Helena was shooting fleetingly looks over at Sir Nicholas for something to do when a voice drew her attention back to her eagles. Beaming at the fourth year she responded. "I'm quite splendid dear. How about yourself? Good train ride?"

A squeaky 'hello' alerted Helena to the arrival of a newly sorted girl. Gliding towards the 11 year old she smiled warmly. "Welcome to the eagle’s dear, I’m Helena Ravenclaw. And what might your name be?"

"My mother Rowena founded Ravenclaw many, many years ago. I hope you're as intelligent and witty as she was." Not that the girl should feel any pressure.

Turning slightly to a girl that was dripping water on the floor Helena looked around for one of the new prefects to provide the girl with a towel. None were sadly in sight. And she couldn’t help even if she wanted to. "It's a pleasure to meet you Janelle. Did you have fun boat ride to the castle?" It was a tradition for first years and this girl certainly looked young enough.

Spotting a girl with her nose already deep into a book Helena wrinkled her nose in disapproval and commented high enough to be heard by the girl. "Reading is a pastime I do approve of but not at a feast. A lady should be socializing with her peers and building new relationships. Not hiding behind a book."

Hearing a familiar voice Helena turned her head towards the boy who had tried to shake her hand last term. Nodding at him she said "Good evening Thornton. I trust you had great summer?" He was hopefully not going to try to shake her hand again. That had been awkward for the both of them.

The hat was being generous this year Helena mused as she floated closer to another first year. "Good evening dear, welcome to Ravenclaw! I’m Helena your house ghost. And who might you be?" Had the new prefect’s gotten held up somewhere? They should be there with her greeting the first years and making them feel at home.

Interesting Helena mused silently as she turned to glance over at the second year blond who had decided to address her. "I'm quite splendid dear thank you for asking. And how are you feeling on this most magical night, Miss Ophelia right?" Just because they hadn’t spoken before didn’t mean that Helena didn’t know who the girl was.

Even more nervewracking than everyone watching you sit in silence with a hat on your head was sitting at the table the hat told you to. Who wouldn't mind sitting with you? Or, rather, you sitting with them? Mostly everyone at this table was already an established student, with established preferred seating, with established friends.

Then there was a ghost. Ariel made sure to sit away from that. She'd never seen one before, but never intended to meet one. Plus, the fact that she was seeing one, while she was walking to a new table, in a new school, with new people, was all too overwhelming. The fourteen-year-old felt a sudden stab of terrible homesickness. And the only person she felt comfortable with on any level was David, who she didn't see along this table at all.

Ariel kept walking and walking until she reached the far end of students and gave the most forced, nervous smile of her life to whoever she took a seat next to.

Janelle figured that things would be fine in Ravenclaw, once she got to know her housemates. Listening to Adi 's suggestion, she replied, "I will definitely owl Jasmine, the first chance I get." Janelle just hoped that she could live up to her sister's legacy and make her proud.

When Adi said that Margo was fine, Janelle was relieved. "I was really worried about her there for a moment. She really had a major freak out." Glad to hear that her buddy was dry, Janelle shifted uncomfortably in her still damp clothes. She was curious to know how Margo had gotten dry, but decided not to ask. Even if Adi could help her, she didn't really need everyone to know about her little dip in the lake.

"Of course I'll still be her friend. She's the only friend I've got.......well besides you and Zhenya, I mean. It would take more than a fall in the lake to change that."

Upon hearing the news that dinner was still a ways off, Janelle groaned. That was followed by a noisy rumbling in her stomach. Fortunately Adi was there to save the day with the best present ever. "A chocolate frog? Thanks Adi. I just might be able to make it to dinner now."



Oh no, the Grey Lady asked about the boat ride. Janelle realllly didn't want to get into that whole story. She guessed it was pretty obvious that she was a tad........un-dry. "Well ma'am, I certainly had an interesting ride to the castle. Let's just say that I'm very glad to be here." That part was most definitely true.

"Gringotts dragons." He bobbed his head as he watched his housemates eyes grow."Trained to protect and kill on first sight!" Except...not exactly because then he'd be dead. Kyroh figured they just killed intruders not the people taking care of them. "Little sister." He held out his hands to try and show how big she was but was probably off. By a lot. "And she's really little." As in, he couldn't even play with her yet or anything. Which kind of sucked.

He pulled his attention away from Thornton as Penelope sat down. "Hullo Penelope!!" He hoped her fingers were okay from the train ride, and that she had remembered to pick up her wand.

