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Gryffindor Table - Galen MacLean - 04-29-2026
Gryffindor Table
![[Image: 310_openingfeast-gryffindor.png]](https://knockturnbound.net/gallery/0/310_openingfeast-gryffindor.png)
The Gryffindor table is on the far right of the room when walking in, and is next to the Hufflepuff table.
RE: Gryffindor Table - Matilda Nordstrom - 04-30-2026
Sixth year… Wow…
It seemed like just last term she was the one sitting on the stool being told Gryffindor was her house. The hat had made the right decision, she couldn’t see herself anywhere else.
Walking with the group up the main stairs to the Great Hall, Matilda watched the younger years to make sure they followed the Deputy’s orders. The threat of sandwiches really was a horrible punishment. She grimaced at the memory.
A large smile brightened her face, finally being back with her friends, well… family really. Hogwarts wasn’t just school. It was freedom. A place where expectations didn’t follow her quite so closely, where conversations about marriage and duty didn’t hover over every moment. Here, she could ignore it all.
Owls from her grandmother? Never arrived. Letters from Durmstrang? Strange… must have been lost. Was it a good plan? No. But it was her plan.
She had until Christmas. Until she turned seventeen. Time to figure out how to undo everything. Run away. Fall in love with someone else. Make the Zdravkovas regret ever choosing her. All valid options.
Not that she would ever admit it, but she didn’t hate Drago. Not really. If anything… she was curious. The chemistry between them had been undeniable, and that was exactly the problem. Because Allegra had set this in motion, and Matilda would never, under any circumstance, give her the satisfaction of winning.
The doors to the Great Hall opened and Matilda took in the scene. Hufflepuff had won the house cup, so the gold banners were on grand display. Long house tables were filling up with people. Matilda walked towards the one assigned to the Gryffindor House, her housemates all taking their seats, voices rising, laughter echoing through the hall.
She moved toward the Gryffindor table and stopped.
No.
Her mind refused it. Refused to process what she was seeing. A tall figure. Gryffindor robes. Close cut dark hair. Chiseled jaw…
No.
There was no possible way.
Her breath caught. Heat flooded her body, her heart racing so fast it felt like it might break through her ribs.
Drago Zdravkova was sitting at the Gryffindor table.
Everything crashed around her. All her plans, ridiculous as they were, gone. She stood frozen in place, the sea of students parting around her going to their seats. Shock turned into anger. Blindsided by his transfer, unable to move, Matilda walked towards the man who haunted her dreams and now would haunt her waking hours. The only safe spot would now be her dorm room. Not even the common room was safe.
He wasn’t supposed to be here. This wasn’t part of the plan.
Being near him made it impossible to think. Her mind went haywire, stuck between wanting to hate him and wanting to learn everything about him. She needed distance, and now that was impossible.
Walking up to the table, his attention shifted to her, anger rolling off her in waves, she simply looked at him, teeth clenched, voice raspy like a disgruntled gobblin. “Why are you here?” Each word stressed like it was its own sentence.
RE: Gryffindor Table - Dragomir Zdravkova - 05-01-2026
Him and his siblings had entered the Great Hall in plain black robes, unlike the others who were accentuated in either red, yellow, blue or green. A wild, unruly sea of students, loud and disorderly, shoving and shouting, different from anything he knew from Durmstrang.
It had stopped all of them a little short, a shared look of confusion and judgement before carefully storing it away. Moving past the four long tables with cool composure as though they had been here all along, on to a smaller room where they'd be sorted into one of the houses.
Both him and Serik were announced as Gryffindors by the old, ugly hat Liliya had told them about. Wiosna would have to sit at the Ravenclaw table by herself, but Drago didn't worry. She knew how to handle herself. Serik on the other hand — it was probably better to have him where he could see him.
He gave his sister a tight hug before watching her head for the blue, while he pushed Serik forward, heading for the red.
