#2 Breakfast

Her first night at the school had been lonely, but she'd made it through and now it was morning. Danielle followed some upperclassmen back to the Great Hall - no way would she be able to remember the path on her own this soon - and sat a short distance away from them to give them and herself some privacy. She wouldn't mind it at all if Gerald and Ryan came to join her, but the older students were kind of intimidating, and she had too much to think about without worrying over how she'd sound to them.

She couldn't decide on breakfast, so she filled her plate with a little bit of everything that was within her reach. She started with some juice, though. Her mouth could get so dry after sleep, sometimes.

Kier wandered into the hall looking as if still half asleep; his eyes half closed and his hair fluffy and wild. He wasn't what you would call a morning person, not even remotely, but he also couldn't ignore the wafting smell of bacon either. Nothing in this world motivated him like the aroma of crisp bacon. A troll could bust through the hall wall without warning, and you would be damn sure Kier would still only have eyes for the bacon.

He plopped into a seat at the Hufflepuff table and immediately descended on the bacon, nearly entirely filling his plate with it, if not for the scoop of hash-browns taking up a small corner of the plate. Once satisfied, Kier chewed the bacon and looked around as the place filled up. He wasn't too excited about classes at all. It seemed third-years had all the good ones and he was stuck with charms and history. "Hex me.."

Thomas strode into the Great Hall looking refreshed and at ease. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was grateful for the early curfew the night before. It had encouraged him to get to bed at a decent hour, so he actually got a good night's rest for once. More importantly, though, he was home.
He loved his grandfather, Carlos, and his uncle, but Thomas's true home was here at Hogwarts. He had never felt safer and more a part of anything in his life. For one, fleeting moment, he realized that his time here was drawing to a slow end. He quickly shook the thought away though and focused on the Gryffindor table.

Since he didn't see Jacob yet, Thomas plopped down near a group of fourth years. He had just enough time to nod to each of them before the food, and day's schedule, appeared.
Thomas filled his plate with toast, hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, and sausage and then dug in. As always, he was famished and he intended to remedy that before anything else. Plus, he only had to glance over the schedule to know that there was nothing of particular interest to him. He'd have two new Professors to adjust to, or rather, to adjust to him, but he wasn't really worried about that.

Thomas didn't even look up from his breakfast when the owls began to swoop through the Great Hall. He did, however, snicker as a couple of first years nearby gasped and pointed with obvious delight. 'Ah, to be young again,' he thought as he chuckled into his goblet.

The moment that he set his goblet back on the table, a copy of the Daily Prophet dropped down in front of his plate. Even though it was wrapped up, the headline faced upward so that it was displayed for all to see. A couple of the fourth years near him had gotten copies too, so when they opened them their friends leaned in close and began to whisper. Thomas took his time unrolling the paper and opening it up. For some reason, the headline alone made him uneasy. He didn't particularly look forward to reading the article.

Once he'd finished the last words of the article, Thomas sighed and set the paper back down on the table. He didn't want Hogwarts to change. For some reason, he got the feeling that Headmaster Rickard planned on changing things though. Not only had he added new items to the banned list, but he was spouting off quotes about "educating students beyond the art of simple magic". 'Whatever the blimey that meant,' Thomas thought with a snort. Nothing about Hogwarts had ever been 'simple magic'. Surely, an old Potions Master would know that.

If Thomas had nothing else to be thankful for though, it was that he didn't have to have Potions class on his first day of classes. No matter what mood he was in, Snape was capable of ruining it. Not only that, but he had no doubt in his mind that Seabrook planned on being as smug and crafty as ever. He would rather not be emotionally, mentally, and, possibly, physically assaulted this early in the term. At the very least, he had to make it to the first Quidditch game of the year. He was Captain now, after all.

Gerald sat next to her, and she gave the boy a smile, happy to have one of her friends with her again. She understood why she had to sleep in a different room than them, obviously, but being in the girls’ dorm was going to make her miss out on whatever they got up to after bed – of course it’d be more than sleep.

Well, at least she’d have them for most of the day.

She heard a groan from one of the older Ravenclaws and turned to him, concerned. Was he all right? Not that she could do anything to help if he wasn’t, but that wouldn’t stop her caring.

A screech was all the warning she got before about a billion owls flew into the hall. Her eyes widened and she couldn’t stop herself staring as they bore down on the tables, delivering mail. Of course she knew that was an owl’s job, but she’d never seen so many do it at once before. Nothing could have prepared her for that!

There was a yell, but she was distracted from it when a paper landed in front of it. She glanced it over – newspapers were kind of boring even if they were meant to be important. She wondered about the bewitched teacups, though. Maybe she’d read that story when she was less hungry.

Julian was chewing on a piece of sausage when a flutter of wings altered him to the arrival of the owls. He looked up and pushed away his plate just in time for four owls to arrive to his place. He liberated the one with the copy of the Daily Prophet first, gave her the money and some treats. Julian set aside the newspaper to read after the letters from his family. Turning back to the three family owls, Julian briefly went over his mother’s and Teresa’s letters which informed him about the happenings since he left. Not that there was much to tell.

The last letter surprised him. He recognized the owl as the one he sent to Annalissa who was in Beauxbatons starting her second year. With a smile, Julian tore open the envelope to read the letter. However, instead of parchment, ash fell down to the table. Frowning, Julian poked the ashes, betting that they were from the letter he sent.

Julia sighed and gave the rest of the owls food from the table and turned his attention to the newspaper. As expected, the Dumbledore resigning was the front page news, but there was nothing new about the reason why. While he liked Dumbledore as a Headmaster, Julian was not particularly bothered by the new changes, unless they would devolve into something horrible for the students. All the eyes of the magical world were pointed to Hogwarts at the moment, so he doubted it.

The food disappeared soon after, so Julian packed up the letters and the newspaper into his backpack. He checked again for his class and went on his way to Charms.