Start of Term Feast

It was good to be home.

The Great Hall was looking as brilliant as ever, in Jess' opinion. The Hogwarts Crest was flying from every bannister, the enchanted ceiling revealed a cloudless, starry night, and the floating candles threw their flickering light all around the room, its reflection glittering off the golden cutlery lying on all the benches.

The students, he'd heard, were on there way up from Hogsmeade Station, and so he'd decided to head down to the hall, lest he make a spectacle by appearing after the students had arrived, setting a bad image for the rest of the year.

Nodding to the rest of the staff - those who were already there, Jess took his seat next to the ugly goblin and some other professor, shuffling his seat a little further away from the short little man to his left, eager to avoid any awkward conversation that was bound to arise with the man.

There was one blemish on the day though, he felt. The Headmaster had apparently chosen to accept Gellert Grindelwald's new "Security" measures, not that he had much of a choice, the entirety of the Wizarding Population seemed ready to bend over backwards at a mere suggestion from the dictator. Had Doyle declined the protection, Jess felt certain that the school would cease to exist as it currently did.

A loud scrap quickly drew his attention, and he looked up quickly in time to straighten his hat before the students walked inside.

As the Train stopped and Louis stepped out of the Prefects compartment he saw the rebuilt Hogwarts, Louis smiled and walked in the carrige, to go to the castle, he got in and looked around, there was security everywhere, Louis still hated Gindelwald for this but felt a little more safer, he just couldn't wait to call out a Pottter's army meeting, he saw the Hogwarts Crest, and smiled, he saw the staff and Jess, he waved his hand, "Hi Jess."

Louis sat down in the table, seeins students pouring in, things were going to be different, which Louis wasn't acostumed too, he jus couldn't wait for Yumi and him hiding out and spenidgn time together, he loved secrets and knew they would be busier this year in Potters Army.

When the train screeched to a stop, Hitame and Naomi rushed to the window to see the rebuilt Hogwarts. They both smiled and rushed out of their compartment, squeezing past everyone to make it to the carriage that would take them to Hogwarts. "I don't like the guards, Hitame." Naomi said quietly, pointing to one of the many guards that were wandering about. Hitame smacked her hand down quickly but gently. "Don't point at them Naomi. It's rude." she whispered back to her sister.

Hitame smiled when she saw the Hogwarts crest and knew... she was home. Naomi seemed to feel the same thing and she looked at Hitame before smiling at being back in Hogwarts. She looked around and saw some of the staff, she smiled and waved to some of them.

Hitame and Naomi sat down at the Gryffindor table and she saw another Gryffindor sitting there. It took her a moment to figure out who it was, and when she did, she smiled. "Louis!" she called happily, happy to see another one of her house members.

Sam felt a sense of relief wash over him as he got off the train, the glow of making new friends still sticking to his spirits as he made his way off the platform and clambered aboard one of the... holy mother of... what were those things pulling the carriages... What was going on... normally they were just moved invisibly.

Making a mental note to place some inquiries with the new CoMC professor (The old one had left for some Ministry job apparently) Sam sat as far from the winged horse things, and endured the ride up to the castle with a few people he didn't quite recognise.

Walking through the great doors of the Entrance Hall, Sam thought the empty hourglasses seemed to calm him down a little, bring everything back into order and remind him that a proper, real world did exist here inside the castle, Grindelwald or no Grindelwald.

The Great Hall, apparently, was already full of people, as Sam could hear a chatter of people in the other room, and sure enough as he entered he was met with the familiar site of Hogwarts' Great Hall, and all its staff and students.

Crossing the floor and passing the rest of the House Tables on the way, Sam made his way to the Gryffindor Table, gladly slumping into a seat near a few familiar faces.

"Hey Hitame," he said cheerily, waving in her direction, "Oh, and congratulations Louis, Hope that you have a great time of it, I hope to join your ranks when I'm a little older," he told him with a smile.

Rhys was wet.

Some stupid Slytherin's had grabbed her right before she had entered the carriages, and practically thrown her into the lake, after that fun adventure, she had been forced to find another carriage and ride up to the school, sopping wet. She knew she should dry herself off, but she was worried with the new restrictions, the Slytherin's would tattle on her and say she had used magic outside of class, or done whatever else by drying herself off and get her into trouble, so she had rung out her hair, and gotten as much water off of her as possible before she went into the school, her shoes squishing.

She muttered darkly, casting dark glances at the Slytherin table, who were all chuckling at her as she strode across the Great Hall, head held high, and sat down next to Sam, practically showering the entire table with water. "I f'ing hate Slytherins..." She growled, staring at them all. "They flung me into the lake.." She said attempting to explain her... condition. "And I KNOW they will tell on me if I dry myself off magically... I don't know what the regulations are.. but It's better safe, and wet, then sorry, and in detention.. I'd rather not get in trouble this year if you know what I mean." She said leaning her head backwards and scrunching up her hair, trying to get air flowing in it so it kind of looked like she had simply taken a shower, in her clothes. "Luckily the Giant Squid helped me out... else I'd have been walking up to the school... they flung me in pretty far..." She said with a sigh, before shaking her head and splattering them all with water again. "I f'ing hate them.. this is war.." She said running her hands through her hair again.