"They are strange here," Drago rumbled lowly as he sat along the filling benches, gaze scanning the crowd. Brow eyes quietly analytical he watched a jumping cluster of girls, squealing noisily as they fell into a very unladylike group hug thing.
Serik sank down next to him. "Maybe it will be fun," he returned and Drago shot him a look, one that was subliminally warning. Serik met it with a lopsided grin. "I won't cause any trouble, promise."
Drago grunted in response, not at all convinced. Even at Durmstrang he'd gotten himself into sticky situations more often than was good — for neither of them. Here, where rules and order seemed a second thought, Drago worried. There was only so much he could keep from father.
Before he could continue though, a different kind of red caught his attention, a flash in the corner of his eye. His head turned on instinct, gaze landing squarely on Matilda.
Matilda who looked like she was going to explode for some reason.
Drago rose to his feet, climbing back out from behind the bench to meet her seething gaze head on.
“Why are you here?”
For a moment he didn't know what to say. Face void he merely blinked at her. The sheer fury in her growl stunned him frozen, another completely new side of her and one he wasn't sure what to think of.
"I go to school here," was what he finally settled on, voice even, pragmatic. "I finish my seventh year. Did they...not...tell you?" Again?
dialogue in colour is spoken in Russian <3
RE: Gryffindor Table - Tulip Asquith - 05-02-2026
Another year another train journey, but now she was the eldest Asquith at school. Of course Papa and Mater gave her a lecture of setting an example to her sisters. Tulip was most affronted by that remark, she'd been setting an example for her younger sisters for years... bad examples but it was still totally an example. Of course her parents didn't think bad example was any type of example but really why did they have to start being specific now. And really how in Merlin's name was she ever going to set an example to her younger sisters, Briar was deep in with her weird Ravenclaw friends looking at new and interesting ways to poison people, Poppy was just some kind of feral child who wants to set things on fire. Of course this was the year the last Asquith sister boarded the train for the first time. She looked over at the sorting hat wondering how many other first years Blossom had drowned in the lake.
Tulip had almost skipped into the hall, she felt lighter and happier, she no longer had that terrible "P" badge weighing her down. She was no longer had unreasonable expectations forced upon her. OWLS had come and gone, she had a few, they weren't disasters, for someone who didn't believe in homework, she apparently tested well, so at least she didn't have resits and could drop some classes for ever.
The hall was rapidly filling up with older students and she waved and said "Hi" to people as she wound her way to the Gryffindor Table. So far there were a few people sat there, one she recognised. She'd not seen her over the Summer with the Summer camp closed Mater and Papa had kept the girls grounded to the house and it's grounds. It was good to see people who she didn't share blood with. But the girls had kept the arguing to a minimal, Rose had left at the start of the summer to some Magic Finishing school for girls in the Alps, so that was probably the reason for the reduced number of Arguments. Her sister seemed to think an all girls school in the Alps was how you secured a European Prince.
So Tulip hadn't seen any of her school friends all summer so it was good to catch up with some on the train and some as she ambled to the hall. She slid into the seat next to Tilly, "Hey there Tilly good Summer?" she asked. But before she could get an answer someone else seemed to draw Tilly's attention, a boy in Gryffindor Robes she didn't recognise but clearly Tilly did.
He seemed to have a thick accent, "Who's the Caveman Tilly?" she asked.
RE: Gryffindor Table - Matilda Nordstrom - 05-02-2026
"I go to school here, I finish my seventh year. Did they...not...tell you?"
Matilda shut her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head to the side breathing deeply.
She. Would. Not. Cry.
It was really frustrating when you were mad and the only thing that came out were tears. Once her emotions were mildly under control, she opened her eyes, blue connecting to his brown. “No.” Her voice cracked. “They didn’t tell me anything. Apparently that’s how things will be from now on.”
Suddenly very annoyed and very frustrated, Matilda sat down at the Gryffindor table and slumped forward. Head resting on her folded arms, she growled with annoyance. Breathing, wasn’t helping. Nothing would at this point.
