Hufflepuff Table
 

Mary found her way to the Hufflepuff table and sat down next to a random person. She pulled her transfiguration book out of her robes(it had stayed dry in her back row pocket) and began to read it, hoping that Ronan wouldn't get Hufflepuff. She felt it was kind of mean, but she did NOT want him to be able to find her to help him with cracker.

She was, of course, excited to be a Hufflepuff. She had wanted Hufflepuff from the beginning. No one ever bragged or thought they were better than anyone else. It was, in short, amazing.

Between the Sorting Hat and the Hufflepuff table, Matthew managed to shake away his less than happy mood of being sorted into Hufflepuff. It was after all just going to be his House for two years before he graduated and moved on with life...whatever that was.

Taking the first open seat he came to Matthew sat down beside a very small girl. He guessed she was probably a first year. "Hello there." Matthew smiled down at her. He was quite a bit taller than her, even though they were both sitting. "I'm Matthew."



He noticed her book and felt a pang of jealousy. Had he known it was acceptable to bring a book to the Feast he would have most certainly done so. Maybe not a textbook as this girl had chosen, but a book nonetheless. Matthew sighed and looked down the table at all the faces. The few people he did know weren't from Hufflepuff. Of course, I'm sorted into a house where I know no one. Matthew thought to himself.

Maybe the food would appear soon. This was a feast, wasn't it?

Forgive any typos, phone post
 

Bel had sat down ready to watch the sorting, full of a relaxed sort of enthusiasm. This year would be a lot less stressful than the previous year, she was certain of it. Even if she had to start NEWT prep, at least it wasn't big exams like OWLs had been, and the strict regime was over, there was no pressure about Quidditch since they had been dead last the previous term and there was nowhere to go but up (as opposed to the term before that when they had been champions and gone from the top to dead last) and there were no inferi either. All positive things.

And there were quite a few new faces up at the staff table, even Bel had noticed that, and spent several minutes wondering over each of them. She was hoping for new faces at Quidditch tryouts too though, so she was far more interested in watching the sorting when it began than spending too much time wondering about the new staff (or entertaining any lingering reservations about the old ones, but that was a whole 'nother kettle of fish).

And here came one of the new sortees now! Bel clapped and cheered as she did for every newly sorted person and ignored the textbook thing, figuring it as a sort of prop for nerves like she had seen several of her more anxious friends use.

"G'day! Welcome to Hufflepuff!“ She said cheerfully, her (still heavy) Australian accent coming through loud and clear. Hopefully it wouldn't take long for the little first year to feel comfy enough to ditch the book!


And the next one was properly grown. A transfer like she herself had been! Bel watched the hat sort him and when it was 'puff she applauded along with everyone else.

“G' day mate, where ya from? Welcome to Hufflepuff!“ Bel said, leaning across the table a bit and grinning happily. People usually could guess with her, given she still had her accent which very clearly painted her as an Aussie expat, but it was always interesting to find out about other tranfers, even if they just came from homeschooling and all that stuff, new blood was exciting!

Very clearly an Australian accent made Matthew's head snap from Mary across the table directly. He smiled back at the girl, she looked to be about his age. "I'm Matthew." Be began. "Flory. Matthew Flory." He clarified. There really wasn't a need to, it wasn't like he had siblings that anyone would know. It was just him after all. "I'm from Scotland. Well, raised there at least." He answered. Yaya never did want to leave Scotland, so she raised her grandson there.

Matthew leaned his head to the side slightly. "What year are you?" He asked. Am I being too forward? He asked himself as he knitted his eyebrows together. Downfall to being secluded for so many years was his lack of sociability and understanding of whether or not he was being overbearing. "Nah, nevermind. You don't have to answer that." He waved his hand as if he was shooing the question away.

this was all so... surreal. This morning he'd been just a boy on his birthday with a plan for food and books and a movie marathon and now he was... Here.

Hogwarts. Loud, dangerous and big. So big. Bigger than Maxie had ever imagined. He swallowed audibly, his large eyes moving from the enchanted ceiling to the golden cutlery on his table and then finally on the people around him. Most of the younger ones seemed excited and comfortable despite being as new (and damp) as himself. He huddled into himself, arms wrapping tightly around his thin chest for protection and warmth. It wasn't nearly as cold in here as it had been outside but Maxie was still a-shiver, almost stubbornly so - as if he were determined to be not only emotionally unhappy but physically as well.

Quietly, the newly-christened Hufflepuff watched the table and the conversations flowing back and forth. Part of him wanted to speak up and join in - they all looked friendly enough - but the rest of him wanted nothing more than to sit here in his chair and sulk until the food was served.

Oh no! Not another hyper one. Well, this person could be better described as forward, being older in all. She set the book down, not yet fully closing it and said a small "Hello." She hated being quiet. It was terrible.

