As Austin came back from the staff table, and sat down in his original seat, it began to rain. No, scratch that, it began to pour. The rain washed away most of the potatoes on his robes, but it left him wet and cold. Shivering slightly, he hoped that his pointed hat would help keep the rain out. Sadly, it too was soaked, and just felt like a large, wet, cat was sitting on his head.

Although he was cold, and slightly less happy than he was 15 minutes ago, he was glad he had gone up to the staff's table. Maybe his Ravenclaw companions wouldn't think so, but perhaps some of the older students would back him up. That was if he knew any older students. Most of his new friends were first years. But he was sure they all thought he ruined their fun. Maybe if he sat quietly and kept his head down, no one would notice he had even left at all.

No... no no no no. Failing. He was failing. What did one do in this situation? Was he supposed to go after them? But that would leave the table partially unattended... it wasn't as if he could physically stop them and clearly words hadn't worked out so well.

He searched around trying to find where Penelope had been sitting. Maybe she would know what to do???? But his attention was soon drawn by a rather... woesome Rooney.


Despite their interaction on the train, Thornton felt quite bad for the boy and immediately went over to him, dodging.... was that a turkey leg??

"Rooney... come down and maybe we can fix it," he said, maybe pleading a little. "Mr. Kitridge must know a spell. I bet people spill things on books all the time." Especially give how little care some of their classmates had for pretty much anything.

He was grateful that there were some who chose not to get involved (Abby and Austin) and h'd never been so happy to have seen students (Chloe, Chris) head under the table....

Under the table. YES!

He scanned quickly again for Penelope. He hoped this was a good idea... "Everyone, if you can shield yourselves, great, but if not, get under the tables. You won't get hit with food that way... Get under the---"

The crack of thunder cut him off and Thornton looked up.

Just in time for the rain to fall right on his face.



.....or not. Rubbing his face with his hand, Thornton went and retrieved the tossed notebook, in case the younger boy regretted his discarding of it. Maybe he could fix it and it would get him in the boy's good graces. Who knew. He really couldn't be too bothered about the boy kicking the food, since it was no longer edible. But he supposed he was.. probably supposed to.

Julia nodded encouragingly at Kitty, “I do! Lady Dugray. It sounds very tragic-romantic. Like you’ve stayed true to one love through ten years of exile and hardship, but right when you’re about to reunite with him he’s struck down before your eyes and you’re overwhelmed with unspeakable grief.”

Which might have been a little too tragic, but it did go with Kitty’s black nails. Still, Julia added, “Or maybe he’s just taken prisoner and you have to rescue him. Or something.”

“Somewhat?” Somewhat didn’t seem to cover it. Still, since no one else was alarmed by the shrieking, fainting professor, she supposed it was something to be noted and ignored. Odd place.

Whether it was because she was short, outside the splatter range, or just plain lucky, Julia escaped the rain of mashed potatoes and peas. And then Prefect Thornton, big brother protective type that he was, was putting some kind of shield up over them and ordering a ceasefire. Good. Good good. She hadn’t wanted to be splashed by lake water and she didn’t want food all over her either. Food belonged in, not on.

In an attempt at being helpful, amongst the hysterics (Rooney) and disobedience (Haddie), she reached up and starting picking pieces of potato and peas off Prefect Thornton.

“Eep!” Julia huddled in close to the prefect as the ceiling started to rain, a little less enamoured with it than she had been not long before. It was raining and it was cold, and… well, perhaps it wasn’t actually soaking her through because of Thornton’s shield charms, but still…

Haddie pondered Penny's words. For the first time, she had a small inkling about what the Hat saw in her and why it had put her in Ravenclaw. She still felt she was more Gryffindor, but maybe she really wasn't. Maybe she was more Ravenclaw at her core.

Isn't that what the Hat had said? Something about the traits that made her suited to the other houses all stemming from her ideas and imagination? Or something like that. Okay so maybe she'd have to begrudgingly accept the Hat might have known what it was doing. But it still didn't have to be such a rude jerk about it!

Haddie realized she was sort of beaming in reaction to Penny's explanation. "Good. And I prefer Haddie actually." She smiled again.

