Laura looked around and smiled at her Best Friend Ella. "Oh my summer was okay." Laura couldn't believe that she was lying to her best friend, but well Ella was happy and she didn't have to worry about Laura's problems so she wasn't going to say anything else about it they didn't know about what happened right.

Laura then listened to Minerva but didn't say anything, she was thinking about things. "I just want them to have some fun and I want to make sure they know they have someone they can talk to." Laura smiled, it was now time for her to forget about the summer and have some fun for a little bit, she wasn't going to get into trouble she hoped she was just going to have some fun.

Laura sat at her table and looked straight forwards. "Welcome to Hogwarts T.V, I am your host Laura Hope Hyde and on the weather we have Minnie." Points to her friend Minnie, "And on sports we have Ella Bishop." Points to her best friend, and finally be not least we have Sophie Campbell as a special guest." Points to Sophie.

Laura stops for a couple of minutes before continue. "Right as you all know the students of Hogwarts have flocked to the Great Hall for the start of term feast, new students have been hoping to get sorted into the house of their choice and a few people will be disappointed, I remember a couple of years ago a Hufflepuff Student demanding to change house, I can't believe anyone would want to do that, as someone once said the Hufflepuff House is the best house in the universe." Laura smiled. "Now I'll hand you over to Minnie for the weather and Ella for the sport." Laura giggled, and then we'll be speaking with our special guest, the lovely Sophie Campbell and we'll be talking about what the Headmistress will be talking about in her speech." Laura giggled as she stopped, who cared if anyone thought she was crazy.

Come to think of it the entire hall looked a bit shabby. Even the rickety boats looked in better shape then the decorations in here. Maybe it was a decoration choice? Like some people chose to wear black to look cool maybe this was a Medieval thing? If that was the aim though even the firstie could say it was done wrong.

At that moment someone addressed her with a welcome and Bay smiled widely. "I'm Bay, first year." Hello Captain obvious but what could you do? She was excited! The conversation turned to the decor and her frown deepened. So this wasn't the usual theme then? Why was it different this year?

"Budget cuts maybe?" At the orphanage that sometimes happened. One year they went without new shoes and had to make due with donations and hand-me-downs because the budget was smaller. Did magical schools have budgets?

This whole magical world thing was just confusing!

Still tired. Alec smiled a little back at her, secretly wondering if there's anything he could do to help her feel better. But then again, if she really was just tired, then there wasn't anything he could do, yeah? "Maybe you need another nap?" Or just some proper sleep? "Oh, hey, what are boyfriends for?" GRIN.

"Messy? Erm... I dunno," he said, frowning slightly, "I haven't really heard from him all summer. Have you?" Dude was going to get a serious talking to afterwards... and maybe a hug too. Maybe. Being in his own thoughts, Alec almost didn't catch onto the whispering that Ells was doing. Almost. "Erm... well, I hope not!" he whispered, shrugging his shoulders and frowning slightly, "People treat them nicely, right?"

...

So... this was probably not the way to start off this year. Nope. And he sincerely hoped that the blonde girl wasn't upset or anything. Because... that just wasn't something he wanted to see from her. Upset/sadness/frowny faces. Nope.

Except... she did squeeze his hand back. And he smiled slightly.



Seeing Minnie smile had to be one of the nicest things ever. In all honesty, Alec really liked it when anyone smiled because it meant that they were happy, yeah? He liked happy people. They were always really really awesome. Nodnod.

"Really?" ... Oh! The sitting alone thing and overthinking thing. Alec knew a lot about that and how it felt so... this made him even more glad that he had decided to sit with Minnie. Not that Minnie would have minded him sitting with her, yeah? "Were you overthinking things?" Overthinking was not great sometimes. "Well... I'm glad you let me sit with you!" he said, before reaching over to return her hug with a big, squeezy one.

"I'm glad because... you shouldn't be sad, yeah? Ever," Even though it was inevitable for people to be sad. But still, he didn't want to see that from her. "Yeah, you're right! New firsties and classes and a whole year of really awesome things," GRIN. "Are you looking forward to this year?"



Just thinking... Nodnod. Although, now Alec was starting to feel slightly bad about disturbing her thoughts and just disturbing her. What if she wanted to spend some time alone? Or what if she just wanted to sit there thinking, even if it was with lots of people around her?

... Eh, this was the Hufflepuff table. Everyone talked to each other here.

"Hey!" he said, grinning at the girl, "Yeah? Erm... what kind of things were you thinking about?" Unless she wanted to keep those things private because... you know, thoughts were thoughts and sometimes they should stay that way. Maybe.

Oh summer! That question! He could answer those. "Oh yeah! Summer was really awesome!" What happened, what happened? "Erm... I mostly stayed at home and visited people but... still awesome." Nodnod. "How was yours, Laura?"



Awar was officially his sort of younger sister person, okay? Okay.

... He probably needed to ask her about that. Maybe. Later.

But back to the girl. "Really? That's AWESOME!" Because... there had been a time when the girl had said that she was doing 'better' yeah? And better meant that she had been sad before? ... Alec didn't want to think about that so he simply went on to say, "You look really happy!" GRIN.

So she had an uncle, a cousin and a brother. Got it. "Yeah? How was Switzerland? Did you do anything interesting there?" Details, he wanted lots of those! Nodnod. "Oh! It sounds like your brother really missed you, then!" he said before letting out a small chuckle. ... Pause. "Erm... so is it only you and your brother at home?" ... Maybe... this was a touchy topic. Oops.



... Oops. Had he disturbed someone else?

Alec reached up a hand to ruffle his hair, a sheepish expression momentarily crossing his face. He didn't really mean to disturb people, it was just a sort of... habit. Yeah. Greeting new Hufflepuffs was just something he tended to do at Start of Term Feasts. But maybe this girl wouldn't mind meeting someone new?

Plus as if he was scary.

OH. GRIN. "Hey Haruka!" Could he possibly call her Ruka? That sounded like an awesome nickname, yeah? ... He'd probably have to talk to her at least on one other occasion before nicknames could be given. "It's great to meet to you too! Erm... so are you looking forward to your first term here?"



Another new Hufflepuff dude! Which was good because Alec had a feeling that there were a lot of girls in this house. ... Actually, scratch that, there were a lot of girls in Hogwarts in general. That was probably something the guy would find out soon, yeah? If he hadn't already.

"It's great to meet you too!" GRIN. "Erm... so are you looking forward to your first term here?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, slightly. ... Also, did the dude do hugs? That was important for future references, see. And... he should probably ask about the guy's summer as well. Maybe.



... BLINK.

Alec couldn't help but feel slightly awkward right about now. And not the awkwardness that he usually experienced when him and Ells were talking about... things; that was a whole different kind of awkward. This was more of a: Oops, I didn't mean to scare you or anything, I just want to be friends? Maybe?

Confused boy was confused.

