Exploring Hogsmeade [Open]

William left the castle with the other students who were old enough to go to Hogsmeade feeling excited. Finally, it was the first weekend of the year where they could go to Hogsmeade for the day. He was looking forward to going to the village and looking at all the shops, catching up with his friends, having a Butterbeer or two, and perhaps buying some candy to snack on until the next trip to Hogsmeade. Who was he kidding, of course candy was on the list of things to go for!

Finally he could see the village, and soon he and the other students were exploring and visiting the shops. He ignored the shops with school supplies because he was fine for that stuff at the moment, and made a beeline for Honeydukes along with what seemed to be half of the student body. When he walked into the store they seemed to be giving away free samples of a new kind of candy they'd done as a crossover with Zonko's, the joke shop. The students who tried it seemed to have minor transformations happen to them like perhaps getting cat ears or other small things which looked like fun.

"Hi there! Would you like to try a sample?" William nodded, and took one of the pieces of candy. "Thank you." He started to eat the candy and all of a sudden he started to feel strange. A few seconds after swallowing it he was struggling to see over the counter, and even standing on his tip-toes didn't help! Then suddenly the strange feeling went away, and everything looked so tall! Too tall. He looked down and saw he still looked like himself (and thankfully his clothes and stuff shrank with him) which was a relief. It seemed like he was on eye level with everyone's knees which couldn't be good.

He saw someone tall who looked familiar, and tugged on their pants leg to try to get their attention since the shop was very noisy and he figured no one would hear him even if he yelled. He hoped they would notice him since it would be a very long walk back to Hogwarts if this enchanted candy didn't wear off soon.

((Mind if I jump in? You had me at strange candy, by the way <3))

Kiku strolled leisurely through Hogsmeade, examining the various shops along the main road. By chance (he had been looking at the clouds), he spotted the sign for Honeydukes, deciding then that he could honestly never have enough sweets. He could always justify buying more to share with Alfred, or for when he felt like leaving a single Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean on Francis' nightstand (he liked to see if Francis noticed as he got ready in the morning...or if he would ever eat them). Though he wasn't stingy with money, he was careful with it, and so felt the need to justify his purchases with something very sound and logical. Besides, he was running low in general, and although he could always ask his parents for more (or make his own), he simply could not pass up the opportunity to see exactly where all the strangely transformed witches and wizards were coming from.

His observations of the odd students had begun after he had decided the clouds were not interesting enough (since there were very few of them). He had spotted a Slytherin sporting a fancy fedora and a large feather boa, much to the poor fellow's chagrin and to his friends' delight. At first, he had shrugged it off as a spell gone awry, but as he drew closer to the sweet shop he couldn't help but notice more oddities. A Hufflepuff girl had grown to the size of a half giant, crying about accidentally knocking over a display of broomsticks with her swishing cloak. A Gryffindor girl tottered precariously on six or eight legs (he couldn't tell), helped along by friends whose hair colors were all bright shades of the rainbow. The odd procession of students looked like something out of one of the Muggle districts of his home, where people enjoyed roaming the streets in all odd sorts of costumes.

This intrigued him enough to follow the crowds into Honeydukes, where a random sample of candy seemed to be producing the transformation effects. Kiku carefully made his way through the crowd towards the counter, just avoiding a floating little boy who cried in a rubbery voice for his friends to get him down. He watched several of the transformations, mentally listing each as 'cute' or 'strange'. A candy was offered to him by a boisterous salesperson sporting a beard made of licorice, but he politely declined. Instead, he purchased some for Alfred, having a feeling that the blond would have some use for them (most likely involving torturing a certain green-eyed student).