Finally under control, she lifted her head, creases had formed on her face from the fabric of her sweater. This was not the poised pureblood princess Drago had met over the summer. This was the real Tilly. Frazzled, casual, unfiltered. The only thing missing was leaves in her hair and dirt under her nails.
Words were difficult, not sure what to say to the man now sitting next to her. “You transferring to Hogwarts was never something I considered. It’s a lot to take in.”
It was all she managed to say, still so angry that her castle had been infiltrated by the enemy… No, not the enemy, but the jury was still out on whether she could trust him. He had expectations. One being a marriage at the end of her schooling. The idea still gave her chills. What other things would he expect of her?
“I thought…” She started, but wasn’t sure what else to say. “It’s fine, we can talk about it later.”
She brushed off the rest of what she was planning on saying. There were too many ears and eyes around. There would need to be a conversation, but the opening feast was not the time or place.
Leaning around Drago Tilly gave a small wave at the younger boy that was unmistakably his younger brother. “I’m Matilda, you must be Serik? It’s nice to meet you.” Her face was void of all emotion, but she tried to give the younger boy a small smile. It wasn’t his fault she was so angry.
To be fair, it wasn’t Drago’s either, he was just the closest target in this messed up situation.
"Hey there Tilly good Summer?" Tulip arriving broke Tilly out of her anger bubble, letting in the noise and chatter from the students filing into the great hall. “Hey Tulip, it was… Eventful, how was yours?" She asked, but Tulip beat her to it with another question. "Who's the Caveman Tilly?"
Tilly looked from Tulip to Drago and back to her friend. A startled snort escaped her lips. Wasn’t that the million dollar question. “Tulip, this is Dragomir Zdravkova. Drago, this is Tulip, a fellow sixth year Gryffindor. He transferred from Durmstrang, 7th year. We are… well… friends?” There was a question at the end of her introduction. Fiance wasn’t right, betrothed seemed archaic, boyfriend was a hard pass. Yeah. Friends would have to do for now.
RE: Gryffindor Table - Dragomir Zdravkova - 05-03-2026
A pang of sympathy hit him as she fought for composure, voice cracking nonetheless when she looked back at him. He wanted say something, to apologize, but before he got the chance to, Matilda was already sitting down.
Or rather, slumping down. Arms on the table, head falling forward, growling.
Drago sat, gaze never straying from his betrothed, but silent. Observing. This was not how she had behaved at the ball or their estate in Sweden. Not even when they'd been alone. Here however, right in the middle of the entire school where everyone could see, she acted like a common girl with no decorum. Far off from the expected elegance and grace of a pureblood girl, one engaged to a Zdravkova man no less.
On his other side, Drago could feel the curious eyes of Serik on his profile, a buzzing energy that pushed from his younger brother and along the bench. Drago kicked his elbow out in a sharp motion, silencing the boy before he had the chance to comment.
A muffled oof was all that came.
“You transferring to Hogwarts was never something I considered. It’s a lot to take in.”
She at last looked at him, the creases on her face distracting his eyes before they found back to hers, expression unreadable. He could understand her feelings, seeing she'd been blindsided twice now. Her reaction however was one he didn't understand, so far from what he knew from her. So different from what he knew of pureblood girls in general.
“I thought… It’s fine, we can talk about it later.”
He nodded brusquely, more than happy with that arrangement. There were too many eyes on them already, he didn't need more and he certainly couldn't afford anyone listening in on business that just seemed to have complicated itself even further.
Serik answered her introduction with a polite incline of his head, a mirror image to his older brother's mannerisms. "It is nice meeting you, Matilda. I have heard...many things of you." Drago's head whipped around, dark eyes staring down at his brother in warning. He knew exactly what word he'd almost used instead of 'many'. "Watch it," he growled, continuing to stare him down until and Serik's grin slowly faded, settling his face into smooth obedience.