OH HE WAS SPEAKING! ... Quietly. He was talking very quietly but he was still talking. "It's great to meet you, Forrest!" Forrest, Forrest... he couldn't come up with a nickname from that. Hmmm... Also, did the guy just call himself a muggle? "Erm... so all of this must be really new to you, yeah?" Yup, he was going to ignore the muggle bit... sort of. "Hogwarts is really awesome! I hope you really like it here." And if he didn't Alec would... would... give up ice cream.

... Nah.



... Oakey had entered the scene.

And Alec... didn't know how to feel about this. Sure, Ells had explained things but the guy still felt slightly uncomfortable just by remembering things, not by the actual guy himself. Maybe. ... He really didn't know.

But... Oakey was here and he was working on things and basically being Head Boy-y. And it was still great to see the guy again. "Erm... hey there, Oakster!" he said, grinning and waving at the boy, "You okay? Had a good summer?" ... Were those too many questions to ask all at once or...?

Also Theo was there. More uncomfortable-ness.



Something happening to the elves? Or the kitchens? Hearing this, Alec's eyes grew a little wider and he looked from the plastic cutlery to Bliss and then back again. What if the elves were in danger? Or... or... something had happened to the food? Or the kitchen had burnt down over the summer? "I... hope not!" he said, frowning slightly and looking back up at the girl, "I mean... if something did happen, we'd hear about it, yeah?" He didn't really know how much he believed in his own words but he did find comfort in knowing that no news is good news. Maybe.

ANYWAYS.

Maybe good? "That's really awesome to hear," he said, grinning at her. Yeah... really awesome. Especially considering the things that had happened to her before the summer holidays. ... Oh. "Yeah? Erm... how is everyone in your family?" Even if he didn't really know them that well. He only really knew Bliss and her little sister, Tianna. But mainly Bliss. "Oh really? Brighton sounds like a really awesome place!" And she went with West so naturally, she had been happy, yeah? "Erm... what was it like there?" ... That was a better question than the one he had been meaning to ask.

As for him... "I'm great! Just really nervous about being back, I guess?" Or maybe not really nervous since his hair wasn't ruffled beyond control. "And my holiday was great too! Dad and I built a shed," Which was boring news, now that he thought about it. "And I met up with Ells a lot! And... I made pizza with Tag too." He wasn't looking for any signs on the girl at the mention of his best mate. Nope!



OH LOOK LOOK LOOK!

Alec GRINNED at the sight of the older Ravenclaw who was probably here to see Minnie. Except, the dude had said hey to him, Alec, and Alec couldn't help but feel really really happy. How awesome would it be if the two of them could become friends? Or at least get to know each other a bit? ... Hopefully. Before the end of the term came around and Ethan left forever.

... Anyways...

"Hey Ethan!" he said, waving enthusiastically at the boy, "Erm... congrats on your Prefect badge!" Because it was better to say these things in person, yeah? It sort of made it more official and meant that he, Alec, could see the smile on Ethan's face. And the pride. "And... did you have a good summer?"

... Also... since Ethan was here to see Minnie, Alec wouldn't bother him for too long. And he will look away if they started kissing.



...

BLINK. BLINK. STARE.

Nate? Nate was here?! The dude had practically disappeared for most of the previous term! Just like Messy had. And Alec had practically been left alone in the dorm which... wasn't great actually. ... Was this some sort of disease that was slowly spreading across their dorm? Was Alec next?

O____O

ANYWAYS. Back to Nate. "Hey, mate! It's great to see you again!" And don't disappear this year, okay? They needed to have bro chats and candy eating nights and just keep each other company. "Erm... yeah! Summer was great! I spent most of it with Ells and Dad and Tag," Which immediately made it awesome. "How was your summer? And... how are you?"



So in all the kerfuffle of greeting people and hugging people and asking about summers -- GRIN for unintentional uses of his surname -- Alec had almost forgotten about greeting the new Hufflepuffs that were joining them. Almost.

He turned his head and was about to look up to see where the Headmistress was on the 'giving the speech' front when his grey-blue eyes landed on a small boy. A really small boy that Alec hadn't seen before at Hogwarts. So... he had recently been sorted, yeah? Hopefully otherwise what Alec was about to say would turn out to be... well... awkward to say the least.

"Erm... hey, there!" Grin and wave, grin and wave! "I'm Alec, Alec Summers. And welcome to Hufflepuff!"



Alecutie!

Alec couldn't help but chuckle a little at that special little nickname from the Head Girl. It was nice that she was the only one who called him by that. It sort of made it their special little thing, even if it was something as small as a nickname. And he had a small feeling that even if he was 30 and the girl was 32, she'd still end up greeting him with Alecutie.

Not that he minded, of course.

... Oh. So they were never usually like that? Frown. His grey eyes looked up at the banners, taking in almost every tear and rip they landed on. This was... weird. Really really weird and probably not the best way to start off the new term. Hearing LochNessie's voice, he tore his gaze away from the banner and looked at the redheaded girl. "Oh..." he started, frowning some more, "There'd be a good explanation to all of this, right?"



...

NEW PERSON.

Or newly sorted person. One of the two. But he hadn't seen her around at Hogwarts before and she did seem to be coming from the stools... area so... yeah.

And this girl seemed to be frowning which only made Alec feel slightly uncomfortable. The idea of anyone being sad or upset or just frowny in general wasn't something that sat well with him. Especially since this girl was frowning over, what he assumed to be, the plastic cutlery. Not great.

Despite this, the nearly sixteen year old grinned at the girl and gave her a small wave, trying to attract her attention. "Erm... hey there!" He wasn't being awkward, nope! "Welcome to Hufflepuff! Erm... I'm Alec, Alec Summers." GRIN.

That answer was almost expected really. Lottie hated yellow as much as she hated pink. Honestly, things wouldn't have gone well if she had to climbed several flights of stairs each day just to get back to a Common Room that was pink. "Was that it? I always thought it was because you liked the outdoors and all that stuff about nature." Lex liked nature too, just not as much. She didn't exactly have the attention span to appreciate nature for more than a few minutes at a time. There was just too much to do.

The look on Lottie's face told her that she finally noticed she was being watched. Good. Extra good because she stopped staring, for a while anyway. "I couldn't agree more. Half of them have no heads in the first place, forget having any filled with actual brains." It was true. She noticed but like Lottie said, there were some that had enough of a brain to make up for the lack among the others. This made things not so bad. "It's a pity the extra smart ones are so rare. Do you think most of them might have died off?" Believe it or not that was a serious question. One she'd been meaning to ask for the longest time too.

Yes, very possible indeed.

And Lottie had taken the hint. New Lottie was going to take some getting used to. This new one blushed a lot more and was more easily distracted. Being distracted was her job. If they were both so easily distracted they could very well run right into an acromantula and never notice!

This wouldn't work.

Still, she apologized and the attention was back to her. This was where she smiled to let Lottie know she'd accepted the apology, so she did. Half a smile really. Her saying sorry didn't change the fact that she had done it in the first place. Time to move away from this too. "You don't suppose they'd have our first class be something high up in the towers do you??" It NEVER amused her to walk all the way down for breakfast, just to have to walk all the way back up. NOPE.

