Fifth year.

Alec headed over towards the Hufflepuff Table slowly, taking a moment to look around at the Great Hall, especially at the ceiling and the staff table and the general decoration around the place. It was sort of... weird knowing that this was his fifth time entering this hall for a Start of Term Feast. Really very weird.

And what was weirder was that he was, once again, one of the first people to enter the Hall.

The soon-to-be sixteen year old continued heading over towards the Hufflepuff table, his hands deep in the pockets of his trousers. Alec felt a little bad about not heading over towards one of the other tables to sit instead but... the Hufflepuff one was just... home. Sort of. It was just as he was really close to the middle of the table and was about to look for someone to sit with that...

BLINK.

HOLD. THE. SNITCH.

The boy stopped in his tracks and just STARED down at the cutlery. What?! WHAT WHAT WHAT. He reached over and picked up the yellow plastic cup, examining it as carefully as he would do with a Snitch. "What is..." his voice trailed off as he looked away from the cup and then up and down the table. His grey-blue eyes shot up from the Hufflepuff table and looked around at all the other table as well.

Plastic. Cutlery and things. Everywhere. WHAT.

A confused expression crossed Alec's face before the boy sunk down in his seat, one hand still holding onto the yellow cup. ... This... was a weirder start than usual.

Right. So, West wasn't at the Snake's table yet and she'd finished talking to Theodore, now she might as well return to her own table. Time to see her fellow, Puffs, yes? Trailing her feet, still looking out for any sign of West or, of course, Blue or Elodie, she made her way to the table and plonked herself down. Nice and cosy, she was home.

Except, there was something ... off ...

WHAT!?!?



Bliss stared blankly. Was this some kind of joke. Though she had NOTHING against stuff and not-so-good-quality things, this was just .. odd. Had the house elves accidently broken everything and had to replace them with plastic? Somehow, she didn't think so. Which just begged the question of, how HAD this happened?

Heh.

The fourth year's eyes trailed back and forth over the table, looking for anything shifty nothing in particular and spotted Alec. Sliding up the bench towards him, she nudged him gently. "Hey, Alec. Do you ... know anything about ... this?" She asked, a small smile on her lips as she picked up a plastic fork and showed him. Though, judging by his confused expression, she'd guess that he'd already seen them and didn't know anything more than she did.

Hufflepuff table.

Ella made her way over to it wearing a small smile on her face. She was tired, sure, but also excited to see her second family and meet its newest members. N'aww ickle baby badgers were going to be cute, yeah? Besides, she had recruiting responsibilities now.

Spotting the boyfriend and the Bliss, the blonde grinned and waved to them. "Hey guys!" She then plopped down next to her boyfriend and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Blink.

"Plastic?" What was this about? "Do you think that the House elves don't want to wash dishes anymore?"

The beginning of the end. Here it was. The Start of Term Feast.

Everything was already flying by too fast. It felt like it was a minute ago she had boarded the train, yet here all the Hogwarts kids were, arriving for their start of term feast. This year was going to go by faster than previous years, wasn't it? That's not what Nessie wanted, she oddly wanted it to drag, but she knew at Hogwarts the only sort of time dragging that happened occurred during classes you did not like and even then that was almost never.

At the door of the great hall, the Hufflepuff paused. She needed a breathe, a quick pep talk with herself. After breathing in then out, she mumbled about telling herself that she could do this. Eventually after checking her robes were neat and tidy she walked across the hall towards her Hufflepuff table.

Smiiiiille. Her three kiddos were there and already seated together. Alec, Bliss and Ella. Except why were they going on about--oh.

Plastic everything. Odd. Very odd. "Um...weird." And was that banner torn? What happened to Hufflepuff, or Hogwarts pride? Small frown. "Even the banners, look at them."Were the elves maybe on strike? Or was Hogwarts bankrupt. Always something going on at Hogwarts then, eh?

Lotus Acacia Wisteria was not liking this. And it seemed neither was Mags, since the pygmy puff was pushing plates away, confused as to what they were, probably. And Lottie didn't even scold her or anything, she almost wanted to do the same.

It was probably a good thing she handles the cleaning spell brilliantly, she...sort of Scourgify'd everything near her. It wasn't until now that she started to worry about what would be served for dinner.

But there were far more important things. Like Lex, where was she? And Garrick...whom she caught a glimpse of at the Ravenclaw table and immediately smiled. Also, Alice and the news of Frank that will soon reach her ears, hopefully. And Airey Flamsteed...who'll be disliking any dust that gets to his suit, surely.

She was thinking about going over to the Ravenclaw table, but somehow decided against it. This was probably the first time she was sitting with the yellows...and look what happens.

Lex was still giggling as she made her way over to the Puff table. This whole thing was too funny and no matter what anyway said she knew what she believed and what she believed was HILARIOUS.