First there were peas in his book, and now mashed potatoes on his neck.... As he calmly wiped them off, David began to regret how good he was at being on time to everything. If he'd been late to the feast, he would have gotten a poor seat, not at all in the center of the table near the new prefects and the flying food and the people ducking under the table.

He was going to stay right where he was though. He was going to behave and keep reading, and when alllllll the Professors noticed that some IDIOT was throwing food, he was going to look like a perfect student, just sitting there and readi----

"Eeeeek!" David let out a small exclamation of surprise as the all-too-real sound of thunder came rolling in from... from above? As the first few raindrops splattered onto his book, the curious second-year looked up at the sky and hastily slammed the pages shut in protection. He'd never seen the Great Hall do this before. Never ever. Huh. Davie continued watching the rain even as his glasses began to get wet. It was only now that he realized Rooney was trying to talk to him, and so he turned to his friend, but it was too late to talk because Rooney was up on the table and singing in the rain? Eh? He wasn't familiar with the song, but he gave him a quick thumbs up of support and then picked up his friend's tossed-aside journal, as well as his own book, and scrambled under the table.

Well. This was certainly a different start for Hogwarts.

Abby smiled at Thornton glad to know that she didn't get involved but she was cold and wet and hoped that she wasn't the only one who was cold

When Haddie finally returned to the Ravenclaw table, she was a mess. Though the rain had washed off the majority of the food from her and her robes, traces of where it had been was everywhere. She also still had strands of spaghetti mixed in with her soaked and matted blonde hair. Her robes looked like they'd been submerged in a pool, and the girl was shivering, finally feeling the effects of being soaked to the bone.

A lot of her table seemed to have taken refuge under the table, which was really starting to look like a great idea. She found her place between her cousin and Rachel, and casually climbed beneath the table. Despite how cold she was, she still grinning from ear to ear. "How amazing is this school!?" she asked, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Tia turned to the familiar greeting of her house ghost and smiled warmly. "Why thank you, Miss Helena." She hoped she would, but as the evening progressed, she wasn't so sure about that.




New students after new students just filtered onto Ravenclaw and Tia was loving it! And especially cause majority of these new students seemed to be fitting right into Ravenclaw! Ugh, so happy. Like, Tia had no words, except that she should probably introduce herself.

"Hello, welcome, welcome! I'm TiaMarie, your Head Girl this year," But really Thornton and Penelope were the direct Ravenclaw prefects; she was supposed to be for everyone, not just Ravenclaws.

Well that was unexpected. A hug? Really? Hugging the small girl back, she flushed at her kind words. "Sorry for not telling you at the Platform. It just didn't feel right yet, probably cause we weren't on the train. But thank you, Rachel." Such a sweetheart, this one was. She would do awesome things, Tia was sure of it.

But before Tia had a moment to welcome or introduce herself to anymore first years, there was that Gryffindor kiddo Blaise starting a food fight. OH NO he did NOT. But Thornton had this under control, instructing the Eagles to not throw anything back.

Good, because not only was it a waste of good food, it was also showing them who was the bigger person by not sinking to their level.

At least she heard the Headmistress' speech before the food fight started; which involved them all getting up and moving and then introducing the new professors. A LOT of them, including, evidently, the HAG woman as Divination Professor. WHAT? Even though Tia was sure that the hag was actually the GOOD person here, it just seemed very unlike Hogwarts to not hire a pretty face. Well there were still plenty of pretty faces, but still... especially the new History professor. No time to dwell though, ....

........... because she was now WET. Perhaps the hag knew her divination after all. Making such ominous predictions and then the Great Hall starts THUNDERING AND RAINING.

They were all going to DROWN. And if they didn't drown, they'd die of pneumonia. And it was all her fault. Well not really, but she was HEAD GIRL and all she did was just stand there and watch and not do anything, because she just didn't know what to do. What kind of Head Girl WAS she?!?

The kind that hid under the table. With that, the seventh year grabbed whichever students were closest to her and dove with them under the table. "Quick, quick." Because it was safer and easier than impervious charms and because she just maybe had forgotten temporarily about her wand which was holstered.

Creativity and imagination? Well in that case he might not be so out of place! But, he also knew he could do relatively well academically.

