It had been an uneventful trade ride for him and that suited Jude just fine. This term, the aim was to keep his head down, focus on the stuff he wanted to accomplish and to continue improving himself. Not to mention continue being a good brother. Speaking of... where was Keigh? Jude had been quite certain he saw her a while ago among the vast number of students. He was quite sure Reagan was already settled down at the Gryffindor table so he need not worry about his vivacious older sister.

His search for Keigh was cut short as he spotted new faces at the Staff table. By now, the fourth year was used to the constant changes and was always sad to see certain professors go.

Seventh year. Rosa sat with her cheek resting in her hand as she rested her hazel eyes up at the staff dais for a moment. New professors as always, why couldn't the same ones remain for her last important year? Determined to not get mopey Rosa straightened a little in her seat as she pulled out a handful of unopened chocolate frog cards from one of her robe pockets which she emptied out on the table among the goblets.

Flashing a glance over at Jude she offered. "Hey Jude, want a chocolate frog to munch on while we wait for the new headmasters speech? You might get a card you haven't got." That was if he collected frog cards? Rosa had seen Ryan earlier so she knew without having to look that her brother was seated at the eagle table.

Jasper Amir had eaten a LOT of food on the train. So much so that he likely ate enough to feed the entire population of Hogsmeade Village ... And then some.

And yet, despite this, here he was making his way to his house table and his stomach was still growling. "Sup, guys," he sup!nodded to the two older kids and hopped onto the bench effortlessly, before dropping down to sit.

Having caught the tail end of Rosa's offer to Jude, Jas jumped in as well. "I've got extras too, if anyone's interested." And with that, he reached into his pocket and dumped an entire stash of snacks onto the table. Canary creams, licorice wands, chocolate frogs - you name it, he's probably got it. He motioned to them both, encouraging them to grab something, before reaching for a chocolate frog for himself.

"I'm STARVED. Hope the speech is fast this year." And not boring.

He leaned back casually and bit off the frog's head.

Lucia Laporte wasn't sure when she had decided that Hogwarts was her favourite place in the world. It definitely hadn't been a conscious decision. Perhaps it wasn't and she was just glad to be done with the summer and her parents, but there was just something about the castle that she adored, something old and mystical but also very friendly. No other place felt as friendly as Hogwarts.

Stifling a yawn, the just about fifteen year old - her birthday was tomorrow, though she doubted she'd get a gift from home this year - glided towards an available seat at the Hufflepuff table and sat, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She'd spent the last few hours on the train fast asleep, not minding the chatter of the first years she'd shared a compartment with. "Good evening," she politely murmured to the people closest to her, reaching up to useless smooth her short, curly hair. This is why her mother hadn't wanted her to chop it off. "You look feral," she had said. Lucia loved it, and couldn't help a tiny little smile at the feeling of it resisting her attempts to tame it.

At the mention of the feast, Lucia remembered to look up at the staff dais and blinked in surprise. What happened to Headmaster Trent? She wondered if she'd missed some important bit of news during the summer. Another side effect of not living in the country she went to school in. "Where is-" she started to ask, voice thin and quiet, and paused when she didn't see any closely familiar faces around her. Deflating a little, she pressed her hands to her lap. Perhaps Fowl would know, or Atlas. She'd ask them tomorrow. Her eyes darted to the snacks on the table, and then to the two people who had offered. Was the offer for everyone? Or...?

Keighley entered the great hall along with everyone else but had quickly lost sight of her two older siblings and cousins. This was quite alright though, she was sure to be able to locate them all in a few moments time once seats began to be taken. Which is what she planned on doing right away before somewhere sat where she wanted to sit.

Near her brother.

With a clear spring in her step and a huge smile on her face, bright blue eyes sparkling, the twelve year old made her way directly towards the Hufflepuff table. It wasn't very long before she spotted who she had been looking for. "Hey, Juuuuuuuuude!" Keighley giggled in a sing-song manner to the very tune of that old muggle song, dropping herself down onto the seat right beside him. "Did you miss me?" Obviously he had even if it had probably only been about an hour or two since they had seen each other last on the train.