She stood to the side looking for the girl and when she spotted her she almost started laughing again. Oh and there was Mags. Good thing Felix was up in the dorm by now. The Pygmy Puff could have some free time for once. In all her new found amusement she had forgotten even more most everything that was supposed to happen. In all honesty she had forgotten that she was meant to meet Lottie at her table so they could talk. All she could think about was how amused she was.

"HAAAAAI!" BEEEEEAAAAAAAM. She plopped down in the seat next to her, yeah we see you kid that was about to take the seat. Did Lex care? Nuh-uh, she was busy trying not to burst out laughing again.

And before she forgot!! "I snuck down to the kitchen before coming here and got some cookies and cupcakes. It's gonna be a long speech, want sooooome???" Because she wasn't ready to start laughing about the plates and stuff. That would come in a minute, once she regain composure. As it stood. There was clear amusement on her face.

Minerva walked into the great hall with a big smile across her face. She was back at school, back with her friends, and she was more then thrilled now that she was here. She glanced at the claw table seeing Ethan already there. She would hopefully talk to him later, but she wasn't going to keep him from his friends. So moving to her table she looked around at the ones that were already there.

Hey Alec" She gave him a hug, "Thanks for the talk on the train, you really helped." She gave him a little wink. Yes she had been a little sad, but he, just as a little brother would he helped and she felt better for it. Moving on she was finally going to speak to Ella after just waving at her friend a few times. "Ella or should I say captain. Congrats on the badge, you are going to make an amazing captain. Our team is going to be great this term and you are going to be an amazing leader. I didn't realize a few terms ago when you were asking if you should tryout you were going to be a captain one day. I am so proud. This is amazing." Her little badgers were growing up and they were just amazing.

Looking down she saw the table and frowned, what was going on.. what was the problem with the dishes. Did the little house elves finally go on strike or something? Hmm this was interesting. Sighing she looked up and saw Nessie smiling she walked over to the girl and gave her a hug, "Nessie, congrats on the Head Girl, this is just amazing. Are you excited?" It was excited, well Minerva thought it was at least. She knew Nessie would do a great job.

Oh and look there was a girl she saw last term, but wasn't sure of her name ([Lotus]though, "Hello, how are you? Glad to be back? I'm Minerva." Well she knew it was a quick introduction, but she really did want to get to know the girl. Then her eyes landed on Blissy, Minerva smiled "Blissy" she hugged the fourth year, "How was your summer? I've missed you!"

Forrest didn't remember when and how he'd walked to the table too--but this time he didn't remember out of DELIGHT. His face was all flushed and although they didn't fall--tears had piled up in his eyes. He almost skipped to the table and then, out of utter DELIGHT, did something he'd NEVER do again--he adressed the whole table by standing at its beginning.

"Hello!"

Then, taking his seat somewhere in the middle, he kept beaming at people until he realised he probably looked pretty silly. He blushed a little and bowed his head forward in shame. Silly, SILLY Forrest making a scene everywhere!

Then his brain registered the plastic. It was enough to erase the smile completely.

With a troubled look on his face, he looked around to see whether someone explained it. Not that he was an expert on how things worked 'round here, but Hogwarts was rich enough to provide them with metal silverware and plates.

...right?

Alyssa sat down at the Hufflepuff House table. This was officially her last Start of Term Feast. She looked around at the happy faces around. Some familiar and well loved, others just acquaintances, and then there were fresh new faces, most likely first years and transfer students from other schools.

Alyssa was exhausted, suffering jet lag after having flown all the way from the States, and then followed by the ride from King's Cross to here, but she decided that she would at least have something to eat before heading downstairs to the Common Room to get some rest.

She looked around her again and realized that she was going to miss all this. She wished she didn't have to leave this place, but she knew some things were beyond her control. Her time at Hogwarts was coming to an end, and she had to accept it, whether she liked it or not.




Then Alyssa noticed a young first year join their table. She smiled at his enthusiasm on his face which was quickly followed by a frown. She leaned over and asked.

"Is something wrong? You have that look on your face?" Alyssa asked the boy. "I'm sure whatever it is, it can be fixed. Welcome to the Hufflepuff by the way. I'm Alyssa and it's nice to meet you." Alyssa told the boy sticking out her hand to shake his.

Text Cut: Someone's distracted. XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Lex was still giggling as she made her way over to the Puff table. This whole thing was too funny and no matter what anyway said she knew what she believed and what she believed was HILARIOUS.

She stood to the side looking for the girl and when she spotted her she almost started laughing again. Oh and there was Mags. Good thing Felix was up in the dorm by now. The Pygmy Puff could have some free time for once. In all her new found amusement she had forgotten even more most everything that was supposed to happen. In all honesty she had forgotten that she was meant to meet Lottie at her table so they could talk. All she could think about was how amused she was.

