General The Ravenclaw Table 2017-2018

Ashlyn walked up to the Ravenclaw table and sighed sitting onto the bench. She looked to the food and smiled her hunger eating away at her stomach. She looked around before grabbing some food and shoveling it into her mouth politely. She kept her manners though eating quite quickly. 
"This food is so good."
She mumbled to herself and continued to eat before she finally got full and stopped. She pulled out a book from her bag and began to read. She quickly began scanning the words on the page with ease and great excitement. When she flipped the page, it seemed to be with great eagerness for more. She seemed to become engulfed into the book itself as if the words came off the paper. She smiled, the main character in her mind being her best friend. She quickly gasped and sighed at some parts an sometimes she laughed quietly to herself. She was happy when she read, and was always it had always been that way for her.

Uschi approached the Ravenclaw table, stomach growling, and sat down gingerly towards the end. All the food looked delicious but she dared not eat any. Doing so would likely encourage taunts and jeers like they had in the muggle schools back in Edinburgh. So instead she just sat, looking about, smiling at people who made eye contact with her. Mostly they made eye contact then quickly looked away, as if they couldn't stand her... as if they didn't want anything to do with the fat girl. Well, that's there loss, her mother used to say, but Uschi wasn't quite so confident to be able to brush off such rejections so well, just yet. A small part of her withered inside - that part that hoped this school would be different - and she found herself gazing back at the food in front of her.
A long time seemed to pass with nothing happening. Conversations continued around her. More people came from the sorting hat, seemingly happy to be placed in Ravenclaw. Uschi didn't mind. Anything but Slytherin would suit her, she thought. But perhaps the people in Griffindor or Hufflepuff would be more friendly. Ravenclaw was for thinkers, after all, not people people. She wasn't a people person either, but she liked people people who liked her. After all, what she really wanted to do was fit in.
With a sigh she tucked into the food in front of her. Maybe she should just give up fitting in anywhere, or into anything for that matter.

Teagan skipped down from the dais, taking in the cheers and whistles and loud conversations. Ravenclaw table sat with warm welcome, if not literally then in her head. The dishes seemed to gleam brighter here, the students looked happier, and her own love of knowledge seemed to dim in comparison with the brilliant minds she knew she was sitting next to.

The table seemed filled up, but Teagan noticed an empty spot near the end. A girl with chestnut hair sat there, not eating anything, looking around nervously like someone was going to bite her if she didn't stay away. Teagan thought she looked like great bench-mate material, and she continued skipping on down the line to sit next to her. She hoped she wouldn't scare the girl off–Teagan was all too aware of how many times she'd frightened someone because of how many words she tried to cram into one sentence, all of the fictional boys she constantly rambled on about, and the way she stared at someone as if they were the most fascinating art piece she'd ever seen in her life.

Just be cool... Teagan told herself as she sat down next to the girl. Teagan tried to stop herself, but as if on autopilot she stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Teagan! What's your name? I'm so excited to be here–Ravenclaw is just a dream! How long have you known about wizards? I haven't for very long. My father's one, so was my mum, but she died so I never actually met her. Aren't these candles beautiful? I've never seen anything like floating candles. All we had were floating shelves, and they didn't even float–just stuck to the wall, useless. The picture frames are pretty, too! I-" Teagan clamped a hand over her mouth, inwardly sighing at her own stupidity. She knew she'd messed up again.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I get over-excited. Back to my previous question: what is your name?"

To Uschi, in case it wasn't clear.

“Uhh, I’m Uschi,” she said, having recovered a little from the fright when the girl plopped down beside her. At first she had listened with apprehension, thinking this pretty girl wouldn’t really want to talk to her – what was her real agenda? – but then Teagan apologised for rambling and asked her name again. So Uschi gave her a nervous smile and said, “Uschi Ursula. So… you got Ravenclaw too? Are you into… books and stuff?” Oh boy, she felt stupid.
She realised she was picking at her fingernails again and put her hands flat on the table, then decided if everyone else was eating then maybe she could too. So she pulled over a plate full of baked vegetables – pumpkin, carrot and potato, then carefully selected the smallest proportions of each to put on her plate. It looked silly, having so little, but she knew that if she put on any more at once it would invite people to comment on her appetite. Sure, she had an appetite, but she also didn’t like being mocked. She held out the bowl of steaming vegetables to Teagan and said, “Would you like some? There’s pork over there too. Um… what’s your favourite food?”

Teagan felt relieved. Finally, someone who didn't immediately shun her for all of the words she threw at them! She smiled widely while the girl talked. What was her favorite food? Teagan hadn't thought about it in awhile, with all of the things she loved most back home.

"I suppose it would have to be..." Teagan thought aloud, drumming her fingers on the table. "Well, if sweets count as food, then I can never get enough of them! But if not, maybe my step-mother's roasted turkey back home. It was so delicious; probably still is." She laughed, thinking of her family for the first time since arriving in London. All of her siblings were probably back at home, not even remembering who she was. Her father had said something about a spell to taint there memories a bit, just so she could get through a year without Landon telling everyone about wizards and magic and all of the other crazy things in her letter. Teagan missed them more than anything.

Teagan realized she'd gone silent, thinking of everyone she'd left for this beautiful, glowing castle. She tried to put a smile back on. "Oh, and, yes I love books. My room feels like it's own miniature library! I've tried to read all of them, but to my delight, there's too many! They sit there on the shelf, waiting for me, all of the little character's voices calling out 'Please, Teagan! You haven't read a book in over two hours! Must you leave us to our shelf to rot?'" Teagan turned to Uschi, giggling at herself.

