Task 2: First Impressions

[Prof. Sky Alton]

There’s a lot to see and do. Everyone seems to want to catch your eye and tell you (at great length) all about whatever it is they’re organising. Where do you go first? Perhaps you even have a booth of your own to help out at.

For 5 points, roleplay your first impressions of the fair. Tell us what you see, what you’re most interested in and anything else you can think of. Make sure it’s more than 80 words long or it won’t count.

You only need to post once to earn the points, though you are more than welcome to carry on roleplaying if you’d like. If you refer to any other HOLers in your post or react to something someone else has posted, remember to be courteous and considerate (try to interact with people and wait for them to respond to you, rather than controlling their actions). The deadline is September 30th, 11:59 PM HOL-time!

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

Maxim was standing animatedly by the Ravenclaw’s booth waving a Ravenclaw Quidditch Team banner. As a co-captain of the house team, he promised to do some of the entertainment work for the fair. Besides, he loved tasks like this. Maxim just hoped that he would have some time to browse the booths by himself.

There were not a lot of students or staff here yet, but it was still early, so the Ravenclaw was not so surprised. He waved to some of his friends and offered blueberry muffins to anyone that stopped or just passed the booth.

[Gail Allen]

"Do you think I can just grab one of those?" Gail asked Maxim, looking rather hungrily at the muffins he was holding.
"I was so busy this morning I didn't get around to going to breakfast and then I planned to just head past the kitchen to get something to bring along, but.." she shruggled looking sheepish, "I didn't get around to that either. I promise I'll get you something some other time. Baked apples? I am pretty good at making those." She should be; she'd made them almost every year for several years now.

"Are you going to be here all day?" she asked, nodding to the stall Maxim was currently at, "or do you also have some time to browse around?"
She hoped for herself that she'd get the chance, since there were quite a few of the stalls she'd really like to get a look at - and perhaps even more importantly; get to talk to the people manning them.

[Iverian Gnash]

Looking for the Gryffindor booth, Ivey ran down the center aisle of the fair holding a few blueberry muffins she'd stolen *cough* borrowed from Maxim. Dodging her friends and some new faces, she spotted her booth a few spots down. Stepping inside the brightly colored red and gold booth she handed Sky a muffin before she could ask where she'd gotten them from.

Ivey was planning on going back outside to finish off her muffins when she spotted a giant golden butterbeer fountain next to an enormous Gryffindor banner. Skipping over to it, she filled up a tall glass with delicious butterbeer then proceeded outside to plop down cross-legged on the ground next to their booth while staying out of the way of the crowd to finish her treats.

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

This was a big year for Will: the seventh year Slytherin knew that this would be his last one as a student. There were plenty of places he helped represent on campus: from his own House to the Quidditch Board to HOLLERS - but he knew everything was taken care of at the moment. "Where would he go once his NEWTs were taken care of?", though, was a harder question to deal with - and PROBABLY not one that could be answered with Quidditch skills, knowledge of civilizations from times gone by, Unforgivable Curses, or even Parseltongue!

Only a few people, he suspected, were going through this at the same time. Names such as Polaris, Sky, and Meredith - who had entered the school within a month of him and were also on track to graduate - came to mind quickly, as did some others who had moved into his year as well: Elena, Emma, Faye, and Shiloh. Will wondered if there was a "Class of 2020" lounge where seventh years of all houses could relax, but upon failing to find any "Congratulations Class of 2020" signs, decided to mount his broom to see if he could get a better view of the festivities from the ceiling.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Tarma wandered into the sprawling area where so many people seemed to be gathering, eating, talking, walking, eating more, talking even more. The noise, after the quiet of the greenhouses (where she had been, checking on the plants), was so clamorous that she quickly decided to detour to the Book Club area and check on everything there.

Was the coffee machine there? YES. Okay. Life is good. She brewed some up and, with stout clay mug in hand, approached the melee again. She patted her back pocket - yes, there's the wand. Good. This time she was relaxed and was able to recognize individuals within the thronging crowds. Approach? Or not. Not. But this time she stayed, leaning against a solid marble pillar, and watched as people chatted and appeared to be enjoying the fair.

