Kimi stepped into the great hall for his last term and sighed this was going to be a tough year but still he was glad that he was set up for the next while after graduation but still he was trying his hardest to hold back the tears that had been threatening to burst the whole way through the train journey

Lex had enjoyed some sweets on the train, but she was once again hungry. Good thing it was almost time to eat the delicious feast! She strode into the Great Hall, and over to the Hufflepuff table. Finding a seat, she sat down, awkwardly trying to tuck her long legs under the bench so as not to trip or kick anyone. There were still plenty of empty seats around her.

Unfortunately due to the rain outside, Lex's blonde hair was now a frizzy mess. She did her best to smooth it down, while watching the other students flood into the Great Hall. There was an excited chatter from all around. Lex's silver eyes twinkled, wide with anticipation for the new term and the start of the feast.

It was so wonderful to be back at Hogwarts.

Daisy had quite an eventful train journey. Thankfully, her carriage ride was nice and calm. She carefully limped her way to her house table and sat down, her new Prefect badge glistening in the light. "Hello, Kimi and Lex," she greeted the two students already sitting down.

It was then that she noticed the staff changes. This was going to be an interesting year.

Lex had just been in the middle of trying to manage her hair, when an older girl approached the table.

"Hey, Daisy!" exclaimed Lex, happy to see the familiar face. "Oh, you're limping. What's happened?" her tone changed to concern. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Suddenly her attention was caught by something shiny. She gasped in delight. "Ooh, Daisy, you're a Prefect," she whispered. "I'm so glad!" She beamed at the older Hufflepuff. "You deserve it."

Hanging behind once again to help Mr. Baldvinsson with the first years getting off the Hogwarts Express, their trucks and belongings from the luagge compartment, and to the first year boats. Which once again meant he was taking a trip down memory lane where he had shared a boat with Zoryn, capsized it, and she had offered to let Scamander ride in her hair so his warty newt could have safe passage back to the boat...that they swam to try and catch up with. His hand instinctively slid into his pocket...only for the vacancy there to cause his heart to twist painfully in his chest.

Scamander was gone. A casualty of the inferi attack of last term.

Swallowing and going through the list he had made with his therapist to help him from spiraling to terribly with everything, the sixth year calmed his heart and was able to approached the Hufflepuff table with a smile on his face. A genuine one. It helped that he had the physical proof in the form of ink in his skin on his chest that he was reclaiming his life and now allowing past experiences and traumas to rule him. Hopefully at least.

At least his train ride to Hogwarts hadn't been to bad, even with the non-drama drama of the prefect compartment. Though secretly he was hoping that first year was sorted to Hufflepuff cause...Derf kinda identified with him, you know?

"Evening!" he chirped, lifting that hand from his pocket to greet the table at large. He smiled a Kimi, his former co-beater and...er...he seemed kinda in his head at the moment. Not that Derf could blame him. Soooo...just gonna leave that seventh year to his thoughts. Though he DID pull one of the chocolate frogs he had collected from the trolley from his other pocket and slipped it to him. You know, cause chocolate helped. It really did.

And he wouldn't, you know, be against being given the card were Kimi to open it.

But anywaaaaay.

....and because Derf was obtuse. "Hey Lex. I like your hair." The fluffy was cute, you know? "Daisy, hey. Sorry that I...you know...on the train didn't properly get to congratulate you and stuff," he mumbled while ruffling his hair a bit. "But really am stoked to be working with you." As long as she sorta, you know, relaxed a little...because she seemed so on edge in the prefect compartment. "I hope we can come up with some fun stuff to do for our house this term. I got a few ideas already. We can talk about them maybe when we get our first patrol together?"

Not yet settling into his seat, Derf decided to glance up at the staff dais purposefully. He sorta, you know, wanted to see his new Head of House in the flesh for some reason. Not that he ever thought Professor Noble WASN'T made of flesh or anything. He actually had no odd conspiracy theories about the man either and had even felt a small sense of something close to relief when the owl had come that summer bearing the man's signature requesting the aspiring magizoologist to resume his role as prefect for a third time. Though his own favoritism would have leaned towards Professor Wayland - who was too busy talking with the librarian to catch Derf's glance - Derf did feel safe knowing that the Potions Master was in charge of Hufflepuff. The unlikely friendship that had budded between the man and Professor Myers, well, it told you something...you know?

