Start of Term Party All Puffs Welcome! (Open)

Grace wandered into the Hufflepuff common room cheerily on the second evening of the term. "Hufflepuffs, gather round please!" She called, using her wand to make her voice louder so that everyone in the common room could hear her easily. Once the students began to gather she lowered her wand so that her voice would return to normal.

"Good day students, I am Professor Grace Eversteen, I am the new professor of flying here at Hogwarts. Better yet, I am also your new head of house. I used to be a Hufflepuff when I was a student here and I am pleased to return now as your head. My office is always open, so if you ever need anything, any time of day or night, please do not hesitate to come and see me." She cleared her throat and smiled. "Well now that that's out of the way, let's have a party to start our term off right hmm?"

Grace waved her wand elaborately and the room became filled with all kinds of cakes and treats and pastries. "I had the house elves prepare these especially for us!" She chirped cheerily. "Please, enjoy, enjoy!"

Willow started in surprise as the loud voice filled the halls, she nearly dropped her book! Sighing slightly she marked her page, but made sure to bring the book, before heading out of the girls' dorms and down to the common room. There she saw a professor she didn't recognize. She smiled happily as the professor introduced herself.

The Hufflepuff first year found a chair by the fire and propped her book open again. It was only the second day, and classes had barely started, but she didn't want to look like an idiot in front of the other students. Most of them came from some form of magical families, Willow did not, this world was entirely new to her and she wanted to learn all she could. Due to this desire she had dedicated herself to first reading through all of her textbooks in her spare time so that she would be properly prepared for the classes. Once she was done with those she would head for the library.

Willow jumped in surprise as treats appeared all around the common room. She grabbed herself a pumpkin pastry from a nearby table, without closing her book, and then curled back up in her chair and continued to read.

Grace slowly walked down the corridor, trying to remember how to get to the Hufflepuff common room. It had been such a long day that she had zoned out at dinner, not realizing that most of the students at the table had left until it was too late. She had been trying to find a familiar face as she walked, but no luck. Finally, after several wrong turns and a very nice fourth year later, she had found her way into the common room.

As she walked into the room, a professor was talking. Grace knew that she had seen this professor before, but she couldn't put a name to the face. She was horrible with names. As the professor introduced herself, though, Grace swore to commit her name to memory. When the professor made the pastries appear, Grace jumped slightly, but quickly recovered her composure. These things didn't freak her out as much anymore, but she was still getting used to them. Her parents never used that much magic around the house, so it was somewhat new to Grace.

Grace walked over to one of the tables and grabbed a chocolate frog and a cauldron cake. She was stuffed from dinner, but all of the food here was just so amazing that she couldn't pass up a chance to eat. As she bit into the chocolate frog, she glanced around the common room, looking for a place to sit. She saw an empty chair by the fire, across from a girl who was reading. Grace slowly walked over and sat down in the chair, hoping she wouldn't disturb the girl. As she finished the chocolate frog, though, her curiosity got the better of her. "Ummm...Hi. I was wondering what you were reading?" Grace asked softly, hoping the girl wouldn't be too upset with her.

Willow looked up happily from her book at someone who was speaking to her, it turned out to be a girl her own age. She had made a few friends so far but none from her own house, in fact her two friends were from Gryffindor. "Hi!" Willow said warmly to her fellow first year. "This? umm it's the history of Hogwarts updated to include the war between Voldemort and Harry Potter." Willow normally didn't like history very much but Harry Potter had been raised in the muggle world despite being pureblooded. It fascinated her that someone who was raised the same as her could have become so great and it was something that was going to be coming up in her Defense Against the Dark Arts class too.

Slowly she stuck out her hand a little shyly. "I'm Willow, this is my first year at Hogwarts."

Grace smiled as the girl answered her. She had been trying to make some friends ever since they had arrived at the school, but she was having some problems. She was so used to her old friends back home, that she had forgotten how to actually make friends. But she hoped that would change soon. "That sounds really interesting!" Grace exclaimed. History had been one of her favorite subjects back home, and she was often called a nerd because she knew so much about it. But this history was still new to her. There were bits and pieces that her parents had told them about, but it wasn't a whole lot. She hoped to learn more about it later on in her classes.

Grace glanced down at the hand that the girl offered her as she introduced herself. She smiled and took it, shaking it slightly. "Hi Willow. It's great to meet you. I'm Grace, and this is my first year too."

Willow smiled warmly to the girl. "It's also great to meet you." She handed the book she was reading to Grace. "I've read it once through all ready, if you want to read it you can. Just have it back to the library by next week, I don't want to get in trouble for it not being back on time."

She grabbed another pumpkin pastry from the plate nearby. "So..." Willow began with a smile, "What classes are you taking this term?"

Grace looked down at the book Willow offered her. She took ahold of it and sat it on her lap. "Thank you. And trust me, it'll be back in plenty of time." she replied, smiling at her. She looked back down at the cover of the book, running her fingers over the title of it. She was extremely excited about spending her free time reading it.

Grace heard Willow ask her about the classes she was taking. She looked back up at her and thought for a moment. "Ummm....Astronomy, Herbology, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Flying lessons, and Transfiguration. That is, if I can remember them all and what time they are." she said, laughing. She was so forgetful at times, and she was petrified that she would forget one of her classes. "How about you?" she asked, biting into her cauldron cake.

Willow smiled to Grace. "Oh good we have some classes together! I'm taking Potions, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Flying, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts." Willow winced at the mention of flying but otherwise seemed rather happy with her classes.

She giggled and said "I'll try to come find you before the classes we have together so that if we get lost we'll get lost together and if not then we'll both be on time!...That is... if you want." She pulled another book out of her bag and began reading it simply.

Grace smiled as Willow told her they had classes together. She was excited that she would know at least one person in class. She was petrified of not finding friends here. “That’s great! I don’t know what to expect out of these classes, so it’ll be nice to know someone for when I’m completely confused.” She replied, laughing lightly.

Grace took another bite of her cauldron cake, finishing it off as Willow told her they could meet up and go to class together. She smiled and nodded. “That sounds like a good plan. I’m amazing at getting lost in this castle! It’s just so huge and confusing, especially with the stairs changing all the time.” she said, shuddering as she thought back to the first time she had wandered off on her own. It had taken her three hours to find her way back to the Great Hall, and another half hour to find the common room again. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Grace glanced back over to the table of treats. She was still so full from dinner, but she couldn’t stop eating those cauldron cakes. “I’ll be right back.” she told Willow, who had started reading again. She got up and walked to the table, grabbing a handful of the cakes before walking back over to the chair. “I just can’t seem to stop eating these.” she said, laughing softly. As she sat down, she realized she hadn’t asked if Willow wanted anything. “I’m sorry, I feel so rude now. Did you want anything from the table?” she asked, smiling at her and taking a bite of one of the cakes.

Willow smiled back at Grace. "Yes, the castle and the stairs are rather confusing at times, if you can't find a student around try to find a nice portrait, they tend to know the way too." She giggled a little remembering one of the nicer pictures giving her directions every step of the way once by moving from frame to frame.

She shook her head a little to Grace. "not rude at all, help yourself. If I wanted something for the table I'd summon it with a spell I learned from our charms book." She smiled happily at that, biting into another pumpkin pastry. "I understand, the cauldron cakes are good but I love these pumpkin pastries!"