General The Ravenclaw Table 2017-2018

 The blonde girl smiled widely as he talked, listening to every word he said. She had been told by a few people that she was a good listener, but that was mainly her friends' parents, or her own. She nodded her head at him, pursing her lips slightly. She thought that anyone would be happy to get sorted into a house in the first place, but then again, she supposed that some people didn't always get sorted into the house they wanted. Felicity was lucky when it came to that matter.

 "A pleasure to meet you, Ryan. Why did you want to be in Slytherin? Is your family from that house?" Felicity asked curiously, tilting her head slightly to the side. Her father had once told her that the Slytherin house seemed to be where most of the followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named came from. She doubted that all Slytherins would be of that sort, though, and she most definitely couldn't see Ryan being one. She lightly tapped her wand against his before tucking it back into her pocket, pursing her lips as she thought about his question.

 "I would say Transfiguration, but I haven't got a clue yet!" She exclaimed, her accent coming out thick, "I just really hope that I'm good at everything like my father was. He said that Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures were his favourite classes. But I don't suppose we have Care of Magical Creatures this year.. do we? Anyways, what about you?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows for a moment before looking over to another boy who seemed to be joining in to the conversation.

 "Oh, hello! I'm Felicity, and this is Ryan," She introduced the two of them, sticking out her hand to shake his, "It's great to meet you, Ben. Did you want to be a Ravenclaw?" She inquired, now curious if people got the houses they wanted.

More people kept joining the table, she was flanked on either side by other first years who were also newly minted Ravenclaws. Many of them had already begun talking while Jo decided to focus on the feast before her, ignoring the chatter in favour of the mashed potatoes and roast. At least Hogwarts provided decent food—she could do without the pumpkin juice though, eck. She wrinkled her nose. Was it a weird wizard thing?

Her brow furrowed as more people packed onto the table, her shoulders bumping into those seated beside her and Jo mumbled generic apologies as she reached for some pie. She wondered when they'd be escorted to their dormitories.  She would've headed there herself if she knew where it was, alas she'd just suffer through another helping or three of food. 

Another boy joined the Ravenclaw table and the two near Jo were introduced. They all seemed to know more about Hogwarts than Jo did. To be fair though, she had avoided reading her text books and spent her summer spending as much time as she could with her friends and brothers knowing that she'd soon be away from them. 

"I'm Jo," she greeted Ben, finally inserting herself into the conversation. She wasn't sure if Felicity's question about houses was also directed at her but Jo answered anyway, lightly shrugging her shoulders. "I didn't particularly care where I ended up. I didn't even know there were houses until the sorting began."

"Transfiguration? Wow that's a cool course in theory but I don't think I'm cut out for that type of work. Me? Defense against the dark arts and charms is what I'm excited about. Not to mention flying and quidditch, ah I love magic." He smiled shaking his head, sighing in happiness that he had come to Hogwarts. Suddenly, a guy came in introducing himself to which Felicity had introduced herself and Ryan to him as well, Ryan smiled at him sincerely and give him a quick and subtle wave and kept on with the conversation. 

He was just about to answer and at that moment another girl came in she seemed rather nonchalant about life. Which isn't bad, it takes time to become excited about certain things. She interjected and answered for herself first. When she said she didn't care where she ended up, Ryan stopped. Most people want to end up where their parents houses were or where they feel they'd be a good fit. Yet, this girl didn't care, that's a weird thing to say. 

"Jo, you said you didn't know there were houses till the sorting, could you by any chance not have known about Hogwarts till now?" He awaited her answer with a bit of hesitation. Maybe her parents went to a different school, or maybe just didn't inform her either way that's weird.

Ryan reached for a nearby cookie, and broke it in half. He started to munch on the little left side of the cookie as he looked at Jo awaiting her response. Dang this cookie was good, gotta love magic.

Everyone seemed much friendlier than Ben had initially anticipated. It was great. A few introduced themselves and after a few moments he decided to add his own two cents to the conversation of classes and goals. Though he clearly had no idea what to expect inside the classes themselves, he studied the books enough to know what the topics were. When it came to House choice he was even more lost than anything else. As a muggle born Wizard with no friends in the school to start, he was at a loss for how any of it worked.