"HAAAAAI!" BEEEEEAAAAAAAM. She plopped down in the seat next to her, yeah we see you kid that was about to take the seat. Did Lex care? Nuh-uh, she was busy trying not to burst out laughing again.

And before she forgot!! "I snuck down to the kitchen before coming here and got some cookies and cupcakes. It's gonna be a long speech, want sooooome???" Because she wasn't ready to start laughing about the plates and stuff. That would come in a minute, once she regain composure. As it stood. There was clear amusement on her face.

Quite frankly, she was entirely taken off guard by that greeting. Loud as Lex. But she was smiling now as her friend joined her, even more so since she took the seat away of someone that Lottie wouldn't have talked to, anyway.

Mags' attention shifted from the plates to the newcomer and went to Lex's shoulder. Oh, so, she was missed, that's nice to know.

Someone was in an EXCELLENT mood, by the way. Oh? Cupcakes and cookies? No muffins? REALLY? "Hmmmm...I think I'll take a cupcake," she said, nodding, she could share it with the pygmy puff too, and they were better for hunger than cookies were.

Lottie was eyeing Lex curiously, she felt like she might start laughing at any second and she had no idea WHY. This was worrying. Maybe. Perhaps. Most likely. Until she decided to speak up, "Alice took the news better than we expected, then?" Because that was the only possible thing that could make her stay in such an amazing mood, right? Right.

WASN'T ANYONE ELSE GOING TO FREAK OUT OVER THE PLASTIC CUTLERY?!

No one? No? Sadface.

Alec sat there, still really very confused about all of... this. Sure, it was only plastic cutlery and there wasn't anything bad about it. Maybe. But... he was so used to the metal silverware and now... this was a really sudden change. And was this permanent? Questions questions questions.

Feeling someone nudge him, Alec jumped a tiny bit before looking over towards the person who was now sitting next to him. "Oh hey Bliss!" he said, grinning slightly at the younger badger. FINALLY. Someone who had noticed the plastic cutlery as well. Could he freak out with her? PLEASE?! "Nope! It was like this when I got here," Meaning that he hadn't really seen anyone swap the cutlery around. ... Would someone do that?

Shaking his head, Alec placed the cup down before wrapping his arms around Bliss and giving the girl a quick hug. "But... hey! It's good to see you!" Especially since they hadn't really seen each other over the summer. Yeah... what was that about?



Oh look! GIRLFRIEND.

Forgetting about the cutlery for a moment or two, Alec looked up at the girl as she plopped herself down right next to him, a big grin spreading itself across his face. There was just something about this girl that always seemed to make him happy, even if he was very very confused at the moment. But she was here so... GRIN.

He reached up a hand and gingerly touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him. This was really nice. It sort of meant that something was still the same as before, yeah? "Hey Ells!" he said, reaching over to give her a big hug. A second of two later, he let go and dropped his voice down to a whisper to ask, "Erm... how are you feeling?"

Also... YEAH. She had noticed the plastic cutlery too? ... It wasn't hard to miss them but... yeah. And while he had been busy freaking out over the sudden change, the blonde had... sort of come up with a reason. "Maybe..." he said, shrugging, "But if that's the case, they're not going to go on a strike, are they?"



And then things became a little sad. All because a certain redhead entered the Hall and Alec... remembered things.

Alec frowned slightly as he watched the girl walk over towards the Hufflepuff table and, more specifically, to where he was seated with Bliss and Ells. It would be exactly like the time Keefer left, yeah? Alec remembered that day very well. He remembered the way he wanted to hug the guy and not let him go because letting him go would mean him leaving. And this... would be similar yeah?

...

Head!shake. He smiled at the girl and reaching over, gave her a BIG hug. Because, well, hugs were a part of his greeting to people he knew well enough. Nodnod. "Hey LochNessie!" Did she... want to be Head Girl LochNessie just yet? Because he couldn't call her Captain LochNessie anymore so... new nickname? Yes? No? Maybe so?

... What? Alec's grey eyes shot up and he BLINKED. The frown that had been playing on his face when Nessie walked in was back. "They've never been torn before, right?" he asked, looking down from the banners and at the redhead, "Erm... do you think... someone tore them on purpose?" Or... was it another reason entirely? FROWN.



Another psuedo older sister! GRIN.

And she looked happy! Which Alec really liked. After their talk on the train, he was sort of worried that he had ended up upsetting the girl with talks about Ethan and the whole 'leaving' thing. She did look sad about it, yeah, and he was sad about no more Ethan as well but... he sort of wished he hadn't made her sad. Little brothers don't do that, yeah?

BUT SHE WAS SMILING. Just like she did whenever anyone mentioned her boyfriend. "Hey Minnie!" he said, wrapping his arms around her to return her hug, "Oh, anytime! I'm really glad that the talk helped," Nodnod. And... that wink meant that it was going to stay between the two of them? It wasn't as if they talked about anything too secretive but... he could go with this.

