From the Ashes

Who: Ryland and Pete
When: Early afternoon
Where: Kitchen fireplace
What: Ryland's arrival

Ryland sent everything else on ahead, so all he was holding, besides a handful of floo powder, was one small bag and Ripley's empty cage. His mother watched him skeptically from the middle of the living room. The new headmaster was nice enough to temporarily add his parents to the floo network, since that kind of thing didn't usually run to the outskirts of Muggle London.

"You could have just ridden the train with your brother," she said. Ryland had already explained how floo powder works at least ten times, but she still seemed to think he was going to be eaten alive by her perfectly nice brick fireplace.

"Had enough of that train to last me a lifetime," Ryland said. He made a face, then smiled at her. "I'll send an owl after Conner arrives, everything will be fine. I love you."

He blew his mother a kiss, then tossed the floo powder into into the fire and stepped into the green flames, loudly announcing "Hogwarts."

A moment later, he was blinking at the Hogwarts kitchen. And Pete Wentz.

He stepped out of the fireplace and shoved his hair off his forehead. "Hello."

Who: Gabe and William
Where: The lake
When: Mid-morning
What: Welcoming the new Potions Master back to Hogwarts. Oh, and a bloody great boat.


The arrival of a magical galleon surfacing in the lake on its way across the ocean from Spain wasn't exactly something you could pinpoint, so William had settled on the shore with a book on Tasmanian Devils (the evil spirits, not the furry animals) just after breakfast and morning tea to wait for the inimitable Gabriel Saporta.

He'd finished two chapters and experienced one false alarm due to the giant squid when he felt the rumble of the earth beneath him and saw ripples dart hastily across the surface of the lake like fish escaping a whale. He closed his book and was preparing to stand and dust the grass off his robe when a sudden quake knocked him off-balance. There was a roar from the center of the lake, and then a tremendous ship broke the surface, easily the size of a giant with broad sails that snapped into the wind with a wet slap, the bow pushing a wall of water ahead as it emerged.

William's eyes widened. He had just enough time to draw his wand and get out, "Imper-" before the tidal wave crashed down over him and lake water choked the rest of the spell.

He coughed a few times, spitting out water and a slimy strand of something that he sincerely hoped was seaweed, and wiped his drenched hair out of his eyes. Well. With a grand entrance like that, hopefully Gabe didn't mind too much being greeted by a drowned rat.