Or at least he had so far in his muggle schools.

Didn't matter one way or another, he smiled at the prefect though, before watching him leave to greet other first years.

"Pleasure to meet you too, ma'am" he answered with a smile. It almost fell at the way she shortly answered his question. Maybe that was off limits?

He wouldn't ask any further.

"My dad did... only for his last two years though. He was a Hufflepuff... I think... his name's Xander Quinn..." his father's name was probably more helpful than his rambling. He gave the ghost a sheepish smile at that.



"Exactly why I like the Joker though, all of his arcs don't involve typical things. The chaos makes him one of the more interesting characters and despite his lack of development he does have some depth," he responded, proud of himself when he realised what he said. It actually made sense.

Or at least he thought it made sense.

What if it didn't?

Oops.

"Though maybe that makes Harley Quinn a better character..." and not just because they shared a last name. Because she actually had a bit more depth.



"I know..." he said quietly, still flushed when she was saying that she was just teasing him. But just in case there was a hint of truth in there somewhere he felt the need to defend himself anyway. Even if it was a really really bad defence...

Jasper laughed at her comment, a grin on his face. "We could've found a mid point somewhere..." he offered, before continuing on. "But we don't have to." And he was beaming. They didn't have to because they were already in the SAME house!

This was brilliant!

So brilliant!

His green eyes widened as Azura had pulled out a sugar quill, offering it to him. He took it, a grin crossing his face. "Thanks... I'll save it for later," he commented, putting the sugar quill into a pocket in his own robes.

It wouldn't do well to eat the one she had given him now.

Partially because then he'd be out again, eat his way through her stash and then she wouldn't be his friend anymore.

And partially because food had appeared on the table.

Just as he went to put some food on his plat he cringed as something hit him from behind. Mashed potato and gravy....

Ew...

That was going to take forever to get rid of.

Looking at Azura he shrugged, unsure what to do, but not really wanting to get involved in the food fight. Unlike others, he was going to listen to Thornton and NOT get involved.

Before he could even gather himself enough to drag Azura under the table to seek shelter it started raining. His green eyes looked at the ceiling in confusion, before turning back to Azura. Again he contemplating sitting under the table and waiting, but hey, he was already covered in food and already wet.

Maybe the rain would wash the potato out of his curly hair?

That'd be good.

"So... this isn't exactly what I thought Hogwarts would be like..." he told Azura, waiting to see how she'd react.

It has been raining for minutes now, and Jace could not fathom the sight of soggy food dripping from the sides of their table. He was overwhelmed, hungry, and tired. By nature, he is a very patient boy, but if faced with something as ridiculous, unreasonable chaos as this feast, he sure will have a meltdown real soon.

The table was definitely just a temporary solution, correct? There must be someone under there with him who’d know what to do next, because the rain shows no sign of stopping. The floor was now very wet, and he couldn’t simply stay crouched in there with the rest of his house.

Someone...anyone?

Jace saw an older girl, directing the rest of the Ravenclaws to take shelter underneath. The eleven year old knew she was of authority because there was a badge pinned to her uniform. Slowly, Jace crawled towards her and pulled on her sleeve gently as soon as he was close enough to talk. “Excuse me?” Hi? Hello? The half-Japanese gave the older student a slight bow of his head, and continued, “Can you show us now to our dorms? I think...” he said trailing off as he looked at the underside of the table, “...the Feast is over now.” Unless the teachers wanted them to eat soggy food? Gross.

Right now, the first year just wanted to be somewhere dry and warm...and possibly a good book in his hand to read to calm him down?

Or his comfy bed, if late night readings aren't allowed...just...anywhere away from this place really.

Welp...

Azura was about to respond to Jazzy when pure and utter chaos erupted around them! First there was mashed potatoes flying through the air, some gravy for all over her robes and she just sat there..

Blinking her purple eyes at Jasper..

What in Merlins name was going on?

And then.. The rain?

She looked under the table, tempted to dive under it, but Jasper wasn't moving and so.. She wouldn't either! The rain was soaking her black hair and making it stick to her face and she had raindrops hanging off her eyelashes as she looked upwards..

Seriously.. What was going on?

