"I'm from the U.S." Minerva was about to start telling people a different place. She felt she was the only States person at Hogwarts..

It took him long enough to make his way to the table. Granted, he'd been looking for Arya after the train but had failed to find her. Fine, they'll have the Common Room for their talk tonight anyway, but still.

The first person he saw was one that he had no contact with during the summer, and he definitely didn't want to talk about anyone's summer, never mind the fact that his had been a pretty good one. If one scratched Lola out of that. No, not really, with or without Lola it was still good.

"Cassie!" he said, sitting next to his friend, "How are you?" the boy was smiling, and sitting with his back to the table. Pretty odd, no? Well, no. Not if you have the Ravenclaw table as your main view.

Now the Gryffindor table was great - no, it was the best. It had cartwheeling cookies, for Merlin's sake! Still, Paulie was curious about the other houses and students in them. Hence the reason the fifth year had taken a brief recess from chatting it up with the Gryffindors to go check out the black and yellow table. BLACK N YELLOW, BLACK N YELLOW.

As he casually walked around the table - perhaps looking like a weirdo, but that was nothing new - he caught one of the students saying something about Merlin's beard. His eyes lowered to the flatware before her. Was something wrong....?

Cassie's attention was drawn from the dirty silverware when she heard the familiar voice of none other than Treyen Lockhart. She giggled when he sat, hardly able to keep a straight face when looking at the boy. It had a lot to do with what happened the last time she had an extensive conversation with him..well her as Jai did. Turned out Jai was now a prefect and she was sure he and Treyen would definitely be running into each other. Perhaps they had already done so?

She beamed at him when she managed to stop giggling and had finally gotten rid of the smirk."hey Trey. I'm good how's you?" had a good ride over? Right if she asked that she might risk him asking why, which she didn't want to do. And look at that, Treyen was all grown up and stuff now. Finally he had grown into his rawr.

Cassie's attention was drawn from Treyen when a Gryffindor boy started hovering over her. She looked up into his face and blinked...then she looked at Treyen. She cleared her throat."I'm sorry are you lost?" She tilted her head slightly as she continued to look up at him. Perhaps he had been sitting here before she came and he left something and now he's back to get it.

Miss Prefect Lovegoods had taken her time heading into the great hall. While she was glad to have left the crowded train, but she couldn't say that she was particularly excited about the feast. Not as excited as she usually was.

Knowing that it couldn't be avoided though, she headed in behind a crowd of firsties after sticking her badge on her robes for the new faces. Spotting a couple of her Puff friends, she made her way over, and took a seat across from the pair. She didn't speak though, her eyes were on the silver ware, a frown tugging gently at the corners of her lips. The girl didn't even pay her kneazle any mind when he climbed halfway onto her shoulder from her hod, meowing softly.

This was.... odd.

"Sorry to throw my whole life story on you like that, I'm very open to new people, plus my dad taught me Legilimency and sometimes I do it by accedient and saw an orphanage, I'm sorry." Katie said super embarssed and started to get up to leave...

"I'm a fourth year" she said with a nod, even though she could hardly believe it. "I'm from a small mixed community in Northumberland. My two best friends are from the US," she said excitedly. "Where abouts are you from? They are from the south. And, what brings you to the UK?" she asked.

Sitting comfortably at the Hufflepuff table between two older students, Sadie was coming down from her high of getting sorted. She was also aching to dive right into the feast, yet there was still no food on the table, and Sadie hoped it would be coming soon.

No one was really talking to Sadie, and that was okay with her. It would have been nice for someone to strike up a conversation with her, but she was content with getting used to these new surroundings. Sadie admired everything about Hogwarts! The castle walls, the suits of armor, the paintings, the fancy-looking empty plates on ancient wooden tables, the antiquity of the dirty silverware... wait, why would the silverware be dirty if they were meant for eating with?

Sadie looked up and down the Hufflepuff table and saw that many forks, knives and spoons were haphazardly strewn amongst the plates and goblets. Did anyone else notice this? Or was the silverware always dirty at Hogwarts?

Amethyst smiled softly as she nodded to Minerva. "The United States sounds fun!" Some of the girls from her orphanage would get adopted by adults from the States. They often wrote back, telling her all about it.

She giggled to Katie softly and purred lightly. "It's okay! Sometimes, it's great to be open to new people! I'm not offended or annoyed!" She smiled softly, ensuring Katie that everything was alright.


Amethyst looked over to the girl she had grown to know and love. Seeing her stare down at the silver ware sparked a certain interest. What is wrong with Arya? She thought as she glanced over. She looked at Perseus and knew, by Ayra's non-response, that it must have or could have been big. "Ayra?" She decided to speak out, softly.

