General The Ravenclaw Table 2017-2018

Post 2:

As the girl enjoyed the food provided to her, she quietly read her book, sometimes accidently reading out loud: ”Creatures such as the Tebo, the Demiguise and the Bowtruckle have their own highly effective means of camouflage and no-“ The girl paused in her reading, thinking over the information she had read by far since she had opened the book some minutes ago. Though it was likely other students had heard her reading out loud, it did not cause any effect to the girl as she continued reading. Safe Habitats? How have no muggles entered these areas? Some must have been curious... Continuing her reading, her question was answered. 

A few more minutes passed quickly as the girl read on, though as the conversation not too far from her, of students introducing and talking about themselves, she made a loud groan amd turned her head slowly. With an irritated look, mostly because the students were interrupting her focus and because she hadn’t slept much last night, she called out loudly to them, ”You know, I bet those people care about learning about you or whatever, but really, I don’t care. So you can just shut up or quiet down so someone, like me, could read a book peacefully.” Turning away from the students, the girl realized that she had forgotten to print her name onto the front of the book. Doing so, the girl flipped back to the page she was reading on. Ugh, annoying people...

Word Count: 246

Lyssa studied the faces of the people around her, trying to figure out how to make friends. She had never been very good at that. But that was the point in a new school, right? A new start? And she really couldn't be too weird in a school full of wizards. 

Lyssa was caught off guard when an annoyed voice told them all to stop speaking.

"Why not just use earplugs?" Lyssa asked. "Then us speaking won't bother you."

Does she expect everyone in the great hall to be quiet? There are a lot of people here... It might be easier for her to bring her food to another room. Wait. Are we not allowed to bring our food to another room? Do we have to eat every meal in here?

Lyssa pulled out a scroll of various rules at Hogwarts that her Papa had given her. She was relieved he at least knew this much. She found no mention of it, so decided it must be allowed.

But she realized belatedly that telling someone to eat in another room would be very, very bad. She ate some broccoli to stop herself from saying anything else.

Ryan was enjoying meeting so many people and hearing their stories. So many wizards from so many backgrounds all gathered in such an amazing school, that helped build you from nothing to anything you aspire to be. When Jo answered Ryan, he shrugged and nodded as the answer she provided was incredibly sound. They were having great fun, and Ryan realized he found his friends for the next seven years and possibly longer. 

Ben mentioned quidditch and Ryan flipped out. "QUIDDITCH? Bruuuv, let's try out together. I want to play chaser. I'm too small for keeper, or beater and my eyes can't see well enough for the other position. I still need to learn how to fly though." Ryan said excitingly and then it drifted lower as he finished his sentence. 

He chimed into the other side of the conversation, when math was mentioned.

"Math? Of course there is math, every system with money has math, muggle or wizard. Not ancient runes only. In fact wizard mathematics and science is incredibly advanced because we fuse it with magic to do great things. You'll see in a few years." Ryan said while recounting the things his father had done, and the board at home with formulas and instructions. 

Lastly, he looked to Felicity who was had her face in her hands. Maybe she ate something that made her not feel well. He put his hand on her shoulder caringly and asked her if she was feeling alright. "Hey Felicity, are yo-" His hand stayed on her shoulder as he turned towards an upset individual yelling at them from a bit down the table.

It was a girl reading a book, and amazingly rude as she requested they lower the volume. Ryan understood what it was like to study but no one should feel outcasted in such a fun event. Ryan stood and turned to her removing his hand off Felicity's shoulder and pointed to his ears as he looked at her [Evianna] 

Ryan saw another girl answer her [Lyssa], and while the girl reading a book's comment was rude, two wrongs don't make a right. He knew that for sure. He tried to invite her.

"WHAT? I can't hear you over all the fun" Ryan yelled to her insinuating that she was a party-pooper. He then tilted his head in a come here motion, and pointed at an empty seat closer to them. 

Ryan knew no one when he arrived at Hogwarts, and now he had all these friends and so many that he couldn't even answer them all at once. It was mind-blowing.

