General The Ravenclaw Table 2017-2018

After being sorted, James approached his house's table, clutching onto the strap of his bag he had got from home. Inside were the essentials for class: Books, potion materials, that kind of thing. He sat at the wooden bench like many of his other fellow ravenclaws. James took out a small brown journal with writing on the front saying "Hogwarts Notes." Inside was a set of notes about the houses and his peers that he had started taking all the way back at platform 9^3/4. He had almost matched the houses with their colors & attributes, but still couldn't memorize this stuff by heart. James continued to take notes on the event, writing in personality traits & mannerisms he observed. He reached into the large, brown sack that carried all of his things and looked for a book that would help him understand these things. "Hogwarts: A History... This should do the trick." He said, pulling out the book along with a quill and journal to continue taking notes of his surroundings. He read through the first few pages before putting it away to eat. He wrote in more and more in his journal, and then decided to eat. 

He gazed at the shining, gold plates in awe. He had only ever used plastic food trays in cafeterias where they serve you whatever they have at his previous schools, so to see such a wide variety of foods was shocking to him. He watched as the houses all got new additions, while trying to eat his food & take notes on the behaviors of students and professors. He tried practicing magic while reading a few of his books, but failed to do a single spell. He thought to himself, "Maybe I just need some time. I'm sure most people born to non-wizarding families struggle with this stuff too." He then continued what he was doing, and tried to avoid anyone out of fear they might see his journal and think lowly of him. He hid away his journal back in his bag, and looked around the hall in amazement at the sights in the large, candle lit room.

Lily sat down at the table after she was sorted, confused to say the least. Why hadn’t she been in Slytherin like her mother? Or in Hufflepuff like her father whom she resembled much more than her mother? Now she had something to think over and try to figure out, at least? She looked around, and tried to determine exactly what she was supposed to be doing. Eventually she reached for a cookie, and popped it in her mouth. Oh boy that tastes so good... With a slight grin she waited to see if anyone else had even acknowledged her presence yet, and popped another cookie in her mouth.

Then she started to think about classes. Astronomy sounded like it would be a blast, and they would have to stay up late in order to do that, which would be really cool. Charms seemed pretty fun as well, although she had yet to see much spellwork be done for her to watch and observe. What had really interested her, though, was DADA. She kinda just silently hoped that she would be able to take it, since she had her doubts. Hadn’t her mother been expelled in that class? Then again, her mother was rather crazy, so she pushed the unpleasant thought out of her mind.

Ravenclaw, the sorting hat said, the word vibrated through his ears bearing weight down on his shoulders like he was carrying the world. His father would be so upset if he found out. While his family was caring and sweet, his entire family had always been Slytherin. Proud, and slightly pompous, while Ryan always felt different he didn't think it'd be this different. People clapped and cheered as Ryan quickly scurried to the table, sitting abruptly. Welcomed openly by his peers, he did not dare speak to anyone as he thought how his father would react. Ashamed and surprised, Ryan sulked quietly and put on a fake smile so no one would know. The girl across from him looked surprised as well, he tried to make eye contact with her to maybe get her attention but no dice. She just went on eating cookies, still Ryan couldn't shake his doubts, even if everyone looked so happy to have found their new home.

Why Ravenclaw? He thought as he looked up that the floating candles. The hat said everything true about me, I'm ambitious, prideful, I want to be a great wizard like my father, and I do want to do well in the DADA classes. So what is in Ravenclaw that swayed me from my families' house. Well, not much I can do now, I'll show these other Ravenclaw students that I'm here to do my best. He thought what he can do to make his mark. He stood up abruptly, "My name is Ryan! I'm one day going to be a great Auror!  Ravenclaw please aid me in this quest...." he shouted and then he sat back down slowly. There his mark, and statement were made. Hopefully, some would find it in their interest to be his friends.

Felicity was surprised when she heard a shout from down the line at the table. A boy was speaking - he was her age, she could tell, from the simple black robes that had yet to get their house's crest on them, and his appearance was kind of a give-away - but then again, so was her own. She watched him sit back down, and as the person that sat between the two got up, retreating from the table to exit the Great Hall, presumably, she slid over to sit next to him, and brought her plate along with her. She clasped her hands in front of her. Her plate was half-finished, and she needed time to digest what she had already eaten, so talking seemed like an alright idea.

 "So, you would like to be an Auror?" She asked curiously, her green eyes trailing over to the boy who had shouted just a few minutes beforehand, the tip of her nose tinging a bit pink in her seriously confident attempt at socializing. She wasn't the best at it. "I would like to be one too, one day. Maybe we can be study partners, or something?" She suggested, shrugging her shoulders slightly as a small smile crept across her lips. "Oh! I should introduce myself. I'm Felicity Greenwich. And you are?"

Ryan reached for the food, picked it up and as the girl next to him slid towards him, he bit into a biscuit just before being slightly interrupted by a young girl. She was pretty, with long beautiful hair, and then there was him, he was a bit of a mess with his mouth full of biscuit, what an oaf. As she explained that she'd also like to be an Auror, her friendliness was contagious. Maybe it was fate that he was put in Ravenclaw. Maybe she was the reason, a person he could study alongside, as soon as she mentioned being study partners Ryan started nodding, and gulping down that first bite of biscuit he responded to her. For the first time since he arrived at Hogwarts, someone made him happy to be here other than praising him for any reason. He was about to finally make a friend. 

