Open Y40 End of Year Feast

The stress of exams had left Delilah in a daze, to the point where she hardly realized it was the end of the year until it was finally here and in her face. She felt a complicated mix of emotions about the thought of going home. She found a lot of comfort of the routine at school and the freedom she had away from the critical eyes of her parents. But everything was different at home now and she couldn't help but worry about her mother and what she would be returning home to. She did her best to shake off the thought. There wasn't anything she could do about it now and she tried to pay attention to the head mistress's speech. She had been a little surprised to see Slytherin had somehow pulled ahead in the end but she was glad someone else had one it for a change even if it wasn't Ravenclaw. She wondered briefly if Ivy was annoyed about it before Professor Alicastell turned serous and the incident in the forest was talked about again. Delilah poured herself some juice and apologized as she nearly knocked someone else's drink over.
 
Indi couldn't wait for the feast to be over. She always found it boring and a bit pointless. But this year she was willing to hate it a bit less since Slytherin had won the house cup and she couldn't help but be a little proud about it since she knew her decent grades and the quidditch cup had done a lot to secure them this victory. But she still found herself tapping her fingers on the table impatiently as the headmistress continued to speak even after the top point earners had been announced. She did perk up slightly as the incident in the forest was brought up. She had half expected that their house meeting would be the end of it but such a public statement instead of just brushing it off made her think that what had happened was more serious then she had first though. Indi had tried to get more information but no one seemed to be talking. When it was all finally over she turned to the plates of food in front of her and started to server herself. She had to admit at least the food was good during feasts.
 
The mood still felt off at the end of year feast, especially with Professor Alicastell's extra addendum to the usual end of year speech bringing everything back up again. Nicole had pieced together enough about what had happened to know she was glad Lysander and Kas were gone, even though she knew Ajax and Emma were still gutted about it. At least Slytherin had finally won the house cup and Nicole happily cheered for her house as their victory was announced.

It was funny to think this was her last ever meal in the great hall and Nicole couldn't help but twist in her seat, seeking out Ajax, Jenna, and the van Houtens, smiling fondly at them before turning back to her food. With the house cup victory they were ending everything on a slightly happier note, but Nicole couldn't wait for the train ride home to see all her friends one last time before her career at Hogwarts was well and truly over.
 
Margo wasn't the biggest fan of feasts since she couldn't actually sit with any of her friends, but she tried to be a good sport about it as the head mistress started to talk. She frowned slightly when Slytherin were announced the winners, knowing Cameron probably had nothing to do with that. But she clapped for the top point earners and was shocked to hear just how many they had earned. She thought that was the end of it but instead they got a warning about going into the forest. She had heard something had happened and saw it mentioned in the school paper but apparently it was serious enough to be mentioned to everyone. When the headmistress was done it felt a little awkward to go right into celebrating and eating, especially as she caught sight of the transfiguration professor storming off abruptly. She wasn't sure what that was about but she shrugged it of and tried to pay attention to her dinner.
 
Gryffindor had won the house cup every year since Harper had started at Hogwarts, so it was strange seeing the Great Hall decorated in green and silver this year. While Harper was disappointed, she knew she'd done her best. It felt like all she'd done for the past few weeks was study, and hopefully her OWL grades would reflect that. She clapped politely as Professor Alicastell congratulated Slytherin, though she was more interested in the top point earner announcements. River's name was called first, and Harper glanced worriedly at Em. Unfortunately, her friend's name was not called next. Though Harper clapped for Ronald, she shot Em a sympathetic look. She knew how much pressure Em put on herself. She also knew from first-hand experience that it was never fun to feel like you were overshadowed by a sibling. Hopefully Em didn't feel that way.

