General The Gryffindor Table 2017-2018 Closed

"I really don't mind which house I'm in, from what I know about them, I think I could fit fine into any of them." was heard by the Boy, who was scribbling down notes. What was his Name again... Marvin? Yeah, that must have been the Name of the guy. He really liked that answer though, it meant that he could make friends with anyone open-minded.

The girl, who must have previously sat next to him, before Marvin sat down, asked him a question indicating future plans. He shrugged, again halting his fork still to answer the question.
"I don't really know, I just wanted to go into the house my mother was in- that's it basically..." explained the Boy. "Well, I do want to be known at some Point, but right now I am Eleven years old, there isn't much I could do"

For him that was it. He wanted to do good things, when he was bigger, but wasn't sure yet, what he would like to do. But that wasn't expected of him yet, since he was only a child in the eyes of the adults. Well he couldn't really complain, since children have a lot of opportunities, while adults have a lot of responsibilities.

Spotting a empty seat at the busy Gryffindor table, Alina rushed forward quickly to snag it for herself. She was starving! Classes were ridiculous today, and her book bag felt like it weight a hundred pounds! Potions was hard today, and she almost managed to make it blow up in her face. No doubt she looked like a mess, but food was more important than looking put together.

Alina shuffled in, squeezing into the seat, and letting out the breath she was holding. Around her, people were already in conversation. While getting some food onto her plate, she listened to a boy talk about how he wished that he had gotten Slytherin. That struck a cord with her. Her mother was a Slytherin and told her time and time again that it was the most important House to be in. Alina knew no doubt, her mother would be disappointed in her being in Gryffindor. Alina looked up from her plate, making eye contact with a curly brown haired girl. She smiled brightly.

After taking a bite to eat, she spoke up. "My mother wanted me to be in Slytherin. She told me that I had to be in that House, to carry on her family legacy." She shrugged. "I'm honestly waiting for a howler from her in the coming days. My father was Ravenclaw, and he said that as long as I followed my heart, whatever House I ended up in would be home." She took a drink of pumpkin juice. "Oh, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Alina, it's nice to meet you all!"

"My mother wanted me to be in Slytherin. She told me that I had to be in that House, to carry on her family legacy." She shrugged. "I'm honestly waiting for a howler from her in the coming days. My father was Ravenclaw, and he said that as long as I followed my heart, whatever House I ended up in would be home." She took a drink of pumpkin juice. "Oh, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Alina, it's nice to meet you all!"

The other girl looked a bit frazzled as she hungrily tucked into dinner. There was probably a pretty interesting story behind her slightly singed looking blonde hair and splattered robes, but she wasn't sure whether or not it would be too rude to ask. "Mardella," The brown haired girl smiled back, self-consciously.

"I'm sure your parents will be proud no matter where you end up," She tried to reassure stiltedly, although it felt a little hypocritical coming from herself. "I don't really understand how you can have legacies of one House anyways?" She added, between bites of food. "It's just an over-the-top personality test right? The Hat?" Mardella squashed down the worry at the Hat's words from earlier. It couldn't talk to anyone about what it saw, right?

"I'm sure your parents will be proud no matter where you end up," She tried to reassure stiltedly, although it felt a little hypocritical coming from herself. "I don't really understand how you can have legacies of one House anyways?" She added, between bites of food. "It's just an over-the-top personality test right? The Hat?" Mardella squashed down the worry at the Hat's words from earlier. It couldn't talk to anyone about what it saw, right?

Alina chewed thoughtfully before answering, studying the expression on Mardella. "I completely agree with you, but the way my mother explained it was that if your child is in the house that you were in, your grandmother was in, your great-grandmother and so on, it meant that your family blood was strong. The magic was strong still." She rested her chin in her hand.

"My mother came from centuries of Slytherins. I am the first in generations to break the cycle." She giggled before taking in some more food. "Not that it matters to me. My brother was Slytherin, so she got what she wanted. I doubt she will even care about what I do anyways." She sighed, sadness drifting into her, and she tried to push it away. Alina shook her head, clearing the dark thoughts from her head. "Anyways, the hat uses legilimency, so I think it's not just a personality thing, the hat sees everything in your head. That's how it chooses which house to put you in. The hat sees it all."

