Open Y42 Start of Year Feast

[Professor Matt Alcott-Ward]

The sorting ceremony had come to a close, and Matt smiled at the sight of the fresh new faces at all the new tables. He had always been interested in how the hat did its work. Maybe as headmaster, he could have a discussion with the hat to find out more. Matt stood up, waited a few moments for everyone to settle down, then spoke.

"Good evening students and staff of Hogwarts. I know how eager we all are to start our wonderful yearly feast, but I have a few quick announcements to make." He smiled as he paused. "First of all is that, as you all probably guessed, I'm the new headmaster of Hogwarts starting this year. I'll be taking over from Professor Alicastell, who did an admirable job for as long as I have been working here. For those of you who are freshly sorted or simply didn't know, my name is Professor Matt Alcott-Ward and I have been the upper year History professor for the past..." He paused to think. "Fourteen years. Now I will take on this new role instead."

He took a sip of water before continuing. "Alongside me are your Heads of Houses, these professors are here to guide you and lead you in your respective houses. The head of house for Hufflepuff is Professor Landon Carter, for Slytherin, Professor Angel Castillo, for Ravenclaw, Professor Kahurangi Josephs and for Gryffindor, Professor Cyndi Kingsley." Matt gestured to each of the professors in turn so the new students would know who was who. Then he went on.

"I already spoke about the forest before the sorting ceremony started, I hope it's not necessary to repeat myself now. I don't believe I have any other new announcements to make, so I'll finish up with this: I wish everyone here a wonderful, productive and fun new school year. In a moment now the food will appear, and I hope everyone also enjoys this wonderful feast." He said, smiling as the platters of food appeared the moment he finished speaking. Matt sat back down at the staff table and mentally went over his speech, hoping he hadn't forgotten anything important. He watched as students started to chat and eat, feeling excited about the upcoming year.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy was surprised by how pleasant it was to be back at school. Her break had been a mess, and Ivy had felt frustrated and angry for a lot of it. Sitting here at the Gryffindor table, surrounded by her classmates, she felt more at home than she had in her new bedroom at her mum's place. It was bittersweet, knowing she wouldn't experience a start-of-year feast here again. She felt in no way ready to graduate, mostly because she had no idea what she wanted to do after Hogwarts yet. She really should have a plan by now, and if she had listened to her dad she would have. He was still hoping she might go to the ministry, but Ivy knew that wasn't going to happen. She was done doing things because he wanted it.

The change of headmaster had registered for Ivy during the sorting ceremony, but it was still weird to see her History of Magic teacher up there. It was a bit like he was pretending to be headmaster, it wasn't a role that entirely fit him in Ivy's eyes. But she guessed he was as good a choice as any. She was glad he didn't go into heavy detail on the forbidden forest, as it had never kept kids from going in there as far as Ivy knew. When the food arrived, Ivy loaded her plate. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until now.

 

[Natalia Novak]

Natalia had been thinking about the train ride a lot, wondering if she had made the right choice to stay in the compartment with Valencia. It was sort of nice to say sorry, even if it had also felt rather awkward. Natalia wondered what the other girl thought about it, was she telling her friends about it? She had never quite been able to hide how bad she was at talking to people. She was sure it had been obvious. Natalia tried to push it out of her mind, focusing on Professor Alcott-Ward as he spoke to them. She had been surprised to see him as headmaster, she had expected it to go to one of the Heads of Houses. But she supposed a history teacher was perhaps easier to replace. She zoned out again a bit as the professor kept talking, then jumped a little in surprise as the food arrived in front of her. Natalia took a portion, glancing around er as she did to see if there was someone nearby she could talk to. Hopefully without making a fool of herself for once.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis was feeling pretty pleased with himself. More than normal. Not only had he gotten a prefect's badge over the holidays, clear proof that he was awesome, now everyone could see his uncle was headmaster of Hogwarts. He was everyone's boss, which meant Louis definitely had more influence. He had briefly wondered if it was even the reason he had gotten his prefect badge, wasn't that usually something that went to the nerdy kids? He hadn't questioned it too much though, happy to take it. He sat back in his seat, looking around with a wide grin on his face and trying to catch Caleb's expression at the Slytherin table. He hadn't gotten a badge, Louis had already seen that. Just another thing he could tease him with. Louis hadn't really been listening to his uncle, but he clapped when the speech was over. He grinned as the food arrived, immediately scooping a large heaping of mashed potato onto his plate. He was a growing boy, after all.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen had been wondering about the new headmaster ever since she had talked to Celia about it at last year's end-of-year feast. At the sight of Professor Alcott-Ward at the staff table, she muttered under her breath. "Guess that answers that question." Gwen had no real opinion of the man, she hadn't taken his class yet and hadn't really noticed him much at the staff table. She wondered what Celia's opinion was, as she seemed to really care about this sort of thing. Gwen inspected her nails as the professor went on and on, glad she had painted them silver and green to suit her house. It was the perfect look for the start of the year. Gwen looked up as the professor finished speaking, noticing that the food had arrived. She waited a bit to get any for herself, letting the other students go first. She wasn't that hungry, and it wasn't like the food was that good here anyway.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora was full of restless energy and wished she could run a few laps around the castle before having to sit down at the feast. Watching the sorting ceremony had been fun, though it was strange to think she had been up there herself as a first year only two years ago. They were so small now! She made sure to smile and clap for every new Gryffindor, wanting them to feel welcome in their new house. But now it was time for the boring part. Isadora hadn't really paid attention to the upper year professors before, but she did vaguely recognize the man who was now their new headmaster. He looked less strict than Alicastell, which could be a good thign for her house. Maybet hey had a shot at the house cup this year? Isadora tried waving at Cameron and Margo while the professor was talking, it was kind of boring. But then the food arrived which distracted her quickly.