"No, this isn't exactly how I pictured things." She said in a rather stunned voice before she started to laugh! What in the works as happening! She didn't even know! But what else could they do?

She just started to giggle more as they got more and more drenched!

"Had I known we would have been taking a bath, I would have not showered before I left!" She giggled out as she looked over at Jasper.

Jasper was also stunned, only nodding as Azura was speaking. He was so confused. And probably in shock. What he couldn't help was the fact that he started laughing the moment Azura started.

It wasn't his fault.

This whole situation was so silly!

"I wouldn't have showered if I had known I'd get potato all over me," Jasper returned, certain that there was still potato in his hair.

Not like he could do much at the moment.

Turning to her he couldn't help grinning as he got his laughter under control. "Well it's definitely going to be an unforgettable few years?"

Especially if it started like this. His eyes scanned over her for a brief second, a lightbulb going off in his head as he did so. Why draw a simple portrait if he could draw a picture of this for her?

"Yes! Excited for Hogwarts. That's absolutely it." The redhead's reply came just a bit fast as she latched onto the provided excuse and the shelter it provided. "What are you looking forward to most, Rachel? Did your parents tell you stories about their time here?"

As the slim ginger girl waited for Rachel's response she turned back to Julia and giggled slightly at her reaction to Ailsa's agitated Scottish. "It means fool," Ailsa explained with a smile as Julia accepted the offered handshake. It seemed overly formal, but it also seemed to be what others were doing. "I'm the second in my family to come here, after me mam. How 'bout you?"

Ailsa grinned and stuck her tongue out at Haddie in response to the let it go comment. "Americans."

At this point Ailsa is saved from more of Haddie's craziness by the headmistress' speech and, almost as importantly, the materialization of much delicious food. She dove in immediately, enjoying a bit of roast beef and mashed...

SPLAT

...potatoes.

As she looked over, Haddie was hit as well. Oh no...

Ailsa's head shook slightly in resignation as Haddie left the table with both hands full of potatoes. Nothing to be done about it though. The little ginger, unlike her cousin, simply brushed off what had landed on her and continued with her meal despite the aerial edibles. At least, until the rain came.

With a sigh, she grabbed her plate and took shelter under the table with everyone else, careful to drag her book from the seat into the relative protection of the table and her huddle with Rachel and Julia. "You think Garreth's OK? I mean, not that I'm worried about him especially, just, you know, um... I'm sure he's fine, nevermind..." Her face pink Ailsa trails off.

Shouting back to Penelope the prefect Ailsa asked what she imagined was on everyone's mind. "Does this happen often? I mean, it's a good way to encourage us to learn the Protego charm..."

Before the prefect can reply Haddie is slotting her way back in with us all. Of course she loves this. "I think you'll fit in better than you were worried you might." I tell her with a giggle.

Azura giggled harder as Jasper spoke about being drenched in potato! Her eyes ran over him and she could see a clump in her currently wet, curly brown locks. "I don't know, I heard mashed potato is good for your hair? Deep conditions or something like that.. Gravy on the other hand.. Well.. " She trailed off as she gigged more.

One of her hands reached up and slowly picked the clump of wet food out of his hair and she put it on a plate in front of her..

"There! Potato free!" She said with a soft giggle as she looked up at Jasper and nodded. It was going to be an unforgettable few years..

And not because of the rain, or the food in their hair or the scary hag up at the professors table.. But because of this boy right here!

She smiled as water trailed down her face.

"It will be some unforgettable few years.. And I can't wait!" A wide smile was moving across her face as she shook her head and giggled a bit! Merlin this was crazy! But fun!

Though...

Eeeeek! She hoped she didn't slip when she got up!

Oh my MERLIN what on earth was going on?! There was food being thrown and the Great Hall suddenly looked like an absolute mess.

The horrified expression on the second years face said it all, she was not prepared for this sort of event this early in the year. She looked around for her sister at the Slytherin table but could barely see a thing through all the poor wasted food that was distributed across the room. She sighed turning back to her table when a lump of custard landed just in front of her. She squealed, a high pitched sort of noise that sounded more like a mouse than a twelve-year-old girl. Her father would be freaking out if he saw all of this. He was oddly strange about mess which was funny when she had twin brothers who didn’t care how much destruction they caused around the house.

