General The Hufflepuff Table 2018-2019

Rhiannon lingered in the doorway to the Great Hall for the briefest of moments. Having gone thus far making no new friends, she was beginning to be scared for the remainder of the school year. As she trudged towards the table, her eyes flew over her peers, desperately searching for someone she got a positive vibe from to sit by. Many of them, too many, had already begun to section off amongst themselves. Of the few that remained in solitude, most of them seemed to be in a negative place. Rhiannon syphoned the energies of others far too easily. Negativity wasn't what she needed right then.

Finally she spotted someone. A boy sitting alone, clutching a camera in his hands. She sat down next to him, not terribly close, but not far either. She glanced to him, watching him view the world the lens of his camera, and scooted a little bit closer. She grabbed a plate and started slowly piling on food, trying to put off her introduction until she could find the right words. But then again, she thought, it all begins with hello.

Pausing one final time, she realized this would be the first time she actually talked to one of her classmates. No going back once she spoke.

"Hi there. I like your camera." It was barely above a whisper, but she did it.

Stephany had been sitting near a boy with a camera for a little bit now, eating quietly and looking around. She was overwhelmed by the greatness of the hall. They were candles, lighting up the big room, and they were... hovering. She never had touched anything that was magical and never seen something like this. Her eyes big, she examined the candles closely. There were no strings attached to them. How are they floating in mid-air?
Her attention jumped to a girl sitting down in front of her. She watched her grabbing food and thought to herself, she looked a little bit uncertain, and noticed her glancing for a second to the boy next to her. Stephany followed her glance and her mouth fell wide open once she realized that there was a object here out of her world: a camera. Immediately she felt better and more... home.

Rhiannon Jones wrote: 10 Jul 2018, 07:20 "Hi there. I like your camera."

She then heard the girl talking to the camera-boy, and quietly listened while grabbing some more food. It tasted delicious and she couldn't stop. She chose not to interfere yet, maybe later, but for now she would simply stay in the background and enjoy this big evening. She was used to not being paid much attention to, so she didn't care about not being a part of a conversation. Yet.

He hadn't realized the greeting was for him until the strange, new girl mentioned his camera. He glanced up at at he, not keeping eye contact, but observing. She seemed...okay. Nice. And she complimented his camera. He looked down to it then before responding. "It was a gift from my parents. To have a bit of home. Maybe also to share this place with them. I'm still not sure if they are happy about my being a wizard, or resigned to the fact." He explained. You would think, after all his time with his family, he could know them better, but at times they were still a mystery, and he was sure he was one to them.

He then thought to himself. This girl said hi. Was...this...the start of making friends? He glanced up at her again, considering her. "Also.hi. I didn't say hi, before." He remarked, then decided to eat a little bit. He was hungry now, he realized, and he'd only ate a little thus far. Looking over the food, he wondered where it came from, who prepared it, and how did it get here. No matter who, of course, it didn't change the fact that the food was the best he ever tasted.

Rhiannon chewed slowly as the boy told her about his gift and threw out a belated greeting. "It's a very nice gift," she remarked. "I'm sure if your parents weren't at least a little happy for you they wouldn't have bothered. They at least care enough to be somewhat involved. And this way when you get home, you can show them how amazing this place is, so even if they are just resigned to you being here, they can still see it for themselves and maybe...appreciate it more." She paused, uncertain if she was actually right or just saying what she could to comfort her new potential friend. "And anyways, I like it. And we're family now too."

She filled her mouth with another bite of food. "Plus," she said, swallowing a bite of the most incredible pie she had ever had the pleasure of eating in her life, "as long as you're happy to be here, that's what really matters. You get to learn at the greatest school of witchcraft and wizardry, be surrounded by magical things muggles can only dream about. Even as a pure-blood, I'm so happy to be here."

Pausing again, she added, "I just realized I never actually introduced myself. I'm Rhiannon. And you are?"

He was a bit overwhelmed with all she had to say. Over how she assessed any of his feelings on the camera. Over her opinions. Or even saying 'we're family'. It was different, someone, a stranger talking g to him and NOT giving demands. This is how it is, this is what normal is, with kids your age. He told himself.

He put his food down and nodded. "Emanuel Kingsley... nice to meet you. You said...you're pure blood. What does that mean? How do you know what you are?" He began to question, forgetting his food for a moment.

He'd heard people talk about people mentioning pure blood, half blood,but he hadn't asked anyone what it meant and it was confusing. Was it about family, or magic? Was it choice or blood? And what was he?
He fiddled with his food but his attention on this girl that he was wondering if she was to become a friend. He'd never had one of those, so he wasn't sure how those...relationships really began. But the girl seemed nice enough, no matter what. Nice enough to speak to him, and try and reassure him about things he might have been concerned about.

A minute after he began eating his food, which was surprisingly very delicious, he felt a sudden feeling of being watched. It was faint, but he was probably just being superstitious. Just to make sure, he glanced around his table to see if there was anyone staring at him. To start it off, everyone seemed to have made their little cliques of three or four people and were happily talking with each other among other things which made Jade feel a tad bit left out. Well, he couldn't blame them...he could look a bit unsettling despite his feminine features.

