Mildly entertained by the goings on around her, Jordyn smiled when she heard someone respond to her greeting. “Hey Jude”, she said when spotting her housemate. She resisted the urge to add the extremely obvious…….don’t make it bad. She should blame her mom for her knowledge of ancient muggle songs.

Nodding sadly, she said, “I know, right? That is something I am definitely not looking forward to.” OWL’s. She was not going to think about it right now. She would have plenty of time to worry about that later.

Jordyn’s attention was then taken by Lucia who offered a very formal greeting. “How’s it going? Did you have a nice summer?” At that moment, Jordyn’s stomach began to growl. Yes, she was quite ready for the “feast” part of the feast to begin.

And then, she noticed a little firsty (Aiden) who looked as if he was about to lose his dinner before dinner was even served. Jordyn knew a little about being the new kid and figured the boy must be terrified. Of course the teddy bear that he was clutching kind of gave it away.

With her most non-threatening voice, she said, “Hi there. I’m Jordyn. First time at the feast, huh? It can be a little overwhelming, but you’ll get used to the madness. Don’t worry.” Of course that was easier said than done, but she hoped to put the kid at ease.

Ah! Another person! Aiden looked up at the big girl who started to talk to him. (Jordyn) Like before, he gave a small wave when somebody said hi to him. "Uh-huh," he nodded his head shakily. It WAS his first time. "I...I-I...I-I never been to ANY feast."

He looked very lost as he looked around at everyone. At least the big kids in Hufflepuff were nice. He hoped she was right that he was gonna get used to all of this cause it REALLY didn't feel like it.

"I-I'm...I-I'm...."

He swallowed, trying to find the courage to even say his name.

"A-Aiden Lockwood."

Shocked.

Crushed.

Devastated.

These were the perfect words to describe how Parker Renfrow felt as he clumsily made his way over to the Hufflepuff table. At least, he assumed it was the Hufflepuff table. He didn’t really know which house was which, but this was the one that he had been ushered towards. It was full of smiling faces and a few people welcomed him as he sat down, but he could only managed a half-smile and a mumbled thanks in return.

He had chosen to sit in the nearest available seat and immediately swivelled in his seat to look for his best friend, Hooper Ridley-Rush. Surely he felt just as bad as he did. Maybe they could go and talk to the Headmaster after the feast and ask him to put them in the same house. He didn’t see why that would be a problem.

His thoughts continued to wander, even whilst the Headmaster gave his speech. It was only when a brown-haired head appeared above other heads that he noticed. Oh, there was Hooper! "Over here, bro!" He called with a look of ‘What is this madness?!’ on his face. He was still thinking so much about how crazy it was that they weren't in the same house that he barely acknowledged when plates and food appeared all around him, which was EXTREMELY unlike him.

Strolling between the tables, his eyes flickering up towards the staff table where he’d just seen the new? Headmaster give a super cool boring speech, Hooper quickly made his way over to the Hufflepuff table and plonked himself over to where Parker was and quickly pulled an empty place towards himself so it looked like he belonged. “Bro, like, what…just…happened? Did you ask to be put in this house or something?” leaning in closely now as he started talking so no one could hear him unless they were ease dropping or snooping on purpose. He already knew the answer to the question but he just couldn’t fathom how he, Hooper, had ended up in a different house to his best bro Parker.

Skewering some chicken onto his fork, he shoved it into his mouth quickly and looked down for a moment, lost in a million different plans he’d been formulating since he’d heard Parker was in Hufflepuff before eventually looking back at his best friend. “Do you think like, we could go back and ask for the hat again maybe? Like put it back on your head and ask it to should out Gryffindor?” This idea was had it’s good points but the had had been removed so it was less likely. “Or maybe…” his eyes now flickering back up to the headmasters chair, “We could go and speak to the headmaster right now together? If we both go, he can’t say no to us, surely? Not in front of everyone?” After sharing his last plan, Hooper shovelled another pieces of chicken into his mouth and eyes his best for a moment to see his reaction, a little unsure if he’d actually come with him or just make him go on his own. There was no way he could go on his own. No way!

After a moment of chewing, Hooper swallowed loudly and forced back the tears that were threatening to make a special guest appearance like that cousin at Christmas that you don’t like but your mother always invites anyway. Unwanted and yet always appearing at the inopportune moment. Luckily for him though, the food was so good that for a moment, he lost focus on the problem at hand and started to wonder how the cooks here made their cheesy mash potatoes so cheesy and yet so fluffy? It was like…walking on a buttery cloud.

Parker scooted over a bit to make room for Hooper when he joined him. Despite the crisis they were facing, various delicious smells were starting to steal some of his attention and he began piling food onto his plate. Some mash, some chicken, some broccoli so his mother wouldn’t be mad at him – not that she would know what he was eating – some more mash for good measure, and so, so much gravy. But he froze at Hooper’s words. His jaw dropped for a second when his best friend questioned him about whether he had asked to be put in Hufflepuff. He was simultaneously offended and afraid that he thought that was even a possibility. "What? Of course not!!!" He spluttered. There was no world in which Parker would EVER ask to be separated from Hooper. The thought was just… BONKERS!

