To a certain degree, Natalia was getting a little uncomfortable with the large crowd. It was like a throng of people at the Gryffindor table (with a couple of badgers) at the same place. A bit overwhelming, but exciting, yes.

Natalia was fixing her hair when she noticed a familiar-looking face. Ahh, finally! For once, Natalia didn't feel so left out after all. She waved at Lux who had just came over from the Hufflepuff table. Yes, Natalia knew her, sort of. "Heeey, remember me??" Natalia added hopefully. She didn't exactly have a long conversation with the badger, but it was long enough for Natalia to learn a little about her. "You're Lux, right? On the train?"

Oh gawd. So this was the ghost that everyone was talking about.

Natalia tried to get a good look at the ghost - Sir Nicholas - as others called him. Quite fascinating, but not a very pleasant figure to look at - as were all other ghosts. Natalia waved at him with eagerness nonetheless.

How did she know? The Lioness smiled to herself as the boy (Adi) accepted her offer of Chocolate Frogs. "I knew because I'm awesome. No more questions." That was a bit blunt, wasn't it? Well it was true, Natalia did think she was pretty awesome. "I'm Natalia the Awesome, who are you?" Nat decided to introduce herself, now that the conversation started.

Natalia nodded as the prefect repeated her name. "Yes, I'm Nat. Good job." This prefect - Zander - was going to be an amusing one, Natalia could tell. "Yes, they-" Natalia pointed to the staff table, appearing high and noble above the rest of the four tables. "-like to starve us, apparently." She added a small smile at the corner of her lips. "My first impression of Hogwarts is that the professors enjoy watching us suffer from hunger."

With all the students congesting around the table, Natalia was starting to confuse herself with all the names she heard, both from official introductions and overheard conversations. So who was who, exactly? :/

Nemo looked around the table, where was Damien? His best mate had to be somewhere. Maybe he needed more friends.. maybe probably but he wasn't going out of his way to accomplish that goal. It seemed like a partial waste of time.

But whatever, people were waving at him. He couldn't not wave back at them. So he did to Zander, Cinna and Adi. There had to be other people that wanted to wave at him. He was, well... him. Nemo Grimm, Handsome, wealthy, nice...on occasion. Who wouldn't want to be his friend?

Ugh.

This particular sixth year Gryffindor had fallen asleep on the train. Which explained why she was still in her train clothes instead of her uniform. Which also meant that she stuck out like a sore thumb. A more self-conscious person would've tried to hide under the table. But Heather owned her mistake and took a seat at the table as if nothing whatsoever was wrong.

Could they get to the speech and feast already? She was hungry and didn't feel like making small talk right now.

She had lost Benzi somewhere in the rush of making sure everyone got safely off of the train and finding a carriage to ride in. Still, she did glance around at the different tables, grinning when she spotted him over at Ravenclaw. That meant she’d have to go over there eventually – awesome.

Puck looked up at the fifth year boy who joined the table, “Welcome to Gryffindor Jackson,” Puck grinned over to him. “I’m Puck Greyvson, CoPrefect to Zander” she nodded toward Zander and grinned. “Gryffindor’s pretty cool,” she nodded and grinned.

Puck paid attention to the sorting and watched as the little Lance and Marsha were sorted. Cute kids really, they seemed so happy…and they could be her minion’s yes? Well, you know she’d have to keep an eye out for them…it was the Prefectly thing to do.

“Welcome to Gryffindor – if you guys ever have any questions about anything…” she grinned and leaned closer, “even where to find the hidden food stashes in the common room I’m your girl…also I’m kind of usually behind the hidden food stashes” she admitted and grinned to the two. Because food was totally important, she did grin over to AJ when she explained the house as the best house ever. “AJ’s right we are the best house ever,” she nodded and grinned some more. “How are you by the way AJ?” She asked kindly and of course gave Angel and Benny and everyone in their usual posse a big smile as if transferring the question to them as well. Benny and Adi she did send a grin, “what did you guys think about Cutty’s prank?” She asked a laugh clearly just behind the surface of her lips.

“Lux you are never going to guess what happened in the Prefect’s compartment” Puck laughed over to her and beamed. “Really, I wouldn’t have thought it would happen and then BAM it happened.” She nodded and grinned over to her.

“Good Evening, Sir Nicholas. Was your summer a good one?” Puck asked the ghost before turning her attention to the other’s at the table…hey older guy that wasn’t sorted? Maybe he was the guy she’d heard about over the years? The one that had gone to Durmstrang with Lo – not being sure Puck just sent him a smile before sending Chance a big grin (Michael). “Chance Coeur, how was your summer? And how was the internship?” She asked happily, before turning her attention to Evie. “Hey, welcome to Gryffindor,” Puck grinned at her. “Don’t worry you’ll be fine,” Puck grinned and made a point to look up at the staff stable.

