Dazed and Confused. (Nora, Madeleine, Landon .)

[Deleted]

While some students could always be found in the common room, library or Quidditch pitch. Jacob had made his home in the kitchen of Hogwarts, much like he had back in Ilvermorny. He just felt comfortable in a kitchen surrounded by ingredients and cooking supplies than a common room full of strangers. Sure many people he had known were sorted into Hufflepuff like he had been but that didn’t change he just didn’t feel comfortable there. He was willing to give this transfer to Hogwarts a chance but putting it into practice wasn’t turning out like he had planned. Part of him wanted to imagine this would be his chance to be a different person. Less nervous and shy, more outgoing and brave but that wasn’t happening. Instead he was back in the kitchens happy to be in his own world of cooking.

Just like back home the elves seemed to protest him being there attempting to cook. The elves back at Ilvermorny had gotten used to Jacob over the years but these were all knew creatures to him. They didn’t know him and they didn’t like him just working in their kitchen. Jacob attempted to stay out of their way the best he could though. The house elves were too kind or scared by their own nature to outright say anything to him about being in the way or just being there. Still a few of the elves made it obvious to Jacob. They would quickly take the things he was using and clean them before Jacob was done or start wiping off whatever counter Jacob was using when he turned his back for a moment.

Today was such day after dinner and just before curfew where he was attempting to just bake some cookies while the house elves insisted on moving everything he touched. “Guys, please?” He asked mostly to himself while they kept just walking around him. One had just taken his egg beater from him while he was looking away. “No, I need that.” Jacob explained getting a little annoyed for a second. The house elf seemed surprised and gave it back to Jacob. He would have considered this an honest mistake if it hadn’t happened twice already.

It didn’t help that he was following a slightly different recipe than normal. Some of his fellow Hufflepuffs suggested it to him. They also gave him some spice or something. He was normally iffy on stuff like this but it didn’t smell half bad. Among the people that suggest this to him were Ilvermorny students he knew and trusted. If anything it might taste different and he would possibly like it or not. Mixing everything together was again a chore, he couldn’t look away one second before something went missing. “Serious.. guys, I’d be out of here faster if you stopped this.” Jacob attempted to explain but none of them seemed interested in what he as saying.

Finally everything was in the oven and cooking, it wouldn’t be long now. Jacob swore to himself that he couldn’t remember the house elves back home being this much of a pain when he first came to the kitchens. The house elves here were more passive aggressive than he would have ever thought. Jacob took a break while everything baked and sat down in a stool, it wasn’t that comfortable as it was made for a house elf. Around that time he heard the door to the kitchen open and wasn’t sure what to expect as he nervously looked to why it was opening.

@nora
@madeleine
@landon

[Deleted]

@jacob & @nora & @landon

Living underground took some getting used to. The common rooms and dorms were cozy enough, but they were a longshot from the extravagant apartments that Beauxbatons had set them up with over the years. Having one or two roommates wouldn’t have been so bad if they were actually interesting, and yet Hogwarts thought it was a good idea to stick a whole group into one room. The somewhat cramped living space was vastly different from her room at home and it even made Beauxbatons look higher class than it already was. The most time she spent in the dorm room was when she was sleeping. No studying was done in there, and if someone wanted to talk they could do so with her out in the common room. On the topic of the common room, they seriously needed to reupholster all of the furniture in there. Even with the house elves cleaning them nonstop, it was quite apparent that the couches were wore down with god knows how many years of abuse from students. Wandering through the common room in the early morning told her enough.

When the couches weren’t being used for extracurricular activities, they were crowded with students, and that was how tonight was shaping up. Everyone seemed to be there, deciding not to tempt fate with the curfew only minutes away. At one point, someone mentioned grabbing food from the kitchen, and she threw her hand in the air as a volunteer. She needed to get more brownie points with these people. Build up her reputation quickly so that she could start throwing her weight around. That and it was a good enough reason for Madeleine to slip out and into the dungeons and escape the noise for a few minutes. Being social was fun, but even she had a limit to it, and the Hufflepuffs were starting to hit those marks. In the time it would take her to get to the kitchen, have the house elves prepare whatever food they could, and then get back (assuming she was free of delays along the way), most of the younger students would be off to bed, the volume and stuffiness decreasing drastically.

