No the other one. (Irina.)

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Getting out of the castle was the best decision Daniel had made all day it felt like. Every turn in the castle was just another hassle. Either it was people or the castle it's self just causing a headache but out here on the grounds of the school it seemed so much nicer for the moment as he walked around the black lake. He couldn't swim they made that clear and he had no intention of swimming in it, at least at this point in his life. On top of everything people listed that was in there he was sure it probably only got worse from there. Still it was nice to be around the lake, his old school didn't have a lake and he hadn't spent much time around water large bodies of water in his life either.

It was a nice change of pace and something about the clear day and the lake just seemed peaceful enough that he didn't totally hate this moment right now at this school. He wouldn't have said that out loud of course as he was still bitter at this situation. Skipping a few rocks along the way just to do something besides just walking. It was possible if his whole day had been this calm he would have called it a good day, almost great for a day at Hogwarts at least in his eyes. Coming up to a lone tree near the waters edge Daniel made sure it wasn't some other little known willow that attacked people.

Feeling he was safe enough he took a seat under it and relaxed with a quick laugh. "What school has a tree that tries to kill its students?" Daniel asked out loud as a lot of things at Hogwarts didn't make much sense to him. Still maybe his old school would have seemed crazy to the people of Hogwarts. Closing his eyes and enjoying the breeze that followed he honestly could have fallen a sleep right now.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina had been tree climbing; for anyone who knew her well enough, it was an almost obvious place for her to be. It was where she did her best thinking, about her life, her family, and where life was taking her next. A few months ago, she spent most of her time entwined with a boyfriend, and after Dan had left to go back to Durmstrang, Irina fell into somewhat of a rut. It was almost as if she believed he’d come back someday, but now it was March and with the changing of the seasons, the reality finally hit her square on the head. Dan wasn’t coming back, and she had to accept it and move on with her life. It was no use dwelling and moping on the past when she was just seventeen and had an entire life ahead of her. Besides, she knew she was going to find out next week on whether or not she’d been accepted into the Cursebreaking program, and she had no idea where in the world that job would take her. So she’d focus on her career for now; that was normal, she didn’t need to have a boyfriend in her life to be happy after all.

Irina climbed down from one of the trees and landed lightly on her feet. It was still a nice day out, but up in the tree tops the breeze had given her a bit of a chill. As she walked towards the lake, she caught a glimpse of the Whomping Willow out of the corner of her eye and smiled a little bit. It would be a fun tree to climb if it didn’t want to kill everyone who came near it. As if someone had read her thoughts, she heard someone say aloud how he didn’t understand why that willow tree existed. Irina glanced over and saw a boy who looked vaguely familiar; she knew she’d seen him in the Gryffindor Common Room, but he seemed to have just materialized out of nowhere. Realizing he wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, Irina spoke up. “It makes life more interesting,” she responded, taking a few steps closer to the boy. “You’re rather new here, aren’t you?” she asked him inquisitively.

@crimson1

[Deleted]

Everything was relatively quiet besides the breeze and the sound of the lake making waves occasionally. Which is why Daniel jumped slightly as he heard a voice speaking to him. He hadn't opened his eyes just yet and for a second debating on the chances it was the tree that he was under speaking. It was a silly thought and as he finally looked around he found a girl with black hair standing there. She looked familiar but he couldn't place her right away aside from seeing her in the common room a few times. "Yes, nothing says interesting like getting beat by a tree limb." Daniel's replied to the girls comment about the whomping willow was filled with sarcasm but that was just how it was. Especially after her just appearing out of no where and making him jump a little.

