#8 Lunch

The morning had been productive, so productive that Nyx had almost forgotten about the letter she meant to write. It was a letter she had been wanting to compose for quite sometime, but had taken the time to properly process her feelings on the matter. It wasn't a nice letter by any means, either. It was going to be her way of letting her grandmother and mother know she knew what they had been withholding from her. Jade Arwell—her first cousin, her family.

She entered the dining hall with a confident, dignified tread. The leather satchel and Herbology books she had been hauling around all morning were nowhere to be seen, instead left within her dormitory. Nyx had plans with Mathias during the afternoon and wanted to focus on him and only him. Nobody else to talk to, no other tasks to be done—well, aside from the unsealed letter she had tucked in her vestments. That needed to be taken to the Owlery after lunch.

Nyx sat at the table, her cool, glacial blue eyes sweeping its length for any familiar faces. There didn't seem to be anyone worth speaking to just yet, so the Quidditch captain kept to herself. She reached for an apple and gave it a once over, before pocketing it. There was a chance the fruit would prove useful for the Beast Reserve, and if not, was nice to have if she endured a bout of lightheadedness. As a girl on the go, Nordstrom was known to sometimes forgo meals.

However, today was not one of those days. After having spent the entirety of her morning traversing the grounds with Freya Fawks and Kaspian Kettles, Nyx found herself much hungrier than usual. She loaded her plate with what she would normally eat, but bigger portions. There were loads of sliced fruit and raw vegetables, but with some thinly cut cheeses for added flavor and texture. Nyx snacked at the plate and glanced over at the entry. Where was Mathias?

Zachary rushed into the Great Hall, practically tripping over his own feet in haste of getting to the table. He pushed past some loiterers by the door and didn't so much as turn to apologize. Seriously though! Why would people dare crowd the doorway? People had to eat. But more importantly: a boys got to eat. There was never a good reason to leave a hot meal waiting.

And it was always hot. How did they manage that anyway? Five years in this place and Zach still didn't know how they kept the food piping hot the whole meal. It was almost like magic. Actually, yeah. It was magic. The best kind of magic. The kind Zach wanted to forever learn.

'Can someone pass me the finger sandwiches?' He hunched over the table and pointed at the tray. 'That one over there!' He wagged his finger, then shook his head when he noticed another tray nearby. 'No, not the cucumber ones—those should be fed to the beasts.'

He waited for someone to make a move, but they weren't moving quick enough. 'Guh, just forget it. I'll get them myself.' Zach lifted his weight and shifted his right knee onto his plate for a better reach. He knocked over goblets and other items during his clumsy endeavor, but remained determined to get the sandwich tray. He was close, drooling with anticipation.

But wait! There was a letter addressed to him. He halted his reach for the sandwiches and made a sudden grab for the curious envelope. Was it a love letter? Not likely! Another notice for detention? Probably. He unfolded it and read it out loud for everyone to hear, cheesing big as he shared the good news. He was now an official member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team!

'McGonagall granted me my rights—my human rights!' He waved the letter above his head in celebration, wildly flailing an arm in the air. 'This is why she's an icon, a legend and a pillar of this school! McGonagall is the moment!' He pointed in direction of where she normally sat, hoping to find her. Or maybe not? There was always the chance of a scowl.

Grace was thrilled. Sure, she had to get through Charms class, but she would get to actually do a Quidditch practice! Her mother would be so proud of her, even if she wasn't a beater. She thought she liked being a chaser anyways, though she was a little concerned about being hit with a bludger. She hoped Amelia had her back.

She was a little disappointed she wouldn't have time to go and check out Ravenclaw's artefact room, but it could wait for Quidditch, she thought.

She glanced over at the fifth year who was cheering for human rights? Was this the same boy she'd heard complaining that he wasn't going to make the Quidditch team? Either way, Grace let out a cheer because it seemed like it was good news anyways.

She grabbed an apple and tucked it in her pocket for later. She'd probably need a snack after Quidditch practice was over, and even if she forgot about it she could hand it over to Marcia. The rat seemed to enjoy apples, which was good for Grace because they were pretty easy to get.

There was a lot Tiana Thomas wanted to accomplish this morning, but the only thing she got done were her plans for practice. That was the most important anyway! She would have to pay Professor Hathmore a visit in the Duelist Chamber another time. As much as she wanted to dabble in the defensive arts and develop her skills, there were other people depending on her this afternoon. Today was all about getting her team ready for the Quidditch season!