Pretty ceiling! The stars and things reflected had drawn the 11 year old's attention like a moth to flames. The candles floating up there didn't help with the short attention span either as they kept floating back and forth. She had to look down though to grab another drink of water.

Wait...distraction...someone was waving at her. Bay looked behind her to make sure that the guy was actually waving at her. Since there was no one behind her she could assume that he was. Then he made introductions and she had to smile at his enthusiasm.

"Hello! Thank you. I'm Bay, Bay Turner. Nice to meet you Alec."

Theodore had no right to be mad. If Ella was being Ms. Sassy McSasserton it was his own fault. He’d given her sassy!lessons, remember?

Also the boy’s eyeroll was on another level of sassy and Ella laughed. LAUGHED because she couldn’t be mad when someone looked so silly. And yes, the eyeroll looked SILLY. Also silly, the fact that Theo was stuck to his seat. HEH.

And Oakey Worm was doing homework? Interesting. ”Dad likes Star Trek.” Ella said casually, eyeing the plate he’d been writing on. ”You do know it’s not really a muggle cult, yeah?” Just saying. As for the veggie drinks and pat on the back, Ella smiled and shrugged. ”I can try.” But really…food soon?


And then Groundskeeper!dude was scolding Theo for ruining Oakey’s paper plate project and Ella just watched with wide eyes. She’d told him the utensils were for eating, yeah? SOMEONE should have listened. She was also kind of worried because of Dylish reasons. He wouldn’t be happy about point loss for his house, yeah? And though she was sure he wouldn’t harm a hair of Theo’s eye rolling head, she wasn’t so sure he’d be happy with Oakey worm and Ella rather liked their friendship. Oh and as much as she wanted to poke the lurker in his eye at the moment, they were friends too so yeah, she felt the tiniest bit bad about him losing points. ”The sooner you two stop sniping, the sooner you can get this finished and get away from each other, yeah?” The blonde said, eyeing the lurker and then the O-worm. Besides, the ickles shouldn’t see this type of behavior.

Ella hugged Minnie back and smiled a little at her reassuring words. She was nice, Minnie was. The blonde was also happy to hear that Minnie would practice with her…and Wade too, apparently. “Awesome! I talked to Wade on the train too and I’m glad he’ll be hanging out.” Really glad. ”You’re gonna be great, Min. Don’t worry!” Seriously, as long as she tried her hardest, she’d be fine. Minnie’s blush wasn’t lost on Ella, either, and the blonde raised her eyebrows. Hmmm. ”That sounds really great, actually. I’m glad you had a good one.” BEAM.

Loch Nessie was calling her Captain? Giggle. ”You don’t have to call me that, Nessie. Really.” Not unless she wanted to, of course. And she’d been practicing? Ella BEAMED at the older badger, nodding her head. ”I was born ready.” Cue a broad smile and a fit of giggles. The blonde was a bit surprised Ness didn’t know what was up with all the run-down stuff. She’d hoped Head-People would be privy to that information but maybe they’d find out during the speech?

Ickle Person! (Tucker) “Yup, I’m the new Captain.” Nodnod. “I’m Ella!” What position did she play? Ella grinned at the boy’s curiosity. Did this mean he liked Quidditch and planned on playing? HMMMM? ”I’ve been playing keeper recently but I’ve been a chaser and beater too.” Multitalented, obviously. Snort. ”Are you going to try out?”

And then Laura was doing some crazy newscast scenario and Ella giggled, watching her friend with interest. What was that about? Also, Laura should really broadcast about the whole Theo/Oakey stand-off if she was going to pretend to be a newscaster, yeah? That was definitely newsworthy.

Ella appreciated all of Alec’s concern, really she did. She hated that he was worried, though. ”Yeah, I think some more sleep is just the thing I need.” And she smiled at him, nudging him gently in the arm. ”You’re a great boyfriend, y’know.” Just in case he was wondering.

Mysterious Messy was mysterious. Frown. ”Nope, I haven’t heard from him either. Do you think he’s off doing more ballet?” Better that than hurt somewhere and lonely. And he was worried about the house elves too? ”Yeah, I mean they should! House elves are awesome!”

…

Ugh. She needed to shake this off right now. And Oakey and Theodore were here and she could tell Alec was probably a bit uncomfortable so she let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around him in a side hug instead. Looking up, the blonde gave the hair whipper a small smile and whispered, ”You okay?”

So... Once more Kaiden found himself sitting at the Hufflepuff table. The table with all that horrid yellow, and the people, the Hufflepuffs. He frowned looking over those sitting around. He still wasn't too keen on the whole thing, but well, it wasn't SO bad now. Like, it was still bad, but it was bearable, thanks to their co-win of the House Cup, and his help in winning the Quidditch Cup.

So he sat there, not too hungry thanks to all his candy, and fiddled with the utensils and things. They made it seem more like a picnic, or cook out, and less of a feast thing like they always had. "Hmm, thats odd." he mumbled.

Jelly Beans? Curses! Haruka's never been able to turn down sweets. "Thank you!" She nodded politely as she took some. She smiled shyly when Bliss commented on her name. Haruka's face lit up when Bliss asked how she liked things so far. "Everything's great!" She beamed. "I can't wait for classes to start!"




Haruka smiled at the older girl's kindness. "Well, I'm originally from Japan," she replied. "But my family moved to England a few years ago." Her smile grew when the girl asked about classes. "I'm most excited about Divinations!"

She noticed Minnie took on a more serious tone and shifted in her seat when the older Puff encouraged her to ask for help. "Okay," she offered, though the reply was empty.




Haruka smiled back at Awarlesta. "Hi! My name's Haruka!" She noticed that the corners of the girl's lips were twitching a bit, which she recognized as a familiar symptom of over-smiling.




Haruka shook her head slightly to get rid of the remainder of her daydream. She smiled up at the older boy's question. "I'm very excited! I can't wait for classes to start!"

Arlene turned to look at someone else. "What's odd?" The eleven year old braved. Normally she would have just let something like that go and not question it. For some reason though being with so many people around her, the shy quiet Arlene was starting to get a little bit more brave.

Pushing her red hair out of her face for the thousandth time that day, Arlene gave the boy a smile and decided it would be a good idea to introduce herself to him. "I'm Arlene Murdock." She introduced, "First year, but I assume that's kind of obvious." She added on with a giggle.

"Yeah, maybe..." Did Hogwarts have a financial problem? For some reason it was hard to believe so. Enough of the sad and bad, though. She was suppose to be welcoming to the young one. "But, I'm sure it won't be like this for the whole term. They'll fix it. They always do. Are you excited for your first year?" She said, a smile beaming on her face.



"IT IS AWESOME." She was starting to scare herself from how enthusiastic she was today. If she keeps this up, she might start scaring people away. O_O. "I look happy? Oh, that's good! Really, good!" She mirrored the all-famous 'Alec Grin'. Her outer appearance was matching her personality, which was good. Good indeed.