HAD THEY LOST THEIR MARBLES? Her eyes widened as she registered the sight of the guy that had been talked about in the Daily Prophet…Sabel Dakest was their professor? Dear merlin…what in merlins crusty pants were they thinking? She glanced vover to Zander and grinned.

“Hey Zander, if you see Amur later we might need to…uh…calm her down? I mean she got all nervous at the school trip and well…” she shrugged her shoulder and glanced at the table. “The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was in the Daily Prophet’s…cultist article” she muttered the last bit nervously. Remain calm.

She was going to remain calm. Okay. Food had to happen…and the speech she wanted to hear the reasoning behind this and fast. She sent her other companions and associates grins as well.

Nat, she heard her answer to Adi’s question and grinned. She was going to like her, she knew that already. “Nice to meet you Natalia the Awesome” she interjected and grinned to her. “I’m Puck” she did hear her interaction with Zander and grinned even more. Gosh, the sass game for Gryffindor was on. “Puck like from Shakespeare not the sports equipment” she grinned.

“Emmylou how are you….oh god that rhymed please poison me with some potion and don’t save me” the rhyming was awful. She wasn’t trying to be gross sounding or anything and that clearly was. It was like Seuss but worse. “Still, how are you? How have you been since the school trip?” She asked happily. The smile she sent Cinnamon was cooler than it had been intended to be but it was genuine. “Hey Cinna how are you?” She asked happily. “How was your summer?” She did hope that she hadn’t gotten Emmy to think that she would do so much as flirt with Kace, nope, there were other guys for that…hey she could flirt with Benzi, Benny even though she was a girl and not a guy but still they had their thing…but still, she was going to have fun this term and well study some for NEWTs next year.

“How did OWLs turn out for you guys?” She asked anxiously and grinned to the two because she was hoping that her friends had AMAZING scores. Also where was Kace? "Oh...guys when Kace gets here I want to tell you three something hilarious that happened on the train and well, I need to tell you two and Bianca of course about this summer..." she grinned. "I might have met someone," she grinned and glanced over to the Ravenclaw table for a moments time.

Kace decided to make his way down to the lion table. He wanted to see his friends and all. He knew Emmy already visited him but he was looking for Puck. He wanted to see the prefect. As he walked down and spotted her, he heard her use his name. Well I guess he made perfect timing. "Whyy hello there Puck.." he greeted her and put an arm around her shoulder. "I thought I heard my name being called.." he smirked. "So what did you have to tell all of us then?"

Also he was on the lookout for Cinna too. He wanted to at least say hello to her. He saw her talking to other lions and he went over for a second since Puck was being busy with others. She wouldn't mind. "Hello there Cinna.." he greeted her with a hug.

Hayley wasn't far behind Chance, after their arrival to the castle the Ravenclaw had snuck off to ensure Tulip was safe and sound, before making her way into the Great Hall. Though she probably should have headed for her own table, where Benzi would probably be - given he was a fellow Ravenclaw, returned, - the newly turned fifth year found herself starting toward the Gryffindors instead as grey-blue eyes gazed among the many faces, seeking out one or two in particular. No Chloe in sight, but she did find Chance.

Casually sliding into the seat beside the older boy, Hayley gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow and offered another small smile, as if to silently let him know she was there. She doubted he would mind too much. "To answer your question from before," One of which she had successfully avoided for the time being, somehow or another during the train ride, "you didn't do anything."

And hopefully Chance knew now, she did want to try and be friends, and not let last year get in the way of that. If she hadn't, well.. she wouldn't have spent her train ride with him - and she certainly wouldn't be sitting beside him now, either. To her, it was obvious. To him, well..

Glancing up as more Gryffindors arrived and took their seats, greeting friends and happily making conversation, some of which addressed Chance as well, Hayley's attention drifted further down the table as she leaned forward slightly. It was funny, hearing a Professor call out 'Diggory' for the sorting hat ceremony. She hadn't expected to hear that for at least another year, when her little brother would be old enough to start Hogwarts. But this Diggory was not her little brother, he was now her big brother, and it was entirely strange to think at this time last year, Hayley didn't have the first clue she would no longer be the eldest Diggory in her family.

"Hello and a very good evening to you," he smiled broadly down at the young lady. "I would be lying if I said it was anything other than dismal. Despite my persistent requests, the Headless Hunt continues to deny and make a proper mockery out of me."

