Cornelius's features morphed into an expression of honest surprise as Eino jumped and began to apologize for 'catching him'. "Wha--" It took a good few seconds of Eino looking around himself and Cornelius retracing the conversation for the smiley-er of the pair to understand exactly what the other was talking about. And with the realization, he burst into a round of kind-hearted chuckles, shaking his head with a grin as Eino mentioned how rude it was of him. "No, no, I didn't mean literally," Cornelius explained, "I just meant..." He trailed off, ultimately deciding that it wasn't worth explanation. "Nevermind, it was a stupid joke." He grinned once more before listening as the student at his side welcomed him to Hogwarts and offered help with anything he should need.

"I might take you up on that offer sooner than you think," Cornelius warned with an expression of honest cluelessness. But it was true, just on the train he had thought the houses were literal houses and every student was expected to build their own. When the conversation turned to traveling, he gave a bit of a shrug and scrunched his nose up, evaluating where he had been. "Nowhere too exciting, just all around England. I'm not a world traveller or anything," he admitted, before growing curious. "Did you go anywhere else before you were here?" Maybe they had gone to a school or something together when they were younger!

As Eino engaged in conversation with a younger girl, Cornelius watched curiously, not intruding, but simply listening, learning. And as Eino's face morphed into an almost-smile, the new student at his side couldn't help but let out a snort/chortle of amusement, though his features were kind, obviously not making fun of the boy seriously. He didn't want him to think that he was mocking him! But his new friend needed to learn to accept a compliment, and show an honest smile! "Try it with your teeth, next time," he muttered kind-heartedly, flashing him a friendly smile (which, though unplanned, showed of his own teeth) to assure him that he was just joking with him.

Logan laughed. "Thanks!" he said, smiling as she hugged him. "It's great!" then he blushed a little. "Naw, not really..." he said smiling shyly.

Inside his head, Nate was spinning circles. There were more and more voices, no less fog than usual, and at one point this odd sort of pressure on his chest, neck, and wrists. Was he being... touched? But there was nobody else here. That he knew of. He stopped spinning and sat down, cross-legged, on what should have been ground. It felt solid, at least, for being nothing but more fog.

Tilting his head a bit and closing his eyes, Nate listened to the voices. They all had something in common. They weren't laughing, no... Were they screaming? No... It was worry. Nate could feel the worry in the murmurs from the cloud around him. It was an odd sense, feeling somebody's tone of voice, but in this place it happened a lot. Nate simply stayed seated and serenely pondered the voices around him, wiping a small drop of water from his cheek. How that got there he didn't even bother wondering...

Teasing him she said, "Hmmmm..... you are cute when you blush and you really are a natural at flying." She laughed, "At least you didn't do a nose dive." She smiled.

"Is that so?" Eino looked from one of the students to the other, then back. He didn't doubt them because he didn't think his fellow Ravenclaws would hide something from him if they needed some help. "There's only one thing that could cause shrieks like that..." He said and gulped. His face painted with worry and fear. He slowly lowered himself, and with one knee rested on a ground and one hand on the bench, Eino bent over to take a look under the table. Nothing, only feet, shoes, and legs. "There are no pogrebins nibbling on your feet. I do believe you're safe." He reported back with a smile. "If something does cause you to scream again, don't hesitate to as for help."



"Thank you." Eino said as he kept the boy company.

"Hello... Miss, uh... Healer." Not necessarily the time for introductions, but he did feel bad for not being able to address her by her name. "I only just saw him collapse. I do believe he had been chatting with his friends prior to that, but nothing else." That was all he knew about the case, so hopefully one of his friends had some more useful information to provide the healer with.

She gave Jayden a brow raise. She was just stating a fact. Why the snappish attitude? But then again, they were never best friends. Not the kind the usually get along, to be exact. "Then save you tears once he does." She commented. She was worried too, but she's still in control of herself.

When the Healer arrived, she quickly followed her instructions and backed away, then she allowed Jayden to explain what happened. No need for two mouths to talk at once.

Logan laughed and blushed bright re. "I-I-I do, eh?" he asked smiling. "A natural? Well...I guess you could say that." he said shrugging and grinning, wishing the red in his face would GO. AWAY.

