Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(100) Minion in Pink

"Is it just me, or did the Sorting Hat's new song have a slightly terrifying tinge to it?" Alexander asked as Florence as she clapped along with the crowd. "Nope," she replied, "I felt it too. It was creepy enough to give me heebie jeebies." Florence shuddered slightly. Nicolai, on the other hand, was not paying even the slightest bit of attention to the announcements being made up front, as she was waiting, rather impatiently, for the feast to begin.

The sorting ceremony began with a boy named Euan Abercrombie, stumbling forward rather nervously to put on the hat. The hall was silent for a moment, before the rip near the brim of the hat opened to shout, "Gryffindor!"

The long line of first years thinned very slowly, much to Nicolai's dismay, Florence now rubbing her back as if coaxing her to not lash out in hunger. As soon as Dumbledore made his way up front, Nicolai smiled, knowing full well that he wouldn't be making any more lengthy announcements before the feast.

"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands — welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate. Food sprang up on the table like daisies popping out of the ground when the snow melts away. They wasted no time in plopping spoonfuls of the different kinds of dishes laid out infront of them.

"I'm going to bloody miss this," Nicolai sighed, eyeing her mountainously full plate longingly, before she dug in. Xander, meanwhile, stared at his friend and her overwhelmingly large portions of food, looking as if to scold her, but refrained to do so, knowing full well that it was going to be no use.

"Hey Cho," Florence smiled at the girl who sat across from her. She had been wondering how she was coping throughout summer, not really able to determine her state from the letters they sent back and forth to each other. The raven haired girl smiled, setting her fork down, "Hello, Florence. How was your summer?"

"It was good. I could ask you the same thing, really. How are you holding up?"

"Fine," she said, looking away from Florence in the process, "Just glad to be back, you know?"

"Yeah..." Florence trailed off, deciding that the noisy environment wasn't really the best place to have a heart to heart conversation with the girl. She made a mental note to talk to her about it somewhere private.

When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster. "Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices,
said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students —and a few of our older students ought to know by now too."

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."

Nicolai leaned closer to Florence, "Don't know why he bothers with that. We all know someone's bound to buy something in that list...Or, like, two someones, them being redhead mischiefs."

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Profes- sor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."