The kitchens weren’t far away, having been there previously. For some odd reason, not everyone was keen on going in and talking to the house elves. Maddie tended to like it because she could order them around and they wouldn’t protest at all. They liked it, the little, fleshy masochists. Bringing the pretty girl food was probably the highlight of their week. Pushing open the door to the kitchens indicated that they were on the top of their game, with one of the female ones immediately grabbing her hand and leading her towards a counter near the back of the kitchen. Where there was already another student.

She stopped walking, her finger slipping out of the house elf’s hand as she did so, eyebrows raising in curiosity. This was the first time she had seen someone else down here, and it looked like he was making something. “Making something?” she spoke clearly and loud enough to be heard over the clinking of pots and pans being washed in a nearby sink. The guy looked quite serious with what he was doing, his tools and ingredients laid out expertly (she knew this from experience, watching the family chef prep meals every so often). “Mind if I watch?” Maddie asked as she moved closer, pulling out a stool of her own to sit on. “I’m Madeleine. Or Maddie. Either is fine. You look familiar. Are you in Hufflepuff?” On closer observation, he definitely seemed to have a familiar looking face, though from where she wasn’t sure. Most people’s names she brushed off, especially if they didn’t have anything that could benefit her in the long run.

[Deleted]

The evening had been long and close to chaotic. After wolfing down a small dinner, Landon was out on the Quidditch field, charming balls to come at him best he could. He wanted to become a well rounded player, but he was much more offensive than he was defensive. He only saved fourteen of fifteen goals, and those had been mostly direct as Landon couldn't figure out a charm to make them curve sort of like it would when someone actually kicked the goal. To make himself feel better, he practiced head shots and dribbling, finishing the evening off with a few laps around the pitch with the ball.

As he stretched, Landon mulled over his chances. It would be much better if he could be in the youth league already, but his father insisted that he stay in school until he was of age. And since that was 17 in the wizarding world, Landon would be free to pursue whatever he desired. And some scouts had already shown interest him at his camps. He just had to keep practising and become the best forward he could possibly be. He shoved down the tall socks to give his legs some breathing space and inhaled deeply. Hunger gnawed at his insides. Taking a long swig of water, Landon set off back to the castle, flecks of mud spattered across his kit and football tucked neatly under his arm. It was a shame Ana hadn't been able to join him tonight.

Landon's stomach grumbled once more as he reached the front steps of the castle. Curfew wasn't long off, and most of the castle was nestled away in their respective dormitories. Landon decided that a quick pit stop in the kitchen would do nicely, he could say hello to the elves and feed his tired body. Wiping sweat from his brow, Landon tickled the pear and wrenched the door open. His jaw dropped in surprise when he found two others already in the kitchens. He'd never seen anyone else here, apart from the elves. After a moment, Landon realised he recognised both of them. Two Hufflepuff transfers, one female and one male. Jacob was in his year and they shared a dormitory. The other, he didn't know as well, he thought her name was Madison or something. She was very pretty. "Something smells good," he said, his keen nose picking up on the smell wafting from the oven. "You two alright?" he added in a would be casual voice if he wasn't so worried about looking like a bit of a prick.

tag: @jacob @madeleine @nora

[Deleted]

Nora and Steve had taken to splitting up in order to explore the Hogwarts castle and the mysteries it held, not to mention finding convenient dark corners here and there for various personal meetings. They attended class together, split up for the evenings, and had late night talks about what they had found while out and about. It was a very efficient system, and the Kolstad twins didn't spare any details.

Tonight Nora was following her nose, as a delicious smell was wafting from the basement as she descended the stairs. Her curiosity was peaked -- what would the House Elves be cooking right now, and why? She wasn't aware of any special event happening... when she reached the kitchens painting, she saw a boy go in ahead of her. She waited a moment and then caught the door before it closed, following inside. Well, it was quite a party in there. Plenty of elves and three students - oh, cookie boy. Now it all made sense. She grinned, then stepped back to lean against the wall, not speaking just yet. She kept her eyes on Jacob wiggling her eyebrows at him, waiting for him to notice.

