Originally Posted by emjay

Ethan grinned at the boy's enthusiasm for the sticky trainers.. so he did get them.. Awesome! "Oh, you know it," he said still grinning. "I just had to.." Once he started thinking about some of the fun that could be had with them, he couldn't help himself. He was still trying to work out if he could somehow use them in conditioning for Quidditch, but hadn't quite figured that out. "Yeah, I know we could have a good time.. oh, who's your cousin? Is he a Ravenclaw too?" Or she, he supposed as Garrick didn't really specify.. but he wondered if this person was a housemate and how many other Claws might have a pair for walking on walls and his wheels began turning, thinking of what kind of fun a group of them could have.

And the next person to arrive was Eliza who earned herself a wide grin as Ethan noticed her presence nearby. "Hey Eliza.." he responded in kind. "I hope my aunt didn't change your mind about trying out," he chuckled. Ethan knew his aunt was so fanatical about the sport and she had worked them really hard over the summer. But that was just her way of whipping people into game-worthy shape. "She wants me to let her know how tryouts go and everything.."

Then he caught on to her next spoken-aloud thoughts, not that he was surprised or anything.. that was what was on everybody's mind. "Seems to be the million galleon question," he said with an amused smirk. But that smirk soon faded into a small frown at her next words. They had come in fourth place.. well at least in terms of House Cup and Gobstones, third for Quidditch which in his opinion really wasn't any better. Did they really need to be reminded of that fact with this second-rate table-ware. "You mean, like a punishment?" His mind hadn't really gone there before, but he supposed it wouldn't be too far-fetched to show them negative consequences for their performance as sort of a negative incentive to make them do better this term. Or would it..? Now he was second-guessing himself.

Shaking his head, he said, "No.. I don't think they would do that. I'm not really sure what it's about though." he shook his head again as he heard her question to Beezus. "How could they have budget cuts after all that money they raised during that fundraiser in the library?" Surely they had more than enough to at the very least keep maintenance on the castle. With as much money he heard was raised, they probably could afford gold-plated place settings. "Unless.." His mind trying to figure out the next thought that flashed through his mind, the boy furrowed his brow as he began examining the spork again, deep in thought.
Ethan turned his eyes again to the sorting hat when it appeared to have just chosen a new Ravenclaw. This girl seemed to be a first year, unlike the other two new Claws who were a bit older, transfer students. He watched her come to the table and, seeing that she seemed a bit nervous, gave her a friendly smile. "Hi there.." he said, trying to catch her attention. "Welcome to Ravenclaw.. I'm Ethan, one of the prefects. If you need anything or have any questions, feel free to ask me or our other prefect, Beezus." He gestured to the girl sitting next to him. That was part of the job, right? He glanced up to the sorting hat to see if any other new ones would be joining them.. so far, just three.

Ethan nodded at Beezus' response to the eating utensil. He did think the thing was strange yet rather inventive at the same time. Still something was so cheap about it. "I suppose the combination does make it rather useful," he said, glancing back down at it. "Though I might like it better if it were crafted from another kind of material, like.. I don't know, silver?" Or really any kind of metal.. he still wasn't sold on the spork, inventive or not, mostly because of the atmosphere it contributed to. He shook his head lightly as he continued to assess the disposable table settings. He didn't know what was going on either and it gave him a rather unsettling feeling. Apparently it did for Beezus too and he looked up as she voiced that thought. Unpleasant..? "I certainly hope not.." he began, his mind drifting back to his first year here and when they had to camp out in the Great Hall for months and didn't even have a t table to eat at. That was unpleasant. "I hope this is not a sign of things to come," he added, picking up the spork and looking at it a bit distractedly. Though that wouldn't be too surprising.. Something weird was definitely going on.
Ethan nodded a bit as Christmas gave him just a little more detail of her holiday. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it much or maybe she just didn't do a whole lot, though nothing wrong with a relaxing summer anyway. "Oh, I had quite a busy summer," he began, when she turned the question on him. "Did some traveling to the US before heading back home to Germany.. then I worked in an Alpine house and got in some Quidditch training." Busy.. but a really great summer..

Ethan eyes followed the next person to approach the table.. a familiar Claw, though he had just acquainted himself with the younger boy over summer. "Hi, Benjy.." the seventh year greeted him with a nod as he sat down next to Garrick. Then his eyes followed the toad as it leaped into one of the cups and he raised an eyebrow. The bloke wasn't gonna drink out of that now, was he? Shrugging it off, he looked back up at Benjamin as he expressed the same thoughts pretty much everyone else had.. though this one seemed to have yet another reasoning. "Well, there's a theory," he said as the boy mentioned elves. "Maybe they're on strike?" Though the boy wasn't sure why they would be.. they all seemed more than happy to do their job here.

Ethan nodded happily in response to the new Claw's question. He really loved his old school and missed it at times. "I did.. for four years. This is my third, and last, year here at Hogwarts." That part was sad in a way.. he was excited to be done, yet sad to be leaving. No thinking about that now though, he was intent on making his last year fun. "Nice to meet you, Niamh.. does that mean you're a fourth year then," he asked as she mentioned her age. Then he bowed his head slightly as she expressed her thanks. "No problem.. I'm one of the prefects here. If you ever need anything or just have any questions, feel free to let me know." That came with the badge, right?

Oh, there was the girl who had sheared a compartment with him and Min.. along with a few others.. on the train ride home last term. "Hello, Gwen," he said with a nod as she addressed him. "Good summer?" That was always the thing to say at the opening feast, right? As a way of catching up and all.. though this term also included the disposable place settings as well.. Congratulations..? He looked at her curiously for a moment before looking down at the badge on his robes as he saw her gaze drift there. Oh, right.. "Thanks," he said, gracing her with an appreciative grin.