He tucked the package away in his robes, preparing to leave and deciding that he could always return once the crowds had thinned. A tug on his pants leg stopped him, and he turned ever so slowly to see who (or what...it could very well be a 'what' now) had tugged on him. He had expected something like a student turned into a cat, showing far too much affection...or even a student mistaking him for someone they knew with a pumpkin for a head (or something else to obstruct their vision; people knew who he was normally). He was not expecting his gaze to land on another person, fully a person except for their size. And he wasn't expecting to know that person, and know them in a very positive way. He recognized the Hufflepuff as one of the few that didn't whisper behind his back (or if he did, he was very good at hiding it), and he found himself smiling softly at the other student.

'He is...so adorable!'

"Anderson-san?" He blinked down at the boy, tilting his head to get a better look at him. The Hufflepuff came up to about his knees and looked like he might be squashed if the other people kept jostling about as they were. "You've become very small, and in such a crowded place I fear you'll be squashed." He shyly extended his hand, silently offering to lift the shrunken student out of harms way. "Were you shopping for sweets? If so I'd be happy to help you, since it might be a little difficult with your new size." Kiku could only hope that the effects of the candy would not wear off at a very awkward time for them both, but he shoved the thought aside. The Hufflepuff's safety was far more important to him at the moment, as was continuing to enjoy the freedom of being able to visit the Village.

Gilbert had heard many things about Hogsmeade from the other students during his stay at Hogwarts and the thought of getting out of school on the chosen weekends to wander around and shop at their leisure was making the exchange student fill to the brim with internal excitement. He had heard of two shops in particular that he was keen on visiting, Zonkos joke shop and Honeydukes. At Durmstrang Institute the Campus did not have a town such as this to visit, it was in an isolated place, even more so than this...although it did have a few on site shops at his old school, they mainly just stocked school supplies and other boring things. So Gilbert skipped all the boring and familiarly stocked stores, after all he had visited Diagon Alley before he came to Hogwarts and had spent a small fortune there on buying all new school supplies much to his fathers chagrin. He had decided to keep his German translated school books however, he had a set of both them in England and German just in case there was a word he did not understand in English, he did not want to have to raise his hand in class just to ask what the hell a word ment and get laughed at.

But right now his mind was on jokes and sweets. Gilbert loved both those things, and was going to eat so much candy until he was too heavy for a broom to carry! His train of thought was broken when he was suddenly surrounded by oddities that instantly reminded him of muggle cartoons and manga. He shook his head quickly and reminded himself. No..NO these mishaps remind you of magic, because that is what the cause is here MAGIC. He quickly found the cause of the wacky parade, not really paying any attention to the other students identities as he was too distracted to care. The man with the licorice beard suddenly had placed a tray of samples under the others nose and he blinked in surprise. Wasn't there a rule about taking candy from strangers? He blushed awkwardly at the immediate thought, what was he...five years old!? He reached out and took a sweet without listening to the explanation properly and took the time to look into the window front at the sweets contained inside. He took a bite of the sweet, quite liking the taste and trying to figure out the flavour.

He turned to watch the madness going on in the store, it was rather amusing... were they all students playing with things from Zongos joke shop..? His musing were cut short when he felt a strange tingling throughout his body and suddenly his head felt oddly itchy. He reached up and scratched his head to make the feeling go away, but his hand collided with something in his hair that was attached to his head.

Gilbert let out a dog like yelp when he tried to tug it away because they were more attached than he realized. He cupped his head and felt the two what seemed like pointed dog ears attached to his head. His look of confusion attracted the licorice-bearded mans attention who explained to him again with a laugh what had happened and that he really should of paid attention to what he was eating but the man assured him that it would wear off sooner or later.

He grumbled and went to wander over to look at the other candies....when he had to adjust how he walked, what the hell!? He realized that he was now, rather uncomfortably, sporting a tail to match those ears. Great....

Well at least he wasn't floating towards the ceiling. His annoyed look was soon replaced with a wide grin as he now had a chance to observe the mayhem better. He snorted and barked out a laugh. Oh he reaaally had to look around to see if anything hilarious had happened to someone who deserved it. His eyes scanned the room and he spotted kiku who seemed to be cradling a small child in a Hufflepuff uniform...eh...perhaps just a shrunken student it seemed but it was still a rather funny image. He strolled up to Kiku and the boy.

