Each year, Dorian would tell his family he wanted to switch schools but each year he came back and by now, he didn't care anymore. A part of him actually liked Hogwarts despite the constant dangers that were lurking in the shadows. So as he focused on the positive side of coming back, Dorian walked to the middle of the Ravenclaw table and placed his bag on the bench before taking a seat next to it. He was still carrying the DADA book with him that he had been reading on the train and placed that on the table next to the empty silver plate.

He kept it closed for now though, after five years, the Ravenclaw knew that he wouldn't be able to read much when the room got too crowded but he wanted to keep it close in case...well...no one talked to him.

Looking at the large door, the sixth year waited patiently for the first years to enter and to get sorted in to their House. That part was always interesting to him.

Taddy arrived at the Great Hall following the ride through the carriages up to the castle. He didn't know what to full expect this term at Hogwarts. Auntie Elisa mentioned something about taking more classes and getting to choose which ones. He definitely wanted to play with creatures more for one. He was thinking over all the classes by the time he sat down. "Hi Dorian." Offering a kind smile, "Had an alright summer?"

Taddy had some time before the first years arrive. His little sister Daisy would be one of them. Whatever house she ended up in he would be the supportive big brother to her. Meanwhile... there was a centaur at the staff table. He stared curiously at them for some time. Should he mention it aloud? He shrugged it off until then.

The Great Hall brought its usual sense of homeliness as Hanna walked through the doors and towards the Ravenclaw Table for her fifth Start of Term Feast. She slid into a seat near the Ravenclaws already seated.

"Hey Dorian," Hanna said, giving him a smile before turning to Tad, even though she had just seen him on the train. "How are you both?"

Despite that he was starting to get hungry at the thought of the food appearing after the speech, Dorian didn't complain even when he felt his stomach rumble.

He looked up as Taddy sat down at the table and nodded his head yes. "It was alright" he said. "First few weeks were a bit stressful as i waited for my O.W.L results but....i did ok" actually, he did great but he didn't want to gloat. "What about you two?" he asked as Hanna joined the table and he had to double look to see the badge. "Is that? Wow congrats, Hanna!"

Ewan had finally made it back. It wasn't a big deal to most but for him, it really had come down to the wire but in the end, he knew he'd miss his friends too much to not come back. Taking his usual seat in the middle of the hall with his fellow Ravenclaws , he couldn't help but smile as he looked around as people were getting settled.

With a smile on his face, he gave a nod to Taddy having just sen him on the train, and a "Hey, how's everyone doing?" to the rest of the people around him (Dorian and Hanna).

Analiese had made it to Hogwarts at last! She sat down at the table clad with blue and bronze after being sorted into Ravenclaw. She received a few welcomes and handshakes as she sat down. She watched eagerly at the other firsties being sorted. In her hand, she held her diary and quill. Just in case she wanted to write something down.

Analiese looked at the silverware placed neatly in front of her and wondered how they managed to make them that shiny. It was probably magic. She looked over at the staff table and saw a centaur. Well, that was obviously Divination. The most boring subject at Hogwarts in her opinion. History of Magic was a close second.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SneakySeverusSnape

Analiese had made it to Hogwarts at last! She sat down at the table clad with blue and bronze after being sorted into Ravenclaw. She received a few welcomes and handshakes as she sat down. She watched eagerly at the other firsties being sorted. In her hand, she held her diary and quill. Just in case she wanted to write something down.

Analiese looked at the silverware placed neatly in front of her and wondered how they managed to make them that shiny. It was probably magic. She looked over at the staff table and saw a centaur. Well, that was obviously Divination. The most boring subject at Hogwarts in her opinion. History of Magic was a close second.

Trinetta walked in to the Great Hall, smiling to herself at the prospect of a brand new term ahead of her. This term was going to be BETTER than last term. MUCH better. She could feel it in her bones!

As she approached the Ravenclaw table, she gave a nod of greeting to Dorian, Hanna, Taddy and Ewan as she approached. "Hello everyone! Good summers?" she asked politely. Probably much better than HER summer.

She noticed a new face and smiled at the young girl nearby. "Hey! Welcome to Ravenclaw! I'm Nettie," she introduced herself to the young girl. Merlin, she was small. Had SHE been that small as a first year?? Probably, and she hadn't really grown all that much since then. She barely broke 5 foot tall now.

"Thanks! I'm Analiese!" Analiese smiled at the older girl. She wondered what the lessons would be like. And when she would get her timetable. Gosh, she had many questions. She was most excited for flying. And Potions. And Transfiguration. She was excited for everything really. With the exception of History of Magic. She had been the worst at muggle history in her muggle primary school as well.

She waited for the sorting to be over. 'Gryffindor... Hufflepuff... Hufflepuff... Slytherin...' It was going on and on and on.

