As Kace was talking to people he heard a familiar nickname. He turned around and smiled and noticed who it was right away. He chuckled and nodded to Sophia, "Hello Sugar Queen was it?" he asked if he remembered right. He felt bad not remembering but it had been a while since he had seen her. He felt her tackled hug and hugged her back. "I am glad to see you too.." he laughed and found it great that she was a hugger. He heard her question and he shrugged "It was fine. I didn't do too much this summer. I played sports and went to Diagon Alley as you know." he winked. "You still have all your sweets saved or did you eat them all?" he asked curiously. He ate his sweets having the big sweet tooth in the family. He couldn't control himself sometimes.

Did she just ask if she could join them. He shook his head and grinned and found it adorable. "Why of course you can join us. I thought you would never ask.." he said making room for her.


Kace nodded and felt ashamed he didn't know Bleu. "I am sorry I didn't get to know you then and especially almost close to my age. I am a sixth year." Everytime he said it he couldn't believe it. One minute he was a first year going on the boats and wondering where he was going to be sorted and now he was going to graduate. "It is nice to meet you too Bleu.." he said shaking her hand. He wanted to be proper because that is all his mother ever taught him.

He was curious about the little things so he asked, "Where are you from Bleu?" he needed a conversation starter because he wanted to know more about her.


He laughed when he scared Lux. He got her this time. Smirkty smirk smirk. He couldn't stop chuckling when she started playfully slapping. "Aww come on it has to be like a tradition every feast I need to scare you." He brought her in for a nice friendly hug. He wanted to know how she was doing without Bay here but he figured he wouldn't touch on the sensitive subject yet. "Did you see all the new puffs yet?" he asked curiously.


Finally he got to meet a new first year puff (Margo). He thought they were adorable and he remembered that is what people thought about him. "Hello Margo.." he nodded trying to remember her name. He was excited he could put a name to a face. He heard her telling everyone her name and he laughed. "Trust me you could yell in here and no one would really hear you. It is quite loud in here with everyone talking." He thought it was cute she tried to attempt. He was glad to know she was loving Hufflepuff house table. I mean they were a friendly bunch and loved to chit chat.

Awww she was worried about her brother. He wondered what could have happened to him. "What happened to your brother? Is he a first year too? Did he fall into the lake while coming in the boats?" I mean there is nothing to worry about since the Giant Squid is friendly and would help you back onto the boat.

Bleu was surprised at his kindness. She gave him a gentle smile and replied, "It's ok, Kace. I generally kept to myself. Nothing to apologize for." She took his hand and shook it firmly. Her mother taught her that a good handshake was important, and she wanted to make sure that she made a good impression.

She smiled at his curiosity. She like the attention...plus...he was really, very cute. "I live in London with my mother. She works at the ministry." She pulled at a strand of hair, and twisted it with her fingers. "Where are you from?" she asked with just as much curiosity as he had.

"WHAT?" Margo shouted back at him. Just to tease, he could hear him, but she knew as soon as you walked five feet down the aisle you no longer would be able to hear anyone. "I fell in the lake" Margo said shaking remember that scary experience. "I heard there was a Kraken in the lake" Margo shook again...goodness if she saw any sort of creature in moving she would have really lost it...not that crying wasn't bad enough. And then he asked about her brother, ugh, she really wasn't suppose to bring him up. " No my brother isn't a first year. He's older than I am. Margo told Kace. "My brother wasn't accepted" There....she said it! The elephant was out of the closet.

Having left Soph (and the majority of friends) at the Ravenclaw table, Toby now headed over to sit with his own house. He didn't even reach a seat before noting that something already felt off; when he was over there with the 'Claws, he'd wanted nothing more than to come and sit over here, but now that he was here, this didn't feel like where he wanted to be either. It was an uncomfortable, yet vaguely familiar feeling.

Still, Tobias was smiling as he reached his house table and took a seat on one of the benches, smiling as he took another cursory glance around the Hall looking out for all his friends, smiling as he distractedly grabbed his golden dinner knife and span it on the surface of the table. Because to stop smiling was to break a very important personal rule.

Of course, he recognised almost everyone at this table, bar the newcomers. It was difficult to forget the faces of those you lived with, after all, even if you did get a little fuzzy when it came to recalling names. As Toby looked up and down the Hufflepuff table, he smiled a tad wider at those he knew a little better. It was when he looked back up to the front of the Hall again, and finally let himself stare at the staff table for longer than just a moment, that something finally registered in his brain.

"Anyone know who our new Head of House is yet?" the sixth year asked no-one in particular, addressing anyone in earshot. The yearbook had mentioned Hadley was leaving, but he supposed the first anyone was likely to hear of who replaced her as Hufflepuff Head Honcho would be during the Headmistress' speech. Still, sometimes there were people who found stuff out early and were willing to share, or sometimes it was just that Toby was very behind when it came to discovering information like that. His eyes scanned the top table. Botros used to be a Hufflepuff, right? How brilliant would it be if they got him? Super brilliant. Super brilliant is the answer. Though, really, anyone would be super brilliant; there wasn't really anyone on staff that Toby didn't love.

Toby's fidgeting had already turned to tapping away on the table top, as per usual. He continued looking up at the staff, squinting to make out those new faces, and trying to guess at who would be teaching what.

Puck gave the head nerd #1 a wave and smile, “Hi Toby, I liked yours and Sophie’s badges earlier…head nerd?” She grinned “it was a great idea” especially since so far there wasn’t a head girl…or boy…or head boil if you think of it that’s kind of what they seemed like? Big…blistering and full of it?

Puck glanced to the girl Kace was talking to and smiled, “Hi Bleu, its nice to meet you I’m Puck” she introduced herself and smiled. “Hey Kace!” She grinned happily at her friend and BEAMED really. “I had no idea…I even gave away most of my prank supplies incase they wanted to check them for things” she offered with a laugh and a shrug of her shoulder.