She looked up at both the people, suddenly wishing she was back on the train with Ronan. As hyper as he was, he had made it super easy to talk to him. "Thanks, I feel welcomed." Crap. That sounded so awkward.

She's a loner, but feel free to grab her if you wanna
 

So this was anxiety inducing as always. Penny found herself fussing with the sleeve of her robe as she found her spot at the Hufflepuff table. As usual, she found a spot not too near the already assembled crowd, but not so far away that she looked like a loser. Arguably, the latter was true though... Penny Lane Goodman was definitely a loser. And her slight growth spurt had done nothing for her confidence, honestly. So yeah... she was more comfortable down here by herself.

HOWEVER, it did not keep her from offering friendly smiles toward her housemates (and a few awkward finger waves). She had manners, just not much in the way of social skills. Anyone who had spent any amount of time around her knew that, of course.

After getting settled she felt her eyes wander toward the Ravenclaw table in search of her boyfriend. HER BOYFRIEND! It still blew her mind. Perhaps the boyfie would find his way over in a bit? It wasn't like she had gotten enough attention on the train.

*Snags*
 

Daisy made her way over to the Hufflepuff table, sporting some not yet noticeable changes and some slightly noticeable ones. Her new tattoo and piercing were hidden underneath her uniform. However, the way she held herself had changed slightly. She had a more determined side to her but she was just as friendly as before.

As she sat down, she saw Penny and smiled at her, giving her a friendly wave. She also gave a friendly smile and wave to everyone else at the table.

Matthew looked down at his first year friend. "You a quiet one too?" He asked, his voice was soft amid the crazy in the Great Hall. "You know, I'm typically a quiet one as well. Seems I've been getting caught up with all the...excitement since we've gotten here." Matthew admitted. He gave both of the girls a smile. Maybe he could be social. He wasn't a social butterfly quite yet, but he had time to work on it.

hello, hello!
 

Daisy was a bit stunned as Archer made her way over. Her fellow Sixth Year was wearing her actual uniform?! "Hey, Archer. Will any of your fashions from last year be making a comeback?" she enquired with a grin. She wasn't teasing the girl. Just simply curious.

"Bonza, you're a local then!" Scotland and all. Even if he was from the other side of the country, it was still local enough in Bel's eyes. She'd been about to answer his question when he hit her with the nevermind and Bel just grinned, "Nah? Its all good. I'm sixth year this year." Why wouldn't she answer that? It was a normal kind of question wasn't it? As if to prove it, she added, "How about you?"



Another new 'puff! Bel clapped the sorting and then when the kid sat down she offered him a big cheerful grin and a wave. Was he okay? He looked a little bit... not so okay.

"Hello! Great to have you with us! I'm Bel."



"Well that's good that ya do, because you are! Welcome that is. Don't mean to interrupt your reading if that's what you'd rather do though! But you do only get one first ever feast at Hogwarts." Bel said with her usual casually friendly ease.



Bel offered Penny a cheerful and welcoming smile and fingerwave herself, but she wasn't about to put any pressure on the girl to try and join in or anything like that if she didn't want to- she was here and that was good enough!



"Hey Daisy!" Obviously Bel would greet her dormmate, though she had seen her on the train. They'd be able to catch up later in the dorm - after Daisy did all her prefect-y things and all that.



"G'day Archer!" Bel said when the younger girl sat down, and then she chuckled at her little joke. True enough about the quiet ones! "I like the quiet ones." Bel offered to the table in general. Well you had to have a balance didn't ya? Not that she was loud herself exactly, but she never had any issues speaking up in social situations that was for sure.

Now, where was D? Bel looked around to see if she could spot Derfael arriving yet. She was saving him a spot.

Nodding his head Matthew smiled. He might be "local" but he certainly didn't know much about anything...or at least he didn't think he did anyway. "Sixth year too." He answered with another smile. He relaxed a little, realizing that maybe he was too focused on what he thought was acceptable instead of just trying meet his new housemates. Afterall, he'd be here for two years.

At the thought of it his eyes widened in a brief moment of panic. Matthew had never been away from home for more than a week or two at a time. Even then he was still with his family. What did i get myself into? He couldn't help but think. He shook his head, trying to shake the fear out of himself.

"Have you been here the entire time? At Hogwarts I mean?" Matthew asked. From the looks of the school from what little time he had already been there, Matthew knew he would have to befriend someone who knew their way around well. He looked down at the first year next to him. She wasn't it.

Penny did notice the prefect, Daisy, sit near her and offer a warm sort of smile. That was nice of her, really. Penny wasn't exactly the type to make idle chit chat, but she figured WHAT THE HECK. It was, after all, the start of a new term... which could mean that she could start behaving differently. Maybe.

Not likely.

