...and so it was HUFFLEPUFF for her, which the coolest thing EVERRR, because the very name of her house reminded her of Pygmy Puffs, and that had to mean it was an exciting place to be! Maddie tried to replay what the Sorting Hat had said to her, but she was too excited about her brand new house to remember everything. It had been something about NOT being Slytherin, and then there'd been that shout for Hufflepuff. She felt so official now! She couldn't wait to get to her dorm and change into her new robes with a Hufflepuff badge and her new black and gold tie.

This was going to be awesome!

Maddie approached the table and tried to ignore the growling in her stomach. From what she'd heard, the Headmistress took forever to give her speech, which meant the food was forever away. Maddie had heard it was SO GOOD, too! There was a tiny bit of nervousness fumbling around in her stomach as she approached her house table. Would she make friends? Would it be soon? Would her classes be hard? Who would her roommates be? Would they be nice? Would they HAVE CANDY?! Those were all important questions, and even though it wasn't like Maddie to be overly worried, she almost kind of was.

Olivia had come to the Hufflepuff table to find Etta. It was going to be a brief hello because she ought to get back to her own house table before the Headmistress gave her speech. She hadn't seen her bestie on the train because she had been super busy with probably Prefect duties and whatnot. Speaking of Prefects around here...She hadn't seen Henry either! She wondered how he was doing and whether he was Head Boy this year. Vi hoped he was. He deserved it. He would be perfect at it. Though she supposed that the two of them must have had their hands full with the rowdy first years, she supposed.

As she made her way over to the table and glanced for a sign of Etta, she spotted a young girl who had just made her way from the sorting hat. The young girl seemed a little nervous. A new Huffelpuff, hey? Poor thing... It was intimidating walking up to the table after being sorted into a house. You were unsure of what everyone was going to be like. New school, new house... Yeah, she remembered that feeling. "Welcome to Hogwarts and congrats on being sorted into Hufflepuff!" she grinned. Even though she wasn't a Hufflepuff herself, she was happy to congratulate a new first year. And of course, she should ought to introduce herself, right? Maybe she could be a friendly face for a young one like this girl who seemed so excited? "I'm Olivia Holden. I'm not a Hufflepuff- I'm a Gryffindor, but my best friend is the Hufflepuff Prefect. Etta Kramer. She's fantastic. Henry and she will take good care of you." Vi was sure of it. Then she heard a grumble. Was she hungry? She had just had a cookie back at her own table. Merlin. She must have been. She was about to take out a chocolate frog for herself but then realized it would have been incredibly rude to eat it in front of the young first year. "Chocolate frog?" she offered with a grin.

Well, here he was.

The last opening feast.

Urgh, if he continued thinking like that, he'd spend the whole year thinking about how many 'lasts' he was going to have - and that wasn't Remy. Nope, he was a forward thinker, positive beyond being sensible. No, this was the last opening feast which would lead to University and a job working with sports people in their chosen field - unless he could pick in which case he'd be routing towards Quidditch, 'cause Henry and Daisy and Noah needed a guy they could count on. Yup.

Annnnnd why did the sorting take so long again? He was starving even after all of his sandwiches that he had made for the journey. Yup. He needed food and soon. Didn't they know he was still growing?

A lot.

Caroline skipped from the stool and the Sorting Hat to the Hufflepuff table with a smile on her face. She sat down at the first available spot she could fine. "Hi there, I'm Caroline." She said to those around her.



Caroline kicked her feet back and forth under the table. She turned to the boy beside her and smiled up at him. "Hi!" she smiled up at him. "What's your name? I'm Caroline."

Emma walked towards the Hufflepuff table and sat down not really paying much attention to who she was sitting next to. Her brothers weren't there anymore but Nora was around somewhere. Looking around she wondered where the two first years she had met, were going to be sorted into. She felt really alone now, and really didn't know why. It was like any other start of term feast.

Having already combed his fingers through his hair five times, straightened his tie twice and fiddled with his dress robes to make sure they were sitting properly seven times, Remy was happy for the company when a newly sorted first year sat next to him. After all, his friends had other friends to catch up with too. He'd see them all in the common room later if he didn't manage to catch them over the feast.

