The Ravenclaw Table 2022-2023

The first year sat down beside Lizzi, and quietly told her,
"My name's Seven."
They mumbled. Lizzi wasn't a fan of mumblers, but she wanted a friend, and hoped Seven could fulfill that desire. It wouldn't do to complain at every little thing. Also, Lizzi thought, Seven's a bit of a strange name. Oh well, they seem nice enough.
"What book was that?" Seven's voice cut through Lizzi's thoughts, obviously attempting to change the subject. Seven clearly wasn't a fan of their own name. Lizzi respected subject changes (she'd tried her own fair share of those), and didn't press Seven about their name.
"Um... I- It was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen..."
Would that seem a bit weird? Too posh? Normally too difficult for a First Year? Would she be bullied for reading classics? Lizzi panicked. She didn't want to ruin her chances of friendship by being too nerdy.
"I don't normally read classics, I just fancied a change..."
She hoped she wasn't making the situation worse as she attempted to explain her odd choice of book.
"So, Seven? How are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?"
She attempted to change the subject, and hoped Seven respected Lizzi's subject change as Lizzi has respected Seven's.

─────Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. That title and name sounded familiar.

"Oh," Seven said, realizing where they'd heard it before. "My mum really likes that author. She's always trying to get me to read Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and all that stuff," they were surprised they could remember so much about Jane Austen. "I never had enough time, though. My to-read list is neverending." They sighed.

Seven then remembered they were at dinner and, therefore, should eat dinner while they were in the Great Hall. So, they scooped a good amount of mashed potatoes onto their plate and made a dent in the food with their spoon. They picked up a nearby cup filled with gravy and poured some into the small crater in their mashed potatoes. After all that was done, they turned back to Lizzi, who had just asked about how Seven was finding Hogwarts.

"It's good. I mean, so far," they shrugged. "A lot could still go wrong."

Why were they so negative? No one likes someone who looks for the worst part of everything. Seven should be positive. Lizzi would like that better.

Except it was too late to take it back. Seven had already said all that. There was no changing it.

Lizzi was surprised that Seven wasn't judging her for reading Jane Austen. In fact, they said that their mum wanted them to read all her books!
Maybe, Lizzi thought, I should get used to this. Maybe, I'm normal when it comes to Ravenclaw.
As they turned to pile food onto their plate, and Lizzi asked about Hogwarts, they said something about it being good so far, but still being able to go wrong. Lizzi supposed that most people would be shocked by the negativity, but Lizzi found it completely true.
"I agree. It's only the first day yet. There's so much to still mess up, or time to still be bullied. But so far it seems - excuse the pun - pretty magical!"
Lizzi cringed. Both internally and externally.
Really Lizzi? Magical?? Weirdo.
Now she really, really would not be surprised if Seven made a random, dodgy excuse to leave, or sit somewhere else. Lizzi was used to it. A conversation that's going amazingly, and then Lizzi says something about books, or even just a dumb pun and people made an excuse to up and run. She was accustomed to it now. She never got her hopes up that people would want to stay and be her friend. But she was allowing herself to now, slightly. And she knew it probably wouldn't end well. For either of them.

─────Lizzi agreed. Lizzi had agreed with Seven's negative statement. Maybe the two would actually become friends. No, that wasn't realistic. Lizzi probably just wanted to continue reading her book and was annoyed by this kid with a weird name.

But then she seemed to be comfortable. She made a joke about Hogwarts being magical, which made Seven grin.

However, what Lizzi had said was true. Hogwarts was magical. And magic was strange. Seven didn't think they'd ever get used to the floating lights and moving staircases. It was scary. What if the lanterns caught dipped down low enough to get their hair caught on fire? Not only would that be terrifying, but it would also be incredibly embarrassing. It was the same with the stairs. Whenever those began to move, Seven's heart rate sped up as they gripped the railing, hoping they wouldn't fall off.

They voiced their thoughts. "It's all a bit scary, though. The moving staircases are so sudden."

Argh! Continuing a conversation was so hard. Seven had made it sound like they were some scaredy cat or chicken or something. No one would want to be friends with someone who wasn't fun at all because they were so nervous.

Seven had grinned. They had actually found Lizzi's dumb pun somewhat funny. It was a genuine grin. Lizzi was taken aback. Perhaps they could become friends after all. Lizzi allowed her hopes to rise a tiny bit more.
Seven's voice cut through Lizzi's thoughts again. But she didn't mind, she liked it. Talking to them. She didn't find herself constantly wanting to go back to her book, like she did when talking to most other people. She was enraptured in the conversation. She was enjoying talking to Seven.
"It's all a bit scary though. The moving staircases are so sudden."
Lizzi's first reaction was to agree yet again.
"Of course it is. It's terrifying. It's weird as well. The whole magic thing. Did you come from one of those families where you already knew about magic? Or not? I didn't. It's all very strange to me."
Lizzi hoped asking about Seven's background wasn't rude. As she said, she knew nothing of the magic world.
Waiting for Seven's response, Lizzi allowed herself to get overly worked up yet again.
I think it probably was rude... should I say something? Apologise?
Lizzi was on the verge of saying something, but saw the desserts materialise in front of her, and hurriedly grabbed some, waiting to see what Seven would say.