All because of a measly half inch of skin.

"Perhaps, if all of Gryffindor house were to petition them, I may have a chance?"

"Good evening!" he politely waved to the sixth year.


See! Sir Nicholas KNEW that one could teach a Hufflepuff new tricks. He would have to gloat about this to the Bloody Baron later. For the most part.

"Good evening," he bowed to the young man.


"Hello and good evening, my boy!" he ghost cheered as he floated a bit closer to the young man. "I went ahead and did you and Puck a favour earlier this evening. Took a quick peek into the common room before Professor Flamsteed shushed me away. Would you like a hint of what the professor have planned?"

"It is quite rude to stare," Sir Nicholas chuckled. But since the boy WAS asking for it...

The ghost unceremoniously pulled back on his head to show the first year just how he had received the nickname 'Nearly Headless.'

The Gryffindor House Ghost eagerly returned her wave. After having readjusted his head, of course.


"No," he bluntly replied. "As I was telling Emmylou just a moment ago, it was absolutely dismal."

It was AJ!! Lux hadn't seen her in a while, so it was really nice to catch up again. She wanted to spend as much time with her friends as possible because she loved them. "Hey!! My summer was awesome. I didn't want it to end. How was yours?"

Lux smiled at Benny and Zander as they greeted her. "Hey, guys!! Did you have nice summers?" It had been a little while since they had last talked, so she was happy to catch up with them now that they were at the feast. Then Chance arrived and that was awesome because it had been a long time since she had last seen him and Lux had always thought he was funny. "Chance!! How have you been??" Hehehe, she hoped that he remembered her!!

And lookie. It was Nearly Headless Nick!! Even though she would never talk to him like that to his face. Lux knew that House Ghosts needed to be respected and she DID like him even though he could be whacky sometimes. "Hello, Sir! I hope you are well." He KNEW her by now, so she was sure he would have expected her to be here.

Someone was calling her name, and look... it was Nat from the train! "Yep, that's me!! Awesome to see you are in Gryffindor!!" haha way to go for her!! "And of course I remember you!!" BEAM. Silly Nat as if she was going to forget her. Pfft. This girl was adorable.

EEEEP!!

It was Puck!! Lux was so happy to see her. She loved Puck because she was amazing and such a good friend. "What happened??? You have to tell me all about it!!" She had a feeling that whatever it was, was awesome.

Penelope had her stack of posters that advertised the pet rock adoption fair. She approached the Gryffindor table and spoke to the students nearest to her. "Does anyone want to adopt a pet rock? They are very low maintenance pets and literally live forever! If you come by the table by the entrance to the Great Hall now, you can get a pet rock that comes with a care manual and rock candy!" There was rock candy and pet rocks! Penelope scattered a few of the posters on the table in front of people.

So it looked like Angel was late again, hey she was getting used to this now, it was called being fashionably late and making an entrance right, she was getting ready for when she discovered something new and she was propelled into famedom.

Angel realised that her sister was already there and she got a wave, so did Adi who was sat next to Benny, she had missed Benny loads and she wanted to run up-to him and sit on his lap but she had a feeling she would get in serious trouble if she did that so she just went and found a seat near to him in case he wanted to say something to her.

She then spotted Nearly Headless Nick. "Hi Nick, how are you?" Angel remembered their conversation from the last feast, which had been so fun, she then looked around and saw Lux. "Hey Lux did you have a great summer?" Angel hoped that her friend had.

Angel then looked around and saw a few other people that she knew and they all got a wave, she then sat back and watched as people got sorted into different houses, she thought that it was be cool to watch.

Angel then heard Penelope saying about pet rock, she might have to try that with fresh air, bottling it and selling it as genuine Hogwarts air. "Hey Penny, how are you?"

Zac joined the Gryffindor table quickly after being sorted and sat up very straight and eager to watch the rest of the sortings. Marsha was called shortly after he was and he clapped wildly when she was placed into Gryffindor too! This couldn't have gone any better! He beamed when she sat beside him, "We're housemates!!" Zac had picked a GREAT first friend. He nodded and peeked up to see who else was going to be in Gryffindor.

That was... until something caught his attention. Zac poked Marsha on the shoulder, "Look... look it's... a ghost." He whispered.

Izaac marvelled a bit at the ghost that joined them. It took him a moment to adjust to the sight, but he suddenly let out a massive, "Hello!" He'd never seen a ghost before. Even now he thought that it could possibly be an illusion.

