[PV] The Living Haunt

The Portiport is the castle's heart of activity, a large white-marbled rotunda. At the center of the room looms a rather pompous statue of Griffith Virell, Penwick's first Headmaster, depicted in an almost cliché heroic pose. Five large archways are carved into the rounded walls of the room, a Roman numeral etched above them. Step through an arch, and you emerge at that floor’s landing with no need to take the stairs. Similar arches can be found on the landing of each floor that transport back to the Portiport.
There are stairs in the castle, but their steep, dizzying climbs seem more like a punishment than a form of transportation. Professors insist they remain for emergencies, students insist they remain as a cruel joke.
The Portiport is noisy at every change of class, students spilling through its arches like floodgates. And while no one ever gets lost here, there are whispered tales of students arriving a floor too high, usually after offending Griffith’s statue.
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Kasimir Damon-Cowles

5th Year Penwick student from Aberporth, Wales with a 27.50cm Beech and Unicorn Hair wand.
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Student, Modron, Fifth Year

Post by Kasimir Damon-Cowles »

Time : 10:00 a.m. 10:00
Date : September 8, 2025 8 September, 2025
Location : Penwick School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Interactions : @Devon Fondatore
Kas had just slept through nearly his entire Non-Wizarding Perspectives Class. For once, he maintained it wasn't his fault, whoever made the schedule shouldn't have given him the most repetitive class on earth for his first on Monday of all days. Seriously, these schools needed some sort of streamlined curriculum, he'd already learned most of this crap at Ilvermorny. Even if he hadn't meant to, learning by osmosis was a mostly unconscious process.

After sticking around for as long as the professor droned about his brand new shiny detention for disrespecting academia and also not wearing his uniform and also being late in the first place, Kasimir set sail on the stormy Student Sea for his next class. In which he would likely resume his nap.

His vest was balled up in his hand from where the professor had summoned the article and threw it at him just minutes before. Unburdened by a bag or satchel, Kasimir waded through the crowd with a cockiness that irked, irritated, and enraged. The tails of his vest smacked someone on the back as he slung it over his shoulder. She demanded apology. Kas shrugged as he continued on. "Sorry, sweetheart, didn't see you there." The corner of his mouth lifted in an awfully self-satisfied smirk when he heard the huff of indignation in response.

There were a whole lot of brunets in the world. Kas saw a good collection of them here in the chaos of class changes. But only one of those brunets in the world was Thaddeus, and for a heart-stopping moment, Kas thought he saw Thad here, too.

"Thaddeus!" he nigh on shouted, now pushing past people to catch up to the unruly head. How the short little bastard had caught his eye, Kasimir knew not, only that Thaddeus was not supposed to be here, yet here he was. "Thad!"

He caught the boy on the shoulder, eyes alight with something like fervor that he could not hide until after he spun the boy around and found not the face of Thaddeus, but a complete stranger. "You-!"

How fucking embarrassing.

This kid was not his brother. He did not have the same face, even if he had the same figure and the same hair and the same slouch to his shoulders that Cassandre had never quite corrected. His skin was ghostly, almost like a corpse. The Damon-Cowles were a Caucasian family, but not that white.

This kid was not a complete stranger though. No, Kas could still save some of his dignity, if by dignity you meant soulless miscreant reputation, could still cover the idiotic assumption behind his mad dash. "Hey, been looking for you. That punch on the first day? What an impression! Shit was awesome. You're a freaking legend, you know that?" He slapped the kid's shoulder, that unreadable, unshakable expression back on his face. "And you got the tough guy house. Shoulda known. Red looks good on ya, kid. So, Thad, how's it go in, uh, Dragon? Bunch of you hero types all stuck in the same place must get rowdy." He was rambling, but it didn't matter. He had that sharp smile, that good-natured chuckle, the hand on the shoulder that tried to be more friendly than restraining. As long as he kept talking and left no room for questions, the kid would forget the desperation moments ago, the soft underbelly briefly revealed.

You pathetic wuss. Now why'd you have to rush off for a stupid thing like that?
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Devon Fondatore

1st Year Penwick student with a 29.00cm Ebony and Unicorn Hair wand.
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Student, Dranaga, First Year

Post by Devon Fondatore »

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【 devon fondatore 】
8 September, 2025 @Kasimir Damon-Cowles x

Devon had been doing pretty good navigating the castle, all things considered. Only late to class a couple of times in the first week when figuring out where to go. Today, he’d positioned himself along the edge of the student flow, counting doorways in his head as he passed them. Not because he had to, he just found it easier to focus on something repetitive when the halls were loud. Fourth arch, window, suit of armor, turn. Transfiguration on floor two.

He was walking across the marble hall when he was turned (pulled, really) into the bright, feverish stare of a boy he’d never seen before. Devon stiffened on instinct, surprise and fear flashing across his face before he smoothed it away. The Portiport roared around them, but the stranger’s voice sliced sharply through the sound, a torrent of words that Devon couldn’t wedge a single thought into.

Punch on the first day.
Legend.
The color red looks good.
Tough guy house.
Dragon.

Somewhere in the middle of the boy's monologue, Devon felt the heel of his hand press reflexively against the strap of his bag, and when the boy finally paused, just barely, he seized the moment.

He fixed on the boy’s grin, on the hand that was still planted on his shoulder, on the confidence that radiated from him like heat off pavement. And then, very softly, Devon reached up to remove the hand from his shoulder.

“Thanks, but my name isn't Thad,” he said, grinning sheepishly. "Devi. Didn't know that many people knew about that..."

He looked around to try to estimate the time, figuring he had enough to spare for a bit of small talk.

“Dranaga's been all right, I guess,” he said after a moment. “I like the color red, so that's pretty cool.”

Another small smile, a bit more genuine. “You looked pretty determined back there, though. Just wanted to say hi or something?”
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