As Adam headed into the Great Hall, it really HIT him for the first time that this was his fifth year. As in, his OWL year. Which was one step closer to graduation. Which was one step closer to being an ADULT.

Wow. So many thoughts swirling in his brain all of a sudden!

Trying to ignore the random spiral he'd just experienced, he headed to the Gryffindor table and found he was the first one there. Dang, that never happened! He'd been snacking with Christianna all through the train ride, but he was still STARVING even after all those crisps. As he sat down and poured himself a goblet of pumpkin juice, the looked around and kept an eye out for her bright pink hair.

He also scanned the Ravenclaw table to see if his twin had shown up yet. He felt bad he hadn't seen her at all on the train, she'd seemed so distant this morning, though. He had a gut feeling she'd wanted to be left alone but now he was wondering if maybe he had been wrong...

Remy was MORTIFIED that she was passing through the Great Hall UNATTENDED. No girl gang… no boys following her every move… nothing. Her train ride wasn’t all that exciting either, and she was beginning to doubt her REP as a third year student. She had always made big plans to be the most popular girl in school by this point. It had resulted in a bit of a speed walk down the long walkway and she sat herself near the middle of the Gryffindor table, unaware of everyone who was already seated.

As soon as she sat down, she had the overwhelming feeling that she had forgotten something, and after patting her robes down she realised that she had forgotten her tie. How humiliating. This had to be the first time in history that Remy wasn’t dressed in perfected robes during events.

She rested the side of her head on the table as she watched the Great Hall doors to see who entered after her, keeping extra wits about her in case a certain fourth year snuck up on her. Who, by the way, she needed WORDS with.

ASHFISHFLAKA. This was not a good start to the term.

For his Final Train Ride up to Hogwarts it was an uneventful one. He kept to the back of the train for the whole ride up and even got in a few proper naps when he should have been studying for his NEWTs. But Darren did not worry about that. He was well prepared for them. Did a lot of studying over the break, and besides if he were to join MLE in the Ministry to make his Grandfather proud he would need good marks in the exam to even be considered.

"Evening Luck." He greeted the younger Gryffindor Housemate with a nod as he went and moved along to sit across from him at the table. He looked a tad distracted? Wonder what about?

He looked further down the table and saw an even more distracted Gryffindor. though she seemed far more distraught and depressed. "You alright there Remy?" He asked as he recognized her after putting on his glasses. He should remember he needs to wear these if he's forgotten his Contact Lenses. Something about her seemed off.

After a rather eventful train ride, one happy, and cheerful Noah Mordaunt sauntered towards the Gryffindor table, throwing high-fives and fist bumps to friends and acquaintances. One can surmise that he had a very pleasant summer, and was more than ready to begin his last year in Hogwarts.

His seventh and last year. Well, he didn't think much about it nor did he choose to be sentimental about leaving, considering his excitement to be done with Hogwarts and start his great big adventure that is Professional Quidditch (if he gets scouted!), university, and moving out. He was of age, he got his family's support, so he was basically ready. Except for the NEWTs. But that, too, he wasn't worried much. He did well last term, in fact, he even ended up in the top earner's board which was a very pleasant surprise.

Anyway, anyway. He sat near Creed, and gave those present at the table a blanket salute. "Hey, gang." Noah heard his fellow seventh year's question thrown at Remy and glanced at her with a knowing grin, as he reached for his water goblet. "Is it about a certain boy?"

Delilah hadn't realized how nervous she'd been during her sorting until she'd stepped away from the center of attention and moved toward her house table. Her heart was thumping at a normal rhythm now, and she was pretty sure she'd released the breath she'd been holding in.

On that note, there was a new sort of pressure awaiting on her. Delilah wasn't a very shy person at all, but she hated that awkward moment where she was expected to talk to people she'd never even met. This wasn't just one new person either. This was literally everyone. She literally knew nobody here and had a grand total of zero friends.