Despite being distracted by the ghost, being a Gryffindor, and the general scale size of this hall alone... Zac was still paying attention to the sorting ceremony, particularly the Gryffindor announcements. He smiled brightly at the next first year to join the table. "Hi!" He waved as she sat near them. "My name's Zac, I'm a first year too!" A Gryffindor first year. Still was weird to say that!

Aaaaaand... MORE Gryffindors. More importantly, Marsha's other friend made it into the house too! This was exciting, Zac thought it was time to make his acquaintance. "Hey." He grinned. "You're... Lance, right?" Quickly looking to Marsha with a questionable nod. Nah, he knew he had gotten the name right. He was good with names. "My name's Zac."

Between squishing into the Great Hall, staying awake during the sorting, and also trying desperately to NOT jump from his seat, he was lost. Mentally zoned out. SO zoned out in fact, that he had been intensely staring at the staff table. But coming to his senses, it was as if he was staring at it for the first time. So many changes, changes, ALWAYS... but.. more than that... SABEL WAS THEREEEEEEE. And teaching, apparently. Did Emily know? Why didn't HE know? Hhhmm? Was this a ploy? Was HE his chaperone for AT SCHOOL? He really didn't need watching that closely, he'd lived up until now, and most of that was his own doing.

...

He REALLY wanted to go and say hello, but now wasn't the time. He'd wait. And wait he did.

....

It did not take long for the other Gryffindors to take notice of him. Something he was pleasantly surprised at and he figured the Gryffindors were a social bunch of people. Although he preferred the traits of the Hufflepuff House, he figured he just had to deal with it and accept his Gryffindor fate. He waved back, almost as lazily as Nat had done because he WAS tired. “Hi Nat…is that short for Nathalie?” he asked , trying to start a conversation because obviously, he needed friends.

Yoongi turned to look at another girl (AJ) and raised an eyebrow at her. “I have an accent?” he asked. He had been living in England all his life. Well, since he was adopted at the age of four but he never realised he had an accent…unless.. “Ah, I think you mean that guy has a wicked accent” he nudged his head in the direction of Jackson who was sitting close by. She might had mistaken Jackson’s voice for his.

Because he had been seated at the end of the table , Yoongi had not noticed that a ghost had suddenly appeared through the centre of the table until he heard a loud voice saying welcome. He leaned forward to watch. “Hello ghost!” what was his name anyways?

“Thanks!” he grinned as another female Gryffindor (Emmylou) said her welcome. He was liking this whole House thing more and more.

And that’s when he spotted someone who didn’t wear a red and gold badge. But a Yellow and Black one. And he also seemed to wear a P badge like the other boy and and girl he had seen at the table but those were red and gold. Obviously that badge meant something. A leader status perhaps? “Which House is that badge from?” he asked Adi. He still wasn’t good with the whole colors thing.

OKAY. GRYFFINDOR. HERE WE COME!!!!

"HI EVERYONE!!!!"

Rusty bounced over to her friends - YES SHE HAD FRIENDS ALREADY - and sat down. "WE'RE ALL IN THE SAME HOUSE!!!!!" She beamed at Zac and Marsha. "How cool is that?! We get to spend loads of time together!" Probably. Not that Rowan had ANY idea how this school worked or anything, or how any sort of school worked for that matter, she'd never been to one, she didn't know what was coming, and that was AWESOME. "What do you think the food will be like? I hope there's stuff with no animal things in, that'd be good." Cause then she could eat, y'know?

She opened her mouth to make another observation or something, but then she saw NEARLY HEADLESS NICK!!! She'd read about him with Robin in Hogwarts: A History!! But he preferred to be called Sir Nicholas, didn't he... she should go and say hi. "I'll be right back guys..."

Rowan slinked over to the ghost, wondering how she'd get his attention, she couldn't exactly pat him on the shoulder could she... "Excuse me, sir?" She felt bad for interrupting his other conversations but he was doing well in holding so many so she'd be fine, right? "Are you Sir Nicholas? I've read about you, I'm Rusty." SHE HAD SO MANY QUESTIONS. "Do you think it would be okay if I could ask you some questions about being a ghost some time? I'm a Gryffindor now and I think you're really cool and it would be totally great cause I've never met a ghost before."

The foooooood! Chance needed food! He was almost tempted to pound his fists in the table and start a chant just to try and get the speech to come up faster. He heard his name being called by several different people and he waved at them. And of course, he smiled his million dollar smile at them. The one that his eyes crinkled at the sides and his mouth was the main feature of his face.