And it was then that Derf's heart sank quite a bit. There were A LOT of new faces at the staff dais - not that he could blame them for wanting to leave after the inferi attack - and Divination, one of the few subjects he was planning on continuing after OWLs....was VACANT. Was he going to have to fill that slot with something else then? He...didn't have the OWL scores to continue much else. "No Divination this year?" he lamented aloud, still not slipping into a vacant spot on the bench as his bright blues continued to look over the dais.

There was someone in the Ancient Runes chair now and his little Hufflepuff heart sank MORE. As much as he, well, wasn't sure what the woman thought of him and reckoned he bothered her more than anything else...he really liked and had admired the manner in which the Headmistress had taught the subject. But now...she wasn't teaching it. Was it because she had failed to identify the curse hidden within the bind runes on all that treasure they had found? His head was positively swimming with theories there, he couldn't help it. He also made a mental note to, well, get to know this new person. Ancient Runes he was planning on continuing, after all.

........and Hirsch was gone, causing another SINK in his chest - though he had known in advance thanks to Stasya telling him over the summer about the baby and all. Not only that...but there was no Defense Against teh Dark Arts replacement? There was no...chair in there that he could see, the seating jumping directly from the Charms professor to the Headmistress. Or...was SHE taking on Divination? Defense Against the Dark Arts? BOTH? What WAS that vacant char representing? One subject? Two?

Okay...he needed to stop thinking before his brain short circuited.

But wait...WAIT...had that one professor just SANG?! And was holding a GUITAR? All right, er...he...well...he was rubbish at the bloke's subject. The assumed one based on his seating so...that was awkward but...well...music and math? That was a thing, right? Maybe he could still take it and actually learn something? Maybe? Er...

Okay...but OKAY... it was time to turn his attention towards the Sorting, arguably his FAVORITE thing about the start of term feast. And just in time to see the first year from the prefect compartment go to....Gryffindor. Oh, yikes. His eyes drifted over towards that table to look for his Gryffindor because...good luck Abey. It would be a good growing experience though, surely.

Making sure to hold on to each name until their house was called, Derf's eyes lit up as though they were able to cast Lumos on themselves when two girls were sorted their direction! "Congratulations Elizabeth!" he clapped loudly. "Welcome to Hufflepuff Arthuria!" Who...looked a little familiar to him for some reason...though he was failing on placing her now.

Lex smiled pleasantly as a sixth-year boy approached the house table. She gave a wave back to him. Then, as he addressed her, she turned a deep shade of pink.

"Hi Derf," she mumbled, trying even harder now, without much success, to smooth out her hair. Was it really that noticeable? "I hope you enjoyed your summer," she added quickly, desperately trying to change the subject. "What do you think about the new teachers?"

There. That should turn everyone's attention away from the frizzy mess on her head... for now. Lex cheered as some new first-years were sorted into Hufflepuff and came to join the table.

Daisy smiled sadly at Lex. "Oh, I'm limping because I sustained severe scratches to my lower left leg during last year's Inferi attack. I am better than I was when I had to go to St Mungos' straight after the incident. I couldn't walk at all."

When Lex congratulated Daisy, the Fifth Year smiled and said, "Thank you so much!"

When Derf reached the Hufflepuff table, Daisy beamed. "Hello, Derf. Oh, there's no need to apologise. I hope I wasn't too harsh towards that first year. I am nervous about being a Prefect and starting my OWL year, especially with these staff changes. I really look forward to patrolling with you."

As the two new Hufflepuffs sat down Daisy gave them each a welcoming smile. "Welcome to Hufflepuff, girls."

Daisy looked at the staff table once again and she saw Professor Marchand which instantly made her sad considering what he went through. Her aunt had briefly met him but she hadn't revealed anything to her.

People were being loud and chatty... as was the norm for the feast, but Penny was not typically either of those things. Which was precisely why she stood awkwardly at the end of the Hufflepuff table and scanned it with her eyes before sitting. Needing to find the seat less likely to mean she had to carry on extended conversations and such. The girl did, however, offer up a smile as she went along. It was the best they could get until she had secured a place at the table and food had appeared.