Turning back to Thornton the third year grinned. Cello? Little sister??"You have a little sister too?" They should start a big brother club! With Dot! Even though she wouldn't be a brother but still! "Who's Paige?"

It was at that moment that the Grey Lady chose to arrive, Kyroh waved slightly, but hesitantly. He still wasn't sure about her after she had given him a stern warning against saying TRUE FACTS about his Head of House.

Oh... so Josie didn't know about Ethan either? Soph sighed softly. It was just a shame, really, and even MORE concerning that Josie didn't even know what had happened. If Ethan hadn't told her, that... could only mean bad things, couldn't it? But what could be so bad that Ethan wouldn't even tell the girl he so adored? "I haven't seen him, no. Not on the train, and..." Her gaze drifted to the Slytherin table. "I dunno. I hope he's all right." What if he had transferred to another SCHOOL and hadn't even TOLD them?

She didn't want to think about that.

As Josie grew even more serious, Soph listened intently as the younger girl began to explain what was wrong, and...

...was that it? Sophie smiled lightly and gave Josie's hand another squeeze. "Josie. Sweet, sweet Josie... I don't mean to alarm you, but you're kind of a babe. Attractive. Even just over the summer - you've gone from pretty and adorable to beautiful. Even I see that." She couldn't keep from grinning fully now and gave her a gentle nudge of encouragement. "Sounds to me like you're turning heads. In the good way. I think the only charm here is you charming them with your good looks. Nothing to be worried about." Hehehehe. "I very highly doubt you had something on your face or that anything was wrong with you. Promise."

And she meant it.

Text Cut: GREY LADY

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grey Lady

Helena had spent an extra minute or two to perfect her appearance for the feast. It was a lady's right after all. When she finally floated into the Great Hall, in her elegant dress she noted with a glance that the Baron and Sir Nicholas were already at their tables causing stirs.

When she came up to the Ravenclaw table she floated through two unsuspecting students showering them in cold water as she took her place at the center of the table. "Good evening eagle's and eaglets’! Welcome to Hogwarts first years, and welcome back returning students! I predict that this will be a magnificent year for our house."

...Oh, Merlin. The Grey Lady - always a sight that made Soph cringe. Every time the blasted ghost came around, she told Soph she wasn't being ladylike enough and commented on her posture or some nonsense and frankly, Soph didn't appreciate the woman's better-than-you attitude. Wasn't a well-known Ravenclaw house trait uniqueness and individuality and not conforming to a strict set of rules? If Soph ever caught the Grey Lady in a one-on-one situation, she would tell her that and lecture her, without a doubt.

But for now, when the ghost made her appearance, Soph ducked her head and tried to appear invisible, but alas, Josie was conversing with the ghost, so Soph inevitably straightened up and plastered on a smile, but she did not look at the transparent woman, no. No. She was not going to invite the woman to critique her if she could help it. Not this time.

Text Cut: Ariel!

Quote:

Originally Posted by HaRoHeGiNeLu

Even more nervewracking than everyone watching you sit in silence with a hat on your head was sitting at the table the hat told you to. Who wouldn't mind sitting with you? Or, rather, you sitting with them? Mostly everyone at this table was already an established student, with established preferred seating, with established friends.

Then there was a ghost. Ariel made sure to sit away from that. She'd never seen one before, but never intended to meet one. Plus, the fact that she was seeing one, while she was walking to a new table, in a new school, with new people, was all too overwhelming. The fourteen-year-old felt a sudden stab of terrible homesickness. And the only person she felt comfortable with on any level was David, who she didn't see along this table at all.

Ariel kept walking and walking until she reached the far end of students and gave the most forced, nervous smile of her life to whoever she took a seat next to.

When she felt movement beside her, Soph's eyebrows instinctively raised and her gaze fell upon an unfamiliar face who, like the girl on the other side of Josie and Ophelia, looked to be around her age. Sigh. Another new dormmate for her and CB?

"Hi, M'Sophie Brown, fifth year. Welcome to Ravenclaw." She almost extended her hand to shake, but thought better of it. No, too formal. After a beat, Soph lowered her voice to a whisper and went on, "Y'look a little nervous, but don't worry, y'don't need to be - it's gonna be fun. You'll love it here. And you got put in the best house, too - everyone's really nice and friendly and s'like one big family. Any negative feelings you're feeling right now'll go away in no time. Promise. And if after a week y'don't agree with me, feel free to tell everyone I'm a liar." Hehe. THAT's how certain she was that the girl was going to like it just fine.

