#1 Welcome Feast

Despite seeing it almost daily for five years, the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall never ceased to amaze Julian. It was nice tonight, he noticed, as he stepped into the Hall. Looking back down, in an effort not to bump into anyone, Julian located the Ravenclaw table and sat somewhere in the middle. He didn’t notice any of his classmates, from any of the houses, so he figured he was rather early yet.

To pass the time, Julian started people watching, beginning with the head table. Like at the iron gates, there was something unusual about it. It was empty besides two people that Julian, once again, never saw before in his life. He thought hard about who they could be replacing from the staff, but he had no clue. Definitely not McGonagall, Sprout or Snape, though. Unfortunately, Julian grimaced as he thought about the latter. He just hoped that if his Head of House was one of them, they would already be made aware of Julian’s situation.

Finding no answers to his questions, Julian turned to the table and started tapping his fingers on the surface.

There was quite a crowd around her, but at least it was all kids her age. The excitement seemed to be building around her, as several of them were wondering what house they'd end up in. She was wondering that for herself, too. She doubted it'd be Slytherin, and she wasn't quite focused enough to be a hard-working Hufflepuff, but she wasn't sure which of the two remaining houses would be her best fit.

Whatever it was, she hoped her new friends were sorted there too. It'd be neat to already have a friend group at the starting feast. She looked around for her two train companions, wondering if they had any idea where they'd end up. She could try to ask them, but they could be let into the Great Hall any moment now, right? It was hard to want a conversation when she didn't know how much time she had.

Jacob had run most of the way to the castle, leaving Thomas behind for now - having no doubt they could regroup in the common room or their dorm later. Surely his best friend could find him at the table, though. But Jack wasn't taking any chances. The moment he saw the group by the gates, he was so confused - trying to work out what the heck he'd managed to do to get himself into trouble already. McGonagall didn't seek him out though, so it was probably something else. Still, better safe than in a detention with Snape.

He slumped over the table, pushing his plate and everything else out of line and across to the other side. They clattered loudly and made a pile, but he didn't care. With a groan, Jacob lay his cheek on the cold wood and braced himself for a lot of waiting. It should be illegal, starving people like this! Why couldn't they eat first then do all the boring talking? Who cared about new rules, anyway?

'So hungry...' Jacob whined. 'Hurry up. Give food.'

Sophia sighed in exasperation as Callie stared up at the ceiling, holding her friend's shoulders to keep her from walking into something or Sophie herself walking into her. Not that she could blame her, as the ceiling was as stunning as ever and Sophia often got lost in it over dinner. Not tonight though.

Sitting beside Callie, she peered towards the head table and frowned. Her concerns came flooding back and this time she couldn't push them aside.
'Did something happen?' Sophia asked Callie, keeping her voice carefully leveled. 'I mean, it'd be in the Prophet if it had, right?' And she should know, as part of her letters over the summer were filling Callie in on any magical news worth sharing.

The entire day turned out to be more than Sophia bargained for. She tried to remember if all start of term days were this tiring. She yawned widely, looking around the hall for friends but wasn't really bothered to try.
'I hope they start soon,' she added. Sophia's purple hair shifted to a pale lavender, though she didn't seem to notice. Her worry was seeping through. 'I just want pudding then bed.'

Gerald was keeping near the other two, unsure of how to stand. It wasn't good, and he knew the others his age were getting restless.

He wanted to say something, but this was even worse. Instead, he decided to eat one of the beans he got on the train, and to make things worse, this tasted like Lemon juice, making him grimace.

Kier trotted into the hall and smiled brightly at the familiarity of it. There was something about the grand hall that he had always liked, even though it did tend to give him unwanted flashbacks to his sorting ceremony. He quickly shoved those thoughts from his head and merrily skipped over to the Hufflepuff table to await the nummy food, making sure to playfully blow a poof of air at the back of Callie's neck as he wized by to take a seat as close to the front as he could. He wanted a close look at this year's kids joining Hufflepuff, better to pick out which ones could be fun to mess with. After all with new people came endless possibilities for fun.

At first he didn't notice the emptiness of the head table and the two new wizards that sat at it, but once he did he wasn't sure how he felt about it. More oddness. He was almost happy when the teachers finally came in and took their places but it was rather short lived. Dumbledore's chair was still empty and Kier didn't like the amount of new faces in the staff. As the hat sang it's song Kier glanced around the other tables to try and read the expressions of the other students, but in the end found nothing he didn't expect.

As the kids were sorted he rested his head on the table and let his arms hang loosely between his legs. He didn't see any first years joining Hufflepuff that seemed interesting to him. Not a single one. Maybe they would become more interesting later on, but for now he dismissed them with a bored look and instead angled his gaze to the head table as a stranger approached the podium. His words, however, were enough to make even Kier lift his head back up and stare. He already didn't like this messenger of bad news and, although he remained quiet in the roar of shock, his fingers tapped on the surface of the table as if agitated. This year was getting less and less fun by the second.

Sophia sighed and guided her. Callie gave her a sheepish smile. She couldn’t help it – she was magic-starved! She couldn’t wait to be a proper adult witch and do magic whenever she wanted.

She hadn’t been settled long when something ghosted across her neck, making her shudder. She glanced around, though she failed to catch the culprit this time. Maybe on a day that was less chaotic, if they dared to try again.

Sophia seemed worried about the staff presence as well. Callie frowned. “I don’t know…maybe? There was some kind of meeting outside, though. Maybe something only just now happened?” Even the Prophet couldn’t be instant, could it?

Her friend yawned and spoke again, and Callie nodded, noting the hair color change. “Shouldn’t be too long, now. They wouldn’t want us up late, anyway.”

The Great Hall was getting full now. She noticed other students filing in at the other tables, including a certain Gryffindor making a spectacle of himself. She flashed him a sympathetic smile – they were all hungry – but kept most of her focus on the staff table. Any time, now…right?

Ah, there they were! Well…most of them. She watched as Professor McGonagall went to retrieve the first years and the sorting began. She couldn’t help a grin every time Hufflepuff was mentioned – clearly the best house, no matter what the others may think. She got an ominous feeling listening to the song, but she repressed it for now. She couldn’t figure it out while hungry and tired and worried and excited.

The students were sorted, and she cheered and beamed at anyone sorted into Hufflepuff. She wanted all her new housemates to feel welcome and relaxed. That was probably a prefect’s job, but…eh, she couldn’t help but feel responsible for them all.

The sorting concluded, but there was still no Dumbledore. She could see the unease of the other students, and feel it rising in herself. Was he why they were having that meeting just now?

A silver-robed man approached the podium instead. Callie listened to him, frowning as he explained that Dumbledore had resigned. That couldn’t be right, could it? It wasn’t Hogwarts without Dumbledore! And who was this guy? He’d so far neglected to introduce himself or the new professors.

“Is he serious?” She turned to Sophia, though she was sure her friend was just as confused as she was.