"Hi everyone! How was your summer?" The question was spoken at large and meant for anyone who felt like answering her. The very last thing she wanted was to make anyone feel left out.

Rosa was reaching for a chocolate frog when Jasper dropped down on the bench near her talking like a muggle teenager. Who even said sup at Hoggies? Anyways she shot him a kind nod "Hi Jasper, did you have a good summer?" Opening her chocolate frog packet she immediately moved the frog away to look down at the card. Sighing she muttered to herself "Not Alberta Toothill again. I’ve already got three." Looking over at Jasper she asked "Do you collect chocolate cards Jasper? Do you want an Alberta Toothill card, she was a famous duellist." Rosa didn’t hear Jasper’s growling stomach, but she was hungry too.



Rosa watched her auntie Tia-Marie take up her seat on the staff dais as Lucia joined the table with a stifled yawn. She secretly envied the other girls’ short and curly hair because her own hair was boringly brown and always long. Maybe she should try and brew a hair dye potion. What would Ryan say if she went to class with bubblegum pink hair? Liking the idea very much, Rosa turned her hazel eyes to smile at Lucia. "Good evening Lucia, did you have a good summer?" Gesturing to the chocolate frogs and other snacks provided by Jasper she added "Feel free to grab some candy, it might be a while yet before the new headmaster gives his speech." 6 years at hogwarts had taught her that she’d always be hungry for food when the time finally came for the speech to be delivered.



It was hard to miss or not smile brightly at the sight of Keighley as she took her seat next to her brother Jude at the badger table. Keighley seemed to Rosa to always be full of positive and happy energy. “Hi Keighley,” the seventh year badgerette greeted with a happy smile lighting her face and eyes. "I had a fun summer. I went to summer camp and got a kiss from a boy and learned a few words in mermish. How was your summer Keighley?"

Daniel approached the Hufflepuff table with his hands deep inside of his robe pockets and a pensive expression on his face as V's words said during the train ride seemed to haunt him already. He took a seat at the table and placed his bag on the bench beside him. While doing this, he noticed Lisa marching over to the Slytherin table and his dark brown eyes followed her she took a seat next to V.

Was V going to tell Lisa that she had referred to him as 'cute' on the train? Surely she wouldn't? It would be as embarrassing for her as it was for him. He could feel his cheeks warming up again, but this time it was because he remembered his flustered reaction.

Daniel, feeling embarrassed, placed his arms on the surface of the wooden table and then rested his chin on top of his arms, willing himself to not think about it. He looked around the table at the other students, but he wasn't in the mood to greet anyone. Instead, the boy turned his head to see the staff table. It was strange to see Kazmi in the Headmaster's chair but he was curious how he would perform in his new role.

As far as animals went, the badger was a pretty cool one to be associated with. Luca was into creatures and from what he could tell, they looked pretty cute and harmless but badgers could look after themselves and were survivors. He guessed he could see himself like that, too. He'd been looking after himself for, well, as long as he could remember. Were his housemates like that, too? He was curious. Not that he was jumping right into conversation or anything. For now the eleven year old found a seat and just listened to those around him.

Aiden was SCARED. He'd spent the whole train ride crying for his Mommy, and had been very red-eyed and sniffling by the time they'd gotten onto the boats. But now he wasn't homesick anymore. Now he was just SCARED.

As always, Aiden held his teddy bear Wally as he climbed up onto a bench by the Hufflepuff table, where the talking hat had told him he had to go. The tiny boy looked barely over six or seven, and like he barely fit into his robes. He stared around with wide eyes at all of the people and the food and the ghosts and the ceiling and the EVERYTHING, way too scared to talk to anybody and feeling like he really needed to go pee.

The castle was gigantanormous. There were SO many things inside of it. He'd never SEEN a real castle before and everything was DIFFERENT from his house at home and it was MAGIC. REAL MAGIC.