Austin wasn't really in the mood for partying. He had picked a seat on the bench towards the back of the hall, and didn't plan on eating much when the feast had starts. He sat patiently and watched as students were sorted into their respected houses. He did a small clap as some were sorted into his own house, but there wasn't much to cheer about. The same thing happened every year, and nothing was different. Sure maybe the people and the speeches were, but it was the usually the same thing. He had done it in his first year, as did his parents in their first years. Only parents and first years were excited about the sorting. Anyone who said otherwise was lying.

He was hoping to see Ophie in his travels here, but she must have found some better friends, for he hadn't even seen a blonde curl since he had stepped foot on that train. Then again, he really didn't go anywhere from the cart he had set up shop in. He had grabbed a few candies from the trolly, and that was that. His owl, Athena, had slept quietly, and when the carriages arrived to the platform, he was sure to get on one that didn't have many people in it. He wasn't up for talking today.

Corrigan grinned right back at her, "Yup! This is going to be marvy!"

She'd recently picked the word up from her elder sister, and now found herself inserting it into conversations at a regular basis. It just sounded so much better than 'awesome', in a way she couldn't fully describe.

"What, the hat?" Corrigan wrinkled her nose. "It took forever. Kept waffling between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and it finally put me here. My cousin went in Gryffindor," she said by way of explanation, "and we play Red vs. Blue all the time at home, so I guess the hat went with that. Or something."

She had no idea how the Sorting Hat worked, and since she was pretty sure she wouldn't be allowed to take it apart and find out she'd forced herself to not be interested.

"It's kind of a bit... much, don't you think?" Corrigan indicated all the everything with a few glances of her eyes. The decorations, the huge tables, all the students and staff, the ceiling. Likes a lordy, that ceiling... "I think I saw a first year at another table faint."

Understandable, but embarrassing nonetheless.

As Kate turned to talk to other students, Corrigan couldn't help but stare a little at the ghost coming towards her. And then she was introducing herself so nicely, and didn't seem quite as intimidating any more. Corrigan went to extend her hand for a shake, as she'd been taught so painstakingly by her grandfather, only to realize that of course that wouldn't work.

So she turned it into a polite little wave instead and said, "Corrigan Neverwinter, ma'am. Nice to meet you."

Upon hearing that Helena's very own mother had founded Ravenclaw house (and didn't it sound curious, a ghost talking about her mother), Corrigan felt herself getting very small all over again. "I'll try?"

Gabriel had taken his time...in walking into the Great Hall. There was a lot going on; loud noises, too many people...and he'd needed to talk himself into it. The train ride here had already been disastrous, thank you very much. No one needed a repeat of that.

Hoping to quell the anxiety in some way, Gabe had fished around in his bag, producing his potions' journal. He could focus on this...until it was time to retreat to Ravenclaw tower. At least there, he could be an anxiety-ridden mess in semi-private.

Also, he'd finally pinned the badge on...and it stood to reason that this was adding to the nausea. That...and the fact that he'd ran out of his potion...and hadn't been able to take it today. So, before he could do anything, it was a trip to Culloden's office. Important matters to attend to...if Gabe planned to function in lessons and do this....Leader thing.

His stomach turned at the thought. Leader. Laughable...and he would've laughed...Only, it wasn't a joke. Gabe WAS a leader now.

Keeping his head down, he approached the Ravenclaw table...semi-sneakily cutting his eyes at those assembled. Why did there appear to be MORE girls this term? Older girls, too...Not the smaller ones like Dot, who he could reason were less intimidating. UNLIKE Dot, was was vastly MORE intimidating...The Gray Lady was present, too...and was speaking to everyone. She wasn't a living girl, though....So, Gabe didn't find her as terrifying.

He took a seat beside a quiet boy (keepmeclose22), whom he did not recognize...but was silent enough to be deemed acceptable....and slid his plate out of the way, laying his potions' journal flat against the table. Finding his multi-colored quill, also conveniently located in his bag, he flipped to a clean page and began writing.

Ehem...Aegis moved over to the Ravenclaw Table in Search Mode!
So he moved through the Crowded Table of Eagles. "Excuse me!" He said loudly in an attempt to grab anyone of their smarty-pants attentions "Excuse me yes. I need to find a Freckled Tiny one of your Kind...Curly Hair too...Let's just call him Curly. Because I called him Freckles once, and he said Nope to that." So yeah he was nameless, and he wasn't sure where he was in this crowd of them. "Anyone? Maybe if you're him? I have something I'd like to prove now" Oh that was smart, yeah he could be a Claw too sometimes.