To Harper's surprise, Professor Alicastell didn't give the usual reminders about underage magic. Instead, she had an announcement. Harper had never been one to pay attention to the school rumor mill, but it had been impossible to avoid this time around, what with the government officials lurking around the forest and the conspicuous absence of two Gryffindors from the common room. Still, even as the headmistress explained what had happened, Harper couldn't quite bring herself to believe it. How many times had she slipped past the forest's edge during one of her morning runs or whenever she just needed a break from the chaos of the castle? To learn that her little refuge had held a deadly creature was unsettling, to say the least. And while Harper hadn't known Lysander well, it was still hard to believe that the boy who had shared marshmallows with her and the other first years on their third night at Hogwarts was somehow responsible for something that — according to the headmistress — could have resulted in multiple deaths.

Movement at the end of the staff table caught Harper's attention, and she watched wide-eyed as Professor Summers hurried out of the hall. She hadn't said anything about the rumors during their last few animagus lessons since it wasn't any of her business. But now she wished she had. (Though exactly what she would have said, she didn't know). Professor Alicastell ended her speech by urging them to enjoy the feast, but the atmosphere felt anything but celebratory. Harper reluctantly started to fill her plate. As she did so, she glanced around, hoping to spot one of her friends.
 
Josephine hadn't wanted to miss the feast, even as she was too pregnant to sit very comfortably in the chair at the staff table. She had considered missing out on it, but with Angel so proud of his house, and winning the house cup in his first year as head of house, she couldn't bring herself to miss it. She sat next to him, glancing at him sideways. She wasn't sure if he had completely earned the smug expression on his face, but was willing to let him have this for now. Josephine noticed the way Professor Summers left during Professor Alicastell's speech and frowned slightly. She had heard about the incident in the forest and knew it couldn't be easy for him. She glanced at Angel. "You think he's alright?" She asked him under her breath.

@Professor Angel Castillo
 
It felt weird, sitting in the Great Hall for the feast without the usual Gryffindor decoration. Louis couldn't help but feel a bit resentful towards the Slytherins, who seemed all too happy about their victory. As if it was fair! Louis bet Lysander cost them like a hundred points for whatever he did to get expelled, and that was the only reason Slytherin won. That was what he had been telling everyone, anyway. He rolled his eyes as the headmistress congratulated Slytherin and zoned out a bit when she mentioned who had gotten the most points. It was always the same few people anyway. She mentioned the incident everyone sort of knew about, but didn't say anything specific besides warning them about dabbling in dark magic and going into the forest. Louis wished they would just say what had happened. He was definitely still going to go into the forest, he was sure he wouldn't do anything stupid to get himself expelled. When the headmistress' speech was done, Louis grabbed himself some food and looked around. He didn't see anyone especially interesting nearby at the Gryffindor table, so he glanced over at Hufflepuff. He gave Nolan a grin and a small wave, then glanced at Ravenclaw and did the same to Valeria. Maybe he could get one of them to sit with him on the train ride home later.

@Nolan Burke @Valeria Iglesias
 
Isadora couldn't quite hide her glum mood, even at the feast. She didn't want the school year to end just yet, she didn't want to go home. But Isadora knew she should still try to enjoy the feast. She listened quietly as the headmistress spoke to them, sighing when they congratulated Slytherin. The bit about the forest and the rules wasn't a big surprise after what happened, but Isadora still thought it was a bit silly, considering the kids who had done wrong were already expelled. She glanced to the side, where the Archer twins were sitting. Once the food appeared, Isadora addressed them. "Have you guys ever been in the forest?" She asked in a hushed voice.

@Aurora Archer
 
It appeared as though another year had come and gone, and frankly, Flynn was more than ready to get on the train. He never wanted to see another exam paper again. It was amazing he had even managed to make it through his OWLs, even if he was quite sure he'd done pretty horribly in them. Then again, he only had himself to blame for that seeing as he had done practically no studying. He more or less zoned out as top house point earners were announced, no doubt it would be Ronald for Gryffindor just as it always seemed to be. Even the Headmistresses speech seemed to be more boring than usual, that incident in the forest being brought up yet again. Once the food appeared, he simply stuffed some bread rolls into the pockets of his robes before making a quick exit from the Great Hall. He wasn't really that hungry.
 