Her next question was something he was used to. You didn't just show up somewhere and not get asked if you were new by everyone you ran into. Plenty of times he had been a jerk and just let the person think they just hadn't noticed him and that his feelings were hurt, at least till he told them the truth. The idea of doing the same crossed Daniel's mind but decided against it this time. "Yeah I just started at Hogwarts this year, even without the tree it's been... interesting. Names Daniel." Interesting was one way to put it as Daniel introduced himself as well.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina’s lips quirked slightly upwards in a smile; she could appreciate sarcasm, as she tended to use it frequently in situations like this one. “It’s avoiding getting beaten by the tree branch that makes it interesting,” she pointed out, letting out a short giggle. Typically getting too close to the Whomping Willow was expressly forbidden by the students at Hogwarts, but that never really stopped some of the more daring students from still trying. Probably not the smartest idea some of them have had, but typically if they were injured by the Willow, their injuries were minor and easily excused as being from something else. Irina had a sneaking suspicion that Madam Blacksmith knew where the injuries were from regardless, but she hadn’t said anything to the contrary at least.

Irina had been correct; he was new there, which was likely why she didn’t know him already. When he said his name though, she couldn’t help but do a bit of a doubletake. Daniel, a transplant from a different school to Hogwarts? Of course the person she runs into on the grounds is named Daniel - the irony to her was astounding. Still, it was not exactly a topic of conversation she wanted to bring up to a stranger, so instead she just smiled. “Well, welcome Daniel,” the name felt funny coming out of her mouth. “Were you at Ilvermorny before, or homeschooled?” she asked curiously. She could tell his accent was clearly from the United States, but she didn’t think Ilvermorny forced every witch and wizard to attend school.

@crimson1

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Daniel laughed slightly as the girl explained where the interesting part was with the whomping willow. If he was back home or in a better mood than he normally was he might have been one of those people testing the tree and trying to avoid it but the way he was now, he just found it silly to risk it. Still maybe it was because giving this place the satisfaction of having something worth trying wasn't something he wanted right now. He hardly knew how he felt about this school half the time, he went from hating it cause he was here to being impressed. "I guess I can see something to that, still I don't like splinters much. I can only imagine what a tree limb will do." Daniel explained to the girl near him.

If this had been the first time someone had randomly brought up the American magic school he might have been a little surprised but at this point he was well aware just how much his accent stuck out. He was also used to the European accents at this point that they just sounded normal to him but Daniel was still obviously out of place. "No, I was in Ilvermorny for five years till I ended up here." Daniel explained as home school wasn't something he had been asked yet but it's always a possibility he assumed. Still he would never personally want to be home schooled with how his home actually was.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

“A lot worse than splinters I can assure you,” Irina said with a laugh. She had not been stupid enough to try and get close to the Whomping Willow on a dare, but she had witnessed a few more brave souls than she attempt to touch the knot in the middle. For the most part, those students ended up in the hospital wing being patched up by the school nurse. “I suppose people think it’s a sign of bravery to be able to get up close and personal with it, but if I’m honest I think it’s foolish,” she admitted with a small shrug. She didn’t really know the boy, and wasn’t sure if he would appreciate her bluntness, but from her interactions with Americans, they didn’t seem to mind blunt words all too much.

Irina nodded at Daniels’ comment saying he was from Ilvermorny. “Interesting; I’d love to hike up the mountain it’s rumored to be located on,” she replied. Of course, half of it was to explore a wizarding school that wasn’t Hogwarts but the other half desired the reward of seeing the gates of Ilvermorny after a vigorous hike. “You guys have a sort of Sorting ceremony too don’t you? What house were you?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. She sort of wanted to know, since Daniel was a Gryffindor, what house the American school had put him in.

@crimson1

[Deleted]

With a slight laugh Daniel listened as the girl said it would be worse than splinters if a person got hit by the willow. "I would hope so or else everyone would be messing with the tree." Daniel said in a slightly sarcastic tone. He hadn't heard of anyone dying from it so either people got lucky or the tree wasn't able to outright kill a person. He'd imagine a tree limb would kill if the tree wanted too. She brought up that it was a sign of bravery to try and get closer to the tree and Daniel laughed again. "Maybe if there was something to get out of but yeah, just saying you got close to the tree isn't worth the bragging points. Especially if you risk taking a tree limb to the face for no good reason." Daniel said while not even being able to come up with a good reason in his head for it.

