"Well, Papa's still working on a way to stop it sooner, but he says he needs the help of more wizards," Tali answered, thrilled that someone actually cared to listen for once. "He said it's supposed to take off two years every three months since my thirteenth birthday, which was June twenty-first, after it originally takes off three. So, I'll look like I'm eight on September twenty-first, but by then Papa may have a cure. He used to work for the Ministry before he met my mom, so it shouldn't be too hard for him. Maybe you've heard of him; he was Dr. Paendrag from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures who discovered the three subspecies of Hungarian Horntails, and then met my mom shortly afterwards. He was the head, so he wasn't limited to that department. He transferred a lot, but never really found a place that he could live with, always complaining about how the Ministry was full of fools." Tali finished with a huff, still smiling brightly at Marionette before she continued with gratitude.

"Thanks for listening by the way. Most people just avoid me like the plague or harass me instead of bothering to talk. Sooo... Do you have anymore questions?" Tali sort of hoped that Marionette did have more questions so she could keep talking, but she did have a few questions she would like to ask.

Headmistress McGonnagal was slightly annoyed at the chatter. All this talking yet no one had any questions about the massive rule changes here? She supposed it was typical of this age group, and continued on, commanding silence in her voice. "It is against the rules, I must add to be in the Forbidden Forest, UNLESS you are a werewolf student and it is the full moon. Any student caught without proper reasoning will get severely reprimanded."

She looked at a few random students from the Gryffindor table, knowing they would be the most likely to break that particular rule. "Now, you all are dismissed. Please make your way to your dorms, and common rooms. Remember to check the new rules list on your common room announcements board."

The Headmistress sat down again, and waited for the Great Hall to clear.

"Hm, hopefully he does find a cure then." she said thoughtfully. She was about to ask more but she ducked her head, noticing the tone of the headmistress' tone. She smiled sheepishly and listened to the rest of the speech. She did suppose it was slightly rude to have talked while the speech but there were others as well. She didn't have anything to ask about the rules. Since she hadn't seen the rules as of yet. Raising an eyebrow, Marionette smirked. The Forbidden Forest was not so dangerous as people though. She had spent some time there last year. And she had never ran into trouble.

At being dismissed, she gave a small grin, standing up. "Let's go. Ah, do not worry about me harassing or avoiding you. You're not bad, and truthfully, I see very little different in you from others. Besides the whole, curse and extra powers." she said, a playful smile tugging at her lips. Normally she was not so talkative either. This year she had decided to at least try to get to know other people. Other than the small group she hung out with. "The Ministry does have a couple of sillier people, but, what are we to do? We are not yet full adults." she commented, shrugging. "It will change later on. And, I've run out of questions for now." she added.

Tali flinched at Headmistress McGonnagal's tone of voice, having only heard it twice before and once from her paternal grandmother. "Hey, wait," Tali called out to Marionette. "Do you want to get to the common rooms the fast way? Filch usually lights a fire in the common room fireplace before the students are dismissed, so I can teleport to them. Would you like to go? If not, I'll walk with you." She really hoped that Marionette would like to try it. The only person she'd ever teleported with was papa, and he loved it. It wasn't a bad feeling at all actually, no nausea or vertigo, just a curious warmth that filled your body.

Marionette had started to walk out from the table and paused a little. "Oh? Well, it might be interesting." she muttered, considering the option. She had traveled by Flu Powder before, so she had to wonder if it was similar to that. Noticing one of the boys that had watched Tali, she smiled. "Well, how about invite, or get to know another person?" she asked, nodding to Cory. He had seemed rather out of place. So nervous and not really speaking to anyone. She had seen him around, but never really talked to him before. What better way than getting a few more 'friends' than now.

[ATTENTION: I realize there was a while until I got on. As of YESTERDAY I put up all profiles that I received. If you think I didn't just resend me the skeleton and I will put it up. Stop attacking Lionz because this is my mistake. I have received no new skeletons and if I say you are accepted, you can post. I apologize for all the trouble I've caused, but don't blame Lionz for this.]

Cory had stood up, stretching his long limbs. Time to make the familiar trek up to the Ravenclaw dorms. Things seemed so much different now he mused, curling his fingers and toes, trying to relax. The chatter from the great hall was really making his ears ring. He supposed he'd have to invest in a good pair of manly ear muffs if he wanted to be able to deal with the noise without going crazy.