Jesifur saw the girl across the table from her, "I was wondering about the silver too. My mom told me it was always beautifully set for the feast. I wonder what is going on? My name is Jesifur Hitchens."

Emmaleigh watched as her prefect came over to the table. Although she didn't really know the girl that well, she could tell that something was bothering her. And she noticed the silverware just as Em had. "Its strange isn't it." she said to the older girl. "Do you think this has anything to do with the article in the Daily Prophet?" she asked.

Huh, what?

Oh, the flatware girl was addressing him. Sheesh, did she have eyes in the back of her head or something? Lost..? Really? Sure, the Great Hall was expansive, but it was hardly a place one could get lost in. "No, I'm not lost. Just checkin' out the other house tables, ya see."

What was with all the giggling, eh? She was a girl, it was alright, except it was slightly odd because it seemed that she knew something he didn't. Whatever.

"Actually, I'm doing great," not excellent, because he was away from Ellie at the moment, but there was still a smile on his face. Never mind what ALMOST happened back there on the train, nothing could ruin Hogwarts for him now, right? Not even the silverware he failed to notice because his back was turned to it. Which kind of meant that he also didn't notice Arya sitting across from them either, but he did notice the boy browsing around Cassie.

Well, NO, he didn't notice. If Cassie hadn't said a thing, then he wouldn't have know there was a Gryffindor around the table. She seemed to be dealing with the boy in question pretty well, so, he looked away again, "How's...," Sir Awesome, "...James?"

Looking up from the silverware, she noticed the little firstie that she'd helped onto the platform. "Nothing wrong... just a little weird." She really shouldn't be surprised, but this was just so... not like the house elves. Her gaze turned back to Amethyst curiously as she realized she'd missed the girl's sorting. All the sorting's really. "Did you get sorted into Hufflepuff?"

"I wouldn't go that far," She commented lightly, eyes going to the other younger badger. "That article was more about Tate, and setting the table is the house elves jobs." And while she knew that this could still be tied to the headmaster, she didn't see the need in getting the underclassmen so worked up the first night back.

Arya's entrance into the great hall and to the table did not miss Cassie, despite the odd gryffindor boy hovering over her."Hey Arya!" She waved at the girl and smiled as she sat across from him...and why was Treyen not sitting properly around the table? She shook her head. Boys were so weird...speaking of weird boys.. She blinked again at his response and it actually took her a few seconds to respond to him."You're checking out the tables...well they're all the same you see...except for the colours." She patted the space on her other side inviting the boy to sit." I bet you just heard how awesome we are and decided to join us." She smiled at him.

"Okay then, I really am sorry though. I can't really control it yet. So what classes are you looking forward to?" Katie asked sitting back down again.

Cassie smiled, Treyen seemed a whole lot happier than he did last term and it was really good to see. The boy was almost glowing for whatever reason. She knew now wasn't the right time to ask though,especially since they weren't served food yet. He might be hungry and asking a hungry boy questions might make him cranky." That's awesome, it's nice to see you so happy." She turned in her chair and looked to where Treyen was facing. There was nothing interesting over there, only the Claw table and it James gone, there was little to no appeal.

Her face lit up as Treyen asked about James. She had seen him just before coming back to Hogwarts and had a pretty good time too, minus the really bad apparting skills she possessed."James is good, he's away travelling to some very.....interesting places."

"I guess you're right," Em said nodding. "At least, I hope so." She stretched out her hand and picked up the fork that was closest to her, and studied it. "I wonder what is going on though. This isn't like the house elves." She needed to figure out why they hadn't prepared usual. "Maybe we should pay them a visit." she thought aloud.

*Laurie sat down at the end of the Hufflepuff table and looked around her in awe. She knew that it was going to be amazing year. She also wondered if she was going to meet any friends this year. She was of course nervous this being her first year but she came from a long line of a brave family members. Her great great great grandfather was the one and only Harry Potter the very same Harry Potter who made the wizarding world a better place*

Faven was still jittery with nerves after having been sorted. She noticed an older girl with a special badge on her robe. Prefect, that means she is someone who can help me, Faven thought to herself.
"Ummm...miss...hello?" Faven posed her greeting as a question do to the nature of the girl, who seemed forlorn.
"May I sit next to you, please? I was sorted into a different house then my friends, and am feeling awfully alone." Faven asked, trying to keep the whininess out of her voice, the only thing that dampened her spirits was the fact that Alice was in Slytherin and Alex was in Gyffindor, as a Hufflepuff, Faven was on her own at this massive table.