"Ahahaha Kiku~ I did not know you were a parent at such a tender age~!" He said in an obviously joking tone, his new found ears alert and listening to all the sounds in the room. "Whats your name little guy~?" He grinned at the small boy in an amused fashion.

((Since France requested Neko of some sort, here you go lol ))

“This trip to Hogsmeade is no excuse for students to forget the rules.”

“Prefects are expected to uphold their duties even off school grounds.”

“The students’ behaviour reflects on the school. Make sure that they don’t do something that’ll tarnish our reputation.”

And blah, blah, blah.

Those teachers really knew how to kill the excitement of going to Hogsmeade for the Prefects. Francis had lost count how many teachers had given him this lecture about still being responsible and keeping an eye on the younger students as if they were still in school.

Screw it all. This trip was when he was supposed to have fun. No school work to worry about and no Prefect duties to be concerned about. He was going to ignore all that like the smarter bunch of his fellow Prefects and enjoy this day of fun like every other student. He convinced himself of this before they had made their way to leave the school, and once he had gotten to Hogsmeade his mind hadn’t changed a bit.

The last time he had been he had come with a date. However this time he thought he’d look around at the other stores before picking one of the girls walking around and dragging her off to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. So many girls found that place to be romantic and sweet, but he was much more interested in the fact that it was placed away from the busier streets of Hogsmeade. After his date was giddy from how charming he was by taking them to that place, he would have no problem taking them to somewhere more private for something a bit more physical.

While most students had ran off to shops like Honeydukes and Zonko’s, Francis instead had gone looking through certain shops for loose ingredients he could use for potions. He was running low on his private stock and he couldn’t get away with taking too many spare ingredients from the potions class’ storeroom. The last thing he was working on, eye shadow that changed colours with a person’s mood, was instead changing colours every time the person wearing it blinked. There needed to be something in it to stabilise the colour change more, but he wasn’t sure which ingredient would work best with his current mixture.

On his way between looking through stores, he literally bumped into someone, stumbling slightly. “Oh, sorry- huh?” He froze when he saw the person he bumped into had multiple legs and was struggling enough to stand as it was, even with her friends aiding her. His bump had caused her to fall, and while normally he would have rushed to help a fallen damsel, he was too stunned to move. It was only after a minute when he remembered he hadn’t moved did he quickly swoop in to help; it wasn’t long til she was on her feet again, all of her feet.

He looked around after that incident, seeing many other strange sights. So many students were walking around half transfigured. It must be the result of a prank. Though from what he could see, while others struggled, many laughed it off. He wasn’t any less confused by this however, and he couldn’t be more relieved when he saw two students who were familiar among this mess. “Gilbert, Kiku!”

He hastened to their side, putting an arm around Gilbert – intending it to be in a friendly manner – and that was when he finally noticed the tiny Hufflepuff in Kiku’s hands. “Do either of you know what’s… eh, William? What happened to you?” He was almost tempted to poke the mini William, almost. Fortunately he resisted, as he had something else to poke, that being Gilbert’s new ears. “And you.”

William recognised Kiku's voice instantly, and quickly accepted the offer to get out of harm's way. He climbed onto the other student's hand, and was lifted up to safety. "Thanks, Kiku. I'd really appreciate help with buying sweets from here!" Now that he was up higher he could see what was happening around them, and he felt more safe than he did on the floor with all the students walking around. Some people had experienced even worse effects from the candy than him, and he was thankful that he'd only shrunk as he watched a student who was floating around like a helium balloon.

He was soon distracted from that thought by a student he hadn't seen before who was sporting dog ears who knew Kiku. Maybe they were in the same year and William just hadn't seen him before? The dog ears actually looked kind of neat! He laughed at him teasing Kiku before responding to his question. "I'm William, and I don't remember seeing you before. What's your name?"