He just sat there too scared to move or talk and tried to get used to his new place as HUFFLEPUFF.

Jumping down from the front of the Great Hall and landing with a quiet thud he made his way to the Hufflepuff table. From everything he could see most people already knew each other and were chatting away. Well that's lame. Glancing around again his eyes fell on a quiet one. He looked mostly harmless but Jacoby wondered what he was thinking because by the time he sat across from the poor kid he looked deeper in thought.

"Hey-o, names Jacoby Rivers. First year?" He asked the silent kid (Luca) across from him. His quietness could come in handy for all the pranks that he had planned with his twin. But his twin had mentioned they needed to find other friends to just you know to branch out or something.

His eyes glanced to the side a bit and he noticed another kid who had been looking extra shifty and nervous (Aiden). Ah he must have been a first year as well, cause he was gripping that teddy bear for all it was worth. With a slight smile he tried to give a comforting look to the kid but turned his attention back to the other kid he had sat across from.

It took a minute for Luca to realize this Rivers guy was talking to him and when it dawned on him, the first year nodded his head. "Uh yeah, first year." He followed the kid's gaze to the smaller boy with the bear and then back again. He'd smiled at the other kid, which was kind of nice since it was clear that the smaller boy wasn't feeling this place. It was enough to convince him to give Jacoby his name. "I'm Luca." Surname didn't much matter since Luca doubted he'd remember it anyway.

"What'd you make of the sorting hat?"

With his occupation occupied in seeking out Keigh, Jude was completely oblivious to almost everyone else around him. He saw one or two of his cousins and she heard Reagan’s loud chatter rather than saw her. Still no Keigh. It was Rosa’s words that caught his attention. Chocolate frogs? Jude flashed a distracted grin. “Don’t mind if I do, Rosa,’’ he remarked, taking a frog. “Thanks. Hey, since it’s your final year, I’ll give you a parting gift later in the term. I’ve got a huge collection of cards so how about you go through them and select a few that you haven’t got?”

Jasper’s hop onto the bench sort of vibrated it a bit. At least that’s how it felt to Jude. “Hey, Jasper. Spied you on the train but didn’t get to say hi so… hi!’’ The fourth year was in a silly sort of mood. Maybe it was because he was beginning to worry that he had somehow lost Keigh or maybe it was because he was grabbing onto every distraction to keep from turing his gaze to the Ravenclaw table and seeking out Evan. “Merlin. Do you spend all of your money on sweets?’’ It was a rhetorical question and already Jude was reaching for a cauldron cake. “Yeah, same. I don’t even think eating this frog and cake is even going spoil my appetite.”

Jude went back on his mission to locate Keigh. Like… for real… where did she go? He craned his head to check out the Gryffindor table. Was she with Rea? Oh. OH, nope, she wasn’t! “Keigh! There you are.’’ He turned his full attention on his youngest sibling and reached out to boop her lightly on the nose. “Of course I did.” He grinned. “Caught up with your friends then?” Girls always had a ton to gossip about, right? The boy split the Cauldron Cake he had gotten from Jasper and offered a piece to Keigh. There was no way he was letting her go hungry if he could help it.

The fourth year glanced around at the rest of the Hufflepuff Table, taking in all the Puffs there so far. Some were in conversation, some were looking as though they were not in the mood to chat and some looked plain nervous. The firstie with the teddy who had just been Sorted looked scared out of his wits though. Jude immediately felt sorry for him; he recalled how intimidating it was to be here at Hogwarts as an eleven year old. He raised a hand in a wave, a smile on his face. “Hey! You’ll be okay.” Just a word of encouragement here.

Aiden looked up over his bear and saw a pair of boys (Jacoby and Luca) looking at him. The boys smiled at him, and nervously the little Hufflepuff raised his hand in a small quick wave. He wished he was brave enough to go talk to them but now it was just all too MUCH. He was overwhelmed and he had never been around so many other kids at the same time before and it was just all scary and what would he even SAY?

