[Nov MP] behold the hordes of beauty [tsubaki]

A quite year at Durmstrang was an impossibility. Edyta had assumed that moving the entire school to Sweden would be eventful enough to last for her seventh year, but it seemed that fate had other ideas. Already there had been the draugr invasion at the port, something that had given Edyta nightmares after she had barely escaped with her life. As much as she loved the sea, she knew it would be a long time before she strolled along a stony shore by herself again. So when she read about the Reindeer Festival it seemed like the perfect excursion. Free transportation, the opportunity to practise speaking Swedish, no alcohol (she had grinned when she'd read that part), endorsed by the Swedish Minister for Magic (he seemed like a nice man, playing with the orphaned children and baby reindeer like that) and no documentation needed. And best of all, because it was only a couple of hundred kilometers from the school, there was a special excursion day planned where any students who wished would be allowed to attend!

But no sooner had she started planning for the festival than there was yet more drama! The first Edyta knew was when she came down for breakfast one morning and discovered chaos. Although she rose early, already there were many more Klyks present that she would have expected to see. For reasons nobody had been able to figure out, their common room and dorms had been flooded due to a cracked underwater window. The majority of the Klyks had taken refuge in the Grand Hall, others were in the hospital wing suffering from shock, secondary drowning and various other injuries. Their quarters effectively out of bounds, it had fallen upon the Krovs to welcome their rivals - if welcome was the right word - into their own common rooms and dormitories.

Instead of the normal two girls she shared with, Edyta was now sharing with five others; extra beds having been pushed into the room and their occupants assigned almost at random. It was sheer chance that she was still sharing with only upperclassmen; at least one of the sixth year dorms now also housed first year Klyks, though at least they were too intimidated to disturb the older students' studies. But it had meant that she had been able to get to know @Hanaoka Tsubaki , the Koldovstoretz transfer student she had first spoken with at the beginning of term, a little better.

In fact, they had decided to head out to see the reindeer together. Edyta had made the suggestion, describing the long history of the event and the rarity of the creatures, and had been delighted that the younger girl had agreed to go with her. Now the day had finally arrived. The festival had been running for a week already as Edyta donned her warmest clothes (including two pairs of thick socks) and picked up her thick winter cloak before pushing her trunk back under her bed and turning sideways in order to avoid knocking into the extra beds as she left her dorm. Once out in the common room, a little early, she settled herself in a comfortable chair, taking a book at random from the closest bookshelf as she waited for her friend.

It was only her second month in school but Tsubaki felt like some of her peers had changed in the way they go about their daily lives and their mannerism. It was understandable for her housemates, especially those who were in the common room when the glass cracked and it flooded. At that time, she was still studying in the library, as usual. By the time she reached the entrance to the common room, she was blocked by a crowd of students displaying various emotions (and lack of) and professors trying to get the situation and students under control, creating a cacophony that hurts her ears and gave her a mild headache.

Tsubaki was too used to order and control. The only chaos she had experienced so far was the crowd during her school’s cultural festivals and Durmstrang’s beginning of term two months ago. Oh and Esmeray. She could never forget that experience. However, there was still a sense of calm in the midst of danger at the temple unlike now, so it was apt to say that she felt like a fish out of water. While Mahoutokoro’s Tsubaki would have tried to assist the professors and other students to earn brownie points, Durmstrang’s Tsubaki merely took a step back and returned to the safe confines and silence of the library to regain her bearings. Did she bring anything important? Most of the things that she deemed important were safely tucked in her school bag. Did her family sent her anything important? Well, she could just write a letter to them explaining the situation. “Ah, the potions and creams for my hair and face,” she groaned as she sunk in her seat, realizing that she was going to have a tough time forgoing her morning and nightly routine until her family sends a new batch of products to use.

And she was right.