“Summer was great really, I went to the music fest for a bit with Rorie and ran into Bianca there…and I have funny things to tell you about that unless Chance told you on the train about Bianca and I” she grinned mischief playing across her face. And then Noel! SHE SPOTTED HIM! He was getting waves.

“HEY Noel!” Puck grinned widely over to the guy who really was sort of her friend right? “How are you? Run into any crazy girls that hate little kids this summer or was that a one time occurrence?” She asked grinning.

And of course…Lux was getting smiles, “not in the least, I still think that its some cosmic joke and the ceiling will open up and I will be deemed unworthy by a giant Flamsteed wearing his…hook costume…and of course thrown in the boo box again” yep. She had vivid dreams that was kind of the dream she had the other day. Closets. Flamsteed as hook…her dad’s leering face, she gulped at the dryness in the back of her throat and forced a smile into place.

Still grinning excitedly, Norah tackled Lux and Kace's question at the same. "My summer was great but nothing out of the ordinary." She shrugged and raised her voice a little more to be heard over the din. "Just playing--I mean hanging out--with my little brothers." PHEW. She had almost sounded childish. She was a TEENAGER now, okay? Even if she didn't look it yet. "Did you two have nice holidays?" The third year kept grinning at the two older students, still bouncing a little but not enough because maturity, duh.

And then she heard someone (Hayden!) saying her name. Turning quickly to face her, Norah flicked a curl from her eyes and smiled enthusiastically at her dorm-mate. "Hey, Hayden! Excited to be back?" She made a mental note to spend more time with her fellow Puffer this year.

The head of house? Her interest peaked, Norah craned her neck to see who had spoken. Oh hey! Fellow Puffer Toby. Figuring she might as well chime in even though she had never really talked to the older boy before, the third year opened her mouth to answer. Well, not really answer 'cause she had nooo idea. WHATEVER. Conversation, she loved it. "I dunno. I'm gonna miss Hadley though." She grinned at Toby, hoping smiling would make up for the fact that she didn't really have an answer?

Uh huh. Kace was lucky that she loved him, because Lux was not a fan of being startled. Having a heart attack was never fun though she supposed she better get used to this since it didn't seem like he would stop any time soon. Playfully she smacked him again before grinning and returning the hug. "If you make it a tradition to scare me, I make it a tradition to smack you," she joked while hoping that he would know she wasn't annoyed with him. "So many new faces! It's going to be hard to keep track of everyone."

Hopefully she would do well with names, but hey at least Bleu had one that was easy to remember even if it was a nickname. "Oh, that's neat! My boyfriend goes by his last name, so that's kind of similar." In fact, she found it weird to call him by his first name. "Ewwww, icky O.W.L.s this term but we can get through it together!" Maybe all the Fifth Year Puffs could help each other out. Hufflepuffs got each other's backs! Hehe, she was having fun with her new friend and was glad to hear that Bleu had a nice summer. "Awesome! Mine was great because I got to see loads of people and I visited California and New York. I'd never been to either place before, though I've been to Florida loads because my sister lives there." Lux loved Willa's beach house; it was so amazing.

Summer was so much fun, and it was cute that Norah caught herself in the middle of saying that she had played with her little brothers. Siblings could be loads of fun though she was the baby of the family with her siblings being quite older than her and and in their 20s. "How old are your brothers?" she asked curiously because she loved children. Her sister needed to have babies with Jaxson so that she could be an aunt. Lux really wanted to be an aunt. "My summer was a lot of fun. I didn't want it to end." Bleh.

Shaking her head in amusement at Puck, Lux tried not to think of Hooksteed because He had seriously unnerved her. It was worse than Professor Cassie as an evil Queen, and at least Professor Botros had thought she was his mermaid daughter when he was King Triton. That had been an awesome lesson though she still felt she would have made a better Ariel than Lex and not just because she was later possessed by the character. "I think you will do a good job and what is a boo box?" Confused Lux was confused.

As Toby joined them, Lux waved at him. She liked Toby because he was nice. "Hello! Excited to be back again? And how is your puppy?" Puppies were so cute and she wanted one but she also wanted a baby pig and wasn't sure if either would happen. "I'm not sure who our new Head of House is, but I miss Hadley." She had lost two Heads of House now: Bentley and Hadley.

Bleu smiled back at the Gryffindor prefect. She was very pretty and seemed to be friends with a lot of the Hufflepuffs, including Kace and Lux. "Hello Puck, nice to meet you as well!" She smiled and quietly played with her hair.


Bleu smiled as Lux compared Bleu to her boyfriend. She was trying to remember who Lux's boyfriend was but because they didn't really know each other she couldn't remember. "That's interesting. My first name is a freaking crying tree. Who names their kid after a weeping tree?" She thought about that next statement. Bleu wasn't really worried. She had good grades in all of her classes. "I'm not too concerned about it. I think as long as you study through out the term you'll do fine. If you want we could study together. Maybe a group of us? I'm trying to be more social this year." The heat rose in her cheeks again. She wasn't anti-social...she just didn't have the confidence she found over the summer.

Speaking of...wow. California and New York? Her family had money but she and her mother never left the UK. "Wow! That sounds amazing! I would love to travel. The farthest I have been from home is...the northern islands. Ive traveled all over Ireland, Scottland, Wales and of course England." Though her family was wealthy, they didn't live like it. Other than the extravagant presents at her birthday and holidays. "Where are you from Lux?"

Dylan made his way into the great hall, his stomach growling at the thought of the delicious feast he was about to eat. It really was a bummer he had forgotten his money for some snacks on the train... He glanced towards the Hufflepuff table and grinned at the sight of his house as he made his way over. Seeing that the table was already filling up quite a bit, he spotted an empty spot next to a girl who looked around his age, although he didn't really remember seeing her before. But then again, that tended to happen a lot with him. There were so many people at Hogwarts he still hadn't met, even in his own house!

