed the worst of Razzy. She always prided herself on not making uninformed assumptions about people and here she was, regarding Razzy like a criminal. Sure he was... weird, but he didn't deserve to be discriminated against for wanting to help out. Besides, she needed a photographer and so far no one had come forward.

"Anyways. I'll just leave if you really- Don't want me here."

"No! No no no... You are more then welcome... Come in, come in..." Maddie said quickly, nearly dragging the much taller boy into the room. "We were just... surprised, that's all..." She offered him a weak smile, hoping that he would forget the faux pas and stay on. Unsure what to add, Maddie could have kissed Blake when he aptly steered the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"I definitely think that an issue on Werewolves would create a big stir."

She suspected that, as Callum's brother, he was worried about the bullying he would more then likely receive. Reaching out, she patted him reassuringly on the shoulder "That's the point mate... We have to show Snark that we aren't scared of her... Besides," She shrugged "We will show both sides of the issue and let the readers draw their own conclusion. The truth will be the one to convince them, not us." When Blake mentioned that he had something to talk to her in private about, she just nodded and said quietly "Fine Fine... after the meeting then." before nodding to the other two "Right then... Who wants to do what then? I mean... Aside from Razzy, who we already know wants to be the photographer..."