"It's definitely on a mountain, it'd also be quite a hike. Normally students go up by Carriage though so I never really hiked it." Daniel never thought about hiking it, he enjoyed being outside but it was never something that crossed his mind while he was at the school. Probably because he enjoyed the ride with his friends to and from the school more than anything. The girl asked about if they had a way to get sorted into houses and he smiled a little. It was nice to see someone interested in his school. "Yeah just like Hogwarts, expect we don't use a talking hat. You stand in the middle of four statues, one for each house and they pick you or not. Sometimes two statues will chose you maybe even more. Depends on who you are I suppose." Daniel explained as it was a sign to some people if two or more houses chose them. "I was in Thunderbird back home."



Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina inclined her head in agreement. “I believe it was more of a game when it was first planted in the seventies, before people realized what the tree was capable of,” she said, then pointed towards the center of the tree. “Rumor has it you press that knot in the center of the tree, it’ll freeze. People have tried of course, but lately the Willow has been fiercely protective.” Irina shrugged, then chuckled. “Perhaps it’s getting a bit crotchety as it ages.” As far as trees went, the Willow was relatively young, but she still found her joke amusing.

“Two houses can pick you?” Irina’s eyes widened. She knew the hat had debated putting her in Ravenclaw, but out loud only had shouted Gryffindor. She tried to picture standing in the room with the four statues, and two of them choosing her at once. She knew that the American form of Government had always been all about freedom of choices, so she supposed it was only fitting that Ilvermorny gave their students that too. “What was it like, Ilvermorny? I mean, I’ve read about the schools’ history of course, but obviously I haven’t been there,” she asked curiously, then cleared her throat. “I do apologize, I don’t mean to bog you down with questions. You don’t have to speak about it if you don’t want,” she added quickly. She had no idea why this Daniel had left Ilvermorny, and whether it had been willingly or not. He may not want to talk about the past.

@crimson1

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Daniel laughed a little as the girl proceeded to to explain about some of the history of the tree. He could see it being a game when it was little and probably not as big and maybe a little now but just doing it just to say he had touched the tree and not get hit with a limb was still silly to him. Even if there was a spot that would make it freeze. With another laugh he nodded while she said it was getting more protective and probably crotchety in its old age. "Well anyone would probably get pretty grumpy and tired if students kept trying to poke them as well." He wasn't sure how sentient the tree was, if it had memories or just moved on instinct instead. "Darn kids running around on its lawn."

A smallest of smiles crept of his face, not many were that interested in his old school. Sure there was the usual question of what was it like but not many wanted more detailslike this girl had. He couldn't blame those other people though, if he was back home it would probably be all he asked of Hogwarts. "Well actually all four houses could pick someone but that's very rare. Every few decades it's been known to happen from what I've heard." Daniel explained, never having seen it happen himself. He didn't mind the girl asking questions, gave him another reason to think a back of home so as she followed her question with an apology he just shook his head. "No reason to apologize, it's nice to think back and all."

"It's a lot like Hogwarts, large castle with class rooms all over the floors. No moving stairs though, I miss that." He paused to laugh for a moment as he thought that anytime the stairs moved on him. "We also had cups for pretty much everything not just house and Quidditch. Almost every subject had some kind of tournament you could sign up for each year." Daniel enjoyed the chance to reminisce about home, even if he only had ever focused on the Quidditch cup. "Not to say Hogwarts isn't great or anything. It's just.. not home I suppose." Daniel added, missing home a little more as he spoke of it as well even if it was nice.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina burst out with a short laugh at Daniel's impression of an old man tree, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sure that's exactly what the tree sounds like too," she said, her voice slightly muffled by her hand.  She lowered it back to her side as he explained that all four of the statues could pick a person once, and how rare it was.  "Wow, I thought that hatstalls were the most indecisive a Sorting could get," she admitted, intrigued.  She liked the idea of beingable to choose ones' house, though she knew if she could choose her house she'd still choose Gryffindor.  She had wondered what it'd be like in Ravenclaw, or even Slytherin, to be different from the rest of her siblings.  Gryffindor however, was her to the core, and now she wouldn't change it for anything.  "It must be hard, moving to a new school in the middle of your schooling," she said with some empathy.  Both of her parents had gone to Durmstrang, but, due to the schools formerly bad reputation, they hadn't been too keen to send their own children there.  Viktor especially had been adament about them going elsewhere.