Also... "Erm... it didn't make you feel sad, did it?"



So... moving on from the plastic cutlery and any sad talk... Alec really wanted to meet some of the newly sorted Hufflepuffs. He really really REALLY wanted to say hey and greet them with a hug, if they liked that sort of thing. And maybe this'll distract them from... certain things. Yep.

He crossed his arms across the table and leant forwards slightly, his grey-blue eyes staring at the Sorting Ceremony that was taking place. It was weird to think that four years ago, he had been standing up there, secretly willing himself to get into the same house as his ex best friend. And now... it was all these enthusiastic firstie's turn.

And speaking of enthusiastic firsties... look at the newly joined Hufflepuff!

The nearly sixteen year old GRINNED as he watched the boy sit down somewhere that wasn't too far away from where he was sitting. Alec leant forwards a little more and waved enthusiastically at the boy. "Hey there!" he called, "Erm... welcome to Hufflepuff! You excited?" ... Was that a silly question?

... Oh... wait... "I'm Alec Summers, by the way,"



... BLINK.

Oh. Another person leaving towards the end of the term. FROWN.

Alec watched as the girl entered the Hall and sat down at the table. It was kind of weird to think that this time next year, some of these people wouldn't be here. Like Lyss and LochNessie and Jory and Ethan. ... He was going to make a pact to get to know Ethan and Jory a little better this term. YES. This was going to happen. Nodnod.

But... Lyss. The nearly sixteen year old felt sort of bad for not seeing her at all over the summer but... that probably had something to do with the fact that she usually went over to the US over the summer, right? And as much as he wanted to, he couldn't hop over there for a day to see her. Dad would get jealous.

"Hey Lyss!" he called, waving enthusiastically at her as well, "Erm... you okay? Had a great summer?" Also, could he give her a hug? Please?

...

OH! LOOK. There was his favourite Candy Girl along with his favourite Chaser girl. Except... they seemed to be in deep discussion about something or another. Or were they? All Alec managed to hear was 'HAI' and that was just the start of a discussion, really. Not wanting to disturb them -- it could be girl talk, you know -- Alec grinned and waved at the two of them.

Nashville walked over to the Hufflepuff table after finally being sorted, he kind of threw a tiny fit by throwing the sorting hat on the ground but he had gotten in his head that he was going to be put into Slytherin of course anyone would be mad if they got sorted into a house they didn't plan on being in but as Nash walked over to the table and saw all of the new faces there he couldn't be mad.

Everyone seemed happy, some seeing old friends and some first years sitting down and making new friends, it was nice. So why was he so quick to judge about this house? Nashville shrugged and smiled. He found a free place to sit.

Who did he know and who didn't he know? He glanced at all of the the students looking for a face that he might know. There was...BlissBooBear and MinnieMoo! and that was pretty much the only faces he knew because he didn't see Melanie's face so she must be in a different house.

Maybe he should say hello? Would they ignore him seeing how he clearly wasn't happy at first about being a Hufflepuff? "'Ello." Nashville smiled brightly, a hint of his Brazilian accent pushing through his greeting.

Awar skipped into the Great Hall, having put away Pegs in the Owlery and her trunk in the dorm. She glanced around at all the tables looking for familiar faces, her now long hair swinging in step with her skips. Her face lit up as she reached her loving house table. "Good Day!" She tussled her buddy, Alec's hair and embraced him tightly, "Alec-bear! Good to see you!"



She turned to another familiar face. "Minnie!" She high-fived her. "How did you summer go, friend? I hope well?" She reached for a bit of food, when she noted the dinnerware and such was...plastic? Odd.



She was startled by a big hello at the front of the table. Ah, a new Huffie! She walked over and held out her hand, "Welcome to Hufflepuff! Obviously, the best house at Hogwarts! I'm Awarlesta, and you?"

Her beaming got brighter when Lottie started smiling. Know whhhhy? Because it meant she wasn't UPSET anymooooore!!! This meant she could share the joke too and the girl would probably laugh...or maybe not...maybe? Lex was always the more likely to see the humour in the most trivial of things. Didn't matter, LOTTIE WAS SMILING!!!

Ooo lookit, pygmy puff on her shoulder. HAAAAAAAAI. She grinned at Mags and gave her a pat on her head. This affection was never gotten when she had Felix, you know, so she would enjoy it.

"Suuuuure, help yourself! There's all kinds. They were on a tray when I walked in...I don't think the elves will much mind." She held the bag out to Lottie...the moment she got back she put an undetectable extension charm on it because she neeeeded everything to fit. "You sure you don't want a cookie too???" The feast would be long.