"Who's the Caveman Tilly?"
Expression coolly neutral, Drago looked back around to find a blonde girl had joined in on Matilda's free side. He didn't comment on her assessment, quite above some British plonker's opinion on him, unbothered until Matilda answered with a snort.
And the word friends.
He looked at her a moment longer. A few seconds before his lips curled slightly, a spark of challenge in his eyes and then he addressed the girl named Tulip. "Pleasure to meet," he replied to their introduction in proper ways. "My family has moved to Britain during summer. Matilda and I are promised to each other."
She might not like this reality — he already knew that much, and a small part of him felt for her. But he wasn't going to play pretend and she has had more than enough time to come to terms with their arrangement. It was her duty just as much as it was his and cowering away from responsibilities wasn't something he knew how to do. If she needed some encouragement in seeing reason, he was happy to provide just that.
Looking back to his betrothed, Drago gave her smile, a real smile, dimples and all, grinning down at her like never before.
RE: Gryffindor Table - Matilda Nordstrom - 05-03-2026
"It is nice meeting you, Matilda. I have heard...many things of you." Matilda’s eyebrows went up, looking at Drago. He let out a word in Russian, she had no idea what it meant, which caused her to narrow her gaze at him.
“Many things you say?” She said as Drago answered Tulip.
"Pleasure to meet, My family has moved to Britain during summer. Matilda and I are promised to each other."
Annnnnnd that secret lasted all of three minutes… Matilda opened her mouth, and nothing came out.
And then he smiled. With dimples… For a moment, she just stared at him. Because that… That was new.
She had seen him smile before. Small, controlled, polite. Not this. Not the way it reached his eyes. Not the way it softened his entire face. Not the… for fucks sake he had dimples.
Oh.
Oh, that was a problem.
Still looking at him. Still very aware of the fact that he had just told everyone they were promised to each other. A flush crept up her neck, spreading across her cheeks as she snapped her gaze away from him, suddenly very interested in literally anything else.
“Well,” she said, a little too quickly, too bright, high pitched and flustered.
“That’s…” Her hand made a vague gesture in the air, as if that would somehow finish the sentence for her. It did not. “New information for everyone,” she settled on finally, voice tightening just slightly.
Her eyes flicked back to him. Briefly. Big mistake.
She dropped her gaze again immediately.
“Next time,” she added, quieter now. Leaning toward him, her shoulder slightly touching his arm, “maybe give me a heads up before you announce my entire future to the table."
Then, louder, high pitched and a little squeaky, for those around who heard his earlier pronouncement, "And, for the record. No question has been asked, no answer has been given and no ring has been purchased. So lets not get ahead of ourselves ok?!”
A beat. Then, because she couldn’t help herself. “And stop smiling like that.” Not nearly as sharp as it should have been. Not when her heart was still doing something deeply unhelpful in her chest.
Fanning her heated face with the napkin in front of her, Tilly looked at Tulip and asked, “Is it warm in here?”
RE: Gryffindor Table - Tulip Asquith - 05-04-2026
Well wasn't it getting heated already at the Gryffindor table, and they hadn't even had their first course. Tulip sat an patiently listened to the exchange between Tilly and the Caveman.
“Hey Tulip, it was… Eventful, how was yours?"
she looked at the red head, "You know I'm beginning to see that," she said giving the boy a side eye. "Most I had to deal with all summer was my annoying sisters." She felt an air of tension, she was good at spotting that growing up in her family, there was always someone who seemed to be pissed at someone else. Or when Mater and Papa fell out and didn't speak for days instead passively aggressively passing the salt at supper time.
“Tulip, this is Dragomir Zdravkova. Drago, this is Tulip, a fellow sixth year Gryffindor. He transferred from Durmstrang, 7th year. We are… well… friends?”