Looking longingly at the staff table she tried to will the headmistress to hurry up with the speech. Hours on the train and money enough only to have a licorice wand equaled a rather hungry fourth year. Ugh.

Kimi smiled at Derf and took the chocolate frog he had given him and opened it and ate the frog and handed the card to Derf because Kimi had a large enough collection at home

Kimi smiled at Daisy and said "Hi Daisy congratulations on the badge" Kimi was proud that Daisy was prefect he knew that she would do a good job

Daisy looked at Kimi and smiled. "Thank you so much, Kimi. I can't believe this is your final year at Hogwarts. How are you feeling about it? I know that I will miss you here when you graduate."

Kimi smiled at Daisy and said "Well i am feeling rather sad about it but yes i will miss Hogwarts and all the friends i have made but i will be keeping in touch with everyone"

So, there Callum was.. In the Great Hall with everyoneas the sorting and all that was going on... New students joining their new Housemates and such. Which meant he'd start to nibble on the trail mix he had saved from his bag lunch he'd been packed for the train ride. He'd have to remember to write a thank you note to his mum for having thought ahead for him. It was an ungodly long wait from Sorting to Feasting last year and he wouldn't be half starved when the food finally appeared this term... Nope.. He had a snack!


He gave simple nods of his head or small wave of his hand to those he already knew from last year.. Though, much like then, he wasn't much for socializing.. It was good to be back. Of that he was certain. This term held all sorts of opportunities.. What those would turn out to be, he didn't quite know..

Thanks to a new acquaintance, Charlie made it back to Hogwarts with 3/4 of a heart. The train ride was smoother than expected, but he wasn't quite thrilled to see the familiar and historic Great Hall. It would've been better if extra effort was made to make the place more festive for both staff and students, but perhaps that's just how the folks up north do it, you know? Charlie hung back a little to scope the area and was surprised to see new faces up ahead.

New professors? Missing...professors?

Charlie felt even more gloomy, wondering why some of the professors had the option of quitting, and he couldn't? Why can't he just go back to Ilvermorny and be the happy kid again? Sighing and hanging his head, the Hufflepuff dragged himself to his house table and sat on his usual spot. Another glance was made towards the dais and let out an audible "UGH. Grrrrreeat." Instead of putting any more attention to the adults, Charlie turned to see if he could spot his new friend, Nettie. He'd lost her on the way to the castle, and he still ought to thank her for letting her stay in her compartment.

Arthuria smiled as she sat down next to Lizzie. "Welcome Arthuria!" Arthuria turned to where the voice and found the color rush back to her pale cheeks. It was the cute boy from the robe shop! "Thank you, you are very kind," She said shakily and looked towards the front. Inside she felt happy, she had made it into the house she wanted and she was finally at Hogwarts. Life was good

Lex's face fell again as Daisy explained her injury. "Oh, dear," she said solemnly. She had heard about the Inferi attack last year, but she hadn't been injured. In fact, as soon as the news had spread that there was an attack, her parents had pulled her out of school. She'd practically had to beg them to let her come back this term. Lex had no idea that anyone had gotten hurt so badly. "I'm so sorry, Daisy," she continued, her silver eyes welling up with tears. "That must have been so horrible."

She offered a reassuring smile to Daisy. "I'll bet you're thrilled to be a Prefect," she said admiringly. "If it were me, I'd be so nervous. But you'll be a brilliant one."

Well, the good news was that the accessories she had chosen to wear and her ankle boots worked together to make her now colored uniform look less like a bee and more like a colorful AC/DC fan. The bad news? There was no food on the table. Was there some kind of rule that said that they had to wait until everyone was sorted to eat? Archer wasn't sure she liked this rule. It had been a looonng train ride and there were only so many sweets one could eat before they got sick. Which she knew where her line on that was, thankfully and had stopped but it left her feeling hungry and ready for dinner.

"Hello, everyone!" What a mix of attitudes she was seeing. And there was the guy she'd met over the summer, Derf, standing and watching the staff table and the sorting. Was this some kind of tradition where the older students waited until the younger ones were seated before taking a seat themselves? Then again, no one else was standing, so that couldn't be it. Then she saw the badge and wondered if that had something to do with it. Either way, she was taking this seat right here. It was close to most of her new housemates. "Hey, Derf," she greeted the still standing Hufflepuff. "What's with the lack of food?" That was directed at everyone, by the way.

