Bella took the first spoon in front of her and placed it in her bowl, she scooped some soup into her spoon and put it in her mouth.
Once she was finished with her soup and placed the spoon back in the bowl, "Very delicious."

Melinda did just as the professor ordered. She saw the soup in front of her and tried to do it correctly. "Alright..." She said to herlself, as no dripping came to her serviette.

"No problem."

Alexis had to suppress a giggles when the Headmistress mentioned the Americans, Alexis's father had never had a high opinion of them but the smirk was wiped off her face at the mention of holding your fork in your left hand! Alexis knew she was backwards but she just couldnt eat with a fork in her left hand!

Ashley looked at the soup. Soup in class..What about the no food outside the great hall rule? Ashley thought to herself.

With a bit of a crash, a scrawney house elf with enormous hazel eyes and huge bat-like ears flopping over her face stumbled into the room, wearing a slightly dirty tea towel around her waist. Quirly hurried over to the Headmistress, practically panting; she had nearly been late. "Quirly must be apologizing for her latenesses! Quirly is a bad, bad house elf!" she squeaked frantically, her withered hands wringing a shread of her tea towel out of nervousness. She wasn't a particularly practical elf at times, and hadn't thought to repair it when she had tripped and fallen on the way. She snapped her fingers once. Upon the table in front of the students appeared a plethora of different kinds of soups, delicious-looking browned, golden rolls, and small dishes of butter. Along the length of the table, every so often there was a small silver pitcher of ice water. With another sharp snap of the elf's fingers, the food was gracefully dished out to the students, not a drop spilled.

Ashley looked at the house elf
"poor thing" Ashley whisperd and shook her head poor poor thing

OOC: I'm going to bed, but a few reminders as I plan to leave this thread open:

* You do NOT RP coming or going now that class has started. I will take points away if it happens again.

* Just RP as much as we've done and then wait for the next course to be served sometime tomorrow.

* Keep the chatting to a BARE MINIMUM. If it doesn't have to do with class, you probably don't want to talk about it.

* Don't RP that I'm ignoring you. I'll respond tomorrow. Promise.

Have fun with your soup and rolls!

Anna's attention was suddenly drawn to a house elf that came running and panting into the classroom. She'd thought something was wrong at first, but when she looked a little closer, she realized that the elf was just being a typical elf focused only on serving her masters and making them happy.

She watched the elf as it twisted its little tea towel out of what appeared to be nervousness. Anna looked back down at her napkin, trying to work with it as the professor had instructed, when she heard a loud snapping sound. She looked up and was quite startled to see a table full of delicious food. Her first instinct was to throw all etiquette aside and dig in, but she thought better of it. Instead, she just stared at the food as if taking her eyes off it would force it to go away. She hoped the professor's next set of instruction would be to eat the good food!

She smiled politely as the House elf made the food appear on the table. The little thing looked terrified, hardly the imagine Daphne had of elves at Hogwarts. "Thank you," she said gratefully to the little elf.

Daphne lightly gripped the spoon in her right hand, carefully doing what the professor instructed. Even her etiquette class years ago never went into such excruciating detail. This was something she knew wouldn't come in handy. Nevertheless, she appreciated the formality, even if it was superfluous. She quietly sipped the soup. On her empty stomach, it was greatly appreciated.

She ripped the bread apart, but found it much harder than she thought. She almost reached to grab the knife, but recognized it was not "correct." After getting a few crumbs on the table cloth, the bread was split in two, and Daphne liberally applied butter to both sides. She took a bite, put the piece of bread down, then casually picked up the serviette and dabbed a few crumbs from her mouth.

Juniper’s eyes widened as the silverware appeared before her. She was surprised not by the sudden appearance of utensils, but by the many different types of forks, spoons, and knives. Were there really that many courses in a meal?

She fingered the outermost fork, admiring the shininess of it. Juniper had, of course, used a fork before, but hers were never so shiny. They were all fake silver, and therefore not very shiny. At all.

So. There were lots of silverware, but if all she had to remember was that she was supposed to work from the outside in . . . that would be simple enough for Juniper.

Juniper’s eyes filled with compassionate tears as she saw the distressed house-elf. “Oh, no,” she murmured at a barely audible volume. “Quirly’s not a bad house-elf. You’re not that late. But thank you for bringing the food.”

