Claudine was not surprised that certain old faces from the staff dais were no longer there and were replaced by one or two new ones. Her main concern was that Williamson and Fuller-Thompson had upped and resigned but no, they were still there. Thank Merlin. But Rainwater and Eris? There was obviously no longer a certain bouncy, fun extrovert of a Rainwater with them. Claudine sighed in disappointment. She loathed these frequent staff changes.

Glowering slightly, the fourth year glanced along the Slytherin table. It happened that she was one of the few Snakes there but that would change soon. For now, she'd sit patiently by herself down at one end of the table- the end furthest from the dais..

Blake made his way to the Slytherin house table... and who should be the first person he would spot ... why it was Claudine of course. Why was it always her ..... maybe this would finally be the year they turned from 'frenemies' to actual friends. He rather doubted it since his relationship with Bernadette was stronger then ever .... or at least he still hoped so, he hadn't seen her on the train.

"Hey Claudine ... have a good summer?" There that was friendly enough wasn't it? They could be friends .... they really could, Blake didn't want to brag but he was a pretty awesome guy ....

Curtis was back. Yes. He didn't take the train this time, apparently, word somehow reached his Daddy on last year's shenanigans so he had a special escort to the castle this time. It only made him shrug. He already missed the Summer. Time with his Grandparents, Papa, big brother Toby, nephews, and everyone was nice but the time was too short. But at least he still had his Daddy and Godmum at the school.

Now, what was in store for Curtis' sixth year? Pfft, who knows. Thanks to his OWLs results he qualified for 7 NEWTs lessons which left him some free time. Maybe now he could look for another partner in crime? A reliable someone for his redemption? Yes? The possiblities were endless.

He dropped into the familiar Slytherin table seat right near some snakes, "Hey Claudine and..." Merlin, what was his name again? Curtis had seen him enough times in the hall since his own arrival, "Blake right?" If that wasn't his name, oh well, he got a new nickname. Now how long was it before the food appeared?

Nemesis Upstead did not have high hopes for this feast. They tended to be dull - such is life - and if there ever was any entertainment, it was always utterly lacklustre. Kids' stuff, you know? Still here, though. Present and correct and creating an excellent alibi impression.

A lot about Nem had changed over the summer, clear to see from just a glance, including a frankly unfeasible several inch growth spurt, but the less said about that, the better. It did mean that the uniform situation was a bit dire - not that it had really needed to be, as Nem and Pax were something of a couple of experts when it came to getting hold of whatever they might need or want. But Nem had decided to go with it. Add a few safety pins here and there, roll up the oversized shirt sleeves, mess up the hair with a quick ruffle and loosen the threadbare green and silver tie, et voila. A look, of sorts.

Nem gave the staff table a cursory glance upon entering the hall as usual, taking stock of the new faces up there, before pulling up a bench at the Slytherin table. "Evening, you delightful lot," they greeted everyone brightly, before picking up their plate and spinning it deftly in place. Nem snatched it up again and returned it before it could make a racket, though the hubbub of the opening feast was hardly going to be disrupted by someone's overactive crockery.

Okay, bored now. Was the Sorting over yet?

PREFECT ABOLI WAS HERE. After HELPFULLY leading first years to the boats, she had lugged herself to the carriages aaaaaand here she was! She had yet to see any of her friends - Val, Royse, Noah, NoahSpaghetti, Alexandre.....ummm....others. She was sure she would see Royse soon since he was a Slytherin, but she hadn't spotted him yet.

As she approached the table, she made sure her badge wasn't smudged and placed her hands on her hips before standing near the middle of the table. "WELL WELL EVERYONE - Your NEW prefect is here - " she BOWED fabulously. "I promise to be a very good representative of the Slytherin house! I will not disappoint you!" Ahem; had everyone heard her? Her eyes passed from those there - Claudine, Curtis (looking very attractive as always), Blake....and...was that Nem? Why had Aboli never noticed how nice looking he was before? He got a longer stare than the others before she cleared her throat and blinked a few times.