"I didn't know about Hogwarts until my letter arrived... or magic," Ben said somewhat quietly to his new friends, not wanting to announce his lack of experience too loudly. "When it came to house choice I had no clue what I would want. But I think this is a good fit so far."

A little laugh, half nervous and half happy, escaped from the Scottish lad as he looked away from the group a moment to enjoy some of the gluttony before him. His mum could cook but this put her to shame. He would be sure to leave that bit out of his letters home.

Oh gods, do I have to send mum an owl? Ben went pale with internal thought at the idea before turning back to his friends, just having swallowed a big bite of food.

"Though I think I want to explore Quidditch, seems like a blast," he added as he remembered they also discussed some classes. "I'm excited for History of Magic and Defense against the Dark Arts. I need to get all I can on this new world..."

Ben made sure to make note of all names so he would remember them later. It was always embarrassing meeting someone new and then immediately forgetting their name upon the next conversation. Being at a disadvantage already, he didn't need to make himself look rude.

 Felicity felt her heart jump as another person jumped into the conversation. She might actually be making friends that could last for all of her time at Hogwarts! Well, those were her hopes, at least. She turned to look at Jo, and grinned, "Hello, Jo," She greeted, considering she hadn't greeted her before. She supposed that she heard her introduction to Ben, so she just left that part out. She nodded her head at their answers, then looked curiously at Jo, "Didn't you also study Hogwarts after you got your letter?" She inquired, tapping her fingers on the table, "I was so excited, I read through all of my books already before even getting here." She admitted, a small blush rising to her cheeks. Perhaps, she was too much of a nerd. 

 She smiled at Ben as well, and waved her hand at him as though it was in a 'no big deal' motion. "Muggleborns, halfbloods, purebloods, it doesn't matter. We're all the same, are we not?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders, "No need to be cautious of letting people know that you weren't too informed about anything, not your fault." She said, hoping to sound more supportive than rude, but sometimes she couldn't tell the difference in her tone of voice.

 She had caught what Ryan had said about Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms as well. She could feel the redness in her cheeks that had disappeared, resurface, and she held her face in her hands to try and disguise the warmth in her cheeks. She had a feeling that they would be classes she could easily pass through - so does that mean she could also easily impress Ryan? She dismissed her thoughts, tuning back in to the conversation. 

Caught somewhere between nervousness and elation, Amanda sank down at the Ravenclaw table, pressing her lips together to hide her shy smile. 

Ravenclaw, she thought.  Just like Mum. 

There didn't seem to be much in the way of chatting going on at the table, and for that, Amanda was grateful. At meals at home, she'd often brought a book to the table, rather than engage in conversation with her siblings or Walter. If Iris or Arthur were here, they'd be teasing her relentlessly, at least until Walter got them to stop- at which point they would try to engage in a pointless conversation with her just to make her stop reading. Walter never seemed to catch on to the fact that they were doing it just to annoy her...

Amanda felt a pang go to her heart- it was so strange that she was going to be spending so much time away from them from now on. It had never felt strange or odd to be separated from the twins or from Lisa, but she was used to seeing Iris and Arthur every day. Iris was too old to come to Hogwarts, and if Arthur had magic, he wouldn't be along for another three years. 

Not that Arthur would ever be in Ravenclaw. Amanda thought, smirking to herself. 

Without a book in her hands, she really didn't know what to do, except help herself to feast in front of her and discreetly look about at her fellow first year Ravenclaws. She'd always been soft spoken and shy- between the two of them, Iris had always been the more talkative one. She'd always tuned out of Iris's banter before, but now she missed the island of familiarity it would have provided in this sea of the unknown. 

Her heart started to pound, and she brought eyes back down to her food, keeping them glued there.

Not now. She thought. Not now. 

"Are you all right?" Stassie asked the quiet girl [Amanda] she was seated near by. "You're, like, super quiet. Not trying to be rude, obviously, but if you're sick or something we could probably sneak out of here if you want." She didn't seem too sick at the moment, but Stassie could understand if anyone at the table had the need to step out for a moment. Everything was so overwhelmingly new—any ordinary person would be stressed out with so much information being thrown at them at once. Like red houses and blue houses and green houses and yellow houses.

(How did people even remember them all?)