Then another boy (Jude) was looking at him but this was an OLDER boy. Even though he was big though, he still seemed nice when he smiled. He told Aiden he was gonna be ok. Aiden hoped he was right but he thought maybe he might be wrong.

"I-I....H-hi." Aiden squeaked, covering his mouth with his hand. He couldn't speak! He just nodded shakily wishing he knew how to talk to people or like he could just disappear back to home.

Sooooooooooo.

Serena is mean. After the Hat sorted him, she went to Percy and almost dragged towards the Hufflepuff table and warned him that he better stay alive. She did know this school is notorious for death, right? You come here knowing your survival chances are about 75%. If she didn't then she wasn't as smart as she lead on. But Percy wouldn't say that aloud. She had the power to hex him now.

Before she left him, his redheaded cousin had pointed out a certain person at the Hufflepuff table and instructed Percy to go sit with them. He didn't want to get in trouble, so the small, hazel-eyed boy did just that.

"Hi, my name is Perseus Baltazar and my cousin, Serena, said you know her and..." He told the older boy as he approached him. Then he took a peek at the Slytherin table, caught sight of Serena and quickly sat his bum down. "She told me to sit with you." Then in a whisper he added, "I think my parents are paying her to keep an eye on me. Don't tell her I told you."

He didn't want to, but his gaze was drawn back to the Slytherin table. He wished he could use an extendable ear to hear what they were saying, but the Great Hall was so crowded that it would be discovered in an instant.

He sighed and lifted his head as one of the newly sorted Hufflepuffs spoke to him. Daniel frowned as he looked at this kid named Perseus. Serena had told him that he had to sit with him? He looked for the girl at the Slytherin table, trying not to focus on Lisa and V and shot her a glare. "Did she now..." he replied slowly. He got the impression that she had dumped Perseus with him as if he were a babysitter. "Sure, whatever" he said as the kid told him he was certain that his parents were paying Serena to keep an eye on him. Something that he did not believe to be true at all. "Headmaster Kazmi should hurry up with his speech. I'm hungry"

Was this older kid mad? Percy surely hoped not. He hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, he was following instructions and that was a good thing.

Percy got a bit more comfy and took out a box of flavored jelly beans and slid them across the table towards the older guy. "I have this if you're that hungry," he offered. Percy had saved that box for later tonight when he was in his new dorm. He might need comfort treats on his first night away from his family, but he was willing to share.

Curious eyes glanced down the the table then back to the spot in front of him. Then back at the boy. "What's your name? It's kind of weird calling you boy in my head." Especially more so since he was Serena's friend. Percy was too quick in his thinking process and quickly added before the boy could answer. "How does the food appear? Do wish upon a star and food pops right out of the table? Or do elves serve us? Elves serve us back home." Nod, nod, nod.

”For sure,” he smiled at Rosa, leaning back and keeping his balance by holding onto the edge of the table. ”Wish it was longer!” Summer always went by too fast. Maybe it had to do with spending the first three quarters of it in anticipation of his birthday, just to have a birthday and end up right back at Hogwarts again. Or all the quidditch. It was probably the quidditch. Time flew when you were flying. It was probably science or something. Anyway. What was she saying about chocolate frog cards? ”Thanks, but I’m alright - I don’t collect any, but if I find any cool ones I’ll be sure to send them your way.” He hardly ever looked at the cards that came with the box. His priority was the chocolate.

Speaking of which, he took another bite just as Lucia made her way to the table too. Was she hungry? Because food was meant to be shared. And there was always more where this came from, his trunk was stuffed. He was about to say as much, but then Jude was saying hi and Jasper’s attention deviated. ”Heyy, no worries, man. The train was crazy packed.” Always was. As for his stash? ”Nah, just most of it,” he replied playfully, effortlessly winking at his housemate. Of course he hadn’t really spent all of his money on sweets. He had plenty left to spend on other things.

The arrival of new first years (Luca, Aiden, and Jacoby) didn’t go unnoticed either - but Jas wanted to give them his one on one attention, rather than crowd them; so for now, he simply offered them each a Jasper-grade smile and a sup!nod.