“Hmph! Well what am I then, Ryder? Chopped liver or something?” Tiana asked with a teasing laugh, dropping some bulky field equipment on the floor by their bench. “I'll have you know I had just as much a say as the Headmistress did.. if not more,” she said before sticking out her tongue. At the end of the day, it was Ti's decision if the boy played for the team. McGonagall only gave her the opportunity to decide whether or not to allow him to.

“That reminds me! I don't think I saw you at try-outs, Marsh,” Ti added, grabbing the tray Zach had reached for. She brought it closer to him and helped herself to a few. “You not interested in Quiddy or something? We could always use the extra manpower. I don't think I can pull any extra strings so close to our first match.. but I could try and set up another try-out if you're interested,” Ti offered, taking a bite of her finger sandwich.

“We have a killer team this season if I do say so myself. We got me, Ames, Toby, Gracey and now, Zach. The other teams are going to have a hard time keeping up with us,” she laughed, giving Grace a little wink when she mentioned her name. “I wonder if Seabrook even knows we got ourselves a Keeper last minute,” Ti smirked, downing her food with some juice. She desperately wanted to see the girl's face when she found out!

Tom and Lindsey were some of the earliest arrivals to the Slytherin table. One of the things he liked about her best was the way they could chat aimlessly amongst themselves or even enjoy stretches of silence without it being awkward or uncomfortable. He munched lazily on a sandwich and some pickle spears as he pondered how he would spend his afternoon. Lots of kids seemed be enjoying socializing by the Niffler pit- Tom hadn't spent much time there. Or maybe he'd go ingredient hunting?

He was making good progress on his potions brewing. He'd amassed a reasonable selection of ingredients so far, the Moonurk berries being his latest addition. As he made a mental inventory of the items he'd collected and found, he realized he only needed to collect some sap in order to make the freeze potion he'd read about in one of his textbooks. He decided that would be the first potion he made in the student laboratory, even if he didn't have plans as of yet how he'd use the potion.

He was trying to think of something to say to Lindsey when an owl saved him and dropped a letter in front of him. He wasn't expecting anything- his parents barely wrote him, most likely because he never wrote them. A quick inspection showed that the note was from Hagrid- an invitation for tea. Hopefully Hagrid was going to tell him that the cat he'd found and rescued was healthy enough to come live with him!

"Look, a note from Hagrid," Tom showed Lindsey, overflowing with excitement. "Do you think he's going to tell me I can bring Jynx home with me? We'll have another cat in the common room," Tom continued on, overjoyed at the idea.

Those that arrived seemed in good spirits and so far, she didn't see any signs of Amara either. Well, there went to the chance to see what Herbs she wanted grown for her. Guess she could ask another time. If ever she wanted to let Lindsey knew, she could come to her. Lindsey had other things to take care of, her own plants and soon, she was going to begin brewing her own potions. She wanted to get things together so she could brew her own healing potions and help her mother.

Lindsey was getting to that age where her mother needed more help at her clinic in their small community and she wanted to help where she could. The idea of her mother letting her make potions was tossed out, but collecting things... That might be of great help to her mother.

As her thoughts ran away from her, she looked at Tom as he showed her the letter and she swallowed her food before she looked at it more closely. "Oh! Aye, they would be great! Mungo wouldna like it, but he would survive just fine." Lindsey was quite pleased about hearing this news. She knew Tom really liked that cat and she would love to see him happy.

"Ye think I can come with ye? I could look about for some ingredients."

On his way back from the Black Lake Joe allowed his imagination to run wild. The big splash he and his friend had heard served as vivid nightmarish fuel and Joe pictured a monster with a crocodile's head, goat's horns and gigantic tentacles, strong enough to drag an adult Big Foot to an icy and dark watery death.
He was glad to put distance between him and the potential monster of the lake, so glad in fact he had not noticed until entering the castle that he had forgotten the stick he had played with by the lake.

Joe was grieving the loss of his new toy when he entered the Great Hall and the smell of food lifted his mood. He had not even realised how hungry and cold he was until now.
He almost started skipping again as he hurried towards his table to sit sideways on the bench, his wet knee pointing towards the Gryffindor table next to his own House's.
Joe had noted how the Lions were louder, more excited than usual and wondered wether Toby would want to sit with his team for lunch so he left the option to sit close but at different tables since Joe did not feel confident enough to sit down at the other House's table unprompted.

He quickly grabbed some nuts which he put into his pocket and chose a sandwich on the hand which he ate while he waited for his friends and trying to make out what the Gryffindors were talking about.
A brief glance across his own table made him notice Ravenclaw's Quidditch captain and Joe quickly looked away again, not wanting to get her attention and potentially provoke her to yell at him again.