"Oh, that's actually a good reason," Mariel said in response to Nathaniel's remark about focusing on studies. That almost sounds like something a Ravenclaw would say, she thought, before getting annoyed at herself for thinking in such stereotypes. She hated immediately being thought of as a bookworm just because of her sorting, even if she was. Anyway, she was a little impressed that he at least tried to be a good student; she didn't know him well enough to know if he actually was. "Next year, I expect?" Mariel asked with an inquisitive look.

Her face lit up. "So you come from a family of Quidditch fanatics too? That's really cool that your Dad played professionally, the Falcons are a decent team too. I have an aunt that played for the Holyhead Harpies, well, Great Aunt, I think. Anyway it was a long time ago. My father and both my sisters played at Hogwarts too. None of them played professionally though. I do love the pick-up games that my sisters and I play at home. I guess that's why I thought I'd be good enough to play on a team this year." Who knew they actually had something in common? Mariel was overjoyed to talk to someone else about Quidditch other than her own family. Everyone else she tried to talk to either looked at her like she was completely mental or, worse, hardly knew a thing about the game, and still looked at her like she was mental.

Mariel smiled at Nathaniel's friend and simply said, "Hello," still not knowing her name. She looked at her appraisingly before decided that she must have seen her at flying class, then turned back to look at Nathaniel quizzically when he mentioned about her sight. Seeing things through vibrations. Mariel had never heard of such a thing before. Curious.

Mariel's attention was once again diverted when she heard a familiar voice approaching the counter. "Hey, Liv," she grinned at her fellow housemate. And apparently Livvy was friends with the other girl, as she called her Kairi. To answer her question, Mariel gestured to the boy next to her and said, "This is Nathaniel. He was in our flying class." She did not, however, feel the need to add the fact that she met him by telling him to shut up and him yelling right back at her.