 

[Emery Mettlestone]

Emery had paid extra close attention to the sorting ceremony, as he wanted to send a step-by-step description to his sister who would be sorted next year. Both so she would be reassured and so she wouldn't do anything embarrassing. Emery wasn't sure how he felt about Vanity joinigng them next year, but he guessed she would be in a different house anyway. He just wished Briony could join too, he was much closer to his youngest sister. But he would have to wait two more years for that, which was strange to think about. Emery has no real opinion of the new headmaster, it wasn't like he really remembered the last one. He was glad when the man was finally done talking so Emery could eat. He poured himself some pumpkin juice, then loaded his plate with his favorite foods.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope had found herself a seat near Marnie at the Hufflepuff table. She was glad to see her friend again, she had missed her a lot over break. She had missed Hogwarts in general, it was so nice to be back. Penelope tried her best to ignore the nagging worry she felt about her dad and brother and the way she had left them. She would just write a letter to apologize first thing in the morning. It still hurt her how they hadn't said goodbye properly to her, but she knew it was partly her own fault. Penelope listened to the new headmaster as he introduced himself, marveling slightly at the fact that he had been teaching here longer than she had been alive. That was a weird thought to have, she wondered how much longer some of the other teachers had been here. She had heard the Gryffindor head of house had been here forever. Once the food arrived, Penelope took a portion for herself, sighing softly. Maybe she should be writing that letter tonight, it might help her sleep more easily.

 

[Anisha Khatri]

Anisha was still buzzing with excitement from sorting, she couldn't believe it was over. She also couldn't believe how well it had gone. Despite all her confident words to Raafe, she had been rather worried they would be split up. She now sat next to him, holding onto his hand under the table as the headmaster spoke. Apparently, he was new. It didn't matter much to Anisha, she spent most of his speech scanning the Great Hall. She spotted Indi at the Slytherin table, but looked away before she could catch her eye. She didn't want to see Indi purposely ignoring her. She also saw the bookstore boy at the Ravenclaw table. Dorian, his name was, she remembered from sorting. Her attention was drawn back to her own table when the food arrived and she grinned, finally letting go of Raafe's hand so she could use both hands to serve herself. Though she had no idea where to begin. There was a lot of food.

 

[Ezra Ito]

Ezra was a little disappointed to be seperated from Dorian. He quietly wondered if he'd be allowed to go over to his friend and sit at his table, but since no one was doing that, he doubted it. He tried to catch Dorian's eye at the Ravenclaw table as the Headmaster started his speech, hoping to give him a reassuring look. Dorian would have a harder time on his own than Ezra, who already knew at least one person in his house from the train ride. Ezra wondered again why the forest was forbidden as the headmaster briefly mentioned it. He also made sure to pay attention to who his head of house was. That seemed like important information. When the food arrived, Ezra's eyes widened as he looked up and down the table. He had never seen this much food in his life. He could only wonder what the desserts would be like.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie found himself sitting at the staff table once more, though this time as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the lower years. While he enjoyed teaching Transfiguration to the upper years a lot, he knew that this particular subject was more up his alley. He had spent eight years defending himself and the Wizarding World from the dark arts as a Hit Wizard after all. He could only hope that he could teach the course as well as Professor Drage had done when she taught it to the lower years. He watched as his younger cousin got sorted into Gryffindor to which he clapped as loud as he could. He was proud of the boy for putting on such a brave face through all that was happening with his parents, and made a mental note to send him a letter in the coming weeks asking if he wanted to come over for tea. Knowing Max he probably didn't drink tea, but that didn't matter, what mattered was the company. He clapped again when Hogwarts' new Headmaster finished his speech and then filled his plate with whatever was closest to him, hungrier than he imagined he'd be.