Alex also was wet.

He was going in with Rhys, when he was pushed in the lake, he was pretty pissed, so he broke a Slytherins nose, another ones arm, and ones leg, and all of them had black eyes, he had gotten dryer than Rhys on the way because he stood up in the air and let the air blow the wetness, his clothes were dry, and then he laughed, and sat.

"I told you, you should've stood up." Alex said, splitting up with Rhys and sitting down on his table, sitting next to his sister and her friends, he looked back and saw Louis, "LOUIS!" Alex yelled and greeted him, it was fun seeing his old friends and being back in Hogwarts. "Monica, I just figured out something, the case of the disappearing children back at home, the killer is Mr. Johnson, Y sabes qué, si ves que teine un quarto secreto en primer nivel de su casa!" Alex smiled a Monica.

He also saw Sam's face, "HI SAM!"

((I love being Half Spanish.))

Louis waved back at Alex, "HEY ALEX!" Louis yelled across. He looked at Sam and Hitame, he gave Hitame a friendly hug and high fived Sam. And heard sam as he said, "Oh, and congratulations Louis, Hope that you have a great time of it, I hope to join your ranks when I'm a little older," Louis smiled at Sam. "Well, Mis is head girl, and I'm Prefect, and Mis is leader of Potters Army, and I'm deputy leader, so we have a break, and we don't have to worry about the prefects catching us."

Louis looked at Sam and said, "There is no doubt in my mind that next year or you seventh year that you will be Head Boy, and Leader of Potters Army," Louis smiled. He sat down next to Sam, "So how was your summer, did you make any friends on the train."

Jess looked angrily at Rhys and shook his head disdainfully. "Can't even use magic to protect or defend yourself..." he muttered quietly, so only the people around him could hear what he was saying. "This place really is falling apart. But I'm sure, surely we can use magic while we're at the school... it was only for the train that we couldn't... right?" He asked curiously.

"Anyway, it's good to see everyone. I'm good thanks Louis," he said, listening to what he was saying before throwing his hands up in a signal to stop. "Dude, not so loud," he said with a hushes voice. "We're still meant to be secret you know," he said, looking around to feeling relieved when he noticed that no one else had heard.

"That's a bit of a stretch of the imagination though," he said with a slight grin. "I think I'd annoy too many teachers to make head boy, and there's plenty of better wizards than me to... y'know," he said, denying that he could ever be leader of Potter's Army.

"Still, it just annoys me," he said, turning back to Rhys, "That this sort of thing could happen. Still, we're here now, and I think you were right, it's better to be wet and here, then expelled and out of the school," he said with a shrug.

"I can't wait for the food," he added before turning in his seat and waving back to the slightly pretentious Hufflepuff he'd met, "Hey Alex," he shouted, before turning back to his own house-mates. "I am starved, bring on the food," he said, his stomach rumbling in the background.

Rhys nodded at Sam and shivered slightly, turning her head away to sneeze. "Of course.. now I'm going to get a cold.." She mumbled darkly. "I f'ing HATE Slytherins! I hadn't even done anything to them! Just tried to get into the carriage and then BAM I was in the middle of the f'ing lake.." She growled darkly and then looked at the people around her, and glanced at Alex before sighing. "They got you to eh? I didn't even notice... I was a bit more concerned about the fact that the Giant Squid had it's tentacle wrapped around my waist and was lifting me up into the air! You should have seen it, it was totally awesome!" She said grinning at them, before she had to hide her face to sneeze again.

"Other then that... I'm totally humiliated and freezing! Does anyone know a spell to just like.. warm up the water? I can't remember any right now.. at least make it not so.. cold as it dries.... it can dry on it's own... just... damn!" She growled and rested her head on the table before shuddering and looking up. Suddenly a ghost came up to the table, and sat down right next to Rhys. "New student?" He asked, eying Rhys's clothes. "I am not! I'm a fourth year!" She said lifting her head indignantly. The ghost huffed and stared at her. "You're very small for a fourth year." he said and stood up right in the middle of the table, before walking through her and finding a new spot down the table. "Oh Merlin!" She gasped as it felt like she was doused in ice water. "You have got to be kidding me! I'm going to be in the Hospital Wing before it even gets cold at this rate! Steam pouring out of my ears.." She grumbled and rested her head on the table again. "New student.." She growled under her breath. "I am not short.."

Sam looked at Rhys for a second then mouthed a single word, 'wow.'
"You got lifted up by the Giant Squid?" he asked, a hint of jealousy in his voice. "That's just so unbelievably cool!" He said, looking sulkily down at the table, wishing it had been him all along.

But then he had to quickly duck around and face away from Rhys for a few seconds following her exchanged with the ghost who'd come to visit their table, trying to create a pretense of checking the intricate engraving on a goblet, while secretly chuckling to himself the whole time.

"Here," he said, straightening up and pointing his wand at her. "I'll dry you, if they say anything about it... well, I'll say it was for health reasons," he told her, tapping her shoulder and muttering the incantation to dry her robes out. "Better?" he asked, watching the steam rise from her body as the spell took its course.