That was when the rain started rain falling from above her and her hair became soggy from the dropping water. The brunette had managed to escape from any food residue but she wouldn’t be escaping from an indoor thunderstorm! She ducked under the table taking shelter. A disgruntled expression graced her face. “Welcome back to Hogwarts ” she sighed under her breath. Now she really wanted to be back home.

Jasper couldn't help but laugh harder at Azura's attempt at saying that the potato would be good for his hair, even if the gravy wasn't. "I might have to start a routine of covering my hair with potatoes then," he joked.

He tried to imagine explaining that to his parents which made him giggle laugh even harder.

Seeing Azura reach for his hair, and anticipating what she was about to do, he shifted slightly to make it easier for her. With a sheepish grin he turned back to her when she announced she was done. "Thanks," he would've done the same to her... but he couldn't see any potato in her hair.

He wrinkled his nose at the sight of the wet potato on the plate now too.

"I doubt we're going to be eating dinner here," he commented lightly, though the amused smile at everything happening was still on his face.

"Neither can I..." he answered.

It would be an amazing few years.

And he couldn't imagine what he would do after they were over.

But he had a while for that to happen!

SPOILER!!: pre-food fight Haddie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callie

Haddie pondered Penny's words. For the first time, she had a small inkling about what the Hat saw in her and why it had put her in Ravenclaw. She still felt she was more Gryffindor, but maybe she really wasn't. Maybe she was more Ravenclaw at her core.

Isn't that what the Hat had said? Something about the traits that made her suited to the other houses all stemming from her ideas and imagination? Or something like that. Okay so maybe she'd have to begrudgingly accept the Hat might have known what it was doing. But it still didn't have to be such a rude jerk about it!

Haddie realized she was sort of beaming in reaction to Penny's explanation. "Good. And I prefer Haddie actually." She smiled again.

Penelope smiled at Haddie. "Nice to meet you, Haddie." She would have talked to her more, but she had raffle tickets to hand out, other firsties to meet, and impending chaos to deal with.

SPOILER!!: Thornton

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmbiguouslyMe

No... no no no no. Failing. He was failing. What did one do in this situation? Was he supposed to go after them? But that would leave the table partially unattended... it wasn't as if he could physically stop them and clearly words hadn't worked out so well.

He searched around trying to find where Penelope had been sitting. Maybe she would know what to do???? But his attention was soon drawn by a rather... woesome Rooney.




Despite their interaction on the train, Thornton felt quite bad for the boy and immediately went over to him, dodging.... was that a turkey leg??

"Rooney... come down and maybe we can fix it," he said, maybe pleading a little. "Mr. Kitridge must know a spell. I bet people spill things on books all the time." Especially give how little care some of their classmates had for pretty much anything.

He was grateful that there were some who chose not to get involved (Abby and Austin) and h'd never been so happy to have seen students (Chloe, Chris) head under the table....

Under the table. YES!

He scanned quickly again for Penelope. He hoped this was a good idea... "Everyone, if you can shield yourselves, great, but if not, get under the tables. You won't get hit with food that way... Get under the---"

The crack of thunder cut him off and Thornton looked up.



Just in time for the rain to fall right on his face.

SPOILER!!: more rooney, posted while we were posting

.....or not. Rubbing his face with his hand, Thornton went and retrieved the tossed notebook, in case the younger boy regretted his discarding of it. Maybe he could fix it and it would get him in the boy's good graces. Who knew. He really couldn't be too bothered about the boy kicking the food, since it was no longer edible. But he supposed he was.. probably supposed to.

Getting everyone under the table was a good idea. The whole situation may not have been fully under control, but she thought Thornton was handling it well. There was little hope that she would actually get to eat any food. Maybe she could get one of the house elves to bring food to the common room later. Penelope would not be eating anything at the feast. She would try to round up any stray Ravenclaws who had involved themselves in the food fight.

SPOILER!!: Haddie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callie

When Haddie finally returned to the Ravenclaw table, she was a mess. Though the rain had washed off the majority of the food from her and her robes, traces of where it had been was everywhere. She also still had strands of spaghetti mixed in with her soaked and matted blonde hair. Her robes looked like they'd been submerged in a pool, and the girl was shivering, finally feeling the effects of being soaked to the bone.

