Owl post is arriving

[ealhughes]

Week Name/Date/Time: Week 3/Sunday, Sept. 18/8a.m.
Location: Great Hall - breakfast
Open To: Mason, Niamh and anyone else
Currently Involving: Esrielle
(Closed. Moved to Common Room)

Comments

[mason_g]

Mason looked up surprised as an owl landed in front of him. He wasn't expecting any post today, and this caught him quite off guard. The owl left with a hoot, leaving behind a square, thin package. Picking it up, it said, "Mason Gibbs, Great Hall, Hogwarts from Esrielle Hughes, Great Hall, Hogwarts." So Esrielle had gotten him a secret gift, huh? Funny, he had gotten her something too. A very rare goblin made wizards chess set. He scooted over close to her.

"Hey you. You stole my idea!" He said, handing her his gift, which was wrapped in the Ravenclaw colors. "Let's open them at the same time."

[ealhughes]

Esrielle laughed at Mason's comment and then gave a small gasp as he handed her a gift as well. "Wow, I wasn't expecting anything. Okay, let's open them together. On three, 1,2,3..." Esrielle's eyes widened in total surprise when she caught sight of what lay inside the beautifully wrapped gift. "Oh wow! How cool!"

[mason_g]

Mason opened his present right when Es said 3. It was a CD. The one that he had been wanted ever since Fi and Es had mentioned it.

"Oh! Es, I love it. Thanks so much!" He leaned over and gave her a hug. "I can't wait to listen to it!"

[niamh_gannon]

Niamh had her nose in one of her muggle paperback books and was eating her breakfast slowly. She was so engrossed in her book that she was paying almost no attention to anything around her. Suddenly, an owl dropped a small package in front of her, nearly knocking over her goblet of pumpkin juice. "Oh!" she cried, looking up at the clattering sound and reaching for the goblet just in time. She blinked and looked at the package, "Huh?"

She reached slowly for it and glanced around, wondering if perhaps the owl had delievered it to the wrong person. When she saw that it was, in fact, addressed to her, her eyes opened wide, "Me?" she looked at Es and Mason, who were sitting across the table, and stuttered, "I... I, for me? Really?" She could feel her cheeks start to grow warm and was sure they were growing red, too.

[esrielle]

Esrielle returned Mason's hug. She turned to Niamh as she heard her cry.
"Yes, for you. Really!" she said to her friend with a smile.

Turning to Mason, "Do you want to go back to the common room and we can listen to your cd and try out my new chess set? It is so awesome. I love it so much."

[mason_g]

"Oh that would be awsome." Mason was flattered by Esrielle's gift. He loved it so much. "What prompted you to get this for me? Am I that special?" Mason joked, knowing she would see the humor in it.

[niamh_gannon]

"Thank you, Es!" Niamh squeaked. She smiled back at the older girl, her face still red. She unwrapped the cd and admired it, "Wow, this is really neat!"

She noticed that Mason had given Es a gift, too, and suddenly felt nervous and worried, "I... I didn't get you anything. Um, I didn't know. I'm sorry. Um, is it some sort of holiday today?"

[ealhughes]

Esrielle smiled, glad they both liked their cd's. "Yes, Mason. You are special and silly. No Niamh it's not a holiday and I don't need a gift. Mason just had the same idea as I did at the same time." Esrielle quickly pulled the gift wrap from under the new chess set and folded it putting it in her bag. She then showed her gift to Niamh. "Mason knows I have been trying to learn wizard chess and he bought me this set. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?"

She really couldn't believe he had bought it for her. She knew it had to have been expensive and appreciated it all the more knowing Mason appeciated people more than money.

[mason_g]

Mason smiled. Of course he was special and silly, it was his good. He looked over at Niamh and chuckled.He was already really fond of the girl, and of her innocence. Her question about it being a holiday made him smile even more. "Oh, it was no big, Es. Nothing is too good for you." Actually, it was big. Mason's family wasn't exactly rich, and the whole exchange from muggle money to wizards money lost him some cash in the transaction. But like he said, nothing was too good for her.

[niamh_gannon]

Niamh smiled, feeling relief at the news that she hadn't missed something. When Esrielle showed her Mason's gift, Niamh leaned over to study the pieces. She was impressed, "Wow, that's really neat! I've only ever seen my Da's chess set, but those are much better," she paused, a thought striking her, "Is wizard chess different from regular chess? I've never heard of it before."

Being muggleborn was really quite frustrating. It seemed there was always something else that she'd never heard of before, making her feel stupid. But at least there were plenty of friendly students, like Esrielle and Mason, who were willing to answer her seemingly endless questions with lots of patience and kindness.

[ealhughes]

Esrielle giggled with Niahm. "Well, it's the same in the moves but the pieces actually attack each other and fall to pieced. It actually makes it more fun to play. Luckily, they go back together at the end of the game. If you want you can come with us to the common room and we'll listen to your cd too and we can all take turns playing wizard chess."

She knew Mason wouldn't mind her asking Niamh to come as he also remembered how awful first year was.

[mason_g]

Mason listened as Esrielle explained wizards chess to Niamh. Nodding his head, he made a silent vow to teach the first year how to play. Everyone should be able to play wizards chess.

"Yeah! Niamh, why don't you come with us? You can watch, and maybe pick up a few things."

[niamh_gannon]

Niamh grinned, "That's really neat! I used to watch Da and Bradan play chess all the time. I bet seeing the pieces do that makes it a lot more fun, though." She paused to look back and forth between the other two, uncertainty written on her face, "If you're sure you wouldn't mind me coming along, I'd really like to see a game," she looked down, blushing, "But really, if you'd rather be alone, it's okay."

She felt a little guilty, knowing that there was something between the two third years, but she thought they considered her a friend, so she hoped they wouldn't mind. Besides, this new version of chess sounded fascinating. She wanted to learn about it so she could use it against her brother and father when she got home.

[ealhughes]

"Ok, grab some juice and let's go." Esrielle quickly stood up and moved to leave the Great Hall.

((Will start the new thread in the Common Room)).