[February Fortescue]

Upon entering the Great Hall, February could feel the trepidation and excitement of the new and returning students. Although she was a only second year and somehow felt as if she had been here forever, February still had some nervousness seeing all the new faces. She decided to hide in a corner where she could observe the goings-on.

She was looking forward to the term and hoping to do well, earning tons of points and getting to know people from the various Houses. She was really happy she'd made some new friends already, before classes even began! That helped calm some of her fears.

[Serenity Shaffer]

As Serenity entered the festival with anxiety creeping into her chest, she looked around at all the striking booths trying to get a grasp on what this place had to offer. As a first year, she didn't know what to expect and was eager to join clubs and start classes. The first booth she ran up to was the Slytherin booth and she chatted excitedly with its occupants, whose names she failed to remember.

She then stopped at the Book Club table as she had spent the past three months reading any book she could get her hands on. Serenity met a few other first years from Slytherin and she joined them in getting a cup of pumpkin juice from one of the extravagant tents and walked around the festival, happy to be in the company of people who were just as amazed and confused as she was.

[Vanessa Tilley]

Nessa was so excited for the HOL Welcome Fair that she had hardly slept all night! Nessa did a quick check to make sure she had everything that she needed for the Art Department booth she was helping to run with Professor Rorey. "Let's see, we've got some paint, paper, some blank t-shirts, markers." Nessa looked around and spotted a couple bottles of glitter on her desk. "There you are! Can't have a good time without glitter right?" Nessa put everything into a couple bags and headed off for the Welcome Fair.

As she approached the booths, Nessa looked around quickly to get a layout of the area so she would know where to come back to when she had some time to explore on her own. It looked like a nice turn out had already started! Unfortunately, Nessa forgot to pay attention to where she was going and found herself falling into a fountain flowing with some type of liquid. "Well, this isn't had I saw this going at all." Nessa thought to herself as she landed in the fountain.

[Anna Westbrook]

Approaching the Welcome Fair already made me so excited! I already have so many booths I want to go to and try!

My first stop is the Ravenclaw booth where I heard all about the paper they have every month and a bunch of the contests. I wrote down every little detail as I possible could. The Ravenclaws got all excited, but I think it was because I was taking notes at the booth. Once a Raveclaw always a Ravenclaw

So I continued on to other booths where I looked and researched what I really liked or didn’t like. I then went to a section of the fair made a name tag for myself so other people can know who I am. Since I am just a first year, I want to show everyone that I’m a fun, bubbly girl who loves to meet people and be friendly! I hope I’m giving off that vibe!

[Emily Spencer]

As Emily entered the Welcome Fair, she was somewhat surprised to note that her usual confidence failed her. All of the booths, the throngs of students and teachers she did not know, and the riot of colors was more than a little overwhelming. Laughing nervously at herself, she decided the best plan of action was simply to plunge right in headfirst.

"You've got this, old girl."

Her first stop, of course, was the Slytherin booth; best start with the familiar and all that. She drew a quick breath of relief as she saw someone she knew, if only minimally. Even though he was a prefect and she just an "ickle firstie", the boy had gone out of his way to be nice to her on the few occasions they had chatted. Peering upward, she raised a hand and waved a greeting.

"Hello, Will!"

The next stop was the Book Club Booth; she felt quite at home here as well. During the summer, she had gotten a chance to participate in their wonderful Reading Challenge and she couldn't help but smile as she thought of the shiny new award she had gotten as a result. She might not be a Ravenclaw, but Emily loved to read. She foresaw a lot of time spent in the Book Club, and was hopeful that she would make some friends there.

All of this walking around was making her quite thirsty, so she meandered over to the refreshment table, grabbing up a cup of pumpkin juice. Aaahhh refreshing! The drink was most welcome as she continued to explore the various tents and booths, stopping occasionally to chat with those that greeted her.

[Amy Darvill]

Amy hovered around the edges of the fair, mostly drinking in the sights. There were so many things to look at, so many people to watch, And yet taking that first step into the actual midst of it made her want to bolt into the Forbidden Forest. And she was far from an outside sort of person!