A lot of her table seemed to have taken refuge under the table, which was really starting to look like a great idea. She found her place between her cousin and Rachel, and casually climbed beneath the table. Despite how cold she was, she still grinning from ear to ear. "How amazing is this school!?" she asked, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Oh look, Haddie was coming back. "You shouldn't have gotten involved in the food fight." Just a warning for now. What mattered at the moment was getting everyone back to the common room safely. "We'll go back to the dorms and you can get cleaned up Haddie." Then Haddie would be in trouble for participating in the food fight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mirali

Shouting back to Penelope the prefect Ailsa asked what she imagined was on everyone's mind. "Does this happen often? I mean, it's a good way to encourage us to learn the Protego charm..."

What a horrible start to the term for the first years, misled to believe that food fights and rain were usual occurrences. "No, this sort of thing doesn't usually happen. Food fights are not encouraged, and it rarely rains indoors. Yeah, this is a good time to practice Protego." Perhaps not the best setting to be learning Protego, but good for those who already knew it.

SPOILER!!: Tia

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Tia turned to the familiar greeting of her house ghost and smiled warmly. "Why thank you, Miss Helena." She hoped she would, but as the evening progressed, she wasn't so sure about that.

SPOILER!!: Katherine and really ALL you first years

New students after new students just filtered onto Ravenclaw and Tia was loving it! And especially cause majority of these new students seemed to be fitting right into Ravenclaw! Ugh, so happy. Like, Tia had no words, except that she should probably introduce herself.

"Hello, welcome, welcome! I'm TiaMarie, your Head Girl this year," But really Thornton and Penelope were the direct Ravenclaw prefects; she was supposed to be for everyone, not just Ravenclaws.



Well that was unexpected. A hug? Really? Hugging the small girl back, she flushed at her kind words. "Sorry for not telling you at the Platform. It just didn't feel right yet, probably cause we weren't on the train. But thank you, Rachel." Such a sweetheart, this one was. She would do awesome things, Tia was sure of it.





But before Tia had a moment to welcome or introduce herself to anymore first years, there was that Gryffindor kiddo Blaise starting a food fight. OH NO he did NOT. But Thornton had this under control, instructing the Eagles to not throw anything back.

Good, because not only was it a waste of good food, it was also showing them who was the bigger person by not sinking to their level.

At least she heard the Headmistress' speech before the food fight started; which involved them all getting up and moving and then introducing the new professors. A LOT of them, including, evidently, the HAG woman as Divination Professor. WHAT? Even though Tia was sure that the hag was actually the GOOD person here, it just seemed very unlike Hogwarts to not hire a pretty face. Well there were still plenty of pretty faces, but still... especially the new History professor. No time to dwell though, ....



........... because she was now WET. Perhaps the hag knew her divination after all. Making such ominous predictions and then the Great Hall starts THUNDERING AND RAINING.

They were all going to DROWN. And if they didn't drown, they'd die of pneumonia. And it was all her fault. Well not really, but she was HEAD GIRL and all she did was just stand there and watch and not do anything, because she just didn't know what to do. What kind of Head Girl WAS she?!?

The kind that hid under the table. With that, the seventh year grabbed whichever students were closest to her and dove with them under the table. "Quick, quick." Because it was safer and easier than impervious charms and because she just maybe had forgotten temporarily about her wand which was holstered.

Most of the Ravenclaws, including the head girl, were now hiding under the table. It looked like the feast was over, so now would be a good time to get everyone out of here and back to the common room. "Feast is over! You can come out from under the table now! Everyone who doesn't know the way to the Ravenclaw dorms follow me!" The feast had been exhausting for her, emotionally and from the food fight. Not to mention the food that was in her hair and that she was wet from the rain. Maybe she could arrange for the house elves to bring everyone food in the common room. She hadn't eaten anything, and she was sure that there were many other Ravenclaws who hadn't gotten a chance to eat before hiding under the table.

