The Hufflepuff Table 2022-2023

EmmaLee sat down at the Hufflepuff table beaming and turned to watch the rest of the students get sorted. The headmaster continued through the rest of the L names all the way through to the last of the first year students. As far as EmmaLee could tell, there seemed to be a pretty even number of students sorted into each of the houses. She wondered if that was typical or if maybe some years they were heavier in one house than in others.

In any case, once all of the students were sorted, a large buffet of all sorts of beautiful and tasty looking food appeared magically on all four of the tables. Students started to fill their golden plates with food and chatter about the next year. Usually EmmaLee was always eager to introduce herself and make new friends, but she was overcome with a sudden bout of shyness and awkwardness now that she was in a sea of other students. There was something about a bigger crowd of people that made her nervous. Small groups she could handle and be outgoing in, but larger ones threw her off.
She felt like she couldn't be heard over anyone around her.

She tried to shove down her shyness and anxiety by taking a large drink of the pumpkin juice that was in front of her, but then she remembered that she definitely did not even like pumpkin juice and spluttered it all over her plate instead. She sighed, cleaned up her area, hoped that no one was paying attention to her making a fool of herself while trying to eat, and grabbed some water to drink instead.

As she drank some of her water, like a normal person this time, she piled a bit of chicken and mashed potatoes onto her plate and looked around once more at the wonderous Great Hall. It was hard to imagine that she would be spending the majority of her time for the next several months in this grand castle. She wondered who she would meet here. She had met a great deal of nice people and students at the summer camp that Hogwarts offered. What adventures would she go on? Or would she go on any? She wondered idly about her life at Hogwarts as she chewed her food and her fellow students talked around her.

Alma slowly walked over to the hufflepuff table and sat down; near one of the end seats, mind you. She didn’t really feel like initiating conversation with strangers by herself.

She was surprised by her sorting, really. She thought she would surely get Ravenclaw based on her intelligence. I guess her loyalty and humbleness shone through this time. She wasn’t disappointed, no. In fact, she was glad she had the opportunity to be in Hufflepuff! She never understood why there was still some discrimination against houses in the wizarding world. Gryffindoors are cocky! Slytherins are evil! Ravenclaws are arrogant! Hufflepuffs are boring! She had heard it all. She believed all houses had great qualities and were all beautiful, no matter who was in them.

It wasn’t long before all the students were sorted. She was near the end, like she usually was with her S name, so waiting wasn’t a problem. Food appeared all around the table; chicken legs, salads, cranberries, and mashed potatoes. It was fabulous!

Alma decided on some salad first, she could try some heavy stuff afterwards. Maybe she could try getting in some conversation! Her mother encouraged her to not be so nervous in Hogwarts. Her father’s words weren’t as wizard-based, him refusing to go on the shopping trip and all, but he still always told her she needn’t be afraid of a little social interaction.

She stood up with her plate and walked calmly through lots of other students over to a girl with beautiful white-blonde hair and an empty seat next to her.

“Hi! My name’s Alma Stoll, can I sit here?”

open to interactions! interacting with @EmmaLee LeDames

EmmaLee had been staring particularly hard at her plate and eating kind of mechanically as she thought. She was thinking about the other students who were already and had been sorted into Hufflepuff, starting school, the other people she had met at camp this summer (some of whom had sadly been sorted into other houses), and various other things and so she jumped a little in surprise when another girl came over to her and asked to sit down. EmmaLee chuckled a little at getting lost in her own head as she turned towards the other girl, Alma. She smiled a sweet smile, gestured to the empty seat, and made even more room for Alma to sit down.

"Bonjour! Ah Hello. Of course you can sit here." EmmaLee said, excited to have someone to talk to, rather than stay lost in her own thoughts about the coming year, years even. She had a tendency to over think about almost everything, rolling it over in her mind like clay. Her slight French accent rolled off her tongue, but her English was clear and eloquent.

"My name is EmmaLee LeDames. It's nice to meet you. What do you think about being sorted into Hufflepuff?" She asked. The excitement in the room was infectious and EmmaLee found herself generally excited as well. There were new friends to be made and a school year to begin.

Oliver was quite surprised that he had been placed into Hufflepuff, but he didn’t mind. Considering his intelligence and reservedness, he figured he’d be a Ravenclaw, but in a way, it made sense as to why he was a Hufflepuff now. After all, when he was being his true self around someone, he was capable of being quite friendly and caring.

The boy then headed over to the Hufflepuff table, feeling incredibly nervous at all of the other unfamiliar people there. He felt even more nervous considering he was a first year. Although he had wanted to go to Hogwarts upon hearing about it from his father, the amount of unfamiliar people made things a bit difficult. Once the boy reached the table, he took a deep breath.

“Hey, uh, is it okay if I sit here?” He asked, nervously taking a seat at the table. Those in Hufflepuff were usually very caring and peaceful, so he felt a tiny bit more…safe, although still nervous. If he had been around someone in Slytherin, he’d definitely be a bit more nervous. Based on what he knew about the Slytherin house, Oliver was a little scared of anyone in Slytherin.

Oliver glanced around the table at his new housemates, trying to put on his best attempt at a smile.

“Bonjour! Ah Hello. Of course you can sit here!