"Do you like books? I suppose you probably do, having been let into Ravenclaw. Though maybe not all Ravenclaws like books. Maybe some of them like computer science! How interesting would that be? What's your favorite type of novel? I mostly read fantasy, but science-fiction if it's good, almost never contemporary, and romance is off the table. I suppose dystopian really isn't so bad most of the time-" Teagan rambled on, leaving Uschi to answer any one of the questions that she asked.

Uschi smiled at this chatty girl, so glad for the company her head was spinning just a little. It felt good to be normal, to have at least one person who accepted her. She also liked that Teagan talked so much. It made herself feel trusted, and worthy of Teagan’s trust, even if they only had just met. “Oh, I’m sure I’ll miss home cooking too. I think I like Italian food best. My mum makes a delicious lasagne.
“But of course I like sweets,” she added, with only a passing sense of guilt. “Chocolate is best. My dad brought back some from Belgium last year and it was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted.” Now she was doing it, she realised – talking just as much as Teagan. And it felt good!
At Teagan’s questions about books, Uschi thought carefully, putting a generous serving of baked vegetables on Teagan’s plate before grabbing a plate of pulled pork and sharing it between them. She ate delicately as Teagan spoke, chewing thoughtfully.
“I like books… better than most people. But there’s some people I like better than books.” She gave Teagan a warm smile. “But I do like fantasy. I was just getting into Deltora Quest before I left.” She sighed, looking around. “This place is amazing, but I am going to miss a lot of stuff from home. Like my mobile. And the internet.” She frowned at Teagan. “What will you miss?”

Divya made her way to the table and sat down on an empty seat, on the large bench.
She sat down and looked around at everyone who was talking, laughing and eating and felt oddly out of place.
She had never been very good at making friends, and it suddenly hit her that she had known all of her old friends since she was 6.
How on earth was she supposed to handle this? Not only was she surrounded by witches and wizard without knowing anything about magic, but she also didn't know anything about talking to new people. It seemed as if most people here had known each other forever, even though a lot of them were first years just like her. How were they making friends already?
She decided to take some food, as she didn't want to be the only one with an empty plate. Everything looked so weird, though. The plates were all self-filling and the jugs of water, soda and whatever else that were in there were always full. This was a magic school, but still, how could that be possible? She knew not to think too much about things, because it could probably lead her brain to explode as there isn't really an answer to why or how this all works.
Everything looked so good, but could food that magically appeared out of nowhere really be that good? She took a bit of food, and it hit her how hungry she really was. She hadn't eaten anything on the train, either.
Carefully putting some in her mouth, this was better than anything she had ever eaten. Well, maybe with a few exceptions, but it really was delicious.
"Mhmm." She said out loud, quickly slapping her hand over her mouth to hide the involuntary sound that just left her mouth.
How embarrassing, she thought to herself.

A girl had sat across from Uschi and Teagan, helping herself to the food on her plate. “Mmm,” she said, then slapped her hand over her face in embarrassment.
Uschi gave her a warm smile. She recognised the girl’s nervousness, one she felt herself up to a few moments ago when Teagan began speaking to her. “It’s very good, isn’t it?” she said, then leaned forward, holding out the plate of pulled pork. “Try this. It’s delicious. Do you think this food is pulled out of thin air? Or does it just get moved from somewhere else? It’d be nice if it just appeared. That means no animals would need to die to eat meat.
“My name’s Uschi, by the way,” she said, then indicated to the girl next to her. “This is Teagan. We’ve just met. Um… what’s your name? And what do you think of Hogwarts so far?”
Uschi ate delicately while she listened to the girl’s response. It was important for her not to seem a pig. Being a larger girl she was well aware that others were more likely to judge her by her eating habits – if they hadn’t judged her already for being twice as wide as the average student.

Desmond Bluewater bit his lip in anticipation as the Sorting Hat fell on his head. He was almost certain that he was going to end up in Ravenclaw, however he wasn't arrogant enough to think that low probability events didn't happen.
He looked up at the enchanted ceiling as the Sorting Hat began its monologue - the sky outside looked perfectly clear, completely undistorted by the fact that there was a ceiling separating the night from the hall.

The Sorting Hat pierced his mind as easily as a knife slicing through butter, making Desmond's every thought entirely exposed to a piece of headwear. The idea itself seemed ridiculous to Desmond, however it was rather uncomfortable. Eventually the hat bellowed, "RAVENCLAW!" for the entire hall to hear, accompanied by vigorous clapping from the Ravenclaw table, and a quiet polite applause from the other 3 houses. A brief, calm wave of relief washed over him, as he put the hat back on the stool before trotting towards the Ravenclaw table: his new family.

The thought seemed kind of strange to Desmond, he never really felt like he belonged anywhere other than with his parents, however he felt completely at home as he sat down. He was almost completely certain that it'll be a great year.

‘RAVENCLAW!’

The hat upon his head shouted in its gruff tone, the hall clapping in jubilation, and Thomas, sitting there in front of everyone, having been embarrassed the whole time, felt his face turn red, all the attention a bit over the top in his opinion.

He still wasn’t quite sure about any of this, at the moment. Hogwarts, magic, “wizardry”. It was all a bit far-fetched, but here he still managed to find himself with a talking hat ruffling his hair, although now it was taken off, thankfully, the strange whispering voice no longer near his ear. Thomas wondered exactly as to how it had figured out his personality; could it read his mind? He supposed, standing now, walking over to the Ravenclaw table where candles were floating up above, the wax strangely not dripping and falling on everyone’s heads, and there, not too far away, a shimmering grey spirit of a well-dressed man talking to students, barely any of them with an ounce of detracted shock at this sighting, besides the first-years of course, that a talking hat with the ability to infiltrate the minds of all it sat on was probably the least bizarre thing here. Thomas took a seat at the end of the table, congratulated by a few of his new House mates, but it didn’t take long for him to exhibit his withdrawn state of countenance, and none of them were all that interested soon after that.