Her amused look dimmed bit at the question. "...uh...she took it well...I guess, I mean she was upset but, I'm alive!!!" And now she was back to BEAMIIIIING!!! "BUT!!! Have you not seen these plates?? I'm finding it hard to keep a straight face here!!!" Snicker. Hey wasn't that Hair Boy waving and smiling and being Hair Boy??? Lex grinned over at him and gave him a waaave too.

Oh! Oh! Oh!!!!!

"And guess what I Saaaaw!"

Haruka walked over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down. Her first Start of Term Feast! How exciting! While on her way to the table, she noticed that the banners over the tables looked a little worn out.

When she got to the table and sat down, Haruka saw that the table was set with paper plates and plastic cups and silverware. It wasn't exactly what she would've expected from a fancy school like Hogwarts, and it made her wonder. Haruka shrugged away those thoughts for now.

"It was?" Oh. She sighed in disappointment. Though it wasn't as if she'd expected anything else, she wished he'd seen something. She'd had enough mysteries last term to last her the REST of her school life. No joke. Slowly, she picked up a fork and looked at it curiously, bending it backwards slightly with her finger, being careful not to break it. They were awfully breakable, as Theo had proved earlier and she wouldn't want to go pulling a Theodore now, would she?

That wouldn't be a great way to start the year.

Letting out a discontent sigh, she dropped the fork back onto the table, just as Alec wrapped her in a hug. A little warning would have been nice, yeah? Plus, normally it was HER hugging HIM, or, you know, jumping on his back. Not the other way around, so this .. this caught her off guard, but she hugged him back nonetheless. A hug was a hug, a surprise or not. Alec's hugs were lovely, she thought, before pulling back and beaming at the boy. "It's good to see you, too," she exclaimed, honestly.



Oh, look here, it was Ella. One third of the ferocious trio. Just before the older girl sat down, Bliss gave her a small wave and a smile. "Hey, Elly." She said, propping her elbow up on the table and leaning forward to see around Alec. "How was your summer? Good?" She asked hopefully. Hers was, so she expected Ella's was too.

'Cos that was the way her logic worked.

So, she and Alec weren't the only ones to notice the odds kitchen utensil choices, then? "Odd, isn't it?" Why would the elves do this? It couldn't be something to do with the 'economy'. If it was, wouldn't they still HAVE the utensils? Or .. maybe they'd had to sell them? It seemed more likely that the Headmistress was just going through a faze and 'trying something different'. All other possibilities still wouldn't end with there being no way of setting out the proper plates and cutlery.



ASDFGHJKL;

It was her Nessers. Her Nessers was here. So far during the feast, Bliss had remained calm and normal, but now, she was about ready to explode. She had many things that she wanted to say to the Seventh Year and knowing her, they'd all come out at once. A hug, at least, would come before all of that.

"NESSERS!" Bliss exclaimed, shimmying down the bench to her former Captain. She promptly wrapped her arms around the girl and squeezed tight. Finally, she wasn't TOO small. Over the summer, she'd grown, not just as a person, but in height. She was now exactly-ish four feet tall. Granted, that was still quite small, but not TOO small anymore. She liked it. Especially, since it showed off how she'd grown as a person, too. "How was your summer? Great, I hope! Congratulations on becoming Head Girl, I know you're going make a great one. You really, really deserve it. I've missed you SO much!"

Right, BREATHE.

Was that her ramble over?

Almost. Just once more thing. "I hope I make you proud this year."



OH. Someone was hugging her and that was .. kind of unexpected, but she hugged them back nevertheless. She should probably have checked who it was that she was hugging first, but she hadn't, so whatever. It turned out to be Minnie, though, so it didn't matter that she hadn't checked.

HEH.

The fourth year gave the girl a small beam before greeting her. "Minnie! Hey! My summer was pretty great," she exclaimed, "I spent most of it with West and .. and it was great. Really great." Leaving out the part where she'd found out that he liked someone else, as well as her. Besides that it was great. Eventually, she'd have to face up to it, but for now, it was all good and was pretty happy.



Turning her attention away from Alec, Ella, Nessie and Minnie, she focused on another, very eager looking, 'Puff. A first year, by the looks of it. Did this mean that she got to play the mature, older girl that was helpful, and all of that? COOL. That was what she would do. Prove herself to the world and help other people be happy, even if she wasn't.

The perfect plan.

Bliss slid up to where the boy was and gave him a small beam. "Hey, kiddoooo," she said. It felt weird on her tongue, the word 'kiddo', that was why she'd stretched it out. "Congrats on getting into Hufflepuff, you'll love it here," she assured him. "I'm Bliss." Was there anything else she could say?



Bliss turned her attention away from everyone else momentarily, to look for any new faces and it didn't take her long to spot one. This one was certainly NEW and she certainly KNEW him. She almost jumped up out of her seat and ran to him, but she didn't. Instead, she gave him a little wave and called to him. "Hey, over here, Nashy." She patted the space beside her, indicating that he could sit beside her if so pleased.