Aboli took a place next to Curtis. This was going to be an interesting year. She was so distracted by trying to be a GOOD REPRESENTATIVE FOR ALL SNAKES EVERYWHERE that she hardly noticed any missing staff members - Professor Rainwater would be a particularly sad subtraction from her life. She also found that she missed Jillian's calming presence and now realized SHE had big shoes to fill....

Her gloved hands rested casually atop the table in front of her as she tried her best not to slouch. PREFECTS DIDN'T SLOUCH.

Austin looked up from his seat. Why was she feeling a need to yell? He groaned but didn't say anything. He was more hungry then he was annoyed. Lucky her. But he did take care to roll his eyes making sure she noticed.

Violet sat slightly apart at the end of the table. Even though she was now in her second year, the time she had had to take off from school made her feel like a stranger here.

Sophie scanned the table. There were a lot of older kids, teenagers really, dominating one side of the table. Looking at them, Sophie felt especially self-conscious of her small, 4'11'' frame. No, better to sit with the younger kids.

She noticed one girl sitting by herself near the end of the table. Sophie took a seat next to her. Might as well introduce herself.

"Hi," she said brightly. "I'm Sophie. Sophie Duncan."

Almost as if they had a mind of their own, dark eyes trailed to the Ravenclaw table. There was only one person from that table she cared about and she tried to locate him. Heath was probably being social again; she had observed his attempts at the End of Term feast a few months ago, after all. Before he could be found though, Claudine heard her name being called by one familiar voice. A soft, irritated sigh escaped her and she felt weary as always around the Slytherin whom she viewed to be a big baby. “Yes, I did,’’ came her reply, her eyes now trained on Blake. Of course, the girl would not be going into details of her summer activities; that was her business. “Don’t you have to be at the Gryffindor table?’’ Claudine continued waspishly.

The familiar form of Curtis made her light up with one of her rare smiles. The fourth year liked him and his laid back attitude. “Hi, Curtis. Got any brilliant pranks planned for the year?’’ Naturally, her voice had been lowered for that bit. Who needed any passing professors or prefects to hear possible plans? Oh, hey. Did Nem grow a bit? A quick lookover of them told Claudine that indeed, Nem had grown. “Hi, Nem. Excited for fourth year?”

Why was Aboli that loud? Claudine winced, at the same time eyed Aboli’s shiny new badge. Also, dramatic much, Aboli? The whole bow and all… still, the Snakette was very much pleased for Aboli. “Well deserved. Congrats.’’ In her mind, the sixth year was the perfect choice. Well done, Professors.

"Hey Claudine," Nem greeted Blaze in return, grinning broadly in her direction. "Ecstatic. You?" And while they were doing this small talk thing. "Anything interesting happen over summer?"

Sweet merciless mother of Merlin, what was Song doing? The Gryffindor table was over there, if she wanted somewhere to yell. Not that it made much difference, open hall and all, and not like Nem hadn't had to put up with worse for most of the summer. Still. They looked over in her direction and caught a glimpse of something shiny right at the moment she badge-dropped herself. After a momentary appraisal of the prefect badge, Nem just so happened to glance back up in time to meet Song's eye.

They smiled, but she'd already looked away, so Nem leaned forwards slightly, all the better to talk the short way down the table to her. "Congrats, Aboli. You'll do great." Maybe. Who knew. Nem wasn't a Seer.

It could be pretty interesting to see how those badges affected people though. Both the ones that got them, and the ones that didn't. See: that speech from like thirty seconds ago.

... Man.

"Sounds like a Gryffindor's already tried to drop themselves in it," Nem said to nobody in particular, looking momentarily over at the table in question. Rivers? Not on their radar. Already on the Headsman's though, it seemed.

Frankie made her way over to the Slytherin table and found a seat. She hoped food will come soon she was hungry.

Sophie noticed another girl her same age join the table. It seemed like it was almost the end of the Sorting now. That's good, Sophie thought. I'm starving!

She glanced at the new girl. "Hi," she said. "My name is Sophie. Nice to meet you."

"Hi Sophie, I am Frankie. Nice to meet you." Frankie replied.

"It's nice to meet you too, Frankie," said Sophie, smiling at her fellow first-year. "What do you think about being in Slytherin house?"