But then the other boy began laying out a couple of ideas and Parker chewed thoughtfully (read: he shovelled food into his mouth at a shocking speed) as he listened to them. He wasn’t sure about asking the sorting hat again. "I dunno, bro. I told the hat that I was a Gryffindor like you and it didn’t listen." It was clearly stupid or something, so that idea might need to be a back-up one. However, the thought of every single student staring at them while they argued their case to the Headmaster made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, so this idea seemed even worse, but this… this was a worthy cause. He couldn’t say no to Hooper, especially not when his suggestion sounded so logical. How could the Headmaster say no them in front of everyone? He would seem mean if he did, surely. "Right now…" He repeated, trying to psych himself up.

Gravy dribbled, unnoticed, down his chin.

"Let’s do this."

He shovelled yet more food into his mouth as he waited for Hooper’s confirmation that they were actually going to this. It was best to commit and do it quickly, before they chickened out. This was, after all, extremely important.

With a big smile he wondered why he only gave him his one name. Was it because he thought he was the next Elvis or Malfoy? Cause Jacoby didn’t think that. But it was day one. They had 7 years together. He’d learn his name sooner rather than later. “Good to meet you Luca.”

Glancing at the other kids around he heard the other first year talk about their nerves. Poor kid. But he didn’t want to scare them more with his inevitable pranks that intimidated most people his age. “That hat was a little weird. He mentioned something about splitting twins up michevious twins after the Weasley twins. What’d you think?”

How cute was this kid? Jordyn could totally feel his angst and was determined to help him chill. “It’s very nice to meet you Aiden Lockwood. If you need any help around here, just let me know.” Jordyn was by no means a Hogwarts expert, but she did know a few things that could be helpful to the new kid.

Aaaand finally. It was time to eat and not a moment to soon. Jordyn began to fill her plate with all kinds of feast goodies. She turned to her brand new housemate and said, “Hey Aiden, the food here is really great,.” “You should give it a try.” Maybe eating would take his mind off of whatever was making him nervous.

It took Hooper a moment to drag his focus away from the food but when he did, his attention was fully on the situation at hand again and his best friend. "O-okay Big Dog. It must have been that hat. I don't know what else it could have been." He knew it wasn't really Parker's fault but he just had to ask anyway to be sure. He had to rule everything out!

Nodding a little, Hooper scooped a few more scoops of mash into his mouth and then give a small burp of approval before continued "Okay man. Let's just go and ask the headmaster and he'll sort it for us right now. I'm sure he'll say yes..." and leaning in a little more, he whispered "because we're going to do the Hooper and Parker sad boi's special. You know, the uhh...sad lip and look down and then up face?" Not everyone had mastered the sad face but he'd taught Parker yeaaaaaars ago and together, there wasn't a lot they couldn't get if they wanted. This however was a little unknown. He had no idea how the headmaster would react!

Standing up, he gave Parker a look that clearly said "let's do this! and then walked somewhat terrified confidently towards the Staff table, ready to demand that Parker be a Gryffindor.

Really? If he needed any help at all? Aiden nodded his head, though the girl didn't know what she was getting into because she didn't know just how many things Aiden needed help with.

Then wow! Just like MAGIC, there was FOOD. LOTS of food. Food of every kind and so much food that it could feed a whole group of giants. There was food that Aiden had never even SEEN before and lots of vegetables that would make his mom happy. Even though he was scared his eyes almost bulged out of his head and then the girl said that he should eat because the food was really great. But what if he threw up? Aiden didn't want to throw up.

"I guess I can try..." he said softly.

He looked at the table and the way all the other kids just grabbed whatever they wanted and put it on their plate. But that wasn't how it worked at Aiden's house.

"May I please have some mashed potatoes?" the small boy asked. "And some juice...?" He held up his cup towards the girl (Jordyn). Aiden had never poured a drink before and he didn't want to spill. There wasn't any grownups there so he asked a big kid instead.

The speech wasn't what he'd expected. Actually, he hadn't exactly been sure what to expect, but in his head the whole speech had been much more dramatic than the actual, real-live thing. At least the headmaster seemed okay. He didn't trust him or anything. Adults he didn't know took ages to earn that, but the guy didn't give him any bad vibes. That much was reassuring.

Watching the other kids fill their plates, Luca took a moment to soak it in that he'd be getting to do the same. That a full plate was going to be a regular thing from now on. It felt...good. Like good enough that he felt a little emotional about it, but he was good at pushing that kind of stuff down.

"So you're a twin, then?" Luca eyed Jacoby briefly before helping himself to some food. "I don't know. I guess I wonder how the hat knows what it knows about us. I know it's magic, but what kind?" He supposed he could ask a professor about that, but that would mean going to see one and he wasn't quite up for that just yet. "Looks like we're not the only ones wondering about the hat." He gestured to the other two first years nearby, the ones talking about going to the headmaster to ask to be re-sorted. Could you even do that?

Desiree sat at the Hufflepuff table a little ways away from the older students. Usually the thought of making new friends excited her, but she was too sad to care at the moment. Why wouldn't the hat put her in Gryffindor? Her dad used to be head of Gryffindor! Her best friend was in Gryffindor! Everybody was in Gryffindor except her! Well, technically not everybody, but everybody who mattered most to her!

Stupid hat, she thought. I'll show him I'm brave enough for Gryffindor! She sniffled, wiping her eyes with the hand that wasn't clutching her doll. A Gryffindor wouldn't cry! But the tears wouldn't stop. Dad was going to be so disappointed when he learned she didn't get into Gryffindor! He was already so sad when she left, and now she'd gone and made things worse! And Summer… what if they grew apart now that they were in different houses? Shaken with silent sobs, she buried her face in her doll's hair, too distraught to pay any mind to the headmaster's speech or the food on the table.