2022/23 Start of Term Feast

Posts : 1364 Join date : 2015-12-20

OOC: The Start of Term Feast can be used to bring your character's to the school for the first time and experience the Sorting ritual -- feel free to write this without the need to wait for a teacher to commence the sorting.

Feel free to use this thread for returning students, too!

Hogwarts' new headmistress had been as much of a surprise to the faculty as she would be to the students soon arriving to the school and pouring into the Great Hall for the welcome feast. But no one would be more surprised at the slender redheaded woman sitting on the golden throne at the head of the high table then the new headmistress herself. When she had agreed to take on the role of head teacher at this prestigious school, she had assumed it would be temporary. After all, her background was more inclined towards business than education. Having been a CEO for the past fifteen years, Adelaide Goshawk knew how to make money. Teaching children… would be a challenge.

Fortunately for her, she had a team of veterans at her side, also arriving slowly to claim their place at the staff tables. A new Runes professor, a Dueling master from the US and a fresh potions teacher were about the only new hires this term, the rest all old and experienced hands ready to mold young minds. And Adelaide planned to leave the molding to them, believing in letting everyone operate to their strengths.

Hopefully by the end of the year, she would be back on a corporate yacht where she belonged, but for now, the woman dressed in an impeccable skirt suit would see the opening of the term through. Fighting against the course of the tide was not simply exhausting, it was counterproductive, and of all her many flaws, counter productivity was not one.

The enchanted ceiling overheard was unusually clear for an autumn evening, the sun‘s last rays warming the four long house tables slowly filling up with students. Soon the first years would be in, ready for the sorting, the older students making fun of the fresh meat and the teachers absorbed in their own snippets of conversation. And Adelaide would preside over it all, being bored to death.

OOC: A huge thank you to Azalea for helping me write up the post! <3

Guest

Mercy followed behind the other first years in a daze, her lips parted and eyes wide as she gazed with awe around the Great Hall. The expression had not left her face since the moment she laid eyes on the castle as they rowed across the lake. It was much bigger than she had imagined.

The tables she was walking between were filled with older students, watching as the line of first years filed past. She caught a few encouraging grins, and she smiled back. They approached the head table, where the staff were sitting, and she finally caught sight of a beaten up old wizard's cap, sitting on a stool.

Her heart thudded with anticipation. The moment she'd been waiting for was fast approaching. The line of first years stopped, and after a moment of silence, the hat began to sing.

Mercy was entranced, listening intently to the Sorting Hat's song. When it finished, the room burst into applause, and she couldn't help but join in. She surveyed the room from her position near the head table, taking in all of the students, and the tables decked out in their house colours. She looked up at the enchanted ceiling, which displayed a clear evening sky. She couldn't believe she was finally here.

Her name was near the end of the alphabet, so she waited as patiently as she could (which was not very, but watching and clapping for her fellow classmates kept her occupied). With each passing moment her excitement only grew, and before she knew it, her name was being called.

She bounded to the stool and sat down, jamming the hat onto her head. It fell over her eyes. She clutched the edge of the stool, and her foot bounced excitedly as she heard a voice in her ear.

Eager, are we? Ah, I can see there's only one place for you.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat shouted almost immediately. Mercy breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that was where she belonged. She probably would have argued if it had said anything else. She replaced the hat on the stool, and all but ran to the Gryffindor table, her face aglow as her new housemates cheered. A couple people slid over to make room for her, and she took a seat, grinning from ear to ear as they welcomed her and patted her on the back.

The moon was a thin crescent in the sky, and today was a good day.

Guest

Coming back to Hogwarts was always the most magical of prospects for Maximillian. It meant he got time away from his parents, who were always trying to steer him away from his beloved animals in to a more 'suited' career. Something in the Ministry of Magic would be a good career, but they hadn't meant in the Department for the Regulation & Control of Magical Creatures, they meant the Auror division, or the Department of Mysteries. Or, perhaps a job at St Mungo's.

Of these careers, Max was not interested.