He gave up his search of looking for the culprit that may have not even been there, continuing to eat the food that he had placed on his plate--alone. Out of boredom he rested his cheek on his fist, propping his elbow on the wooden surface of the table as he let out a long, drawn out sigh. He definitely would receive some odd looks from his fellow house mates, but he honestly didn't care about that. He was planning to sneak off and explore the rest of the ground floor if he had the chance, but he just didn't know when the right moment to escape was. Every time he stood a professor would look in his direction, almost as if knowing his motives.

How troublesome.

Rhiannon's eyes widened in shock. She had never even considered he might not know what she was talking about. "Oh, I'm sorry," she stammered. "I'm pure-blood, meaning my entire family is full of magical ancestry, as far back as we know. When you said you weren't sure your parents were happy about you being a wizard, I assumed you must be muggle-born. That means you come from a family of muggles...which are people who aren't witches or wizards." Oh god, was she fumbling too much? What if he didn't like her? What if she ruins her chance to make her first friend?

She took a deep breath and glanced up at the clouds lazily drifting across the ceiling of the Great Hall. Her interactions with people who weren't familiar with the wizarding world was limited to say the least. She had always just known all these things, and the idea that there were people that didn't know seemed so foreign to her.

"It can be a lot to take in, and it might seem a little confusing," she admitted slowly. "I don't know if I'm even explaining it well. You'll get it though. You seem clever." She grinned at Emanual. Everything seemed to be going okay so far maybe? She didn't want to get her hopes too high though just yet.

Miko put his head down an observed the boys and girls mingle amongst themselves. While looking at his peers the boy saw a pattern, it started with 1 lone boy (himself) and a group of kids (2 or more), it would continue like that until the table ended. The loners seemed disappointed about...something! The boy couldn't judge though because he was feeling the same way, disappointed.

He got out his favourite book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and began to read. Whilst reading he would pretend to be Newt Scamander, taking care of the magical creatures, showing them to the other guy, EVERYTHING. Miko loves magical creatures like Hagrid and Scamander so he knew a lot about 'em. Especially Thunderbirds, they're his favourite magical creature of them all.

Miko loved every magical creature, but there's one he loved more than the rest, Thunderbirds. He thought they looked majestic and their powers are awesome as well. The boy knew practically everything about Thunderbirds!

Miko would rarely read aloud, but when he did it meant he was really in to the book. "I'm more of a chaser, really." He said aloud. The boy was reading and repeating what he read like he was Newt.

Emanual assessed her a moment longer, before nodding, understanding what she meant. "I see, pure meaning only magic. Does that make non magic people impure?" He questioned. His home life had always felt off, but never impure. Then again, HE was the magic one, so of course he didn't feel impure. "I felt off, unusual at home...so, though all of this is knew and sometimes confusing, it...also makes sense. It makes sense this is where I'd be next, rather than staying in the same, normal place, with my abnormal self." He went on, his thoughts flowing from his mouth to his possible new friend.

He looked to her, quirking his head curiously. The only time he could maintain eye contact is when he was studying or something of the like. "When does your magic begin showing, when magics all around you? I assume living somewhere with magic all around you makes it easier to use it than it is in places where you don't believe it's real. Or I could be wrong. I'm still new to all of this. I guess I could learn it all along the way." He shrugged, deciding he'd asked enough questions for now, and he hushed.

Rhiannon watched as a flurry of thoughts and emotions shadowed Emanual's face as he spoke. When he finished, she smiled kindly at him. "You don't have to learn along the way if you don't want. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. Of course being a muggle doesn't make you impure...."

She felt her expression harden as she thought of how to explain what she needed to. "You may, on occasion, come across wizards who do think having muggle blood in you makes you impure or...inferior. Like a lesser wizard or a lesser person even. Those people are just jerks. Simple as that. If anyone here gives you a hard time about it, you just let me know and..." Rhiannon paused leaning in close and lowering her voice, "I'll kick their ass."

She looked around to see if anyone else heard her, unsure of if she'd get in trouble for foul language, no matter how small. At home, her dad was a stickler for always using clean and appropriate language, but her mom basically let her say what she wanted when they were alone. Sara Jones firmly did not believe in censorship of any form, and taught her daughter as much, but to also be wary of spaces where the rules should still be respected.

"I'm sorry to hear about your feelings at home. I can't imagine what it feels like to not belong in your very own home, and that must be difficult. Hopefully here you'll be able to feel more comfortable and accepted."

Rhiannon scooped another bite of food onto her fork before remembering Emanual's other questions, "Oh!" she exclaimed. Your magic typically starts showing up sporadically in your childhood, but you're not able to control it at all. It tones down as you grow, and then we come here to learn how to use it. I'm not sure how your home life affects your magic showing up, unless you're forced to suppress it. But even if you're in a muggle home, you still have it. Weren't there ever times you able to make things happen that you couldn't explain?"