After a great yawn that opened his mouth for the entire hall to see his fangs, he smiled sheepishly, looking around and hoping that the other students were so pre-occupied with leaving that they had missed it. He lowered his head, and then felt someone looking at him. He turned his head, his brown hair falling carelessly around his face and glanced at Marionette.

((@Neko: Um, I don't see my profile on the profile page. :( Did you put it up, or should I just resend it?
@Lions: I noticed the change to the race count on page one, and I thought you'd like to know that Wisp doesn't have an h in it. I know it's a little mistake, but I'd rather people not think I spelled it wrong every time I mention it. :)))

"Uh? Oh, sure if he wants to he can come," Tali said, a little nervous at the prospect of inviting someone else to come along, from her perch on top of the fire from before. She was a bit excited to take someone else through fire, but she was a little concerned that it would scare her friend away. Plus she didn't really know Cory except for from hearsay, so she couldn't accurately predict whether he would freak out or not, though he seemed to shy to be able to freak out. Anxiously, she floated over on the flames and poked him in the shoulder, asking, "Hey Cory, would you like to come with me and Marionette up to the common room? We were planning on traveling by fire."

о о ----------------------------------------------------Bring It on! I can take it!

Lora had been simply enjoying the food she had. People talked and talked, but she didn't see any of her friends from the years before. Not yet, anyways. Still, it wouldn't hurt to kill. There were quite a few cute guys, but she would simply bat her eyes at them and grin for the time being. She would go about talking to them some other time. She watched Headmistress McGonnagal go on with her spew. There were all sorts of new people. Even vampires amongst the bunch, but she wasn't frightened. Who cared? At least the Ministry of Magic was allowing it to go on now. Before, they were in hiding and so on. Once she had finished her lecture, she had finished her food, heading outside. She decided to look around at the people and possibly make new friends.

[EDIT: Just trying to get an introduction. Yeah, please do. Sorry about that]
Lora Hart--------------------------------------------------- о о

Her eyes had caught the fangs, and she smirked. So that was why he seemed different. She smiled at him reassuringly. Almost like with Tali. Another person that wasn't completely human. She walked over, weaving in and out of the crowd and reached the two. She gave a small nod at what Tali said. She was horrible with names sometimes, so she was glad that she knew his name. "It could be fun." she offered.

Cory shrugged noncommittally. Actually go INTO the fire WILLINGLY? He didn't think that was sucha great idea. "I won't get hurt will I?" He asked, looking at the girls and frowning. "Me and fire do not mix very well."

"Hurt?" Tali scoffed, taking a little offense at the claim. "I'm sitting on them, aren't I? I can alter it the temperature so it won't burn you, if that's what you're afraid of. What temperature can you stand?" She really shouldn't have mentioned the fact that she was sitting on the flames; her body temperature was one-hundred fifty-three degrees Fahrenheit after all. That meant that it probably didn't apply to anyone else in the entire complex. Indeed several times she's been hospitalized for a fatal fever, only for her papa to rig the machines to give a different reading so they'd let her go.

Marionette almost smirked, but resisted. Of course she should have thought about how it would sound to others. She looked at Tali for that response but shrugged. "well, I'm sure we won't get burned." she commented before Tali confirmed her suspicion. Tali didn't seem like the type to willingly hurt others. And if she were wrong, then she was getting to be rusty with judging characters. She glanced between Cory and Tali, tilting her head for the boy to make his decision."It will be faster and easier than going around the stairs and such." she pointed out.

Cory backed away, still too afraid to actually do it. "Maybe another time..." He whispered, backing up slowly. "I--- I'm not in the mood for it now. He stated, trying not to sound as scared as he was. "I'll meet you guys at the common room, good luck." He said, trying not to be rude but not having the nerves to brave any kind of flames regardless of who could sit on them. He gave them a nod, trying to put a small smile in their direction, hoping he hadn't hurt anyone's feelings.

Cory sighed dramatically, starting the walk to the Ravenclaw dorms and felt a tad guilty for turning the girls down. However, maybe it was for the best. He not only had to think of the safety of the students, but also of the safety of himself.