Going back to Hogwarts meant he could spend time with the creatures he loved so much, without having to be sorry for it -- well, not as sorry, he would likely end up apologising to Primrose because he'd lost track of time and spent the evening down in the Forbidden Forest and not with her.

The train ride he'd spent with his girlfriend and the rest of the prefects, setting up their rotas for the school year -- Prim and he seemed to have many together, something he was quite grateful for -- and their posts weren't too bad. A quick change and a check for trouble on the train, and there had really not been very much time to catch up with Primrose in the end. Settling for 'later', the two had made sure the train was empty before heading up to the castle in one of the carriages.

Sitting towards the top of the table -- ready to welcome the new students to the school -- Max waited patiently for the sorting, clapping extra hard when there was a child sorted in to Gryffindor. One that caught his eye, though, was one Mercy Williams. Smiling at the young witch as she sat down opposite him, Max gave the witch a small wave before waiting for the sortings to finish.

"Hey, I'm Max, I'm the Gryffindor Prefect, so if you have any questions, fire away. And, well done on making Gryffindor -- I'm biased, but I'm quite sure it's the best house in the school." He told her with a warm smile the moment the sorting was finished. "Oh, and get ready -- the food will blow your mind." Max added, and, right on cue, the plates changed from the empty gold to plates full of food which smelt out of this world.

Without even a second thought, Max dove in, collecting more than enough food for himself and getting started. Having not eaten on the train was a bad idea. After a moment, Max looked back to the witch. "So, Muggleborn, or Halfblood?" He asked, the girl wasn't a Pureblood, Purebloods never looked so awed when they arrived.

Guest

"Hi, Max," Mercy greeted the Gryffindor prefect. She might have said something more, except that just then the food appeared. She'd never seen so much food. She grabbed one of everything she could reach, her plate overflowing.

As she tried to figure out where to start in attacking such a feast, Max asked her a question. She finished chewing her first bite of bread, and made sure to swallow before answering.

"Halfblood. My mam was a Hufflepuff," she said proudly.

She remembered the boy had told her to ask if she had any questions, and she tried to pick one out of the many swirling around in her head.

"Have you ever been to the Forbidden Forest? Do you know what's in there that makes it forbidden?" she started. Her mam had told her it was dangerous and that she would get in trouble if she went in there, but no one had given her any specifics, and all it did was make her curious. She had a LOT of questions about the castle and the grounds, and all the classes and professors. She wondered how much time she had, and if the prefect knew about all the castle's shortcuts and secret passageways--she was determined to find all of them by the end of her seven years at Hogwarts.

Guest

Watching the witch fill her plate, Max couldn't help but smile fondly at her -- he remembered his first feast had gone in pretty much the same manner, truth be told.

"Oh, Hufflepuff, nice! One of my closest friends is a Hufflepuff, actually!" Max explained, glancing over at the Hufflepuff table to see if he could see Elyah. But, a quick search for the witch pulled up short and Max turned his attention back to the younger Gryffindor instead.

"Also, same, on the Halfblood thing. But, even though we know all about it, we're still awed by it when we see it, right? It still fascinates me now, actually..." The boy said, much too quickly before he trailed off on the last word. Had Max not been so tall, he could probably be mistaken for a first year with his enthusiasm for the school.

"I go in to the Forbidden Forest all of the time!" Max said without even thinking about it, before his eyes went slightly wide at the realisation. "I mean, as a Prefect, we have to make sure no one is wandering in the Forest, so we do perimeter checks on occasion..." Max amended, but the colour in his cheeks denoted that he was lying in that moment. Merlin knew he'd built himself a tree house in the forest, so he could not pretend that he didn't know it inside out.

"As to what is in there... Centaurs... Bowtruckles, Acromantulas -- though I haven't seen them yet -- there are Krups, a unicorn is said to live in the Forest... and a Giant, but again I haven't seen those two..." He listened, his excitement quite clear at the prospects, which was not helping to make the place sound like it should be forbidden.

"We're not supposed to go in there, though." Max added, trying to be serious about it, because Merlin knew he couldn't encourage an eleven year old to go in there.

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