Returning Home from Abroad

[Cavan Mikal Weiss]

Cavan walked up the trail from HogsMeade with a sigh, a bright yellow muggle messenger bag with black trimming and strap, hung from his right shoulder. His hands were deep in the pockets of a bright teal and black horizontal striped hoodie that fell to mid-thigh. The hoodie lay un-zipped, too warm at the beginning of spring to bundle up, even with the cool breeze, so that a black t-shirt with a menacing figure in white with knives was visible. His head was bowed, watching each step that his hot pink Converse high-tops took through the gravel, enjoying the contrast of colors between his bright shoes and his dark pants. The pants that were designed with a purple and black checkered pattern, fitting his form snugly and just high enough to protect his modesty should he wear a shorter shirt with them and decide to bend over. His hair was loose, curtained around him, keeping his view limited to straight ahead. His sister Midori had insisted she do his hair before he returned, so there was a single braid about an inch around on the left side of his head with a ribbon that matched his shoes wound through it.

As his view of the ground changed from gravel to something more familiar he paused and lifted his head to grin mischievously. After a moment he chuckled to himself, took a deep breath and continued on to the castle he hadn't even realized he thought of as home. He had missed this place, he'd had a wonderful time with his family learning about the Peruvian Vipertooth, but this was his home for six more years and he'd missed it.

He hadn't been stupid when he'd left, having done all his homework and turned it in early with an apology. He'd even taken his notebook and the codex with him to study while away. On top of learning several more languages from the book, he managed to find time to learn some of the local languages of the area his father had taken them. He'd kept an eye out for the many signs he'd learned about in the book D'rorah had lent him about the shadows war. He looked after his family and recruited his oldest younger sister and brother to help him, making it a game. Now he was back, his lexicon completely translated with the ambition to learn more, because he knew there had to be more... and he could prefect the languages he already knew... work on their pronouncement. He's purchased several books while in Peru in languages he didn't know yet, and had taken the incentive to purchase a lexicon of the languages as well. He wondered if D'rorah knew South American languages as well, or if this would be something new for them both.

He laughed at himself and shook his head, he was looking forward to seeing D'rorah again and helping her in whatever she might need. He knew she hadn't owled his mother for more vegetarian premade meals, so he was going to have to reprimand her for that. His role as brother with her came very easily for some reason and he was glad. After all, he'd always wanted an older sibling to look up to, like his youngers did to him.

As he entered the courtyard his grin got wider, the old magic was everywhere and it soothed him. Even knowing that all around there was war hidden in the cracks and especially the shadows, this place drew him in. He wondered absently what his visit to China this summer would be like, if it would be anything like Hogwarts, Texas, home or Peru. There were still a few months away, but the more he learned about language, the more excited he became about learning more, about doing this for the rest of his life.

Through the entrance way, he wondered if he should stop in him dorm first or go straight to the Great Hall, either way he wouldn't be attempting stairs again so soon. Taking a deep breath he leaned against a wall to ponder for a few moments.

(Slight edit, no worries)

[Tommy Bryce]

Tommy yawned as he headed back inside from his Herbology class. That lesson was such a strange mix... sometimes it could be fun, other times... not at all. But the last lesson had been entirely theory, enough to make him want to fall back asleep. At least he didn’t have a lesson next – it was lunch soon. He walked slowly back from the greenhouses, not in any hurry like a few of his other classmates. He paused to glance up at the sky, which was cloudy and looked ominously as though it would start letting rain loose at any moment.

Meandering as he was, it took a few moments to realise who he thought he could see walking into the castle in the distance. Was that... could that be Cavan? He’d been gone for ages, but Tommy didn’t know when he was supposed to be back. The bright colours that made him stand out certainly looked very Cavan-esque. Heading towards the castle at a slightly faster pace, he peered into the entrance hall and grinned to see that it was indeed his Hufflepuff friend.