The boy has a fainting problem? And just WHY wasn't she alerted to this situation before the term started? Really, these are things she needs to know if she is expected to care for these children. Just how many other students had pre-existing health conditions that she didn't know about? Now wasn't the time to worry about that though, now was the time to take care of this kid... the one laying there on the floor in front of her.

Not bothering to answer any of the students she pulled a vial out of her pocket, opened it and held it under the kids nose. The smell alone would be enough to wake a sleeping dragon so this kid should be up in no time flat. If it didn't work though she just might have to slap him in the face.

What?

She had seen that done before... somewhere.

Taylor giggled and watched Logan continued to blush, Man isn't it so fun to tease him? She smiled at that thought, "Yes a natural." She nodded, "Want to sit for a bit?" She laughed and patted a seat by her.

Melanie raised an eyebrow, sensing that Conrad felt his time would be better spent doing something other than talking to her. You came over here, buddy, I'm not keeping you, she thought as she looked at him, hoping he could read the annoyance on her face.

"Well, my mother's side have all been in Ravenclaw; all of the witches, anyway," she amended. "I'm a lot like my mother. I guess you could say I got the Ravenclaw gene." She avoided mentioning her father's history, as she usually did.

Mentally thanking the stars for sending someone other than Conrad for her to talk to, Melanie beamed at Silvia. "Yea, I'm so glad we're both Ravenclaws!" Melanie had been awfully nervous about this whole dormitory situation, but it wouldn't be so bad if she already knew some of her roommates.

"I bet Alex will get in Ravenclaw too," she said with a nod. "We all seemed pretty similar. We'll probably be reading ahead in the common room together later!" she joked -kind of-.

Still in his own little metaphysical hideaway, Nate opened his eyes at the silence that fell. That wasn't all though. The fog was changing. It was turning... Green? Yep. Green. And it was losing it's density, too. Nate began to slowly lower into the ground, then he fell, and fast. He never hit ground, though.

Back in the Great Hall, Nate's eyes shot open and darted to the people standing above him. "Oh, look," he said sheepishly, "New friends!" He was definitely feeling better now, which meant it couldn't have been only train sickness, could it? Not the time to worry about it, though. Not until he could talk to Jez about it, and she was nowhere in sight. "So..." he mumbled awkwardly. It really was embarrassing to have passed out right at the beginning of term.Not a great start, Stone! he thought to himself, sitting up and leaning on the bench behind him.

Jayden stepped back, watching the healer pull out some sort of vial and placing it near his head. Oh good. The boy was waking up. Nate dying on the floor of the start of term feast would have been terrible!

"Thank Merlin." She mumbled softly, taking deep breaths in and out as she watched her friend get up and sit himself back down on the bench.

Yes, she would admit, she never liked those creatures before but then someone by the name of Nora that she met at Diagon Alley opened a new door for her to start to like them. Once you've gotten into them, you could actually realize that they were cute creatures too, probably much, much cuter than cats that she once owned last year. Maybe, because of their small size. Too bad, the cat wasn't in her possession anymore. [B]"I got one from a Muggle pet store. It's cute. And it's probably learning it's way into the wizarding world,"[B] she smiled towards Beezus. "So, where's Davinci?" She hadn't seen the cat around.



She looked at her side and she saw a little, a first year most likely, "Hello!" FShe believed first years should be greeted nicely, that's what older people last time did to her.



Her gaze darted towards a new person, and she realized, she wasn't that new after all. She met her at the platforms earlier. And she was very fond of her. "Abby! So, how's the train ride?"



"That would be me," Erin said towards the prefect Eino Uronen peeking from Beezus back. She was not really that noticeable last year. She kept a low profile and all and she wasn't as active as her bestfriend. This time, she promised herself that she would try a lot of things.

He's awake! Good. "Yeah, new friends around. And old ones too." She said, helping the few others that pulled Nate back up. That was such a scene! It was really a good thing they now have a Healer. Beezus does hope she stays.

"How're you feeling Nate?" He was undeniably fine now. Her work is done here. But nonetheless, ask if he's fine to be certain.