Nope, nope. He can't be a Ravenclaw. He's heard stories of their dangerous ways. Maybe he should've just waited this out instead of walking into the Eagles Nest. Bah too late for that now, just go with it. "So yeah, I need Curly?"

"Thank you, Helena," Kate said, watching the ghost float about. She considered adding a 'Mrs.' in front of her name, but the ghost had just said Helena, so that's what Kate had said, too. "My name's Kate Addison. I'm from London and Oslo. London first and Oslo second." Because that's how it had all happened, and now she was back home in Great Britain.



"Marvy!" Kate repeated, taking on the word Corrigan had used. She liked Corrigan. She was fun and exciting and somebody Kate hoped she'd be good friends with. They were in the same year and the same house, so it was perfect. It was MARVY! Kate nodded to the question about the hat. "You, too?" she asked. "The hat debated between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for me, too! Are there that many similarities between the two?" She didn't think so. Maybe Kate and Corrigan were just unique cases.

Kate didn't know what 'Red vs. Blue' was, so she didn't say anything about that. She'd figured out the meaning behind it, of course, but she didn't know what happened after that. "Too much? Oh, no," she said, shaking her head. "I think it's perfect! It would have been a real letdown had we got here to a bland Great Hall. I don't think it looks like this all the time, though." The ceiling, yes, but all the decorations? She didn't think so. She blinked. "Fainted?" she asked, not really expecting an answer to that. "Merlin..." she trailed off.

Looking around again, because there seemed to be something new around every corner, Kate happened to spot an older boy with a badge pinned to his chest. "Oh, look, Corrigan!" she exclaimed. "There's our prefect!" She said this in the same amount of excitement she would if Santa Claus himself would have strolled into the Great Hall.

Tyler looked at Abby and smiled. "Thanks Abbs, but your my life Abbs, your one of the reasons why I wake-up with a smile on my face! "said Tyler softly but honestly. "I got something to tell you Abbs, but I...um..I don't want to do it here. "said Tyler cursing to himself for stuttering. That was his worse habit, he stuttered when he was nervous about something, but saying the 'L' word was a big step. Was Tyler usually this nervous although? Not usually, but this was something he was nervous about. He wondered how Abby was going to react to it, he decided to do it under the tree by the lake where they first met, that was simple enough and romantic right?

Tyler didn't know all this romantic stuff, he was quite new at it, although girls liked him none of them were as interestingas Abby. He was already sweet according to Abby, but surely doing this would be sweet and romantic. He could finally give her the necklace he gotten her over summer break, he saw it in the window and had to get it for her.

Abby nodded and said "Yeah whatever you want to say to me Tyler say in private as some of these people are rather nosy" Abby knew that it could be pretty true

Eden smiled and nodded. Janelle. Hmm. She couldn't place....her place.....she wondered if maybe she knew the girl from a muggle school----no that wouldn't make sense. Eden hadn't been to a muggle primary school since she was ten. And this girl was probably...eleven, twelve? So that didn't make any sense. Hmph.

Ugh. Food. Eden rolled her eyes and nodded at the Staff table. "Basically--when the woman with the red hair gives the speech, we can eat. She takes...for...EVER." Her feelings for Truebridge were not....fond. Not at all. "I'm...starving, too." she said and slumped a little in her seat.

"Was the train ride good for you?" she asked curiously. She could only imagine being eleven...and new....on the train...oh my.



Eden looked up, hearing her name. It hit her that.....she knew quite a bit of people here. She felt at home here. More so than she felt at Durmstrang. Not that she didn't love her old school--but Clara was here. Phe was here. Cutty was here...and countless others. Yes.

"Hey Adi!" she saluted the boy. "How's it going? I'm good, yeah! Had a weird train ride--" she didn't need to go into specifics, but it was. She got cookies from Puck, though. That was always a plsu.



Eden finally turned back to Clara, who seemed to be kind of down, and she just...she didn't notice her pink-haired friend approach. And if she had, she might have hidden. She didn't know how to handle Rorie. She had no clue what to do---or what to say. She adored Rorie so much--valued her as a friend, and felt like she NEEDED Rorie. But she didn't want to lead Rorie on--and she really needed to stop kissing her.

Oh.

She heard her voice---Eden turned around and her blue eyes widened when she saw Rorie---closely followed by the Damien--WHAT THE BULLSNAP. WHAT. WHAT EVEN. Eden was about to faint. Why was HE here with HER? They were trying to kill her. Her cheeks tinged red, and she just swallowed nervously and nodded at Rorie.

"Uh--yeah--we can talk--I just--" she glanced at Clara--"I don't--don't be mean--" she said softly, and then glanced up at Damien, too.

