Tom's attention was drawn back to Oliver, who seemed to be a bit more animated than he'd been before. Tom was glad that he didn't seem to mind talking after all.

"He's eighteen," Tom replied. Then, because once he'd started talking about it he couldn't hold it in, he added, "We lived abroad when he was school age, and his school wasn't a boarding school so I got to see him nearly every day. I'm really glad I get to come to Hogwarts, but it's all really weird to me and I really miss him. And it hasn't even been a whole day yet!"

Tom was a bit wary of the excitable girl his new friend had drug down to sit next to him--things had always been quiet and orderly at home, and he was overwhelmed by the noise of the Great Hall generally and the energy of the blonde girl specifically--but nonetheless he tried his best to plaster a friendly smile on his face. It would be rude to ignore her as if she weren't sitting right there, after all.

He mustered his composure and managed to ask, "Ellery, is it?"