It had been rough and she felt self-conscious about the state of her skin and hair (even though they were completely fine and looked the same as usual). It did not help that they were forced to share the same living and sleeping space with the Drakonya Krovs, not that Tsubaki had any problems with them since she still did not know most of them personally. It was just… well, it was rather… cramped and uh, uncomfortable. But thankfully, the girl she talked to during the beginning of term feast, @Edyta Ciesynska , made things more bearable. Prior to her current living arrangements, Tsubaki had not noticed the reindeer festival that was taking place soon. So she was surprised when Edyta brought it up and felt rather excited about going. She was used to seeing the deers in Nara but reindeers?! It would be a first for her! She vaguely recalled hearing from the bearista person in the muggle café she frequented to about reindeers pulling a guy that delivered presents to them. She found that story hard to believe but who knows, maybe it was true to a certain extent!

“Edyta-san, I am sorry. Did I make you wait long?” A flustered Tsubaki approached Edyta while fixing her hair that was tied into a half-ponytail. She still felt self-conscious from skipping her routines and wearing a dress in a style that she would usually never pick. But desperate times called for desperate measures and when possible, she did not want to wear her uniform outside a school setting. Which was why she went to Döttrar Vik as soon as she could to find replacement clothes for the time being. She could only afford to purchase two thick dresses, an inexpensive nightgown, and a few pairs of socks that would keep her warm and that was why the school’s deep red coat was draped over her free arm. “I am sorry but I am still a bit conscious about my appearance. The package from my family has not arrived yet.”

The Natural History of Northern European Magical Herbs wasn't Edyta's idea of a fascinating read, but she stuck with it and made it as far as the second page before the younger girl appeared. She put the book aside with a quiet sigh of relief, at he same time glad she'd picked something dull to pass the time that she wouldn't mind abandoning. "Oh, no. Maybe five minutes. But I am always an early riser, even on days when we have no lessons. I like to have the extra time to study, or visit the dragon stables...” she managed to stop there, still uncertain why she tended to talk so much around her new friend. But luckily the other girl didn't seem to mind, being more concerned about her own outfit.

Edyta could understand that. She'd never had much of anything, but the idea of it all being damaged would appal her. It seemed that Tsubaki at least had the option of writing home and asking for new clothes to be sent to her. So really, in the seventh year's eyes, it wasn't too much of a disaster, and the fact that the girl had been able to immediately afford new clothes at all was something to be grateful for. But she wasn't going to say that. “Don't worry. When I first started at Durmstrang I did not have many clothes. You look good and the school coat is always an honourable thing to wear in public” Edyta chose her words carefully, having researched a little on Japanese customs in recent weeks. It seemed that her new friend would appreciate the suggestion that she was deliberately trying to look as though she belonged to her new school, rather than she didn't have a choice.

“Shall we go?” she asked, and they headed out to the school grounds where the Portkey had been set up especially for today. There were others there of course, ready to travel. Every minute or so, four or five students were transported, so despite there being a knot of waiting students, it was only a matter of minutes before they could take their turn to grasp onto the battered tin bucket and feel the never-pleasant sensation of being whirled to their destination. Edyta closed her eyes, wishing she could have travelled on dragonback, or even by broom.

Then there was the sensation of a different kind of chill, dryer than the coastal air of Durmstrang that she was used to, and she opened her eyes to the sparkling landscape. Snow as far as the eye could see; flat in one direction, banked in another, several sturdy wooden buildings dotted around, and signposts pointing out the various attractions. It was a beautiful landscape in which to spend the next few hours, and Edyta barely noticed the cold. There was less of a biting wind here than by the coast so she found it almost pleasant. “We should move...” she said vaguely, taking a few steps forward so they were standing nearer to the signposts and the next people through the portkey wouldn't knock into them.

Already she was captivated by the landscape and wishing she owned a camera. Even a muggle one would have been fantastic so she could have a souvenir of this. “Ohh, there they are!” she breathed, spotting the reindeer in the distance and smiling with delight. “What shall we do first? Visit the main herd, or go and see the babies?”