If he didn't want to, then .. that was alright, too.



Yet ANOTHER 'Puff?

This year, there seemed to be an abundance of ickle Hufflepuffs, or was it just her that thought that? Probably.

Didn't matter, though. The more, the merrier. She shuffled over on the bench and greeted the girl with a smile. "Hey, I'm Bliss. Welcome to Hufflepuff." Her voice oozed friendliness, or, at least, she hoped it did. She wanted to make a good impression, especially to the little ones and being friendly was definitely the right direction to head. Not that she hadn't friendly before.

Text Cut: And Milton, cuz we love to blame him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Her beaming got brighter when Lottie started smiling. Know whhhhy? Because it meant she wasn't UPSET anymooooore!!! This meant she could share the joke too and the girl would probably laugh...or maybe not...maybe? Lex was always the more likely to see the humour in the most trivial of things. Didn't matter, LOTTIE WAS SMILING!!!

Ooo lookit, pygmy puff on her shoulder. HAAAAAAAAI. She grinned at Mags and gave her a pat on her head. This affection was never gotten when she had Felix, you know, so she would enjoy it.

"Suuuuure, help yourself! There's all kinds. They were on a tray when I walked in...I don't think the elves will much mind." She held the bag out to Lottie...the moment she got back she put an undetectable extension charm on it because she neeeeded everything to fit. "You sure you don't want a cookie too???" The feast would be long.

Her amused look dimmed bit at the question. "...uh...she took it well...I guess, I mean she was upset but, I'm alive!!!" And now she was back to BEAMIIIIING!!! "BUT!!! Have you not seen these plates?? I'm finding it hard to keep a straight face here!!!" Snicker. Hey wasn't that Hair Boy waving and smiling and being Hair Boy??? Lex grinned over at him and gave him a waaave too.

Oh! Oh! Oh!!!!!

"And guess what I Saaaaw!"

Merlin, could she possibly BE any happier? It was the contagious kind, though, and Lottie was also smiling, while glancing back and forth between the Ravenclaw table and her own. And also keeping an eye out for Mags, because the thing was acting pretty strange, like her.

After the pat to the head, the pygmy puff settled on the table instead, apparently expecting a cupcake. Yeah, sorry Mags, not yet.

Oh? Eyebrow raised. "They were on a tray? And you just took them?" Didn't it seem strange, Lex? Like, what if the cupcakes were for someone in particular? And...who cared, right? Lottie still took one, randomly choosing it. "Did you try them already?" If not, they should find someone to try them on, and they were at the perfect table for it. Unsuspecting Hufflepuffs, right? Perhaps the Head Girl would like to try one...

...and no, no cookies, that was alright.

BEAM! "You are!" But she was still a bit sad for Alice, you know. Wait, what, the plates? "Shouldn't we be worried about it?" Because Astronomy was a rather expensive class, and if they didn't have the usual plates...then imagine what else got demoted. Should they be worried about it? Not really. "Actually, nevermind, we shouldn't." She'll be fine once she got to see Professor Flamsteed.

OH, HI SEEKER!BOY. Lottie smiled widely at him and did the whole blowing-kisses-at-him thing. She could've just waved, but yeah.

"What did you see?" THIS better be worth it, Lex.

OH WAIT! "Before I forget...," because this was THE most important thing ever, "...Garrick is not for hexing." See? VERY important.

All over the chatter in the hall he could hear a voice. A voice? A girls voice. Where was it coming from? Who was it? Was it in his mind? Did the voice in his head change from his to another? Like a female voice? That was impossible, wasn't it? WAS HE GOING INSANE? Nash turned his head towards the voice, it was a girl. Nope, it was just...Bliss?

BLISSYBOOOOOOOBEEEEAAAAR!

Nashville grinned, a little squeal like noise came from his voice...ooopsie. Nashy covered his mouth for a moment. "BLISSSSSYYYY!" there it was, his little excitement of the feast...wait was there going to be food...well of course there would be...it is like a normal feast? Wasn'***? It had to be...right? Fooooooooooood. He needed fooooood.

Oh hey, lookie here...Bliss was inviting him to come sit with her...coool...coool....would there be fooood?

Nashville got up from his seat and walked over to sit next to Bliss. "Hey, hey." he grinned.

Adorable boyfriend was adorable.

Ella’s face brightened considerably when she saw how he was smiling at her and her cheeks may have reddened a bit too. Oh and hugs? Hugs were nice. The blonde leaned and returned the hug, giving the hair ruffle a squeeze. She bit her lip at his question and offered him a small smile. ”Better. Still a bit tired but…yeah.” He’d helped lots, actually. He knew that, yeah?

Elf strike? Meep. “Merlin, I hope not!” The blonde was actually quite nervous about that scenario. ”If they did that then we might not be able to use the kitchen.” Which meant no ice cream which would be DISASTROUS.




