General The Gryffindor Table 2018-2019

@Elliot Gwyn Thatcher

Leila was still eating, the food was all so amazing, how her brother's went back to their stepmum's cooking after this, she didn't know.

Leila considered the question for a moment. She had never really thought about it. The hat couldn't possibly make a mistake, could it? Leila studied the girl for a second, noting the fear that came into her eyes. Leila wondered about Elliot. Was she worrying because her parents expected her to be in a different house? Should she tell her that the hat did make mistakes or not? What was the right answer in this situation? She didn’t want to cause her new friend to worry and she also wanted to put her fear at rest and make her feel that everything would be okay. She decided to say that it couldn’t.

"I don't think it could. Everything will work out, you'll see! Both Slytherin and Gryffindor are good houses but, I think that Gryffindor is a little better. Just because I'm here." Leila teased, "And if it helps, I'm really glad you're in Gryffindor. You're the first person who has spoken to me."

Leila very briefly looked around the Great Hall. She remembered reading about the enchanted ceiling and it was so much better than it had been described to her.

@Leila Katz
In part shock and part elation, Isaac staggered down from the stage, leaving the devious sorting hat behind. Gryffindor...Gryffindor right! Scanning the Great Hall, he spotted a table with a red banner and a roaring lion. Food was heaped on the table, from stacks of warm chicken, to heaps of potatoes, leafy salads and gravy. The kids there looked spunky enough for his taste, but then again, what if they weren't friendly?

Carefully, he chose his place close to the edge of the table, but not right on the edge. It would let him overhear things without being the center of attention, for now. First, he needed to know how this Hogwarts thing worked before he made a huge fool of himself.

Carefully, he heaped a bit of chicken breast and poured a spoonful of gravy onto his plate. Pensively, he chewed while listening to all of the introductions. Okay, so Georgia is the energetic girl over there, Elliot is the girl taking seconds, hmmm, Leila's telling everyone that everything's okay and Hannah just arrived. They seem pretty normal as far as witches go.

He let an easygoing smile slip onto his face. Curiously, Isaac looked at Leila. He asked, "Does anyone here know any spells yet?"

Hannah looked carefully around the table carefully and decided to introduce herself "Uh Hello everyone my name is Hannah Bailey i would also like to apologize in advance for classes i need to sit at the front due to my poor vision annoying right the tall girl gets poor vision" Hannah chuckled "I'm pureblood but i don't like teasing muggleborns because they are equal to us yes i know im not the typical pureblood stereotype" Hannah added. "In terms of interests i love to read and go on amazing adventures i also like to sing and act so lets say you might be lucky to see some performances in the common room" Hannah giggled. "Now what about you guys im looking forward to learning all about you guys and even make some friend" Hannah added with a smile.

@Isaac Ambrose

Leila startled a bit when she heard a new voice from beside her. She turned and saw a boy, taller than she was even sitting. She studied him and noticed that he looked a lot like one of her brothers. His hair was a mess and his eyes were a grey-blue. Seeing someone that looked like her brother put her at ease.

"Does anyone here know any spells yet?" the boy asked her, smiling kindly.

Leila considered for a second. Her brothers had taught her some spells over the summer but they had worked with less than perfect results. She wasn't sure if it really counted and she said as much to him.

"Sort of. My brothers taught me Alohomora, Lumos, and Wingardium Leviosa before I left for Hogwarts, but they didn't always work out for me. Lumos was the one that I could always do." She said quickly. She had always been told that she spoke very quickly when she was excited, and there had been a lot of excitement for her tonight. "I am so looking forward to learning more though, aren't you? The classes are probably going to be so very interesting, I'm looking forward to them!"

@Elliot Gwyn Thatcher @Leila Katz @Isaac Ambrose

Georgia beamed in delight as she shook Elli's offered hand, feeling grateful to have met some friendly faces on her first night. "Pleased to meet you too! You as well, Leila!" She continued to smile widely at her new housemates, looking forward to spending more time with them.

As the conversation shifted to discussions of the Sorting Hat, Georgia listened with rapt attention. She was surprised to hear that they hadn't expected to be sorted into Gryffindor, and that Elli's mother had told her she would be a Slytherin. She blinked, confused. How did any of this work? "Umm... I didn't know what to expect! I'm, um, none of my family are magical. I'm the first witch to come here. From them, I mean. I'm glad to be here too, you both seem really cool so far!" She blushed a little, aware that she was rambling. "Are houses meant to run in families, then? Like, if your mum's Slytherin and your dad's Gryffindor, it could be a good chance of either?"

When the boy asked if anyone knew any spells, she hesitated, not sure if she should admit that she didn't or not. It seemed that Leila already knew some! Well, they already knew she was muggle-born, so she might as well be honest. There didn't seem much point in lying. "I don't know any, actually," she admitted. "I only learnt I was witch when I got my letter... it's kind of scary! I'm not super good at academics usually, but magic seems like it's way more interesting to study than maths or biology!"