Ewan couldn't help but smile as one of his other friends arrived at the table (Nettie) and sat down "Hey Nettie! My summer was pretty busy but not too bad. how was yours?". Not really wanting to bore everyone with the details of his long and arduous move, he decided that the less details they knew, the better.

Looking around the table now, he couldn't help but notice a rather excitable first year sitting not too far away from him (Analiese). Not wanting to be rude, he gave her a small nod and smile, introducing himself in about as friendly a way as Ewan could "Hey, this is your first year here, right? I'm Ewan". He knew exactly how scary it could be coming here for the first time so offering a little help was the least he could do "If you have any questions or need some advice, just let me know"

"Yes, it's my first year. I'm Analiese." Analiese opened her diary and read the bit she had written earlier in the day. It was a whole recap of what had happened over the summer. She hadn't been bothered to write in it in the holidays. She checked whether there was anything missing. France... tick... Beauxbatons... tick... Dad's death... tick... Skeet and Sawyer Sayse... tick. She didn't exactly know why she put Skeet and Sawyer in. Analiese just thought they were important. She had only met each one once, in comparison to Austin - who would be sitting at the Slytherin table now - who she met twice.

"How big is Hogwarts?" Analiese had directed the question to Ewan, but it was fine if Nettie answered. Honestly, it was fine if anyone answered. She just needed the answer.

While he waited for Taddy and Hanna to speak about their summers, Dorian got distracted as the other House members joined the table. He nodded his head to Ewan and replied with a "It was okay" to his question. As Nettie approached, he held up his hand in a kind of wave without actually waving it to greet her back and then turned his attention to the newest Ravenclaw. He mentally noted that her name was Analiese. "Hey Analiese,, i'm Dorian" he greeted with a small smile which turned in to a chucle as he heard her question about how big Hogwart was cause it was such an innocent question and it reminded him of another first year he had met during his trip to Diagon Alley. He wondered which House that kid got sorted in to.....

As he looked around the room, his blue eyes scanned the tables but with everyone walking, trying to get a seat and the students getting sorted meant that he wasn't able to find him yet. Next, he looked over at the staff table and noticed that there were many changes this year. He did let out a sigh of relief that his Head of House was still there though. Wait.....did he see that right? "Are we getting a centaur as a professor?" He asked to no one in particular. "Interesting..."

Avalon beamed as she made her way to the Ravenclaw table. So this would be her house family for the next few years! As she slid into an empty spot on the bench, she suddenly became a bit nervous. She wanted to make friends and get to know the others in her house, but she didn't want to come across as too eager. Thankfully, she noticed the first year girl from her boat, Analiese, sitting a few spots down from her. Avalon gave her a wave and a smile. "Hey Analiese! It's good to see a familiar face -- I was terrified I wouldn't know anybody in my new house." Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. Avalon did enjoy meeting new people. She glanced around the rest of her table at her housemates. Hopefully she would get to know more of them soon...she just had to think of a way to start a conversation.

Missa was STARVING. So, thank merlin for the feast. It was definitely one of the reasons why she really appreciated Hogwarts - because hey, you might die but at least you'd die having good food. Yeah? Yeah.

The fourteen year old beamed at her fellow 'claws as she made her way over to her house table.

"Hello, hello, hello" she greeted them in general, as she slid onto a seat next to Nettie before looking over at the staff table. "Oh wow. Lots of new faces, huh?"

Hanna over heard the mention of OWLs and felt the now familiar flutter in her stomach when she thought of the year ahead. "Are you happy with your results?" she asked Dorian. And then blushed at his question. She grinned with a nod, "Thanks! It was a really lovely surprise." She looked up at the staff table and really took it in. There were some familiar faces but on the whole... "There's so many new ones." And indeed it was a Centaur. "It has to be Divination, right? Yes, he's... in the spot." She couldn't say he was in the Divination chair because he tossed that aside. Well, he didn't need a chair, did he?

Seeing Ewan approach, Hanna sent him a wave. "Hey Ewan! I'm good, how are you? Nice summer?"

As other Ravenclaws joined; Nettie & Missa, Hanna sent them all a wave, with a "Hey! How was your summer? Happy to be back?" - knowing full well she'd be able to hear about what they all did in the summer through the feast, or at least back in the common room.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SneakySeverusSnape

Analiese had made it to Hogwarts at last! She sat down at the table clad with blue and bronze after being sorted into Ravenclaw. She received a few welcomes and handshakes as she sat down. She watched eagerly at the other firsties being sorted. In her hand, she held her diary and quill. Just in case she wanted to write something down.