"Hello," he greeted, smiling as sweetly as he could at the girl. (Charming, wasn't he?) "Mind if I sit by you?" he asked.

And everyone came pouring in. Noel watched as the Hufflepuff table filled and he waved 'hellos' to everyone - this was always the nicest part. It always gave him a sense of belonging.

The male prefect got a 'Hi' and so did the pretty senior Lux - who seemed to not know him. It sucked of course. And then there was Bleu. Noel waved her a 'hello' but wondered if she was a new student or has she always been there? He definitely go the feeling like she had been around but he hadn't seen her before.

When Puck suddenly just glided into the conversation, Noel grinned. She was sneaky like that. "Were you stalking me on the train or something?" he asked, suspicious. Because how else would she know about the Bianca incident.

AND THEN KACE TALKED TO HIM. Waho. Noel blinked a couple of times. Did Kace know he was the cool kid and he himself was talking to Noel and not the OTHER way around? Grinning sheepishly, and trying to not make a fool of himself - the boy extended his hand to shook the 'cool' kid's hand. "Yeah, I know" Who can not now he was Kace?. "No, we haven't. I have seen you around - but no, we never talked" he added. "I am Noel"

Hearing another senior Tobias speak up, Noel shook his head: "Nope. But ah - " he eyed the staff table before tilting his head. "Is Professor Airey sitting on Professor Javy's lap?"

Adi looked around as he heard his name being called yet again. "Hey, Hayden! How are you?" He remembered their little conversation in Wiseacres over the summer. "Did you try out the camera?" He was curious as to if the photos had moved on their own.

The Puffer nodded at Lux. "I'm not so worried about Transfiguartion but Ancient Runes, yeah." Apparently the study of Runes was destined to be sort of a mystery to him. And she had the same problem as him! "Hey, maybe we could study together sometime. I'm not sure if we should do Divination together because I'm useless at it. I really don't understand how I got that crystal to help me find my watch at the end of last term." Maybe his intent on finding it had been so strong that the crystal had no choice but to point out the right directions. A joke shop? Sounded like super fun! "I didn't know he had interned there but a joke shop sounds like fun. I hope he decides on that.'' Seriously... Adi would probably live in his friend's shop. Hehe. The fifth year grinned now. "It's because we brewed that potion together last term, right?"Then they had been recommended by Culloden to the Society! It had all been exciting. "Go for it, Lux. You'll be great at it. I want to do the same as you, become a Potioneer but I also am going to do what I originally intended to do. Go to college, major in Magizoology then become a Hippogriff breeder." Among other creature related stuff. Adi automatically looked over at the Lion table, searching for AJ. "Maybe that's why we're such good friends. Because you're hyper and always so happy.'' Like him!

Adi smiled slightly as Margo practically jumped around. He moved his wand along her robes as he continued their conversation. "The Lake isn't such a bad place, Margo." It was one of his favourite places on the Grounds but he understood Margo's reasoning after the bad experience. "That was really cool of her. I think you guys will be friends, yep.'' Adi pulled back his left hand as he ceased the charm. "There, Margo. Is that better?"

"Hiya, Kace! I know. Where have you been hiding?" LOL. Adi hadn't even seen his buddy in Diagon Alley. Hmm, maybe it was because a certain fifth year had been busy making new friends all over the place. "She's over at her table most likely." Or else being late to the Feast. Being late seemed to be her thing. "It wasn't too bad but I wanted to ask you something. How were OWL exams?" Who else better to ask than Kace, one of his closest Puffer buddies.

Adi was hugged. He liked hugs and so he also hugged third year Sops. "Sophs! How's it going?" He had actually gotten to know his fellow Puffer better over the summer in Diagon alley. "No, that'll be just fine." Kace wouldn't mind either, he was sure.

More people were getting there! Tobias included. "Hi, Tobias.'' A grin for the sixth year. Tobias brought up a good question... one that Adi had no idea about the answer. He shook his head. "No clue.'' Adi was going to miss Professor Head of House Hadley but he couldn't wait to find out who took up her old position. Anyway. "How's it going, Tobias?"

Naturally, no one thing could hold Toby's attention for very long, especially at something so stimulating as a feast, so it wasn't long after the Hufflepuff had made his guess that the new female professor would be the one to teach Charms that he found himself looking back to the occupants at the table. Still drumming away on the surface with his hands, too.

"Hey Puck," the sixth year smiled back, and then automatically looked down to his chest as she mentioned the head nerd badge. "Oh, yeah..." Toby's was currently stuck on the front of his school shirt, but obscured from view by his Hufflepuff robes, which he now pulled back to show the joke badge in all it's glory. "I think they're pretty awesome too. Soph surprised me with mine on the train." He smiled, and then fixed his robes to cover it up again. "I wanted to wear it, but I didn't want to confuse any new kids. S'why it's covered up for now." Just, y'know, in case she was wondering. Toby would have hated for anyone to think that he wasn't appreciating the gift from Soph that he really did love, even though not getting a student leader badge had never bothered him at all. Soph's badge was already very special to him; really solidified their status as togethernerds.

One of the younger badgers (Norah) had piped up to answer his question, and Toby made sure to look around and give her his full attention as well as smile. He... couldn't quite place the girl's name, though that was pretty standard for him.

"Yeah," Tobias nodded. "She's been around here since forever. Since way before I started here, I think. It'll be kinda weird without her, but I bet whoever we get next will be just as great." Encouraging smiles were being given, because looking forward and focusing on the positive was totally Toby's thing. "Maybe we'll find out during the speech or something." Or it would be on the noticeboard later. Something like that.

