2015 Start of Term Feast ((current 7th years and older))

It was finally done and over with; all of the students had been sorted, and Minerva's jaw still clenched tightly. Having a student on the roster named James Sirius Potter meant that these few years of little hooliganism was coming to an end. He was a good kid, but it was going to be a headache dealing with more years of incessant pranking. It was of absolutely no surprise that he ended up in Gryffindor; the hat hardly touched the finest hairs on his head before making the proclamation that drove the Gryffindor table into hysterics.

For most students, that was the most eventful part of the evening, but for Minerva, in all of her years of working at Hogwarts, there were a few other things that drew her attention. Jerome Estrada being sorted as a Gryffindor when her very first impression assumed he was more suited for possibly Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. There was also Melanthius Burke who had one of the longer hatstalls she ever witnessed. The twin Malfoy girls ended up in different houses. Otherwise, most of the sortings were about what she expected.

Minerva glanced up at the starry, night sky that highlighted the floating candles that lit up the Great Hall. The excitement that filled the hall was palpable and contagious; it was a great time to be in Hogwarts.

"Settle down, students," she instructed. "It is time for us to enjoy our feast!"

Ever since he made it to the Gryffindor table, James was already enjoying being at the school he heard so much about growing up. He sat besides Fred and was already cracking jokes to everyone at the table that was willing to hear him. Most people in his vicinity were because he was James Potter.

He couldn't feel the pain and numbness in his cheeks from the constant smile that stretched his face.

"Wanna hear about the broom I got over the summer? It's one of the best ones on the market, and it was my mum's!"

Discordia merely stared following her sorting. Not much emotion or anything going into it. Just observing. So many, so many of her new classmates were peculiar. They were peculiar, and she needed to do something about it.

She had to do something.

She turned to the person behind her and slowly smiled, greeting rather creepily, "Hello, dear housemate."

Seeing the steak knife that manifested by her plate, her eyes wandered, but her smile remained.

Medea sat at the table, tightly grasping her twin's hand as she stood up slightly in hopes of getting a good look at James Potter.

"Mats, isn't James so cute? Why are the Potter-Weasley boys so cute? I want them both!!! James will be MINE!"

Her braids flung around ferociously, hitting one of her housemates as she started standing up on the bench seating.

@Matilda Riddle

Gabby was both excited and nervous as she had been sorted in front of all of the school. She had always been a little different than her siblings but she knew that she would be a disappointment if she didn't follow in their footsteps and get sorted into Slytherin. Luckily, the hat had heard her pleas and had called out Slytherin once it was placed on her head. She kept her head held high as she walked over to the Slytherin table and found an empty seat next to her older sisters. She smiled at them but didn't disrupt their conversation about the Potter boy.

@Medea Riddle @Matilda Riddle

Amara was terrified as she looked around the big room with eyes too large for her small face. Her hair was an unruly mess of curls that she spent much of the time she stood in like waiting to be sorted trying to tame. It was no use, her hair was too curly to really get it to lay any way she wanted it to and she hoped that people didn't think she looked like she didn't care for it or something, all the other students in the line seemed to have every hair in place. Maybe she just wasn't good enough...

Much to her surprise, she was sorted into Gryffindor when the hat was placed on her head and she moved to the table where she continued to look around the room a little nervously. Where were her brothers? They would make sure that everything was okay but she couldn't seem to find them.

Lakelyn had bounced around when she waited in line with her sister Copelyn and her brother Dorian. She was so excited to start school at Hogwarts and there was no hiding that excitement! Though, it was dampened just a bit when both of her siblings were sorted into Ravenclaw and she was instead sorted into Hufflepuff. She had never really been without her siblings and she was a little nervous that she wouldn't be sharing a dorm with Copelyn but what choice did she have? She knew that she just had to make the best of it! So, with a big smile on her face she made her way to the Hufflepuff table.

Jerome didn't know what it meant to be sorted into Gryffindor house, nor had he paid much attention to what the sorting hat was whispering in his ear - he was more preoccupied by the idea of a hat talking to him. The train ride up to the school had been rather lonely, seated in a compartment to himself, so he never got an opportunity to ask his peers questions about the magical school or the wizarding world.

It was all rather overwhelming.

He didn't know where to look.