Analiese looked at the silverware placed neatly in front of her and wondered how they managed to make them that shiny. It was probably magic. She looked over at the staff table and saw a centaur. Well, that was obviously Divination. The most boring subject at Hogwarts in her opinion. History of Magic was a close second.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fireheart

Avalon beamed as she made her way to the Ravenclaw table. So this would be her house family for the next few years! As she slid into an empty spot on the bench, she suddenly became a bit nervous. She wanted to make friends and get to know the others in her house, but she didn't want to come across as too eager. Thankfully, she noticed the first year girl from her boat, Analiese, sitting a few spots down from her. Avalon gave her a wave and a smile. "Hey Analiese! It's good to see a familiar face -- I was terrified I wouldn't know anybody in my new house." Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. Avalon did enjoy meeting new people. She glanced around the rest of her table at her housemates. Hopefully she would get to know more of them soon...she just had to think of a way to start a conversation.

Hanna clapped loudly with each new Ravenclaw student, and gave Analiese and Avalon a warm smile when they came to join the table. "Hi there," Hanna said to both of them. "Welcome to Ravenclaw! I'm Hanna."

She overheard the question about the castle Analiese asked and nodded, "It's huuuuuuge. I'm certain there's a huge amount I haven't even seen and I'm in my fifth year." But exploration was always a fun part of living in the huge castle that was Hogwarts.

Chloe had taken a detour into the castle, she had to find the loo before going into the Great Hall. When a girl had to go, a girl had to go, you know. Though while she was in there she might have double checked her hair and makeup, it wasn't that she cared about what she looked like she did but there was a mirror right there so why not check it. Pulling out the new lipstick Rhea had picked out for her and applied it before she left the loo and headed into the hall.

Pulling the big door open she looked around and smiled at everyone she saw. Fourth year, she was a fourth year already, it was amazing. She felt older and smarter already.

Once she was at the table Chloe grinned at everyone, "Hey all!" Big waves happened to everyone at the table and she soon found a seat. "Haven't missed much, have I?" Who were the newbies? Who was in a good mood and who needed some cheering up? It was a room full of teenagers something had to be going on interesting.

Text Cut: Dorian, Hanna and Avalon

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

While he waited for Taddy and Hanna to speak about their summers, Dorian got distracted as the other House members joined the table. He nodded his head to Ewan and replied with a "It was okay" to his question. As Nettie approached, he held up his hand in a kind of wave without actually waving it to greet her back and then turned his attention to the newest Ravenclaw. He mentally noted that her name was Analiese. "Hey Analiese,, i'm Dorian" he greeted with a small smile which turned in to a chucle as he heard her question about how big Hogwart was cause it was such an innocent question and it reminded him of another first year he had met during his trip to Diagon Alley. He wondered which House that kid got sorted in to.....

As he looked around the room, his blue eyes scanned the tables but with everyone walking, trying to get a seat and the students getting sorted meant that he wasn't able to find him yet. Next, he looked over at the staff table and noticed that there were many changes this year. He did let out a sigh of relief that his Head of House was still there though. Wait.....did he see that right? "Are we getting a centaur as a professor?" He asked to no one in particular. "Interesting..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fireheart

Avalon beamed as she made her way to the Ravenclaw table. So this would be her house family for the next few years! As she slid into an empty spot on the bench, she suddenly became a bit nervous. She wanted to make friends and get to know the others in her house, but she didn't want to come across as too eager. Thankfully, she noticed the first year girl from her boat, Analiese, sitting a few spots down from her. Avalon gave her a wave and a smile. "Hey Analiese! It's good to see a familiar face -- I was terrified I wouldn't know anybody in my new house." Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. Avalon did enjoy meeting new people. She glanced around the rest of her table at her housemates. Hopefully she would get to know more of them soon...she just had to think of a way to start a conversation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

Hanna clapped loudly with each new Ravenclaw student, and gave Analiese and Avalon a warm smile when they came to join the table. "Hi there," Hanna said to both of them. "Welcome to Ravenclaw! I'm Hanna."

She overheard the question about the castle Analiese asked and nodded, "It's huuuuuuge. I'm certain there's a huge amount I haven't even seen and I'm in my fifth year." But exploration was always a fun part of living in the huge castle that was Hogwarts.

Analiese beamed at everyone who greeted and welcomed her. "Oh hi Avalon!" She spotted a girl she knew a few seats away from her. She then turned towards an older girl who was giving an answer to her question. "Nice to meet you Hanna! I'm Analiese! Good to know it's very big. And is that exactly a good thing or a bad thing that it's so huge?"

Analiese turned towards the front of the hall and continued watching the sorting. She saw Austin getting sorted into Slytherin... Wait. Austin in Slytherin? That didn't seem right. Analiese merely shrugged and carried on watching. And then a girl called Aoife was sorted into Gryffindor. And so on.

The walk from the sorting hat to an empty seat at the Ravenclaw table seemed like a looooong one. Anna made it, though! She was already smiling to herself as she slid onto a spot on the bench near strangers because, of course, everyone was a stranger. Except for her cousins, which... she didn't know where they were. It was fine.