"S'nice to meet you, Caroline." He answered with an easy smile on his face, head tilted down towards her due to his still increasing height. "I'm Remy." He gave her another smile and motioned around the hall. "Do you have any family here? Someone to show you around?" Because it was a big school, especially as a first year... but he'd been lucky. He'd had Sha to show him around ; and she really really tried to stop him from getting lost.

Josephine walked up to her table smiling slightly, kinda happy, but her nerves were still killing her. She was in the same house as her father... and that was great and all... But the fact that she knew absolutely no one there wasn't helping. What if they all found her boring or annoying? That shouldn't be the case since hufflepuff's were supposed to be the nicest house right?

She sat down and glanced around at her fellow housemates giving a nervous wave, wanting to at least try to get past the sudden burst of shyness... Maybe coming here this early was a mistake.

It didn't take long for people to start packing in here, which was good, because Maddie was starting to wonder if she was the only Hufflepuff at all. She couldn't decide if that'd be fun or not. On one hand, she could have the common room to herself and her pick of any bed or any couch! On the other hand, there'd be nobody to talk to at all, and she'd be the only one earning points for her house. She'd be really bored then. Yeah...it was way better with more people! An older girl, one not in Hufflepuff, was the first one to greet her. Wait...maybe she was the only Hufflepuff! There were kids in other houses coming to greet her!

"Am I the only Hufflepuff here at all?!" she asked, but just as she said that, some more of her housemates started to join the table. It didn't look like a lot of people, but there were friends to be made! "Oh, nevermind!" She took on her usual, bubbly personality as the Gryffindor girl introduced herself. "Hi, Olivia! Your best friend's the boss around here?!" she asked in amazement. The Gryffindor prefect had told her on the train that he wasn't a boss, but Maddie wasn't convinced just yet. They seemed really, super important, those prefects! "Who's Henry? Oh, and I'm Madeline Kemp, but nobody calls me Madeline. I go by Maddie!"

Maddie's eyes grew wide at the sound of a chocolate frog. Ohhh, how she loved them! She could almost feel her hand tugging in that direction, but then she remembered the food trolley on the train. "Thanks, but I bought two on the train! I LOVE THAT YOU LOVE chocolate frogs, though! They're my favorite!" she replied. NEW FRIEND ALERT. Just then, a movement down the table caught Maddie's eye, and she looked up to see another first year make it into Hufflepuff! IT WAS HER NEW ROOMMATE! "HEYYYYY, ROOMMATE!" Maddie said, returning the girl's wave.

Olivia glanced around at the rest of the Hufflepuff table. Merlin. It was actually REALLY quiet here compared to her house at the moment; however, she was sure it was likely to liven up. She panicked for the second when the first year asked if she was the only Hufflepuff. She calculated either that the girl was going to burst into tears or laugh or smile or or... she couldn't guess! So when the Hufflepuff first year smiled, Olivia felt very, very relieved. PHEW. The bubbly aura of this girl just made her grin even more and feel excited about the upcoming year. Wow. This girl was a literal ball of sunshine. The boss? "Well no. She's more like a fairy godmother or guardian angel. She's got your back and makes sure that you are okay and don't do anything too crazy," she said, hoping to do her bestie justice or actually any of her Prefect friends btu especially Etta. Seriously. Etta as a Prefect? Literal Prefection. She was perfect in Olivia's opinion; however, Vi was very biased. "Henry is the Head Boy so that's like... super fairy godmother." She could have chuckled at describing the Head Boy or Girl in that way but for some reason or another, she somehow managed to keep a straight face. "He's the boss. He and Kitty are the boss." No need to scare the young first year on her first day. That'd be mean. "Lovely to meet you, Maddie Kemp!" It was a lovely name and it was very fitting of the bubbly girl in front of her.

Oh no chocolate frog? That was a okay. But they were HER FAVOURITE TOO. "Looks like we have something in common!" She smiled when the girl informed her that she too liked chocolate frogs. "They are a classic but they're absolutely delicious. Have you ever had one with a cup of peppermint tea or peppermint hot chocolate? Absolutely divine," she nodded. 15/10 would recommend. And at that moment, she turned her head in the direction of the other girl that Maddie was waving too. She offered the other girl a smile. Then a curious thought crossed her mind and she just had to ask this next question. "So what do you think of the train?" It had been the girl's first time on the train, right? She always loved hearing about people's reactions to the Hogwarts Express and Hogwarts.