Huh? What? Treyen straightened himself on his seat when she mentioned the happiness and he couldn't help but blush a little, especially after looking at the one that had everything to do with him being happy over there at the Ravenclaw table. He should've seated across Cassie, so it'll be easier to see her...though, he wasn't truly counting on eating, really, since he wasn't hungry. Maybe Conan could join him later if he wanted some late dinner.

Aha! He found the one topic that made her expression change to a better one. Unfortunately, he turned to look at her and...what on Earth had happened to their pretty forks and all?! Yeah, he wasn't eating. "That's good news, and...traveling plus James sounds rather exciting, really," he wanted to ask about her and James together, but he supposed they were fine based on her contentment, or they were good friends.

His eyes turned to the staff table where he noticed Mr. Stryker in there, as well as Lafay...looking like she wanted the feast to be over already...and...someone else he didn't know...someone that was sitting where Ellie's Little Professor would be. The boy gazed back at the Ravenclaw table, simple as that. Sure, he was glad to find out that Descoteaux was gone, but Ellie wasn't.

Reaching over her shoulder, she gave her kneazle a few distracted scratches, eyes still on the silver ware. It sure was a good thing she didn't have much of an appetite. She didn't miss the cheerful greeting she was receiving, and smiled up at the older girl in response. "Hey, Cass." Asking how she was or how summer went just didn't seem wise, so she decided to leave it at that.

"They'd probably like a visit, since they've been here all summer without any." At least she assumed some of the house elves enjoyed their visits. She'd always had a good response from them when making late night trips during her rounds. The prefect smiled over at the girl reassuringly. "The elves probably just need some cheering up."

It was the 'miss' that caught her ears through all the noise, and had her glancing to her side. A smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Of course you can sit by me." She patted the seat beside her. "My name's Arya Lovegoods. And I know the feeling. My first friends got sorted into different houses too, so I had no one to sit with during my first feast. But it's nothing to feel lonely over." Her kneazle snuggled deeper into her hoddie when she leaned against the table a bit, trying to drown out the loud voices. "You'll make plenty of friends in this house, I did." So obviously, she would as well.

Faven grinned when the prefect Arya offered her the seat next to her. "Thank you oh so much," she said, truly grateful. "I'm Faven Dragomir, nice to meet you! I'm going to do my hardest to not let it get me down, I'm really looking foward to meeting new people and making friends." "May I ask what that is that is snuggling into your hoodie?" Faven asked curiously. "And are you alright? Am I bothering you? Faven questioned, seeing Arya lean against the table as if to block out noise.

Violet eagerly made her way into the Great Hall and then scurried towards the Hufflepuff Table in her new black Mary Janes with her bright smile on her face. My goodness she couldn't believe that she was 13 years old and in her third year at Hogwarts ALREADY! My how the days were practically flying by, so fast that she could hardly believe it. She only wondered what this school year would bring her. Of course only time would tell.She then sat down and then checked to see if her headband was still in its place. Feeling it was perfect, Violet smiled warmly and then took a quick scan around the Hufflepuff Table giving a few people that she knew her usual eager greeting and wave. She even gave a friendly wave to people that she didn't know very well. Violet picked up a pitcher of water and filled it into her goblet. She placed the pitcher back down and then picked up her goblet bringing it to her lips and taking a few sips.

Cassie beamed at the girl and even stretched across the table to give her kneazel a little scratch. So cute.

Cassie's eyes also fell on a young girl. Clearly she was a first year, she had the whole 'I'm seeing this for the first time and it's amazing' look on her face. It was so cute. She smiled and waved at the little girl."Hey there, welcome to HufflePuff house. I'm Cassie"

Cassie certainly didn't miss that little blush on Treyen's face and followed his gaze back to the RavenClaw table. Aaha! A girl...The girl that Treyen had been pining over almost all of last term...the Ellie girl. She grinned and nudged him playfully. Had they worked things out and were dating or was he just happy that they were now friends? She was burning to ask....so she did XD...."Ooooo, did you and Miss Ellie decide to date?" She waggled her eyebrows at him and continued to do a little nudge nudge. How cute was this..little Treyen might have a girlfriend.

The subject of James Wilkes almost seemed to bring a smile to her face..maybe because it was hard to get used to seeing that she didn't see him that often and she rarely had anyone to talk to about them, so when it came up it brought up a smile."Yeah it is, just James minus the travelling is exciting, so it's like a double dose of fun." Huge grin. Right, she would not go on rambling.

Once again she followed Treyen's gaze and this time he was looking at the staff table. Oh, new professor. She frowned slightly...." What subject do you think she'll be teaching?" she asked him, her eyes still glued to the new woman at the table.