It was time to begin yet another year of learning, fun, and bedevilment at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Albus, quite frankly, couldn't have been happier about that. Each late night feast, each broken rule, each corridor fight... Well, it made it all worth it, didn't it? Yes, this was a place of magic and learning, but the students needed to learn in a different way; they needed to grow and develop, to make their mistakes and grow from them, and just learn what life is really all about. There wasn't a lot that happened within the walls of the school that Albus didn't know about, and he tended to let a lot of that mischief happen, because... Well, what fun would Hogwarts be without a little mischief?

It hadn't take long to notice the absence to two particular students. In fact, it was only the fact that Albus was trying to locate his two new Head Students that he noticed the boys were gone at all. James Potter and Sirius Black. Absent from the opening feast. It could only mean one thing, and Albus couldn't wait to find out just what surprise the boys had in store.  For now, he sat quietly through the sorting ceremony, clapping once or twice for each student, but otherwise remaining still. Once that was over, he stood.

"Welcome, each and every one of you, to another year at Hogwarts. I must remind you that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, and ask all students to take caution on the Fifth floor. It would appear we have a rogue bookcase traversing the landing." Yes, that had been a rather unusual occurrence. An ordinary bookcase, moving from here to there about the fifth floor with no assistance. Whenever a Professor approached it the bookcase would run away. It was going to be interesting to see whether it acted any differently towards the students, which was half of the reason he'd brought it up.

"Formalities aside, let the feast... begin!" With a clap of his hands platters and plates, appeared on the tables, mountains of food and endless choice. From roast lamb to pumpkin pie to salad, there was any amount to choose from. Only, one table remained noticeably bare. "Calm down, calm down, Slytherin." He clapped his hands again, and the Slytherin's food appeared. So that was what the two absent Gryffindors had been up to, was it? 

---

[[OOC: Welcome! This thread is open to ALL students! It's the opening feast, new students have been sorted, and now two key marauders are playing a little prank. The Slytherin's food was delayed, but read on to find out what other tricks they have been up to!]]

It might only be September, but as far as CJ was concerned, September was a good time to start studying. Next year was his OWL year, and he'd already decided long ago that he was going to do everything he could to make sure that he got straight 'O' results in his classes. An 'EE' was the absolute lowest he was willing to accept, and even that was a last resort. So, he was studying now and trying to read ahead for all his classes to put himself in a better position for the coming years. 

CJ knew what he wanted, and how he was going to get there. To call him ambitious would be an understatement - he wanted everything he could have. Actually, he'd already made himself a little timetable - a plan, of sorts - for each day. It all started with a 6am wake up, and morning run for 30 minutes, followed by a workout regime he'd created for himself, then a shower, breakfast, and 20 minutes of spell practice before his first class of the day started at 9am. He's planned his work outs, his Quidditch practice, his homework schedule, plus his additional study/library time... He planned it all out. Of course, there was space for free time, and enough leeway that if some sort of social event came up he could attend it, but for the most part, he was keeping to a very strict schedule. Hopefully.

At this particular moment, he was scheduled in for his 'additional study' time, and so there he was, claiming a desk for himself in the otherwise empty Study Area. Apparently, no one else felt studying was important at this moment in time, which was fair enough. Most still hadn't got back into the swing of school yet after the summer ended, never mind even thinking about studying for things. For CJ though, it meant he was left alone in complete peace and quiet to do his studying, which was absolute bliss for him. 

Even though it was only the first week of the year, Curtis had already resigned himself to the library. No amount of hoping was going to miraculously make it easy to make friends, or magically make people start wanting to talk to him. He'd made too much of a mess of things at the start of his first year and now he was stuck being the weird, oddball kid who people just avoided.

At least if he was studying in the library it looked like he was choosing to be along, not like he was just alone because there was no other option for him. He'd picked out a large history book from the bottom shelf of one of the many bookcases and brushed off a thick layer of dust. It didn't look as if this book had been picked up in years, which made it more interesting for Curtis. He flicked through the index to see what sort of things it covered, and it looked as if the book was primarily about goblin history, including all the goblin wars, all the uprisings and revolts, and there was even a huge section about goblin weaponry and how it changed with time.

Pulling out a new notebook from his bag, Curtis turned to the first chapter and started to read, jotting down notes along the way. He really enjoyed History of Magic, and he found all of the goblin stuff really interesting. Before long, Curtis was so completely absorbed in the book and his note taking that he'd stopped thinking about how little company he had, and how badly this year was starting off as.