Open The Masses Returned

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah walked into the Great Hall and sighed. Of course. The train had come in the day before, and now everyone was back. The peace of the holiday was over. There were lots of people and lots of noise. She had enjoyed getting her breakfast in plenty of space and not having to worry about having to fight for a spot. Now everyone was back. She walked towards the ravenclaw house table. There were plenty of spaces, really, but it wasn't as empty as she'd gotten used to it being. Savannah sat down at the table, and placed her bag down beside her, just to keep a bit of space for herself. Especially as more people walked into the hall. She grabbed a few breakfast items. ​

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan's holiday had been about what he expected. But his mom had sent him an actual gift this year and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. There was something about her putting in the effort to get him a gift but not coming to visit that rubbed him the wrong way. Ernie had noticed and tried to make him feel better which had the opposite effect. In the end he was glad to be back at school even if it was a bit of an adjustment after getting to sleep in for the past few weeks. Ethan yawned and sat down heavily, not really paying attention to much around him. He rubbed his eyes a few times before turning to the girl across from him. "Hey can you pass the juice?" he said and pointed to the pitcher. He could probably reach it if he tried but she was closer and his arms hadn't exactly woken up yet.

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah had sat down with her bag next to her and was mostly just hoping to get in and out of the hall without too much of an incident. Of course now that everyone was back, someone of course spoke to her, and she just had to deal with it. Savannah glanced at the boy who spoke and then to the juice. Yes, she was closer to it than he was, but in her mind there was no reason that he couldn't reach over, stretch a little and get it. But rather than fighting on this, Savannah just moved it. ”You could've done that yourself,” she commented with a bored tone once it had been moved across.​

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan yawned loudly and tried to cover his mouth half heartedly. He reached for the pitcher after the girl set it down closer to him but hesitated before actually grabbing it. He wasn't sure how to respond. He didn't think it was a particularly big thing to ask but he did realize he hadn't exactly asked in the most polite way. "True, but I'm glad you were there to help." Ethan mumbled and shot her a weak grin. He wasn't sure if he accidently broke some kind of conversational rule but he tried to make up for it now in some way. "Thank you." he added with a nod of his head like a tiny bow.

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah wasn't sure why he was glad she was there to help but he smiled at her, and she didn't know why it had felt good to do something for someone. Even something so simple. She hadn't even done that much and was actually considering just being mean about it, but had decided not to. Was this how people made friends? "Sure," she replied almost shortly. "It was nothing," she said with a little roll of her eyes, though it was more harmless than anything. "Are you just back from being home?" she asked, not sure if she should or shouldn't keep the conversation going but was willing to try. ​

 

[Ethan Alexander]

It took a moment for Ethan to feel certain he hadn't upset her and he could finally pour himself some juice. He downed the first glass quickly and refilled it. This time he sipped it slowly but was starting to feel more awake. He just shrugged when she said it was nothing. He wasn't about to argue with her. He had just reached for a muffin when she asked him a question. Ethan had been convinced she wanted nothing to do with him but he glanced at her curiously now. "Uh, kind of." he said as he overthought her question. He had a sense she cared about honestly and if he was being honest anywhere in New Zealand wasn't exactly home but it was his home for now. "What about you?" he countered and started to pick at his breakfast.

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah wasn't sure if this boy would actually remain speaking to her. She wasn't exactly well versed in actually being nice to people and she had started this interaction a little negatively. But he did. Giving an answer that wasn't quite an answer. "Well, either you or you weren't," she replied given that in mind it was either Hogwarts or not hogwarts. "You either stayed at school or you didn't" she clarified in case he was just misinterpreting her words. or meaning. "I stayed at school," she replied. Staying at school was likely the less interesting choice since there wasn't much she could've done during the break than just being at school. ​

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan chewed a mouthful of toast slowly. "That's true, I guess." he conceded. "I didn't stay at school." he added. He wasn't looking for an argument and he didn't think she would appreciate him picking apart what she meant by home. But he also couldn't help himself. "But I'm technically from the US and I didn't go all the way there so, I wouldn't say I was home exactly." Ethan shrugged and took a sip of juice before he could stay anything else on the subject. "How was that?" he asked. "Staying at school, I mean. Do a lot of kids stay?" he wondered out loud.

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah was almost sure that he might stop talking to her after she was making him clarify what he meant, but he didn't, even going into way more detail than she had really asked for. "What are you here then?" she couldn't understand why someone unless they had now moved to New Zealand before the school term, which he probably had. Though in her mind that would make the new location home and not the old location but Savannah had in fact never lived anywhere but New Zealand and couldn't at all know what it was like to move. "Not a lot of kids. It was pretty peaceful, I liked it," she wouldn't go into why she liked it better than she liked spending time with her parents, just that this was nice. ​

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan took a bit of toast and took his time chewing before he answered. It was kind of a personal question and one he didn't like to talk about that much if he could help it. It wasn't like she could have known that so he didn't take it personally. "Uhh, I'm staying with my....uncle." he said finally. Ernie was not his uncle but he had used that explanation before and it would do for now. "My mom thought this school would be better for me." he liked again but shrugged and ducked his head toward his food to hide any tells he might have. She wouldn't know he was lying which was almost the same as not lying. Ethan was eager to move on and glanced over his shoulder when he heard some Gryffindor's start yelling about something. "That sounds nice." he agreed sounding almost wistful about the idea. He didn't hate being around some many kids all the time but he couldn't say he liked it either.

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah was sure there was a little more to the story about him staying with his uncle, but she wasn't going to be the one to mention it. Not at this point. "This school is better for you," she informed them, though she didn't know anything about the american school he was likely supposed to go to. She didn't like a lot of how the lessons were done, but she did like the school itself. Savannah glanced around at the Gryffindors who started yelling and rolled her eyes at them. "They should put a silencing charm on Gryffindors," she muttered. Thinking of Kyon and how stupid he was. ​

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan was a little surprised when she seemed to agree with his mother's fake reasoning. He shrugged and wondered why she felt so strongly about it. Or if it was easier to think where she had ended up was the best option. "I guess so." he agreed reluctantly. None of it really mattered though, he was stuck here regardless. Ethan grabbed his glass of juice and nearly shot it out his nose. He coughed a few times to clear his throat. He hadn't expected that response form her but after a moment of consideration he realized he probably should have. "You think we could get an older student to do us a favor?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah took a sip of her drink and then placed it down as the boy began seemingly choking on his juice. She didn't really do anything to help, but he seemed to recover quickly enough. She frowned a little at him and shrugged. Older students were useless, getting people to help was useless. "An older student will just say we're being stupid," Savannah told him as if it was obvious. "We'll just have to suffer their noise until we can do the spell ourselves," She complained. She thought this boy was a little older than her, and she didn't know when they did the quietening charm, but it would be a spell she used often. ​