Hearing another familiar voice, one that spent the train ride with him, Chance sent her one of his million dollar smiles as she sat down. "So we are good then?" He asked, relieved that they could be friends. She did spend the whole train ride with him be now she was seated beside him for the feast. He watched as her eyes went to the front and she watched the sorting. "Someone you know?" He asked.

Chance gave a look around the feast to see who else was here that he knew. He was kinda happy to actually be back at Hogwarts. It was his home.

His chocolate brown eyes spotted a familiar face (Yoongi). Yup, he had met this guy before at Diagon Alley, fellow new student like him too. "Yoongi-nim!" He grinned and waved at him. Kinda relieved that he wasn't the only transferred student at this house. "Great to see you again, by the way."

Okay then, he would call her as Nat since it's shorter. "Nice to meet you then, Nat." The Korean guy smiled. So, she had a Korean best friend. That explained well how she could recognize him as Korean. Most people couldn't see the differences between Korean, Chinese, Japanese, or any Asian people (Still remembered a little kiddo in Scribbulus thought he was Japanese and talked to him in Japanese.) Physically, they looked same but from the accent and language, of course they're different.

Well, not only the Gryffindor students loved greeting the newbies. Jackson spotted a ghost welcomed him (and the other students). "Hello, sir and thank you." He smiled.

He knew that so many people wondered what hyung and noona meant and he didn't mind to explain it over and over again. He still couldn't leave that though he wasn't in Seoul anymore. "Yeah, it's how I usually called the girl senior." He explained to Emmylou. "Unless you... didn't feel comfortable." Yeah, if she didn't like to be refer as senior he could call him just with the name. Then he explained it to Zander Prefect too. "Hyung how I usually call a guy senior. Since you... a year above me. But, if you don't feel comfortable I can just call with name." He explained.

Jackson then grinned at Adi. "I can teach you, or maybe you want a private Korean language lesson? I'd love to tutor you." If he's interested, of course. He wouldn't force him.

Oh, a co-prefect. He tried not to blink when she mentioned her name was Puck. He was familiar with weird names since some of his friends at Kirin had weird stage name, like he had mentioned before. Maybe if he mentioned his Korean name, people would think that it was weird and very hard to pronounce. So... he just refer himself as Jackson Hwang. "It's nice to meet you." He nodded.

Now he hoped that the food will come very soon. He was starving, and it seemed like most of the students were too.

Emmylou beamed and looked at Yoongi. "I was just wondering I didn't say your name wrong? Did I? I would feel really bad if I did." She wouldn't like it if someone had said her name"You're welcome. No problem at all. The Gryffindor house is amazing and I'm very positive that you will like it here." She smiled. "It does take some getting used to though." It was so exciting. She really couldn't contain her happiness right now but she must. People that saw a bouncy for joy sixteen year old would give her looks and she didn't want to be given looks. "What do you think so far?" She asked, she was curious. He hadn't seen any of the other places but if he needed a guide or something then she would be more than willing to help.


The blonde lioness looked around as more and more students showed up at the house table. There Gryffindors and other students from the other three different houses. It was so exciting and Emmylou was just so social right now but then again this girl was always social. There was a possible chance that she was on candy, craze high. She liked to think of herself as the Gryffindor Candy Queen but really she never said that out loud. Spotting a student that she had seen here before in past terms she thought it would be a good idea to say 'hello'. Emmylou walked over to the student (Zeke) and smiled. "Hello." Her cheery, southern accent said.

More and more students still kept filing in. This made her so happy. Yes her goals this year were to of course make tons of new friends and get good grades in her all of her classes. After last term she was ready for all of this really! Emmylou looked over at a girl (Heather) that had also just shown up not that long after the younger boy. Emmy had seen her around in the common room before but she had never said anything to her. The blonde gave the girl a wave wand walked over to her. "Hi. I'm Emmylou Duchannes." She said beaming at the girl. Introduction is everything as her grandmother Duchannes would tell her. She was putting that advice to really good use tonight.

EEEEEEEEPPPP!!!

Another new student and he was adorable! Yes some little first years are adorable and there was nothing wrong with that. She saw the boy (Lance) and beamed. The four foot, eleven inch sixth year walked over to the new student and gave him a little wave. "Hi!" She said excitingly. "Welcome to Gryffindor! The best house ever!" Full on Gryffindor pride from this little lioness. She normally wasn't so happy about being in Gryffindor well not out loud like this. "I'm Emmylou Duchannes, sixth year Gryffindor."