@jacob
@madeleine
@landon

[Deleted]

While the door began to open he could only imagine it being a professor or someone of authority here to kick him out. Jacob wasn’t even sure the students were allowed in the kitchens of Hogwarts. Ilvermorny didn’t have a problem with it and if Hogwarts rules were different the elves wouldn’t have told him. That would be just his luck, kicked out while things were baking and worse unable to return. Instead it wasn’t an adult or just another house elf but a pretty blonde girl being led by a house elf. Better than a professor but he possibly would have taken the house elf by itself at this moment. The girl stopped being guided as she looked around the kitchen and found him, asking if he was making something. “Oh um, I- I was just making some cookies.” He stammered his words for a moment, just proof he never would be a cool guy in this new land. He couldn’t even talk to attractive girls without getting nervous and looking like a fool, how could he hope to have been cool. The girl asked if she could watch as she moved closer toward him and grabbed her own stool. “Yeah sure. They are just baking at the moment so there isn’t much to watch but you’re welcome to join.” Jacob explained as he wasn’t about to be rude to someone and as much as he would like to own a kitchen like this one day he didn’t exactly own this one.

The girl introduced herself giving him two choices on what you call her before saying he looked familiar. “Y-yeah I’m in Hufflepuff I guess. I’m actually from Ilvermorny so I’m still getting used to the new houses. I’m Jacob o-or Jake, I suppose both work.” Jacob fought his way through another word and each time it happened he hated how nervous he got. He was just about to ask if she was a Hufflepuff also till Jacob heard another voice, he must have been so focused on the blonde that he didn’t hear the door open once more. Still not a professor or a house elf but another student, at least this one was a familiar boy. Jacob shared a dorm and classes with him but never got his name. “We’re just.. I mean I was just baking some cookies. She said she wanted to watch. So I guess we’re alright?” The question of if they were alright or not was a bit confusing to him or maybe he was just too nervous to get it. Was something going on he wasn’t aware of which is why something wouldn’t be alright.

Two people out of nowhere and now he was just equal parts confused and nervous. Where did everyone come from, the few times he came to the kitchen so far and he hadn’t met many people besides once or twice for a quick snack. Now there was two as he looked back to Maddie and then the boy, yet now there was someone behind the boy just by the door and it almost frightened him. He wasn’t expecting another face to be there. After the initial shock of another new person he realized it was a familiar face, which wasn’t going to help how nervous he was feeling as the number of pretty girls here just doubled. “H-hey Nora,” Jacob got out with a smile, he had met Nora a couple of times and they had a blind date also. It was fun even if he was as nervous as always after that he only saw her a couple times in the halls or great hall but didn’t get a chance to talk to her much. “It looks like we’re having a cooking party I suppose.” He got out with a mildly nervous laugh as he looked at the three other people in the room.

“I really should have made more cookies.” So far that was the only thing he said that didn’t have a mildly nervous tone about it, possibly because he was speaking to himself. He still could make more he supposed, he had everything he needed but would it be rude to cook right now? He concluded it probably would be and held off for now.

@nora
@madeleine
@landon

[Deleted]

@jacob & @nora & @landon

Cookies? Had she heard that right? That would make sense, because she could smell something faintly sweet in the air, though she had assumed that was how the kitchens always smelled. The amount of food prepared in here was astounding, so the full on nasal assault every time she walked by or entered it typically masked anything specific. With Jacob or Jake’s stammered responses though, it made sense that he was baking cookies, especially accompanied by the smell and the ingredients he had out on the table. Madeleine wasn’t sure if he was nervous because she was watching him cook, or because she had caught him off guard. Regardless, she was here to stay until she was either removed from the kitchens by an authority figure, the house elves, or the cookies were finished and she had eaten a few of them. And her eating them was non-negotiable.

