.............unacknowledged. Valerie did not yet know this girl's name [Awarlesta Black] but hers was now officially a face the Wampus would not forget.

Cute, Kyle. Borderline adorable really.

Electing not to dignify his response with one of her own, she simply averted her eyes elsewhere. Elsewhere, unfortunately, happened to be Jesus and his unwanted banter. "......only in your wildest dreams," she snorted yet unable to hide the subtle turn up of the corner of her lips. She poked at the cream puff looking mass on her plate with a bit of an upturned nose before stabbing it with her fork. "As long as it is palatable I suppose I cannot really complain."

Please be so. If for no other reason other than she would not have to suffer through cleaning her plate.

The appearance of James earned her former classmate a curt nod in acknowledgement but nothing more. She was currently preoccupied with trying to eat this savory cream puff impaled on her fork. Although she was far more interested in what Katherine had to say about the potions facilities than any other conversation going on at the table. Although she hardly found 'more than adequate' to be an encouraging description.

That one girl, the small one [sarahlooo] who was giving the older Westwood boy a hard time by pestering him with irrelevant questions...Valerie decided that she rather liked her. Which would perhaps come as a shock to Kyle and Jesus when they no doubt discussed things later that evening, but she felt no urge to defend her opinions. You either understood or or you did not.

When the Hogwarts Headmistress stood to speak, Valerie put down her half eaten savory cream puff (of which she had come to the conclusion are more than just palatable) and listened. Her eyes narrowed on the Book of Merlin as the woman spoke, daring it to pick anyone other than herself as the representative for her house.

As the book rose and began to release the names of its elected champions, her eyes scanned the hall to see who (if any) elicited any sort of immediate unease. Irene. Certainly not. Mason. He looked the sort that would struggle to charm himself out of a wet paper bag. Jesus. No comment. Dora. Potentially.

And there it was. Her name.

Running her tongue over her teeth once more, Valerie settled into her seat with a confident sideways grin. Perhaps she had not given Aurora enough credit with her premature assumptions? Returning to her cream puff and taking another bite, her eyes gleamed when she heard Kyle's name called. Pity she would have to put him in his place.

Tejashree Peale. So that was that one's name. Swallowing the remaining bit of food, Valerie's eyes locked on the girl and remained there for a time. She vaguely heard the rest of the names spoken aloud by the book (questioning somewhere in the back of her mind what, exactly, constituted as worthy) and felt her blood already beginning to boil eagerly.

Let the games begin, Hogwarts. Let the games begin.