Emmylou nodded and smiled at Sir Nicholas. "And a very good evening to you as well." She nodded to him. The sixth year looked at him as he talked and right in the eyes. Which was weird looking a ghost in the eyes but also pretty awesome at the same time. "I think you shouldn't being hanging out with people that mock you! Those aren't the kind of people that someone should be around." Emmylou shook her head. Sir Nicholas deserved better in her eyes! "I could see you have a chance but why just limit it to Gryffindor? There are other students in the other three houses that really like you and would sign it!" She beamed up at him.


Emmylou giggled at Zander. "Tiring? I can relate but I'm not even a prefect and I just keep welcoming new students too." She didn't know what it was like to be a prefect. Just a badge and a title. it wasn't really anything flashy to her right now. Maybe next term it would be or anytime this term. "Just alright. Just went through some family stuff and it wasn't the greatest." She nodded, that was about as much as anyone was going to get out of her mouth about that subject. "I still had fun but not the whole summer I didn't." She beamed at him. "It sounds like you had a really fun and busy summer?" She shrugged. "I don't know why but I have this gut feeling that this term is going to be so much fun." She nodded fast and more than once.

Looking around more, maybe just to talk to people more her age? That seemed about right but she really did love all the newbie Gryffindors right now. It was just so exciting and she wasn't the only one that felt that way right now. Emmylou waved at Chance, she had met him before. Last term? Yes but she really didn't get around to having out with him because of family drama, school work, boyfriend, best friend/sister/cousin time and can't forget getting her arm broken by their Prefect, it was an accident but it still happened and Zander didn't mean to do it but yes it still happened. "Hi Chance!" Emmylou beamed. Would he remember who she was? She really hoped so. There was also another student that wasn't that far away from her and Chance. SHE SAW HIM WAVE so it was time for 'hellos' and what not. Emmylou waved to him (Michael). She didn't know him but she could know him right now? "Hi!" She said in an even more exciting tone than before. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten all of that candy on the train ride to Hogwarts? Oh well she was being social and that's all that matter right now.

She nodded as he explained to her what it meant. That made sense. Kinda. Emmylou shook her head and smiled at Jackson. "It's really fine by me, I just didn't know what it meant is all." Now that she did she would have to figure out what he meant by it. It was very obviously that it was a good thing. "What do you think of the castle so far?" She beamed more. "I mean the parts that's you have seen so far." The blonde nodded. Turning towards Benny Emmylou smiled more. Her cheeks were really going to hurt in the morning. Yes they were. She really wasn't looking forward to that. Seeing old and meeting new friends and being back here at Hogwarts was just so amazing and exciting and she's a SIXTH YEAR now. She couldn't believe it at all. This was her third term here since transferring from Beauxbatons in her third year but yes still exciting as always. "My summer was alright but mostly filled with family drama but I did have some fun moments." She smiled. "Did you do anything fun over the summer? I went on that field trip and thought it was fun."

Evie smiled as she listened to the chatter around her and then her attention was grabbed by the boy that had sat with her on the train. "Hello! I'm Evie by the way." The girl dug her fingernails into her palm to keep her from blushing again. This after all was the boy who stared art her on the train.

Next her attention was caught by another boy who introduced himself as Zac, "Hi. I'm Evie." The brunette grinned. Maybe she could do this, she could learn this whole new world and she could live in it..

Chance realized his friends were trying to talk to him, yeah? Or maybe not. This table was probably the loudest in the Great Hall, Gryffindors and all. Not sure whether she should point this out, or leave it alone in case he was fully aware, Hayley decided on the latter and smiled back a bit more brightly than she had earlier. Mostly, because of his question. "I think so, yeah." She didn't see why not at this point. As for his second inquiry, "Yes, actually.." She mused, if only for a second. Straightening a bit and returning her gaze to his, Hayley's smile grew, just a bit more. "My brother. If I just heard right, he's now a Gryffindor like you." How strange it felt to call Logan her brother. That would take some getting use to. Nice, in a way. But strange no less.

And whether the Diggory girl realized it or not, she was slowly forgetting about her troubles of earlier. Atleast for the moment, but even that was a nice break.. it had been a long, long summer. It was nice to be back.

"And my little cousin, he should be sorted any time now as well." Hayley added, stealing another glance toward the sorting ceremony before looking back to Chance again.

At first, he didn't know if that older girl was talking to him, but goodness, she had his full attention. He would have never have found out that there were hidden food stashes in the common room if he hadn't been listening. Lance repeated that in his head... there were hidden food stashes in the common room. AND, the best part, the older girl created them.

She was cool.

"Are there a lot of hidden places in the common room?" Just a small question so he didn't bug her and her friends too much.