"Lux, hey!" Toby all but chirped as the girl herself greeted him. By now he was finding it almost effortless to exude that bouncy energy now he was surrounded by his fellow Hufflepuffs and could feed off their excitement of the Start of Term Feast. "Sure I'm excited," he added, and though that was only a half-truth, it was technically still true. "How about you? Oh, and Staco's doing great. He's already getting pretty big." Toby beamed, thinking about his puppy, and wondering what kind of mischief that little guy was getting up to right now. Aaaaaaand as for Hadley. "Maybe you could write to her? Owl her or get one of the staff to pass the letter along? I bet she'd love to know we're still all thinking of her." Couldn't have been easy to leave after so long, right? And the 1st of September was bound to be a weird day to not be at Hogwarts after so many years of being present.

A little way down from Lux, Toby could see Noel, a name and face he recognised from yearbook meetings, about to respond to his question too. Ah, he didn't know either. Well, Toby sort of expected that nobody really knew. He did follow Noel's gaze back up to the staff table again and gave a snort of laughter.

"Yeah. Yeah it is," the Hufflepuff grinned, amused as he took in the scene yet again, though it looked like Airey was getting up off of Prof T right now. Toby almost, almost, made a comment along the lines of wondering what Fuller might have thought of that were he here to witness it, but held back. He'd just say it later when he was back with Soph, who would appreciate, or tease Thompson about it when he saw him (harmless ribbing, of course). "Can we really expect anything other than entertainment from the professors at any Feast, though," Toby added, addressing Noel and really anyone. Hehe. The teachers here were great. "I wonder what brought that on, though."

Switching his gaze back to those gathered around the Hufflepuff table, Toby now found himself making eye contact with Adi. He grinned back at the prefect, and gave a shrug at his response. If anyone would have known, Tobias would have bet on Adi or Mari, so it looked like they just needed to wait and see, which was fine. Hufflepuff was known for its patience after all, right?

"Things are alright, Adi," the sixth year replied, still with a smile on his face. "How about with you? You have a good summer?" Probably the question that had been asked a million times in this room so far this evening, but Toby was genuinely interested, and hoped that everyone had had a great time over the last few months. Of course.

Marigold wasn't late, she was just making sure that everyone got off the carriages alright and also, she dropped her prefect's badge in a mud and had to magically clean it. But she was here now, and all she had were HUGE BEAMS towards all her Hufflepuff babies people. "Hi, Adi!" she said, greeting her fellow prefect, before hearing a firstie loudly proclaim their name. She giggled slightly and gave a huge wave to Margo. "HI MARGO! I'M MARIGOLD!" Hehe. First years were cuties.

Speaking of cuties, Marigold spotted her favorite little cheerleader and gave her a surprise!hug from the back. "Norah!" she shouted in her ear. Sorry, but she was excited. She gave the younger puff and little squish.

"TOBYYYYY!" she said, waving at another friend. "How was your summer? Play any quidditch? See Mo and-" She didn't remember the other girl's name so she just continued. "And Sophie? Obviously, probably. Anything eventful happen?"

KACE! She ran up to her friend and poked him on the shoulder. "Remember me? Heheh."

And DYLAN! "Dyl bill machurylil! Hi, friend! How's life?" She liked him and gave a hair ruffle.

She gave a wave to Lux and Puck.

o_____O What was going on at the staff table?

Norah grinned at Lux's interest and replied, "Oooh they're little ones. Nine and six, so I'm the oldest." She nodded proudly and sat up a little straighter to demonstrate how good of an older sister she was. 'Course oldest didn't mean smartest, 'cause Sebastian was an ickle genius 'n all that. But she was taller than them even if she wasn't taller than anybody else in the entire universe, so really it evened out. "Do you have any siblings? The third year raised her voice even louder to be heard. "Oooh good! I'm glad you had fun." She grinned at Lux again before continuing. "Yepyepyep! I love Hogwarts and I'm glad to be back, but classes..." she trailed off and made a face. OKAY there were some good ones. Like Herbology and all that. But Ancient runes and Arithmancy? Those did NOT make any sense.

Norah caught Toby's encouraging smile and returned it with her biggest possible grin, 'cause smiley people were the best kinds. She wondered if it would be okay to hug him, EVEN THOUGH she wasn't completely sure if he knew her name at all. Figuring she could help him out, she said, "That makes sense! I'm Norah, by the way." She paused for a moment to giggle before continuing. "Third year. and a puffer, obviously, 'cause I'm here aren't I?" She puffed out her chest a little on account of Puffer pride. "And you're Toby!" She KNEW of him, he and that Sophie Brown knew everything under the sun, which was very impressive if you asked her.

Norah jumped a little at the sudden sound of Marigold's voice in her air, but it only took a fraction of a second for the third year to leap from her seat and shriek "MARIIIII!" at the top of her lungs. She returned the prefect's squish with supersqueezyhug!tackle of her own and pulled away grinning so hard her dimples started doing a twitchy things. Stupid dimples, couldn't they SEEEE Mari was here? "How was your summer? Didja do lots of fun things? Didja miiiiisss me?" She put her hands under her chin and batted her eyelashes before sitting back down at the table and scooting over to give Marigold a place to sit.

"Thanks Adi" Margo said feeling dry for the first time since getting off the Hogwarts Express. "I'm finally dry." Margo did a little jig or a happy dance, which ever you like to call it. She should probably sit down now, but she didn't want to. It was so much easier to see and hear everyone if she was standing up. Being a first year surrounded by bigger kids meant you were vertically challenged.


And then yet another girl was introducing herself. "Hello, Marigold!" Margo said sticking her hand out for a shake. That was still polite to do, even if you were in a crowded noisy crazy Great Hall full of students excited to be back at school. "Just been sorted into Hufflepuff!" Margo added smiling from ear to ear. She was loving her house.. it wasn't Ravenclaw, she would have to tell her mother that sooner or later, but for tonight she was celebrating her good fortune. "What year are you?" Margo asked the new girl. Well maybe not 'new' but new to her.

