hh_mirror | Application for Coraline Jones (Coraline, Neil Gaiman)

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Application for Coraline Jones (Coraline, Neil Gaiman)

((OOC: I'm playing Coraline based on the book, which is why she has a PB (Ariel Gade) rather than movie icons. Nothing against movie!Coraline, I just haven't seen the film yet. If you're reading this later and want to play Wybie or the movieverse version of anyone, PM me and we'll work something out.

Also, spoilers for the whole book.))

It was a rainy, dull Saturday. Coraline had played with all her toys and grown bored with them all, and counted every yellow thing in the house, and was now amusing herself by lying across a chair with her head hanging backwards over the side, trying to make herself believe that she could walk on the ceiling. It wasn't until she started feeling dizzy and sat up again that she realised the room had changed.

She stood up, quickly, looking around the room. It didn't look familiar to her at all, which was a sort of relief. At least it wasn't trying to trick her into thinking she knew it. There was a door, but it wouldn't open, even when she pulled as hard as she could.

There was also a table in the middle of the room, with a piece of paper on it and an old-fashioned quill pen floating just above it. Coraline went over and examined it. Her father had a pen on his desk that floated like that. It worked by magnets.

Coraline didn't think this one did.

"Is anybody here?" she asked, and jumped a little as the pen wrote the words down. The paper was a sheet of questions, she saw now. Answering them seemed the obvious thing to do.

1. What is your favorite cheese? Why is it your favorite?

"Proper cheese. The kind that is yellow and goes on pizza or in omelettes. Not the runny or smelly or mouldy kind."

2. Who would you kill first, Barney or Carrottop?

She frowned suspiciously at the paper. "Barney is probably a T rex," she said, after some thought, "which is a carnivorous dinosaur. If he tried to eat people or stamp on their houses the army would come to shoot him."

That didn't exactly answer the question (although it was something she'd wondered about), but it was a worrying sort of question to be asked. It seemed safer to pretend not to quite understand it.

3. What time is it where you are?

Coraline looked around the room again. There wasn't a clock anywhere.

"It was half past three at home."

4. If you were Albus Dumbledore returned from the dead, which member of the Order of the Phoenix would you sexually harass? How would you harass them? If you are Albus Dumbledore, please answer as if you were Sirius Black.

"...urgh."

She skipped that one. She wasn't completely sure what it meant, but she knew enough to know these questions were probably not meant for her. At least she hoped it wasn't meant for her.

5. If you are pushing to be in:

A. Slytherin - please state the clever, witty name of the bar in which you bartend, in the dark.

That was another grown up question, but not as uncomfortable as the first one. Coraline had seen bars on television, normally while looking for something more interesting to watch. "The Old Well," she said, after a moment. It sounded right.

B. Gryffindor – Debate whether Harry should ultimately end up married to Fred or George. Use examples from a variety of world mythologies to bolster your argument.

'Mythologies', she was fairly sure, meant 'stories'. "In books it's always the one who is bravest, or cleverest, or most handsome. Or who passes a test. Being handsome and nothing else is boring, though. Harry should marry the one who is brave and clever, and then go on more adventures with them."

C. Ravenclaw – You guys are supposed to be smart. Explain why my desk is inundated with paperwork at all times, even though I’m constantly disposing of it.

"My mum and dad have lots of paperwork too," she said, slowly. That might not work, but it was worth a try. "They both do things with computers. If you let me go home I will ask them."

D. Hufflepuff – Prove you are not useless.

Now this one she could answer. Coraline stood up straight, taking a deep breath, and tried to sound as grown up as possible, to give anything listening the impression that she was not to be trifled with.

"I rescued my parents from the other mother, when she stole them away into her world. I found where she was hiding them, and I also found the souls of the children trapped behind her mirror and brought them away. And then I locked her up in her own world, and trapped her right hand down our old well when it came to get the key."

6. Offer a bribe to the members of this community so that they will not squib you. Items used in bribery do not necessarily have to belong to the person offering the bribe. Do not threaten us rather than offering a bribe. A threat indicates you either don't really want to be here, or don't have enough sense to answer the question properly. The hat will automatically squib you, regardless of other votes, if you do.

"I don't have any money. Just some things." She emptied her pockets. Her mother had washed her jeans recently, so there wasn't very much in them. Only three blue and two yellow paperclips, a pine cone, and some interesting pebbles. One of the pebbles had a small hole in it, and she slipped that one back into her pocket, laying the rest on the table.

"I have read the hogwarts_hocus faq, and understand it is a crazy, cracktastic sorting community and RPG. _Coraline Jones_
I have read the hogwarts_hocus rules and agree to abide by each and every one of them. _Coraline Jones_.
I agree to be a good sport and not get my knickers in a bunch. _Coraline Jones_.
One day, marmalade will rule the world. _Coraline Jones_"

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Coraline looked up at him with a serious expression, trying not to seem too alarmed. He had proper eyes, at least, not buttons, which was probably another good sign.

"She steals people," she explained. "She lures them into her world to play games with them, and take away their hearts and souls and sew her black buttons into their eyes."