"Switzerland was amazing! Saw a lot of rainfalls and abysessesses." Abysess. Abyssesess. Abyss. There you go. "Oh, and look how long my hair's gotten!" She said as she flipped her dark blonde hair over head, so it hid her face. Flip. "Well, I hope so! Maybe he had a whole bunch of fun without me and pretended to miss me!" Giggle. Well, this subject was to be asked constantly soon, so she prepared for this moment. "Yeah, it's just me and Manolo. My dad passed away about 4 years ago and my mom left to Spain. I haven't heard from her since, but my brother and I are pretty content alone." Whoo, that was actually pretty painless. She sweetly smiled to top it off.



Haruka? Interesting name. Very pretty and unique! "Well, Haruka. It's a pleasure to meet you!" She had an urge to hug the adorable youngster. Would that be weird? She's no danger as a stranger, is she? Awar held out her arms, awkwardly to test the waters.

Oh, some kid was talking to him? "oh, well, this." he said poking the plate and slipping the cup upside down. "Its like we're at some back yard cook out, and not the fancy kind. I mean, we usually have the same fancy plates and classes and things." he shrugged. "Its just weird." It wasn't even like it was one of those weird theme party things they had. Nope, it was the opening feast.

"oh, er... I'm Kaiden." he said rubbing the back of his neck, feeling quite awkward about the small girl and her giggling. It was... weird. and something like Miks would do.

"Actually, Forrest, I have to admit that it isn't normal for our cutlery, plates and cups to be made of plastic. We usually have actual silverware and metal plates and silver cups. Maybe the house elves decided that they didn't want to waste time washing them this time." Alyssa explained to Forrest even though she knew that the reason she gave was a lie. Something strange was definitely going on.

Then Alyssa turned to see a familiar face join their table.



Alyssa smiled and returned Minnie's hug. "As you know Summer was rather busy for me with all the application letters I had to send off, plus the training at the Academy and moving out from my home to Evan's but I still managed to get some studying in. Excited? I don't think that I can exactly describe it as that though." Alyssa confided in her friend.

Alyssa smiled at the younger boy."I did spend some time at Dollywood Park with Minnie, Ethan & my boyfriend, but most of my summer was spent studying or moving or training and studying. Yep! I had a pretty busy summer. What about you?" she asked Nate.



While Alyssa was waiting for Nate to reply, she noticed another new face. So she waved at him and called out a greeting. "Hello there. Welcome to Hufflepuff. I'm Alyssa and it's nice to meet you." she smiled at the boy.

Eliza smiled back at Ella's greeting and said with a laugh, "And so we do!" She did a half curtsy and tipped her head. She giggled and then looked to the table settings again. "Yes, strange indeed. But you know, even if it's weird for Hogwarts, it's still more than some people have, so I guess I shouldn't complain." Actually she was starting to feel a somewhat badly for how she'd been reacting to them. It wasn't like she needed nice things. It was nice to even be at school at all in her opinion. But there is something fishy about it... She still couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Those could be...The house elves do what a LOT of work to do all the time. I'm sure dishes are just one more dull task on their hands. Hmm... Do you think maybe the charms have worn off of them? Maybe this is all they ever really were, but they were fancified or something before?" It was worth a shot - but she did hope the real answer would be found soon. Also the food. The food could be found soon as well.




Moments after arriving at the Hufflepuff table, she noticed Ethan making his way there as well. I guess we both had the same idea, she thought with a laugh, and waved back at him as he went to see his girlfriend - whom she was just about to see as well actually. Another thing she was glad of Ethan for was introducing her to Min. Can I call her Min now? she wondered. Everyone else does so I'm sure it's fine, right? She'd try it out sometime to see.




Eliza received the hug with warm welcoming arms. Hugs were nice. She didn't really ever think about giving them very often, just not in her immediate nature she supposed, but it was nice when they came around every now and then to surprise her. "It's good to see you too, Min!" she greeted with gusto. Eh? Eh? Min? Is that going to work? She watched to be sure, and seeing no negative reaction, she considered it a nickname success. Two points for Eliza! Maybe she was getting better at this whole socializing thing.

But that thought faded quickly as she noticed Min catching onto the root of her nervous fluster that had overcome her a moment ago. What?! No!! she huffed inside her head. She's calling him over here? Nononono! What if he saw me oggling him? And now - oh, agh! She shot a panicked look to Min, clearly in some distress here. And then she told her not to be nervous? That's like telling a bird not to fly! Oh she's sneaky, this one. She grimaced and tried to calm herself with a steady, practiced smile. Ridiculous, you're being ridiculous. He's a total stranger. He doesn't care who you are or what you're thinking, so just relax! Coaching herself as best she could, she prepared herself for the interaction with this Nash person.

Her mouth was dry, her fingers were twitchy, but she kept her voice relatively even - a skill she'd learned out of necessity. "I'm glad your summer was good! I really enjoyed practice," she said with a nod. And tryouts? She was really looking forward to those. And also dreading them. Those two feelings seemed to coincide for her quite often. "Oh I'd love it if you were there! It would be great to have someone in the stands rooting for me to make the team. And I'm sure Ethan will have no trouble getting a place again," she said, smiling. And hopefully this boy doesn't play, so he won't have to see me try and possibly fail and look horrible. Oh but he's older and doesn't care anyway. Irrelevant! All of these thoughts are irrelevant! She breathed another steady breath inwards, annnnd out. It was getting slightly better. Maybe there was a method to Min's crash course boy interaction methods after all.




Relieved that the boy from the compartment wasn't pretending to have never seen her before, she smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, I was," she said with a chuckle - and probably some blushing. "Sorry I was so...weird, I guess. That was...unexpected. The fighting I mean," she rambled. Wait, that makes it sound like it ISN'T unexpected for me to be weird. Great. Good job. Phrasing, Eliza. She didn't try to correct herself, as she figured it'd be best to just, not. But then the floodgates opened again. "I'm Eliza, just in case... I mean, so you know. And you are?" Maybe she would need to have a more in depth conversation with Min on how to talk to boys. Why did I not have this problem last year? She was beginning to feel a bit loopy, but maybe that was because she needed to eat soon.

Alec his Favorite Seeker, Oakey looked over to the other side of Ella and beamed. [B]"Alec, I had an interesting summer. Carnivals, Dogs, Ladders." and a lot of time spent with Ariana before she spent a month in America. "How about you? I saw you over at Ella's from time to time, but what else were you up too?"


Oakey's head perked up and turned quickly in the directions of the little red haired first year girl. "What did you say your last name was?" The Head Boy jumped into her and Kaiden's conversation unannounced.
He had to ask her. The cards lined up somewhat. The Former Groundskeeper shared the same last name, and if Oakey recalled correctly was a Hufflepuff once himself.