Alina finished off her food, wiping at her mouth with a napkin."I'm rambling again! Sorry, I'm so bad for that. Anyways! You have such a beautiful name! I've never heard of it before. What does it mean?"

Mardella nodded along, feeling a little out of her depth at the talk of legacies and family blood and magics. She could understand wanting something familiar though thinking of Alan's almost wistful expression at the mention of his mother's house. Clearly the boy thought highly of his Ma, which was kind of rare among the boys she was friends with at home.

"My mother came from centuries of Slytherins. I am the first in generations to break the cycle. Not that it matters to me. My brother was Slytherin, so she got what she wanted. I doubt she will even care about what I do anyways."

At the blonde's words, Mardella tried to stifle a snort of amusement but didn't quite manage, missing the sad expression on the other girl's face. "Youngest, as well?" She beamed. "I get where you're coming from - " And pointed a finger at herself. "I've got three older brothers, no sisters and Ma still gets my name wrong!"

Actually, she mused during a lull in the conversation as Alina shifted in place, that was kind of hilarous, really. Mardella and Marvin and Alan and Alina. Mad - how they had similar names and everything.

"Anyways, the hat uses legilimency, so I think it's not just a personality thing, the hat sees everything in your head. That's how it chooses which house to put you in. The hat sees it all."

"I wonder if there's every been a person it couldn't Sort?" She mused outloud, not really expecting anyone to know.

I'm rambling again! Sorry, I'm so bad for that. Anyways! You have such a beautiful name! I've never heard of it before. What does it mean?"

The tall girl flip-flopped one hand in the air as if to wave off the apology. "It's fine, you seem to know a lot?" The words came out questioningly, as she wondered what Alina's family did. Maybe if she had any questions, the other girl wouldn't mind overmuch. Scraping the last of the sauce off her plate, with a slightly awkward cutlery scrape, she stuck the fork into her mouth before mumbling around it, "Thanks - I think... something to do with meadows...and lakes?" She shrugged and set the utensil down, "It's a bit weird, honestly. Alina sounds...European?" She guessed, pushing her plate away. "How is it spelt?"

"Youngest, as well?" She beamed. "I get where you're coming from - " And pointed a finger at herself. "I've got three older brothers, no sisters and Ma still gets my name wrong!"

Alina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, second born child. My older brother was my mother's pride and joy. Funny how they forget about the other children they have!" She laughed, amused by Mardella's story.

"It's fine, you seem to know a lot?"

Alina drifted back into the conversation, almost getting lost in her head again. She blushed, embarrassed. "No, not really. My parents loved to tell me stories about their time at Hogwarts, and stuff. Are your parents magical too?" She asked, taking a long drink of her juice. When the girl asked her about her name, Alina lit up. "My mama pulled it from the Greek origin actually! It means 'light', I was born during a tropical storm, and she thought it was fitting. It's 'a-l-i-n-a'. The spelling, I mean."

Alina brushed off any crumbs from her sweater, resting her chin on her hands. She admired the girl before her, feeling a pit of envy at how beautifully her dark hair curled. How she wished she had curly hair like that! "But I love your name, it's unique. Do people call you Mar as a nickname?" Alina reached back to pull her ridiculously looking hair up into a pony tail self-consciously before swiping a pecan tart off a serving platter.

"No, not really. My parents loved to tell me stories about their time at Hogwarts, and stuff. Are your parents magical too?"

Mardella shrugged, "Da is," a bit she amended in her head and then shot the blond faint grin, teasingly. "Any embarrassing stories about your parents? Or cool ones?" It seemed that whilst they were talking, most people had finished dinner. There were mostly gleaming empty trays and golden platters on the table, the bread basket was nearly empty save for one squashed looking roll at the bottom and the crystal jug of amber pumpkin juice only had a few dregs left at the bottom.

A few seats down a boy she hadn't caught the name of reached forwards for the bruised looking roll, only to squeak in surprise as the basket changed beneath his reaching hand into a wobbly mass of red jelly. Mardella blinked as desserts suddenly appeared on the table. Beside her, Alina barely twitched, scooping the blond hair at the nape of her neck into a ponytail and then cutting herself some pie.

"But I love your name, it's unique. Do people call you Mar as a nickname?"