When the food appeared, Juniper bit her lip as she carefully picked up the spoon that was farthest to the outside. Tip the bowl away and spoon out, she said in her head. She tipped her soup bowl slightly and dipped her spoon in the warm liquid. She brought the spoon up to her mouth, keeping it tipped out, and deposited the soup into her mouth so she could eat it, even though she was no longer particularly keen on eating the food that had made Quirly the house-elf so stressed.

Sam jumped as she heard a noise to her left. She looked down to see a house-elf scurrying in. She let a small giggle escape her and turned back to her soup. Ok. So which one was she suppose to use to eat it? Thinking hard, she remembered Rae saying something about working from the outside to the inside. Finding a spoon to the far side, she picked it up. Now to eat without spilling on herself. The fun part.

*Suddenly, a plethora of food appeared before Sheeta. She suddenly felt very hungry but she restrained herself from grabbing food so that she could still be an example to the rest of the class.*

Rian had sat quietly through the whole lesson. Why were they being taught manners in a Defense Against the Dark Arts class?
She looked at the array of Silverware. Wouldn't it be easier to use on fork, one spoon, and one knife? She shook her head.
"Poor thing." she said quietly when the house elf entered.

Ari began to squirm in her seat. She hated sitting still for long periods of time, and she was hungry. She was just about to move her napkin from her lap and get more comfortable when she heard a loud snap.. Her head shot up at the look of a house elf and she grinned having not met this one yet. The elf snapped her fingres, allowing the food to appear before them.

"Thank you Quirly." she said smiling at the poor elf, who looked as if she were about to burst into tears. She had a soft spot for the elfs. Never getting much credit since being seperated. She wondered if they were all together, or if the girl house elfs were with the girls' and the boy house elfs with the boys. Frowning at that hideous thought, she began by picking up a roll and ripping it apart.

Taking a small glomp of butter with her knife, she carefully speard a small dollup onto one side of roll before eating a tiny nibble. She had to stop herself from putting the whole thing into her mouth and making a pig out of herself, but she was hungry! Finally she finished with the roll, satisfied she had done it right. Next, the soup. How had qirely known she loved Chicken Noodle she wondered, throwing a warm glance in the Elfs direction before picing up the first spoon she saw and tilting her bowl away from her. Carefully she swept up a small portion of the soup and made sure no drop could be seen before putting it to her lips. "Hey, this is great!" she exclaimed, the brooth warming her up. She continued scooping up small poriotns of the coup before dabbing her lips with the napkin.

Usagi shivered a little bit. "Why can't everyone do like Asians?!?!" In Vietnam, eating was waay simpler. They only use chopsticks and spoons. No hard rules whatsoever. She reached for a spoon, then gave the soup a taste. Extremely delicious.

So, it wasn't exactly cookies and cupcakes. But this was just as well! They were getting a meal! And they didn't have to sit in the Great Hall, feeling all self-conscious about the injustice of the seating and dining in there. Here, they were all equal and (mostly) all dressed up. Now, it was like they were all in a fancy restaurant, even with the House Elf.

Poor thing. Issy bit down on her lip. How awful - she hoped their House Elf (Spot) never felt like that. He did the cleaning at the house, and Issy had always made sure that her room was never too messy for him to tidy and if she got her clothes muddy, she'd always try hosing them off. Maybe she should apologize to him when she next went home...

Listening to Headmistress Rae, she nodded, picking up the fork with her left hand and knife with the fork, just to feel it out. Heehee. She was never this proper at home, least they be doing something all fancy. Setting them back down, she dropped her gaze to her soup, her stomach rumbling slightly. Flushing, she glanced to the side at her friends.

"I'm...er... apparently hungry," she mumbled, blushing and picking up her spoon.

Bowl tipped away, scoop soup out. Right, right. Doing so, she let the excess soup slosh out into the bowl before bringing it to her mouth. And... oh NUM it was yummy! Squealing, she turned to Juni.

"This should be served at meals," she told her friend, laughing and checking on Melly.

The rolls were probably just as excellent, she was certain.

If all the classes at Belle's was going to be like this then Tommy might like this place. She sat in her chair as the house elf appeared. Her father never had them in the house, but she still felt they were mistreated by wizards. She guessed it was the former slavery issues that she grew up with in Africa. She tried not to dwell on the elf, it was just upset her and this was not the time of the place to champion for the rights of magical creatures.

A slow smile spread across her face as the food appeared. She hadn't eaten since they arrived and that was a few weeks ago. She looked and wondered if she would feel like eating any of the soups. She didn't really see one she wanted to eat.