"I think he's afraid of me," Tali stated sadly, realizing that just because she had a few friends didn't mean that everyone would accept her, especially not with parents that worked at the Ministry. "Oh well. Ready to go?" With that Tali hopped off the flames and manipulated them until they were the height of an average-sized adult man. After stretching them, she linked them to the fire in the Ravenclaw common room's fireplace, and changed their temperature to exactly ninety-eight and six-tenths degrees, so they wouldn't burn Marionette, even if they were a little cold for the Wisp's taste. "Okay. When you're ready, just grab on and say 'go' and I'll teleport us," Tali instructed, standing three feet in front of the fire. "Just don't let go or you could end up in anywhere else in the world."

Lavi yawned once more, he had heard the speech more then once, no one really cared about it anymore, they only time that they really perked up was when something new was add into the speech but nothing has been yet. He yawned once more and stood up, walking to the spot at the table that Travis was sitting at, he didn't see Ric any where around, which probable meant that he was some random place reading a book on divination. "Oi....Tray.......Ric ain't around.....think he got stuck in a book?" he asked his friend, he was the only one that was basically allowed to call Travis, Tray, after all there was a story behind his nick name. The ears on his head flicked around lazily, not letting anyone know that he was anything other then tired and bore, the sad thing was tht Travis was the only one that knew about the curse marks on his forehead and he planned to keep it that way.

Marionette waved a little at Cory before nodding. "I don't think it's that." she reassured Tali. "I'm sure he was just caught off guard." Most people would not react like her to the prospect of going into a fire all of a sudden with two somewhat random girls. So, she understood. She nodded and grabbed onto Tali's arm. "Go." she said, chuckling and making sure she had a firm grip on the arm. She certainly did Not want to end up in a random house or camp. That would just be awkward to explain.

Travis glanced over at the other boy before giving a small smirk. Brushing back a brown lock, he nodded. "Chances of that happening are more than half." he replied, biting his lower lip in thought. "Question is where." he muttered. HE shrugged and stood up. "Well, time to find him." he joked, blinking somewhat lazily before his eyes went to the hat. "Still surprised nobody has asked about it." he commented.

Lavi smiled lazily and chuckled at the comment that Travis had made about his hat, the ears on it flicking towards him before lazily moving around to hear other things that were going on in the great hall. "Hey special rules for special people. Besides they are to busy asking me how i got the ears to move anyways." he said with a chuckle before he yawned once more and looked towards the doors that lead out of the place, slightly worried that Ric had gotten into some form of trouble. "Yea we better find him before he gets into trouble over some stupid thing that he unknowingly had done." he said with more alert as he backed away so that Travis could stand up and they could go and search for their friend.

At Marionette's command, Tali jumped into the fire, almost being pulled back by the larger girl. They did make it inside, though Tali had to rely on her superhuman strength to pull Marionette through as well. Once they were inside, all that could be seen was a raging torrent of multi-colored flames that swirled around them, forming images of places all over the world that had fires. They could see inside of a blast-furnace in a blacksmith's shop and what was going on outside, the flames adorning the candles in the Vatican City, the courtyard of a Buddhist Temple in Tibet, and many more. The familiar warmth filled Tali's tiny body to the brim, and she smiled brightly as she reveled in it. Tali focused on the flames in the Ravenclaw common room, and gradually, the other images faded as they became less prevalent. When they could see into the empty common room, he pulled Marionette forward into the image... and out onto the common room floor. They landed on their stomachs, having no time to catch themselves. Tali rolled up into a sitting position and looked at her friend expectantly before asking, "Well, Marionette? How was it?"

Travis bit back a retort, laughing softly as to not alert some of the other students. "Special alright." he muttered, unable to help it. He nodded, standing up and getting out from his seat. "They are so simple sometimes, aren't they?" he asked, stifling a yawn. "Hm, yeah, he would be one to somehow get in trouble. Remember last year how he got in trouble with the triplets?" he asked, a light smirk appearing on his lips as he started to walk along with the others. He lightly pushed his way through the crowd though. As he did so, he made a way for Lavi as well.