“Thank goodness. It would have been rude otherwise,” Tsubaki breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she hadn’t made Edyta wait long. Punctuality was something that was ingrained in her family (and probably most Japanese she had come across) but lately she found herself slacking off. Hopefully she could get rid of that habit before she returned home or else she would be in trouble. “I used to jog every morning but it is colder here in the morning compared to Japan. So I find it harder to get out of bed than usual,” she sighed dejectedly before her attention turned to the deep red coat draped over her arm. Her face felt hot at Edyta’s compliment and she wondered why since she was used to those in Mahoutokoro… probably immune to them too! But she decided to not dwell upon in much and softly stroked the coat. She herself had never viewed Mahoutokoro’s uniform in that manner. To her, it was a source of stress, the soft pink colour mocking her skills (or lack of). Furthermore, they also had to worry about making sure that their uniforms would never turn white.

Truthfully, Tsubaki was nervous about donning her Mahoutokoro uniform again considering the type of classes that she had been attending and the nature of magic that she had performed here. She heard rumours (that she wondered if her family had heard to) that Durmstrang taught their students Dark Magic and she wondered if she was performing minor version of it. She wasn’t certain because the thought of researching about Dark Magic had never crossed her mind (not really) for fear of having her uniform turn white. So hopefully, it was all just rumours.

“Let us go!” She perked up and followed after Edyta, putting the coat on and pulling it close once they were outside. She still couldn’t get used to the cold and wondered if she should start charming most (if not all) of her clothes. Tsubaki’s eyes took in the other students as they made their way to the portkey. She should have gotten used to the feeling of using one by now but it still left her feeling slightly disoriented after arriving at their destination. Edyta’s voice grounded her and she would have moved away from the portkey if it weren’t for the sight before her. Before this, she had thought Durmstrang had a rather breathtaking landscape but now, Durmstrang’s pale in comparison. She would have stood there stupefied if it weren’t for the people bumping into her, causing her to apologise to them.

She quickly made her way towards her companion, looking at where she assumed Edyta was looking at. “Oh! I see them too!” Tsubaki clasped her hands excitedly. “The babies, definitely! I am not ready to run into the big fat man in red suit…” She pulled a face at the mention of the man. From the tales she heard, he sounded pretty intimidating. Like, who goes around giving people what they want??

“I wonder which way they are…”

It was interesting to learn about another culture. The ingrained need for politeness and honour wasn't something Edyta had come across before, but she rather liked it. She supposed it made life easier in some ways, a bit like having specific rules to follow that you knew from a very early age. "You get used to the cold, in time" she said, wondering if that really was true. Poland was warm enough in the summer months, but Edyta had been perfectly used to snow during her childhood, so it hadn't been such a terrible culture shock when she'd started at Durmstrang. Nothing like the shock of needing to study in a language she barely understood, anyway. "Though I must admit, I don't know how cold it gets here - or how dark. Before, when Durmstrang was at Novaya Zemlya, we were inside the Arctic circle and during the winter, some days it didn't get properly light at all..." she said this thoughtfully, realising for the first time that she wasn't entirely certain how far North the school was now. It was a mark of her acceptance of life at Durmstrang that the idea of an hour or so of daylight at midwinter sent a thrill of anticipation through her.

Her mind stayed on that subject only for a moment longer though, because now they were looking at reindeer, eyes scanning the horizon for what appeared to be little more than dark dots, moving slowly in a fairly uniform manner. The light reflecting off the snow was bright, and after only a few seconds Edyta was squinting. The landscape was stunning, and for the first time the seventh year was glad the school had moved to Sweden if this was what the winter had in store.

When she looked away, she could see the after effect of the bright light even when she blinked, and she was glad for the suggestion of going to visit the reindeer fawns. She frowned thoughtfully, a little confused by Tsubaki's comment about the big fat man until she figured out what the other girl was talking about. "Oh - Święty Mikołaj!" she exclaimed, the Polish name no doubt sounding unfamiliar to the Japanese girl "he is also called...let me think...Saint Nicholas in some countries, I think. He visits us on December 6th, then on Christmas eve, Gwiazdor also brings gifts" she paused, the grinned "well, that's what the small children believe, anyway" As she spoke, she had been looking around, and it seemed that the direction where there were several buildings was the most sensible way to go.

"Shall we try over there?" she asked, gesturing "I expect they keep the reindeer babies away from the main herd...perhaps somewhere a little warmer. And if they're not there, we can ask someone for directions" she suggested hopefully.