She was also starving thanks to the eight hour train ride, and all that awaited her was a plate and a set of cutlery. Now she was really missing her family. She slumped into a nearby seat and just fixed her gaze on nothing in particular. Finally, and with every bit of Gryffindor she apparently had in her, she looked up. "Hey. I'm Delilah," she said to a few of them.

Mentally-thrown rolls to everybody who didn't reply.

He had arrived! Hooper Ridley-Rush had arrived! Despite his best efforts to catch what was going on with the rest of the sorting and what was happening with his best friend, Hooper also wanted to make some new Gryffindor friends. The question was, who was he going to talk to first out of the older kids who all seemed to know each other? Maybe the girl with her head on the table? (Remy) Or not. Better not get on her bad side. Or perhaps the boy who was looking away at a different table? (Adam) Maybe not. Instead, he simply chose to let his eyes do the talking and his ears do the uhh…hearing and watched with wide eyes as the rest of the students talked.

After waiting for a lull in the conversations, or not, Hooper leant forward with his best impression of his mother when she was trying to convince him to clean his room and to no one in particular, said “HiimHooperRidleyRUSHI’mAGRYFFINDORtandI’mhAPPYTOM EETyouALLTHANKYOUgoodBYE!”

Freezing in place, cheeks flushing, the first years eyes widened as his brain caught up with his mouth and he realised that he literally had just shouted at the rest of the students so quickly that they must have thought he was doing his best impression of a car driving past super quickly, which he wasn’t because that would have sounded a lot better. Why had he done this? The other first year hadn't fallen to pieces when she'd introduced herself (Delilah). Why had he?

Throwing himself back down on the bench because his bottom had lifted off it such was his nervousness, he looked down at the table for a moment, transfixed by the smallest of chips in the wood. How had it got there? How long had it been there for? Who’d done it?

Arden was still trailing glitter as she arrived at HER HOME. HER HOUSE TABLE!!! She was glad to see her new friend, Hoops, already there, and she took a seat RIGHT next to him. “Hoooooops! We’re in the same HOUSE. OMG!” She SHOOOOOK his shoulders as she sat down and made an EXCITED O FACE. AhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Oh HELLO everyone else! Arden hopped back up to introduce herself to the ENTIRE table very loudly “AND I AM ARDEN TOROS!!!!!” She scratched her head, making some glitter fall on the table in front of her, and beamed. There so many old looking kids. We’re seventeen year olds that huge and adult looking? WOW.

Just. Wow.

EVERYTHING WAS SO COOL AND ARDEN WAS VIBRATING WITH EXCITEMENT.

Delilah had to admit that the sudden change in volume (as in a very, very loud volume) startled her. Normally that wouldn't have happened, but since the last ten minutes of her life had been pretty stressful, she was kind of on edge. She peered down the table, expecting to see something like an Acromantula on the run. But, no. It was just some kid screaming his name at the top of his lungs.

...and before Delilah could ask him what in the name of Merlin he'd just said, some girl joined in and screamed out her name, as well. Was Delilah supposed to be yelling, too? Was that what all the first years did? She just couldn't bring herself to do it.

HOWEVERRRR....

That end of the table seemed to be having way more fun than the part she'd sat at, so Delilah stood up, made her way down a few seats, and sat next to Sir Loud Mouth What's-His-Name and Arden Torros. "Nice to meet you!" she said. She leaned in and whispeed, "Are the others hard of hearing or something?"

FEAAAST.

Valentina cartwheeled into the great hall with a flourish, super happy to be back at school but definitely not looking forward to OWLs. But she didn't want to think about it now. She headed straight towards her noisy table, noticing a lot of first years - and one was screaming.

"Hi everybody!" She offered a general greeting as she sat down, pushing her blonde hair behind the shoulders.

