Great Hall (Savan, Julie, Alexa, Celina, Dorian)

[Head Girl Andi]

Catalina climbed down the steps from the Hogwarts Express and began walking in mass with the rest of the students towards the carriages. Continuing to walk she past up the first dozen carriages and continued towards the lead carriages. Picking a light blue one she opened the door and climbed inside. Taking a seat on a soft bench she watched a few others joined her. All at once the carriages were set in motion. The force of the start pushed Catalina back against her seat. Up along the path they traveled, past the Hogsmeade gate and up towards the mountains. In short time they were on Hogwart's lawns and quickly approaching the main entrance.

The carriage pulled to a stop and the doors flung open. Climbing back down Catalina's feet trampled upon the soft grass that was now slightly wet with evening dew. *Clop-clop-clop* went her shoes as she climbed the stone steps and walked into the large entry way. All around the entrance, the chandeliers were lit and dozens of ghosts greeted the arriving students warmly. Catalina smiled and entered the Great hall which was elegantly decorated. The Ravenclaw table itself rested beneath several Ravenclaw tapestries. As she reached the front of her table she smiled at the Grey Lady who was waiting near the high table. "Hello Grey Lady, did ye hav' te good summ'r?" Catalina said as she sat down and waited for her friends to arrive. Sitting towards the front of the hall was always Catalina's preference. You could always hear the speakers better, and being near the staff table meant you were less likely to get in trouble from someone nearby acting silly.

[Savannah Johnstone R7]

Savannah was deep in thought as she stared out the window at the passing countryside. The sun had set a while ago and it was now difficult to see anything outside save for the occasional light from a home. Around a bend the train traveled and then began to slow down, they were near Hogwarts now. Slowly the train pulled to a stop and Savannah got up. Gathering her items she waited with a sour look on her face as all the little first years were running around in the train car trying to figure out what to do. Luckily Hagrid shouted for them all and they all ran off. Savannah naturally walked in the opposite direction towards the carriages and the peace of older students.

The first carriages as always filled up quickly and Savannah had no intention of joining them. What was the point of going in a carriage with people who wouldn't shut up? Instead she continued to walk and peered into each carriage as she passed. As she passed another carriage she saw Catalina sitting alone inside. Pulling open the carriage door, Savannah went in and sat down on the bench. "Hey Caty" she said as the carriage took off towards the castle.

Following Catalina up the steps and into the Great Hall, Savannah took her seat next to Catalina. Her eyes locked on the door where the 1st years would soon be emerging from. "We better get some good ones this year" Savannah said as she took out her wand and began to twirl it between her fingers out of boredom.

[irishmist]

Opening the train window, Celina poked her head out. "There it is, we're not too far off now," she said, a note of excitement in her voice as she spotted a Hogwarts tower in the distance. She was in the Hogwarts Express, on her way to Hogwarts for the start of her sixth year there. Sharing her train compartment was her cousin Alex and two other seventh formers. The entire journey had been fun but she was now looking forward to meeting her good friends from Ravenclaw.

Soon the train drew to a stop. Grabbing her luggage, Celina jumped out and walked towards the nearest carriage. Getting in, she awaited her cousin and his friends. Outside she could see plenty of younger children running around, screaming and shouting. "Second formers," she thought to herself with a smile. Then there were the shy ones, all crowded together, looking around them hesitantly. These were the first formers. Celina could remember herself as a first former, quite vividly. She wasn't as shy as most of these children but that was probably because Alex was there as well. Her thoughts wandered through the years until she felt the carriage stop. She got down and headed to the main entrance of Hogwarts. Walking into the Great Hall, she caught a glimpse of Catalina at the front of the Ravenclaw table. "Ahoy there," she said with a grin as she approached Catalina and Savannah. "So how have you guys been? I had a smashing vacation," she continued, taking a seat opposite Catalina.

[rosewood]

Julie walked into the Great Hall thinking about her conversation with Harry. He really was quite a nice guy; not at all conceited like others might have been if they'd been quite so famous. They had parted at the entrance to the school to go their respective tables. Julie ran her fingers quickly through her hair and smoothed down her robes as she made her way to the tables. The first years were standing in a line waiting to be sorted, most of them looking a bit scared, and all of them very quiet. Julie was a pureblood and her father had told her about the Sorting before she went to Hogwarts, but going to the Great Hall for the first time was something she had never forgotten. The sight had indeed been awe-inspiring; the candles everywhere bewitched to float in the air, the four long tables for the different houses and the high table in front of them where Dumbledore and the other staff sat, and of course the ceiling which was enchanted to look like the sky outside.

Julie made her way to the Ravenclaw table, glad to be back. The decorations were lovely; the house-elves had indeed done a brilliant job. Already a group of her friends and fellow sixth years had started exchanging summer news. Julie smiled at her friends as she sat down and said, "Hello everyone! Didn’t see any of you on the train! How are you all?" she asked excitedly as she took a seat beside Celina. She heard Celina's last comment and said, "Yeah, me too. Cat and I stayed with each other for a fortnight, she came over to Lebanon for a week and I went over to Ireland with her the following one. What did you do Celina?" she said, noticing the other students finding their seats. McGonagall already had her list out and it looked like the Sorting was about to begin.