Then she faced the new Healer, such a pretty face. "Thank you so much Healer...?" She mumbled, bowing a little. Err--what was her name again? Oh, Beezus didn't know. And oh, seeing the Healer reminds her that she should go to the Hospital Wing soon and ask for her medicine. After all, the former Healer Brooks told her to return.

"Oh, really?" She eyed Erin. Okay, as much as she won't admit. She couldn't deny the fact that they were cute little creatures and she liked cute things. But Erin, Erin was just not the type to like lizards. She was into cats and birds and the likes.

But then again, the only constant thing in the world is change. So, there's room for the possibility that she really does like those kind of things now. "Alright. I suppose you'd be a good master to you errr...new pet."

Now, Davinci? Hmm.. "Probably off somewhere around the castle." That cat was still not good to her. It was never good to her, such a snobbish creature. Not to mention that Davinci had stopped talking for a while now. That got her a bit worried.

Ellie started talking and Max raised his eyebrows, trying to follow. Little Professor. Finlay. Quidditch, very good. France? He was very jealous about that. "OWLs, huh? Is it rude of me to inquire how you did?" Max assumed she did well, so she probably wouldn't mind sharing, right? He didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"Sounds like your summer was brilliant! I'm glad you had a good time." He paused, trying to recall the happenings of his summer. "It was fairly uneventful. My father was away for two of months I was home, nothing out of the ordinary there." His father, a Magizoologist, was very rarely around. "So I spent some quality time with some of our creatures at home - got some new baby crups - met some of my mum's teammates, and watched some practices and games. Other than that..." and his mum's disappointment that he hadn't gotten a prefect badge nor a Quidditch badge with the post, "my summer was fairly dull. It's good to be back... home, you know?"

Nate smiled around at everyone. Wow, he thought, Looks like I won't be dying any time soon with these guys around. It was nice to know that people cared. Especially when you could count your closest friends on one hand.

"I'm feeling a lot better now, actually. Which is weird..." he said, the last part fading into thought. It couldn't have been train sickness if it had worn off so quickly. Sure, everyone else could believe that, but once he found Jez and Pam he would have to tell them. This probably had something to do with Team Wolf, and if it did then Nate could be expecting a letter soon. "I am really hungry, that could've been part of it. Sorry to cause such trouble!" he remarked, fixing his position on the bench at the table. If Nate had made a list of things not to do at Hogwarts, 'pass out at the start of term feast' would definitely be on there somewhere near the top...

Jayden jumped up quickly out of her seat and walked over to give nate a quick hug. "I'm glad you're okay, Nate." She mumbled, looking him in the eyes. "And I'm really sorry about the fight on the train."

Nate simply smiled back at Jayden and said, "Relax. A little argument isn't a big deal. I'm more focused on not passing out again." He chuckled at his own statement, but was interrupted by his own stomach growling. "Whoa," he said quietly, glancing over at the empty plates. "When can we expect food?" he asked aloud, to anyone who wanted to answer.

Cael winced when Jayden started verbally attacking Elliot. Sure the icy pureblood could be harsh, but that was part of her charm. And when she was, she didn't mean it. Everyone knew that, didn't they? Or at least Jayden should, being her friend and all. Cael guessed it must have been too much too soon on top of whatever she was already dealing with from before. He never really had gotten to the bottom of it all, content to leave Jayden her privacy.

But his mouth dropped open in shock when she physically moved to the other end of the table. Really? He gulped nervously when he noticed Elliot shooting him a look. One that promised dire consequences if he didn't support her, at least that was how he interpreted it. It was extremely difficult to differentiate between all of the many faceted Elliot-glares that existed.

"Look, I apologize on Jayden's behalf. Merlin knows you didn't deserve that, but she's working through some tough things at the moment and you know I've supported you when there've been rough times for you. I'm going to make sure she's alright..." he trailed off miserably, not liking that he was having to choose between them and knowing someone would be hurt regardless. So much for no drama this year.

As he made to leave his seat he was shocked when Nate just sort of... fell over. "Nate?!" he yelled, his concerned voice mingling with a half a dozen shouts from the other Claws. Merlin what was happening? Things were just going from bad to worse! When the healer brought him around, Cael couldn't help but sigh at the boy's carefree attitude. "Merlin, Nate, next time warn us before you're going to pass out in the middle of dinner."