Her mind was elsewhere as she made her way into the Great Hall; she wasn’t quite dissociating, but she was detached, robotic, and very unKinsay. No baby kitten to cling to for safety, no sister to sit beside, and to make matters worse, her favorite professor was missing from the staff table. This year was terrible already. Kinsay had known it would be and so far, it was even MORE miserable than she had anticipated.

And, just to be clear, her initial expectations had been LOW.

Not wanting to bother with small talk, she quickened her pace as she passed the two seventh years (Darren and Noah), which meant she couldn’t sit with Adam (though she did try to offer him a tiny smile in passing). She hadn’t even considered sitting by Remy (she was nice, but where there was a Remy, there was usually an Atlas too and Kinsay couldn’t handle a Situation tonight). So finally, she found herself a seat across from Val.

”Hey,” she offered her friend a small smile as she stepped over the bench. See? At least she was trying. And shortly after, she busied herself by placing a couple of books on either side of her person. One for Emm, one for Lumi, and one for Emma, figuring that Christianna would likely sit by Adam or Val... And though she did know two special incoming first years, she hardly doubted that either one of them would end up in Gryffindor house. No offense, Mercer, but Kinsay knew things.

As she sat, waiting for their sorting to begin, she looked around the Great Hall, in search of her friends, pointedly skipping over the Ravenclaw table. For reasons. And when it was time for the sorting and her cousin's names were called, Kinsay made sure to cheer loudly. And once more for Nerina. But that's it. No one else would notice if she didn't cheer for them, so she respectfully abstained; and when three (Delilah, Hooper, and Arden) of the many eager first years made their way to the Gryffindor table, Kinsay only so much as glanced in their direction. Briefly. They were too loud. And too happy. And. How come everyone thought her to be incessant when kids like that exist?

Also. Could they hurry and get the feast over with please? Kinsay had a Cuddle & Catch-up meeting to attend and this was all Too Much.

For the record...none of this was on purpose... and THAT the fuchsia slime matting his hair and splattered on his robes and the trail of matching fuchsia holographic glitter that seemed to seep out of his robes like the slimy trail from a snail or slug...

...not his fault...

...ONLY in his fault that it had been his prototype...but not his fault that someone had bumped him the wrong way when getting off the carriage. So, really, all the bumper's fault.

Mucking up the floor as he made his way to the Gryffindor table, though thankfully this prototype he had NOT added any aromas or stenches to, Atlas looked around and tried to count his losses as to who was least likely to make fun of him. The odds were not in his favor and not even Remy felt like a safe option - even if that was precisely the direction he headed in IF for no other reason than she knew about some of his experimentations. Who knows, maybe she would like the rudimentary glitter beard he had going on right now. He already had a jawline sharp like a diamond anyway, now it just sparkled.

The first years all in lively moods, which was both cool and uncool depending on the reaction because Atlas was not entirely in the mood for loud noises seeing as his own ears were still ringing from the explosion that was NOT his fault. Mostly he liked one first year that had joined the table at the moment (Delilah...was it?) because she was the only one not yelling. Didn't they know loud and obnoxious was just a house stereotype?

He was catching the tail end of a conversation between Remy and two seventh year blokes (who he was CERTAIN would make fun of and laugh at his current state), and nearly turned heel to go in the other direction...but that had Valentina and Kinsay (both of who his brother had fantasy relationships with) and that was a mental gagging moment that had him turning right back around and to the spot open beside Remy - slime, glitter, and a little grime. "Thanks for saving me a seat," he said while sliding in beside her, TOTALLY NATURALLY AND NOTHING TO SEE HERE. He even added a little cheeky smile.

Of all the people who she thought would sit with her, she hadn’t expected it to be two seventh year cuties, and let’s just say it forced a posture change. Remy sat up straight, eyes unfocused on the Great Hall doors now, and turned her attention to the boys. “I’m all right, thanks,” she started in response to Darren, “I just forgot my tie.” When she said it out loud, it really didn’t sound like a massive problem. But how would these first years know she was the coolest Gryffindor without her tie?! She looked over at Adam Luck after Darren greeted him, whom she had accidentally ignored up until this point, and she greeted him with a small smile.