As usual, Eoin was more than ready to say goodbye to Hogwarts and return to the nice and normal world outside of the castle over the break. Only three more years and he could say goodbye to the castle for good and most likely never pick his wand up again. It was a surprise to see the Hall decked in the colors of Slytherin, a first during his time in the castle. Not that he really cared, he doubted he was ever going to see Ravenclaw colors before he graduated. And he wasn't surprised to hear the Headmistress reminding them about the forbidden forest after everything had happened. He should think it was common sense not to go into a place that was off-limits, but then again, the castle did seem to mainly be inhabited by mindless idiots. Once the Headmistress was done, Eoin turned his attention to the food, quietly started to put a couple of things on his place.
 
Rhys was somewhat pleased to see that Slytherin had managed to win the house cup. It was a good year to be a Slytherin with the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup coming home. Not that he had really done much to help with either of those things, but that was beside the point. Clapping as the top house point earners were announced, he started idly drumming his fingers on the tabletop as the Headmistress started reminding them about the forest. He'd heard that something had happened, but he still didn't know all the details and, as a journalist, that did annoy him somewhat. All he knew was that it had resulted in two of the seventh years being expelled. Maybe he would need to ask around a little more for the details. For now, he simply started to focus on his dinner, looking forward to getting back home for a bit.
 
Jingyi was excited to be going home for the holidays. Exams were over and he had managed not to fail anything too horribly. Sure, his parents were not likely to be pleased with his final grades, but he had never cared about grades. All he cared about what having fun and not getting expelled. Unlike some of the older students, so he had heard. He really was curious about what had actually happened in the forest. Whatever had happened had to have been serious, especially as it was still being brought up even now. Jingyi didn't care much for all the talking, not really paying attention to any of it. As soon as the talking was all over and done with, he quickly started grabbing food and shoving it into a pile on his plate.
 
He wasn't sure how, but Zag had actually managed to make it through his first year at Hogwarts. He honestly hadn't thought he was going to make it this far and would have crashed out by now. He was actually pretty proud of himself for making it this far. Though he was still eager to get home for the break and not have to worry about magic for a little bit. Once more the incident in the forest was being talked about and Zagreus did have to wiggle uncomfortably in his seat. He had known that the forest was dangerous and this just proved it. It was a rather sour thing to think about as he started tucking into his food, eating a little slower than usual with an almost permanent frown of concentration on his face the whole time.
 
Nolan nodded as Eugene answered his question and he too also shook his head. "Nah I don't think I have anything interesting planned," Nolan says with a small smile and shook his head as he continued to eat his food. Other than catching up with his friends and family back home, he didn't think there would be anything else interesting. "How's your music going? Going all good?" Nolan asked with a small smile. The boy also had some music of his own that he may want to share with his friend. The boy looked around the great hall as he listened to his friend and noticed Louis across the hall waving and smiling at him and Nolan returned it back, waving and smiling, feeling that same feeling in his stomach again, before moving his attention back to his friend.

@Eugene Nestor @Louis Alcott
 
Ryan had barely noticed the change in decorations until everyone at the Slytherin table was cheering about it, squinting up at the green and silver banners ahead and presuming Nicole was probably very pleased. House points always seemed pointless to him but everyone got very excited at the end of the year about it. Professor Alicastell's other announcement however had much more of Ryan's attention. He'd still yet to get more than speculation and crumbs of details about whatever had happened in the forest and the headmistress' speech only further increased Ryan's desire to find out more. Supposedly what ever was in the forest had been safely dealt with but surely there was some trace of it still left. Annoyed he hadn't thought of it before, Ryan sighed, picking at his plate as the feast began before getting up and moving to sit with Augustus. He'd been keeping his space a lot more lately, but this was more important than stupid fights over girls.