Soon enough another student came to join them, and this one he recognised. It was Francis, one of the Ravenclaw prefects. "Hey, Francis! The sample candy they're handing out did this to me. It randomly transforms people who eat it." He looked up at the three of them. “Does anyone have any idea how long it’ll be until the transfiguration spells wear off?”

((Feel free to add in oddities of your own...I'm just writing down whatever comes to mind ^^' ))

Kiku gently lifted William up, placing him on his shoulder with ample room for the student to climb atop his head should he wish to, figuring William would be more secure with his collar to clutch. He would also be able to hear the Hufflepuff better, which would remind him not to use his shoulder for anything like shouldering through the crowds to obtain sweets...not like he did that anyway. However, the shop was exceptionally crowded today, partially from the hype surrounding the new treat and partially due to the transfigured patrons. Compared to a good majority around them, Kiku seemed utterly normal and quite at home with the assorted beings in the shop.

He spoke, careful not to speak too loudly in case the little Hufflepuff's ears were sensitive with his new size. "I would be happy to assist you today, Anderson-san. If you have a list I'll be happy to obtain them for you." The offer to pay for everything too sat silently in his words, though he reasoned William wouldn't argue when even his money had decided to shrink with him. "I am sure that shopping will be an extra challenge today, but I will do everything I can to keep you safe." He smiled, readying himself to plunge into the crowds towards the back where more of the sweets were kept.

A familiar voice caught his attention, and soon he was pausing in his mission to help William and looking at another familiar(ish) face. "Ah, Belischmidt-san?" He smiled at him, though his eyes were clearly focused on the newly sprouted ears and tail that made the other student look like something straight out of a manga. He stopped himself from commenting on it though, remembering that the other student was rather sensitive about liking them. Instead, he simply tilted his head, silently asking the Slytherin if he realized just how much he looked like a manga character. "It looks like you had some of the sample candy too. I suppose the candy would be rather nice if one had forgotten their costume for an event, like the ones I have seen in my home and in foreign places."

He glanced to William carefully, not wanting to make sudden movements and jostle the poor Hufflepuff. "Oh, he is rather adorable, isn't he? I think he will be a lot safer up here than on the floor. I suppose that would make me a rather fit parent, wouldn't it?" He returned the teasing, then smiled at the newest addition to their growing gathering. "Ah, Bonnefoy-san...how fortunate that the transformations Beilschmidt-san and Anderson-san underwent are not as difficult to recognize as..." He trailed off, his gaze flicking to a new student who had just burst into a walking bush garden. His (or her, he couldn't tell) friend followed, panicking as his (or her) head exploded into multicolored ribbons that blew about in a breeze that seemed to only surround them. "...some of the others."

"I believe the man with the licorice beard is the one handing out the samples. We could ask him...but I would guess it would wear off in a couple of hours, like the other pranks at Zonko's. It doesn't seem to have any ill effects on the senses...except for those few unfortunate to turn into balloons or something." Another pop and another person walked by, their head transformed into a rather loudly-colored air horn. Each nervous squeak came out as another loud blast, causing several patrons in the shop to turn their heads and stroll over to see what the ruckus was about. "I was just about to help Anderson-san obtain his sweets, since it will be a little difficult for him with his new size."

"Yo Francis~ I did not know you would be free today... I thought you would be to busy with 'prefect duties' " Gilbert chuckled and smiled, doing the quote marks gesture with his fingers. Gilbert had grown use to the French-mans affections during his stay here, at first it had been such a strange gesture but now it just seemed almost second nature to accept it and actually felt happy that the other treated him in such. Francis was also a transfer student who had moved here from Beauxbaton Academy so there was a sense of unspoken comradery about being the 'new student'.

His concentration was broken from his friend to look down at the small boy again when he asked him a question. "Oh?" He raised a brow in mock surprise. "You don't know the awesome me?" He ruffled the small students hair. "Well listen up~ My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, Exchange student from Durmstrang who is now studying at Hogwarts in Slytherin house~!" He introduced himself like he was a character in a novel or movie.

