A Summoner in the Wizarding World

Chapter 22: The Feast

Separating from Luna and promising to reply as soon as possible, I joined the students in red and gold walking towards the Hall. Dean Thomas, who I saw at the World Cup, along with Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan spotted me and promptly filled me in with the details of their thrilling escape from the Dark Wizards that day the Dark Mark was seen after over ten years - not that either of them was telling the truth, of course.

After greeting Harry's acquaintances and feigning interest in the various irrelevant adventures they had over the summer, I settled into the Griffindor table with Ron and Hermione. A certain boy with a camera waved at me enthusiastically, but even Harry's innate physiology rejects him and screams to hide from the clicking shutters, prompting me to ignore his actions.

The Hat sung a new song, this year, which, to be honest, did not sound quite so polished or magical, nor plot-relevant like some of the following years. I lightly snoozed through it, tired from the train's questioning, and got shook awake at the end by Ron. Dennis Creevey, the younger sibling of that overenthusiastic fan just now, got sorted in my House and I'm not so pleased with getting two tails now instead of one.

As my eyes drift towards the Ravenclaw table, I met Cho's, who gave me a carefree, respectful and platonic smile, possibly a result of mutual respect for Quidditch Seekers, which original Harry definitely would've mistaken as reciprocating his feelings. Of course, this did not go unnoticed as two sharp glares pierced me questioningly from the sides, and any common sense dictates they're from a certain brunette who had Granger in her name and a petite younger student with fiery red hair.

After the newly-Sorted first-years settled in, the feast begins and the tables filled with roasted meat, steaks, boiled potatoes and kidney pies along with much more typical British cuisine. This time, as I did not draw Hermione's attention to House Elves' slavery, she dug into the food moderately, not paying attention to Nearly Headless Nick's comment about them being cooked by hundreds of elves.

Next, as the clattering of utensils stopped and the leftovers vanished from the long tables, Dumbledore took the center of the podium and prepared to deliver a speech about all the horrible ways the students might die this year, as per tradition. Knowing that I am spared this year's SPEW and could experience the famous "Harry! Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?!" meme from the previous life firsthand brought a smile on my face.

The buzzing chatter stopped and all that could be heard is the howling wind and pouring rain outside the warm confines of the stone walls.

"So!" said Dumbledore, showing his grandfatherly smile. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it," the corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched.

He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year. "

"What?" I pretended to gasp. Fred and George, the fellow members of the Quidditch team were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, too appalled to speak. Ignoring the surprise from students, Dumbhedore went on:

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"