 Okay, despite saying that she tuned back in to the conversation, she tuned right back out when she heard maths being discussed. Oh, how she hated that subject. Even when her father taught it to her, she hated it. She wished that the word was a physical matter, so that she could stab it out of existence. With her fork. Yup, that's how much she hated it. In fact, she tuned out well enough that she only did snap out of her own little world when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

 It was Ryan's hand, and he was beginning to ask her something, but it was quickly cut off. She followed his attention to a girl a little further down the table, and listened in to what she was saying. It confused the blonde, considering she personally didn't think the group was that loud nor rambunctious, and she was in the center of it. She glanced back at Ryan, watching how he dealt with the situation. She didn't know why, but the reaction he gave to her mattered in a way. Felicity was a little surprised when he invited her to come join the group rather than be on her own.

 A small smile came to her lips, and she looked over to the girl again, waiting for her to respond. Currently, she didn't really have a part in any of the conversations going on around her, but she didn't exactly mind, either. Back home, she was more of a wallflower, so from all the talking she'd been doing, her jaw was beginning to hurt. She should really take a break from it all. 

 Her eyes were starting to grow tired, and she could see herself retiring to her dormitory soon. Soon couldn't come quickly enough, though. A yawn betrayed her act of silence, and she covered her mouth with her hand, turning away from the rest of the group so they were unable to see the look on her face - she always thought she looked weird.

 "I think I'm gonna go settle in," She said, looking back at Ben, Ryan and Jo specifically, considering they were the only ones she officially met, "I'll see you guys later!" And with that, she stood up from the table, shooting one last, small smile Ryan's way - in particular - before taking her leave.

And I am done with this thread. Goodbye.

The girl's - Stassie?- mention of IIvermorny caught Amanda's attention and she looked up and pushed thoughts of her family from her mind. The boy across from her-Ben?- flashed a warm smile and she felt some of the tension dissipate.

And then harsh demand of silence brought it rushing back. 

I'd rather be reading too. Amanda thought. But that doesn't mean you need to be so rude about it.  They weren't doing anything wrong, just talking. 

Lyssa had the courage to speak where she didn't, and Amanda shot her a grateful look. 

This is just as overwhelming for everyone else. She realized. We are all a little on edge.

Ryan's comment made her bite back a grin, but she tried not to show it. No need to make an enemy so early on.

One of the girls stood up to leave, calling out an apology as she did so. Amanda wondered if her sudden departure had anything to do with the tensions that were rising between Lyssa, Ryan and the reading girl. 

"I've been to IIvermorny." She said softly, choosing to ignore the reading girl and trying desperately do defuse the tension. "Mum gave a lecture there as a guest speaker. She took me with her. It's a beautiful school. My father wanted me to go there- just so I would be closer to him in America. But my Mum went here, so it's where I want to be too." Even she thought her words sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than everyone else at the table.

When a few people looked at her, as though expecting her to continue, she swallowed and continued on. "My Mum was a Medi-witch at Saint Mungo's. Dad's a muggle doctor. So I guess that makes me half-blood? Mum always said it really didn't matter- that we're all pretty much starting from the same place." She turned her shy smile on Jo and Lyssa. "I hated math when I went to muggle school- I couldn't wait to get away from it. I loved History and English, but I'm really excited to learn Transfiguration while we are here."

Post 3:

The brown-haired girl groaned again as the voices from before didn’t seem to quiet down much after she had made the rude comment to them. One of the students at the table, a girl with darker brown hair and skin color, shoot back a remark. 

Why not just use earplugs? Evianna repeated in her head, the amount of irritation she could take decreasing as the seconds ticked by. ”Would have used them if I could but really can’t do that if I have none,” the girl spoke quietly with the expectation of the other girl, Lyssa, of not hearing the comment. 

Continuing the reading, only for a few seconds however, another voice spoke back to the girl. It was a boy this time and his comment didn’t aggravate the girl as much as the last comment had done so to her. The girl would have replied, ‘Hard of hearing?’, though she knew that the boy had been able to hear her rude comment from before clearly. He was not too far and should have been able to hear if he had an average hearing.