Text Cut: ^_^

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

That answer was almost expected really. Lottie hated yellow as much as she hated pink. Honestly, things wouldn't have gone well if she had to climbed several flights of stairs each day just to get back to a Common Room that was pink. "Was that it? I always thought it was because you liked the outdoors and all that stuff about nature." Lex liked nature too, just not as much. She didn't exactly have the attention span to appreciate nature for more than a few minutes at a time. There was just too much to do.

The look on Lottie's face told her that she finally noticed she was being watched. Good. Extra good because she stopped staring, for a while anyway. "I couldn't agree more. Half of them have no heads in the first place, forget having any filled with actual brains." It was true. She noticed but like Lottie said, there were some that had enough of a brain to make up for the lack among the others. This made things not so bad. "It's a pity the extra smart ones are so rare. Do you think most of them might have died off?" Believe it or not that was a serious question. One she'd been meaning to ask for the longest time too.

Yes, very possible indeed.

And Lottie had taken the hint. New Lottie was going to take some getting used to. This new one blushed a lot more and was more easily distracted. Being distracted was her job. If they were both so easily distracted they could very well run right into an acromantula and never notice!

This wouldn't work.

Still, she apologized and the attention was back to her. This was where she smiled to let Lottie know she'd accepted the apology, so she did. Half a smile really. Her saying sorry didn't change the fact that she had done it in the first place. Time to move away from this too. "You don't suppose they'd have our first class be something high up in the towers do you??" It NEVER amused her to walk all the way down for breakfast, just to have to walk all the way back up. NOPE.

Why, of course, Lex. "That is the main reason. I love being outside. Good thing I do, right? But I guess I'd study in the Common Room instead of going to the library if there wasn't so much yellow." TRUE. Because she had to go up to the library, and be on the Common Room by curfew. Unless she was extremely tired and had to move the couch in front of the fireplace to keep away from the color.

Pink is her favorite color, but she was certain it wouldn't be if she'd see it everywhere, you know? Which is why she didn't own too many pink stuff, yet she always wore the pink bracelet, was Lex wearing her blue one?

Smirk. They always agreed on this, didn't they? Of course, Lottie was agreeing with what she was saying, but she pondered over her question s while longer. "I don't know, I think the Sorting Hat has lowered its standards for that House in particular." And, well, she still didn't know what happened with her. The other Houses seemed to have students that suited them, the blue was the one with issues.

We're really sorry, Lex. But she probably noticed that she didn't look towards that table this time. Improvement.

The blush was slowly fading.

And she laughed AGAIN. "I wouldn't mind it, actually, but I can understand why you would." ACTUALLY, she might be out of shape for seven floors, "On second thought...I hope not." She won't have any problem with the waking up early part, though, since she always woke up rather early...but the stairs...on the first day...this was a minor issue.

At his reply Kahlan couldn't help a fond smile crossing her face, considering whenever her brother had done anything for History of Magic she loved to read his books or go over the work he'd written, though she'd never really told him that.

"I really can't wait for History of Magic, I love learning about history... but I guess I'm also looking forward to Muggle studies because I never really learnt much about it until my brother started dating a muggle... I find all of the stuff so strange... and interesting, especially now having spent the holidays with the two of them-" she caught herself as she'd started rambling, a blush rising on her cheeks as she stopped herself from going on and looked down slightly, a bit different from the usual confidence considering she hated when she rambled, kind of wondering what Forrest would think now...

Minerva couldn’t believe when Ness seemed so unsure about Head Girl, “Ness, you’re going to be brilliant at head girl. You were an awesome captain and showed great leadership. You will do the same for this, I just know you will.” She was going to wait until later, but maybe saying something about some plans in her head now could encourage Nessie. “I have a few plans in my mind of things we could do this term for our house, one is for the entire house and the other is for the fifth and seventh years. We don’t have to talk about them now, but maybe later. I want to run them by you and Oakey, plus I’m going to talk to Hadley about them as well.” Always important to bring the prefects into the thoughts, but they didn’t have prefects this term, they had both Heads. She was so excited about that.
Now her summer, she smiled even bigger. Min had been asked that a few times, of course common topic, but she was never tired of answer, “My summer was amazing, I traveled a bit, and got an opportunity to work at a hospital to see if that is the path I want to travel after here.” Short end of the story, but enough if Nessie wanted anymore detail she could just ask. “How was your summer?



Minerva was watching as the rest of the first years were sorted and she caught eye of Bay heading the hat. She crossed her fingers under the table, not that she couldn’t’ be friends with Bay no matter what house she was in, but Minerva just hoped she could be part of their house. Standing she clapped and cheered for her as she walked over, “Bay this is awesome, I’m so excited for you. Welcome to Hufflepuff! You are going to be a great addition for us!” She had all the faith in Bay, she wasn’t sure why, but she just felt that Bay would be a great student here.
Plus the little puffer needed a great family group of friends and this house was a great house to be in for that family of friends. She couldn’t be happier with her awesome friends and her little badgers and now she could adopt another one in that group. Giving her a small hug and hoping she didn’t mind Min smiled, “Now we wait for the headmistress to talk and then the food should be here, even though I’m not sure about this silverware this term, but no biggie, we will still have a great time and good food.”


Minerva couldn’t help but notice the little first year wasn’t very talkative, was he just being quiet or maybe she was just talking too much. Well how else would she get to know the little one if she didn’t ask. Oh and he didn’t say much about himself either, Durham.. She had heard of it before, but had she ever been there before. “Is it nice?”
“So Forrest, do you come from a wizard family?” It wasn’t a big deal if he wasn’t, she wasn’t really with her dad being a muggle, but it was just something to ask. If he wasn’t she could help him relate and help explain things if he needed, no need for him to think he had to pretend, because so many were oblivious and unknowing before coming to school, she was one of them.


Minerva listened to him, oh charms, that got her interest. She loved charms, but she had that small issue with it. Maybe he could help her.. “So you know a lot about charms? I love charms, but didn’t do as good as I would have liked on my OWLs. I need to practice more.” That might have been a bit much for a new student, but if he knew charms, maybe they could work together sometimes. “Don’t worry about the other classes, I think you will be fine.” She wasn’t afraid he was behind, she was just interested in how the homeschooling worked.
“Well I think you will like real classes, I think I would love one on one time for learning, but there is nothing like being able to partner with other students.” She hoped he wasn’t too nervous about classes, she figured he would do fine, especially if his mom taught him a tone in charms.