Haddie wasn't exactly sure what her cousin meant, so she just shrugged and said, "Maybe." After what Penny had said about the house, Haddie had felt more or less the same way, if she was guessing Ailsa's meaning correctly. Maybe she would fit into Ravenclaw better than expected. Or maybe not. Time would be the judge of that.

American schools didn't have prefects or Head boys and girls, and neither did the school she had been in last year for that matter. So the concept of them were foreign to her. As such Haddie just shrugged in response to Penny's chiding. She got out from under the table, ready to follow the prefect. "Why not? It was fun!" That said, cleaning up and getting warm sounded wonderful to her right now. "Lead the way, Penny."

Garreth's placement in Ravenclaw marked the end of a 6 year inner struggle that the boy had faced since the day he learned what Ravenclaw was. It had been a lifelong (even if that's not saying much at this stage) dream of his to be able to call himself a Ravenclaw. He saw the Eagle's house as an elite group; the best of the best of the best. Being not only accepted into their ranks, but placed there by the sorting hat itself was an overwhelming experience. His embarrassment at having been moved to tears evaporated quickly, as he found it difficult to imagine anyone would blame him. He was finally a Ravenclaw. And now he had the tie to prove it, thanks to Rachel!

"Thank you, Rachel. Thank you so much!" he smiled like never before across the table at his best friend. "It means a lot to me that you did."



Garreth was more than a little starstruck already, and the Grey Lady actually addressing him personally was nearly more than he could take. He began his answer by nodding furiously, as he still wasn't quite able to form words, but he quickly regained that ability. "Kenway! Garreth Kenway!" he introduced himself louder than he had intended, and as red-faced as he already was, he somehow found a way to become even more so. "Y- Yes, Lady Ravenclaw. Very much so."



Garreth was thankfully saved having to be mocked by his peers. In-fact, he was receiving compliments now. Specifically on his brand new Ravenclaw tie. "Thank you very much!" he beamed appreciatively at Ailsa. How nice of her to say that. "She didn't get it for me, no, but she kept it with her so my dad wouldn't take it away. She gave it back to me on the train." he continued with a smile on his face. What a nice girl. All the girls he'd met so far had been really nice, but this fact reminded him that he'd not even gotten to know a single other boy on the way to Hogwarts. Of course, the Great hall was crawling with them, but he didn't know a single one. Was he just feminine? He certainly hoped not!



Of course Garreth had been rather excited about the feast, and he'd actually managed to enjoy a single bite of Turkey before the bombs fell.

"Oh, Merlin's beard.." was all he managed to mumble before the bombardment began for real. Being a light, agile and well-dressed young man, Garreth had the ability and the motivation necessary to avoid being struck by the mashed missiles, ducking under the table in a hurry. He was sure glad he did, as the moment he'd hunkered down, a huge, gravy-lathered ball of mashed potatoes exploded the bench right where he was sitting before. Quickly examining his robes and tie, he let go a sigh of relief. Minor splash damage only.

As the rain started, he shot a glance to his right across the horde of Eagles who also had the idea to take refuge underneath the massive table. He was sure he heard his name spoken. Ailsa had said something to the other girls about him. "I'm right here!" he assumed she'd asked where he was or something like that, but he hadn't been able to make it out clearly on account of the massive ruckus.

Such a nice prefect. But then Olivia supposed that was why they wore the badge and were chosen for the role in the first place. That they were nice people that were willing to be responsible for others and helpful to them. She nodded at his offer. “I’ll remember that,” the 1st year remarked before he moved on.

Everyone was starting to focus on the front of the Great Hall…the Staff Table in particular. Oh goody, the headmistress was going to be giving her speech. Olivia followed her fellow housemates and students in general in listening, though somewhat curious as to why they were moving until the joke was revealed to them. Haha…very funny there. But it wasn’t as if there had been any skin off her nose in doing the simple movement.

But wait…what was that?

She ducked as something came towards her, the sounds and voices around her answered the question. Food! Someone had started a food fight and from the direction, it was the Gryffindor House table beside them. Olivia might have been tempted to answer in kind had Thorton not raised his voice to stop them. Yeah, her parents would kill her if she got in trouble on the very first day. She would not be following along. And it wasn’t like she didn’t have her own problems…

…it was raining!

…it was raining inside, all over the Great Hall and on everyone!

