Originally Posted by MsMorgan

Mariel shook her head in confusion at Sarah. This was the most surreal Welcoming Feast... well, she had only been to one previous, but at least that one seemed normal. And now her friends were acting weird. Looking up at Sarah curiously, she said, "You know, Nathaniel said the same thing about his table, he would talk to people and they wouldn't talk to him..." is that what he said? "or something like that." The point was that they were both feeling ignored at their House tables.

At her next statement, she said sarcastically, "Yes, really, would a shower once in a while be too much to ask?" Chuckling slightly, she added, "You know I'm joking." Then ducking a little as she was afraid Sarah might throw a roll at her, Mariel said, "You're one of the friendliest people I know and I'll tell you the same thing I told Nathaniel - I'm sure it's just first day chaos. Give it a day or two for things to settle down and I'm sure things will be back to normal." At least she hoped. She wasn't much liking this first day either. And as for why Nathaniel didn't say much to Sarah, she didn't know. Perhaps he hadn't realized she was talking to him, but Mariel was sure it was nothing more than a misunderstanding.

Turning her gaze back to the Staff Table, she noticed Lasca coming back to sit with them. She wondered how everything went, but knew now wasn't the proper time to ask. And her hair was definitely silverish, no longer could she say it was a trick of the light. Metamorphmagus? Maybe, or, given her reaction to Nathaniel, maybe something else. A conversation for another time as she could see her friend was still beyond upset. Offering Lasca a weak smile, she gently patted her back before her attention was once again diverted to the Staff table.

Finally the feast was over! Turning to Sarah, she said, "Let's meet out by the lake tomorrow, where we can talk." Then rising from her place at the table, she turned to Lasca and Lyra, "We should make our way up to the dorms so we can get beds next to each other." She was in a hurry to get out of there and get to bed. Hopefully a good night's sleep would make things better, but she still had one more person to face in the morning.