Caroline carefully shook her head. "I didn't know Hogwarts existed until my letter came; my dad never told my mom about being a wizard and it surprised my mom and I." Caroline told Remy. "I'm an only child. She added on, though she always imagined what life would be like if she had a brother or sister.

Thinking of the one friend she had made on her journey to Hogwarts thus far, Caroline leaned around Remy and looked down the length of the Hufflepuff table searching for Daisy. I did make a friend on the train, I think she's a third year." Caroline told Remy. "I don't see her though." She shrugged her shoulders.

"What year are you?" Caroline asked. She realized he was much taller than her so he must be older. Then again, the majority of people were taller than her, even people her age. She was just super short.

In the chaos of disembarking from the train and heading to the Great Hall, Daisy lost track of Caroline, the First Year she had befriended on the train. She made her way to her house table and saw Caroline.

With a smile, Daisy sat in the seat opposite of Caroline. "Hello, Caroline. How are you?"

Nodding his head as he listened to Caroline, Remy’s fingers fiddled with the base of his knife without realising it. ”That must have been a shock for you.” He commented, unable to think about what an announcement that must have been. His whole ridiculously large, ridiculously wide-spread family had grown up with magic - apart from some married in aunts and uncles - and he had always known, hoped, there was a chance that he would have magic too...

”I was an only child for a long time, but my parents finally had kids a few years ago. So I finally have siblings.” He laughed, eyes sparkling as he thought about his two year old, twin terrors he currently called considered his siblings.

Remy looked up and down the table with her, eyes scanning for Zara or Remy or Rian - but he couldn’t see them either yet. ”It’s okay, people often start the feast off at various tables to catch up with friends they haven’t seen all Summer. I’m sure you’ll find her in the Common Room tonight if you don’t see her through dinner.” He nodded again, completely sure in his words - he never worried too much.

”Me? Oh, I’m a Seventh year.” He gave her a charming smile. ”If you need any help, you can find me around the common room. ‘kay?”


As a voice sounded from opposite them, and spoke to Caroline, Remy stopped speaking but offered the other girl [Daisy] a smile anyway. Silently, he wondered if this girl was the friend that she had made on the train, or she was a friend she knew from Summer? Hmm. Either way, he was glad the little first year knew someone else already. Friends were definitely needed when you spent so much time away from home.

It was a new year here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and it was time for a new Alfred, the Fat Friar. The summer had been a time for him to reflect on his ghost persona. He was known as the jolly Hufflepuff ghost, whose love of food during his life branded him as the Fat Friar in the afterlife. He didn't mind the name; it did not hurt his feelings. He was ready, though, for some new branding, so to speak.

He floated towards the Hufflepuff table feeling nervous. There was much hand wringing, and not all of the students had even been seated yet, but he was ready to start the discussion.

Alfred was tired of being the most boring, well-to-do Hogwarts ghost.

"Good evening everyone!" he said with a smile, and then he remembered he was trying to be different. So he snarled. "I mean - HELLO PUNKS." Yeah, that was nice. He had been following the Baron around last week a bit. At no time had the Baron ever said the work punk, but the rude greeting was inspired by the Baron. Only, he already felt bad about it. The students did not deserve this rudeness! His face, had he been alive, would have turned red in blush. there was no blood to rush to his cheeks as a ghost.

And now, he didn't know what to do.

"OH MY GOSH IS THAT A GHOST?!"

Dahlia had been sat, quietly taking everything in, listening to conversations she probably shouldn't have been listening to, and touching everything within reach of her on the table; inspecting them to see if they were magical or just ordinary. She wasn't sure if anything was ordinary here.

Like ghosts. She'd seen it coming out the corner of her eye, and had immediately stood up and pointed, excitement and shock on her face. She had never, NEVER EVER, seen a ghost before. Good job her little sister wasn't there, she'd have run away crying. But Dahlia was fascinated. Especially when it spoke. She didn't even notice the slight rudeness of tone.