[red]”Cavan!”[/red] he called, coming closer but dodging to the side slightly to avoid getting in the way of an older student heading outside. [red]”You’re back![/red]

[Cavan Mikal Weiss]

Cavan looked up at the sound of his name, just in time to see his friend Tommy dodging out of an older student's way. He straightened and grinned as the Gryffindor approached, brushing the hair on his right side behind his shoulder, "Yeah, we just got back from Peru this morning. I miss the warmth already. So, how've you been?"

It was obvious now that he had gotten a tan while away, an odd sight now that he was back in Britain. The tan wasn't the only thing different about Cavan. He seemed to have a confidence that he hadn't had before, he seemed comfortable with himself.

[Tommy Bryce]

Tommy was surprised to hear Cavan had only got back this morning, especially considering how far away they'd been. Peru! Assuming they'd apparated rather than go via muggle means, Cavan still must be exhausted from the sudden time difference. [red]"Peru? Wow... that sounds great. What were you doing there?"[/red] Previously, although he'd known Cavan was going away for his family for a while, he hadn't known the exact location - it had been rather a sudden departure without much chance to exchange details. Just a quick explanation and goodbye, and then the Hufflepuff had been gone.

[red]"I'm fine... not much has happened around here. Apparently some Ravenclaw boy is missing, but that's about it,"[/red] he replied. While Tommy was not really a great fan of gossip and rumours, it had been impossible to avoid hearing about it. [red]"I can't remember his name... something Italian, I think... like Alexander."[/red] He didn't know who it was who had gone missing, but Cavan might so he tried to pull up all in information he could think on the off chance they had met.

[red]"Aren't you really tired? With the time difference and that?"[/red] he asked, curious. He didn't look particularly tired... instead he just looked very comfortable being back at Hogwarts. Tommy knew he would miss the place when he went back home, but that was for different reasons.

[Cavan Mikal Weiss]

Cavan crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back against the wall with a grin, "My dad got called over to do some work with Peruvian Vipertooths... he thought it would be a good lesson for everyone, so the whole family went. They're really not the mean as you'd think, as dragon's go."

He frowned as he realized there were people missing, again, and he made a mental note to speak to D'rorah or Dylan about it. Missing people needed to be found asap, this war was damned annoying. "Don't think I know him, but I hope he gets found soon."

"Actually, I've been up for about an hour. We got up around six and had a small snack of a breakfast and then my parents apparated us home. I just flooed to the HogsHead from there. What I am, is hungry, lunch with me?" He stood up straight again, adjusting his messenger bag on his shoulder while he waited for his friend to agree.

[Tommy Bryce]

Tommy was amazed to hear that what Cavan had been studying was dragons... and Vipertooths at that! Their name alone sounded dangerous. He remembered a story his step-mum had told him once, of how a rogue dragon had swept down on an unsuspecting beach of muggles. Supposedly a wizard had been there as well, and had subdued the dragon all on his own! He couldn’t remember the story all too well now, just that it had impressed him very much at the time. Shortly afterwards he’d created a game with his brothers as the dragons and he had been the wizard subduing them. Shane and Nick had always wanted to be the wizard as well, so sometimes there were two wizards and just one dragon. But either way, it had been a great game, and dragons had become somewhat of a fascination for him until he became obsessed with astrology, at which point they had taken a back bench for that.

[red]”Dragons... wow, lucky...”[/red] he murmured aloud. [red]”That must have been great.”[/red] Cavan’s comment about how the Vipertooths weren’t “as mean as you’d think” made him laugh aloud, although it was slightly subdued due to his previous chain of thought. He had been attempting to imagine his own dad taking them all on holiday... or going on holiday at all. He’d never been abroad, and Birmingham to Hogsmeade was the most he’d travelled, when they moved. It was a strange concept to him, everyone going away to a new place together. [red]”You’ve met other dragons?”[/red] he asked incredulously, construing from the comment that Cavan had others to compare their relative meanness to.