Oblivious that he had said something wrong - wasn't, you know, volume to hair a good thing??? - Derf simply smiled at Lex. "I did," he nodded. "Most of it was spent on the pitch...and getting used to the way the Wales U-17 plays. But dad took us back to Australia to visit his family so that was a good break from things...and stopped by Egypt for a little too." To see Abey mostly, though he had been tagging along with his dad on some of his company business. "How was yours?" His eyes drifted back to the staff dais at her question and, well, all he could do was really offer a shrug of the shoulders. "Can't judge a book by its cover...so I dunno...just that there are...kinda...a lot of them..."

Glancing back at Daisy, well, he really didn't know what all to say about that because he DID think she had been harsh. Her and, well, most everyone else. "I think we just sorta, you know, forget what it was like being a first year," he offered sheepishly as he ruffled his hair. "You know...cause, well, I was a lot like him in my first year. Trying to sit in the prefect compartment and stuff...and my fourth year I even wore a fake badge cause, well, the one Professor Myers had sent me had been eaten by one of mum's flesh eaters..." He ruffled his hair some more, deep in thought. "And I reckon...threatening people to behave by...turning them into experiments or even taking points really isn't gonna reform anyone. That's not how you train a crup, you know? Negative reinforcement and all..."

He was a bit deep in thought, ruffling his hair a bit and considering..all that when he spotted a slightly younger Hufflepuff girl [Penny!] looking more than a little glum. CLEARLY...this meant it was time for some more chocolate, so soon the sixth year was fishing into his pocket for another chocolate frog box and sliding it across the table to her. "I'd appreciate if you would just give me the card," he whispered, curling his lips into a gently but mischievous grin.

And speaking of chocolate frog cards...the blonde was soon reaching over to take the one that Kimi was offering him. Alberic Grunnion...he was pretty sure he had one of those in his collection already, but he could always use it for trading purposes later.

He also spotted Callum sitting quietly a few spots down the table and offered a small wave in return. But before he could offer much more in way of greeting, Charlie had plopped down with an unceremonious groan. "....what's great?" he asked, leaning over the table a bit so his words would - mostly - only reach his teammate. Though...he seemed distracted looking over at the Ravenclaw table.

Standing now so he could properly offer his hand to Arthuria, he grinned at the newcomer. "I'm Derf. And...er..." he paused to venture a glance at the badge on his robes. "I'm the male prefect for our house. Well...one of them cause...you know...we also have the Head Boy from our house this term too." Even in his third term of this...it still felt weird introducing himself that way. He sorta, you know, wanted to be known as himself first rather than this person with a badge. Though he was becoming more accustomed to it now.

"Archer!" he grinned as she joined the table. "Nice to see you again AND in the same house." He felt oddly proud for some reason, even if they had only gotten to know each other briefly over the shelves at Sugarplum's. "It doesn't appear until after the Headmistress gives her speech...but I reckon it won't be too much longer before that happened. The house elves always make an amazing spread...so it's always worth the wait."

More people began to arrive at the table, and while Penny wanted to scoot down a seat or seven to get away from them, she stayed put. Progress and all. She offered smiles to those who spoke, but saw no reason to return the chit chat. Nope. This whole feast thing ALWAYS gave her anxiety and this year was definitely no different.

But what was this? Penny looked at Derf as he spoke, then eyes back to the chocolate frog. Smiling graciously, the girl slid the package back toward him. Leaning in just a hair, her voice lowered she explained, "I don't eat chocolate. I'm sorry..." Sorry if it offended him. Sorry she couldn't accept the gift. SORRY SHE HAD TO BE SO WEIRD.

..............oh.

And suddenly HE felt guilty for all those times over the terms she had accepted his offerings and not said anything, he reckoned because she didn't want to offended him but...there you were. "Oh," he swallowed as he pulled the box back away from her plate and set it cattywampus to his own. "Sorry, Penny. Though you did," he mumbled while ruffling his hair. "I got some more licorice wands if those suit you better?"