Irina laughed at the moving staircase comment; she had had seven years to get used to them but she did have memories of ending up on the fifth floor instead of the first during her first year.  "You get used to them, which I'm sure everyone has told you.  It's true though; the trick staircases especially, but that's mostly because if you don't they'll grab you every time," she told him.  Luckily, she had never had to experience that particular staircase.  "So what electives did you end up choosing?  Were any of them new to you?" she asked, wanting to know more about the differences between Ilvermorny and Hogwarts.

@crimson1

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He just smiled a little as the girl laughed finding his impression of the tree as an old grumpy man funny. It was a funny idea and he found a lot of people got crotchety in their old age or possibly that was because most of the old people he knew were the older professors back at Ilvermorny. Daniel couldn't blame them he supposed having to deal with students for most of a year. "Well we can just be glad it only tries to swing its limbs at people and doesn't yell all day and night about students if that's the case." Daniel would be thankful of that, depending on how angry and loud it was they might have heard it from the lake if the tree could complain. Daniel laughed a little as she brought up the sorting hat and how it could stall for a little bit. "Yeah the hat can certainly be quicker, people have been known to stand there for minutes weighting their choices between the two statues. For me the hat just yelled out Gryffindor before complaining that my head was bigger than the usual first years he got." At the time Daniel took it as an insult but it was true when he thought about it, the hat was probably used to younger people.

"It's not as fun as one would imagine," Daniel said sarcastically. Of course leaving a school you'd been at for five years to a new strange land where you don't know a person. No it wasn't a pleasant experience, possibly if he willingly came to Europe he might have adjusted sooner. She responded to his comment about the stairs and he nodded agreeing as well. "Yeah I'm getting there be every so often I forgot they move and it's usually when I'm in the middle of going down it." Daniel would always dislike these stairs he was sure of it, the only redeeming thing about them was watching other people get stuck on them when it wasn't him. "The classes were mostly the same honestly I was a little surprised there. I don't know what I was expecting but I figured something crazy would be on the class list. Ilvermorny does start wandless magic a little sooner than seventh year though." That was something he did find odd tell he thought of it a bit more. "I'd assume because the Native Americans didn't use wands for a long time. At least till more European wizards and witches came over with them."

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina chuckled at the Hat comment. “You weren’t Sorted along with the first years, were you? I feel like I’d remember seeing a sixteen year old in a crowd of eleven year olds, if only due to the height differential.” It would have made Daniel stick out like a sore thumb, to be in that queue, so she wouldn’t be surprised if Professor Longbottom had made the executive decision to Sort him privately. She realized with a start that she had no idea how the old Headmaster was doing; she’d seen Phil plenty of times since Neville had been hospitalized, but hadn’t thought to ask him. She felt immediately guilty; Phil was a good friend to her, so she made a mental note to herself to check in with him when she saw him next. Andromeda would likely be with him, which was fine, but she knew that the girl hadn’t been well herself; she didn’t want to disturb them either. “The hat for me shouted out Gryffindor in about thirty seconds; for a moment it debated putting me in Slytherin though. Probably because I was stubbornly ambitious about not wanting to play Quidditch,” Irina admitted, shrugging lightly. She hadn’t told that many people that the Hat had, albeit briefly, considered placing her in a house other than Gryffindor; she just didn’t see why it was necessary to spread that around.

Irina nodded, looking sympathetic. “My brother would get vertigo sometimes; he claims he never did but there was a time we were walking down the stairs and they started moving, and he definitely looked green,” she told him, sounding a bit smug that she had been right about her brother. “Really? When do they start Wandless Magic then? It’s a pretty difficult branch of magic; I know I’m having trouble with it,” she asked, though his explanation as to why they started it earlier made sense.