As Dylan sat, he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling his name and he turned just in time to see Mari ruffling his hair like she always did. The fifth year would have given her a ruffle back but y'know, her hair always looked so nice and he didn't want to mess it up.... Grinning, he stood to give her a bear hug. "Hey, Mari!" he said. "Life's going great. How about you?" he asked, suddenly noticing a fancy little badge on her robes. Hold up, was that a PREFECT badge? GASP. "Mari, I didn't know you were a prefect!" he exclaimed, giving a point at her badge. That was awesome!

Kace was glad to see Puck so happy. He couldn't believe he would have to take orders from her now. He smirked and would like to see her try but then again she would be easy on him or at least he hoped. Awww she gave away all of her prank supplies? He snapped his fingers and said, "Aww man I was hoping you could give them to me. I mean I am your trusted prank confidant. Surely you could have handed them down." He might have not been caught either but it was better safe than sorry.

Ooooh she went to the music fest? Gah he didn't get a chance to go there. "I heard Braedon went for a bit did you see him around?" he asked. He wondered how he was doing anyways. Hold on there was some details missing he didn't know about. He gave her a quizzical look and asked, "Nooo he didn't tell me. Spill the details Puck." he said wanting to know more. He saw the grin on her face so he knew it must be good.

He turned next to Norah who asked about his holiday. He chuckled and thought it was cool she got to play with her brothers. Nothing wrong with that. "Eehh nothing too much. I went to Australia for a bit to visit my cousins and I went to Diagon Alley but it was nice to see everyone. I am excited to start the new term though." he smiled and nodded. He couldn't wait to see what his sixth year had in store for him. "What year are you in now?" he asked. "I remembered just meeting you when you were a first year. You are looking so grown up." he smiled the proud smile people get when you see the young ones grow.

Kace laughed at Lux's comment. "Hmm well your smacks don't really hurt so I can live with that.." he winked and nudged her playfully. He just loved teasing her and seeing her reactions. She was like the little sister he never knew he had. "How are you doing by the way, I mean is it hard without Bay here? I mean I miss him too." he was concerned for Lux and was wondering how she was holding up. He might as well ask now since he will eventually. Soo many new faces he was gonna have trouble keeping up. He even looked around the great hall and saw the sorted students going to their new tables. "I mean I think we need to make a list.." he offered the suggestion to Lux.

Kace nodded towards Bleu and responded with, "Well I keep to myself sometimes too. Hey if you ever are in the common room reading a good book don't hesitate to say hello." he offered to her. She seemed like the book reading type of hufflepuff but hey he could be wrong. He felt her handshake and he was impressed. He wondered who taught her to give a firm handshake, probably her father right? Seemed like a logical answer to him. Oooh so she wasn't from the states and she was far from home. "Aahh that is pretty cool, I am from Kansas in the United States." Hopefully she knew where that was. I mean if not he would explain it to her. Her mother worked in the Ministry he nodded and asked, "Where does she work in the Ministry?" He was quite curious indeed.

Kace chuckled at Margo's humor. He was pretty sure she heard him because he was pretty close to her. I mean if you tried to talk to him down the table there would be NO way he could hear you. Ooooh so she did fell in the lake I mean it was normal for it to happen. "Ah it happens basically to every first year." he assured her and to not make her feel embarrassed. A Kraken in the lake? He scoffed and shook his head. "Naww I think if there was one of those around he could cause severe havoc on the grounds. I mean he might be eating up students for all I know."

Oooh so her brother wasn't accepted? That was a shame but you know his father didn't go to Hogwarts and a few of his cousins weren't going to Hogwarts anyways. "Well I will let you in on a little secret. I have cousins who are not going to Hogwarts. I was luckily to go to Hogwarts. I didn't think I would get in." I mean it happens in every family, there was always unlucky ones. "But now you can get to practice magic." he said looking on the bright side. "How does that feel?"

Kace seemed to be intimidating to Noel just be observing his body language. Wait a minute he knew his name? He gave him a quizzical look and then shrugged it off because he did seemed to be known in the puff house. I mean he was really social for merlins sake. He just couldn't help it. He thought for sure he introduced himself to the puff, ah well he was glad he was doing it now. "Well nice to meet you Noel." he said grinning and shaking his hand like gentlemen should. "What year are you?" he asked curiously. It was a shame he didn't get to meet him sooner but nothing it better than the present yeah?


The big puff grinned at Adi's question. "Well you see I have this magical island I got to so I can avoid people. It is quite relaxing and comfortable." He was joking of course but Adi and him have just been busy. "I mean I think we have separate lives now I mean your mr big shot with that prefect badge...." he pointed indicating the badge. "And I am just busy with sports and shopping for school supplies being the loser I am.." he shrugged and winked. Aaah so his girlfriend was busy gallivanting around the great hall. No shame in that. He was hoping to meet her now but some other time. Ah onto the topic of the OWL exams.

He nodded and said, "Well I think I did well on some subjects like COMC, DADA and Ancient Runes but others I kind of struggled in. Some of the exams were hard. Did you think so?" he asked hoping his fellow puff felt the same.

As soon as he was done talking to one of the puff prefects he felt a friendly poke on his shoulder. He turned around and beamed when he saw Marigold. "Hey miss prefect.." he greeted her with a big hug. "Of course I remember you.." he smiled. How could he not I mean he had a big crush on her in his third and a fourth year. She would always be special to her. "Hopefully you remember me.." he winked. "How have you been?" he asked her.

Hayden heard her name and turned her attention back to the Hufflepuff table. Oh, it had been Adi. She shook her head at the mention of her new camera. "Things have been busy around my house. I haven't been able to try it out yet." She had it safely packed away with the rest of her stuff so she could use it sometime at Hogwarts. She was excited to try it out.