His eyes briefly glanced back towards the staff table because...you know...food now would be ace. Seemed as though the headmistress was deep in thought which mean speech SOON...but then the sixth years eyes trained themselves to the large wooden doors during his general surveillance of the Great Hall just as two men stepped through them.

"Who are they?" he wondered aloud, standing again from his spot at the Hufflepuff table and watching the men curiously. Was one of THEM the Divination professor running a bit late?

When Derf mentioned how he was in his earlier years at Hogwarts, Daisy felt upset with herself. She sighed sadly and looked at Derf with a morose expression on her features. "I just don't feel like my old self ever since the attack last year. I try to be happy but I can't at times. I'm so sick of these nightmares."

Just then two men entered the Great Hall. When Derf asked who they were, Daisy replied with a shrug and a, "I'm not sure. Maybe something to do with Divination or last year's attack."

"Ooh, that sounds lovely, Derf," said Lex, glad that she had managed to change the subject away from her hair. "Australia's so nice.. and I've always wanted to visit Egypt." She thought back fondly on her own summer. "I spent my summer with my cousin, Magnolia. She's a singer, she had concerts all over the world, and she let me travel with her. It was quite a lot of fun, but I'm glad to be back here." She grinned at Derf. "There do seem to be a lot of new teachers this year," she said, agreeing with Derf.

Just then, Lex was distracted by two men coming through the doors... quite an entrance, in her opinion. If they were teachers, they were a bit late, weren't they? She craned her neck curiously, trying to get a better look at the men. They didn't seem very pleasant. "Who can they be, I wonder?" she whispered to all the students around her.

Daisy was a bit preoccupied with what was happening at the Staff table. She noticed that the older of the two men had pointed at the vacant chair and handed something to Hawthorne. It looked like an envelope. Daisy was feeling nervous as she looked at the two men. Both of them seemed the type to give detention if your school tie was the slightest bit cattywampus. The younger man had just sat down in the chair usually allocated for the Divination teacher. Daisy thought to herself, "Oh, Merlin's beard! Was I correct in my assumption?"

Bless you, Derf. Charlie let out a long sigh, before giving his teammate a grin. "Oyoyoyoy, Derf. I was being sarcastic." How could the start of the term be great? He'd rather be outside, flying and practicing for the term's Quidditch matches; that is if he makes it again to the team. Charlie was about to tell him the hassle of going through new teachers when he had to do resits in the Winter and OWLs at the end of the term, but it looked like he needed to hold that thought for the time being.

He too turned to where most of his housemates were looking at and lazily draped an arm around Derf, wondering the same thing. "Wait...hold up...does that mean that guy's going to be our Divination professor?" he said, discreetly pointing at the man who was now sat next to Hawthorne. Charlie tilted his head to the side in wonder...and then looked at Ginny, Lex...and the rest of the Hufflepuffs who were within earshot. "Is it a usual thing to appoint a professor this late?" the spots are usually complete when they arrive for the Feast...so, was this...a rare occasion?

Blue eyes were back on the staff table and rubbed his chin in anticipation. "What's that he's giving Hawthorne, by the way? Tsch. I don't think the new dude needed any manual for him to operate..." Ahem...excuse the American humor.

Yeaaaaah. This was beginning to get awkward. It was as though she was not even there... which typically would not bother her, but for whatever reason, this evening it was. Perhaps it was just that she was tired and starving. Yeah that was probably it.

Letting her eyes wander to the Staff table as everyone exclaimed about this or that or whatever it was they were on about, Penny realized just how indifferent to this all she was. Interesting. When Derf spoke again, though, she turned to face him, a shrug sliding off of her shoulders. "It's no problem. And no than' ya. I... need a wee as it were. See you in a bit," she said quickly as she got up from the table. But now she just stood there awkwardly... was she going to get on trouble if she headed out for the loo right now? Did she care? Did she even need a wee or was this her attempt to escape from the anxiety that was creeping up in her chest? The latter. Definitely the latter.

So without another word, the dark haired girl turned on her heel and started to make haste toward the loo. Hoping that no one stopped her... or even noticed her she attempted to blend in with the crowd. Which was impossible, considering they were all sat and she was trying to speed walk out of the feast. Haha. Brilliant. This was already shaping up to be a great term.