IF ONLY Noah Mordaunt knew that Remy thought he was the hottest guy in school when he asked her that question. “If you mean annoying Slytherin boys who just can’t be nice even though you bought them a whole pumpkin pasty from the trolley and they proceed to call you a dumb Gryffindor.” She GASPED for air. “Then, yes…” Probably not the answer that Noah was expecting, but she was clearly feeling a little salty about it.

The sorting ceremony was boring this year and Remy paid no attention to the first years joining the table until they started talking. And BOY, did they start talking - it was nauseating. “Welcome to Gryffindor.” Remy said politely to Delilah, who appeared to be less irritating. Her eyebrow raised at the small boy who seemed to merge all of his words into one. Perhaps that was just the way he talked and Remy was not one to judge. Not usually… “Sorry? I didn’t catch your name there. I’m Remy Gaeltheos.” She announced to the small Hooper boy. Important introductions and such.

As for Arden… Remy blinked and said, “Uhm…” Was she this annoying when she was that age? Honestly, it reminded her of her own first year when she joined the Gryffindor table for the first time and was greeted by a horrible then third year. Now she felt guilty so Remy offered the loud girl a smile. “Hi.” That would suffice.

Valentina and Kinsay were next to join the table, and they both received polite smiles. She noticed Kinsay saving seats like she usually did, so was pleased that she hadn’t sat by her, because no doubt one of those seats was for Cambridge.

All the commotion in the hall distracted Remy from watching the doors for her friends to arrive, but before long her side kick was beside her. At least, it looked a lot like him. “What the hell happened to you?” Her eyes widened and she shuffled half an inch away to avoid getting caught up in the fuchsia mess. Her already imperfect robes had to be protected. “And I thought I looked bad without my tie.” A giggle escaped her lips, but no really, she needed to know what he had been up to on the train WITHOUT HER. #dramatic

Emma Rider had only realised while in the entrance hall that her school tie was still in her pocket. It was by far her least favourite bit of the school uniform, both because she didn't like how it felt and also because tying the stupid thing was never smooth sailing. Coby had usually done it for her during the train rides, and he wasn't here this year and it was weird. She hadn't thought she'd miss her awkward uncle, who oftentimes embarrassed her just by standing there. But she kind of did. A little bit.

She struggled with the knot all the way to the Gryffindor table, easily spotting Kinsay and making a beeline for her friend. "Help me with this," she reached to pull the books away from what she presumed was her spot, and sat with one leg inside the bench and the other on the outside. Emma raised her chin, exposing the crooked tie. "Please?" She glanced around to see who else had already made it, offering charming smiles to everyone she could see. Even the first years, bless them. They kept getting younger and younger every year, this year's lot were practically babies.

Noah Mordaunt and Darren Creed got an especially wide smile, for no other reason than they were both very nice to look at, and Emma appreciated that in boys. Bonus points if they smelled nice.

Things were starting to kick off already it seemed at their table. The Seventh Year wondered where else the night would take them. He got his fist bump in from the jovial Noah who took his seat beside him and listened in once his Dorm-mate pressed for more details about Remy's mood. Then there was Atlas, who...or whatever happened there seemed like it was entirely his fault. Darren couldn't prove it, but just that whole look, all that mess. Who else could he possibly blame? Before he could make a remark to Atlas, Remy spoke up and a lot.

So...he was not good with drama. He was sure Noah could handle that better than he could. Wanted help with Homework? Go to Darren. "I don't think I could help with that, but If you want me to make you a spare tie for now. I can do that." he side-eyed Noah, and gave a general glance over toward Adam Luck once more. Maybe he had something to add?
He took his wand out and took the napkin from beside his empty plate. It would be an easy Transfiguration to give her a Red and Gold tie. "Atlas...do you want to get cleaned up?" Big Brother mode was kicking in. He was sure Atlas could just as easily tergeo all that slime off himself, but his offer stood.