Climbing out from the bench, she skipped further down, and stopped in front of the great, shimmer form of the Friar. "Hello! I'm Dahlia. Who are you? Are you a real ghost or like, an illusion?"

Henry might not have been the first Hufflepuff to his house table, having guided a lost first year towards the sorting area, but he wasn't about to miss the sorting himself. His last one. And his last start of term feast. Still trying to come to terms with his feelings on that matter, he pushed those thoughts deep down and put on a big smile as he headed into the Great Hall and his familiar table. He was Head Boy after all, and a seventh year. How cool was that?

He slid into the seat next to Remy of course and gave him a grin. "This year's gonna be awesome, mate." He had every intention for their last year to be memorable. Hearing his name, he looked down the table and gave a wave to Olivia. "Good summer?" And he gave a smile to the energetic new first year (Maddie) she was talking to. "I'm Henry," he let her know when she asked the Gryffindor girl about him. "Head Boy and Hufflepuff prefect. Let me know if you need anything and welcome to Hufflepuff."

Henry gave friendly smiles to a few of the returning Badgers (Daisy and Emma) who caught his eye at the table, before turning back to watch the sorting. New Hufflepuffs were the best and he always wanted to make sure they felt welcome. He returned the wave to the first year (Josephine) and also gave her a wide smile. "Hi! Welcome to Hufflepuff. My name's Henry." And then there was another new Badger (Caroline). It was nice to see that she was already making friends. "Hello and welcome!" he told her with a grin.

He was about to welcome another new Hufflepuff (Dahlia) when the voice of the Friar made him turn his head. What the-- Punks?? That was new. Henry gave the ghost a curious look before laughing. "Good one, Friar." Obviously it was some sort of joke. "Hope you had a nice summer." He gave the new girl an amused grin as she seemed positively fascinated by their house ghost. Had he been that way when he was a first year?

She sat there with her head on her chin as she listened to the happenings around her. Her eyes lifted as she heard the Fat Friar speak and she smiled a little but then stared at him. "Punks?" she asked blinking. Where in merlin's right pant leg had that come from? Now that was a first....she'd definitely not expected that. "Are...you feeling alright?"

Joy Williams sat down at the house table so fast, she almost hurt herself. She was a HUFFLEPUFF!! Just like her mother.

That wasn't the only thing they had in common. Joy was a near-replica of her mother, with light, caramel-colored eyes and a lightly freckled face the color of burnt umber, which was currently flushed pink with excitement.

She gazed excitedly at all of her fellow Hufflepuffs (Squeeee!) , elated to see so many other excited smiling faces. She tried to catch someone's eye. She was just dying to make new friends.

Speaking of dying... Joy noticed a ghost! Oh, this was so exciting.

That must be the Fat Friar! She thought. Her mother and siblings had all told such fascinating tales of the Hogwarts ghosts. Only.... "HELLO, PUNKS" hadn't been in their stories. Joy observed the ghost curiously. She saw something cross his face that looked like a hint of regret for his words. He was probably a very friendly ghost, as she had heard, and maybe he was just in a bit of a rotten mood. Surely ghosts are allowed to have bad days, just like everyone else. She smiled nervously at the Friar.

Miranda plunked herself down at one of the ends of the table near her bestie, Rian. She wasn't much in the mood for crowds and the overwhelming feeling of emptiness that filled her at being back here.... And away from him... She sighed as she thought of the many nights she'd be alone before she saw him again.

Ugh!.. She was sure that the loneliness would consume her and then Rian came over and wrapped her in the warmth of friendship and after a few minutes had this girl smiling a bit and had a plan for the evening after the feast was over..

When Maddie saw the older girl take a look around, she took a look around, too. "Things got busy around here really fast, didn't they?" she said. Which was good, because Maddie was sure of herself now. Being the one and only Hufflepuff and having the common room all to herself wasn't something she wanted at all. It'd be waaaaaay too boring. Talk turned back to the house prefect, and Maddie's eyes widened at the way she was described. "A Fairy Godmother?! Like in Cinderella? Did she ride to school in a carriage made from pumpkins? Was it driven by mice?" she asked, excitement picking up in her voice. Maddie was sure she wanted to be this girl's friend! She wanted to see if she could catch a ride home in the carriage made of pumpkins!