Including Olivia as she just stood there, having risen from her seat in reaction to the flying food. Her long blonde hair was in heavy wet plaits on either side of her head yet she couldn’t seem to bring herself to seek cover. Neither could an older boy who was apparently singing in the precipitation. Sorry Mr. Prefect, the advice to get under the table to avoid stuff was too late in coming.

But Miss Prefect was calling it quits following along with the staff table. Fine by her. With a shiver she turned and followed after her seeing as she only vaguely had any clue as to how to get to the Ravenclaw Tower. Olivia wasn’t going to add getting lost to her list of activities for today.

Happy to hear that this sort of thing wasn't a common occurrence Ailsa allowed herself a little relief, though she also took note of the prefect's use of the term 'rarely' regarding indoor rain and resolved as a result to work on learning a waterproofing charm relatively soon.


Looking around to see if Haddie had dragged anyone else back along with her, Ailsa noticed a rather annoyed looking brunette diving under the table and motioned for her to join the group. "If conditions are miserable, they should at least be miserable with some folks around, right?" she called over.


Ailsa's attention snapped back to the boy's voice as her hands quickly and subconsciously cleared wet copper hair from her face as best they could under the circumstances. "Oh! Good!" Almost too excited. "I mean, you're Rachel's friend and I didn't want her to be worried not that I don't think you're a friend or anything I just, um... -- ...I'm glad you dodged the food." The final sentence comes out quickly, followed by another little smile as the rather spindly girl looked away before she could get any more awkward.


Once again, she's rescued from her verbal stumblings by external events. Deus ex crisis, she thought with a bit of internal relief as she joined the group following the prefect towards the Ravenclaw common room.

F I N A L L Y.

SOMEONE had thought of showing them the way to the dorms, now that the party’s over. Jace thought that there was no point staying underneath the table like helpless, mindless creatures when they could enjoy the comforts of their dorm.

Jace turned his attention to the other female prefect who called them out, and immediately emerged from underneath the table. He did wince though at the shouting that came from the other table, and saw a man shouting at his charge. He must be Gryffindor’s house master, then? Jace gave it an educated guess, and watched him continue his sermon. Merlin, he’s just like his sensei back home.

Not feeling sorry for the crimson clad boys and girls, Jace fully emerged from underneath the table and quickly followed his prefect. It’s going to be a tough night for some, yeah?

Abby couldn't believe that the feast was over already all because of the food fight which wasnt even caused by anybody in Ravenclaw but she sighed and made her way up to the common room and the dorms

Austin was ready to head out. He needed dry, and clean, clothes. Plus, he was still hungry. The teen had managed to get some food before it was drenched with water. But it wasn't really the 'feast' he was hoping for.

"Don't worry Ryland, I'll show you the way." He remembered her saying something about getting lost. Austin, on the other hand, had walked this path many times in his life. So long as the stairs didn't change, he could make the trip blindfolded. Getting up with the rest of the shivering Ravens, he went with them up to the tower.

Ryland could not be less happy with the way today had ended. Not only was there food all over her clothes, with a particular lump of potato on her shoulder that smelled like a gas station, she was now soaked and cold to the bone. When it rained it poured, and apparently, that expression was literal today. All the brunette wanted was some food, some fun, and some warm clothes to wait out the rest of the night in.

"Thanks, Austin. I literally have no idea where to go and I don't want to smell like a diners back dumpster forever." It was said with a giggle, but instead of her usual over-excited demeanor, this one was relaxed and calm. If the mashed potatoes hadn't been as soaked as she was and covered with what looked like tomato sauce, she would have went for it, but everything was covered in what felt like a waterfalls amount of water.

As they walked, she realized that she had no way of telling her friends about this either. Sure, she could paraphrase, take out anything that sounded bad, however, Ryland wasn't sure how to get the letter to leave the school. For a second, flying a paper airplane our of the topmost tower didn't seem like a bad idea, but she realized that this would probably backfire in the end and quickly stopped the idea of trying to make the paper bigger. This was not how she imagined her first day at Hogwarts going, but it was definitely something she was going to remember for the rest of her year here. Something told her everyday was like this, and something told her she was going to like it.