It hadn’t remained unnoticed that the next few people who’d arrived at the table seemed just as off as she felt, but Stasya kept herself to just a curious glance at the girl who’d buried her face in a book about witch trials and the two first year boys who were not really acting like they were happy with their Sortings. She knew it’d be hypocritical to judge them for that, given her own disappointment last term, but she’d grown to like being a Lion. She’d grown to be proud of being a Lion, and she’d even considered asking the one boy complaining about food if he wanted a cookie. If Ava still had any left because she wasn’t giving up the one she’d been nibbling. But Ace had stepped in before she could say anything, and Emmeline had spoken too.

“Hope so. Maybe we’ll get to adopt more baby creatures,” she said, a tentative smile on her face. She was totally up for caring for another baby, and maybe Professor Wayland would let her have a winged horse foal this term. Maybe. She could hope. Even if the first thing she wanted to do once she could was talk to Professor Hirsch. And then tell Professor Marchand, if it was something her head of house should know. She was going to try and not let it affect her schoolwork anyway, so maybe it wasn’t important for him. “They’re really good. Dobby taught Albus all the rules to live at my house over the summer,” she added, nodding even as she accepted the chocolate frog. Chocolate frogs weren’t eating real animals, not really. She had decided not to eat animals after all, after all her Potions protesting last term.

And she’d caught her bestie’s look in response to the first year boys too, even as her attention had gone back to the staff table. Yay speech, although…could she still boycott Potions if Healer Reed was teaching it? She liked the healer after all. It was a dilemma, plus she wondered why the other professors had stepped down. Had they done something wrong? She didn’t remember anything that might disappoint any of the professors enough that they left, but then she also couldn’t think of any reason why her papa would’ve left too. Maybe she could ask Professor Hirsch that too. After food, because she couldn’t survive on a cookie and the chocolate frog. Even if mostly she just took some potatoes and bread, plus some vegetables. She wasn’t going to eat any meat.

"Oh maybe he IS smuggling them in," she said with widened eyes. She hadn't even thought of that prospect. It was smart though. Matt could make a pretty penny or two selling those goods. "Maybe he's starting his own business?" she suggested. Now to Ace's next question, Vi paused before chuckling a little. She did not know exactly HOW to explain it on this spectrum but she took a stab at it. "Id saaaaay.... Kind of a mix between the two but more towards the cat side of that spectrum," she explained. She paused. "But he's a lovely kid... Quite a personality." Olivia then saw the kid (Beau) head over to the table. Oh hey! Gryffindor!

Vi paused, refocusing on (and finally comfortable without being all blushy and all- her heart was still just beating very quickly) and listening to Ace explain about his parents thoughts on the tattoo. It was interesting to see that he hoped that his Dad would be okay with it eventually but his Mum.... It didn't sound like his mum would be too happy. "I'm sure my mum would do the same thing," she said. Or would have done the same thing. "Would have..." She added a few moments later with a smile. "Do you think you'll actually get a permanent one?"

Then Ace had stood up to cheer. As he did that, she turned and saw Enmeline. The second year for a friendly smile and a big wave. She was just TOO cute! Meanwhile back to the other part of the table... She watched as Ace stood up, cheering them and welcoming them to Gryffindor. She smiled, watching him do so. A natural. She then called out to both kids that had just joined. "Hey! Welcome to Gryffindor." She'd tell Ace more about it later.

As hungry as Gaston was, he couldn't even think about eating until he'd checked up on his Lions first. "Hello, everyone!" he said, beaming at the students as he approached the Gryffindor table. "How was your summer?" Miss Holden, Miss Burton, Mr. Salander, Mr. Montmorency, Miss Morrison, Mr. Carter, Miss Kettleburn, Miss Spinnet, and Miss Bailey each received a smile and a wave, but Miss Dalgaard-Volkova and Miss Sparkes also got a concerned look from their Head of House. Something about the girls seemed a little off tonight, and it had him worried! They knew they could come to him for anything, didn't they?

As he moved farther down the table, he noticed Sir Nicholas and bowed to the resident Gryffindor ghost. "Good evening, Sir Nicholas!" he greeted.

Then he came to the main reason - or in this case, reasons for visiting the table: the two first year boys (Beau and Thomas). "Hello there. Welcome to Gryffindor!" he said, smiling kindly at the two boys. "I'm Professor Marchand, Head of Gryffindor house." He paused a moment, his expression changing slightly. Now what would be the best way to go about this? He wanted the boys to know they could tell him what was bothering them, but he didn't want to put them on the spot! "What do you think of Hogwarts so far?" he asked, hoping they would decide to tell him on their own.