Ravenclaw Table

Ravenclaw Table

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The Ravenclaw table is situated between Hufflepuff on the right and Slytherin on the left, though there is a wide space between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff due to the aisle to the Staff Table.

This was… a lot. The castle was massive, the train ride was LONG and the number of students walking up the stairs to the dining hall… Great hall? Food, climbing up the stairs to the food, was insane. Ilvermorny was impressive, but Hogwarts was insane.

Once arriving at the Great Hall, Brooks and a few other transfers were taken into a room off the hall to get sorted. Their method, an old dirty hat that screamed out where you belonged.

OooooooKkkkkkk?

His old school’s system was better in his opinion. The student would stand before the statues of the four houses. Whichever statue came alive in front of the student would be their house. If more than one woke up, the student got to pick.

As he left the hall, a newly appointed Ravenclaw, Brooks leaned over to talk with another transfer. “Do you think they clean that grubby thing often?”

Brooks found his table, taking a seat amongst the others deemed smart and witty. They looked nice enough. Naturally, he got strange looks, a few hushed whispers in his direction, everyone wondering where he had come from. Obviously too old to be a first year, but never having stepped foot inside the castle, he was an oddity.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

For now, he would sit quietly, elbows on the table, chin resting on his balled up fists. If someone truly wanted to know about him, they could ask, but he wouldn’t be volunteering anything.

His eyes scanned the hall looking for one person in particular. It took some time to scan the sea of faces, but he finally caught sight of her. Morgan. Swallowed up by the sea of red. He kept his eyes on her, not straying to the other people sitting around him, waiting for her to feel list stare and look up.

At least he had one friend in this place.

Morgan walked into Hogwarts and felt immediately as if she was back home. The ancient castle felt more like home than the new house she had with her family. There were more people here, and all of her siblings were here, but she could hide easier.

The sound was loud as kids found their tables and the firsties were sorted. Morgan had been sat at the Gryffindor table near the middle, taking stock of the new kids who were… Russian? German? Honestly, Morgan wasn’t sure. But they seemed stern. And like they didn’t belong.

And then she spotted her redheaded friend Tilly approaching. She grinned and stood to jump on her, but then stopped when she seemed to not be happy about the oldest boy who had transferred in this term.

At that moment, she spotted brown eyes – familiar brown eyes – on her. Morgan grinned, though she felt a strange flutter in her chest and a warmth in her face. She immediately stood up, ignoring the awkwardness growing at the table around her friend and the boy she apparently knew.

“Ew, you’re an eagle?” Morgan said as she plopped down on the seat next to Brooks, joining the sea of blue at the table. She stuck her hand in her pocket, then plopped David down on the table in front of the boy.

“They starve us til after the speech,” she rolled her eyes and then pulled her hand out of her other pocket and unloaded it on the table next to her toad. It was an assortment of new sweets from the candy shop in Hogsmeade. “Always bring snacks,” she said and grabbed some fizzy starshards.

There was a lot to take in, looking around the dining hall. It was loud, louder than he expected, with students laughing and hugging the friends they hadn’t seen in months.

The anger and bitterness reignited in his stomach, he missed his friends something fierce.

A few new people joined the Ravenclaw table, he made eye contact, but hadn’t said anything. He wasn’t feeling all that welcoming if he were being honest. While his eyes were elsewhere, Morgan came over and sat down, causing him to smirk when she took the seat next to him.

“Ew, you’re an eagle?”

His face screwed up in confusion. “Eagle? What are you going on about? I’m a Raven. Ravenclaw. You’ve been here for years, This shouldn’t be news to you.”

David was plopped down in front of him, those beady eyes taking him in. Brooks picked up the massive toad, bringing him up to eye level. “Hey my man, how's it going? Eat any good flies lately? Maybe a cricket? Stay away from the bees. Their evil little fuckers.”

Morgan was rifling through her bag while Brooks hung out with David, then suddenly snacks were being brought out. “They starve us til after the speech. Always bring snacks.”

Brooks eyes got big, he was starving and really didn’t want to wait. “You could have told me that last week ya know. I could have contributed to the haul. Oh, are those chocolate?” he asked, grabbing what looked like a chocolate bar. Opening it up to take a bite he was sad to see it was nougat and peanut. “Damn, not my favorite, but beggers can’t be choosers.”

Taking a big bite he chewed, happy to have something before the food appeared. Bumping his shoulder with Mysty to get her attention he asked. “So what’s the deal with that grubby old hat? Ever had a lice outbreak, it looks hella dirty.”

Ravenclaw.

Kathryn made her way down from the staff dais and toward the table situated beneath the waving blue banners.