[red]”Yeah, I hope so too. Although someone else who’s been in St. Mungo’s is back,”[/red] he added, suddenly remembering what he’d heard the other day. [red]”Dylan, I think. He had a quidditch accident apparently.”[/red]

He nodded eagerly at the thought of lunch, having certainly grown an appetite since leaving home for Hogwarts, and headed towards the Great Hall. Previously he had been used to small amounts of food, but several months at Hogwarts had meant that he was now filling out a bit. He might even have gained some height since starting – one of the first things he had noticed when coming to the school was how short he was compared to everyone else. It was less obvious at home, because Shane and Nick were both short for their age as well and his dad usually looked much taller due to his menacing attitude. But he was an adult – he was supposed to be taller.

[Cavan Mikal Weiss]

"Dragons... wow, lucky... That must have been great."

Cavan chuckled and nodded his head, "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Normally we're only asked to help with the easy stuff, like unicorns, doxy, hippogriff, kelpie and merpeople."

"You've met other dragons?"

He grinned and nodded, "Just one other. When I was younger my dad was asked to help capture a rogue baby Hebridean Black that someone had smuggled into America as an egg. It was eating livestock near our ranch in Texas. It ended up staying with us for a month while we waited for the local wizards to get organized enough to transport it back to it's proper place. She was a very grumpy baby, but so cute." He smiled, remembering how she'd cried out when she was hungry and how distressed she'd been when his father had had to cast a binding spell on her wings the first night. Cavan had bonded with her and when she was finally taken back to her home they'd heard that she'd been sad for a whole week, looking for something or someone every where before she gave up. He'd heard later that bonding with a dragon wasn't something that normally happened. This fact just made him grin even more.

"Yeah, I hope so too. Although someone else who's been in St. Mungo's is back, Dylan, I think. He had a quidditch accident apparently."

He couldn't help looking a little surprised that Dylan had been in St. Mungo's and wondered if it had something to do with the war as opposed to the mostly unbelievable story of a quidditch accident. Now he knew he'd have to speak with D'rorah, and the reasons were just piling up. "It was bad enough to send him to St. Mungo's? I hope he's alright."

He followed after Tommy, looking forward to enjoying a meal in the Great Hall after so much Peruvian food. Everything was so spicy there that it made the heat seem come from inside you as well as the sun itself. He's missed his pumpkin juice and corn beef sandwiches. As they entered the Great Hall, he couldn't help sighing contentedly, no matter that he knew there was a war going on, or that he'd have a decent time catching up with classes in the next week, he knew this was the place he needed to be now.

[Tommy Bryce]

Tommy tried to ignore the slight feelings of jealousy as Cavan spoke about his family life and how they were normally “only asked to help with the easy stuff”. He had never come across the majority of the creatures mentioned so casually, with the exception being doxies who had invaded their house once. That had been particularly painful to clear up – their venom had caused one of his fingers to swell up to almost twice its normal size before Nick had found the antidote. He couldn’t remember where his dad had been on that occasion.

But merpeople and unicorns... he certainly wouldn’t mind an invasion of them in his house. [red]”What’re they all like? The merpeople and unicorns and hippogriffs?”[/red] he asked, naming those he found most interesting. When he reached 3rd year Care of Magical Creatures was one subject he definitely wished to take.

[red]”You had a dragon staying with you?”[/red] he exclaimed in shock, not quite able to believe it and again feeling the jealousy creep up. Why couldn’t he have a family like Cavan’s, that took him on holidays and let him interact with unicorns and let dragons stay in their home? Tommy had never really had a pleasant home life to compare to apart from what it was like before his step-mum died, and even then it hadn’t exactly been an easy life.

[red]”Yeah... I don’t really know much about it. Just that he’s back now, cause loads of people have mentioned it.”[/red] He agreed that Dylan’s injuries must have been very severe to end up in St. Mungo’s, because he had never been there with any of his injuries.

The food in the Great Hall never ceased to impress Tommy and a small smile graced his lips as he sat at the head of the Gryffindor table, making sure there was room for Cavan next to him once his bag was dropped on the floor beneath the table. He reached out for a jam sandwich near him and took a bite out of that, glancing casually up at the ceiling to admire the sky illusion.