Originally Posted by Riverlynn

Lasca smiled and filled her plate. She had probably totally freaked her best friend out which is definitely not what she wanted to do. The need to sooth her friend was strong but with everyone so close and more people she knew showing up, now was definitely not the time.

"I told you this place was amazing!" She winked at the young first year and then laughed. The boy Kel that was just introduced to her was incredibly enthusiastic. His small bow surprised her and she had the urge to curtsy but she tamped it down. She was already sitting down and there was no reason to get up. She nodded at Mariel as she vehemently stated that the House cup needed to stay in Ravenclaw.

"That Cup is ours and we need to keep it that way." She was distracted as yet another person she knew walked over and sat down across from her. "Hey Natka! Sure please sit! This is Mariel by the way." She gestured with her hand and smiled.

It suddenly hit her how many more friends she had managed to accumulate and this year had barely started. Her smile grew wider as that thought settled in. This year was going to be amazing!

Originally Posted by MsMorgan

"Good to hear," Mariel grinned with a nod. She knew that the other Houses wouldn't make it easy for them to attain the cup again, so all the Ravenclaws really had to work extra hard this year - but it would be that much easier if they were working together.

At Keltan's last word, Mariel nodded solemnly in confirmation. That was one thing she really hated about classes. It always seemed like she had a hard time finding a partner, and she wasn't usually one to go approach strangers... although she did seem to know quite a few more people this year so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "Yeah... not my favorite part of class, but a necessity, I guess." Though she couldn't figure out why exactly which is why she came up with the mandatory-for-all-professors idea. "But you're always welcome to have me for a partner," she said brightly. "Or I'm sure any of the other million Ravenclaws you know would be willing to partner up," she teased with a grin.

Mariel eyed Lasca carefully. It appeared that her friend felt the need to drop the subject as she made no further mention of the Slytherin boy even when Mariel had pointed him out. Well, she was not getting off that easy. They had plenty more to talk about, but perhaps it was neither the time or the place. They could talk later.

Nodding her agreement about the House cup, Mariel glanced over to the girl Lasca had gestured towards. "Oh, sure, I know Natka," she said. "Hi, Natka, how was your summer?" she asked her fellow third year before cringing slightly. Okay that was officially the last time she was going to ask that trite question. Everyone asked that and everyone probably got tired of answering it as well.

Catching an interesting part of a conversation, Mariel turned her head in the direction of the voice she had heard. It appeared to be the younger girl that had talked to her and Keltan at the food trolley on the train - well, she had talked mostly to Keltan... but that was beside the point. The point was that she had met her at the food trolley.

Leaning towards the girl whose name she had forgotten, Mariel said, "I don't mean to interrupt, but I thought I heard you talking about making fireworks to cheer on our team." Smiling a little, she added, "I think that's a really great idea. The players really appreciate things like that and support from the fans in the stands." At least Mariel did. Her smile grew at the memory of the House spirit competition Professor V assigned the school last term and remembering how great the support from Ravenclaw had been.

Turning back to Elizabeth, she returned her grin and said, "I'm sure you'll do great on your NEWTs. We're Ravenclaws... extra smart." That seemed like such a long ways away to Mariel. She didn't even have to worry about OWLs yet. "So do you know what you want to do when you're done with school?"

Her grin grew even wider when talk turned to Quidditch and she nodded fervently. "Absolutely," she said, excitement coloring her voice. So far they had won both years that Mariel had gone to school at Hogwarts and if it was up to her, they'd win every year she was at school there... making it, ahem, eight wins in a row. Yep, that sounded good. "So what position do want to play this year?" She remembered that Elizabeth was Chaser last year, but was pretty sure she was Beater the year before. Yeah, that sounded right. "I really enjoyed playing Keeper last year. I'm hoping for that again, but, you know, wherever Willow sees fit..."