Jake or Jacob said he was also in Hufflepuff, but a new transfer from Ilvermorny, and she clapped her hands together in excitement. "I knew I had seen you in the common room before! I transferred from Beauxbatons this year, so I get it. What house were you in at Ilvermorny? My mom went there. I think she was a Thundereagle or something like that?” Maddie knew it was Thunderbird, but playing slightly stupid was going to help the boy get over his jitters. Give him some authority on the subject. It would make their forthcoming conversations much easier. “Well nice to meet you finally Jacob or Jake,” she smiled, head snapping around immediately when she heard a new voice behind her. If there was any more worry laced in the second boy’s words, she would have assumed it was a deep voiced house elf. He asked if they were alright, and Jake answered him that he guessed they were. What kind of weak response was that? “How about you?” she asked, directing it at the newcomer, a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.

Two people with a gaggle of house elves was already enough for the space they were in – having an extra body was going to make it crowded and harder to tease Jacob. And be less cookies for her. Maddie was prepared to try and shoo the new boy out to the best of her ability when Jake spoke up again, this time talking to someone named Nora. She followed his eye-line to yet another person that had entered, a girl taking up position on the back wall. Rolling her eyes, Maddie spun back around on her stool and slouched over the counter space in front of her, hands supporting her head as she cupped her face in them. Whatever. All she wanted were some cookies and whatever the house elves could spare her for the people back in the common room. What the other three did wasn’t going to matter to her once she left.

[Deleted]

Landon blinked, confusion etched on his features as he didn't receive the standard 'yeah you? response. Then he realised that American's didn't actually greet each other in that manner, and they thought he was actually asking how they were. He grinned at the pair of them, not noticing at all the air of annoyance that the pretty blond girl was giving off. Landon had long ago decided that Jake was alright (in the usual sense), but he'd had no clue that he could make something so tantalising smelling. "I'm Landon. Are you... Madison?" asked Landon of the less familiar female. They were shortly joined by a second girl, and this one Landon didn't know at all. He directed his infectious grin at her anyways.

"Well, this is the kitchens, we can always make more if we need to," said Landon kindly. "And you have plenty of hands to help you. Human and elf!" he added brightly. He was quite hungry as it was, and wasn't sure if he could last until the cookies came out. Best to tide himself over with something in the meantime. Turning to the nearest elf, he quietly asked if there was any leftover roast potatoes from dinner, which thankfully their was. Spearing one on a fork he shoved it in his mouth before turning back to the small group.

"So, Jake. How did you convince the elves to let you use their kitchen n such?" asked Landon through a mouthful of potatoes. He was a hungry growing boy.

tag: @nora @madeleine @jacob
ooc: HEY WE BACK

[Deleted]

Nora smiled when Jacob greeted her, slight stutter and all. "Jacob," she said with a nod, pushing off the door and starting to move toward the group. He said they were having a cookie party and she nodded again, pursing her lips a little as if impressed, looking about the kitchen.

The other boy in the room grinned at her and Nora grinned back, giving him a small wave of her hand. Wow, that was a rather catching smile, wasn't it? The girl on the other hand did not seem to thrilled about more company. Nora moved toward her, taking up the stool beside her and getting comfortable. The boy suggested that they could make more cookies, since they were in the kitchens and all, and Nora pointed at him and nodded, "smart. Very smart," she commented.

Nora laughed a little as the boy spoke through his potatoes, and then turned her attention to the girl next to her, "I'm Nora," she greeted with another short nod, "I'm assuming the smell of cookies drew you in too?"

@jacob
@madeleine
@landon

[Deleted]

The girl explained that she was also a new transfer from a different school, Beauxbaton. Jacob knew he had heard of the school before, it was another one of the European magical schools. That’s about as much as he knew though, he had done enough research into Hogwarts before coming here and he didn’t look up the othe schools nearby. She explained that she knew of Ilvermorny as her mom had gone there before. She was a little off on the house name but he couldn’t blame her, it was close enough after all. “It’s thunderbird but close enough,” Jacob said with a small laugh, almost a normal laugh this time. “Still you’re family must be from all over I suppose, that sounds interesting.” Or it just sounded like it so him, his family had mostly stuck around New York and Ilvermorny as far as he knew. His grandparents did some traveling he knew but his grandmother never really talked about it much. He could only imagine it just reminded her of her husband too much.

