Gryffindor Table

Gryffindor Table

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The Gryffindor table is on the far right of the room when walking in, and is next to the Hufflepuff table.

Maybe Bram had been on to something. She was doing better than a month ago, but her energy levels were in the toilet. Once she had found Ren on the train, she promptly passed out for a good few hours. Thank goodness for that nap, because right now, trying to walk around the castle and into the great hall with crutches was less than ideal.

“Have there always been this many stairs?” She asked, no one in particular. How in the hell was she supposed to walk up to the dorms? This was insane.

Finally walking down the main aisle in the great hall, Tilly took a minute to look around, trying to see what might be different with the regime change. Nothing too out of the ordinary, other than the new faces staring back at them from the staff table, and of course the lack of students. It was shocking how many were missing.

Finding an empty spot at the Gryffindor table she plopped down, her bag full of snacks placed next to her on the bench. Her crutches, on the ground under the bench, would hopefully stay out of the way until the feast was over.

While all the students came rushing into the hall, she had lost sight of Ren, Rae and Benji. Hopefully they would come to find her later, she wouldn’t be getting up to move anytime soon.

Finally settled, she looked around for familiar faces, thankfully seeing a few.

“How are you all doing? Good summer I hope?”

Tulip flicked her cloak over her shoulder as she sat down tossing a copy of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 on the table, "Well that's Hufflepuff dammed" she said as she began ripping out several pages from the book.

She saw Tilly who still looked tired, "You know you should have probabily skipped the feast and gone for a nap." she said as kindly as she could. Tulip was brash and loud, but under all of the noise there was a kind soul, and sometimes it came out.

She looked around the Great Hall it was seriously deminished, "You weren't wrong, when you said there would be less people at school this year." she said recalling her earlier discussion with Tilly on the train, she wondered why if so many people were upset about the school becoming Muggle why didn't they send their kids back when it stopped. Adults were confusing. She knew that from how her own Parent's had reacted to what Clover had done. Although it was possibly a blessing her parents were so wrapped up with Clover otherwise they may have decided to join the families not sending their children back.

"So does anyone know anything about the new teachers and head?" she asked, "Anyone know if our House head was one of the ones that got the boot?" she was curious, new teachers meant that people wouldn't already have beed with her and may be a reduction in detentions.

It had been the longest summer of her existence.

The newly-turned sixteen year old had fully embraced her liberation the moment she'd stepped onto the Express, 'relief' not quite doing justice to the emotions that had flooded her. Hogwarts was the place she felt free to be herself, even under the watchful eye of her cousin. As she entered the Great Hall Rosie's eyes immediately found Julia's, and while her cousin offered her a small smile, Rosie merely turned her attention away again.

The train ride had served in relieving her of much of the tension and anxiety she'd been carrying for the better part of three months. Reuniting with her boyfriend had been the soft touch she'd needed to relax and fall back into the mindset of being at school. His strong, steady presence had soothed the edges of her nerves to where she could almost forget how tightly she'd been wound.

As she passed Cassian at the Ravenclaw table, Rosalie leaned over with both hands on his shoulders and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. "Have a good feast, love." She left him with a bright smile before heading to her own section, noticing Matilda and Tulip right away.

Benji's best friend had gone through it during their trip to the Amazon, having been attacked by some sort of crazed plant or something. Rosie wasn't up to speed on all the details - Benji wasn't exactly the best story recounter, leaving out a lot of details she thought would be important - but she knew enough. "Hey," she said softly as she scooted into the bench next to her friend, and wrapped her arms around her in a light squeeze. "It's good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?"

"So does anyone know anything about the new teachers and head?"

Rosalie offered Tulip a light smile. "Not really. Julia hasn't said much about them." She glanced over at the staff table, taking note of all the new faces. "At least some of the weirder professors got taken in with the Headmaster." She shook her head lightly. It had been a wild couple of terms to say the absolute least.

“Hello, everyone, and welcome to the 1920 school year at Hogwarts. I’m sure you notice all of the new faces up here,” Ruby said, motioning at the staff table. “I am your new Headmistress, Ruby Haswell. Gideon Blackwood is the new Deputy Head Master. He is also the new Head of Hufflepuff. For the other houses, we have Charms Professor Roufas Bourne who is also the Head of Gryffindor. Potions Professor Emil Roan is also the new Slytherin Head of House. And your Transfiguration Professor and Ravenclaw Head of House is Etain Battersea. Dark Arts is now being taught by Librarian Julia Laurence. And the Care of Magical Creatures Professor and the Groundskeeper is Maddox Barlowe.”

She motioned towards each person when she mentioned them, encouraging them to wave at the students. Turning back to the students, Ruby cleared her throat. “Due to the events of last term, I am sad to inform you all that Quidditch and Duelling have been cancelled this year.” Groans of disappointment erupted from the tables before her and Ruby nodded in agreement. “Yes, I know, it is quite disappointing indeed. However, I have been told that we are introducing a Spellcaster’s Society, led by Professor Barlowe, and The Wandering Wands – a survival club – led by Professor Bourne. There is also an opportunity to help in the library as Library Assistants, led by Professor Laurence. Please see them for more information. Also, do not be discouraged by the smaller number of house mates… I am sure as the term goes on, more and more will return to us.”