"Hm?" He looked at Kiku, getting a bit more reserved when the other gives him that knowing look. He scratched behind his own head and laughed, a gesture that was becoming common around the Japanese boy. "Heh, I think if I showed up anywhere in your home I would be mistaken for some sort of dog demon." He gave Kiku that look back, letting him know that yes Gilbert did know that he looked an awful lot like something that would appear in a manga, in particular he really was reminded of a certain half dog demon with similar coloured hair to his own. "Although it would of been a lot more awesome if I had grown something like a monkey tail, hey kiku~?" He grinned, knowing that Kiku would understand the reference but no one else will.

"Oh and no need to ask...The man with the licorice beard said that it would wear off 'sooner or later' so I presume that it all depends on the individual whether it is 'sooner or later'." Gilbert shrugged, his silver dog ear twitching as he explained. He laughed as someone with a head the same size and colour of tomato walked past, their hair now green."Honestly I am glad that I did not end up looking too ridiculous...it would have been really un-awesome to end up looking like a complete fool." His tail started to wag slightly in amusement.

"Well if you are going to pick out sweets, I would not mind being shown what is worth buying... we don't get a lot of these sweets where I come from and I don't want to end up with more sweets with strange side effects or odd flavours. Oh! And after that you guys should come into Zonkos...then some butterbeers hm~?" He elbowed Francis lightly in the side so the other knew he was including him when he asked.

Kiku covered his mouth with his hand, concealing his smile and a soft laugh at the silver-haired student's comments. He had to agree; it would have been more ironic if he had sprouted a monkey tail, though the canine look suited him well. Each time he smiled, he showed off slightly pointed teeth, and his laugh seemed more like a bark now. His red eyes completed the look, making him look more demonic than any of the other slightly canine people Kiku had glimpsed through the crowd. The look really did suit him, though Kiku kept the thoughts to himself. He did not want to embarrass the other student, especially in front of people he did not know...or knew would tease him about it to no end. He didn't know William or Francis well enough (despite living with Francis), but more importantly he simply had no reason to comment on it.

Instead, he lowered his hand carefully, not wanting to jostle the Hufflepuff on his shoulder. "Oh, that is a relief to hear. Some of them do look rather silly, especially the ones who have changed almost completely. At least those who are defying gravity right now will eventually return to normal, though I hope that no one stands below them for long..." He glanced off, watching some of them, his focus drifting from one person to another. Their strange appearances sent his mind to muse randomly, and he wondered if he ought to give one of the candies a try himself. However, he remembered then that he had promised to help the tiny Hufflepuff purchase his sweets, and so he pushed the distractions from his mind and ried to focus on the task at hand.

"Oh..." He turned his gaze to the Slytherin, realizing he was speaking. Had he really zoned out that much? "Of course, it would be fun to shop with you as well, Beilschmidt-san. I am sure that with all of us..." He included Francis in his gaze this time, giving his housemate a soft smile. "...we will be able to find the best sweets here. Let's just hope that none of the students transfigure into something that likes sweets enough to eat them all." He teased lightly, watching as one of the floating students shrieked as a wand was pointed in her direction. "Oh dear...that is definitely not the way to get a student down from the ceiling. I'd imagine that would actually hurt quite a lot." He resisted the urge to tilt his head, still aware of the Hufflepuff on his shoulder.

"Well, I suppose we ought to get started then." He glanced around at their small gathering, then turned his attention to the nearest shelf. "Nearest to us is the shelf with the every-flavour beans. I believe they recently added new flavors, so I was thinking of picking up a few. When they say every flavor, they mean it too, so you could get some very nasty ones. But that's half the fun, which is why I like them. Would anyone else like some?" He mainly directed his question at the Hufflepuff on his shoulder, but if the other two wanted them he would simply bring back an armful. With all of the various transformed students around (and above, and possibly below) them, it would be easier for one person to slip through the crowd to the shelf than for a small group.