Ugh UGH UGH UGH UGH.

"Hiiii Damien--yeah--you too, buddy--" Please go away Damien. NOT NEAR RORIE.

Oh MErlin.

OOOOOH MERLIN.

Eden was about to have an anxiety ATTACK.

She nodded at the Grey Lady, though, and hoped the ghost would just...yeah...not want to talk to her because she felt like she couldn't completely and coherently THINK right now. "Evenin', Miss--" she squeaked. Merlin's. Pants.

Thornton laughed as Kyroh described the dragons. "That sounds incredible," he said, though he wondered about the kill at first sight. Surely there needed to be some sort of system to differentiate intruders from workers. Maybe he'd ask Dima...

"Little sisters are great," Thornton said with some personal knowledge. "My little sister, Mairwen, is six." He nodded at Kyroh. "Yours will get bigger. You should ask your parents to send you pictures." Thornton didn't exactly remember Mairwen growing so quickly, but they'd been looking at photos this summer and Thornton thought it was kinda astounding how big a difference even a month or two made when she was an infant.

"Oh, you don't know Paige?" Thornton twisted to see if he could spot her in the hall. "She's a Hufflepuff. Curly hair." Thornton gestured to his hair and twisted his finger. "Penelope, you know Paige, don't you?"

If not, there were introductions to be made!

Thornton smiled as she remembered him. "I did, thank you. And yours?" He supposed she just remained around the castle, but perhaps it was nice to have it free of students for a few months.

Austin glanced over at the older boy who sat next to him. Why was he sitting next to Austin? There was no point in doing so, and he didn't know this boy. This boy was older... way older than him. He was at least 3 years older. Austin looked up at the boy, and gave an awkward smile in recognition, and scootched over so there was room for them both. Upon further inspection, the third year noticed that the boy had a blue and gold badge with a 'P' on it. What was that for? Was he a prefect? His mom had told him about prefects for she was one herself. But he didn't know much about them other than they focus on the rules. Which made Austin stiffen a little. He used to create enough havoc to get Ravenclaw lose the house cup in a day. Whether he was going to keep that up this term, was still undecided though.

Austin went into his own bag, and pulled out a tattered notebook. It was his mothers book for potions and how to make them. They were mainly healing potions, but she kept a list of other useful potions. Looking through it reminded him of his mother, but he was done mourning. There was no point in crying. Sure, he was a bitter person now, but that didn't matter to him. His mother was gone, and all that was left was a tattered notebook. He ran his fingers over the purple handwriting. Purple was her favorite color, and she always wrote important things in that color.

He looked over at the boy's notebook, and awed at the multi-colored quill. Fancy quills were something that Austin had recently come to love. He pulled out his own notebook and quill. But this wasn't any quill, this was a Phoenix Feather Quill. It too was his mother's, who had gotten it from her parents for her first year at Hogwarts. Once she passed away, his father said he could have it. Which was a good thing, for that was one less thing to buy for the new year. He tried to spend as little money as possible this time around, to save up for the trip to Hogsmede this year. He began copying down his favorite potions into the front of the new notebook, hoping it would come in handy in potions this year.

Janelle noticed that her older housemate was looking at her in a weird way. She wasn't quite sure why? Did it have something to do with the fact that she was still kind of wet? She didn't know. Then it dawned on her. "Do you know my sister Jasmine? She was in Ravenclaw last year." Maybe that would explain the funny look on her housemate's face.

Janelle's stomach began to growl again. It didn't look like the Headmistress would be giving her speech anytime soon. "I'm glad I had a couple of chocolate frogs or I would have passed out by now." Jasmine always talked about how good the food was at Hogwarts. Hopefully it would be worth the wait.

Then Janelle was asked about her train ride. "The train ride was fine, but I was hoping that I'd get a chance to meet more people along the way. I guess I'll have plenty of time for that though." Thank goodness she didn't ask about the boat ride. That was one story that didn't need to be repeated.

So Coral was a tad bit late to the feast. She might have gone a little overboard in checking, double checking, even triple checking that no student got lost or left behind in the shuffle of the fast moving school. But she was here now and she was standing at the edge of the table, overlooking it. Her eyes continuously scanned the area, her arms crossed but her posture a little slack, it would never live up to her sister's standards, that was for certain.