Ruby grinned, almost completely done with the announcements. However, there was just one more thing she needed to say: “Before we can fill our tummies with delicious food, I do have a word of caution. We have noticed that some things around Hogwarts are not quite… as they should be. Some of the things we have seen include the Grand Staircase – we have seen them stuck in the same position for days on end, and one day they were gone altogether. For a couple of days, some of the doors in the castle transported those who went through them to random rooms. There was also some time when the Gryffindor Common Room was unlocked. But all of these things have – we believe – been fixed. So my caution is to please be aware of where you are and what you are doing, be careful, and always have your wand ready. And please report any strangeness to an adult as soon as possible. Oh, and… the Forbidden Forest has that name for a reason. It is forbidden, and you will receive detention if you are caught wandering around there.”

The Headmistress cleared her throat. “And now, for your Prefects and Head Boy and Head Girl! For Gryffindor, we have Matilda Nordstrom and Rosalie Laurence. Hufflepuff is Benji Laurence and Alice Ravenstone. Ravenclaw is Cassian McCormick and Kaitlyn Dwyer. And Slytherin is Ruth Elliot and Ren Al-Sayeed. Our Head Boy and Head Girl this year is Dylan McMurtry and Angela Howard! Congratulations, everyone.”

The last thing Ruby had to do was introduce the food. Her stomach growled. She was quite famished herself. “And now, let us dine on some amazing food!” she said and lifted her hands out to her sides, her palms up, as if welcoming the food into the room.

But nothing happened.

Ruby glanced over at Gideon, and then jumped when a house elf appeared at her side. She bent down to allow Fluppy, the Head Elf from the kitchen, whisper in her ear. “Oh dear…” she commented after a moment, as she stood up and looked out at the students before her. They were all excited for an amazing meal, and yet – they (as well as the adults) were to be sorely disappointed.

“Unfortunately, I have just received word that there is an issue with the kitchens. Because of that, we will be dining on sandwiches and fruit for dinner. I promise that once the issue is resolved, we will ensure everyone gets the meal they were hoping for.”

At that moment, the doors to the Great Hall opened and in came an unnumbered quantity of platters and bowls, charmed to float, along with the rest of the house elves from all over the castle who immediately began depositing the platters on the tables. Pitchers of various types of juice, an assortment of sandwiches, bowls of apples and bananas took place on each table. A moment later, in came another round of platters, these with heaping mounds of cauldron cakes among other sweets.

As Tulip sat down Tilly smiled, thankfully someone she liked would be in her dorm. "You know you should have probabily skipped the feast and gone for a nap."

Tilly chuckled. She wasn’t wrong. With a large yawn, Tilly stretched and felt a twinge of pain run up her leg. “Aww, fucking hell.” She whispered under her breath. At that moment, a pair of arms went around her in a squeeze, looking up to see the beautiful face of Rosie made the tired lion smile. "It's good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?"

Of course she had heard, Benji would have told her all about it. “Exhausted, sore, not entirely sure how I am going to get up and down the stairs daily, but I’ll manage.” Looking back and forth between the two girls Tilly realized something for the first time… “Rosie, Tulip, you’re like my very own flower garden. I think I’ll keep you. You are far less dangerous than the other plants I’ve dealt with this summer.”

"So does anyone know anything about the new teachers and head?" Tilly shook her head, yawning again with a groan. Gods she just wanted her bed, but she wanted the feast more. Her stomach growled with hunger, sleeping through most of the snacking on the train. She dug through her bag, grabbing a handful of treats to pass out to those nearest her. Cauldron cakes, licorice whips, chocolate wands, etc.

"Not really. Julia hasn't said much about them. At least some of the weirder professors got taken in with the Headmaster." Well that was one benefit. Some of them had been downright horrible and creepy.

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“And now, for your Prefects and Head Boy and Head Girl! For Gryffindor, we have Matilda Nordstrom and Rosalie Laurence. Hufflepuff is Benji Laurence and Alice Ravenstone. Ravenclaw is Cassian McCormick and Kaitlyn Dwyer. And Slytherin is Ruth Elliot and Ren Al-Sayeed. Our Head Boy and Head Girl this year is Dylan McMurtry and Angela Howard! Congratulations, everyone.”

Had she? Thinking back in her head, counting off the people mentioned on her fingers. Yep, she sure had. The list of Prefects were all of her friends. This would make for a FABULOUS term! "Congrats Rosie! Lets Patrol together sometime, to... you know... watch and stuff."

And then it hit.

WHAT?!?! FREAKING SANDWICHES?!? What kind of bullshit was this? Matilda said in a harsh, overly loud whisper. “I will not survive off of sandwiches.” She said while finding one she could stomach. PB&J it would have to be. “This might be the worst first day at the castle in the history of history.”

And then nothing, no words came out. The entire Great hall went silent, which could only mean that one of the staff was unhappy with their unhappiness. Just freaking great, she groaned silently.