This was her new home, for most of the next seven years. Anna couldn't say she was disappointed. She looked around, taking stock of those around her. There was one girl that had been sorted before her. Anna thought about saying something, but didn't. She'd probably just take a moment to watch things. She was a watcher. She watched.

Ewan couldn't help but pause for a second as someone mentioned there being a centaur at Hogwarts this year as a teacher "Hmm...this I can't wait to see" he whispered to himself, his interest peeking now as he considered all of the new things he could be learning.

His mind somewhat distracted, he turned back to the others, his mind in a world of its own. He may or may not have missed a question from the first year girl (Analiese) and only just caught the end of Hanna's. "Uh... my summer? It was pretty busy but pretty good thanks. I'm just glad I was able to come back", smiling now as he answered as more people arrived at the table. Without another word, he sat there observing some of the first years, curious how they were finding their first day at Hogwarts (Analiese and Anna).

Happy that they both seemed okay, he gave Chloe a smile before putting his head down on the table with a small groan. As much as he enjoyed chatting with his friends, why did they always have to wait an absurd amount of time to eat? Next time, he was bringing his chocolate from his backpack because this was just silly.

New little first year came up to their table and Chloe waved, "Welcome to Ravenclaw! Are you excited? My name is Chloe!" She loved meeting new people and this was so cool to be meeting all the cute new Ravenclaws!


Her eyes went to Ewan has he put his head down, her own head hurting a bit from the long day. She would be happy to get some food in her and get to bed. Reaching over she put a hand on his shoulder, "You going to fall asleep right here? I think the Headmaster is about to do his speech."

Green eyes watching as the headmaster did say his speech she looked around the staff table, another beginning of term feast and another disappointing feeling to see the professors she really liked not sitting up there. "Don't know why we always lose the good ones, but yet O'Hara who can't even do magic is still sitting up there." She still didn't understand how the woman got a job at a Wizard school when she couldn't use her wand well.

He had finally made it to the Great Hall! After the mess of children outside had finally cleared up, Jackson was ready to cal it a night. Well out here anyway. He entered the room that was already crowded with his peers. He made his way to the Ravenclaw table and a big grin took over. Seeing all the familiar and not so familiar faces beaming with excitement... It made Jackson happy. He was reminded of himself on his first day. A tiny little 11 year old who still couldn't believe that magic was real. He found an empty spot and made it his. "Hey everyone!"

Tina was here and none too pleased about it. She wished she could just go back to summer and all the hustle and bustle surrounding the quidditch world cup… or better still, back to Beauxbatons! But that wasn't going to happen. As she'd taken her seat, her dark eyes scanned the table, and she offered a quiet “Hello” to the familiar faces she saw and a “welcome to Ravenclaw” to the new ones. Then she caught sight of the staff table, and her heart sank. Flamel, Darlington, Wishart, and Kennedy, four of her favorite professors last term, were gone. Ugh, story of her life… just when she started to trust someone, they walked out of her life forever. Well, never again! She was not going to let her guard down around this batch of new professors. At least Stewart, Sutton, Noble, and O'Hara were still there, and… was it too much to hope that Headmaster Trent left too? Mumbling matagots, that guy was obnoxious!

Tina wasn't in a particularly talky mood tonight, so she pulled her sketchbook and pencil out of her bag, pointedly not looking at the staff table as she doodled a butterfly until… her head jerked up at the sound of the headmaster's voice. She had to fight not to roll her eyes at the man's opening remarks. Was he joking or did he actually think students would be more inclined to want to survive whatever insanity this term had in store as a favor to him? She could never tell with Trent, but either way, she thought it was an insensitive thing to say. Oh well… it wasn't the first time (nor likely the last).

Tina made a mental note of the new professors until… her eyes landed on the man in what should have been his seat. the second charms professor in as many years. She blinked confusedly at the introduction. Had she heard that correctly? This guy taught at Hogwarts before and now got the chance to come back?! Had Hogwarts had to beg him to return because word of the previous charms professors’ fates scared off all the other experts? Wouldn't surprise her at all… if she was a superstitious person, she would think the charms professor position was cursed. Nope, uh uh, she was done! As far as she was concerned, there was only one person who deserved a second chance at a Hogwarts job, and it wasn't the one seated next to the new divination teacher.

The rest of the speech went in one ear and out the other. Tina's conflicting thoughts drowned out everything the headmaster said, including the threats at the end that normally would've annoyed her. Food soon appeared on the table, but she kept her head down, focusing on her drawing to calm herself.

Valencia was excited! Anna was sorted into Ravenclaw. HOW COOL WAS It THAT SHE GOT TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH HER COUSIN?!

She waved as the younger girl took her seat. Hi. Yes. Pay attention to meeee.