 

[Liusaidh Styx]

Liusaidh Fergusson had been very surprised when she'd sat down for the sorting feast to see the constantly late for class Professor Alcott-Ward as the new headmaster. She wasn't sure it was the right choice, but this was her final year so what did it matter. Liusaidh would be out of here before this man was able to put in any major changes and she'd happily be gone. This was her final year, at long last, and Liusaidh was rather confident about how this year would go. She knew her classes would be lighter, and she'd just have a good time. The teen glanced towards her half brother's son, sitting at the hufflepuff table, and was reminded of what she agreed to Aonghas, but it didn't matter, she was quickly distracted by the food suddenly appearing. ​

 

[Branson Archer]

Becoming prefect had been quite the surprise for Branson, he had admittedly thought that his chances for it had sailed, and though initially a little stung to have not been picked he'd quickly moved on. Just he had needed to wait a little longer. Branson felt pretty confident about his ability to do it. His parents pride had certainly helped with it too. He glanced up at the head master as the man spoke. The sorting had been interesting, but with his sisters in third year and the next person in their family was little Fi who was ten years away from it. Branson was curious to see what kind of headmaster he would be, he hadn't experienced being in his class long enough to know what he was like as a professor, but it didn't particularly matter now. The food appeared and Branson began to fill his plate. ​

 

[Eugene Nestor]

Eugene had been very surprised by the prefect badge in the post. He'd even left the letter a couple of days before opening, figuring that it wasn't that, and having been busy with work and music. So it had really been a surprised. Eugene was honoured by it, but he was also a little nervous, unsure of if he would manage to do a good enough job at it. But he would have to prove himself by doing, and learn quickly too. Eugene had applauded loudly for all of the new house mates, being a hufflepuff was great, and he cheered loudly for the new head master. It was going to be both odd but also change nothing for him. Eugene glanced as the food appeared and began filling his plate as he also glanced about the table for someone to talk to. It was boring to sit and eat in silence but he couldn't spot it. ​

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Returning to school was pretty nice. The holiday was still very very fresh, but she was back at the school, so at least for the next few months she could put it to the back of her mind. Valeria could instead focus on all the school had to offer, quidditch, clubs, boys, friends, everything. Valeria was excited about just launching herself back into it. She did feel a little raw about it. This was the first day, she would get past it. Sorting had taken way way too long, so she'd been glad when it had ended. She didn't mind who was the headmaster and was just glad when the food appeared. She began to take the few pieces she liked. ​

 

[Leonardo Orr]

Leonardo Orr was relieved to be back at school, the holidays weighed heavily on his mind but he could at least ignore it for now. He had a couple of months of school, quidditch and classes to try and figure out what was next. He felt confident that his grandfather wouldn't forget him twice, but there was a part of him that worried it would. Being at Jordie's had been so different that being at his home. James had treated him so kindly, he wasn't sure he deserved it. Certainly being at home for the last day or so had reminded him of it. Leonardo sat staring at the table during the whole of sorting, barely glancing up. Not even applauding for the sorted students as they were sorted, he half listened to the words from the new head master, barely moving to put any food in his plate. ​

 

[Seamus Reid]

Seamus was bored of the starting feast. He had been bored the moment he sat down. There was nothing for him when he ended up having to watch other people get sorted. He didn't care about that at all. He didn't need to care about where these people ended up, they were so far removed from him. Seamus leaned his head on his hand, with the elbow on the table propping it up as student after student got sorted and then finally thankfully it was over. He had hoped food would just appear but the head master had things to say. But thankfully it wasn't a lot, and he raised his head when food appeared and he began grabbing the things he actually wanted to eat. ​

 

[Aurora Archer]