He gasped as food appeared before his very eyes, and had to readjust his glasses, just in case his eyes had actually deceived him. They hadn't: a spread of a feast had most certainly popped up from thin air. Glancing between a boy and a girl his age, however, they didn't seem remotely surprised. This had to be another thing he'd have to get used to...

"A broom?" Jerome repeated, blinking. Did this boy enjoy cleaning or something? It was the one everyone was talking about: James Potter. He couldn't see why. Potter was potty: he liked brooms, for God's sake. "Erm... what's so special about it?"

@Amara Jordan @James Potter

Although he was joyed and satisfied at being rightfully sorted into Slytherin like the rest of his family, there was an air of apprehension in his mind. Staring down at the plate in front of him, which conjured up a turkey leg and hearty servings of roasted vegetables, Thius couldn't help but ruminate.

What was wrong with him for the hat to immediately think of Ravenclaw for him and not Slytherin? Ravenclaw was a more respectable house than the other alternatives, yes, but wasn't he very much a Slytherin?

On an evening when he should be happily chatting, Thius was staring off into space as if he was in the presence of his grandfather once again, unable to steer his eyes away from the horror.

Atticus was happy to be back at school with his friends, especially after the lonely summer he'd had. His Father hadn't allowed him to go to Lien Chang's house, and he felt rather embarrassed about it: Lien probably thought he was being very rude, or something. The only contact he'd had with his friends was letters and a brief visit to Diagon at the end of August, so now he was positively brimming with excitement.

A first year joined their table, and Atticus looked at her. This was... oh dear. Lestrange. Why had she been sorted to Ravenclaw? Why not Slytherin?

Hmm...

"Hi Discordia..." he said hesitantly, "Welcome to Ravenclaw house. I hope you like the common room."

@Discordia Lestrange

"It's not just any broom!" he blurted out to his new housemate with a wide smile. "It's the Lightning Bolt 550! It can handle turbulence better than the average broom, it's really really fast! When I join the quidditch team next year, I'll be using it on the pitch!"

It was a really sick broom, and he couldn't wait to show it off during his free time. Would they allow him to use his own broom during flying class? Probably not, but it'd be fun if they did! He'd let the new friends he was making try it out too.

"Do you have a broom?"

@Jerome Estrada

Hector clapped proudly as his younger brother was secured to Slytherin house. For a moment there he was worried: the hat seemed to take its time deliberating, and Melanthius turned whiter than a sheet at some points during its consideration. No matter - he was there now. Hector leaned forwards slightly, peering down the table at him. Why did he have to look so vacant and far away with the fairies?

"Whyever do you have that expression, Melanthius? You should be overjoyed! You're at Hogwarts finally, and in Slytherin house to boot. The only house us Burkes should hope to thrive!"

@Melanthius Burke

Lysander wasn't sure why the hat had sorted him into Ravenclaw, he had never really thought of himself as being all that smart to have been sorted in the house that was known for its intelligence but he didn't argue with the hat, knowing that it would know best. Then he made his way to the Ravenclaw table and sat down beside another girl his age just in time to hear a slightly older boy mention something about the common room. "What's it like? The common room? I heard you have to answer a riddle to even get in!" How embarrassing it would be if he couldn't figure it out and was stuck camping out in the hallway instead!

@Discordia Lestrange @Atticus Nott

"Atticus..."

She blinked slowly at him, her hair ruffling slightly as it touched the edge of the table.

"Are you well?"

Then, Discordia heard another housemate, and she slowly picked up the steak knife.

"I like riddles. Can you answer this one, dear housemates? If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?"

Her voice whistled slightly as the words came out of her mouth.

@Atticus Nott @Lysander Scamander

"Well I'm certainly glad you're with us, Thius. But I'm even gladder to have James Potter not with us. Just look at him, over there."

Ptolemy nodded his head pointedly to the Gryffindor table, where he was most likely making a big show of his presence. He seemed to be having a one-sided conversation with a boy who was probably a mudblood.

"What a lot of fuss over nothing."

His eyes steered back at the Slytherin table, further down, where Gabriella was sat. He'd spent some time with the Riddles before to know her name.

"Good to have you too, Gabriella. Matilda and Medea must be delighted."