@crimson1

[Deleted]

Daniel laughed slightly as the girl asked him how he was sorted. "Oh no, that would seem a little ridiculous. They had a quick private one, I suppose so I'd know where to sit while the first years did their sorting. The hat just isn't used to transfer students I guess." Come to think of it he couldn't remember any transfers happening at Ilvermorny when he was there either. Possibly more parents just had the decency to allow their kids to finish school where they started unlike his father. Daniel listened and it felt a little weird that she might have been placed into another house just because she was so determined to not play Quidditch. In fact the idea of not wanting to play was a little silly to him, he loved the game. Still everyone was different and they had a right to it. "Family of Quidditch players expecting you to play as well?" Daniel asked a little curious as that was the best reason he could think someone wouldn't want to play.

"Yeah, that sounds terrible." Daniel said even if he did laugh slightly, he was lucky enough that the stairs just annoyed him and didn't make him sick. She asked more about wandless magic and he was looking forward to learning it even if it was difficult. "Depends, if it's part of your tradition like the Native American tribes or you're doing very well in all of your classes you can start in fifth year, if not then it's open to all sixth years." He would have been in those classes now if he was still home. "Like you said it's very difficult so if you take it early or in sixth year and you don't get it down pat by then, you can keep taking the class in seventh year till you do." It might have sounded a little weird but that's just how Ilvermorny did it. He assumed every school must have done something different.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina chuckled wryly and inclined her head. “You guessed it. Both parents played Quidditch; my mum was a Chaser for the German International team, but she wasn’t quite as well known as the infamous Viktor Krum. She stopped playing after I was born and she got pregnant with my sister Nevena. She figured she could play with two little ones, but with a third on the way it was too much,” she explained. Her father needed no explanation of course; everyone knew Viktor Krum had played until the early 2010s before retiring, only to return for one final shot at the Quidditch World Cup back in 2014. Bulgaria had been triumphant over Brazil, and Irina could remember screaming in her ecstatic delight along with her mother and siblings over the victory. She had never seen her dad show so many emotions at one time, though he did assure them all he cried when each of his children were born. “Don’t get me wrong, I love watching the sport and cheering on my friends during the house cup games. But...I get too competitive, to a point where it gets ugly,” Irina shook her head, smiling a little. “Sorry, a lot to unload. But long story short, love to watch hate to play, mother thinks I should do both,” she summarized with a little shrug.

Irina nodded, listening as Daniel explained how American witches and wizards learned Wandless Magic. It was fascinating to her, the different ways of schooling. She hoped that if she got into the Cursebreaking program, her travels would take her to another wizarding school so she could get a glimpse of their educational programs. Her interview with Karen had been nerve-wracking, but she thought it had gone as well as it could have. She’d find out in another week or so. Not wanting to think about the impending results, Irina rolled her shoulders to ease the knot out of them. “So how good at wandless magic are you then?” she asked him.

@crimson1

[Deleted]

Daniel nodded a little surprised he was actually right. It was the only reason he could think that someone didn't want to play so adamantly is if their family was trying to force the person. The name she spoke also surprised him, he'd heard of Viktor Krum before. He'd been a pretty big deal when Daniel was first getting interested in Quidditch when he was much younger around time of the 2014 World Cup. "I can see why you get so much pressure, both parents wanting you to follow in the family business so to speak." Daniel couldn't really sympathize with that feeling though, he had his father but he was as far from encouraging or pressuring him to do anything than you could get. The man rather have pretended he didn't exist than push Daniel toward something in life. "No need to apologize, just tell your family your happier cheering them on to victory than crushing them in defeat." While it did sound like a pain in her case he couldn't help but wish he had a family like that for a moment while to talked with the girl.

She asked how good he was with wandless magic and Daniel laughed for a moment. "Oh no I'm rubbish at it." It wasn't till Daniel finished speaking did he realize he said rubbish. Slowly he found himself using more European words for things, it couldn't be helped when he heard them more and more often. Still it always came as a surprise when it just came out naturally without him thinking about it. "I mean my grades were alright in my fourth year but not to the point where I could take wandless magic in my fifth year and now I'm here so I never took any official classes yet. I've tried practicing it in my free time." Still it didn't mean he wasn't looking forward to the classes next year. "I can summon my wand or something small if it's nearby but that's about it."

Irina Rose Krum