"Felicity? A beautiful and creative name, delighted to meet you. I would definitely be up for some studying since we both are aiming for the same goal." He said blushing slightly while wiping his hands on the napkin beside him trying not to look like a mess, after his hands were clean he ran his fingers through it and parted it cleanly to the side.  "So Felicity, are you excited to be a Ravenclaw and get started this year?"

He hid the fact that he was less than ecstatic to be one himself, but maybe that would turn around soon.

[Bloom reenters the Great Hall]

Bloom was very confused about what had just happened in the corridor. Erin and her were having girl talk and she began to tell her all about what kinds of favors Marcus would be doing. Bloom told her that she may be having a crush on Marcus, but she was not sure. Overall, their dynamic with each other confuses her to a whole. Both of them were one for each other.

Carrying the vial, a cure for the hair-loss jinx, in her right hand, Bloom walked as quickly as she could from the corridors to the Great Hall. She made her way to the Ravenclaw Table and looked at the several balding or balded heads that were still freaking out around her. In a way, she felt great to have made the deal with Marcus to help her fellow housemates, but she also felt a bit of regret because now she owed a total of eleven favors to a first year Slytherin.

Bloom knew that she wouldn't be heard with the bickering and chatting among the first years, so she stood on the bench where there was room and raised her voice for those at her table to hear her.

"Oy! If you were affected by the jinx, here's the cure! Just take one drop!! There should be enough for all of you," she shouted. Bloom climbed down from the bench, and left the potion on the table and let them use it one by one if needed. She was glad that there was enough for them, but there was still her to worry about. Before Bloom became the only Ravenclaw bald, she dashed out of the Great Hall, awaiting her batch of cure from Marcus.

[Attempting to leave the Great Hall unless responded to]

 The blonde girl leaned back towards her old spot, but only to grab her napkin, dabbing at the corners of her mouth in uncertainty that she didn't have any food on her lips still. She placed the napkin down in front of her, then turned back to look at the boy beside her once again, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning them against the table. Her cheeks lit up a little bit as he complimented her name, but she grinned, focusing her eyes on her napkin for a few moments before looking back up.

 "That's great! I look forward to it, study buddy," Felicity relaxed her shoulders a bit, readjusting the sleeves of her robe as she sat up straighter from her leaning position at the table, her attention being drawn to another Ravenclaw girl, holding a vial of some odd looking solution, talking about the jinx that must have been the reason that some people were missing their hair currently, and that the vial was in fact the cure. She disregarded it, considering she, herself, wasn't affected by the jinx. She turned her attention back to the other first - year.

 "Oh, I'm most definitely excited. I've always wanted to be a Ravenclaw - my dad was a Hufflepuff, and he told me all about the houses before I was even five! I sound nerdy here, but I honestly can't wait to learn how to use this thing," She mentioned, pulling out her cherry wood wand, holding it up as though she was making more of a point, "What about you? Do you think it will be easy? Also, I don't think I caught your name.." She trailed off, blushing a little bit in embarrassment - had she missed him introducing himself? She could have totally zoned out on it if he did, she was known to do so before.

Nerdy? This was perfect, Ryan loved to talk of anything magical, he had been crossing back and forth from magic to muggle before he could even remember. Upon hearing Felicity agree to be study buddies, he wanted to hear more from her side of the wizarding world's view. She mentioned her father was a Hufflepuff but she wanted to be a Ravenclaw. Interesting considering he was not interested in being a Ravenclaw but he ended up here anyway, yet she wanted Ravenclaw and got in just fine. She showed her wand and apparently missed his name which was remarkable after that terribly embarrassing introduction he gave himself earlier.  Well better to make sure he did it correct this time. He wiped his lips thoroughly with a napkin and looked her in the eyes and smiled. 

"My name is Ryan and wow your wand is so nice, cherry wood's rose color is always so fine. My mother had the same wood. To be honest, I wanted Slytherin meself...But like they say the hat is never wrong."

 His eyes shifted side to side realizing what he just said at the table would definitely get some looks. He pulled out his wand showing the chestnut wand to her. 

"Yeah, I don't think school will be hard but I can tell we have adventures coming in the future. Any classes you are particularly excited for?"  

Ben had been feeling a little embarrassed and mumbling to himself when he reached the table.  He found the next empty seat alongside some of the other recently sorted students. It was all a bit strange but the food looked great. A few other first years were already chatting among themselves and seemed to know what classes they were excited for most, what they wanted to do with their lives, and so forth. The young lad wasn't shy, but he felt a bit overwhelmed at his surroundings. Nonetheless he gave it his best to say hello to those around him. He certainly wouldn't be standing up for any announcements.

"Hello there," Ben said to a few students nearby when there was a short lull in the conversations. "I'm Ben."

That was simple enough, he thought to himself, forcing a smile as he looked towards those talking. Maybe other first years are also feeling awkward.

In truth, Ben had been reading some of his books already. He was a bit of a nerd before Hogwarts so that gave him the study power he needed to attempt to catch up to this new world he was thrust into. As far as classes went, he had no idea what to do with himself. Defense against the dark arts sounded like a lot of fun but it also sounded dangerous. History seemed fascinating and boring at the same time. Otherwise he was at a bit of a loss for what to expect.