─────Weird. That was a pretty good way to sum up magic. It was amazing and wonderful, but at the same time, it was strange and confusing. It was weird.

Seven took a moment to think about how they should explain their life before Hogwarts.

"I knew about magic, but it wasn't a part of my everyday life." Well, what was that supposed to mean? "I... My mum's a witch. She went to Hogwarts, except she was in Hufflepuff. It was pretty surprising when I got sorted into Ravenclaw for that reason." Stop rambling. "Anyways, my dad's a Muggle. He didn't know about magic until he and my mum had been together for a while. After my parents got married and all that, they couldn't live in the wizarding world and all because, as I said, my dad's a Muggle. So I grew up around Muggles. I knew about magic, but I couldn't tell any of my friends about it, of course. Basically, I grew up knowing about magic, but I hadn't seen it much."

Seven had said so much, Lizzi was probably bored out of her mind. But they reminded themself that if Lizzi had stayed for so long, she enjoyed their conversation. Or she was just being nice?

Lizzi listened intently as Seven explained about their knowledge of Magic, but they grew up without it. So apparently it wasn't rude, at least not in Seven's eyes.
Seven seemed keen to share, so Lizzi let them, until they had run out of steam.
Once Seven had finished, Lizzi decided to share a bit more.
"I grew up similarly, but I knew nothing about magic. My parents were both nor- muggle, as was my brother. When I knocked down my friend's bully without touching her, I knew it had something to do with me... and then a professor came to my house and explained everything, it felt... right. You know?" Stop blabbering Lizzi!! You sound mental! "Anyway, sorry about not being in Hufflepuff. But from what I've gathered, I don't think your house is anything to do with your parents. The sorting hat sorted you not your Mum." You sound cringey now Lizzi, come off it. "So what subject are you most looking forward to starting? I read up on them before I came here, but I might have gotten the wrong idea about some of them..."

Lizzi quickly recalled what she had read, and began to wonder what her favourite subject would be. After a moment of Pondering, she landed on Herbology or Astronomy.

─────"Is your brother younger or older than you?" Seven wasn't sure why they had asked that, and they quickly moved on. "I would've liked to be in Hufflepuff, but Ravenclaw's an amazing house. I'm looking forward to all of the subjects. Charms seems more like basic magic, and although that might mean it's less fun than the others, it's the stuff I'll probably be using the most as I'm older. Transfiguration seems amazing. Turning rocks into dogs and all that - except my mum says you don't really learn the cool stuff until later. Defense Against the Dark Arts - or DADA - seems less amazing than transfiguration to me, but I think that's where we learn about boggarts. I'm kind of excited about that. Then there's Herbology. My mum says that we care about mandrakes there. You know, those little, uh, things that scream a ton. Not looking forward to my ears shattering or something. Potions also seems fun. Mixing ingredients to create a Polyjuice Potion or something. I'm not actually sure if they teach us how to make that type of potion, but I hope they do," Seven had been rambling again - they'd been talking for quite a while and they hadn't even finished. "Sorry, um, what about you? What're you looking forward to?”

"My brother's older than me..."
Lizzi listened to Seven explain their joy and annoyonce at each subject. It was extremely enjoyable for Lizzi, watching Seven explain their passions and dislikes.
"What about you?" They finally asked.
"Umm Well... I'm especially looking forward to Herbology and Astronomy, but like you said, I think Transfiguration could also be really fun! I'm also curious to see how Flying goes, as I think it could be fun if I do it right! History of Magic seems like it could be less boring then I've heard people make it out to be! And, potions seems like a magical version of cooking in a way! I really like cooking at home. The only subject I'm not especially looking forward to is Defence Against the Dark Arts, like you."
Lizzi suddenly became acutely aware of her rambling, and attempted to bring it to a close.
"So yes, like you, I'm looking forward to most subjects! I do however think that my favourite will turn out to be either Herbology or Astronomy, but we'll see!
So, Seven," Lizzi asked, realising that curfew was creeping closer and closer, "want to meet up again at somepoint? See if our subjects turn out to be as interesting as we imagine?" Lizzi offered, realising that she really enjoyed Seven's company, and wishing to become better friends.

─────Maybe Lizzi truly liked talking with Seven. She wanted to chat with them again sometime.

"I'd... Yes!" they said a little too loudly.

A few of the other Ravenclaws turned around and shot her a glare. Whoops. Seven took a small bite out of a chocolate brownie to get their classmates to go back to whatever they were doing before. Somehow, it worked, and within a few seconds, it was like everyone had forgotten about the whole thing.

"Sorry," Seven said, their voice lower as they apologized to Lizzi. "That was loud. I'm not really sure why I wasn't quieter."

Except they did know. It was exciting! They were making a friend. A friend! Not that Seven had never had a friend before. They used to have a great group they hung out with. But then they got a letter from Hogwarts. No one in their right mind would turn down that. Seven told their friends that they had to go to a boarding school. It wasn't a lie - just not the whole truth. But how could they tell their Muggle friends about magic and dragons and everything else crazy that was a part of the wizarding world?

That's why Seven was glad to be making a new friend.