Rhiannon glanced at her soup for a second before starting to eat, making sure she followed the rules that the professor had given them. She knew she was going to have a problem with the knife and fork one, since she had grown up in America. But she wasn't going to think about it.

Once she had finished her soup, she carefully placed her spoon in the bowl before taking a roll. Separating it in two with her hand, she spread some butter onto it before taking a bite.

Celandine was quite relaxed with the ettiquette lesson; although she had been looking forward to learning DADA. She was extremely glad to be able to dress up; unlike Kayla, Celandine only wore skirts and dresses. The chairs hadn't given her any trouble either and she had been sitting quietly listening to the assorted questions of the others and noting who seemed as relaxed with this as she.

She took her spoon gently and skimmed the soup lightly, dipping the spoon at the edge of the bowl and moving it toward the centre as she had been taught. She sipped silently from the edge of the spoon. The soup was slightly too hot for her taste; so she placed the spoon in the bowl and folded her hands gently on her lap; sitting up straight as she waitied for the soup to cool slightly.

After a little while she picked up her roll and tore a small piece of gently, before spreading it lightly with butter. She took small dainty bites, and sat quietly; thinking about candles.

Kayla sat in her chair, nice and upright, elbows were off the table. Her dress was crinkle free after having smoothed it out a few times. She picked up the spoon and held it delicately in her hand and in one smooth motion she scooped up some soup and took a tiny sip. She replaced the spoon onto the bowl and folded her hands in her lap and listened to the conversation around her with a dreamy look on her face.

She almost wanted to burst out laughing, she never said she didn't have etiquette it was just the principle of it. When the time came for her to act like a lady she would but right now she was happy being the tomboy, she was trying very hard to refrain herself from picking up the roll and hurling it across the table.

She hoped the class would end soon, she was busting to get out of this ridiculous dress and get into the duelling arena, where she could blast things apart.

Nikki was kind of happy with this lesson, she was used to etiquette lessons because she always had to eat with her fathers 'business associates' although she really wanted to learn DADA. She was happy she could dress up rather then wearing her slytherin robes everywhere.

She took her spoon as she had been taught and dipped the spoon in slightly. She sipped silently from the spoon and brushed a single strained of hair from her face and was gald she wasn't at home, if she had done that at home she would have been disiplined.

Not usually the jumpy type, Steelsheen was surprised by the sudden appearance of the house elf squeaking and fussing over the dinning table. Steelsheen looked at her curiously, the appearance reminding her of the venerable Master at the Temple back home. When Quirly finished, Steelsheen gave her thanks to the house-elf, unsure if such gesture would even be welcomed.

She then took her spoon and dipped in into her soup the way Professor Rae instructed them. The soup was good, so good that Steelsheen wanted to take it all in quickly, but she reminded herself to take it 'the proper way' which was frustratingly slow and tedious. She sighed slowly, she truly wasnt a fan of fussy practices.

She then started with her rolls, which luckily was already halved. 'Dont cut the bread with your knife' she mused as the Professor's words echoed in her head. She eyed the blunt blade scornfully, "Wouldnt be much use even if we could." she muttered. 'There's only one good use for a blunt knife,' she thought, as she took a generous helping of the butter and playfully twirled the knife between her fingertips. She glanced around at her friends and settled on Kayla, who looked like she could hurl her bread across the table. With the loaded knife on her right hand, Steelsheen pressed its tip with her left finger. Ohhh the possibilities, she grinned mischievously as she imagined flicking the butter across the way.

Not that Saffron didn't like DADA, but just now, she was really, really sleepy. She didn't even feel like talking to anyone.

As Nathalie carefully spooned up her soup, occasionally eating a small piece of her roll, she sat very upright. Her skirt was spread carefully, her napkin on her lap. She looked every bit the demure young lady.

"This is stupid!" she thought. "I might as well have stayed at home and been taught by Mother." She could not remember a time when Mother had accepted the slightest mistake in table etiquette. Even as a very young child, she had been punished for mistakes that most people would consider normal in a toddler. When she was four, Mother had started giving her formal lessons in etiquette and deportment, again with punishment for the slightest lapse.

Not for the first time, she wondered if, somehow, Mother had a hand in all the rules and restrictions placed on the students at Belle's.

She glanced across the table, and saw Nikki. No doubt she'd had similar lessons from an early age. She wondered if Nikki felt as frustrated as she did by this waste of valuable DADA practice time.