And for now, Jasper hopped out of his seat, to go sit on the table beside Daniel and the kid (Perseus) he was with. ”Yo,” he greeted them both collectively. Following Daniel’s gaze toward the Slytherin table, he wondered out loud, ”What do you think they’re chatting about?” It looked intense. But he waved in that direction anyway. It was meant for Lisa, V, and Serena.

Oh and, ”I’m Jasper, by the way.”

Yes, they were discussing him. It was far too coincidental for the girls and Alfie at the Slytherin table to all be looking in his direction. He sighed again before returning his gaze to Perseus, who was holding out a box of jelly beans. "No thanks, I'm not a fan of jelly beans" he had soap-flavoured one once and vowed never to eat them again. He was lucky not to have gotten the vomit flavour though. He enjoyed the wizarding world, but its candy selection was bizarre.

"What?" he asked vaguely when Perseus asked for his name at the same time Serena, clearly upset, left the Slytherin table. "Oh, I'm Daniel" His eyes tracked her curiously, but then it shifted to Maya, as Serena passed her. When he saw her warm smile toward one of the first years, his cheeks flushed slightly. He should hurry up with transfigurating his cat blue so that he had a reason to talk to the older Slytherin again.

"You'll see soon enough, don't want to ruin the surprise" of course, he lied. He simply didn't want to waste time explaining how the House Elves transported the food up through the ceiling and onto the tables.

Daniel nodded his head at the same aged Hufflepuff as he saw Jasper take a seat next to him and Perseus. He was about to say that he was certain that they were talking about him when Jasper WAVED IN THEIR DIRECTION.

ASDFGHJKLASKLGHGAJL!!

Daniel reached to grab Jasper's arm and forcefully pushed it back down so fast it was as if he had been catching the Golden Snitch. "Don't wave!" What was wrong with him?! Couldn't he FEEL that they were talking about them!?

Daniel wasn't a fan of jelly beans? Daaaaang. Perseus hasn't ever heard that before that it took him by shock. He stared at the table with mildly wide eyes. "That's incredible," he whispered mostly to himself and took back his box of jelly beans.

His new buddy seemed distracted so that distracted Percy from his current surprise. He followed Daniel's gaze and he, too, waved in Serena's direction. She was leaving though, and she didn't seem happy. What happened? Did he have to go over there and beat some one up? Not actually beat with fists, but like...toss them a shoe or something less confrontational?

Turning to Daniel, Percy tilted his head. "I wonder what--" OOOH. Daniel's cheeks were RED. "Are you blushing?" he asked with a hug grin on his face. He tracked his line of view-- "Are you blushing at SERENA? Ewwww!" he giggled. Oh, this was GOLD.

Then someone joined them. Jasper. Someone Percy sort of recognized from attending Serena's quidditch matches. He flashed him a peace sign with his fingers. "I'm Percy," he said, still grinning from amusement.

Keighley giggled. "Where else would I be? This is our table." Jude was acting so silly. Sure she had friends but there had been lots of time on the train to see them and she had all year too. "Not really, kinda got lost in the crowd." No worries though for she was here now! Before she could say anything else a piece of Cauldron Cake was being held out to her. "Oooh, yum! Thanks, Jude!" She had the greatest brother ever. Taking it from him she took a bite.

The silence of munching on a Cauldron Cake was short lived. She was being spoken to by a seventh year! Blue eyes went wide as she giggled. "Was he a nice boy?" Keighley asked curiously. Older girls like Rosa knew lots of important stuff and were always so nice to talk to. "It was great!"

Jordyn hadn’t planned on being fashionably late to the feast, yet here she was. She was somewhat ambivalent about the new term, but determined to make the best of it. It seemed as if the last year had gone by so quickly and the summer even faster.

Finally reaching her house table, Jordyn gave out a general greeting. “Hello my Hufflepuff people.” Then she plopped down in the first empty spot she could find. Looking around, she saw familiar faces and those that she hadn’t seen before. Next her eyes went to the staff table, taking note of the current professor situation. Putting her elbows on the table, she rested her face in her hands. Let the term begin.