Someone else was talking to her too. Hayden turned and smiled at the girl. She'd seen her around before but never actually talked to her. She nodded as the girl introduced herself as Lux. Hayden wouldn't have been able to come up with the name, but it did sound familiar as she heard it. "Hi Lux. I'm Hayden," she said cheerfully. "How was your summer?"

Who was yelling their name across the table? Hayden smiled at the new first year. "Hi Margo," she greeted the new girl. "How are you liking Hogwarts so far?" She hadn't been there for very long, but long enough to make a first impression. Mostly Hayden was just trying to make conversation.

Oooh, it was Kate's turn. Hayden heard the first year's name being called for the sorting and turned to watch. She couldn't quite tell from her distance, but the girl looked kind of nervous. That did make sense, it was kind of a scary event. But Hayden hoped the girl would feel better after the sorting was over. She smiled as Kate was placed in Ravenclaw because she knew the younger girl would be happy there.

Sophia giggled and nodded. "Aw.. you remembered my nickname yay!"said Sophia clapping happily. "You're happy to see me, but you have all your other awesome friends, I thought you'll forget about me! "said Sophia softly but honestly. "Awesome, I like playing soccer and football it's awesome, I hung out with my horses and stuff and went to Diagon Alley of course! "said Sophia winking back at him. Sophia giggled. "Well...of course I did, I'm not called the Candy Queen for nothing!"said Sophia honestly. "I can't wait until we go to Hogsmeade, so many places I'm dying to go to!"said Sophia happily.

As Lux introduced herself her eyes brightened happily at her. "Ooh...you're the awesome Lux Mumbles told me about, I call Kace that, only I can call him that isn't that awesome and sweet? "Sophia asked her happily. "I don't have any siblings, so Kace is like a big brother figure to me!"said Sophia. "Oops...I'm talking to much sorry! "said Sophia before blushing as she hid her face with her hair. As Adi hugged her back she smiled shyly at him. "Hiya Adi! How was your summer?"Sophia asked him softly but curiously as she looked up at him.

Savannah eyes brightened happily as she seen Tyler walking towards her. "Ty Bear you made it, yay! said Sophia hugging him. Sophia giggled at his comment. "Heh. sorry I was just excited to be back!"said Sophia honestly. Seeing him looking at the Ravenclaw table looking at his girlfriend she giggled. When Tyler asked what she was giggling about she kept giggling. "Oh nothing, just how you got that lovestruck dopey smile on your face! "saidSophia honestly before giggling once again. As Tyler tickled her she started giggling and laughing.

Bleu was surprised by this boy...she thought his name was Dylan but she couldn't quite remember. She liked his look. It wasn't every day that you saw a guy with long hair. She kinda dug it...and he was cute. Always a plus. She couldn't believe how much attention she was getting. This never happened to her. But she liked it.

She smiled gently back and replied, "Hello. The seat is yours. I'm Bleu. What's your name?" Lots of cute boys were talking to her tonight. It was fantastic.



Blue noticed the boy (Noel) she waved at earlier was looking at her quizzically. She seemed to be getting that a lot tonight. How could no one know her? She was a bloody fifth year for goodness sake. She gave him a small smile and spoke a little loudly over the group, "Hi! I'm Bleu. Who are you?" She would be the first to ask this time.


Bleu smiled. Kace was a lot nicer than she judged. That was one problem she had. Judging people to quickly. But that also came with being bulled for your looks. You keep your distance from those that look similar to the people who bullied you. "I shall do that! And if you ever see me in the common room working on school work, doodling or reading, feel free to say hello, as well."

His handshake was very nice and firm. Just as impressive as her own. She was very impressed that he was all the way from the states. But where was Kansas? What was Kansas? Then a thought popped in her head "You mean like Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ? That Kansas? I mean I don't know exactly where that would be in America, but the music in that movie changed my life and was one of the reasons I started singing." She blushed a little. She hoped he didn't think she was nerdy because she knew about that movie. Her mother was a witch but had an obsession with muggle movies, which was how she met her muggle father, who died when she was very young. "Oh, she's a receptionist for one of the department heads." Not a huge important job at the Ministry of Magic but her mother didn't need to work.

Kace could never forget about Sophia. He shook his head and said, "That is never going to happen you can count on that. I could never forget a face like yours." he winked. He was glad he could remember her nickname. Score one for Kace. Aaahh she hung out with her horses, he smirked and was laughing because he did the same thing. "That is funny because I went to my family's farm and it was nice to see my animals and family.." He always loved seeing his grandma and even his cousins from Australia came over. It was nice to celebrate his mother's birthday and she seemed happier than she had in a while. "Well I wanna play you in soccer and football by the way.." he said offering her to play a game one day. He wanted to see her skills.

Aah so the little one was excited to go into Hogsmeade I mean who wouldn't? "Which place are you most excited to see?" he asked curiously. He probably knew the place but he wanted to be sure.

Kace was glad he and Bleu could agree on something. "I mean we nerds have got to stick together.." he smirked. He loved being a nerd and didn't mind it at all. I mean nerds ruled the world right? He snorted and covered it up with a polite laugh. She would think of the Wizard of Oz but she was right. "Yeah you could think of it in that way. I do live in Kansas but I live in Lawrence to be precise." He may need to show the city on the map sometime. As he heard her mom mention her job he thought it was cool. "Well my mom is a teacher in the muggle world and my father is a basketball star for the NBA." he shrugged. Nothing too fancy either.

When the girl (Bleu) turned and looked at him to tell him to go ahead and sit, Dylan's heart suddenly raced at the sight of her. Merlin's beard, she was kinda pretty...well, not kinda but very pretty... oh gosh, did that sound weird or what? He'd never liked a girl before. Let alone think one was super pretty. Not that he liked her or anything.

Or did he?

"Pull yourself together before you do something stupid," he thought to himself as he sat down beside her. "Thanks," he told her, shooting her another smile. "It's nice to meet you, Bleu. Pretty name." Was that okay to say? "I'm Dylan. Dylan Callaghan." he introduced himself.