At last. He finally knew the other boy's name. Though surely he could've asked Marsha, but that idea no doubt wouldn't have come up in much later. "Hi Zac," he grinned, giving a short wave. "This is pretty cool, right? It's huge."

And the plates were particularly shiny. Something he duly noted.

Speaking of finally knowing people's names, if he learned anymore, he was going to forget them all by tomorrow. This was an embarrassing case though. The whole train ride and he didn't introduce himself. That was just... wow. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forget...manners," with a look of guilt, he cleared his throat a little before continuing, "I'm Lance. It's nice to meet you. Again."

Again, it took him a moment to register that the person (a SIXTH year of all people) was talking to him but when he did, the young lad had a grin on his face that could've reached passed his eyes. Although, it was official now. He was going to forget everyone's name by tomorrow. "HI Emm...loo," he hesitated with the pronunciation, "Erm, I'm Lancelot, buuuut you can just call me Lance. Everyone does."

Except his grandmother.

Bright blue eyes widened.

The ghost talked to him. With actual words. This was better than the sorting HAT! Except, he didn't remember the hat talking to him, if it did at all, so it wasn't that much of a stretch. Before he could open his mouth to apologize profusely, because he wasn't ruuuude on purpose, something AMAZING happened. Or gross. His brain couldn't decide which.

"OH. MY. STARFISH!" he grasped the bench he was sitting on, leaning awaaaay from the now almost headless ghost. A mix of shock and amazement settled on his features. HE JUST... his HEAD! IT... it just... WHAT!? "ARE YOU OKAY?"

In his state of shock at the display he just witnessed, he was even more shocked when something landed quite close by on the table. A few somethings actually. Out of curiosity, he peaked at what the words said, rubbing at his almost healed up bruised elbow.

"What..." he mumbled, sliding one of the posters closer to himself so he could read properly. "Woah, HEY, Marsha! Zac! Do you guys want to get a pet rock?"

Whether they wanted to or not, he was kinda already getting up from his seat.

Man. Gryffindors sure we're loud!! Chance laughed and shook his head at his loud table. His group. His family. "Excuse them. They are just happy to be back." He told Hayley with a grin.

Chance got caught up in her smile for a moment and forgot to actually listen to what she was saying. Oh right. The sorting and her brother? Chance tried to remember her ever mentioning a brother. He could have sworn he had asked her last year if she had one and she had stated she hadn't. Maybe it was another person. Who knew? "What year is he? He looks to be older." Which also didn't make any sense seeing how she'd been here the whole time why wouldn't her brother have been too?

"Which one if your little cousin?" Chance asked looking for a Hayley look alike. Cousins were supposed to be similar right? Chance wished his sisters had been magic, but alas, they were muggle. It would have been nice to have siblings running around school with him.

Hayley couldn't help but laugh a little at his comment about his housemates being happy to be back. That was apparent, but their enthusiasm was.. nice, really. Sure, her own house mates were probably equally happy to return to Hogwarts, but they didn't quite show it the same way this lot did. "I can tell," as for excusing them, the Diggory girl waved a hand dismissively. No big deal, she was rather starting to enjoy the chaos, in fact. Reminded her of home.

"He is older," She confirmed with a light nod, stating this matter-of-factly. And yes, she had told him about having a little brother, as well as a then soon-to-be baby brother, but he was not those brothers, clearly. "Sixth year. He's kind of.. a new addition to my family. My parents adopted him recently. We go way back, though. His family use to be friends of mine, until.. they passed on." Hayley bit her lip, grey-blue eyes searching the crowded table to ensure Logan wasn't close by and could hear her. "His name's Logan."

Looking for Vincent amongst the smaller students toward the front, Hayley practically beamed as she was able to find him and point him out to Chance. "That one," The little blonde with his hair ruffled in the front, average height of a twelve-year-old boy, and brown eyes - not that you could see from the table, but Hayley knew. Hayley knew everything about the boy. "Vincent. He's a first year." In case that wasn't obvious, and it probably was. Poor thing was still a nervous wreck. Trying to catch the boy's gaze, Hayley gave a double thumb's up.

"How was your summer, by the way?" Hayley asked, as she settled back down and set her hands in her lap, eyes on Chance.

Benny seemed to be his usual quiet self, but lately she hadn't been giving him much opportunity to talk because she was always so busy bouncing around. AJ was hyper all on her own, but being around extra bubbly people only made her that much more bouncy. Please don't give her any sweet treats.