Speaking of Big Brother mode. He glanced off toward the Slytherin Table, wanting to check in on Janie. Then turned his head toward the Hufflepuffs, had to double check on Henry. Then finally he just did a once over on his own table again. He had not seen Karleigh join them all, but he was sure she would be here with them.

Okay yeah. First Years really were laying it on thick with the Gryffindor-Like Introductions (Delilah, Arden, Hooper). Darren gave them all a nod "Congrats on making Gryffindor you guys!" He shouted softly across the table to them all. "Arden, Delilah..." There was a pause. The one kid who had spewed jarbled words together he couldn't make out his name. Oh! Wait no "...Tom. It's a pleasure." He nodded toward them all again. Tom, he definitely heard the name Tom in all that Mess of an introduction.

There were nods of recognition and friendly pearly white smiles directed at the Fifth Year Girls. Emma, Kinsay, and Valentina. Darren noted Kinsay's lack of enthusiasm except for one small moment. Perhaps anyone of them had seen Karleigh? You know, not that it mattered. "Hi Valentina, Emma" He looked over toward Kinsay again to give her a smile too.

With the confidence of finally getting her apparition license and being a seventh year her steps were sure and her confidence was high. Well that and she didn’t see one Headmaster Trent ready to harsh her mellow when it came to her fashionista ways. But she was not going to get too into that. She wanted to sit further to the back of the table, but upon seeing Noah, she figured he would be the right person to sit with.

Sliding close she smiled, “Care if I join you Noah? Darren.” She nodded o Darren when she said his name. She didn’t figure Noah would mind but you never knew these days. She had herself ready and poised to take the seat once they invited her to join, you know she didn’t always crash people’s dinner plans.

She was trying to see what was wrong with the girl a few seats down that she remembered her face but not her name off hand, didn’t she always have a flamsteed attached to her? “You okay?” She watched as a few loud, and she meant Loud first years joined the table. Oh merlin thank goodness Jacoby hadn’t ended up at her table she would have been dealing with his shenanigans all year and honestly she didn’t have time for that. With this being her NEWT years and all.

Her eyes tracked Kinsay and Atlas she wasn’t sure what was going on with Kinsay, but when did she ever. Turning back to Remy she heard her mention no tie. Well since Headmaster Trent wasn’t here she figured her nice and stylish tie would go unnoticed by the new headmaster. Grabbing the spare tie she always kept in her pocket incase Trent harshed her fashion choices. “Here Remy. Have this one.” She tossed the tie down to her watching the rolled crimson and gold land in front of her. And that my friends was Charlie Rivers goo deed done for the first month of school.

Why oh why had he suddenly freaked out when he’d reached the table? Maybe it had been a sudden release of everything he’d been nervous about or maybe he was simply just a massive goober but something had happened for him to react that way. Doing his best to wrench his eyes away from the table, he looked up at some of the voices that were talking around him now and apparently, to him (Delilah).

“It’s uhh…nice to meet you too,” pausing for a moment to laugh a little before replying, “maybe…I’m not sure. Although, I don’t really think anyone actually heard what I said just now,” his own reply that of a whisper now as he looked around at all of the older kids, some of them for sure casting massive frowny faces at his general direction it seemed (Kinsay). Or maybe that was just in his head because he’d made such a fool of himself, who could really tell? “It’s nice to meet you too. Sorry about…that. I…y-eah,” his reply now to everyone at large who could hear because some of them had thankfully not instantly hated him and ignored him.