Tugging on the gold bowtie pendant around her neck, she stepped in, looking around for the Hufflepuff booth. Might as well start with 'home base' as it were. Waving hello to Professor Tarma as she passed, she lingered inside for several minutes, making notes to do the Orientation. She should have started it earlier when she first arrived, but she always seemed to be running late.

Speaking of which...she should hurry to see the classes before they were all filled up! She made her way there, waving hello to a few people she knew and some she didn't. There weren't many flashy posters up yet, but it still didn't take her long to sign up for classes. As it was, she hoped some would be available next term, there were so many choices! Sometimes she wondered if she was really a Ravenclaw, especially as she started wandering over to the Book Club area. She hadn't quite reached her goals last month, but this was a fresh start. So after grabbing a worksheet for the Book Trivia and a new card to borrow books (aka read reviews), she went to find something completely out of her wheelhouse.

But before she could, she heard the splash, dashing over to find Vanessa in the fountain. She reached out a hand to help the girl up. "Are you okay???"

[Brianna Caedmon]

Walking into the Welcome Fair was, frankly, overwhelming. Brianna's eyes darting between the stalls, and she was immediately filled with a nervous sort of feeling that she somehow had to find time to see all of them, even the ones she was certain wouldn't interest her.

To try to quell her nerves, or at least give her something to hold to stop herself from fidgeting, she made a beeline for the refreshments table with what she hoped came across as more of a confident, purposeful stride and less of a run. She picked up a glass of pumpkin juice and turned to look around.

Spotting the Slytherin booth, she decided to start there before working her away around the others. She paused for a few moments to read what was on offer, before moving on towards the next booth on her list, which happened to be the Art Department (even though as someone with no artistic talent she was sure she'd never spend any time there, she felt compelled to look at their stall anyway). On her way there she noticed another Slytherin first year, who already seemed to know a good deal of the people here- or at least, she certainly seemed to know one of the Slytherin prefects. Walking up to Emily, Brianna introduced herself.

[Vanessa Tilley]

Nessa reached up to the grab on to the wonderful angel who was saving her from this crazy fountain. Nessa stood up slowly and then faced Amy.

"I think so. Thank you so much for your help. I don't believe I have met you before but I'm Vanessa. Everyone just calls me Nessa though." Nessa smiled at the girl and then looked around and all her supplies laying everywhere.

Nessa stepped out of the butterbeer fountain and started picking up all the art supplies. "Looks like the paints are okay thank goodness! Although, I am going to have to go back for more paper." Nessa gathered everything together and got it all back into her bags.

Nessa looked at the girl. "I hope you are having a great time at the Welcome Fair. I better get this stuff back over to the Art Department booth so people can start having some fun and maybe get a little messy. I apparently had to get a jump on that." Nessa laughed as she looked at her wet clothes.

"I hope you stop by the Art booth sometime today and thank you again for your help." Nessa waved at the girl and headed over to the Art Department booth.

"Better drop this off and go change into some new clothes." Nessa thought to herself.

[Rowena Granger]

As I flipped to the next page of A Beginner's' Guide to Transfiguration a burly Hufflepuff shouted "Oi! You there!" I looked up from the book and wandered over to the striped stall. He swept his hand over a variety of pastries and breads and said "Three beans for a half-dozen pastries prepared by the Hufflepuff Head of House." I examined the selection of pizza bagels and asked "A bean for two?" The Hufflepuff responded "Sure." I handed over a bean, and grabbed a couple bagels. Absentmindedly gnawing on a bagel, I shoved my book into a already-stuffed bookbag and scanned the sea of multi-coloured stands. I spotted the dark blue tent with a large stuffed eagle on top. I hustled over to the Ravenclaw tent and threw my bag under the table. My friend Anorak Thornhew look at me and said "Taking your time grabbing the stuff?" I shot him a withering glare and started unloading copies of Hogwarts: A History and some other books onto the table. I waved my wand and a large banner reading "Ravenclaw Bookshop" appeared over the table. My other friend Laura Lestrange started preaching our wares to passer-byes. I sunk down into the plush chair and started attending to the customers as Anorak started summoning the rest of the books out of various bags and pouches.