Her brother had given her something of a lecture before leaving the platform that morning. Droning on about how she needed to break out of her shell and make more friends. Which was easy for him to say, wannit? He never had any problems making friends or talking to people. Or ya know.. not being an awkward mess of a human being lacking all discernible social skills.

Ugh.

OH! Daisy had waved at her... and she was going to talk to her, wasn't she?

See how carried away her brain got sometimes?

"How are'ye, Daisy? Nice summah, then?" she asked in a sweet voice, albeit quiet. Which then brought her attention to the girl who has just taken a seat (Archer). That was kind of rude, wasn't it? Penny gave the slightest frown before turning her head away quickly. All thoughts of having conversations was quickly dissipating. Her discomfort was palpable, likely.


And as she turned her head she caught the smile and fingerwave from the Quidditch Captain. Well... she was awfully cheerful wasn't she? And pretty much speaking to everyone. What that must be like! To be a social butterfly in any situation.

Ugh. Penny ALMOST envied her that. Although, it all seemed like it would be pretty stressful, really. Having to always know what to say and when to say it. No thank you. She did, however, give her a small nod, a smile touching her lips. How did people do this? This social thing. It was exhausting.

And not that Penny didn't like people, don't get it twisted... she just wasn't equipped to deal with this. Nope. Oh MERLIN. Where was Benji? Or her sister? Or anyone that might distract everyone from the obvious meltdown that the fifth year was about to have.

Mary was surprised. She looked up at him and said, "Yeah, I tend to be pretty quiet. I'm excited, of course, but that generally doesn't affect my voice." Someone had sympathized with her about being quiet, which was quite different from what she experienced on the boats and train.

Mary really did feel welcomed. These were the type of people she found cool. They were able to pass of whatever awkward statement she had made and turn it into something normal, without being hyper. "Thank you," she said, "I won't read my book after the sorting finishes."

*Mention of Ravenclaw table*
 

"I'm good, thanks. I had a great summer albeit a very busy one. I hope you had a good one." Daisy replied. There seemed to be something going on at the Ravenclaw table. Hopefully, whatever it was, it would not cause trouble. She needed that, not.

WE FOUND HARRI'S TOAD *with permission from Tazzie* @ everyone
 

Coming to say helloooooo~
 

Benji knew that he was supposed to be at the Ravenclaw table and all that, but what could one little teeny tiny pit stop at the Hufflepuff table hurt? After all, it's not like Scrimgeour was there watching and waiting to punish him or anything. (Thank Merlin.)

And yeah, yeah, okay, so he had just seen Penny on the train a little while ago. HE KNEW THAT, OKAY. Buuuuuut he wanted to make sure she was feeling settled and not overwhelmed. Readjusting to the big crowd from the solitude of his own home was always difficult for him, and he knew she was likely feeling the same way. There sure were a looooot of people in here, and he knew she was probably worrying herself over things like making small talk. (And yeah, okay, he just really wanted to see her. He liked her. Sue him.)

The newly-minted fourth-year spotted his girlfriend quickly and made a beeline toward her. He didn't sit down -- he knew the speeches and whatnot would begin soon, so he would need to be ready to get back to his own table in a few minutes -- but he did appear over her left shoulder with a soft, "Hey," touching her lightly on the arm with a smile. "Just wanted to make sure everything's gone alright. You know. Since the train and all that. Feeling... Settled?" He spoke quietly, just for her to hear, not wanting to draw undue attention to her. He figured she wouldn't want everyone looking at her, after all. Neither did he; frankly, the idea alone of everyone's eyes on him made him a little flustered.

Anyway... Did his sort of coded question make sense? Would she know that he was meaning to ask if she was okay? Or was this finally going to be the moment where she realized he was an idiot loser and dumped him publicly? (He was still waiting for that to happen. One of these days, she was going to notice that she was way out of his league. He was sure of it.) He brushed his hair out of his eyes and smiled at her, butterflies making an appearance in his stomach as he hoped against hope that she hadn't changed her mind about him since they'd seen each other a little while ago.

Daisy raised a surprised eyebrow as Derf sat down, his muddy hands holding a toad. "Hey, Derf. I haven't lost a toad. Maybe some First Year student has misplaced their pet. I'll keep a lookout for you if that'll help."

Maybe that was why there was the hubbub at the Ravenclaw table. "It could be the reason why the Ravenclaw table is a hive of noise," she said to Derf with a shrug.

Penny smiled and nodded as Daisy spoke. It was the polite thing to do, wasn't it? Not that she didn't care for Daisy... she was very sweet. It was that she did not care for small talk. Or large groups of people. Or sitting at this table and having to pretend like her armpits weren't sweating from the stress of it all.

HAHA. Life was great.

"It was... yeah... was good." Awko-taco.



WHAT A RELIEF!