Smiling she liked when people didn’t give her odd looks about her home, she had heard more than once over the years questions on why she didn’t go to a school there. “They States are wonderful, well at least Tennessee is. That’s where my grandparents live, well I live. It’s beautiful. It is one of my favorite places.” She couldn’t help but feel a little homesick thinking about it. She had a great time there and had a great time with her grandparents, but the next thought brought happy and odd.. a little homesick feeling itself, “Germany was wonderful. It is such a nice place and everyone was so nice. I feel like I’m really starting to learn the language, which was helpful working there and to better communicate with Ethan’s family.”
Oh her brothers job sounded interesting, Minerva thought of questions about it, but decided not to ask, there were always books if she was more interested later. Blushing a bit, “oh thanks, I hope so and don’t worry about not know, I still don’t completely know. I think Healer is what I want, but I have some time yet, and so do you.” She smiled towards the younger badger. Smiling towards the claw table and listening to Awar another little blush hit her cheeks, “Yeah, I think he’s a keeper.. He’s amazing..” She looked sheepish at the table, stuff not to be talking about to the younger kids Min.. “Sorry, anyway, yes the library. Well if you ever need anything or a study partner, come find me. I would be more than happy to help. “

Minerva gave him a odd look at his response, well at least they were on the same page of forced, but play nice for Ari is what she was going to do. “I had a wonderful summer actually, I wish I could have spent some time with Ariana, but I am hoping you made sure her summer was good.” Yes.. you better have at least. Still eyeing him a bit, she sighed knowing she was going to have to have a decent conversation sooner or later. What was she even still mad at him about? She couldn’t remember at that point, but she did know she didn’t trust him and she would stay suspicious until he proved he was not going to just hurt her friend.
“Oakey” saying his name a bit more relaxed, well trying to at least. “I have a few ideas for the house this term. One for the entire house and the other for more the fifth and seventh year students. I would like to run them by you at some point. I plan on speaking to Hadley about these as well, but figured it would be a good idea to speak to both you and Nessie on these plans as well, so if you would like to help or anything you could.” There she was including him in her plans, was that enough to keep Ariana off her back of being nice.


Minerva stared at Laura.. What.. was.. she..doing.. Rolling her eyes a little, Min couldn’t help but laugh. Even if Laura didn’t feel it herself, she was such a fun girl and smart. Though Min felt Laura didn’t give herself credit for the last of the two. “Well I’m proud of you Laura, you are showing great Puff pride and being a great friend to these younger students. Hopefully some of them will end up in our house.” There were a few she was hoping would be part of their house that she got to know on the train as well.

Oh goodness now what was the fifth year doing?? Back with the news thing, really. She listened as Laura started and looked around to see who else was hearing her. Blushing at the thought of her bringing Minerva into this, she wasn’t sure whether to run or play along. Oh what the heck, so the first years thought that the older students were a bit weird. Weird was good, weird was fun, right? As long as it didn’t mean points taken or detention, Min could handle a little weird. Smiling she shook her head as Laura said about Min and weather, “Oh umm.. Thanks Laura? Looking at the ceiling since we are INDOORS it looks like it will be a good evening for a feast… ummm back to you crazy girl..” She laughed having a bit of fun with her friend.



Minnie sighed, she wasn’t’ sure how much of her past stuff Alec really knew. He knew she had no parents, yes, but.. did he know about her brother. She didn’t want to get anyone down at the feast, it had been happy so far, but he was still asking about things. “Yes I was over thinking. My brain was already thinking about Ethan being a seventh year, when it shouldn’t we have all term. So no need to be sad about that yet, and well. You know about the plane crash and my parents, but I’m not sure you knew I had a little brother as well or maybe you did, but anyway he would have started this term so I was thinking about that as well, but you coming into the compartment was perfect timing.. so again thanks.” She smiled at him, because she wanted no sad.. no this was happy, happy feast, positive feast, beginning a new term feast. “Alec you can sit with me anytime you want, classes, common room, great hall, train. You are a great friend and I love when your around.”

Minerva then smiled, “Of course I’m looking forward to classes, a little nervous about new professors, a little sad that Magnus isn’t up there right now, but still excited to get started on learning new things. Plus I found out over the summer there are some new books in the library that I’m anxious to get my hands on. So I am looking forward to a good term. Plus, I do think I’ll try out for quidditch again, so hopefully.. fingers crossed.” That was about all she knew to say about the quidditch thing. She had no doubt the best keeper in the world would be on the team, but she did have doubts about herself.



Minerva was appreciative to Ella’s words, but that’s how their friendship always seemed to work. One encouraging the other, whether it was school or personal they always seemed to be near each other when needed. She was grateful for that and for Ella’s friendship over the years here. “Yeah I wasn’t completely sure of him at first, but Wade seems like a great guy. I hope to get to practice with him, maybe he can show me a few things, but maybe not hit Ethan with a bludger again this term.” She cracked a little smile knowing it was impossible to stop, but the thought was still there.

The eyebrows didn’t go unnoticed and Min turned her head trying to push the blush out of her face, but that was a challenge that would never be one. “Yeah, well I’m glad you had a great summer as well. Spent a lot of time with Alec, I hope.” Yes, she loved those two being together, they were so cute. “You two might be one of the cutest couples here at school.” She wasn’t afraid to admit that and didn’t think Ella would disagree.



Minerva listened, oh Japan, that was a place she had never been and maybe hoped to see one day. “Why did they move to England if I might ask?” Not being to nosey just curious as to what brought families to other parts of the world. “I’m actually from the States, so I get not being from England.” She was one of the curious ones that didn’t go to a school people thought she should have.

Her eyes brightening up at the subject, “Divinations, oh you’re going to love divinations. Professor Elwood is great and she will teach you so much.” Looking to the staff table, Minerva pointed, “That’s her right there. It’s one of my top favorite classes. So hopefully you will find it has interesting and great as I do.”



Minerva was aware at how busy Alyssa’s summer was, but she was so glad that she had made time to come and spend it with Ethan and her. “Well I am so glad we were able to spend time together this summer, even if it was just a day. It was fun.” Yes it really was, oh application letters, that seemed so.. stressful, was that the best word. “Well I hope those application letters work out for you. What are you planning on doing at the Academy?” Did she know this already? If she did she would feel bad that she forgot, but she would at least not forget again.

A little smile crossed her face with Evan, “How’s that going? You two are so cute together, I really like him Alyssa. I’m glad you met him, he seems perfect for you.” Yes he really did. She hoped they would last, because it would be cute if they did. The smile didn’t stay long when she wasn’t excited, well of course she wasn’t Min wasn’t sure how she would feel next term, “Well we have an exciting term ahead of us and quidditch tryouts will be sooner then we think, you are going out again, aren’t you?”



Minerva had to chuckled at the nervous bouncing off of Eliza and then she wondered what Ethan would think of her introducing Eliza to a boy. He seemed to have taken on the older brother role with Eliza, so protective and unsure might be the reaction she would get if he knew, but he wasn’t there and it was fun seeing her all nervous about boys, she remembered when she was all nervous around her first boy she liked, and again, and then again with meeting Ethan. She wish she could tell Eliza those nervous don’t ever go away with each new crush.

“I think you are going to do brilliant at tryouts, you really did well at those practices. Ethan’s aunt is a great teacher, so I know you are going to do fine.” Min chuckled a bit thinking of those practices, “and if nothing else you got to see how fast I can frustrate someone in Ethan’s family, because I will not hit him with a bludger.” She still wasn’t sure how that was going to work if they both made the teams, but she would deal with it when it came. She had to make the team first. “I will be there then, I’ll make sure of it and I’m sure you both will do wonderful.”