He asked!! And, as it has been a few weeks since the initial shock of the results, Ellie was more than willing to tell him. "Eight," she grinned. She passed eight of eight! How amazing was that?! "Five O's and three E's!" She didn't even get a single A! Not even in Astronomy.

Though there was that Charms E that bothered her to no end. She looked up at the WOMAN at the staff table, thinking about it. And E? Seriously? It was her best subject and it just PEEVED her that she'd do BETTER in her WORST subject than in her BEST. Little Professor would have passed her, surely. So Schirmer got GLARES.

However, that WOMAN wasn't worth her time, and Ellie's attention was quickly back on Max. Speaking of OWLs, "Looking forward to this term?" She gave him a look that suggested that she didn't blame him if he wasn't. Fifth year. OWL year. If it weren't for the way her personal life worked out amazingly last year, she'd have hated it. Particularly so with their now-decided-abysmal Quidditch season.

The girl nodded at him. It was brilliant. Her best summer in a couple years, at least. She frowned at the absence of Max's father. Sure, Max might be used to it, but it was a completely foreign and nearly devastating concept for Ellie. But baby crups!! "Awww." Ellie LIKED crups. Just because she was incapable of caring for animals on her own, didn't mean she didn't like them. Like her perished flower - she was happy to have it, but it didn't last long. "That's not dull! That sounds amazing!" Especially the Quidditch part. They should have communicated, though, they could have met up at some of his mum's matches.

Nate smirked at Cael, and glanced to the empty plates and back again to his old friend. "I wouldn't say middle of dinner. I'd say this is the prologue, if anything, definitely." He spun a bit in his seat to face the table, in the event that something edible appeared, and went back to his conversation with Cael, whom he hadn't seen since some short time after the Courtyard Incident. "It's been a while, Mr. Ashdown," Nate joked in a formal-sounding tone. "How have you been holding up?"

And Beezus knew her too well, she was not really into these tiny creatures, that she grew up knowing they eat little kids. "Just that, I can't stand to own another cat again," said Erin pouting. She would most likely choose dogs than cats, because cats couldn't swim. But lizards, they just wouldn't jumped onto a pool of water and drown themselves, that's what Louisa, her former cat did. Stupid cat. "And remember from now on, I HATE cats." And that was actually followed by a period.

And moving on to Davinci, "You let the cat wander around the castle when everyone's at the Great Hall!" There might be a troll running around the castle or an evil student who'll lost Davinci in the middle of the night. Oh, but he's magical too right? Unlike her lizard.

'Oh look, new friends.'

Well this kid appeared to be doing just fine now. Judging by the way he was acting now you would think nothing had happened to him. Standing up Cece looked down at him. "You should probably stop by the hospital wing after the feast, or first thing in the morning so I can check you over to make sure you're doing fine."

Not bothering to wait for an answer from the boy... since he seemed to forget she was there with the way he was carrying on with his friends, Cece turned to finally make her way to the staff table, where hopefully things would be a bit calmer.

If this was any indication of how the term was going to go, there was going to be no rest for her until the December holiday break. How long until then? One hundred twenty days, give or take a few... but who's counting?

"Oh Merlin Nate! You sure know how to keep things humorous!" Jayden chuckled at Nate's wanting of food. "It should be here soon." She added.

After all of the drama with Nate was done and over with, Jayden walked over to Caelius and hugged him from behind. "I'm so sorry for the sudden outburst and lashing out at Elliot darling. It's just... I've had to deal with her during the summer when you weren't around and it's just been miserable!" She blurted out, biting her lower lip nervously as she looked up at him.

Hate cats? Who would hate those marvelous creatures? Surely not her. Though she knew Erin had a cat once but she didn't know what happened to it. Feeling that she shouldn't argue anymore, Beezus chose to nod at Erin's statements. "Alright. you hate cats. Chill Cornelia." That was not trying to insult or start something, okay? Beezus just wanted to soothe Erin's obvious demise.

"Whoa. Don't go hysterical Erin." Said Beezus, raising both her hands in surrender. "I'm sure he'll come around eventually." The cat always did. She didn't have any problems with her pet, except that it was undeniably snobbish.