"We need to go into the forest next year," he told Augustus, his voice low so it was just audible over the general noise of the feast getting underway. "Don't tell Addison," he added as an afterthought, already making a list of books he could check out at Flourish and Blott's while they were working over the holidays. @Augustus Westwick
 
River could not wipe the smile off her face as she entered into the Great Hall. She had never seen it decorated like this before, all in Slytherin colours. Since she had arrived at school, Gryffindor had always won the house cup. That was just how it was. Although, River was always proud of her sister's house, she could not help but feel like some of her own work had paid off this year, as well as her classmates of course. Slytherin had done it, even if it had been so close. River took her seat at the Slytherin table, giving a slight wave at Emmaline, who of course was paying attention to anything but her. This ceremony was not joyous for her older sister, if anything it was more pressure. River did not quite feel that way. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she should though. She just was not really wired like that though, at least not as deeply as the rest of her family.

The feast began when the professor started the speech. River clapped loudly as Slytherin was announced the house cup winners. She glanced at her housemates, the smile clearly on her face. They had all done this together. Once the clapping died down, the headmistresses continued with the top point earners. This part did make River a little nervous. She held her breath, only letting it out as her name was called for Slytherin. She could not believe that she had the most house points again. For a moment she was thrilled, but that feeling did not last long. Gryffindor was called next and to River's disappointment her sister's name was not called. She glanced over at the Gryffindor table, trying to shoot a comforting glance. No response. This did not make her break look too pleasant now. The competition was on, even if River would rather not even be a part of it.

River clapped for the rest of the house point winners politely. She kept trying to get a glance at her sister but gave up after a few attempts. It was not her job to comfort her, even if River felt like it should be. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to push those feelings away and enjoy the moment. It was a little difficult as the headmistress continued with her words of warning about the incident that had happened. Of course, everyone knew by now. The heads of houses had had meetings, well at least in Slytherin they had. River nodded solemnly to show some aspect of understanding. It could have easily been her in the forest, a place she had been dying to explore more. The young green haired girl was relieved that it wasn't though.

Now at that was left was to eat, a good distraction. River began to fill her plate with way too much food. With break about to start, River knew she would not get a homecooked meal in a while. This was her last chance to enjoy it while she could. River began to eat, making some small talk with the girl sitting next to her.
 
Sutton was more than happy to join the festivities of the End of the Year Feast. She had survived her OWLs, which honestly was something to be proud of. Of course, the young blonde girl did not quite know how she did. That was something of the future though. No need to worry about it now. Not like she could change it. She took her seat at the Ravenclaw tower, noting the decorations of this year. Slytherin. That was a surprise. Not because she believed Ravenclaw would earn the most house points, honestly Sutton did not care very much for that sort of competition anyway, but because Gryffindor had just always won. She assumed that was just how it was. Apparently the Slytherins, stepped up this year.

The young girl waited as the headmistress began her speech. She clapped politely for the Slytherin house as well as the top points earners. When it finally got to Ravenclaw, a house that she would probably recognize a name from, her mouth fell open. Had she heard her name? That was impossible. Sutton didn't even try to earn house points. She just tried to get through the year with grades that wouldn't' earn her a lecture over break, or get any books taken away from her. But her name was said. She smiled awkwardly, not sure how to respond.

Luckily, the headmistress moved onto the topic that had everyone talking. No more details were really given, just warnings. Sutton wished she knew more, but she surely couldn't ask, even the professors weren't giving out many details to this adventurous real life story. Sutton listened to the talk around her, wondering if she could pick up at least the main character to this school wide 'plot' that had brought so much attention to the forbidden forest. She spent the rest of the feast listening to the chatter and enjoying some of the delicious food.
 
Valeria seemed to glance at Louis the exact right time as he then waved. She gave a little wave back and then with a little giggle blew him a kiss. She glanced about the ravenclaw table and spotted Xiuying. "Hey girl, any winter plans?" she asked keenly, since she wanted of course to now immediately gush about what had just happened and Xiuying was closest, Ares was at the slytherin table and Bree at the gryffindor table.
@Xiuying Huang ​
 