@Melanthius Burke @James Potter @Gabriella Riddle @Medea Riddle

The hat had barely touched the top of her head when it had called out Slytherin. There had been no doubt in her mind that she would be sorted into the house her whole family had been sorted into during their time at Hogwarts and it seemed that the hat had no doubts about it either. She didn't even get to hear the hat's monologue because it hadn't been on her head long enough. She moved over to the table with her fellow Slytherins and took a seat near the Burkes. She knew most of the Slytherins from different events that she had gone to within the pureblood community. She gave them a bit of a little smirk. "At least the hat knows what it is doing." She said as she put some food onto her plate and took a bite of a roasted potato.

@Melanthius Burke @Hector Burke

"A Lightning Bolt 550? They're really fast!" She had been to enough quidditch competitions to know a thing or two about brooms, even if she had zero skills in actually flying one. She would much rather keep her feet on the ground thank you very much! She looked between the two with wide eyes, not sure why the boy who wasn't James seemed so confused... Maybe he was a muggleborn and didn't know about brooms?

@James Potter @Jerome Estrada

He was always a little strange, even before it felt like his brain had rewired itself a few years ago. He couldn't relent and let himself be sorted into Ravenclaw, he just couldn't. What if it meant it was certain that he'd end up gnawing at his own flesh just because he wasn't in Slytherin?

Then again, grandfather Petros was in Slytherin himself and...

Thius gulped as he turned to his brother, as Traver's remark only contributed to his anxieties, his forehead was already glistening with sweat from the nerves that were paralyzing his insides.

He struggled to even utter a sound until he could merely respond to his friend, Ptolemy, "There wasn't a chance Potter would be caught dead in our house."

Thius briefly glanced towards the Gryffindor table, hoping that Potter's annoying presence would be enough to get him to behave more normally.

@Hector Burke @Ptolemy Rowle @Dahlia Travers

The moment the sorting ceremony was over, Macmillan had to dash out to use the bathroom. So, he wasn't there to save Atticus from the presence of Discordia Lestrange. He didn't have much experience with her as he was never invited to the posh pureblood gatherings like his sister was, but he'd heard enough about her off tendencies that he would've already saved his friend had he not need to piss very badly.

It was very different to last year: being a spectator to the sorting ceremony instead of actually having your name called. He clapped along with every new student who was sorted, beaming at them each in turn and happy that they were going to the right places. Of course, he was keen to see where his cousin James ended up, and waved over to him briefly before he took a seat.

Then came the feast!

He smiled over at the new Hufflepuff students.

"Hello," he said brightly to a blonde girl sitting next to him, "I'm Louis. It's nice to meet you. You'll be very happy here in Hufflepuff house, I'm sure of it." He beamed at her. "What's your name?"

@Lakelyn Munroe

Although Cernunnos was always aware of his magical blood and heritage, he felt like a fish out of water with how muggle his upbringing was. He really was no different than any muggleborn here other than that he had more prior knowledge of the wizarding world. As all of his friends were muggles, he didn't have a single person he could already chat with during the feast. So, he feasted on a mince pie, a bit intimidated by his seasoned, acclimated housemates.

"Here, here," he remarked at his brother's response, and rapped the table.

At least he wasn't looking so melancholy now...

He looked over to Dahlia Travers and laughed. "You made quick work of it indeed. Mine was similar, except there were a few more words than just a cry of Slytherin."

@Melanthius Burke @Dahlia Travers

After Hector voiced his approval of his brother's words, Ptolemy looked contemplative.

"Hmm. I don't know..."

He helped himself to some chicken legs.

"It could be useful to befriend him. Or, at least, pretend to befriend him. He will surely have a lot of influence given his famous parents, and that can definitely be exploited."

He grinned at Hector, nudging him.

"We could get a Potter pass to the restricted section."

@Melanthius Burke

He felt himself turning red before he could try and stop it. There were two options: either he could pretend to know all about the wizard world until he actually learnt about it, or he could be honest with James. The girl was eyeing him, seemingly suspicious. She was definitely onto him.

His Dad told him to be honest, friendly and ask lots of questions. He thought, in no time, they would take him under their wing.

Could these two housemates be the people to do that?

"Actually I... don't really know what you're talking about," he murmured quietly, now scarlet. "I didn't grow up in the wizard world..."

Definitely too late to go back now.

@Amara Jordan @James Potter

Gabby heard her name mentioned and looked over to see it was Ptolemy Rowle who had welcomed her to the Slytherin house. A polite smile came to her lips. "Thank you, Ptolemy." She said to him as she also offered a polite smile to the Burke boys and Dahlia as well.

@Ptolemy Rowle