The boy was intending for her to come join the group, but the girl would much rather read her book than interactive with the other students. Unfortunately for Evianna, with the noise of people talking still loud, she wouldn’t be able to focus well on what she was reading and could possibly forgot the information. With a frown on her face, though again hidden by her scarf, she closed her book and put it away into her trunk. 

Might as well go... Not like I have much of a choice of what else to do the girl thought as she took her trunk and made her way to the group of students, sitting down next to the most non-annoying looking girl (Amanda).

Word Count: 306

Henry made his way to the Ravenclaw table, nodding and smiling to the people that welcomed him. As small as he was, it would be futile to make himself any smaller. He tried anyway as he squeezed between his new peers to get a seat at the table. He always tried never to take up too much space. Children were to be seen, not heard.

Henry got a small plate of food and started eating, listening to the conversations other people were having. It wasn't like he was eavesdropping. Most conversations were pretty loud, so he couldn't help but listen in.

As he listened, though, his eyes widened at the realization that this was probably the best food he'd ever eaten! Henry knew he shouldn't take too much food, to leave some for other people, but he could't help himself as he helped himself to just a little more and watched in amazement as the food replenished itself.

In the middle of eating and listening, Henry's mind started to drift. What did coming to this school mean for him? And against his father's wishes too... He suddenly didn't feel so hungry as he sat and thought. What would his father say? What would his father do? Did... Did he even really have to go back home?

Henry had never considered that before; the prospect of just not going home. He thought, and he considered, and he contemplated. Could he just learn to live in the wizarding world on his own? Summers would be hard, but not impossible. He'd had to raise money to eat before. Henry smiled. Clever thoughts like that, maybe he did deserve to join Ravenclaw...

Ryan sat down after yelling to the girl reading the book, and went right back to enjoying time with his new found friends. Soon after Felicity took her leave, Ryan was giggling with his new house mates and when Felicity left it was as if in that moment time stood still for him. As she stood to leave, he stood as well, a common move for a gentleman. As she left, he sat back down, he watched her leave, her long hair swaying as she returned to the common room. Soon after sound returned to his mind and all the chitter chatter continued.

He returned his eyes to the girl as she made her way over to the group. He smirked slightly viewing her, with her head tucked in her scarf, she seemed rather closed off. She needs to loosen up he thought as he kept listening to the others. He paid attention to Amanda, and what an interesting background.

"Doctors? High expectations then. Dad's and an Auror, and me mum's a bartender. Both of my parents and I ran the pub full-time when Dad was home from the job..."

One boy in particular had also been closed off, or zoned out maybe. Ryan was happy because this is not the type of kids he would have associated had he landed in Slytherin, as he gazed over at the Slytherin table, it was filled with studious and poised, possibly pompous personas. He returned his attention back to the others. He wanted more friends, he looked over to the boy nearby [Henry] to which he said.

"Oy! Fancy a chat mate?"

Henry looked up, surprised at having been addressed. He didn't think anybody had really noticed. Not that he minded, of course. This boy seemed nice enough. Might as well strike up a conversation.

Henry gave a small wave and moved to sit closer to the boy. "Um, sure. My name's Henry. It's a pleasure to meet you. What's your name?"

As unskilled at socializing as Henry was, this he could manage. Routine small talk would be great practice for actually making friends here. And besides, it wasn't like anyone here would hurt him, right?

...

Right?

Henry found himself suddenly more attentive of the people around him. Were they staring? Were they judging? What were they thinking? Did he not belong? Goodness, he shouldn't even be here! He's a fraud! A failure! A--

These people are harmless, he tried to reassure himself, There's nothing wrong or odd. It's just small talk with a new house mate. You'll be fine. Just breathe. This is your home for the school year. You're a wizard. You belong here just as much as anybody. Impostor syndrome is normal.

Henry swallowed down his anxiety with a quick, deep breath and met the boy with a kind smile. Kindness begets kindness, after all.