Her eyes would pause on the familiar faces, lingering a little as she tried to determine what sort of conversations were being held, without interfering or overly eavesdropping. She was especially enjoying watching those who were very animated in their manners, like Soph and Eden. Both of whom seemed to be experiencing some sort of extreme emotion. They both received smiles from her even if their attention was elsewhere. Clara was there too, as well as some people from other tables who she didn't recognize as well as the Hufflepuff prefect who also received a smile... Her gaze shifted again, this time pausing on Kyroh and Thornton... And Penelope? She squinted a little. Was that her name? Come to think of it, there were a lot of other Ravenclaws who's names this prefect did not know. Was she supposed to? Was that part of prefecting? Merlin, she'd need a new journal for that..... The tiny pit in her stomach was growing.

And of course, the first years and transfers.... At least she could say that there was no reason to know their names just yet? Already making excuses, Aldrich? The pit grew a little more. Her gaze had finally reached her favorite part of the little run around game: Gabe. The pit was momentarily gone, replaced by little butterflies instead, the tiniest of smiles tugging the corners of her lips. Once the food arrived, she would take the spot beside him and hopefully stop feeling so foolish and nervous; at least temporarily.

But now was not that time, so around her gaze went again.

Did she see who she thought she saw? Was that King Blue Eye's himself being grumpy at the end of the Ravenclaw table? He was constantly grumpy since his sister had been born, although she supposed he had REASON to be. Because the blonde hadn't understood any of it and wanted to help him, she went to her mom during the summer. The twelve year old still remembered her parents shining face darken as the second year explained, and the long and depressing conversation that had come afterwards. Apparently, she was going to have to give him time, as these kinds of wounds didn't just heal over night. But patience was not a virtue Ophelia had to offer, especially when her friends were all blue and sad.

Smiling over at the elder, Ophelia waved and hoped he caught that. Because it was always nice to say hello. And because she wanted to hug him and ask how he was doing. She was an affectionate one, that Ophelia. What could she say? The kid enjoyed hugs. It was her only weakness.

Gregoire decided, since the feast hasn't officially started yet, and since everyone else is doing it, that he would wander over to the Ravenclaw table to see his friend, Ophelia! Casually walking over like he belongs he strided up behind the little blonde girl. Grabbing her by the sides he said into her ear with a very loud voice "BONJOUR OPHIE!"

Oh how he just loved to embarrass his friend.

And who was this boy that she was with? "So, Ophie, is this that boy that you've been telling me about? The one you have a crush on?!" That should embarrass her right? Hopefully this would make her blush! This would be a very good thing!

This was why Gregoire was in Slytherin. He was sly and sneaky and very manipulative at times. Mostly only around his friends though.

Was anyone else too hot? Or was that just her? Putting her hands over her cheeks to hide a deep red blush, she took several deep breaths and a drink of water before standing up and shooting a glance at King Blue Eyes to assess his mood. The elder boy was understandably grumpy and she didn't want this ruining his mood even more! And yes, the second year was praying that he either hadn't heard or was laughing like she was dying to do. Wait, would laughing be worse? She kind of felt like laughing would be worse. Maybe Ophelia could figure out a charm or spell or potion in the next ten seconds to melt into the floor and live like Smeagol for the rest of her life. Ophelia was pretty sure that her parents wouldn't miss her too much and the food here was good so there was really no downside to this. Now if only her body could actually melt and she could be a tiny hobo living in Hogwarts. A Hogwarts hobo. A Hogbo. Nope, that name was lame and now she was ashamed.

But the twelve year old knew the Slytherin WANTED her to blush, so she had to try her best not to. There was no way the blonde was going to give him the satisfaction. Ignoring the nagging feeling of pennies at the back of her throat that usually signaled puke, the preteen stood up and smiled at the much taller boy, willing her knees to keep standing. Dear god, just keep standing. Her eyes darted around the Great Hall, refusing to look back at Austin. Because that would ruin everything she was about to say. Because maaaaybbbe the Eagle liked the other Eagle a lot. And maybe she was afraid that this hurt would hurt his feelings. And if this wasn't school, Ophelia would totally be punching the elder boy out. Gregoire, not Austin. It was treason to punch a king.

"I don't have a CRUSH on him! He's my good friend. I like food and sleep and that's it! Do you want me to point out all of your crushes in here? I can walk you over to a few right now if you'd like." And the smaller kid raised an eyebrow and looked at him as cooly as possible. Because making a scene or crying was what eleven year old Ophelia would do. She was changed now. Older and wiser in the ways of the world. But still, was it really hot in here? Or was it just her? Was that sweat crawling up the back of her uniform? Reaching for her cup, she took another sip of water, looking as grown up and not nervous as possible. Because you DIDN'T just oust someone's not-so-crushy- crush in the Great Hall like that?