Following her lead, Mardella picked a few brownie pieces off a nearby tray and a yummy looking eclair. "Ma let Da name us - " She rolled her eyes and then took a satisfying chomp out of the gooey brownie. "His name's Eiran, and my brothers are Dillon, Jorah and Tiordan." And then she said flatly. "Ma's name is Jane. Jane." Finishing one brownie slice, she grabbed the next with a happy sound. "I've not had Mar before, but I get called Della sometimes. Mardella's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? ...Do you get called any nicknames? Or is it just Alina?"

Any embarrassing stories about your parents? Or cool ones?"

Memories swam through Alina's head, mostly pictures of a happier time when her brother was around and her parents were a little bit more relaxed. "Mm, well, my papa did tell me about this one time when he was in his sixth year, he was dared by his friends to pop a random Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean into his mouth and then go talk to the girl he liked. With his luck, he picked the vomit one, and nearly threw up on the girl," Alina laughed. "He said it was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to him." She finished her tart, wiping her hands clear, watching as more people came and went into the hall. A Hufflepuff boy who looked like he was recently electrified caused her to snort.

"Ma let Da name us - " She rolled her eyes and then took a satisfying chomp out of the gooey brownie. "His name's Eiran, and my brothers are Dillon, Jorah and Tiordan." And then she said flatly. "Ma's name is Jane. Jane."

She suppressed a grin as she listened to Mardella tell her about her family. "Your mama must feel left out! You all have such unique names." Alina giggled, "My brother's name was Leonardo, but he went by Leo. Sadly, he was in Slytherin, and he got teased a lot about being as 'courageous as a lion'. My mama's name is Serena, and my papa is Alec. Pretty normal names for us," Alina thought hard, a memory surfacing. "I did have a cat named Shakespurr once." When Mardella asked if Alina had any nicknames, she couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out of her. "I did, back when I lived in Cypus it was um...." Her face went red. "Fishface," she mumbled. "And Bubbles."

Mardella burst out laughing at the story of Alina's father vomiting on a cute girl, catching a few looks as people craned their heads to see what was so funny. "Th-that's hilarious, Merlin!" She spluttered out, trying to imagine what would have happened if she'd managed to pull something like that on Tiordan and his ridiculous crush on Anne.

Her laughter subsided after a little bit as Alina spoke more about her family. There was a brief moment where she wasn't sure if Alina had intended to use 'was' to describe her brother Leo and she almost opened her mouth to ask but stopped herself in time. There was never any good answer for why you would refer to someone in past tense and as much as her family always scolded her for being curious, this time she didn't press.

"...I did have a cat named Shakespurr once."

She jolted back into the conversation, hoping the blonde hadn't noticed too much of a lapse in concentration. "Shakespurr...oh Merlin, that's awful!" Mardella snorted, trying make her thoughts feel lighter again. "Awful but genius!" It seemed Alina had actually had nicknames, which were they really nicknames when they were longer than her actual name? "Fishface...bubbles?" It was true the girl seemed to have a bubbly personality but, "I feel like there's a story behind that," She teased.

Around them, people were getting up to leave. Prefects at the head of each table were calling First Years to line up. Mardella felt a fission of excitement, like static, run down to her toes. Her first night at Hogwarts! She wondered what her dorm mates would be like.

Wes walked into the Great Hall, staring in front of him, trying to not focus on the hunger he had developed quite quickly after waking up. He approached the Gryffindor table and sat down on an empty part of the table, hoping no one were to try to start a conversation with him while he was trying to eat. At once, a gold plate appeared in front of Wes and on top of that plate materialised a couple of fresh, sizzling bacon strips; three fried eggs with bulging yellow yolks toppling off the top; and a dash of brown sauce drizzled wildly on the bacon. Next to the plate, a golden with a rose embellished on the side materialised gracefully. Wes gazed at all of the magic surrounding him; sure he was a Pure Blood but this would be the first time he would professionally learn and use magic outside of the comfort of his home. The goblet began to fill up to the brim with pumpkin juice as if someone were to be pouring it in, but no one was there to pour the liquid in. It was all magic!

Wes picked up the goblet carefully, keeping his eye on the liquid and his grip steady yet not too tight as to not spill all of the juice over his robes and food and the table