@Georgia Chapman

Upon hearing Georgia's last statement, Isaac felt the need to defend biology at least. There were plenty of fun dissections, and cool stuff to do outside. Meanwhile, he knew that there were really boring magic subjects. He had a special scorn for Divination already from what he had heard; it was a class full of wishy-washy pretend predictions and fake star-stuff.

"What's the class you're most excited for?" he asked Georgia, genuinely curious. It would be interesting for him to puzzle out. He already had a guess that she had an interest in something like Charms or Transfiguration; those were the classes that were the most magical and unbelievable.

@Georgia Chapman @Isaac Ambrose

“I don’t know anything about biology but maths was pretty boring. My mum wanted me to go to muggle school for a while before coming here. And I don’t think that houses run in the family. My entire family except for one of my brothers were in Gryffindor. I think they just put you wherever you’ll fit best.”

Leila closed her mouth quickly to stop more words from tumbling out. She was genuinely curious about Georgia’s answer about what her favorite class would be. Georgia was one of the only people Leila knew who was a Muggleborn. Leila’s mum had been a Muggle and she had been very interested in all of the different classes.

She didn’t really wish to admit it, but she was looking forward to hearing Georgia’s answer so she could find out what her mum might have liked. She knew that both Georgia and her mum were different people, but Georgia sort of reminded her of her mother. They were both friendly and raised by muggles, in her mum’s case she was a muggle. She didn’t have very many memories of her mother so she wanted to use Georgia’s answer to fill in some things she wanted to know about her mum.

@Leila Katz @Isaac Ambrose

At Leila's answer, she nodded. "Oh, I see. I suppose that makes sense. Bit weird having that hat talking to you, but it was kinda awesome too. You don't get that at muggle schools!"

Georgia hummed to herself as she considered Isaac's question, putting her hand to her chin while she thought about it. She'd only thought about the classes briefly, a little overwhelmed at all the new information she had to learn. "Charms seems pretty exciting! Definitely very magical sounding. Potions too, and I guess Transfiguration?" She racked her brains, trying to remember what else was on offer. "I think I heard something else about flying classes? That sounds, like, scary-awesome. Umm, and I think I heard people talking about Care for Magical Creatures, which sounds really, really cool, but I don't think it's for first years." She pouted a little as she said it, looking put-out.

"What about you guys? Which ones are you most looking forward to?" Georgia asked, turning the question back on them. She was interested in their answers too. It seemed like there were a lot of different people at Hogwarts, some with magical backgrounds and some without, and then others with a mix--there was a lot of viewpoints to get a perspective from, it seemed.

@Georgia Chapman | @Leila Katz

"Transfiguration," Isaac said plainly as if it were obvious. Anticipation and curiosity crept into his voice. "I mean, you're turning things into other things! It's beyond any sort of science ever, and the only way to do it is through magic." But upon this final sentence, he immediately went silent. Don't reveal too much. he scolded himself. If he went on, would the others figure out...? Had they?

His mind continued to whir on about transfiguration however. Turning things into other things...he couldn't believe that wizards could have powers like that and not even bat an eye. From below the table, he pulled out his wand, rolling it back and forth between his fingers. They called it a wand, but in reality, Isaac knew it was a piece of wood with a string-like core. And yet this small object could somehow bend reality itself; it could summon objects from nowhere, create light, and allow a person to breathe underwater. If his mother knew about wands, she would have a heart attack right away. In fact, the entire world would probably being going mad.

Isaac flicked a crumb off of his knee and looked back up at the two, eagerly waiting for Leila's answer nonetheless.

@Georgia Chapman @Isaac Ambrose

“I honestly don’t know. It sounds like everything is going to be so exciting! Although Potions seems cool. But so do Transfigurations, and Charms. Transfigurations seems hard though. Oh, and I’m really excited for flying classes!” Leila said excitedly.

“Everything except History of Magic. I almost fell asleep reading the textbook.” She grimaced, she didn’t know how something related to magic could be so boring. The rest of her textbooks had been so interesting until she had opened the History of Magic book. She remembered hearing Sam raving about History of Magic and had no idea how he could enjoy it.

Leila really was looking forward to everything. It was going to be so different to muggle school and she was waiting for it very impatiently. She was a bit scared the classes, she didn’t want to disappoint her parents by getting worse grades than her brothers had.

“I do wish there was a ballet class we could sign up for. I’m really going to miss dancing while I’m here.” Leila added a bit mournfully. The one thing she would miss about Hogwarts was her daily dancing lessons. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gone so long without dancing and really wasn’t looking forward to the long period without dancing.