Also, that retching? She would appreciate it if the silent and disgusting thing could stop now thank you. Merlin, body, stop being so over dramatic. He humiliated you, he didn't punch you in the gut! Although, the feelings were notably similar.

"Obviously we're meant to be friends then, if we're that similar." Obviously. The Sorting Hat probably realized that in its heart of... er... cloth... and decided that she and Kate simply must be in the same house. Which meant, of course, that Kate would get along swimmingly with Amur, and if Amur were able to find a friend as well, that would make four of them. Friend-making was easy!

At Kate's explanation of all the decorations, Corrigan found herself nodding along. She added, "I didn't think of it like that, but you're right of course. I guess it's better to be overwhelmed than underwhelmed!" She grinned, knowing for a fact that she'd just used those two big words correctly in a sentence (that she may have borrowed from one of the adults in her family).

Corrigan got so excited by Kate's tone that for a second she didn't pay any attention to what the other girl had said and got super excited herself. Then her brain processed it all and her lips twitched to one side in a thoughful gesture, her brows lowering, "Aren't prefects the ones who boss all the other students around and 'act like Merlin's gift to the school'? I heard something like that on the train..."

It was amazing how often older children said private things in her presence because they simply forgot to look down before gossiping.

Austin's copying was interrupted by a blonde second year walking over. But this wasn't just any blonde girl, this was Ophie. The girl he had been hoping to see since he walked on the train. His eyes lit up, but he still had a solom look on his face. He closed his books, and turned to look at the curly haired girl. Normally he would get up, bow to her, make a scene. But today was not one of those days. No, instead, he just moved over and patted the spot next to him. He hoped she would sit. He spent the whole summer taking care of his younger sister, it was time for friends. Or... friend.

"Um.." How does one talk? How does one speak to friends? He only spoke to two people after his previous engagement with The Blonde Queen, and this felt wrong. Like talking to people wasn't something he spent 12 years of his life doing. How do friends talk? Merlin's beard this was harder than he thought. Thankfully he didn't have to talk, for a slytherin hopped in this conversation. He smiled at the boy and Ophie as she stood up. He wasn't sure who this person was, but... wait... CRUSH!? Austin's cheeks turned a red color as The Blonde Queen addressed the Slytherin Subject. Did she have a crush on him? He didn't have to ponder that long, she answered that. No. Which was what he thought, no one really had crushes on Austin. He was too awkward and grumpy to have a crush on.

Nicole looked up from her book to see her new friend - new Ravenclaw friend - greet her. "Hi, Kate," she said with a smile. "Yay, it did! I'm really excited to be a Ravenclaw with you," she said, remembering their conversation on the train about the sorting. She could not believe her sorting experience was now over, but the thrill had yet disappeared as she anticipated the journey about to unfurl in the future.

"How was your boat ride to the castle?" she asked. Nicole wanted to know everything about the firstie boats. It was one of her wishes to ride the boat herself, but it did not work out well because of her being homeschooled.


She turned to look at the lady Kate was talking about. She was transparent and floating at the center of the table near them - she was a ghost. More precisely, she was the Ravenclaw house ghost. Glad that she had not freaked out at seeing a ghost for the first time, Nicole jumped as the Grey lady spoke directly to her.

She looked down at the book she was holding. The lady was right, she should not have been reading during a feast. The girl closed the book, not forgetting to stick her bookmark in the correct page. "I'm sorry, ma'am," she said, blushing. "I'm Nicole. Nice to meet you," she introduced herself. If she were to socialize with her fellow Ravenclaws and build new friendships, she supposed she could do so with her house ghost.

Was he hurt? He couldn't be! Nobody would have a crush on little Ophelia. But still, emotions. She didn't mean to make it sound like that! He was already quiet and moody today, and Gregroire had to come in a ruin it? Merlin! Somehow thinking of all of this made the twelve year old feel even more sick. The blonde couldn't look at him. She WOULDN'T look at him. Because he hadn't said anything, and that's even worse than if he had laughed or became mad. This silence was killing her.

Ophelia had rocketed from not caring what people thought or what was happening to caring way too much. This change of emotions couldn't have been normal. But that's the way pre-teens were. And were people staring? Not that she was so interesting to look at, but they were kind of making a scene. Which brought back the feeling of nasuea. She grabbed for the water glass again and noticed it was empty. Great. Helpful.