A raised eyebrow was all Tilly got, Tulip looked Dragomir up and down, transferring in for a final year. Now that was odd. "Wow that name is a mouthful, can I just call you Mags instead?" she asked somewhat sarcastically, the tension and Tilly's body languages didn't really say 'friends'. "And transferring in your last year, isn't that code for 'got expelled'?" she asked him.
And it was at that point the proverbial hit the fan, as Drago dropped a bomb shell around Tilly being promised to him. "Excuse me?" Tulip said surprised she honestly didn't think families arranged marriages anymore, clearly not. She hoped her family didn't think of this they'd palm all the Asquith girls off to the first lad that walked past.
"And, for the record. No question has been asked, no answer has been given and no ring has been purchased. So lets not get ahead of ourselves ok?!”
If this was happening at any other table Tulip would have settled in for the show, but this was her house and her friends, so naturally took Tilly's side. "Mag's, wrong time, this is more an after dinner conversation not pre starter, don't they have manners at Durmstrangs? How crass!" she said in her most plummy accent. "Not to mention you'll have to get in line, there are dozens and dozens of lads here chasing Tilly." It was probably not a lie, she knew there were boys who fancied her so there had to be plenty who fancied Tilly.
Is it warm in here?
Tulip poured Tilly a glass of water, and slid it to her, "Are you okay?" she asked quietly
RE: Gryffindor Table - Dragomir Zdravkova - 05-05-2026
His smile caused the reaction he had anticipated.
Before Matilda had the chance to snap at him for what he'd just revealed to the entire section of their table she was disarmed and silenced. For a moment all she did was stare and he just smiled right back. When she finally looked away he didn't let it fall completely just yet, watching instead as she squirmed under his gaze, real amusement shining in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Tulip continued to eye him suspiciously, something he was getting used to the longer and more often he came into contact with the people at this school. It wasn't surprising. After all, his family had only just set foot into Britain, their name didn't yet hold any value to these students.
It didn't irk him though, didn't stir his calm — not the scrutinizing eyes or words of a girl with no manners or sense for politics.
“Next time, maybe give me a heads up before you announce my entire future to the table."
That only made him grin a little harder. "So you accept it as your future," he determined matter-of-factly, pulling the information out of her next statement made to the table and putting it to memory.
A romantic then. Good to know, easy to utilize.
“And stop smiling like that.”
It wasn't Matilda's comment that dropped his smile at last, but Tulip's.
"Mag's, wrong time, this is more an after dinner conversation not pre starter, don't they have manners at Durmstrang? How crass! Not to mention you'll have to get in line, there are dozens and dozens of lads here chasing Tilly."
Drago's face fell back to its usual unmoved neutrality, the brief spark of joy that had flared to life dead as a dodo.
"You can call me Drago," he countered that new nickname. However she had landed on that, he wasn't sure. "And it does not matter. It is arrangement between two important families." His gaze slid back to Matilda, suddenly serious. "There is no line."
RE: Gryffindor Table - Matilda Nordstrom - 05-06-2026
"So you accept it as your future.”
…
That’s not what…. Well shit…
Everything was turning upside down.
"You can call me Drago, And it does not matter. It is arrangement between two important families.” He said, his eyes returning to Matilda. “There is no line." Their eyes locked, hers getting larger with his simple statement. Her stomach did a dramatic flip. It seemed she had zero control of how her body reacted to the man sitting next to her.
The humor drained out of the moment so quickly, she nearly got whiplash. One second there were dimples and megawatt smiles, the next, there was THAT look.
’There is no line.’ The words settled heavily in her chest. Not loud or aggressive, no anger, just certainty.
Matilda stared at him for a beat too long, the earlier embarrassment fading into frustration. Around them, the noise of the Great Hall carried on as normal, students talking, laughing, the sorting hat moving on with its duties, but suddenly she felt painfully aware of how close he was sitting.
How easily he spoke about her future like it had already been decided. Like it belonged to him as much as it did her.