Chaos with sweets. It would be fun to watch the reactions to everyone else who took some, only to realise too late that it was a prank. However any amusement he could have found in that was short lived. That's right, he's a damn Prefect. As soon as the teachers get onto this, immediately they'd be expecting Prefect help in finding any remaining sweets and confiscating them from students so that they couldn't use them in the castle.

Why did he accept the Prefect position anyway?

"Don't talk to me about Prefect duties. As far as I'm concerned, they don't exist outside of the school." That's the thing about school titles - they should stay at the school. He never understood how the British continue to want to flaunt around some stupid little badge when they were supposed to be having a break. It's like working on Christmas. You had to be desperate or lacking any life to consider it. "Besides, I'll be having my work cut out for me as soon as teachers suspect any student trying to bring these sweets back into the castle. Don't be surprised if we have to frisk and strip some of you down." The last sentence was said in jest, although he wouldn't deny that it would have made confiscating sweets interesting.

Gilbert didn't appear to mind the poke to his ear. He saw one twitch, making him curious as to whether or not these ears would function like dogs' ears too. So like the supportive friend he was, he started to scratch Gilbert behind the ear, hoping to see some reaction from it. "I think he would make a good dog though. He's already half way there - loud, always wanting attention, always getting others to get him food, and constantly wanting you to "play" with him." The rest of Gilbert and Kiku's conversation was lost on him. All the anime references going over his head, though he brushed it off as some sort of silly English thing he wasn't interested in.

The insanity around them appeared to be increasing. When you had students around you with a horn for a head, making those sharp loud obnoxious sounds every time the student was attemping to curse at the friends around them laughing, or screaming for help as they're fearing of falling into the sky as it were, it was quite hard not to go over there and try to be the "responsible prefect" and do something about it. He almost had the mind to stop that student prodding the floating girl, until some of her friends ended up chasing that student off and began to bring their friend down with a few spells.

Turning back his attention to three around him, he tried to recall one of the last things he heard which didn't have to do with Gilbert being a dog or monkey. Oh yes, it was something about going to Honeydukes and Zonkos. "I'm up for that. But we'll have to be careful of William being on your shoulder." He looked at Kiku specifically when saying this. "There are a lot of students in those stores and it's easy to get bumped around going in them." Was there a magical "seat-belt" charm to make sure William didn't fall? Because it would come quite in handy now.

William kept quiet while the others talked, and focused mainly on staying on Kiku's shoulder. He didn't think he was going to fall off or anything, but stranger things have happened and he didn't know if he could cast a levitating spell on himself. He knew the moves and words of course, but he'd never seen anyone use it on themselves before. He figured if he did fall off someone would catch or levitate him back up.

The other three all seemed to know each other or sort of know each other, and he watched as Francis scratched behind Gilbert's dog ears and wondered if he would react like an actual dog would. He didn't understand a lot of Gilbert and Kiku's conversation, but his focus wasn't really on what they were saying. He started watching the other students who had been transformed and again counted himself lucky that he only shrunk and that his clothes and belongings had shrunk with him so he still had his wand. He was also thankful that this prank was played by the shopkeepers, and didn't envy the prefects who would probably have to sort all of this out if the students were still transformed when it was time to go back to Hogwarts.

"Every Flavour Beans? Yes please, Kiku! I'll pay you back when me and my money are normal sized again." William said. He had been thinking of buying a box of Every Flavour Beans and a couple of chocolate frogs, but he knew the owners of Honeydukes probably wouldn't accept miniature money if they noticed him at all. He hoped that he would get to change back sometime soon, and preferably before Hufflepuff's next Quidditch match. He couldn't hold the Quaffle much less throw it looking like this! He had to admit the Every Flavour Beans would last a lot longer though.