Now that he was here and sitting at the table, he greeted a few of his friends. He gave waves and hellos to Lux, Kace, and Adi, his closest badger friends. He was so excited to start the year and hang out with them again.

Named after a tree? Honestly, Lux thought that Willow was a very nice name even if it wasn't as pretty as Ariel. "Well, I share a name with a soap brand, so there is that," she told Bleu with a wink. It was rather funny even if she hadn't been named AFTER said soap. Really she did love her name though. "Studying together sounds like a great idea! I would love to do that. I think my main problem is a fear of failure." Smiling, she chose to ignore her new friend's blushing and felt that it was nice for her to break out of her shell. "I am sure you will make loads of new friends!" Not that she felt that Bleu didn't have any, but it sort of came hand-in-hand with becoming more social. Traveling was nice, and Lux really didn't like mentioning that her family was rich since it made her feel uncomfortable sometimes, as if she was showing off or bragging. "The islands are wonderful. I'm from Canada, but I've lived most of my life in London. Are you from there?" A lot of people going to Hogwarts were from London, so that was her guess.

As a very familiar face joined them at the table, Lux beamed. "Hello there, stranger!!" She really had missed Dylan, having not seen him since before the summer holidays. "How have you been? Did you have a good summer? Are you looking forward to this term?" It felt like she was asking him so many questions, but they needed to catch up and now felt like a really good time since she was with friends and the distraction from missing her boyfriend so much was awesome.

She really missed her Lion.

The new (to her at least) boy hadn't provided his name, but Lux managed to pick up that it was Noel. "Nice to meet you. I've seen you around a fair bit." Okay, did that make her sound creepy?? Because she didn't mean to be. She had a boyfriend and was totally not into other boys because she was already with the man of her dreams. "Did you have a good summer?" That was one of her favourite questions tonight, but she did like to know that people had a good holiday before starting back at school.

It was nice to hear that Adi was confident with Transfiguration. "I find it hard sometimes, especially when I'm trying to concentrate. Professor Bellaire makes me nervous because I often worry I will do something wrong and she will yell at me and take away points." Yeah, Lux didn't really want to get into trouble with that strict Professor because her punishments were probably very severe. "I feel a lot better with Ancient Runes than I used to because I have read the textbook a lot last term, but I'm still not sure with some of it. Professor Botros is great though. He's so nice and kind of reminds me of my grandpa." Botros was one of her favourite Professors and one she would love to give a hug some time. The idea of studying together was great. "That sounds good to me! I'm not sure about Divination either. It took me ages to get the hand of scrying, and I'm not even sure how I managed with the crystal so well." It was nice that Professor Cassie was so friendly though. Honestly, the woman reminded Lux a lot of herself because they were both happy and eager people who chose to see the best in things. "Yep, he loved interning there and I think he would be a natural if he does open a shop. It would be so fun too. I could go there and check out the products!" Even if she wasn't a huge practical joker, she did still enjoy jokes and thought that they could be pretty funny so long as they weren't mean. "Well, the project and acceptance to the society helped, but I think it was really in my Third Year that I developed my love for Potions. I liked it in Second Year, but I hadn't really done much with it before then since I was home schooled in my First Year and my mom didn't have me brew potions...probably didn't want me accidentally blowing up the house." Snort. "But yeah, thanks! I bet you will do great too!" Adi was really smart and a hard worker like her. "I think that's true. We are such good friends and I love it!" She loved Adi because he was so nice and she always had a lot of fun with him.

It was nice to see that Toby was in a good mood and happy to be back at school. "I am not looking forward to O.W.L.s, but it is nice to be back with my friends!" She was just missing her Lion so much though because it was not the same being here without him. He had been there for every year she was at Hogwarts, and he was the first person she had met on the train coming to school in her Second Year. "I'm glad Staco is doing well. He's at home, right?" She knew that you had to have special permission to have a puppy at school, and remembered being worried that she would get into big trouble for having Coco there a few years ago, but then she had told Professor Bentley and it was okay. Coco ended up going back home where he still stayed now. "That's a great idea! Or maybe we could make a Hufflepuff card for her and leave comments on it and send that to her. I bet she would love it. Like the card could be shaped like a Badger!"

Spotting Marigold, the other Puff Prefect got a smile and a wave. "Hello! Did you have a nice summer?" It had been a while since Lux had talked to Marigold, but then she had probably been super busy with Prefect duties and studying for O.W.L.s so that was totally understandable.

Awww, little ones. That was so cute. "I have a brother and sister, but they are both older than me," Lux said in reply to Norah's question. "Sometimes I wish that I had younger siblings too, because I love kids and I love babies." Obviously it was too late for her to get any younger siblings NOW, but for a while she did wish that it would happen. Oh well, she did love Willa and Lennon a lot. Giggling, Lux thought that Norah was adorable. "Yeah, some of the classes are tedious, but I am super excited for Potions because that's my favourite class by far." She loved brewing potions and could never get tired of it.

Amused eye roll for Kace. He was quite the funny one when he wanted to be. "You're lucky I like you or you would get the painful ones." Hehe. Happily she stuck her tongue out at him because she always enjoyed teasing him when he never took it seriously and knew she was only having fun with him. Honestly she wasn't surprised when he brought up Bay, since she had figured he would sooner or later. Sigh. "I miss him a lot, though we have two-way mirrors so I can still talk to him whenever I want to. It's amazing and I'm really happy to have the mirrors, but I wish he was HERE." Meh. "That's a great idea, Kace! You're so smart. I'm pretty good with names, but sometimes I worry I will make a slip up and look like an idiot."

Mentally she made note of the name of one of the girls that she was just getting to know now. "Nice to meet you, Hayden. I had a nice summer. I saw loads of people. How was yours?" Everyone seemed to have had nice holidays, and that was always nice to hear since summer was supposed to be a time of fun and happiness. Summer was the time for beaches, and beaches were amazing.