“Hi Remy, I’m Hooper. Hooper Ridley-Rush, his voice slightly more confident and more of a regular tone now. He was about to ask her if they were going to have any food tonight when another student introduced themselves to him! So maybe being in Gryffindor wasn’t as bad as he’d though. “Umm…my name’s not Tommm…” his reply to the older Gryffindor (Darren) turning into a mumble now. Had his face gone red again? Oh…NO! Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to say it again a little louder this time so that the older kid could actually hear him. “My names Hooper. Hooper Ridley-Rush.”

Here she was at the Gyffindor table, she had been sorted, she wasn't sure how to feel, the pure excitement she had when they sorting hat told her where she belonged was so great. But then she had a slight sad feeling, Vera was in Ravenclaw, and how was she suppose to watch out for her if she wasn't in the same house. True Vera had survived 3 years at Hogwarts without her, but she was here now. And now in a new different house.

Maxine took her seat and looked around at her new house mates. Who would se become friends with? She was excited after all to meet them.

In between bits of conversation, Delilah looked up and glanced down the table and around the Great Hall. How could she not, what with all the excitement going on? On one occasion, she saw some random older kid (Atlas) walk in looking like he'd already had an encounter with a giant flobberworm. Magical school, she decided in that one moment, was going to be awesome. If she wasn't entertained by the magic she'd be learning in class, her fellow students were sure to make up for it.

Remy drew her attention back in. "Thanks," she said, keeping things short and sweet. There was too much going on to keep up with long conversations right now. "Thanks," she said again, but this time to Darren. Okay, maybe long conversation wouldn't be so out of place after all. It was either that, or she was going to start sounding like a parrot soon.

She turned back to the first kid who's shouted at the top of his lungs. Interesting, that one. "I don't think anybody understood what you said," she replied with a laugh. So his name was Hooper. Where had Tom come from anyway? "So, uhh...anybody know when the food'll be served?" She fished around in her pockets, curious if there was a leftover piece of candy from the trolley still in there.

There was a lot going on, but Arden liked that. She liked a lot of ~happenings going on at once because it meant she had a lot to LOOK at and didn’t need to train her focus on just ONE thing. That had always been a skill Arden lacked. Lessons would be interesting because of that. Being homeschooled meant that Eden had catered to Arden a lot while learning, and the new learning style was going to be quite an adjustment, something her mam had spoken with her a lot about. They had developed some techniques in case she struggled to stay on task.

SHE WOULD BE FINE. Arden was veeeeery optimistic about it.

Turning to the girl named Delilah, another first year, she shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I am just VERY excited to finally BE here. At HOGWARTS School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!” And the sorting was almost over, too, and then there’d be FOOD and she would have to try to find SOMETHING vegan or at least vegetarian and if not WELL OH WELL, EDEN TOROS. This eleven year old was not worried about it. her stomach would be, later, but ehhhhh! That was a later problem

It did NOT escape Arden’s notice that some of the older kids were glaring at her as if her mere presence were annoying. And maybe that was case right now, but Arden just smiiiiiled back and waved. They would all get to know her and love her! She was 140% sure of that!

Also, Hooper completely IGNORED her, and Arden made a pouty face at him. “HooOOooooper! HELLLO!” Maybe he was overwhelmed and hadn’t seen her, which if that were the case, he was totally forgiven. Another new Gryffindor had joined the table who looked LONELY so Arden waved at her. “Hi, Maxine! I’m Arden Toros!”

Valentina practically beamed as Kinsay sat across from her, happy to see her friend. "Hey. Glad to be back?" She did raise her eyebrows slightly at her friend saving seats - but she did that all the time so val wasn't really surprised. She turned to greet Darren with a little smile. "Hi! hope you had a good summer." ... SUMMER. UGH. She was missing summer already. She ran a hand through her hair to make it more messy.. because messy was a good look on her. Ahem. Anyyyyway.

She noticed Atlas and Remy - they both received warm smiles - kind of wondering if they were dating because they did look kind of cute together. Not that it was any of her business. She shifted sightly in her seat to look at all the first years, somewhat wistfully, suddenly remembering her first year days. Those were good times. Siiiigh.

