Students filed into the great hall one after the other. In pairs and groups, witches giggling and gossiping and the young wizards talking about their summers to one another and rolling eyes at the giggling girls. It was a sight to behold as they all took seats at their respective tables greeting one another.

Albus sat like a king in his overdone chair which was dead center at the staff table up on the platform. He watched the students flow in with his grandfatherly face and twinkling blue eyes that welcomed them in. Behind his mask was a face of worry and maybe irritation. The sorting over the summer had not gone as planned. Harry had not responded to him once and had not stayed out at his aunt and uncle's house. Molly had been popping in on him every ten seconds about the boy and about their arrangement and the order members were not much better.

As the last few students trickled in Albus rose to his feet to give his yearly Welcome Back speech. He had spotted the two students he most wanted to speak with but he knew that would have to wait. Lines needed to be drawn and rules enforced with those two before they got any further out of line. He also needed to have a talk with Severus about his new fifth year. For now, his speech.

Albus spread his arms wide in a welcome gesture and in a signal for silence. "Welcome back to you all, for another year here at Hogwarts. I hope all of your summer's were exciting and you had a good long break from the classrooms and exams."

He paused here to smile down at them all before continuing on. "I would like to remind you all to that the forbidden forest is actually forbidden. There are many dangerous creatures in there so I must impress upon all of you not to go wandering into it.

I am sure this year will be another exciting one. Even with dark forces moving, here at Hogwarts we will always offer safety and sanctuary. Under my reign you will be safe."

His eyes raked over every student in the hall as he held their attention and then they met a pair of emerald eyes for a moment, followed by a pair of violet. Albus was sure they would understand his message. He clapped his hands once, rubbing them together. "Now. Let's eat!"

With those words the food the house elves prepared suddenly appeared and every type of dinner dish was served for the feast. Albus watched them all dig in and then took his own seat again watching and waiting.

Ryleigh entered the Hall relatively early as far as the students were concerned. She’d left her companions from the train when they went to the boats with Hagrid and had quickly gotten into a carriage. With the quickness of her boarding, the blonde ended up one of the first students to enter the castle, and so she sat down to a mostly empty Ravenclaw table.

Rather than noticing all the people who didn’t say hello to her, Ryleigh grabbed her book and began reading. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Sure, it was a muggle book, which some would scoff, but the Ravenclaw found she enjoyed it well enough so far. It also kept her very entertained, so much so that she had completely tuned out everyone else arriving until the sorting began.

The young girl looked up, noticing her friend, Riley, nearby. She shot him a small smile before watching the ceremony with wide eyes. She watched for the two kids she’d traveled with, nervously biting her lip when each took the stool. The hat called out “Hufflepuff!” for each of them, and Ryleigh felt her heart drop. She was happy that they’d be together, but sad to see them walking away from where she sat. She knew they’d still be friends and spend time together when they could, but it would have been fun to have them in her house.

Dumbledore stood and gave his typical speech, quite short for him really, and then the food showed up. Ryleigh stowed her book and turned to the feast before her, piling some of her favorites on her plate and licking her lips. She was still a bit sad about the sorting results, but she was also happy to be back at Hogwarts, especially now that she had some true friends.

The twelve-year-old looked over at Riley again, flashing him another grin. “So how was your train ride?” she asked with a wink. She’d already overheard some whispers about him and a redheaded girl.

Evangeline was kind of tired.The whole trip to Hogwarts had been quite interesting,since she broke up a fight,earned a kind of friend,and made Parkinson angry with her,after leaving her tied in the middle of the train,with a bloody and broken nose.She knew that it wasn't the right thing to do towards her,but when they treat you like trash,you pay them back with the same coin.She offered to help them both,but Pansy had to go and be a bitch towards her,so Eva just returned the kindness.

When they finally stepped foot on Hogwarts,Evangeline had the time to finish the last chapter from the book she had been reading,before the feast begun.Like every year,Headmaster Dumbledore made a speech about this year,then,he motioned for the feast to start.Evangeline smiled and filled a cup with some pumpkin juice,sipping some,before turning her attention to the other book she started reading a while ago.People didn't walk to her,so she simply stayed with her books.


Her eyes landed on her brother,who sat like a king at the Slytherin Table,flirting with a few girls.That guy was never going to change.His eyes landed on hers,a smirk forming on his lips immediately,as he forgot all about the girls around him.She never fully understood why he hated her so much,since she had never done something to make him angry.Since she was born,he just simply hated her.She was lost for a while,just staring into her brother's deep blue eyes,until he mouthed something to her that made her look away.Evangeline slammed her book on the table,getting a few weird looks from the Ravenclaws around her,but she didn't care.
She hid her face in her hair as she rubbed her temples,trying to ease the headache that was starting to form itself.
Maybe,this year would be worse than she thought.

After an interesting train ride, Silas was quiet the whole way to the school in the carriages. His mind had been busy trying to think of more than one problem he was having and would have to face this year. As he watched the sorting, he neither applauded nor booed any of the first years. Silas dark brown eyes went along the staff to Potter, Malfoy, and back again. Mulling everything over, he stopped and stared at the Headmaster during his speach. Oh, yes, his summer had been thrilling. Meeting his mother, being hexed twice by her. Then if that wasn't enough he was given three tasks which if he failed would result in several various forms of punishment if not outright death with the last one.

This year he also had his O.W.L.S coming up which was the icing on the cake. He didn't think he'd be trying to spend any of his free time trying to explore the Forbidden Forest. Silas' attention was more focused on what the man said next. Almost scoffing at it, but a shiver went down his spine. What he'd basically heard was that the headmaster was offering to protect anyone at the school...as long as they were under his rule. Meaning as long as they were on his side. Gnawing on his lip, he subtley glanced once again between his cousin and Potter before taking a long look at the headmaster then away.

Swallowing, Silas was too busy with this thoughts to notice the food had appeared. Only putting a bit on his plate out of habit. Perhaps he could speak to the headmaster... If he did, he would be walking a very dangerous line. How else though was he to fit all the pieces together and determine where he should place himself? Should he owl the man rather then going up to his office? There was no telling if the man kept himself holed up in his office or did other things.

It was a strange train ride but one he would remember and didn't regret. From his seat Riley looked over at the Gryffindor table searching for the little ginger who he spotted sitting next to Potter and looking like she got in a fight with a cat but in his opinion this was a good look for the little ginger. His crooked smile reappeared thinking that must be the fight everyone on the train had been talking about and he tuned into Dumbledore's speech.

He tuned out of it just as easily and looked around for something to focus on and his eyes landed on Ryleigh. He gave her his best crooked smile as the food appeared and she winked at him. He answered with a chuckle. "Why do I get the feeling you already know shortstack?"