He looked up at Francis and Gilbert and wondered if they were looking for sweets too or if they just randomly turned up at the shop. If he knew what kind of ones they liked he could point Kiku in the right direction, but unfortunately he didn't. "What kind of sweets do all of you like? I like Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs." William was still trying to complete his collection of chocolate frog cards, but the few rare ones he needed for a complete set seemed to be incredibly difficult to find. He was certain they'd turn up someday, but he wondered if he'd be an old man by then.

Gilbert grinned at his success in being able to spend some time with Kiku without it looking like he was specifically looking for it. Gilbert was always hanging out with Francis so with Francis being there and Kiku being his room mate it would not seem that odd that Kiku was tagging along as well. Gilbert still had been trying to keep his image and so far it had been going well and it was not like the Slytherin found anything wrong with Kiku personally he was still a bit edgy about doing anything too embarrassing before he had won over enough friends that were not just judging him based of rumours.

He looked at William. "I have not tried much... I have only had chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every flavour Beans...besides that Germany and Scandinavia has a lot of different candies and chocolates that I don't see on the shelves... I am sort of glad that licorice is not as popular here it seemed as if it was in everything while I was in Durmstrang." Gilbert was not a fan of licorice, he liked his sweets, sweet after all. "I guess I like Chocolate the best...Sour sweets and Ginger~" He was hoping that he could get some German Gingerbread sent over from his homeland.

"Ja, we can all have a look around....and you and Francis seem like the only ones in here who seem able to help me right now, everyone else seems a bit to distracted right now.." He leant into the scratching touch from Francis at first without even noticing that he was doing it as he glanced around the sweet shop to take in the amusing sight again, he thought of something like this happening at Durmstrang and he was utterly amused at the enraged faces of his old professors which left an amused smirk on his lips. His musings were suddenly interrupted with the pleasant feeling of having his ears being scratched behind. His eyes started to close and stayed lidded halfway as he let out a small pleased dog-like noise. He tilted his head a little more, his tail starting to wag eagerly as the other scratched in just the right place.

He continued to act that way until he realized what he was doing and he froze opening his eyes slowly and realizing that more than a few people were looking at him. He laughed awkwardly and shoved Francis away with a friendly shove. "Eh...don't do that you are going to get weird reactions while the candies potion is still in affect." He was hoping that the blush on his face was not that obvious. He moved away from Francis, his fur standing up a little as he crossed his arms and tried to look serious, however his tail was still wagging slightly.

He shifted awkwardly. "You guys seem to have your hands full, I suppose I can just wander around and look for myself.... I doubt anything else that is actually for sale is going to give me more transformations..." He did not really want to leave the others company but he could feel the embarrassment burning through his body and he just wanted to leave the situation and he wondered if the others were actually distracted enough for him to run off and go hide in a cave until his ears went away.

Lili walked around Hogsmeade, looking at all the stores. She hadn't be allowed to go there last year, as they were rather cautious about the wizard world even after three years, but she had managed to convince them to let her come this year. Now, she was admiring all the magic everywhere.

As she walked around the town, she noticed a big commotion near one of the stores. She got even more curious about what was going on when she came closer and saw strange sights such as someone with rainbow-coloured hair, and someone with dog ears and a tail.

She walked closer to one of the groups, the one with the dog-person, near the store to figure out what was happening. As she got closer, she noticed another member of the group had a small child on his shoulder. No, when she got closer still she noticed it was a boy around her own age, who had somehow been shrunken. He was really quite cute. Cute in more ways than one, a small part of her mind said before being silenced by the rest of it. However, she still couldn't stop herself from saying out loud...

"So adorable~!"

(*waves to Lili* You joined us! Now the two of us can gush over how adorable William is~ *shot* <3)

Kiku did his best not to look guilty at the mention of students sneaking the sweets back onto campus. He had bought some to give to Alfred, though hadn't he mentioned it in the direct presence of his housemate? It seemed he had gotten a lucky break, though if Francis found out he would certainly be in trouble. He could only hope that he could get the sweets to Alfred before then...and then that Alfred would use them responsibly. After all, he meant no harm, and it didn't seem like the sweets did anything permanent to anyone except possibly embarrass them and create memories for their fellow classmates.