Aurora glanced at Isadora and gave a little shake of her head, though she could only speak for herself really and all the times that she'd been with Rosie, they hadn't been. "Our dad's the librarian...I think it would be wrong of us to break the rules like that while he works here," Aurora didn't want to disappoint her dad or have him immediately find out what they did. Because of course others would be able to lie and hide things from their parents, but her dad was there, in the library. She also didn't really see the appeal, though it could be fun to go in and explore and she was sure there was plenty to see, that wasn't reason enough. ​
 
Rosie shook her head with Aurora as she answered Isadora's question. "I would like to go in, I bet there are so many pretty plants, herbs and trees that would be really nice to see," she would only want to go in for the plants, for the opportunity to see the plants nothing more and nothing less, but knowing it was out of bounds she wasn't about to go into it. She felt the same way as her sister did and knew she could get her fill of flowers and herbs in the gardens, she didn't need to go into the forest. "You?"
@Isadora Novak ​
 
Eugene shovelled some food into his mouth and nodded excitedly, "OH man yes! This year has been sweet as for music" he said, it had been a good year for him and music. "I picked up the piano again, wrote a couple of songs I'm gonna record during the break and I dunno if it's official yet but," he leaned in a little to speak quietly, which was despite the fact he knew the position was official and already in this year's yearbook, "But I'm the new musical lead for the Conglomerated arts club," the only thing missing in all this was preforming, he didn't get to preform as much at Hogwarts, but knew it would be really fun to do so. Maybe he could do more of that with his position, or even ask around if anyone would want that. "What about you cuz? If you and Manaia are kicking about we should jam over the holidays,"
@Nolan Burke ​
 
Nolan listened as his friend spoke. "That's awesome dude! Piano and recording it all? Looks like your break is gonna be a bit packed aye?" Nolan says with a small chuckle. Nolan was also gonna focus and try and write some songs during the break. The young Hufflepuff was slowly confused with himself and thought that maybe it would help him with his feelings and all. Nolan's eyes went wide as Eugene told him about a new position he had. "Woah! Congrats dude! That sounds awesome" Nolan says with a smile and pats his friend on his shoulder in a way that he was congratulating him. The Hufflepuff nodded at Eugene's words. "I'm definitely keen on that, for sure. I've been writing songs here and there. Might also write some songs during the break and all. But I'm defs keen on that jam sesh"

@Eugene Nestor
 
Xiuying whipped her head around and smiled when she saw Valeria. "Hey! What's up!" Xiuying says with a small smile and wave, before taking a bite of her food. The girl shrugged a little. "Um... I don't know... I'll probably put some more practice into Quidditch. Maybe catch up with some friends. I guess we'll see" Xiuying says with a small chuckle and shrug. "How about you? Do you have any plans for the break?"

@Valeria Iglesias
 
Felix loved the end of the year feast. He thought it was exciting to hear who had won the house cup and who earned the most points. Sometimes he wondered if they were cheating somehow because the number of points seemed a bit ridiculous. He did clap when Slytherin won even if he had wished it was his house instead. But it was nice to see a different house win this year. He had thought that was the end of it but was a bit surprised when the headmistress started to talk about what happened in the forest. He hadn't heard a whole lot about it and while he had been curious it sounded a little scary and hadn't wanted anything to do with it. But if they were talking about it now it must have been really serious. He glanced around the table to see what other people to see their reactions but quickly the feast began and he quickly forgot his worries. Felix wasted no time serving himself some food and digging int.
 
It wasn't new for Caleb not to want to go home at the end of the year but this time it was stronger. After everything that had happened during his last break there was a part of him that was paranoid that something worse was going to happen this time. He knew it was stupid but he could already feel the specific sense of boredom that sinks into you when you are in a house alone. With Simon gone and Lila with her job, he would be alone and was already planning all the things he would do once he snuck out. He looked up when he heard cheering. Slytherin won the house cup and he was a little late to the applause but he clapped a few times to show his support. He never really paid attention to all that. Caleb groaned when the headmistress started to talk about the forest again. All this talk was starting to get annoying. It couldn't have been that bad if no one had died and he wasn't sure why they kept having to talk about it. He checked out for the rest of the speech and stared up at the ceiling until the feast really began and the food appeared in front of them.
 
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