Come now.

Jude hardly expected anyone one to think he was scary or intimidating. One didn’t even really have to know Jude well enough to get such a vibe. This was why he was relaxed that the newbie, his name was Aiden if memory serves the fourth year correctly from the Sorting Hat calling the name, at least made an effort to reply to his greeting. It was not missed how much Aiden stuttered though. This just made Jude pity the kid. “Hopefully the speech’ll happen soon and you’ll get to have dinner. The Start of Term feast is something you never want to miss.” His tone of voice? Cheerful and welcoming.

Had the train been packed? The fourth year truthfully hadn’t noticed. He had spent his entire time in a compartment staring out of the window, playing with Ned the cat and having the occasional conversation with the friends that found their way into said compartment. The comment about the sweets sent him into a chuckle. “Save some galleons for Hogsmeade then, Jasper.” Honeydukes, after all, did have such a good selection of sweets.

“Hi, my Hufflepuff person,’’ Jude returned Jordyn’s greeting. “OWL year, huh? My sympathies to you, Jordyn.'' It was a joke, of course.

“Uhhh, earth to Keigh? At the Gryffindor table with Rea? Gosh, I swear I can hear her big mouth.” May the stars ever be in Reagan’s dormates favour. If anything, they were the ones who would need hearing aids by the time Reagan was through. “Welcome,’’ the Pufferfish told his sister. He eyed Kazmi again. “You going to miss Trent?” he asked Keighley curiously. She had only known both the men for a term but Jude was always interested in hearing what his sisters thought.

What’s this? Rosa was talking of her kiss? He side eyed Keigh as she giggled. Jude knew she’d be curious and truthfully, he was curious too, having never been kissed by oblivious Evan in a romantic way. Not that it mattered now. Evan probably preferred snogging Valentina. So was Jude going to eavesdrop on Rosa and Keigh? You bet!

The older boy (Jude) was real nice, but Aiden was still scared. He held his teddy a little tighter and tried to make words.

"I-I-Im not h-hungry," he managed to stutter out. "My tummy hurts."

Hurts wasn't the right word really, cause it wasn't the 'ow' kinda hurty but the kinda thing where you might feel like you're gonna be sick or like there's elephants walking around all in your insides but Aiden didn't really know how to explain what that all felt like so he just said HURTS.

He wasn't the only one talking to the boy though. There were boys and girls talking all around as far as the eyes could see and the ears could hear and Aiden still didn't know what to say to any of them.

Lucia spent a few moments chewing the inside of her lip, until a hazy memory of Headmaster Trent telling them he won't be back floated up in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, sighing. Of course. She hadn't mentioned these issues she'd been having to either parent over the summer, hoping they might disappear. Perhaps she could fix them herself with the help of the school healer.

It took the fourth year another moment to realise she was being spoken to, and blinked in surprise. "Oh.. yes," she lied to Rosa, smiling softly. "I did, it was wonderful. Thank you." Lucia hesitated for another moment, but did reach out for one of Jasper's chocolate frogs eventually. She bit into the wiggling head and watched the table at large, taking in the familiar faces and the new ones as well.

Her eyes briefly flitted over her year mate Jude, giving him a small nod, and entirely ignored the very energetic group who were looking over at the Slytherin table. Eventually Lucia's gaze rested on the first years, and especially on the one with the stuffed bear (Aiden). Her lips curled. She hadn't been allowed a stuffed animal beyond the age of seven. Even her father had thrown them out at her mother's request, and they rarely ever talk to each other let alone agree.

She was grateful when someone else joined the table, letting her misguided anger at the little boy and his toy ebb away. "Good evening," she politely, and quietly, replied to the second year (Jordyn). Leaning her chin on her hand, elbow on the table, Lucia hoped the new headmaster would speak soon. Her relief at being back had worn out, and now she wanted to disappear.