“It’s n-nice to meet you too Maddie,” Jacob replied, normally he didn’t use nicknames if it wasn’t someone he knew that well but she offered and it was easier to say. Which would help this hope conversation go by. Quickly the room started to fill up out of no where and Jacob wasn’t quite how sure to feel about it. Sure it was nice having people around but it was just extra work to stay out of some thoughts, house elves weren’t a problem though for him. He never could get a good read on them. The boy introduced himself than seemed to know the girl next to him. Which he supposed was a good thing. He recognized him from a number of classes and the common room also. Landon explained that they could always make more cookies as Jacob commented on wishing he had. Even saying he could have help if he needed it. The offer was nice Jacob supposed but the house elves hadn’t been much help so far and he wasn’t sure about having the other help too.

As Landon began to ask how he got the elves to let him use the kitchen, Nora began to speak with Maddie. At least everyone had someone to talk to he guessed, even if he would have been fine with being the odd one out. Would have given him time to make more cookies now that he thought about it. “Well, I-I just think they aren’t allowed to outright say no. I tried to be nice though, yet they make it pretty clear they rather I don’t cook here.” He laughed nervously once more, this many people would do that to him but he could survive.

@madeleine
@nora
@landon

[Deleted]

@jacob & @nora & @landon

Jake or Jacob had such a nice way of correcting people. He was going to be an easy one to get friendly with, she could tell. A little awkward and took a while to warm up, but she was sure she would be able to wiggle her way around eventually. She was pretty sure he was a year older too, and those were the ones that she was interested getting in with. Her sixth year roommates were all dull, aside from Sally, and she wanted to change that. Sally would get boring after a while too. She was too smart to keep around forever. “It’s okay,” she responded to Jacob. “Dad runs a hotel business, so we used to do a lot of traveling during the holidays. All sorts of fancy destinations…” Maddie let out a fake sigh. Those would probably still happen, but with a damper on them now that her brother was gone.

She ignored the other boy’s feeble attempt at remembering her name, and instead put her focus on the girl, who had sat down next to her at the counter. She had been hoping this one would stay away and just engage the boys, but it looked like it was going to be the opposite. “Madeleine,” she said formally to Nora, saying it loud enough so the other boy could hear her as well and correct himself. She had no idea if he would be able to hear her over whatever he had stuffed in his mouth, but it was worth a shot. She liked being known by her name, not some made up one because people were too lazy to remember. It wasn’t exactly a hard one either and she even offered up a nickname. “Not exactly. I was getting something for the Hufflepuffs in the common room, but having cookies seemed more interesting than going back to that mess.”

[Deleted]

Though the other Hufflepuff girl seemed none too pleased with Landon's company, he didn't notice. It was in his genetic makeup to assume everyone wanted to be his friend. So when the girl Nora (he'd overheard Jake calling her that earlier) pointed at him and commended his idea, he beamed at her. "I have my moments, few and far between but there," said Landon brightly.

The other Hufflepuff corrected Landon on her name. "Sorry about that, Madeleine," said Landon apologetically, before the two girls caught up in conversation. He stuffed a roast potato in his mouth before directing his attention to Jacob. He really had to be friends with this guy, not because they were in the same house and year but because he seemed to love making food. And luckily, Landon loved eating food. Another potato in his mouth, Landon had the decency to at least chew and swallow before responding to Jacob. He nodded slowly. "They're right nice buggers, aren't they," said Landon fondly, appraising the house elves.

'Not entirely sure that 'no' is in the vocabulary of a house elf, come to think of it," said Landon after a moment. The smell of the cookies was making his mouth water, and his craving for something sweet increased tenfold. "Can I help you whip up another batch or something? You know girls always say they're only going to have a tiny piece of your cookie right, then they end up eating the whole batch. Can't be too careful," he added, completely serious.

tag: @jacob @nora @madeleine

[Deleted]

Landon, his name was, said that he had his moments though they were 'few and far between'. She laughed, tossing her head back. She always laughed loudly if she had the option to. This seemed like a perfectly appropriate place to do just that.