"Hm, well, I don't think there are any miniature seat belts, Bonnefoy-san." He mused aloud, turning his head to face his house Prefect. "However, I am sure that with all of us watching him, Anderson-san will be just fine." After a moment of thought, an idea struck him. "Anderson-san, I am going to adjust my tie. I just thought I'd let you know." Careful not to move his shoulders too much, Kiku tugged at his tie and undid it. After some more meticulous fiddling, he made sure the material crossed over his shoulder. William would be able to tuck his legs underneath it like a makeshift belt or hold onto it for extra support. "Is this more acceptable, Bonnefoy-san? I apologize for not wearing my uniform properly, but I believe that Anderson-san's safety is more important."

Kiku turned his attention to the Slytherin, sensing his discomfort. Clearly, his transformation had embarrassed him...or Francis treating him like a dog had done it. Either way, he did not want to lose the other student's company just yet. "Oh, but there are many sweets here that I am sure you would like, Beilschmidt-san. I believe I see some over on the same shelf as the Every-Flavour Beans. If you are not sure, I could always purchase them for you to try. I enjoy most of the sweets here, and if you happen to like it you can have it." He tried to put the other student at ease with one of his genuine and rare smiles, hoping that he would stay with their little group. His gaze drifted back to the shelves as he mentally created a shopping list of his own.

At William's request, Kiku carefully ducked beneath a few of the floating students until he stood face-to-face with the shelves of sweets. Every-flavor Beans lined the upper shelves, while another candy he did not recognize took up the lower. The shelf at arms length seemed to be clearing up fast, probably students buying treats to send home to their families. "Please do not worry, Anderson-san. I am glad to be helping you." He stood carefully on tip-toe, using one hand to steady himself against the shelf. With his other (William-free) hand, he retrieved two boxes, one for himself and one for William. "Is this enough, Anderson-san? If not I can--"

He was interrupted by a student's cry of "adorable" very close to him. He turned, catching sight of another student from Hufflepuff admiring the small student on his shoulder. "Ah...you are...Lili-san, yes?" He held out one of the boxes of sweets to her. "Were you shopping for these as well? They seem to enjoy placing the boxes where only the taller students can reach." There were mercifully a few at his level still, so it would not be hard for him to retrieve another box of his own. "If you'd like to join us, we're just shopping for sweets."

((EDIT: Sorry about that Lili...I edited my post so it should be fine. If you catch something else like that, feel free to PM me ^_^))

Will was watching the other three boys until he heard a very familiar voice saying something was adorable. He looked around to see who it was and spotted Lili, one of the fourth year Hufflepuffs standing there. He wondered who she thought was adorable, and guessed it was probably Gilbert seeing as he was being kind of cute reacting to Francis's ear scratches like an actual dog. But no, it seemed Lili was actually looking at him!

"Thank you." He said, and smiled. "Are you looking for some sweets as well, Lili? Would you like to join us?" He knew Lili was in a different year to him, and this seemed like a nice opportunity to spend some time with her. He didn't get a lot of time to spend with students who weren't in his year and classes or on the Quidditch team since a lot of his time was taken up by studying and Quidditch.

"Oh! If you haven't met the others already this is Kiku," He said and patted Kiku's shoulder before pointing at Francis and Gilbert who still had the dog tail and ears. "That's Francis and that's Gilbert, and I'm William. I'm in Hufflepuff, and I'm a 5th year. Kiku and Francis are in Ravenclaw, and Gilbert's in Slytherin."

He wanted to ask if she was interested in trying out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team too, but he figured now wasn’t really the best of times to recruit people to the team and just quietly he wanted to wait until the shrinking spell wore off before doing so. It wasn’t that he didn’t want new people to join or anything, but he would prefer to ask people when he didn’t have to climb and stand on things to be noticed.