...Mumbles? It took a second to figure out that the rambling girl (Sophia) was talking about Kace. "He's talked about me? What has he said?" Lux was curious now and was sure that it was all nice things since Kace DID love her like a sister. Laughing, she shook her head in amusement because this girl was so cute. "He's like a sibling to me too, and you're not talking too much." Lux didn't mind in the least because she wasn't talking too much, and she herself could be a real chatterbox!

"Great! You'll be able to enjoy the Feast now, Margo." The fifth year laughed as he watched her do a little dance. "Come on, sit down.'' She can sit next to him if she wanted. Oh yeah! He had something for her. "Here. For being so awesome and patient while I helped you get dry.'' Adi held out the Chocolate frog to her. "Maybe later you can go over to the Ravenclaw table to see Janelle.'' He had noticed the other firstie there.

Ah yes. Adi totally got that Professor Bellaire made Lux nervous. ''I know what you mean. But she's really good at those spells.'' Well, she had to be, right? "Someday, I'm going to be as good as her.'' Yep! He was determined. "He reminds me of mine too! I remember that was how I thought of him in my first year. I still do actually. Maybe you can help me out with Runes, then?" he asked. He would take allllll the help he could get. "I think I'll need to have a talk with Professor Cassie before the exams. I'll need to ask her a lot of questions about Divination.'' Indeed. Plus Adi was sure the short lady would be willing to help him with that. "You'd get all the products for free and I can see you making him go bankrupt, Lux.'' Hehe. Adi was totally kidding there. Ah. So it was her third year that did it. "Have you ever blown up anything, though?" Benny came to mind when 'blown up' was ever mentioned. "You wouldn't forget me when we graduate, will you?'' he teased.

For some reason, Adi was taken back to back to his first or second year when Tobias had that pogo stick of his. "Do you still bring that pogo stick to Hogwarts?'' he asked curiously. He was supposed to have had a go on it. Yep. "The Summer was really busy and fun. But at least it went by super fast. How about yours? And oh yes, I didn't get to ask you about OWLs. How did it go?''

Adi just had to laugh at Kace's little joke. "Do you take Emmy there?'' he wondered. "I just might have to get me one of those islands... or I can just steal yours." Hehe. Mr Big Shot? Adi EYED Kace. "I am not. If I were a big shot, I wouldn't be talking to you people without badges, would I?'' He winked. Nope, that wasn't Adi at all. "You are not a loser,'' he continued firmly. Maybe Kace was joking but that wasn't a nice thing to say about yourself. Kace was awesome.

Adi nodded understandingly. "You're on the same page with me. I know I'll have trouble with Runes but those other two I'll be good at.'' Especially CoMC. He poked Kace. "Have you forgotten I'm now starting fifth year?" Was Kace okay? O_O

"Did you bring it to Hogwarts, Hayden? If you did, we could try it out sometime.'' Because Adi was very curious about the pictures that the camera would produce. What fun it would be if there would be no spell work or potion required.

"It was just fine, Sophs. It flew by really fast, didn't it?'' Or hadn't it been the same for her? "Did you have a good time after getting all your supplies?" For soon afterwards, Adi had left her and met a few other new people as well as old ones.

"Hey, Mari!'' Adi greeted his fellow prefect again and then watched happily as she greeted Margo. Just look at the little firstie fitting in. He was so pleased about that because he knew what it was like to be welcomed by his Housemates. It was for that reason he missed Minerva and Wade. And oh! It was Dylan! "Heya, Dyl! How's it going? Composed any songs lately?" Adi was always grateful to Dylan for giving him his first lessons with the guitar.

Sophia giggled. "I hoped that you wouldn't, I could never forget you Mumbles, you helped me when no one else did!"said Sophia softly but honestly. "Ok... maybe it was just getting some fudge down, but not many people would help a third year, they just brush us off like pathetic annoying bugs or something! "said Sophia annoyed that people do that. Just because she was beneath some years, doesn't mean she was pathetic or worthless. That was one thing Sophia hated to be called worthless and pathetic. She could stand to be called anything else, but those two things made her upset and mad to no end, and Sophia was somewhat of a strong girl. "I want to go to Honeyduke's, the Three Broomsticks, the joke shop, everywhere but I REALLY want to go to Honeyduke's!"said Sophia honestly.


Sophia looked at Lux and giggled. "Of course nice things, he told me how nice you were and how awesome you were! "said Sophia softly but honestly. "I met Kace Mumbles at the Sugarplums candy shop, he helped me get some fudge down from the second shelf, after that we ate so much candy I think that we got cavities now!"said Sophia honestly before giggling. "Mumbles says he's going to show me around for my first Hogsmeade visit!"said Sophia happily bouncing in her seat. "You're welcome to come, the more the merrier right? "Sophia asked her softly but curiously as she looked at Lux. "Ooh... I got the perfect nickname for you! Luxury Lux!"said Sophia happily. "Sorry... I just like giving people nicknames, if you don't like it I'll call you Lux but my friends call me Sophy the Hugglepuff cause I like hugs!"said Sophia softly but honestly.


Sophia looked at Adi and clapped happily. "Yay for happy Summer holiday, I know not many people had a happy summer holiday, and indeed it did but I'm glad to be back! "said Sophia softly but honestly. Sophia nodded. "Yeah I did, I think I annoyed the worker at the book shop asking him to get books down for me, dang my shortness! "said Sophia. Sophia was glad about the friends she made, she was starting to break out of her shyness shell and become more out going, it was slow process but she was getting there. Sophia discovered that not everyone was mean and rude, there was some, but those are the ones you have to be careful for. "Um... Is there anyone around Hogwarts that I have to be careful for? Sorry if it sounds silly, but I wasn't out of the common room much at all my first two years here."said Sophia blushing as she looked at Lux and Kace.