Forrest nodded affirmatively. He felt nice already. He wondered whether other houses were like this too. He'd ask--wait, he didn't know ANYONE yet.

Oh well.

"What kind of sports activities are there?" Just to ask something, and just to get something BIG out of way.





Forrest nodded, meeting his gaze again. People were so NICE in here, it was hard to be intimidated--though his shyness was more on the impressed side. Oblivious to his confusion, and in an attempt to be more talkative, he said "People I've met so far are very nice, quite the opposite of students in my previous schools."

Except for Daichi. HE wasn't nice. He'd first mentioned f--

His hand twitched a little, and he had to make it a punch under the table to stop the urge. More silence. Forrest'd understand if he wanted to join his friends--he was probably the most boring person he'd ever talked.





Oh, it was this house elves again! Forrest frowned to himself, trying to remember who'd mentioned them too--it was the Gryffindor on the train, Sarah! He drew a breath to ask about them, but she was already talking to some people else. Oh well. He'd just ask about them to someone else.





So, Forrest had uttered a popular class name. Well, that was relieving.

She found all of muggle stuff strange? Forrest frowned. That didn't make sense. Apart from a hat that could read minds, what difference did wizards have from them?

"I'm a muggleborn," he said distractedly. MANY things didn't make sense in here. He was the only muggleborn he had yet to meet... how could he be magical if his parents weren't?

DEEP stuff. He'd ask it to a professor at the first chance.





Forrest felt nice upon seeing she wanted to talk. That meant she liked talking to him, right?

"We moved to London when I was less than a year old, so I don't know much about Durham." He paused, playing with a napkin...

..."No, I'm a muggleborn." ... "Are you?" Was it rude to ask that to people as if he was asking their race?

Annabeth was sad and she didn't helped herself. She wasn't hungry. She was just keeping her eyes focused on the empty plate in front of her, pretending not hear everybody greeting each other and talking excitedly. Some of them had badgers on their robes, just as she had since that stupid hat had sorted her to that Hufflepuff house. Stupid hat and stupid badger! She thought and then repented: in fact she had always loved badgers, they were her favorite animals. Without planing or thinking that someone could be observing her, she kissed briefly the Hufflepuff crest magically embroidered on her robe, as if she was apologising for her rudeness. It was when she heard from a boy who was talking to someone else:
So... There are more Muggleborns here! Would he have been cast out of his home too? She thought, gazing at him.

Theo just scowled. He had only popped over here to see some friends, he wasn't planning on staying for lunch. Why would he?! He might catch something... His plan was to just ignore Oakey and his nonsense until a professor came by to release him and his butt from this seat.

La la laaaaaaaaaaa... not listening........

But he really did need to apologize, even if he saw no reason to. If anything, professors should be proud that he was getting good with that water spell. He sucked at pretty much everything else. An ASTRONOMY essay?

;__________;

"Well, tell me what to write, then!" Merlin's beard, he wasn't a mind reader was he? "Oh, and Gunter..." He paused, narrowing his eyes, "I apologize." For ruining school property that he had already ruined, which he was TOTALLY gonna tell a professor on later.

That is all.

MUWAHAHAHA.

SPOILER!!: Minnie <3!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Minerva then saw another face that made her jump and she pulled Ethan along with her. “I have someone you have to meet.” As she approached Kace she couldn’t help but put her hands on his shoulders. “You’re a PUFF, this is soooo awesome!! Belle is going to be so proud of you! I know your going to be a great addition to our house.”
She sat down next to him and smiled, “Hey I have someone else I want you to meet. This is Ethan, he was another great friend of your sisters. Ethan, this is Kace, Kace is Belle’s brother.” and that is why I pushed you over here to meet him, Minerva thought. “So Kace are you excited?” She knew she felt excited for him and for Belle, if her brother would have been able to come to Hogwarts she felt it would be awesome if he could have been a puff just like her.

Kace smiled to Minnie the girl he met on the train. He could not believe he was in hufflepuff. He wanted to make his family proud. "Thanks." he grinned at her. Then she had someone for him to meet? Oh another friend of Belle's? Wow her sister was not kidding when she mentioned she had lots of friends. He had friends back in the muggle world who he missed right now but he would keep his option open to make new ones.

Kace nodded toward Ethan, "Nice to meet you Ethan." he held out his hand to be a gentlemen. If there was one thing his mother taught him was to ALWAYS have manners. Then Minnie asked if he was excited. "Yeah i am so excited! I can not believe how many people go to school here. I am more anxious to see what the common room looks like. Any tips i should know?" he asked. He wondered if there were trap doors in the common room he should be aware of.

SPOILER!!: Ella! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

N’awww another little ickle. Ella smiled at the little one and gave him a wave. ”Welcome to Hufflepuff!” And to the family, obviously.

Kace saw another puff greeting him. Everyone seemed so nice here. He was lucky to be in this house. "Thank you!" he smiled at the cute girl. He walked over to her and said, "I am Kace by the way."

SPOILER!!: Nessie :3!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talikins

And who was this little kiddo?

Golly gosh, he was so adorable, just like that other firstie with the cheeks. In fact all firsties were adorable, which their miniature uniform and cute little faces. Why couldn't everyone just stay eleven forever? Those were surely the best years of Hogwarts, no? Nessie believed they were, but then of course she remembered her first year and decided to change her mind about that.

Poor kiddo, he looked lonely and in need of some company. With a warm smile the seventh year went on over. "Hey, kiddo. I'm Nessie." She extended her hand out for a shake.

As Kace turned around, he noticed someone else greeting him. He seemed to be popular. As he turned and shook Nessie's hand, Kace smiled and said "Nice to meet you, I am Kace by the way."

SPOILER!!: New puff Bay!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverlynn

The newly sorted Hufflepuff skipped down to the table with the....well rather homely looking yellow and black banner over it. Odd considering how lavish the train had been. Her green eyes tried to spot Minnie as she was extremely excited to be in the same house with her new friend. It seemed she was surrounded by a bunch of people so Bay took an empty seat near the end.

A frown crossed her face as she looked at the dinner ware. Paper plates and plastic cups? Honestly she had expected nice china or something like it. Even the orphanage had actual plates and glasses. This was just....well....disappointing. Sighing Bay took a drink of water from her plastic cup and waited for dinner to start. All the excitement from today had the 11 year old starving for food. Her little body was still shaking a bit but that would pass eventually.

After Kace talked with Nessie, he noticed there was another puff exactly like him. She was shaking from being nervous and that is how he felt. Plus she was in the same boat why not talk to her. She was a girl after all. It shouldn't be that hard right?

"H...Hi..HI!" he stammered. "I am Kace and what is your name. I am a newly sorted puff too." he smiled at her.

SPOILER!!: Awar! :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black

Another firstie! How exciting! Awar approached the young boy, "Hi there! Welcome into our Puff family!" She held out her hand, "The name's Awarlesta." Grin. "What's yours?"