Her jaw tightened slightly, eyes flicked briefly toward Tulip before returning to him. “Maybe in the future we refrain from announcing my personal business to half the school before dinner is served.”
The irritation was real. But annoyingly, so was the flutter low in her stomach every time he looked at her directly. And those freaking dimples. UGH.
She hated this, on a deep level.
Trying to regain some control of herself, Matilda reached for the goblet in front of her and took a long drink, mostly to give herself something else to focus on besides the fact that Dragomir Zdravkova had somehow managed to infiltrate every corner of her life. And apparently, her central nervous system.
RE: Gryffindor Table - Galen MacLean - 05-07-2026
Galen sat silently at the center of the staff table, his blue eyes skimming the students. He paid close attention to the new faces, attempting to gauge who may cause problems this term. He hoped none would.
This was his first Opening Feast as Headmaster, as last term he came in once term was underway. The staff felt tighter this time around – though that was perhaps because he fully trusted each and every one of them. Last term, it had been his predecessor that had hired them. It had been up to him to remove anyone he didn’t see fit for their roles, or who wasn’t trustworthy.
Gideon took his seat on the other side of Byrne – Blackwood, really, but it was too confusing with too many professors having the same surnames. Just as Laurence would always be Laurence.
Once the Deputy was sitting, Galen cleared his throat and rose to his feet, drawing the attention of the room to himself with his militaristic presence. “Good evening. For those of you who are new, welcome to Hogwarts. You will find that it is an exceptional institution that will ask more of you than you think you are capable of giving. For those of you who are returning, you already know what is expected of you. I trust you have not forgotten over the summer.”
A beat. Some announcements. “We still have some auror presence on the grounds, so get used to seeing them around. Also, Prefects are no longer to patrol outside; their patrols have been moved indoors for security reasons.”
Would any of them argue? It didn’t matter.
“Regarding duelling club and quidditch. Both activities remain suspended. We are working toward a resolution, however I will not speculate on a timeline at this point.”
Galen truly hated the speech at the beginning of each term as a student because it was highly inefficient. The more administrative updates could be pinned on the bulletin boards in the common rooms instead of highlighted here.
“Enjoy your feast,” Galen said and took his seat. He lifted his glass, and the tables were immediately covered in food.
RE: Gryffindor Table - Tulip Asquith - 05-14-2026
Well this had certainly become one of the more memorable feasts, it wasn`t every day that marriage proposals were uearthed and all before the food had shown up. Tulip felt bad for Tilly right now, who needed this sort of thing exposed here and now.
Maybe in the future we refrain from announcing my personal business to half the school before dinner is served.”
Tulip looked over at the boy giving her best reproving glare. "Mags you need to sit down and stop scaring the firsties" she told him pointing at the seat he vacated, "We normally save this behaviour for on te way back to the common room." Tulip was protective of her own housemates especailly given how peaky Tilly was looking.
She looked over at the sort seeing Blossom take her seat, and it didn`t take long for the hat to decide, that she belonged in Hufflepuff. "I see the stuid hat is on the blink again, it`s given another one of my sisters Hufflepuff, Blossom is most defitily not a loyal Badger, and I think it screwed up some of the sorting into our house too." She added with a ointed look at Drago.
And with the hat done the announcements started, "The usual bollocks, the world is a dangerous place we have aurors on the grounds yada yada yada!" Tulip said with a bored comentary, when wasn`t it dagerous, they`d ad wizards come and kidnap people, having protection now seemed to be bolting the door after horse has bolted.
“Regarding duelling club and quidditch. Both activities remain suspended. We are working toward a resolution, however I will not speculate on a timeline at this point.”
However this statement made Tulip feel nothing but rage, new headmaster still the same bloody problem in her eyes. "No Bloody Way!" she yelled, "Give us back our Quidditch you bunch of fascists!" Tulip was not impressed, she lived for Quidditch, it was one of two possible jobs she would find acceptable after school, and they still kept banning it. She felt the need to make her disproval known.