Marionette payed attention to everything, her eyes slightly wide in awe. Nothing like Flu Powder. she thought to herself. It was amazing and rather nice. She smiled softly, glancing at Tali as she concentrated. The fire was indeed warm, but nothing she couldn't handle. It was pleasant and not at all uncomfortable. All of a sudden however, she found herself in the common room and on the floor. She had given a small groan but laughed. It reminded her of a portkey. "It was different." she said, her eyes almost glittering from the light hitting them just right. Sitting up, she brushed her clothes a little. "Fun. Minus the landing." she confirmed and chuckled.

Cory felt terrible as he watched the girls disappear. He silently cursed himself for not being more of a risk taker as he walked toward the common room slowly. Suddenly he encountered Peeves on the second floor, throwing dung bombs at passersby. Trying to avoid the trouble maker, Cory walked a longer way to the common room, once again chastising himself for not taking the quicker route.

"Why didn't I just agree? I mean, just because I'm a vampire now doesn't mean I have to be scared of the same things I was before. So I took a risk once and got turned because of it... no sense in acting all emo about it now, I can't change what I am." Cory thought, arriving at the Ravenclaw common room. Thankfully, someone had just answered the riddle to enter, so he didn't have to answer it himself.

Tali laughed, a bright, angelic thing, at Marionette's comment about the landing. "Sorry," she apologized, still smiling brightly enough to light up a room. "When flames are that low to the ground, it's hard to keep from tripping. I'm glad you enjoyed it, though. Maybe this weekend I'll take you to see Papa. He usually has a candle lit so I can talk to him if I want." Tali stood and sat down in the nearby armchair, not bothering to dust herself off. In a way that defied most people's conception of cause and effect, neither one of the girls had a spot of soot on them, despite having just emerged from a literal fireplace. They didn't have much dust on them either, as Filch did a great job cleaning the floor before the students arrived. "Your eyes are pretty, though," Tali said, having just noticed how they sparkled in the light. Her own bright yellow eyes shimmered in almost all lighting, but they didn't sparkle like Marionette's silver ones. "Mine usually scare people away. Hey, Marionette? Is it okay if I call you Mari? You can call me Flick if you want. It's my middle name, but Papa usually uses it as a nickname." By now a few people had started to trickle into the common room, but they usually headed up to the dorms to unpack and catch up with old friends. Shortly after Tali had finished speaking, Cory had come into the room, looking rather thoughtful. Tali noticed, but kept her gaze locked onto Marionette to keep from exposing how she felt to the boy through a glance or something similar.

Cory stopped when he entered the room and saw that the girls were already there. He offered a weak apologetic smile in their direction and took a seat near the fireplace. "See Cory? They are perfectly fine, what is wrong with you!" He shouted to himself in his head, trying to compose himself. He was glad to be out of the loud chatter of the Great Hall, and he went over McGonnagal's speech again in his head. He better read the rules over again, in case he broke one accidentally.

He stood up slowly, annoyed at himself for sitting down barely a minute before getting back up, and walked over to the announcements board, reading the new rules. *Vampire students cannot use any vampire powers other than those related to classwork. Nor can they drink blood from other students. They will be given a supply of blood substitute, that doesn't taste the same but is just as filling. Cory groaned as he read down the sheet... he was a newly made vampire, and had been using the "real stuff" since then. He didn't know how he would make it with the substitute, but he wouldn't give up.

He glanced over at the girls again, then headed up to his dorm room to unpack.

[Soo.... is there anyone Lora can bug talk to XD]

((Maybe you could try talking to Ameika's character Ric. He's in Gryffindor.:)))

Zenl was late too Hogwarts, again. Unfortunately for him, the guys at the orphanage don't quite get punctuality, so he's often late to a lot of things. Thankfully, he'd eaten on the way. The feast was over for sure. With luck, he'd be able to meet up with Travis and Lavi, two other Hufflepuffs close to his age. He probably wouldn't be able to see Tali until breakfast as she usually went to bed early on the first night, but hopefully it wasn't too bad for her. Heck, she may have even found someone to talk to. After entering the looming castle stealthily, he sprinted through the hallways to the Hufflepuff common room. He saw a group of kids walking in the same way, and noticed Travis and Lavi among the bunch. "Hey! Travis! Wait up for a sec!" he shouted as he followed, gently moving people out of his way. "So, what did I miss?" By the time he caught up, he was breathing rather heavily, but smiling sheepishly as he awaited a response.