General The Gryffindor Table 2018-2019

At first, Ziba was taken aback by the girl's sudden outburst of laughter. It wasn't long until she joined in, however, letting out a loud snort and doubling over as her shoulders shook with mirth. She was sure even more people were staring at them both now. What a ridiculous morning she was having. At least she wasn't alone in it, though.

The girl introduced herself as Maggie Parker and Ziba tilted her head in thought. Maggie Parker... why did that name seem so familiar? "Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes slightly widening as realization dawned on her. "I think we have Defense Against the Dark Arts together! And that means you're in First Year too, so I guess we're in the same dorms." Ziba was still getting used to her class rotations and she was usually too fascinated by the day's topic to really focus on the other students around her. Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms were quickly becoming her favorite classes. Any chance she got to use magic was more than worth it.

Maggie prompted for Ziba to introduce herself, causing her face to flush when she realized she hadn't even said her name yet. "Ziba," she said quickly, finishing Maggie's sentence. "I'm Ziba. Soames. Don't think the last name is that important to know, but you know it now so..." She trailed off awkwardly before clearing her throat and nodding toward the stack of muffins before them. "How are the muffins?"

“How are the muffins?” Ziba asked, surprisingly serious, though Maggie couldn’t quite tell. “Hot.” Maggie deadpanned, though she couldn’t keep up the facade for long. She quickly burst into another bought of laughter, immediately deciding she liked the Gryffindor girl. She’d said her name was Ziba Soames, and then she’d trailed off about how last names weren’t important, which had a charming effect to it, though Maggie was sure Ziba was unaware of that fact. “So,” Maggie asked, “What was it like for you before Hogwarts and all?” Maggie reflected on the question. Sure, she was at a magic school in the middle of nowhere, but time and time again she found herself missing her old home. Above all that though, she missed her family. As the only magic person in the house, she hadn’t seen any of her family in a few months now, and it hurt. But Maggie compensated by keeping herself busy and talking to them through the strange wizarding method of owls. She quickly snapped out of her almost trance-like state and turned her attention back to Ziba, a light red flush covering Maggie’s cheeks. She was slightly embarrassed, but she got over it, awaiting Ziba’s answer...

Maggie's laughter was contagious and Ziba quickly found herself cackling once more. She liked people like her, people who were happy and carefree and didn't take themselves seriously. She reminded her of her Aunt Ira, she thought fondly.

However, Ziba was suddenly taken aback by Maggie's inquiry on her life leading up to attending Hogwarts. It was a casual question but she realized she didn't really know how to answer it. "Oh," Ziba started, "well, my mum and aunt are witches and went here but I didn't know I was a witch myself until I was seven. My parents kinda kept it a secret from me for a long time." Okay, turned out she did know how to answer it. She just didn't know how to answer without feeling that pain again. It had been years ago and her parents were supportive now, though they still tended to be a bit overprotective. The anger at possibly living her life without magic, without knowing who she really was, still lingered however. But Ziba didn't think now was the time to bring that up, so she cleared her throat and moved on.

"Anyways, I got my letter and now here I am! I love being here and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. What about you?"

Maggie couldn’t wrap her mind around how Ziba’s mother could keep the fact that she was a witch from her for so long. She was sure that Mrs. Soames had her reasons, but Maggie couldn’t imagine being able to keep a secret for seven years. “Wow. I can’t believe your mom kept that from you for so long...” noticing the somewhat pained look on the girl’s face, Maggie stopped talking about it and quickly changed the subject, “I have two sisters, four brothers, three dogs and two cats. With all them, it was kind of crazy in our house— even without magic. Both my parents are Muggles, and I don’t know anyone else in my family that’s magic— besides my aunt, but we’re not actually blood related. Charlotte Cadunt is my cousin though, and she goes here, so I guess she’s my only magic relative.” she’d never really thought about that, actually. She quickly glanced at her watch, and she shot Ziba an apologetic look. “Sorry Ziba, I’ve got to head out... I’ve got detention with Professor Grimes. I’ll talk to you later, all right? I think we’re in the same dorm, so I’ll see you there.” Maggie grinned at her, but stopped in her tracks as she was leaving the cafeteria. “What am I saying, I’ll see you in any of the classes that we share... which is like, all of them. Bye!”

Maggie Parker has left the thread.

Ziba was astonished to hear how big Maggie's family was. It had always been just her and her parents, which she was content with. She couldn't imagine having to share her stuff with six other people. "That does sound crazy," she said giggling, "but I bet you all have had all kinds of fun." Ziba couldn't honestly say she'd always wondered it would be like to have siblings. Pets might have been nice, though. She'd always wanted a cat.

Suddenly, Maggie looked at her watch and announced that she had to run off for detention. "Yikes," Ziba said apologetically. "Can't say I'm sad I'm missing out on the fun. But I'll see you around!"

With that, Maggie ran off, before quickly turning around to modify her parting statement. Ziba giggled again. "Go!" she said, waving her hand in a shooing motion. "You don't want to get another detention, do you?" Finally, Maggie left the Great Hall and was headed for what Ziba was sure to be an exciting session full of disciplinary wonders. She briefly wondered what Maggie could have done to get detention. She made a mental note to ask her when she saw her later.

Ziba turned back to her food and resumed eating, pleased to see that the food had been charmed to stay warm even while the Gryffindor girls had been chatting. Hogwarts was just full of marvelous wonders. Suddenly, Ziba noticed the platter of muffins to her left. She eyed it warily, then shrugged and reaching for one that looked like it was loaded with chocolate chips. Without hesitating, she bit into the muffin before immediately regretting it.

A loud yelp of pain rang down the wooden table. Gryffindor's never learn, do they?

Ziba Soames has left the thread.