Her blue-grey eyes snuck a peek at the third year. OMYGOD he was blushing! Nope. Nope. The kid wanted to run out of here, or do that floorboard thing from earlier, but those options weren't feasible right now. Mostly because she A)didn't know any magic that allowed people to do the floorboard thing B) and she was completely rooted to the spot. The kid had told him that --if it were true-- in confidence! Could she see a Healer, or even the Whomping Willow now? Because her ears were burning and her face felt hot and seriously, could someone get her some water? She couldn't say a word. Nothing more to Austin to prove that she still wanted to be friends even though he obviously didn't like her back and she didn't like him, and no more snappy comebacks to Gregroire, who she SERIOUSLY hated right now.

Helena had looked on with interest and pride as another student had been sorted into the home of her mother’s. As the young girl came over and took a seat at the table the grey lady waved at her with an elegantly nail polished hand."Welcome to the house of the eagles! I hope you'll come to like it here."

Turning to Janelle the grey lady smiled "I'm glad to hear that dear. I still reminisce sometimes about the boat ride I took to Hogwarts back in the day." The girl looked wet. Someone needed to find her a towel. It wouldn’t do if she got pneumonia in her first week at the school.

Noting a wave in her direction Helena glided a little closer to the third year boy. "Good evening young Kyroh. I trust you had a good summer?" She hadn’t forgotten what he had said last term about Mr Kitridge, but she wasn’t longsighted. She gave him a new chance.

In the seat next to Josette, fifth year Sophie Brown had arrived. Doing her best to appear invisible, hide from her it seemed. This was not right. This was not lady-like. You faced and greeted everyone especially your elders no matter if you liked them or not. Helena wrinkled her nose in disapproval and it clouded her voice just a little as she addressed the brown haired girl."Miss Brown, it’s so good to see you again! I trust you had a great summer vacation?"

Gesturing to the wet 11 year old Janelle the lady continued. "Can you be a dear and fix Janelle up with a towel or a hot air charm? She looks to be shivering." With no prefects currently around it seemed appropriate that Sophie as a senior stepped up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Corrigan. What a lovely name. Does it have any special meaning?" Helena inquired softly. She had already forgotten the girl’s almost mistake of extending a hand for a shake. It was clear that the girl had been taught manners.

Putting some warmth into her smile she said. "Trying is all I ask for dear." She wasn’t a monster. Everyone did their best and that was quite enough.

'Finally' Helena murmured quietly to herself as she saw Gabriel Banner, one of the newly appointed prefect’s join the table. Floating down towards him she beamed "Congratulations to the prefect appointment Gabriel. Mr Kitridge made a wise choice." Yes, Helena was quite pleased. Enough so that she for a moment didn’t comment on the fact that Gabriel was writing in his journal at the feast, a big etiquette no no.

"It's lovely to meet you Kate." Helena smiled. "Oslo? So you speak Norwegian fluently then dear?" she inquired most intrigued. This was most excellent. Her mother would be pleased if she knew that Ravenclaw had gotten a newly sorted 11 year old who spoke more than just English. "I hope you’ll come to love Ravenclaw as much as I do." She hoped quietly.

Catching a nod from one of the senior's Helena furrowed her brows in question at the young woman. "Eden dear, is everything all right?" It was not like the bubbly girl to squeak at her. Had her squeaky voice something to do with the three other students, of other houses that were standing around her. The Grey Lady was going to be watching them closely. She did not tolerate drama.

Turning towards Thornton once more Helena smiled. "It was quite lovely thank you. Sir Nicholas kept me company. But I missed you and all the other students. Hogwarts gets too quiet without you here." That was the truth. Hogwarts wasn’t Hogwarts without its students.

Oh right. Helena had forgotten. The new girl prefect Coral-Bay was Gabriel's girlfriend too. Waving a transparent hand in the dark-haired girl’s direction to catch her attention the Grey Lady beamed. "Congratulations to your new appoint Coral-Bay! I have every faith that you’ll make a good prefect."

"It's lovely to meet you Nicole." The Grey Lady said with some cheerfulness to her tone. "I hope you’ll come to feel at home in Ravenclaw. Did you have a lovely train ride?" She questioned curiously. With the sorting still going on it was some time until the headmistress gave her speech.



Helena was expecting an answer from Ophelia when she became a witness to what could be the beginning of a spectacle since the boy in Slytherin robes seemed to be an evil tease. A feast was not the right place to flaunt someone else’s crushes. It was not appropriate. Helena glanced over at Coral-Bay and Gabriel giving them both meaningful looks in this trio’s direction. They better be, watching this scene unfold, and if the two claws lost their minds then Helena expected the house prefects to act or she would.