[Prof. Kendra Givens]

Kendra entered the Welcome Fair earlier than most, being one of the main organizer. She was in awe of the amount of booths that were about to come to life. 'I can't believe we actually pulled this off!' she thought to herself as she jumped up and down and clapped a little bit (hoping nobody saw her...)

The fair got even more exciting as people started setting up their booths and all of the Hogwarts colors started to come to life everywhere. The blend of the colors everywhere felt symbolic of the community that would be coming together today.

Now that a few more of her fellow staff members had arrived and could watch the booth for a bit, she decided it was time to take one last lap around the place to make sure everyone was settled before coming back and meeting all of the new Ravenclaw students! The trick would be to NOT lose track of time while catching up with her friends from other houses.

[Pezzie Wolfe]

Pezzie had been signing up classes and once settled in, found a flyer in the great hall about the welcome activities.

'After lunch,' Pezzie thought to herself, as she finished her breakfast and headed off to class. Pezzie got through her class of the morning, hurried in for a quick lunch and made her way to where the welcome booths were set up. She stopped and looked up at all the colors from all the houses. She smiled as she continued into the area and seeing the houses set up to welcome everyone at Hogwarts.

Pezzie took time to say to friends and also welcome new students. By far this was a really good fair this year, trying to recall previous years. This one was one that would be one of her favorites. She had already been doing puzzles and making herself a name badge. Pezzie was eager to see what more would be in store for the welcome activities.

[Iverian Gnash]

After Nessa fell into the butterbeer fountain, Ivey stood to the side and watched while they replaced it with a new fountain of beautiful liquid. Eating the last morsels of blueberry muffin, she decided to go off exploring a bit. She watched as Nessa proceeded down the rows of brightly colored booths through a crowd of people to where the Art Department had set up. Now that seemed like a lot of fun she thought. Stepping up to the booth, she took in all the many arts and crafts equipment they had. Grabbing a few markers of various colors that one would not think went even remotely together, some paper, and a pair of scissors that cut cool shapes, she got to work.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Tarma grinned as Vanessa went dripping by.

She couldn't do much for any possible 'sticky' of butterbeer (and wondered if they would have to drain the fountain and restock it after someone had fallen in) but she could do something about the wetness of Vanessa's garb.

Muttering a nice, quiet 'drying' spell under her breath, Tarma glanced at Vanessa and smiled as the clothing and shoes and, well, everything, sort of dried. Ooops. The clothing looked a little rumpled and her hair ... Tarma thought that Vanessa's hair didn't usually look quite like that. Well, at least she wasn't dripping!

[Vanessa Tilley]

Nessa was almost at the Art Department Booth when she felt a warm breeze. Nessa looked around for a moment and then realized her clothes were dry! They were a bit rumpled but hey Art is messy so someone just saved me the trouble of starting first.

“Well, someone is looking out for me.” Nessa thought as she continued to look around to see who her angel was. Suddenly, Nessa spotted to Hufflepuff booth and Professor Tarma smiling,

“Thank you so much my good witch!” Nessa said winking at Tarma. When Nessa started to wave to Tarma as she continued to the booth her hand hit her hair. Nessa started laughing as she patted it down.

“Oh, I heard that the wind blown and frizzy look is all the rage now. Saved me a trip to the hair dresser.” Nessa smiled at Tarma.

“If you have some time later, stop by the Art Department booth! I will have something for you then. Something good I promise.”

Nessa finally reached the booth and found Ivey inside.

“Hello Ivey!” Nessa greeted and gave her a hug.

“I am so glad you are here because I need a little help. I fell into a delightful butter beer fountain and as completely soaked. The wonderful Tarma came to my rescue so my clothes are now dried but my hair is a little bit of a disaster. I need help making a headpiece to cover it.” Nessa smiled and dropped the Art supplies she brought on the table.

“What do you say.” Nessa asked as she pulled out some paint.