All of the other things the girl had said about her prefect BFF were lost to Maddie's ears. Now all she could focus on was that carriage. "Henry's the Head Boy?" she asked. It sounded like he was a Fairy Godmother, too...only a Fairy Godfather! "Now who's Kitty?" she asked. Like...a kitty cat?! It was going to be really hard keeping up with all the other kids at this school! Maddie nodded when the girl talked about chocolate frogs. "All that chocolate! OH, I LOVE THEM!" she exclaimed. "The train ride was awesome! Let's see...I was one of the first to board, and two boys sat with me. One had a cat that attacked the compartment window. He was a prefect, too! The boy...not the cat," she said. "Then I met a girl named Scarlett at the food trolley. Come to think of it, I think she's in Hufflepuff, too!"



Maddie could have just jumped up and turned a cartwheel at the sight of the house ghost. "Oh, look! It's the Fat Friar!" she exclaimed. She turned to the person next to her and whispered. "Should we be calling him fat? Does it make him sad? Should I say just Friar?" Oh, and he was throwing out some street talk, too, with that whole PUNKS part. "What's up, dawg?" she asked, trying to talk street talk in return. I mean, whatever floated his boat. "Good evening to you, too!"



When she turned back around, there was an older boy smiling at her. OHHH, IT WAS THE HEAD BOY! Maddie jumped to her feet. "Are you the FAIRY GODFATHER Olivia told me about?" she asked. "Did you ride in a pumpkin carriage to Hogwarts with Etta?" She then realized she'd stood in excitement then sat down before responding to his welcome. "Thank you! Hufflepuff seems really cool and awesome!"



"Hiiii!" Maddie said, greeting a girl who'd sat down near her. "Welcome to Hufflepuff! I've only just joined myself. The house seems really cool, though! You have got to meet our prefects!" She just could not believe the luck in joining such a super cool house! She wondered if all the other houses had super cool and amazing prefects like Hufflepuff did?! "I'm Maddie. I'm a first year, too!" She'd seen this other girl get sorted and knew she was in her year. ROOMMATES!

Joy took her eyes off the Fat Friar as she noticed a girl her own age greeting her. "Hi Maddie!" She said with a bright smile, her brown eyes twinkling warmly. "I'm Joy Williams. It's wonderful to meet you. Oh, I'm so happy to be in Hufflepuff. My mother was a Hufflepuff too!! But my Dad was a Gryffindor, and my older brother and sister were in Ravenclaw." She smiled again. "Yes, I really do need to meet the prefects. I haven't met much of anybody... except you!" Maybe this girl would be a new friend. She hoped so. Everyone at this table seems so nice, Joy thought as she straightened her robes.

Daisy offered Remy a quick smile back. She didn't mean to interrupt any conversations.

When her house ghost greeted the table in a rather odd sort of way, Daisy looked at him with a slight smirk on her face. "Did a certain Slytherin ghost dare you to greet us in that manner?" Daisy inquired of The Fat Friar.

Daisy grinned at Henry with a warm smile. "Congratulations on being named Head Boy. You deserve it so much."

Although the Welshman was bored and hungry and trying not to fidget too much as he waited and waited aaand waited through the sorting for food, he instantly grinned at Henry as he slid into the seat next to him. He’d spotted what he thought was Rian’s red hair at the bottom of the table, but he was already sitting here and he was semi-comfortable… so he’d see her later on in the common room. Just like he’d told Caroline. That, and he thought he saw her with her arms wrapped around a blonde, so he assumed that meant she was with Miranda. Yeah, he’d definitely see them both later on in the common room.

Looking back to Henry, he laughed and nodded. ”It has to be, last year and all that.” He shook his head, and sighed. How were they all seventh years already?? Where had the last six years gone?? He didn’t know the answer to that, other than the obvious fact of time being linear…. So every second and every minute passed and then they were gone.

As Henry turned to talk to a few of the other girls [Olivia, Maddie, Josephine], Remy threw them both a smile and a wave before turning back to Daisy as she smiled at him. ”How are you? Good summer?” He asked her, after all he had been speaking to Caroline, and she said that Daisy was her friend…. That and the Puffs were a friendly bunch (most of the time). He didn’t want to hurt anyones feelings or make anyone think they couldn’t speak to him. Nope. Very tall but not mean.