Not that she didn't start a bit when his hand touched her shoulder, ya know... but at the sound of his voice she felt some of the tension go out of her shoulders. Just a little, though. Benji Park often had a rather calmin effect on her, as it were.

And at his words a small, sweet smile touched her lips. The Hufflepuff then turned in her seat so she could see him properly. "Yeah. M'alright. Just not... wanting to make small talk," she said quietly. As he surely knew... "But I dun wanna be rude, ya know. It's... stressful." Which he also would know how she felt about that. Reaching out, she took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze, grateful for his coming by to check on her.

"Meet me after the feast?" she asked in a whisper.

Appearing at the yellow table, the little pink mutant quickly wandered across its surface. He wandered over the plates, curiously eyeing up all the seated students and making little giggle like noises.

When he finally took a seat, it was on the plate in front of a boy (Matthew). The mutant stretched out his little, right paw outward, meeting the boy’s eyes with his own curiously as if asking for a cuddle.

There was a lot happening. a lot, a lot.

Maxie wriggled in his seat, watching the others around him as they slipped into normality like a hand slipping into a glove. It wasn't his fault he was adjusting so poorly - Maxie reminded himself - he'd barely had any time to mentally and emotionally ready himself for any of this. Had he mentioned it hadn't been his choice? because it absolutely had not been his choice to attend Hogwarts school of witchcraft and minor injuries.

He felt surly, and annoyed and hungry.

He'd never felt surly before.

It was weirdly self-affirming and Maxie clung to it like he'd been clinging to Niko earlier. He peeked up as he was addressed by the older girl. He grimaced - it was meant to be something like a smile - and nodded. that was?? weird, wasn't it? he should be talking.

........
........

"T-t-Thanks." He managed, clasping his hands tightly together under the table. There was a boy with a toad now - that was the boy from before with the boats. Helpful, maybe he was a teacher's assistant or- Or... Headboy. That made sense. "I'm Max- M-maxmilian." He daren't try to announce his full name with so many wriggling feelings inside of him. the young boy wasn't only speaking to Bel at this point - but to the table at large. It felt like he ought to even if he didn't want to.

There was that girl- Mary. The one who'd jumped out of his boat for that other girl - the rude looking one. She looked a lot nicer in the lighted hall, and Maxie felt a twinge of reproach still for her choice. He wasn't certain 0 after all - that it hadn't been because of his rushing things.

Benji nodded. He did get it. "You can just tell everyone that you spent the summer with your amazingly handsome and cool boyfriend," he said with a playful grin. "They'll be so preoccupied with wondering what cool guy you dumped me for that they won't even be focusing on you anymore." He gave her hand a squeeze in return, trying to silently tell her that he was just kidding. (And hopefully not giving her any ideas about the whole dumping him thing...)

"I will," he assured her. Of course. He would meet her anywhere, anytime. He had noticed something going on at his own house table, but it seemed as though it was dying down... And moving over here? He saw a flash of pink a little ways down the table. Seemed weird... But also... Kind of cute? Never mind. He'd let the Hufflepuffs down the way deal with it. Besides, he was sure he would find out more about it before too long. Wasn't that the way Hogwarts always worked?

Well, anyway, now that his own table was settling down, he knew that he should probably get back to it. Out of summertime habit, he leaned toward Penny as if to kiss her, then caught himself just in time. He let out a small laugh at himself, then squeezed her hand with a wink instead. He knew she would understand. "I'll see you after," he said, giving her one last grin before heading back to his own table.

"I'm quiet, normally, in the sense that I don't talk much." Matthew explained. He shrugged his shoulders at himself. "Who knows, maybe after being homeschooled this long maybe Hogwarts is exactly what I needed." Though, of course, had Matthew had his way, he would have stayed at home with Yaya and their most expansive garden and book collection.

Matthew was starting to let his thoughts wander back to home again, he shook his head and peered down at the first year. What's her name? Did she tell me and I forgot already? Come on Matty, get it together man! Matthew thought to himself as he gave her another smile.

As Matthew was trying to remember the first year's name something caught his eye down the table. Is that a pink...thing? Matthew's head leaned to the right as his eyes narrowed at the Thing. It sure was pink alright. He watched as The Pink Thing moved all over the table, not caring it was trampling over plates and basically anything in it's path. Is this normal here? Matthew looked up and down the table, searching for any out of the norm reactions from his fellow house mates.

And then, The Pink Thing, came to a stop directly in front of Matthew on his own plate. "Well, hello." Matthew greeted. He cleared his throat as he squinted his eyes in examination of The Pink Thing. Matthew gave a short laugh when The Pink Thing stuck a paw out to him. Matthew reached with his own hand toward The Pink Thing's paw with his hand and attempted shaking The Pink Thing's paw. "I'm Matthew. Flory. Matthew Flory." He introduced himself. He stuck a finger out hoping to scratch The Pink Thing on the head.