Blissful looked happy and considering things and stuff they’d talked about briefly, Ella was really happy to see this. ”Summer was good. A little long but yeah, fun.” Mostly for zoo reasons and Alec reasons and family reasons too. ”How about yours? Have lots of adventures?” The blonde hoped so. Adventures were the best.

Nodnod. ”It is odd! It’s…a mystery.” One that Ella was itching to solve. Darn those Nancy Drew novels.



Loch Nessie!

“Hey Ness!” Ella was really happy to see the older badger, even if she was sad that this was Nessie’s last opening feast. GAH. Why did people have to grow up again? Anyway, she’d happily ignore Nessie’s year and focus on more happy things like dance parties and sing-alongs and Ferocious Trio things. ”Ready for some more common room performances?” Giggle. Ella couldn’t wait to belt songs with Bliss and Ness.

Banners? Ella’s green eyes traveled up to where their normally quite spiffy banner was displayed and blinked. ”What in Merlin’s beard…?”



Minnie!

“Hey Min!” Blush. It wasn’t really necessary to call Ella ‘Captain,’ okay? And she was a little flabbergasted at what Minnie was saying right now. She was proud? Minnie was proud of her, Ella Bishop? Grin. ”I erm…well thanks, Minnie. That really means a lot.” Like…a lot , a lot. ”You thinking about trying out this term?”

...

Newbies!

Ella sat up a little straighter as her eyes fell on some unfamiliar faces sitting down at their table. “Hey, you guys!” BEAM. She was excited for new badgers, okay? ”Welcome to Hufflepuff!” The house of Champions, obviously. ”Oh and I’m Ella, by the way.” WAVEEEEEE!

The other people at the table got smiles and waves as well. She was just really happy to see everyone and-BLINK.

There was Lottie casually blowing kisses to her boyfriend. The blonde raised her eyebrows at the younger girl before looking down at the table. And all the plastic. And she was uncomfortable with that kissing stuff, okay? Because Lottie had actually kissed the boy on the cheek and now she was doing this and Ella didn’t get why. Maybe because she’d never do that to someone else’s boyfriend. Shuffle. This was weird and she didn’t like how she felt right now.

More smiling. This Hufflepuff table visit was becoming a shining success--except the part where Lottie kept looking over there but Lex wouldn't comment. No way. She was in too much of a good mood right now and the red cups were just tickling her insides. How was Lottie NOT laughing yet????

"I did." She said, rather matter of factly. The fact that they were on a tray meant they were to be served so of course she took them! As for the testing. "I had one on the way up. Seeing as I haven't dropped dead I'm pretty sure they're safe." They didn't even taste funny either so they must have been okay. Unless, of course there was some other reason why she shouldn't have taken them...didn't matter either way. They would have food! They would NOT starve!

And Lottie was beaming at the fact that she was still aliiiiive.

This made her a little happier than it should have but she was still taking this whole day in and she wasn't sure where she and Lottie stood--then the beaming and smiling happened and now she was just HAPPY, OKAY??? "Nah, nothing to worry about. This is probably a very funny prank. I feel sorry for the sucker who gets caught but some entertainment never hurt anyone." Especially not at the start of term. ANY entertainment would be welcome.

"On the ride here--" Stop, Lottie was interrupting to say stuff. Stuff about Garrick and hexing and...

Garrick...?

Name sounded familiar--OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Right. Him.

"Garrick is not for annoying Alexa either. If he annoys me I hex him. If he doesn't, I don't. The world is a simple place and doesn't need to get any more complicated than that. BUT ANYWAY," because she felt that what she'd seen was FAR MORE IMPORTANT than not being able to hex someone, "you know the thestrals that pull the carriages?? There was a baby thestral walking along side the one pulling ours! It was so cute!!! And and and the other thestral kept looking at it and they kept looking at each other then he was playing around the carriage and stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuff." See? WAY more important. GRIN.

Haruka didn't have much of an appetite. She figured it was due to excitement(or because she ate a bunch of sweets on the way), so she decided on her favorite hobby of daydreaming and just plain spacing out. At the moment, she was wondering where the school had found the yellow plastic cups. She'd seen them in red and even blue before, but never yellow. 'Note to self: Find someone who would know and ask where yellow cups were found.'

Haruka heard steps behind her and turned around to see an older Puff walking up to her and smiling. The older student introduced herself as Bliss and welcomed her to Hufflepuff. Haruka smiled kindly and returned the inroduction. "Hi there! I'm Haruka."

The Hufflepuff table was...well, a lot more HOPPIN than Tucker had remembered. There were hardly any seats! Everyone was gathered together and seemed to already have really tight-knit groups, and for the first time, he was starting to feel really nervous.