Zel realized abruptly that a man made out of stone was probably going to frighten a little girl. Even one who, from what he was hearing, had faced more than her share of monsters. He knelt down to try to talk to her a bit more closely.

"I... see. And you sealed her? Locked her away so she couldn't affect your world anymore?"

"That's right. I locked the door. Her right hand escaped and came after the key, but I tricked it into falling down the well and boarded it up."

She'd explained that on the form, but sometimes grownups needed to hear things twice.

A rather worrying thought struck him. "... There aren't any other doors, are there?"

Coraline shook her head. "The other father said there was only one. Only one key, and only one door. And that must be true, because she was angry with him for telling me."

Zel nodded. "I see. I wish the evil things in my world had been so kind as to leave keys to lock them away with."

He smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Coraline. I'm Zelgadiss Graywords. You may as well call me Zel; it's easier to remember." The smile took on a slightly sarcastic edge. "Though with a name like that I guess you're pretty good with unusual names. I'll bet people mess it up a lot."

She nodded, emphatically. "Everyone thinks it's Caroline. I can remember yours though. Zelgadiss." She pronounced it carefully, and after a second's thought added, "But if you like Zel I'll call you that instead."

"I'd imagine it's harder having a name that's just a little different than it is having one that's very different. It's nice to meet you, Coraline." Zel smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

He considered that if her story was true - and something about the way she told it made him think it probably was - there was really only one House she could end up in.

"Thank you. I ought to go home soon, though," she added, hopefully. "Or my parents will be worried." Zel might not know a way out either, but it was better to ask.

Zel looked thoughtful. "Well, once you're Sorted we can send them an owl to explain what's happened, and if you don't want to stay and be a student they could come and get you, I suppose." He had no idea whether this was actually allowed, but he was sure they could sort something out with the Hat (no pun intended).

"Really?" That was the best news she'd heard all day, even if it was just a possibility. "They might be in a completely different world though."

But if they weren't, and they'd let her, maybe she would stay for a bit. Being in a strange new place wasn't the problem, it was being stuck there.

There were so many other questions that she wasn't sure what to ask first. "What does being Sorted mean?" she asked eventually.

"Oh." Zel frowned. If they were in a different world it'd be about as useful as sending a letter to the Easter Bunny. "If it helps, we're on Earth. At least, an Earth; sometimes I think there may be more than one. But the school is a castle in Scotland."

"Well, a lot of the students stay in the dormitories here; most of us are from very far away. The dormitories are attached to the House common rooms - your House is a group of students you stay together with most of the time; it's a way to handle the students in smaller groups. Sorting is how you're assigned to a House. And even if you aren't staying, you can't get out of this room until the Hat Sorts you, I'm afraid," he added a bit sheepishly, aware that this probably didn't help matters. "But it usually takes a few hours at the most."

Coraline nodded. "It might be my world. I went to Scotland once. We were meant to be camping, but it rained all the time and everything got wet, so we went to a bed and breakfast instead." After that the rain had stopped, and it had been an extremely good holiday. She'd had sausages at breakfast every day.

She looked back at the form. "So the houses are Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" she asked, pronouncing the strange words slowly.

Zel nodded. "They're each based on a trait - Gryffindor for courage, Ravenclaw for wisdom, Hufflepuff for loyalty, Slytherin for ambition." He smiled. "Just going by your story I'd guess you'd fit in in Gryffindor. The questions don't really seem to have a lot to do with it, to be honest."

"They don't make very much sense at all," she agreed. She was still a bit concerned about number four.

"I think the Hat wrote the application. It would certainly explain it; the Hat can get... strange." This was putting it mildly.

"...is the Hat an actual hat?" Coraline asked, after deciding that this counted as a sensible question under the circumstances. "Or is that just a name?"

"Oh, it's an actual hat. Apparently it belonged to one of the school's founders, who enchanted it to be able to Sort people accurately." Zel gave a wry smile. "Apparently its owner was a very good wizard, since that seems to be the only thing it does well now. Kind of a problem, since it more or less runs the school."

She considered this. It was all rather unnerving, but then again, if the Hat wasn't very competent it might be easier to escape from if necessary. "I suppose that's why it has so much paperwork to do."

Zel shrugged. "Probably. So, does Gryffindor sound like a good House? If you stay, I mean."

"They all do. But I think I like the sound of Gryffindor best."

"All right, that's where I'll vote you, then. Good place for brave people, and from the sound of it you're as brave as anyone I've ever met." After all, it was a lot harder to be brave when you were small and alone.

Coraline smiled. "Thank you," she said, and added, "What house are you in?"

Zel looked slightly surprised. "I'm in Gryffindor as well, actually, so we might see each other again."

"I'd like that." She'd decided when Zel introduced himself that she liked him a lot.

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Application for Coraline Jones (Coraline, Neil Gaiman)

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Vote: GRYFFINDOR

Re: Vote: GRYFFINDOR

Re: Vote: GRYFFINDOR

Re: Vote: GRYFFINDOR