She adjusted her tie and robes as she did, focusing more on her attire than the people who cheered and welcomed her to the table. Some smiled as she walked by. She didn't smile back. There were too many hands reaching out to pat her on the back; not enough of them were taught to keep those hands to themselves. The newly sorted first year didn't need pats on her shoulder and back any more than she needed any handshakes offered. Those who insisted were met with a limp-wristed, unreciprocated shake.

It made for a cumbersome walk toward the end of the table, where she finally found a spot to sit.

She sank into the open space, pulling her shoulders inward so they wouldn't brush against the student to her left. The seat to her right remained open, a thought that brought a faint scowl to her lips. An open seat was an invitation she herself never gave.

Someone would take it.

Kathryn trained her gaze on the table. She didn't pay attention to the chatter around her in any manner more meaningful than the way she barely acknowledged the few who reached across the table to "assure her" she would have a good time in Ravenclaw. They'd erroneously read her expression to mean that she didn't want to be there in their oh-so-noble house, missing her larger gripe with the events of the night and what she was being made to endure. She would have been perfectly fine up in her mother's room, waiting for her to return.

Earlier, she'd caught a glance at Dorothy while they waited to be let into the Great Hall.

They weren't friends; Kathryn was reasonably certain of that now. The girls hadn't spoken since the incident at Laura's home, but it was her mother's explanation that cemented it for her. Friends didn't treat each other the way the girls had treated her, or so Julia had said.

But...if they weren't her friends despite having spent several playdates with them, then who would be?

No one, Kathryn realised evenly, never lifting her eyes to survey the table.

There was no need.

The night would come to an end around the time it always did, then she would follow her mother back to their room and hope that Jude was spending the night with Mr. Maddox instead.

The boy's mouth had gone dry, but he supposed he could fix that with a simple drink. He'd have to make himself get up from the stool first.

A gentle nudge, and the boy peeled himself from the stool, swallowing hard and accepted his fate. Ravenclaw. In theory, it sounded amazing. A house full of scholars and dreamers who loved to learn and absorb knowledge as much as he did. Witty and clever, people like him, he supposed.

He'd just, put aside whatever trepidations he had and wear a brave face. That's what his dad always said. A brave face led to real bravery. It's what he'd learned to do when taking up the chore of watching the flock, ensuring no predators got ahold of their sheep. Once, he'd had to go toe-to-toe with a wolf - an actual wolf - and had swung his crook at it, even landing a hit or two, before his father had heard his shouts and saved him from a proper mauling.

Stupid, his father had called it, not brave then. But Avery had felt brave. He...he could do this. She was just a girl after all. Not a wolf.

"Hello Kathryn," he managed, sitting himself down across from the girl he wouldn't quite call a friend but more of a reluctant acquaintance. "Fancy meeting you here." He reached for his goblet, thankful there was already water set out, and took a long gulp. His eyes never left her, peering over the rim, before he sat it down and studied her quietly. "Why are you looking so glum? Aren't you...happy to be a Ravenclaw?"

He wasn't, but that was neither here nor there.

“Eagle? What are you going on about? I’m a Raven. Ravenclaw. You’ve been here for years, This shouldn’t be news to you.”

Morgan raised her brow, a smirk crawling across her lips. She’d made the same mistake when she first came to Hogwarts – after all it made no sense for their mascot to be an eagle when they were called Ravenclaw. But now she just went along with it because after some research, she discovered it was true. The details were confusing, something about names and the meaning of the eagle versus the meaning of the raven… Surely ravens were not bad.

“It’s an eagle. Not a raven. The symbol is an eagle. You’d know that if you’d done your research before showing up,” she commented, somewhat dryly but also satisfied that she could be right about this one thing.

He picked up her toad and she half expected the thing to scream like he did when Benji picked him up.

Silence, instead.

Interesting. She tucked that away for later.

“You could have told me that last week ya know. I could have contributed to the haul. Oh, are those chocolate? Damn, not my favorite, but beggers can’t be choosers.”

She smirked and glanced over as she noticed her stepsister Kate making her way to the Ravenclaw table. She kept her expression rather blank in relation to the girl, but she was actually feeling a bit thankful for her sort. The girl was attached to Julia, and seemed to have been sorted into her house. It really was the perfect spot for her.

“So what’s the deal with that grubby old hat? Ever had a lice outbreak, it looks hella dirty.”

“As for the hat… nobody knows. It’s been on a thousand heads. I try not to think about it too hard.”

Morgan grabbed another piece of candy – another fizzing starshard – and popped it in her mouth. “You’re lucky, y’know. School won’t start til Monday so you got the whole weekend. When I was a firstie, I had to start class the next day,” she commented.

“Help yourselves, if you like,” she said to the boy sitting across from Kate. She didn’t know if her step sister would have any sweets or not, but she was more than welcome if she wanted some.

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.