As Kace was done talking with Bay, he had another puff greet him. Jeez he did not know if he could remember all these names but he would try. She looked sweet the girl named Awar.

"Oh thank you. I am excited to be a part of it." he said looking around the table. "I am Kace by the way nice to meet you...Awarlesta?" he said second guessing himself. "That is a unique name you got there." he told her truthfully.

SPOILER!!: Alec! :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

So in all the kerfuffle of greeting people and hugging people and asking about summers -- GRIN for unintentional uses of his surname -- Alec had almost forgotten about greeting the new Hufflepuffs that were joining them. Almost.

He turned his head and was about to look up to see where the Headmistress was on the 'giving the speech' front when his grey-blue eyes landed on a small boy. A really small boy that Alec hadn't seen before at Hogwarts. So... he had recently been sorted, yeah? Hopefully otherwise what Alec was about to say would turn out to be... well... awkward to say the least.

"Erm... hey, there!" Grin and wave, grin and wave! "I'm Alec, Alec Summers. And welcome to Hufflepuff!"

As Kace was done talking with Awar, he noticed another puff getting his attention. He was trying to hear the Headmistresses speech but his nerves and excitement got the better of him. He was just happy to be sorted and meet new people. His attention span was minimal right now.

"Oh hey Alec. My sister mentioned you a lot. I am Kace Lecium and thank you. I am happy to be in the house, it is a lot to take in."

SPOILER!!: Alyssa! :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88

While Alyssa was waiting for Nate to reply, she noticed another new face. So she waved at him and called out a greeting. "Hello there. Welcome to Hufflepuff. I'm Alyssa and it's nice to meet you." she smiled at the boy.

He noticed another puff greeting him. He must have gotten a lot of attention today that is for sure. At his old school he was lucky enough to get a hello. Kace nodded towards her, "Hey i am Kace. Nice to meet you Alyssa." he held out his hand for her to shake it.

Minerva listened as he said about moving to London, “Oh well then you’re from London really. I lived there for a year or so with my cousins before moving back with my grandparents in the States.” That was about all she knew about London though. Mostly Diagon Alley, but other than that not much else.
Giving the boy a smile, “Well Forrest your in for many surprises then if your muggleborn.” She had remembered all too well the surprises of first term. “Well I am actually half blood to be correct, but I consider myself muggleborn, because I never knew I was a witch. My mother was from a pureblood family, but decided to be muggle when she married my dad. They didn’t tell me anything about it until I was 10. So when I came here I knew nothing.” Hoping he would see there was nothing to worry about and she was even proud of the part of her that was muggle.



Minerva then noticed a girl who didn’t seem to be very happy. Frowning a bit she looked from Forrest to the girl, “Excuse me, but are you alright?” No one should be sad at the feast. This was a happy time, then a thought crossed her mind. Did this girl not want to be a puff? That was tragic if she didn’t, she didn’t see what a great house this was if that was the case.
“Hello, Welcome to Hufflepuff, I’m Minerva, but everyone calls me Min or Minnie. What’s your name?” Putting on her best smile, she hoped that would help cheer the young girl up.



Minerva smiled down at Kace, he was a cute little kid and he did seem excited to be there. That was a great thing! She couldn’t wait to owl Belle, she would write to her tonight and send Midnight in the morning, oh Midnight, Minerva had made sure to buy him some treats. She had missed that school owl and would have to visit first thing.
Laughing a bit a Kace’s nerves and excitement she tried to help him a bit, “Yes there are, but you will feel like you know most of them by the end of second term. It really starts feeling a bit smaller after awhile, well at least by the end of terms. They usually change a few things for us to come back to. So something is always new to explore. Adventures are the best things. Hmmm advice, what advice could she give him, class..study.. read.. those all jumped in her head first, but she just smiled, “Well work hard at your classes, but don’t forget to have fun and meet people. The people you meet here you will spend a bunch of time with each term, so don’t be afraid to introduce yourself.” She hoped he wasn’t shy at least, she didn’t know what advice to give shy people, because that was one thing she never really was.

Laura looked at Alec and smiled. "Well my summer was very interesting to say the least." Laura wasn't ready to talk about it yet, only a few people knew about what had happened and she wanted it to stay that way even if it meant keeping everything bottled up, she just wished she could speak to her cousin about things but they weren't talking so there was no chance of that happened.

Laura looked at Ella and Minnie. "Well you two are rubbish." Laura stuck her tongue out at her friends. "Your supposed to be professionals." Laura giggled. "Though I can't say much I've misplaced my special guest." Laura was searching high and low, having a bit of fun."

Laura was wondering what to do, when suddenly she remember she had a letter from DJ. "Since I've." *cough* "Misplaced the special guest" *cough* "I'll read you all this lovely letter from a lovely guy."



"Dear Laura, Oh he is so sweet." Laura then continued. "I hope you are well and I..............." Laura suddenly stopped and looked at her friends and then she looked at Ella and then she went and shook her friend. "ELLA BISHOP tell me I am dreaming this INSTANCE." Laura so was not happy about this news she had just been given.

Blue was AMUSED by the plastic food utensils. Everyone else seemed to annoyed or confused but they didn't seem to understand that plastic sporks were flexible. It would be absolutely perfect in a perfect. With metal, it wouldn't bend back all that very far but with plastic, hypothetically in a food fight, the spaghetti would be able to hit the table at the other side of the room! It was fantastic. Blue's first instinct was to make her way over to the Slytherin table, as most of her favourite people resided in that house, spoon-slash-fork-slash-whatever thing in hand, when she spotted Theo and West and most importantly sorry not sorry

Bliss.

Her Wrinkles. The Wrinkles to her Bubbles.

Okay. That wasn't really a phrase but the fourth year didn't even care. Not a single little bit. She whistled tunelessly and made a beeline straight for a blonde head. "Hey Bubbles." The eaglette prodded her friend's shoulder with the spork. "Wassup, buttercup?" How ya doing? She looked okay. But Blue knew better than to trust Bliss when she smiled and said she was peachy keen. Blue was basically Sherlock Holmes. Yup.

She tossed a grin at West and Theo....till she noticed Theo APOLOGIZING to Oakey. OAKEY. B-b-b-but they were SWORN ENEMIES. Sworn enemies. Blue frowned at the Head Boy out of loyalty. "Move, Theodore." The fourteen-year-old waved a hand, trying to get him to scooch over.

Make room.

Don't be rude, Kinsley.

Kahlan noticed the other boys frown as she said that she found the muggle world strange but tried to just shrug that off, realizing why he'd reacted that way almost immediately... He also probably didn't know much about the wizarding world... whoops?

"I'm a pureblood"she countered to his statement of his blood with a shrug, personally she was sick of the whole old, honourable family stuff! However, because she probably confused the poor boy earlier because he wouldn't know much about the magical world she decided that she might as well backtrack a bit.

"So is there anything you'd like to know about the Wizarding world? In fact what do you know so far?" yes, knowing how much he actually knew would be a good start.

And being the nice little witch she was she could probably answer any questions he threw at her!