Alma excitedly took a seat at the table next to the girl and set her plate down. The girl was lovely, her white-blonde hair was beautiful and her blue eyes illuminated perfectly in the light of the Great Hall. Her french accent seemed to roll off her tongue perfectly, and Alma was delighted. She seemed like a very lovely person!

“It’s fantastic! Well, of course I would probably say that about any other house, but seriously! Hufflepuff seems like a wonderful house, with wonderful people. I thought I would be a Ravenclaw though, honestly. My ma says i’m very intelligent.”

She was stopped (thankfully) in her rambling when another boy came and asked to sit down. She wanted to say “Yes of course!” but she didn’t know how the other girl felt. She decided to take the risk and nod at the boy, insinuating that he could take a seat.

“So what are all of your names?” she asked, hoping to stir up some more conversation. She was getting better at being more friendly at Hogwarts, not being so nervous and shy. She was quite sure the people here wouldn’t bully or make fun of her.

@EmmaLee LeDames @Oliver Harding

Roused from his face-stuffing reverie by the conversation of a handful of first years, George lifted his face up from his plate. He politely waited to finish chewing and then swallow a mouthful of chicken before he threw himself into the conversation. They may have noticed George during their sorting - he tended to cheer and whoop for every new wizard that got dragged kicking and screaming into the worst house at Hogwarts. These ones were disappointingly chipper.

"Yes, all of the intelligent kids go to Ravenclaw. They just put the rest of us in houses to make us feel better," George lamented, having only caught the tail end of what Alma was saying. He raised his hand to give a wave to her and the other girl and boy she was chatting with - one of which was excitingly French. "We are the wonderful house, though. You've got that right."

A flash of a cheeky grin made it clear the older boy was only joking. He looked down at himself, seeing the grease accumulated on his fingers from eating with his hands. "I'll spare you the handshake. I'm George Henry, I'm the captain of the broom racing team." Nice to finally have a title again. He gave a look up to Oliver, who seemed about ready to jump out of the seat he'd just taken if anyone asked. "It's our table, lad. You can sit where you please. Eat something!"

He raised his own mug of juice in a toast, taking a big gulp of it before setting it down at the table again. Every meal at Hogwarts was a delight, but welcoming the first-year Huffles? That required a feast!

Interactions: @Alma Stoll @George Henry

Oliver started to feel a tiny bit less nervous when he was welcomed to the Hufflepuff table with open arms (at least it seemed that way to him). The girl with dark hair gave a nod, which Oliver assumed meant he could sit here. An older boy who was seated at the table also welcomed him to the table, raising some juice as a toast.

Wow, these people are really friendly. I mean, aren’t Hufflepuffs supposed to be friendly?

Oliver’s awkward facial expression gradually started to turn into more of a small smile.

“Th-thanks. Really appreciate it. I’m new here so…just trying to adjust.”

Oliver drank some juice and took a bite of food, looking around the Great Hall. It was incredibly huge, which intimidated him, but at least the tables were sorted by house. That made things a little easier.

The girl then asked her fellow Hufflepuffs what their names were. After taking another gulp of juice, Oliver introduced himself.

“My name’s Oliver. Oliver Harding.” He responded, a small smile still on his face.

The boy was still feeling quite awkward with everyone around at the table, but he figured once conversations would begin going, he wouldn’t feel as nervous and would be able to settle in.

EmmaLee smiled widely and chuckled a little as the Alma sat down and was quickly followed by another student, she nodded as well as his permission to sit and then turned to the older boy.

"I'm EmmaLee LeDames. It is nice to meet all of you. I am extremely excited to be starting school and I think Hufflepuff seems like a wonderful house as well. I mean, they all seem to me like good houses to be apart of." She said with a shrug, taking a sip of water from her cup. "Neither of my parents went here, so I don't really know anything more about the houses than what is in Hogwarts: A History and what the curious Sorting Hat said."

EmmaLee looked around for some of the students she had met at summer camp. She had heard a few of their names, but hadn't seen where they had gone because of all the cheering. She had hoped to catch up with at least her tentmates eventually and spotted a couple of them in the crowd at different tables, but they were too busy talking and eating to notice her. She turned back to her the new tablemates as Oliver mentioned trying to adjust.

"I think all of us firsties are trying to adjust." She said with a small giggle. "This school is quite a bit grander than I expected and I expected it to be quite grand."

@EmmaLee LeDames @Oliver Harding @George Henry

Alma sat and quietly ate her food as she listened to her peers talk. They seemed so friendly; George, who was quite funny and seemed like a good mentor for the first-years, EmmaLee who seemed like such a sweet girl with an adorable french accent, and Oliver who was timid, looked afraid to even speak but was so kind and seemed a lot like Alma herself. And they were all in the same house! She was so glad to be put in Hufflepuff.

She reached for a drumstick and took a bite, finally deciding she wanted more than a small salad as she listened to EmmaLee make a joke about the first years.

“Oh, absolutely!” Alma laughed. “This school is definitely not what I expected. It’s a little intimidating, honestly.” She looked back down at her food and continued eating.

“I’m very excited to see the library, though. Ma told me it has every wizard book ever written! Pa only ever got me muggle books.” She thought back to reading things like Miss Peregrine’s home or Junie B. Jones with her father. Sure, they were lovely books and she enjoyed reading them, but she could only imagine how amazing Wizard-based books were. She couldn’t wait to read them.