Madeline, she said her name was. "It's a mess in there? The Gryffindor tower is generally quite unruly," she explained with a nod, "therefore a mess as well," though she was sure that Madeline meant a metaphorical mess, but where was the fun in admitting that she knew what Madeline meant? Unless she did mean an actual mess.

She heard Landon mention that girls always said they only wanted one cookie and then ended up eating much more than that and her gaze shot toward him, "excuse me. I would never indicate that I only wanted one cookie," she smirked.

@jacob
@madeleine
@landon
(good lord this thread hahahah)

[Deleted]

Madeleine explained that she had been to many places because of her fathers work, which was genuinely interesting. His family didn’t travel much, his mother worked at a shop and his father was part of MACUSA. Nothing that really required that much travel. Coming to Europe for school this year was the biggest traveling they had ever really done. “That sounds like fun, you’ve probably gotten to see all kinds of things.” Jacob got out with no hint of a stammer for a moment, it was easier with fewer people but with the arrival of more people that was bound to change. “I’ve never done much traveling till the trip to Hogwarts but New York has all kinds of sights.”

Landon and Madeleine continued their introduction, with her correcting her name and him apologizing for the mistake. Landon handled the simple mistake easier than Jacob imagined he would. “Yeah they can be but I feel like they just have to be nice a lot of the time.” Jacob replied to the comment about house-elves. The ones back at Ilvermorny he would say were nice but that was because they were used to him being in the kitchen. The ones at Hogwarts he just felt were putting up with him for now.

Landon offered to help make another batch of cookies while Nora and Madeleine spoke to each other about the common rooms. The hufflepuff one could be a mess at times but he doubted Madeline was actually talking about how clean it was and more the people in it. “If you want too, it’s not that hard. Just put all the right measurements in a bowl and stir. The ones in the oven should be done pretty soon actually.” With that Jacob got up and walked closer to the oven. He never used a timer as he was taught how to bake mostly without one. Just going by how long it felt like it had been and how something looked. They looked done for the most part, might be a little early but people were waiting for them now. Jacob found his oven mitt, and pulled the tray out resting on a nearby counter. “Let them cool first.” He said out loud as he didn’t need anyone burning themselves.

@madeleine
@landon
@nora

[Deleted]

@jacob & @nora & @landon

“I loooove New York,” she crooned across the kitchen at Jake. “There aren’t many cities over here that can compare. Paris is okay, I guess, but it’s nothing like New York.” That had been a frequent holiday trip for the Chevaliers over the years, mostly because her mother still had family over there. She liked that her father had connections with the non-magical hotels over there and could easily get the better suites inside some of the more famous buildings. But she wasn’t going to bore her new acquaintances with those stories. She wanted cookies, and coming off as a snob before she had a handful would leave a bad taste in her mouth.

Jake’s attention was taken up by the Landon boy, so Maddie decided she would switch gears and talk to Nora instead. At least she was a fun one to talk to. “They never stop talking. I don’t usually mind it, but after hours of it even I get tired,” she rolled her eyes, knowing that when she eventually did make it back to the common room everyone would be in the same place she had left them in. Nora yelled back at Landon for his comment on girls eating cookies, and Maddie shot him an equally judgmental raise of her eyebrow. “That’s strike two, Leonard,” she followed up with, purposely getting his name wrong.

Seeing that the first batch of cookies was being pulled out of the oven, she slid off of her stool and made her way behind Jake, peering around him to get a better look at them. “Not bad Jakey. What kind are they?” she asked, reaching her hand out to snag one but stopping short as she heard him say they needed to let them cool first.

[Deleted]

Maddie said they never stopped talking and Nora laughed, "the hufflepuffs don't all just sit in a circle and sing kum bay ya?" she didn't really know how to pronounce the name of the song. She laughed again when Maddie told the Landon kid he had two strikes. But then, like magic, the cookies were there! She too stood, following Maddie over to survey them. Jake said to let them cool and she scoffed, "allonsssss, that's rhe best part," she pouted at him, he voice a bit of a whine.

@jacob
@madeleine
(Short n sweet)