[Head Girl Andi]

Catalina sat towards the front of the Ravenclaw table alone for less than a minute before she felt someone sit down next to her and greet her. Turning her head she saw it to be Savannah! Quickly Catalina wrapped her arms around Savannah and hugged her! "Bout ye Savannah!" She happily greeted her friend. "I got ye a present!" Catalina reached into her pocket and pulled out a little package about the size of a deck of cards that was wrapped in bright pink paper and topped off with a bow. Handing it to Savannah she smiled, "I hope ye like it! I ordered it from te U.S! I know ye like te baseball." Eagerly she waited for Savannah to open the present, which contained a pack of N.Y. Yankees baseball cards and a gift card from Honey Dukes.

While waiting for Savannah they were soon joined by another person. Catalina’s eye lit up bright as she Celina sit down across from her! “Celina!” She exclaimed as she stood up and practically dove across the table to hug her friend. “What’d ye do t’is summ’r!?” she asked excitedly as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a little package wrapped in purple paper. “I got ye a present too!” Catalina said while handing over the little box that contained gift cards from Zonko’s and Honey Dukes. “I had te fun summ’r! I went ter Lebanon wit’ Julie fer a week, t’en she came ter my house fer anot’er week!” While speaking they were once more joined this time by Julie. “Hey Julie!” Catalina smiled but refrained from pouncing on Julie as she’d seen her a lot and didn’t think a tackling hug would be needed, also her leg was hurting her from when she had flung herself at Celina, she obviously had hit her leg on the table or bench. Again Catalina dug into her pocket and pulled out a little box, this one wrapped in bright lavender paper. “I got t’is fer ye” she said as she slid the present across the table to Julie. This package was slightly larger than the others as it contained a little teddy bear that doubled as a ink bottle holder.

[Savannah Johnstone R7]

Savannah smiled as Catalina handed her a small present. "Thanks Caty, you didn't have to get me something though it's not like it's my birthday." Catalina was mentioning baseball for some reason and that she had ordered something from the U.S. Running her finger along the edge of the box she was about to open it when Celina and Julie showed up. "Hey girls" Savannah said while discretely slipping her present into her pocket. It was all for naught though as Catalina then produced presents for Celina and Julie. Removing hers once more, Savannah tore the tape with her finger and pulled the wrapping paper off. Savannah did her best to not frown at the site of a set of Yankees cards, truth was that she quite hated the Yankees. Of course Catalina probably didn't know that and must have thought she was getting something special. Quickly flipping the cards over she then found the Honey Dukes gift card, which was certainly something Savannah could get some good use out of. "Thanks Caty!"

Looking over at the others she listened to Julie talk about her summer, of course she'd already heard that from Catalina about a minute prior, she was however more intrigued by Celina's mentioning a smashing summer. "I didn't do much, I just hung around the house and went some places with Valerie Rice, and Evan Strathclyde."

[irishmist]

After all the hugs and exchange of presents, Celina sat down again. Sighing contentedly, she looked around at her friends. It felt good to be with them again, here at Hogwarts where she felt most at home.

"Wow, you guys seem to have enjoyed yourselves as well," said Celina, as she listened to them talk about their vacations. "It's awesome that you and Julie vacationed together. So how did you like Lebanon? I see you've got your desert tan," she said to Catalina with a grin. Then turning to Julie, she said, "And you, my dear, must have loved Ireland. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind not falling in love with the place the moment they set their eyes on it. Of course, I am half Irish so it's only natural for me to look at it that way."

As they told their stories, her mind wandered back to New Zealand and her holidays there. "I went to New Zealand with my dad," she said as they looked at her. "It was a lot of fun. The place is absolutely gorgeous. And we were out in the open the whole time. We went mountain biking, rock-climbing, para-sailing and even bungee-jumping. There's just so much to do there. And I finally got to spend some quality time with my dad. We haven't done that in ages. All-in-all it was the best vacation I've ever had, by far."

[rosewood]

Julie looked at Cat with raised eyebrows. She was surprised that Cat had got them all presents, but it was a nice surprise. Julie pulled the tape that held the wrapping paper together and felt something fluffy in her hands. She proceeded to remove the rest of the wrapping paper off and discovered it was a little teddy bear. "Ooh it's a little teddy!" she said, hugging it and then laughing feeling a bit childish. "He's adorable, thanks Cat," she said smiling at her friend. On closer inspection she discovered the teddy bear could actually be used as an ink holder also. Julie didn't have an ink holder and hadn't got one from Diagon Alley when she'd been there this summer. She was glad she now had one; it would have been really annoying to have to ask her father to send one over for her, and now they were in the sixth year Julie was sure they'd be doing quite a lot of essay writing.

Julie looked at her friend's excited faces, glad to be back with all of them. The first from the bunch of first years was sorted into Ravenclaw. She was a foreign-looking girl and Julie applauded along with everyone as the girl made her way to their table. Julie looked at Celina and said, "Yeah Ireland was a lot of fun! You know Cat though; I had to do a lot of persuading and convincing to make her take me anywhere, except for good restaurants of course. She knew them all," said Julie with a grin. "Wow you sure did a lot of stuff over in New Zealand. I'm glad you got to spend some time with your dad." Julie couldn't remember what exactly it was Celina's dad did so she asked, "How come you hadn't spent some time with him for a long time? I can't remember what it is he does exactly; is his work the reason you don’t see him a lot?" Julie's mother died when she was very young and her relationship with her father was very strong. She missed him a lot when she was at Hogwarts, but he travelled a lot himself anyway when she was at school because of his job.