Happy to be back? Kins tried not to make a face, but it was hard to keep from frowning. But rather than tell her one hundred percent truth, she opted for a stretch of the truth. A major stretch. "I guess," she paused, before asking Val the same. "Are you?" Her friend certainly looked happy to be back. Maybe it had to do with Evan. Maybe. Kinsay would've asked about it, but she wasn't really feeling up for talking much right now.

Which is why it was such a relief when Emma came to join their side of the table. Emma and Val could be chatty together and then Kins could just, kind of, exist. It was perfect.

So when Emma sat down and asked for help with her tie, Kins happily came to the rescue. It was nice to have something to do with her hands. She had been feeling all sorts of antsy before. "I wish we didn't have to dress in uniform for the feasts," she mused as she undid Emma's tie entirely and started from step 1. Kinsay was an expert when it came to ties, even though she didn't like the ones they were made to wear. It was kind of funny. The safety of the school uniform used to be something Kinsay felt grateful for, but ever since she had taken a keen interest in fashion, school robes just got in the way of all good things. Like, hello!? They were ancient! She was sure they've kept the same ones since her grandmother was Headmistress!

And, for the record, she did see the way Darren smiled over at her, but because she didn't feel like acknowledging it, she quickly looked the other way (and only felt a little guilty about it afterwards). She didn't manage to escape Cooper's glance over though. Ugh. Maybe she should've just skipped the feast all together.

Summer rushed over to the table, seriously the great hall was massive, no wonder why it was called great. She looked around to see that there were other tables, she assumed they must be for the other students in the other houses, did they all have a table.

Summer then noticed a table with a lot of adults sat on them, maybe that was the Professors tables, but then were were the house elves, did they have their own table too, she had heard from a Hufflepuff boy that they ruled the kitchen, so surely they would have their own table?

Whilst this was a GREAT hall and the size was good, it was still heaving with kids and Mozart wasn’t ready to leap to his new house table. Instead, he had a whole hopscotch themed routine from the sorting hat to the table. One foot, two foot, one foot, two. Hopdy hopdy hopdy hop. Now, he wasn’t going to rush to introduce himself to everyone at the table, but he did grin brightly and inspect for food. Huh. Why were they having to wait? This was… WELL IT WAS ASKING FOR CHAOS IF YOU ASKED HIM!!!

His stomach needed something in it that wasn’t the sugar being suckkkkked into his blood stream. He was going to explooode sooner or later. Maybe puke if he got too excited but that was a problem he would deal with later.

There was… a bit of a bounce in his seating. A vibrating bounce. An excited vibrating bounce. MOZZIE B WAS EXCITED YO. (And also definitely missed his parents and baby brother but that was something he might cry about when he snuck off to the bathroom later)

As for Lumi Kolzer? Well, she just was AWOL.

Delilah had almost forgotten she'd asked the question about the rest of the table being hard of hearing. She paused when Arden answered it, and then realization dawned on her. There was just too much going on at the table at once to focus on things. "Yeah, I'm excited, too! And ready to eat!" she exclaimed. She had heard detailed stories about this feast, and let's just say she was pretty happy that she was starving right now.

Still no food, though. Sadness. Anyway, how were people keeping up with other people's names? It seemed hard enough to memorize the names of just the people at the Gryffindor table, and then there were three other tables of kids, too! Delilah looked up as another girl (Summer) joined the table. "Hey! I'm Delilah! Are you a first year, too?" she asked.

There was also some kid (Mozart) doing an epic hop-bounce thing toward the table. Delilah wasn't quite that brave to do a little jig around the Great Hall, but the boy got her attention. "If you're looking for food," she said, noticing how he'd been inspecting the table, "there's just plates and forks right now. Apparently, we're waiting on somebody to give a speech." WHO was supposed to be speaking anyway? Did she need to stand up and tap a glass with a spoon to get everybody's attention or something?