Stassie Fresco, however, wasn't any ordinary person. She knew exactly how to act in unfamiliar situations from how to speak to how to move. All those years of traveling weren't for nothing! With someone of her expertise, she was pretty sure she could help maneuver anyone through any type of circumstance. As Dad always said, When in Rome, act as the Romans do. Whatever that meant.

Unsure if the quiet girl truly needed help just yet, Stassie immediately jumped into the other conversation that was the hot topic of the Ravenclaw table. "You know, I wasn't really expecting to go to Hogwarts for most of my life. Me and my family basically travelled all over the world, and I was really hoping to go to Ilvermorny or somewhere cool like that." She looked around, hoping to get the attention of her new housemates. "Oh, well, not like Hogwarts isn't cool or anything. My mom and dad didn't tell me a lick about it though, even though they both went here. I guess they wanted to keep it a surprise."

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, though!" she suddenly burst, emboldened by the mention of her hopefully favorite subject, "I want to learn how to fight and maybe even become an Auror for the Ministry."

"I've done some reading and Auror seems like a great job." Ben commented to the group, letting himself open up a bit more to the others. "In the muggle world, I aspired to be something... similar. I believe."

Thoughts turned to those back home who were leading normal muggle lives. Most were clueless and thought Ben had gotten into some prestigious boarding school. His parents on the other hand were likely spinning with the thought of magic's very existence still. It was like an amazing dream that never ended for young Ben though. There was so much to explore and to learn he likely would change life goals a hundred times before he graduated. The very idea of being in a magical world still excited him like a new puppy brought to a new home.

I wonder what the mortality rate is here? Instead of getting beat up by a bully, do you get turned into a frog forever?

Ben shook his head of the thought when a couple new people sat down. The hat was hard at work sending them new students still it seemed. One of the newer girls, he sort of forgot her name already, spoke to the quiet one who had just arrived which brought Ben's attention to her as well. She seemed as lost as Ben was but not feeling as excited about it quite yet. He offered a sympathetic smile, hoping to help ease her nerves or at least make himself a friendly face for her.

"I found out about Hogwarts when I got my letter," Jo answered the boy [Ryan] and hesitated to say anymore. Were they judging her for not reading up on Hogwarts before coming here? Jo was a curious person but being studious was not in her nature.  Her drive to succeed was out of necessity—she didn't want to be stuck in Hackney forever, she wanted to be able to support her family someday. "I didn't feel like spending my summer reading about this place. Why not just come here and be surprised?"

She drew in a sharp breath but placed a smile on her face, shrugging her shoulders in a nonchalant fashion. "I'm a...yes, that's it!" Jo pointed to Felicity when she mentioned the word muggle-born. "A muggle-born. I guess that means somebody that has a non-magical family? At least that was what the witch from the Ministry told me." 

The brunette fell silent again, her fork pushing the half-eaten pie around on her plate but still listening intently to the conversation. Quidditch? Transfiguration? Her brow furrowed. She really had very little idea insight into what they were talking about but she wasn't going to worry, she'd figure it all out for herself soon enough. 

Another girl bust out enthusiastically [Stassie] and Jo stifled a giggle, green eyes wrinkling at the sides.  Jo's enthusiasm was never at that level, her father always said she was too cool headed until you really got under her skin. "I guess they don't teach math here?"

A daydreaming girl realizes that the people around her are speaking and tries to pay more attention.

"I think they replaced maths with something else. Is ancient runes like maths? Or maybe more like a language study."

Lyssa begins wondering whether it's even possible to compare these classes with the ones she knows. Nothing here is like what she knows. 

She takes her hair out of her ponytail, shakes it out, and puts it back up. Sometimes having something to do with her hands lets her mind focus. Focusing isn't her strong suit.

Lyssa serves herself a plate of mashed potatoes and chicken. It's very good, but she's a bit disappointed that magic food doesn't taste any different than muggle food. Shouldn't it change flavours with each bite? Maybe dessert would be odder. She'd heard good things about Every Flavour Beans.

She tries to focus on the people around her. "I'm excited for potions, and to learn tons of different spells. This place is so... interesting!"

Lyssa really feels more overwhelmed than anything. But she's trying to stay positive. Or, at least, appear to be staying positive.

She would figure all this out. Hogwarts can't be too different from her old school, right?