General The Ravenclaw Table 2018-2019

Mac couldn't help but gawk as he stared down at the table in front of him. How much history was there in this small section of wood alone? How many great wizards had sat in the very same place he was resting now? Ravenclaw was a fine house, one that he was proud to call himself a part of. He was so excited to learn its rich and enthralling history. The huge table was just about full, crowded by his fellow Ravenclaws. Some minded their own business, quiet as they ate alone, while others chatted among the crowd.

He didn't know anyone at the table, of course. He was 'muggle'-born, meaning that his parents didn't have magic. All of this was so incredibly new to him. He poked at the food on his table, which looked more appetizing than anything he'd eaten in his life; though for some reason, he could not find his appetite. He was too preoccupied with learning anything and everything about this wizarding world he'd been introduced to.

From his bag, he retrieved his copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a cursory guide on all sorts of different magical creatures. He flipped through the tome's contents until he found an article that peaked his interest; the Dragon, straight out of a fairy-tale. To think that he might one day see something so majestic in person. It floored him.

She looked over at Willow "Yeah, i'm new here.." I hope I didn't sound like a jerk, she seems so nice "I'm Amaya." She probably already knew that There was still syrup covering the bottom-half of her robe Should I ask her something? "Anyway... whats your name..?" I feel stupid She tried to find something to talk about, anything to talk about. I could make a joke? My jokes are crap... "What do you think of Hogwarts so far?" She seems so nice, don't mess this up.. don't mess this up!! "It seems so nice here!" Why do I trust this girl so much? Great... now I sound like a jerk... she... she seems so sweet and kind... I really hope we can be friends "I-i'm a bit awkward... hehe.." She awkwardly chuckled, and smiled "a-and kinda clumsy.." She seems trust-able... "Y-you just seem so nice..." She really does seem like she want's to be my friend... aaaand I sound like a creep "I hope we can be friends!" I really do... she added to herself before awkwardly looking at the girl again, and smiling. She already loved it here, it was her dream! But, why was she so awkward to people? People who could be her soon friends..

Theodore felt like he was a kid walking through a candy store. He was half-blood, yes, but he was raised completely non-magical, so he was going into this almost blind. Why did his mom not want him involved in a place like this?! Everywhere he turned, he saw a small piece of magic. A person turning a book's pages without having to touch the paper, owls flying left and right to deliver letters- well, that wasn't really magic, but it was still super cool. This entire place seemed like an amusement park, except he'd be living here for the next several months. He didn't know how he didn't already experience several heart attacks from the excitement.
When the sorting hat had given him the final decision of his house, he was a tad confused. Ravenclaw? From what he understood, this was the… well, the nerdy house. He had a lot of energy, shouldn't he have gotten into someplace like Gryffindor? Or, maybe he was cunning and ambitious enough to be a Slytherin! He thought of himself as loyal and friendly, why wasn't he a Hufflepuff? Nevertheless, he sat down at the table, taking the situation in. As he sat down, he noticed a boy next to him, reading a book he couldn't catch the title to. The only clue would be the illustrations on the page he was on. Oh, maybe the one book about… cool creatures and how to look for them? He seemed busy. That didn't stop Theo from talking anyways.
"This is so cool, right?" He began. "Everyone here seems so used to all this already! You're reading that one book, right? Are you reading it because you're bored, or because you don't know much about around here and want to find out? What's your house- wait, we're sitting at our house table already, I already know that. I'm Ravenclaw. You knew that. How are you?"

It took him a moment to realize who the person sitting next to him was talking to. Partly because he was engrossed in his book and in larger part because he hadn't expected anyone at the table to speak to him at all. He looked up, his blue eyes wide as he struggled to keep up with what the other boy was saying. He seemed to run at a speed all his own, like a train that had gone off the rails. Every time Mac would start to speak, the other Ravenclaw would move onto a different question or subject.

When the boy finally finished, Mac was left feeling a bit overwhelmed. He wasn't sure how to begin to answer him, given he'd just asked four entirely different questions. Mac settled for the last one. "I'm okay... how are you?" He cringed at himself as he looked back down at the book in his hands. Unsatisfied with his own lackluster answer, he quickly backtracked to one of the boy's earlier questions.

"I barely know anything about this place... but I will soon." He spoke softly as his eyes flickered over the page, the gorgeous painting of the dragon leaving him in awe. It's rude to talk to someone without looking at them, he realized, so he raised his head to meet the other student's eyes. "My name is Mac Murphy," he said as he held out his hand for him to shake. 'Nothing leaves a better impression than a firm handshake,' his father had told him. "It's nice to meet you, um..."

Theo sat there, keeping the same goofy smile on his face as he waited for the other boy to respond. It seemed like he didn't know he was being talked to at first. Maybe he was overwhelmed? Theo was, too. Well, he wasn't, but he was. It was a weird feeling.

"I'm good!" He grinned wider, listening to the other boy talk about his experience with the school. It was good to know that he wasn't the only clueless one around here. "Same, I hardly know anything about this place, even though I'm a half blood? I think that's what they call it. I like it, it makes me sound like… uh. A demigod, or something." He wondered how many other kids were half blood around the school. From conversations he had eavesdropped on, he mainly only heard of people being born of two wizards or two muggles. Man, muggle was a weird word. Muggle, muggle, muggle. Now it didn't even sound like a word.

He took the boy's handshake offering, shaking it with such energy, that the poor kid's hand might've fallen off. "I'm Theodore Matthews! Call me Theo, though. Theodore sounds all nerdy, or like that one dude from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Or you can call me Matthews, but only teachers call me that, and it makes me think I'm in trouble. Well, maybe just call me Theo, then!"