Aurora Archer was so ready for a new semester at school. She had picked her electives, she had decided how best to achieve her dream and this year would put her one step closer to it. Aurora was very eager to get started, there was going to be so much fun about this year, and she knew she would manage. As sorting wrapped up Aurora spared a glance to her sister who was seemingly a bit dejected. Aurora had perhaps underestimated how much the loss of Xinyi was affecting her. She fully expected that it would be okay eventually, it was apparently going to take more time than she had thought it work. Aurora began putting food in both her plate and Rosie's plate. "I imagine in a couple of hours he'll be doing the same thing," she reminded Rosie, hoping that would help her feel a little better. ​

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie didn't feel particularly happy about returning to Hogwarts. She felt bad coming back to school and he just wasn't there. It was probably going to be okay in a few days, as she adjusted to school and got used to him not being around, but everything would just remind her of the times they'd spent together. Rosie had watched the sorting ceremony, and applauded for each of the new students. Rosie could remember fondly her own sorting, and how pleased she had been to be able sit with her sister. She glanced towards the head master as the man spoke and then the food appeared. Rosie glanced towards Aurora as she spoke, giving a half nod, it was both reassuring but made her miss him too. "I wonder if he'll be sorted into Gryffindor again," she said. ​

 

[Emmanuel Okoye]

Emmanuel Okoye had had a busy holiday, his family was amazing and great but it was large and they were kept busy at all times. There was always someone to play with or interact with. Someone to learn from, and it helped that there had been a couple of kids his own age in the house. They weren't directly related to him, but they were related enough by proxy and they had been pretty good to spend time with. But now he was back at the magical school and he was so ready for another year, it helped that he would have history this semester, and he was looking forward to so much of. This semester was going to be so good. He had applauded loudly for every single sorted student and loudly for the new head master, official professor patron of his unofficial club. This was definitely going to be fun. ​

 

[Pearl Parra]

Pearl was very glad to be back at school, very very glad. Her break had been boring, being back home was boring. Her dad could only provide so much entertainment and she had found herself growing bored of annoying the neighbours. So being back at school, with so much on offer, so much to do. Even if she didn't do all that much of it. Pearl didn't care about the sorting, and just was glad to be able to back. She put some food on her plate and began glancing about to see if there was someone she could talk to. She wanted to do something fun, enough of just sitting and listening. ​

 

[Gregory Friend]

Gregory wasn't sure what to make of the Hufflepuff table, it seemed like a cool place, and at least he could spot Cassius away at the slytherin table, so it was at the very least going to be easy enough to avoid him. But he didn't really know anyone at this table. He focused on what the headmaster was saying, glacing to the people he was mentioning and then like magic - which was perhaps a phrase Gregory was about to use a lot - the food appeared. He didn't know what to have first and it was simply more food than he had ever seen in his life. ​

 

[Savannah Walters]

Savannah was rather pleased that she had gotten into Ravenclaw. Savannah knew enough about the houses that this certainly pitched her as smart, and she was happy to be smart. She didn't need anyone to tell her she was smart, because now she had some level of proof, and really she didn't need anyone to tell her anything. Savannah was glancing at the people next to her, still feeling a little self-concious about her robes, but she was in amongst the sea of other robes, it was easier to hide. She was mostly just waiting for the food to appear. She was hungry and this had been a long day and thankfully it did appear. Savannah grabbed the first few things that she could grab to fill her plate. ​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah felt an odd mix of emptions as she entered the great hall for the sorting ceremony and the feast. She was nervous like usual but it didn't over shadow her quiet optimism that this year might not be so bad. The train ride had been pleasant even if Ivy had intruded when she would have preferred to talk to Ana Sophia alone. She was going over their conversation as the sorting began and she was only brought back to the present when she heard a familiar name. Thorne wasn't an uncommon surname. There had even been a few at school already who weren't related to her but this name sounded familiar. Her family had little to no contact with her more distant cousins but the name sounded so familiar and she chewed on her lip as she tried to remember their names. She hardly noticed when the food was served and only brought out of her thoughts once more when someone asked her to pass a plate.

 

[Indira Khatri]

Indi felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders as she watched Anisha and Raafe get sorted into Gryffindor. She had been horrified by the idea that they might end up in Slytherin with her. But thankfully there would be several floors in-between them. Good, they could bother someone else for once. She thought of Salem befriending them and she frowned. As much as she liked Salem the other girl did have a habit of making friends with everyone she hated. She would have to warn her first. Finally it was time for the actual feast and she realized how hungry she was. The stress of her family had kept her appetite all day to a minimum but now she was free to enjoy herself.