Blinking as he heard someone’s voice echo out a HELLO PUNKS, he turned around slowly to see if the Baron had decided to “grace” them with his presence… but no… It-it was their own house ghost and now Remy was somewhat confused. After six fulls terms here, he’d never heard the wonderfully happy Friar talk to any of his house students like that. Huh. ”Good evening, Friar, are you feeling alright?” You know… besides the being dead thing??

The ghost didn’t look too different, but he did look hurt… Did ghosts feel pain? He couldn’t remember reading that in anything he’d studied with Hirsch… huh. Maybe he’d have to try find an answer to that… Grinning at the young first year he had watched getting sorted [Dahlia] move closer to talk to the Friar, he looked away for now - happy that the Friar had enough attention to make sure he wasn’t going to re-die on them.

Turning back to Henry he shook his head at the new badge on his shoulder. ”You better not go and get an ego on me, man.” Kidding, kidding... but you know - best friends before badges. Playfully smiling at his best friend he tried not to focus on the fact they were still sorting kids. Man, he was hungry.

Things did get really busy around here. Maddie was right! "Oh yes, it gets busy really quickly. At last year's term feast, we had some visitors from Illvermorny and the Gryffindor table was packed," she said, pointing to her house table over her shoulder. "Never a dull moment!" That was for sure. There was always something happening at Hogwarts. Always.

And back to the fairy godmother. Heh. "I don't think so...." she said. Unless that's what Prefects did in the Prefect Compartment. But other than that, she had no clue. Though she didn't exactly want to let the girl down after she seemed SO excited about the fairy godmother analogy. "But like the fairy godmother from Cinderella, they're always there to offer a hand." Olivia nodded to her question. "Yep, Henry is the Head Boy!" she said and then saw the Head Boy himself waving at her. Olivia smiled, gladdened to see him. "Henry! Yeah summer was fantastic. And yours?" she inquired before making sure to congratulate him on Head Boy. "Congrats on Head Boy! And then Maddie asked about the fairy godmother. She just smiled, hoping that he'd go along with the whole fairy godmother thing. Pleaaaase. Speaking of older students like Henry, she caught someone (Remy) smiling at her. She smiled back at the boy and gave him a wave.

Now turning back to Maddie, she nodded to the next girl's question. Who was Kitty Valentine? Spunky for sure. She enjoyed Kitty's company immensely and wanted to hang out more with her this year. The Ravenclaw had always been friendly to her and Vi felt in her debt because she had come to check on her and Carlton when the two ran into trouble with a certain Poltergeist. "Kitty is the Head Girl. She's a Ravenclaw. Let's see if she's over at the Ravenclaw table." Vi cast a glance at that table but had a hard time picking out Kitty... Everything just seemed so blurry but she was sure Kitty was over there, welcoming new students and all. But she couldn't tell. Why was it blurry? She could make out shapes and all but facial features and expressions were proving difficult to determine. She blinked. Maybe she should get her eyes checked or something?

Vi was very much enjoying the girl's enthusiasm. She kept a smile on her face until she mentioned that there was a cat that attacked a window. A cat? "Are you alright?" she asked. Of course the girl was alright. She didn't seem to have any scratches... The brunette's eyes widened when Maddie mentioned that it was a Prefect's cat. So a guy Prefect.... So either Oliver, Kirk, or Ace perhaps? Prefects scaring new students? Tsk. Tsk. "A Prefect? Do you remember what colour his robes were?" She'd have to find out just who this Prefect was. But in the meantime, it was great hearing that she was meeting other students both in her own house and outside of it too.

Miranda spoke quietly with Ri and saw the sweet blue eyes of Remy glance over and she gave him a little wave.. she'd for sure see and catch up with him at some point in the common room.

Even though she felt the loneliness of being far away from Damon. They'd basically become inseparable over the summer. And she'd become very close with Ixora as well after spending time with her when she'd come to whisk her away for days at the beach... Fun times indeed.

Now life was back to sucking royally. She was already being harassed by her brothers.. and she was hundreds of miles away from her love.. so there she sat ever so impatiently waiting for the food to appear and the feast to be over so she could get the the safety of her common room.