Adi was keeping Benny company and vice versa so she didn't feel too bad at the moment. Although, she was ready to park it next to her man. You would think they she hadn't been able to see him over the summer, and that definitely was not the case. Ah yes, Zander was still as awkward as ever when it came to fist bumping, and maybe that was why AJ insisted that she did it every time she saw him. No, that definitely was not the case. Surely not. Maybe. Oh. Oh. Oh. Her eyes got all big and beamy, but not quite unicorn trance at the moment. "You thought of an even better plan? No wait... you have even more minions. Did you get the second and third years on board too? Oh no. Don't tell me... I want to be surprised." EEEEEEEEEP. Zander was really pulling through for her. "We will talk later. I need food to be of any use." Not that she didn't consume enough candy on the way over here to put down a horse. That didn't count. This chick needed some protein.

Another firstie had joined the ranks. (Lancelot) Man, there sure were a lot of new lions. Had it always been like this? Or maybe she just failed to notice. "Hiiii." Sugar rush here. "Welcome to the best house ever." Was he excited? Did he have questions? Did he want an adventure buddy? He could make a good minion for her unicorn quest. "I'm AJ by the way." Names were important. Mmmhmm.

Floating on by was Nick "Hello, Sir Nick." He was always in a good mood. If AJ was all dead and had to smell food without the capability of eating it she would NOT be in a good mood. Nope. Scaring kids would be her new favorite hobby. "Gryffindor for the cup this year, eh?" Hoorah.

A new firstie girl caught her eye next. (Evie) It was looking better and better for the lions. "Hi there, and welcome to the lions den." Only that was really the common room area. Oh well. It got the point across. "I'm AJ."

Cheerful Lux was someone that AJ always liked being around, and she would miss her when she graduated. Why did all of the super cool people have to be older than her? "Mine was epic. It went by way too fast." Only it didn't bother her that bad because she still got to see Adi at school, but Lux didn't have that luxury when it came to Bay. "How does it feel being a sixth year?" She could have her driver's license by now, right? Only that was a muggle thing.

Angel had finally arrived and she got a smile and a wave. There were too many newbs to say hello to. She would have plenty of time to talk to her sister when they got settled into their dorms. Speaking of newbs, the lion house got another one. Izzac was newly sorted. "Hey there! I'm AJ. You must be pretty awesome because only the coolest of the cool get sorted into this house." That was a fact.

Zeke was here too and he got a bro nod. Yeah, AJ wasn't technically a boy, but she was as close as you could get and it totally counted. Before she could actually speak to the younger lion the boy with the accent caught her attention again. Wait. What? Yoongi was the one that she heard, right? Nope. He was speaking to her and there was definitely no trace of an accent. "Empty stomach," she replied as if that cleared up the confusion. "Well, you have a nice voice too." This wasn't awkward at all? Her eyes darted over to the boy that he mentioned. Guess that compliment was meant for him.

Another new girl. Rusty had joined them, and she seemed peppy. This one had potential. Extra eyes would be kept on her. "Hi there. I'm AJ and welcome to Gryffindor." She was beginning to sound like a broken record.

So there was a vague memory there about her saying something about siblings. Of course, Chance had a hard time trying to remember anything. Well, besides certain spells he found amusing or a secret passage. He knew the basics. The basic basics.

He studied the older boy. "I'm so sorry about that. Poor kid. So he lost his whole family?? At least you are there for him. That's amazing of your family to take him in." It was. Most families wouldn't. It was a testament on how nice Hayley and her family was. Chances eyes found the boy that Haykey had described as her cousin. He grinned because the poor kid looked scared to death. Chance remembered his sorting but he had been a third year when he had come to Hogwarts. Imagine three years before. Man oh man.

"It was good. I interned at WHiM have you heard of that?" It was a magazine and it was kind of free flowing if you got his drift. "How was yours?? Do anything exciting?"

Michael drummed his fingers on the table and blew out a slow breath. He felt a little out of place sitting here on his own and talking to no one which was unusual for him. But he didn’t want to intrude on those that were catching up with each other. Two years away felt like a lifetime.

He cast his gaze over to the Slytherin table in the hopes of finding Zahra somewhere among the green and silver. She wouldn’t have headed up to the common room, would she? He started to get up from the table to go in search for her while giving the two Gryffindor Prefects ( Puck and Zander) and the Hufflepuff one ( Adi) a smile and returned their wave as he straightened up, but paused from moving on when he heard a very excited ‘Hi’ directed at him.

"Hello." He sat back down because it would be totally rude to leave the table when someone was talking to you. "You’re obviously glad to be back." That was an understatement she was practically bouncing out of her skin. Michael had to grin, he remembered being like that.