Oh! Okay, wow. So Theo had a strong grip. A lot stronger than his, anyway; it kind of hurt. "Okay, Theo," he said a bit sheepishly, unsure of whether or not to bring attention to the fact that the boy had just about crushed his hand. For whatever reason, the mention of Alvin and the Chipmunks got him thinking about electronics at Hogwarts. He didn't watch a lot of TV, but he still wondered if they had cable or satellite. Or even internet, for that matter. Actually, he wasn't sure if he'd seen a single electronic device since he'd arrived. He couldn't make up his mind on whether that was a good or bad thing. He supposed that, with magic, they didn't have much use for them.

"You're a half-blood?" He asked as he thumbed at the pages of his book (keeping his hands busy always helped his nerves when it came to meeting new people). Fortunately, he knew what a half-blood was, if only by word of mouth; he wasn't that clueless. It meant that one of Theo's parents had magic, while the other was a 'muggle' (such an odd word). "I'm 'muggle-born', so you'll have to forgive me if I seem a bit daft about the lot of this. But- I guess you're in the same boat?" Duh. Theo had literally just said that he hardly knew anything about the place. For a Ravenclaw, Mac sure felt dumb. Maybe he and Theo could work on figuring all of this out together.

Theo showed mercy to Mac, letting go of his hand. He seemed like a nice kid! Well, he seemed a bit shy, but that was understandable. It could be because of the new environment. He understood that. He hadn't talked to many people since he had arrived at Hogwarts. He did, however, talk a kid's ear off on the train ride to the school. How could he not be talkative? He was going to a freaking magical school! Or, maybe the other boy was just naturally timid. That was fine, too. He just… couldn't really relate. He had no filter, and definitely a hard time staying quiet or still for too long. How strict were the teachers here, he wondered? Maybe the classes would be more interesting than normal school?
"Yup. The halfiest blood." He made a mental note to never say that again, which would probably be ignored. "Yeah, I know practically nothing! My Ma's the magic one. Tried to raise me as a nor- a muggle." He had to get used to the fact that in this lifestyle, muggles aren't really the normal ones. Better start now. "Dunno why. Well, I do, I think, but it was for a stupid reason. She got over it, though! Otherwise I wouldn't be here. Well, would I? Maybe they would've come to kidnap me or something… nah. Wow, I wonder how they'd handle people not going? Do they just ignore 'em? Does magic school follow the same laws as muggle school? Wh-" He cut himself off, realizing that he was basically talking to himself, just with a spectator. As quick as he cut himself off, he was onto another topic, the speed of the switch being able to give someone whiplash.

"What did your parents think when they got the news, then?"

"My dad wasn't too happy," he said as he put his book to the side, but not before carefully marking his place with a bookmark he'd brought from home. "My mum, though? She was a tad confused at first, but she told me I should go. Apparently, my great grandpappy used to tell everyone that both his parents were wizards, and he just got unlucky! Said that the magic skipped him over. Everybody just assumed he was a nutter, but I guess right then she realized he was telling the truth. So, she went ahead n' sent me off. My dad still didn't want me going anywhere, but I guess my mum's permission was enough for them to bring me here." He grinned as he thought of his family back at home. He loved Hogwarts, but he missed them quite a bit. Especially his brothers, as obnoxious as they could be. He wondered if they were missing him, too.

Mac felt a bit embarrassed once he realized that he'd been talking about himself for some time now, even if it wasn't anything compared to Theo's ramblings. He looked down at the cover of his book, tapping his fingers against the leather-bound cover. "Well, what about you?" he asked as he flipped the cover over and ran his fingers across the pages. "I guess your mum didn't take it very well if she tried to raise you like you didn't have magic."

"Oh, that's cool! So your great grandad didn't have magic, even though his parents had magic? Wow, how does that even happen? Is there a name for it? I think there's a name for it. Don't know it, though." He leaned back in his chair, trying to see how far he could go without completely falling over. The answer was alarmingly far back.

"She tried to tell me it wasn't real- the letter, I mean. Said it was a prank or something. I didn't fall for it, though! I kept bothering her about it, since I knew that if I was magic, it would explain a lot of things. I eventually bugged her enough to get her to tell me about it. She had some sort of experience in wizard and witch stuff that she didn't want to talk about, which I guess is why she wanted to raise me like a muggle? My Dad was super confused, too! She didn't even tell him." He continued to lean back, tipping backwards at an alarming speed. He gripped onto the table to catch himself, not letting himself fall. Once he was balanced again, he continued to tip himself backwards. "They got over their nerves, though."

Mac was only half-way listening at that point. That may have been rude with him, but he was worried that Theo might fall over, with the way he was rocking his seat back and forth. It was a bit nerve-wracking, watching him come so close to falling over with each kick off the floor. Mac gasped when Theo finally lost his balance. "Oh-!" Mac jumped up to stop his fall, causing a few of the other Ravenclaws to turn his way and stare. He blinked, his ears flushing red from the unwanted attention. When he realized that Theo had caught himself, he slowly sat back down in his seat, feeling incredibly small with so many different pairs of eyes on him.

Then Theo started again. Kicking himself back in his chair, coming that much closer to knocking himself out on the floor. Mac couldn't comprehend why, but he lacked the brazenness to ask. "You- you really should be more careful," he stammered, a bit flustered. "You could get yourself hurt."

Shaking his head, he decided to move on. "But- I guess it's a good thing she came 'round, yeah?" he asked as he plucked one of the appetizers off the table. "I mean, I guess magic can be dangerous, but that's why we need to learn how to use it properly, right?"