BUT OH! He knew someone there! That girl he met in the candy store--what was her name again? He was terrible with names. Wow, he was off to a great start here--ALLIE! No, wait, ALEX yes that was the name.

"Hi Alex!" he said with a grin as he approached the table. "Lost? Your table is over THERE," he joked, pointing to the Gryffindor table before sitting down next to her.

There, ice BROKEN.

"Hi everyone! I'm Tucker, Tucker Schultz," he said with a smile.

Heeey loookie here another person. Nashville beams with joy, this was great, the person looked maybe a couple of years younger than him but that didn't mean anything to Nash. This person seemed friendly, well he did say hello to everyone so how bad could he be.

" 'Ello, Tucker, I'm Nashville Cash."

Where was the foooood...? Grr...merp.

Text Cut: I miss him so much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

More smiling. This Hufflepuff table visit was becoming a shining success--except the part where Lottie kept looking over there but Lex wouldn't comment. No way. She was in too much of a good mood right now and the red cups were just tickling her insides. How was Lottie NOT laughing yet????

"I did." She said, rather matter of factly. The fact that they were on a tray meant they were to be served so of course she took them! As for the testing. "I had one on the way up. Seeing as I haven't dropped dead I'm pretty sure they're safe." They didn't even taste funny either so they must have been okay. Unless, of course there was some other reason why she shouldn't have taken them...didn't matter either way. They would have food! They would NOT starve!

And Lottie was beaming at the fact that she was still aliiiiive.

This made her a little happier than it should have but she was still taking this whole day in and she wasn't sure where she and Lottie stood--then the beaming and smiling happened and now she was just HAPPY, OKAY??? "Nah, nothing to worry about. This is probably a very funny prank. I feel sorry for the sucker who gets caught but some entertainment never hurt anyone." Especially not at the start of term. ANY entertainment would be welcome.

"On the ride here--" Stop, Lottie was interrupting to say stuff. Stuff about Garrick and hexing and...

Garrick...?

Name sounded familiar--OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Right. Him.

"Garrick is not for annoying Alexa either. If he annoys me I hex him. If he doesn't, I don't. The world is a simple place and doesn't need to get any more complicated than that. BUT ANYWAY," because she felt that what she'd seen was FAR MORE IMPORTANT than not being able to hex someone, "you know the thestrals that pull the carriages?? There was a baby thestral walking along side the one pulling ours! It was so cute!!! And and and the other thestral kept looking at it and they kept looking at each other then he was playing around the carriage and stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuff." See? WAY more important. GRIN.

Reckon all those smiles will lead to some place without ANY smiles? Nah. They were pretty good at letting things go, apparently. So...everyone gets smiles...for now. Lex was failing to understand that her cup happened to be YELLOW, and she couldn't deal with yellow stuff. Perhaps Lex will be kind enough to get her a RED cup? Or take one from the Staff table? Were those nicer than theirs? We'll find out soon.

Wow. So, her mood may have been tampered with BY cupcakes. Was she to trust them? Definitely, because knowing Lex...this was her usual mood. Loud and bouncy and happy about the most ridiculous of things. Like the current not-so-silver-ware. "You look alright, so, yes, they must be okay," but she was only taking ONE, just the one cupcake. No more. Mags shouldn't be having too much sugar anyway.

JUST a funny prank? Lottie tilted her head. Maybe. "It's not that funny, actually," but she laughed softly as she shook head. It was probably the worst prank ever. No doubt L-Squared could come up with something FAR more better than this.

Thank you, Lex, for paying a bit of attention to Lottie, that was...appreciated. Except what was said next WAS NOT. The smile sort of dissipated, and her eyes could only focus on the Gryffindor's words a little bit. She was letting Lex tell the story. She'd thought of her on the whole way up here just because of thestrals. Awwww, cute thestral stuff. But Lottie wouldn't comment on this....YET.

"Listen, Lex," carefully, "Garrick is NOT for hexing, you hear? Unless I specifically say it's okay." Her tone was rather serious. Almost as serious and when she said Lex had been the one to blame back at the train. "I trust he will not annoy you," because, seriously, he didn't even say anything to Lex on the train, whereas Lottie did, "If he does, which I doubt, you come to me." But there was no hexing of any Garrick Ogden unless Lottie permitted it. Got it?

Text Cut: Miss Ella, Treyen says HI!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

There was Lottie casually blowing kisses to her boyfriend. The blonde raised her eyebrows at the younger girl before looking down at the table. And all the plastic. And she was uncomfortable with that kissing stuff, okay? Because Lottie had actually kissed the boy on the cheek and now she was doing this and Ella didn’t get why. Maybe because she’d never do that to someone else’s boyfriend. Shuffle. This was weird and she didn’t like how she felt right now.

Her eyes landed on Ella next, and she was almost ready to smile and wave at her when she noticed she was looking back...but then she looked down? Was all the plastic bothering her as well?