General The Ravenclaw Table 2019 -2020

James grinned.

“Yeah, maybe it’s brains, or raw meat or ...like intestines or something.” He jeered, perhaps more wrapped up in this than was wise for his first interaction with this new boy.

He’d noticed Logan’s discomfort with the sound and stimulation of the hall. James had seen the same reaction a few times before. He thought, sadly, that this whimsical fairytale hall might have been to some students; a nightmare.

He decided to change tack and sat back cautiously in his seat.

“You- I mean, I hope this isn’t too forward - but are you getting- umm -what was it called? Sensory overload” he said gently tapping his ear to indicate what he was meaning.

He hoped not to offend the boy. He wouldn’t usually have been so prying, but he hoped that his honesty would be well-received.

For years James’ mother had worked in a home for displaced young people with ASD. He’d grown up knowing kids who just soaked too much in to process all the sights and sounds of modern living. He wondered what it must be like at Hogwarts for somebody like that. He’d suffered the sickening feeling of culture shock extremely hard, and hoped to ease the boy’s transition as much as Lark has helped him.

That is, if he’d been correct. He’d leaped to some pretty serious conclusions on a hunch...

Lark sat back in her seat as Logan seemed pretty hesitant. She hadn't wanted to come off too strong but he had looked rather lonely.

Her nose wrinkled as the boys mentioned brains... that HAD to be worse than sardines... vomit even. Was it possible? The box did say EVERY flavor... hopefully this wasnt one! Lark usually picked the pink and green ones relying on them to be the more safe options, grapefruit, rose, bubblegum, what have you. Lark's attention went back to the two.

“You- I mean, I hope this isn’t too forward - but are you getting- umm -what was it called? Sensory overload”

Sensory overload? What had that meant? Lark tilted her head in confusion and met James' brown eyes, raising a silver brow in question. Was that making him seem so reserved? It was pretty loud in the hall, perhaps they could retreat to a quieter space soon. She didnt dare ask until Logan had answered and she could get James alone to ask more later on. A slight color rose on the girl's cheeks, worried she maybe had been a little too forward. Giving another smile to Logan she waited to know a bit more about this sensory thing. Gingerly she procured a yellow bean from the box in front of her and popped it in her mouth, lemon. Thankfully seeming to quell the still lingering nausea.

James McMurtrie wrote:“Yeah, maybe it’s brains, or raw meat or ...like intestines or something.”

"Oh god, raw meat or intestines? That would taste terrible." Logan commented. "But as we all know, that is the point. It's either really nice or really terrible."

He didn't really want to eat it, so he was still holding off on doing that. I mean, he already didn't like too many foods anyway, so one of the nice flavours could actually still taste bad to him anyway, which kinda ruined it. Plus the bad flavours were really really bad, which wasn't exactly something he would actually want to eat.

He was still delaying on actually eating the small thing.

James McMurtie wrote:“You- I mean, I hope this isn’t too forward - but are you getting- umm -what was it called? Sensory overload” he said gently tapping his ear to indicate what he was meaning.

"Yes, actually." Logan was surprised to hear someone ask. "I'm actually rather surprised you've heard of that, most places nobody knows much and I just have to cope..." He slightly sighs. "But yeah, it's really quite loud here, and a lot of people are talking at once, it's a bit overwhelming but I've learned to just cope with that, even if sometimes it makes me just want to run away or hide.."

"I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll cope just like I always do." He smiled, though it was clear that the smile was kinda forced. He just didn't want to have to make things harder for the people around him. Plus, he'd have to be in the hall for every meal, so he had to learn to cope in this environment, right?

"I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll cope just like I always do."

James smiled warmly. "Well you're a lot braver than I am, Logan", he gave the boy a grin and turned to Lark.

"Hey, so my Mum made me promise to send her an owl as soon as I got here." he gave her a sheepish lop-sided smile, "I have absolutely no idea what to do. How do they know where to go? Do you tie the note to their legs or is it in the beak? Can I choose any of them or is there like a special one that goes to London? I'm kind of lost here without you, dude."

He noticed out of the corner of his eye Logan was uncomfortably contemplating whether or not to eat the bean. He didn't seem to want to, and James understood the discomfort of being in such a situation. He attempted a social rescue without tarnishing the boy's pride. James placed his palm out in front of him.

"Ah, pink's actually my favourite flavour. Could I have that one?" he said, overlooking the fact that - given the nature of the beans - that didn't make any sense.

"Oh and it's pretty quiet up in the Owlery, if you want to join us too, Logan?"

@Logan Berry @Lark Flaer

James McMurtrie wrote:"Well you're a lot braver than I am, Logan", he gave the boy a grin and turned to Lark.

Logan nodded. He wouldn't call himself particularly brave, but in a way, he supposed that actively trying to cope in this kind of situation was actually a form of bravery.

He heard James ask Lark a lot of questions about how to use the owls, and slightly smiled. He could possibly help show him how it works. It was rather simple once you were used to it, but he figured that James must've been a muggle-born so was new to the world of magic.

It was actually rather fascinating to meet a muggle-born, as whilst his own family were mostly pure-blood, I mean his father was half-blood and his mother was pure-blood, he had been allowed a lot of freedom to use muggle objects as well. Back home, he even had a laptop. Not many wizards owned laptops or computers.

James McMurtrie wrote:"Ah, pink's actually my favourite flavour. Could I have that one?" he said, overlooking the fact that - given the nature of the beans - that didn't make any sense.

Logan immediately noted how that.. really didn't make much sense, it could be any flavour as long as it could be associated with the colour pink. Fortunately, he quickly realised that the other boy had been trying to make it so he didn't have to eat it, and he smiled. "If it's your favourite, then sure. I don't really want to eat it myself to be honest anyway." He carefully place the jelly bean into James' hand with a small smile.

He was rather grateful for the immensely subtle rescue, and gave a small nod as a subtle thank you to the other boy.

James McMurtrie wrote:"Oh and it's pretty quiet up in the Owlery, if you want to join us too, Logan?" 

"If you'd let me go with, then yes. I would like to join you two." He nodded. He knew he needed to become friends with James, I mean, having a friend who knew all about his autism and what problems he may have due to it was an amazing prospect. Especially since this was someone in his house too, and his year, which meant they could access the same places.

Plus, Logan could easily plan his own letter, as he needed to send one later.

Trying to not seem like an annoyance Lark sat on the other side of James quietly as the boys talked. She tried to listen to get a better understanding of what was going on.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll cope just like I always do."  Logan spoke.

The girl felt a twinge of guilt. She had probably added to it and made a mental note to apologize when they were out of the Hall. James seemed to know exactly what to say. Breathing a sigh of relief, Lark stashed the candies back in her skirt pocket.

James had asked her about sending an owl. She was pretty sure it was the same as at home, except she didnt have her family owl here but that was to be expected.

"We can head ta the Owlery. They probably 'ave got a lot of owls for students ta use. If we go over I can show ye." Lark tidied up her plate and silverware unsure of how they cleaned here but never wanting to leave a mess. At home her mother mainly did it as their family line had given up house elves years ago.

She waited as James invited Logan along before pointing out, "We could head back ta the Common room all te'gether after too for your shirt." She motioned towards the orange stain on James' uniform. Another thing she had unintentionally mucked up.

Lark Flaer wrote:

Reducio

No worries! You could just say its another letter? Or did you have a thread for the first one?

Scrabbling away from the dais and the eyes of the entire hall, Clem pulled himself onto a seat at the table, uncaring of who he sat near. He could still feel a full flush crossing his cheeks. Really, did they have to do the ceremony right there, where everyone could see? He heaved a sigh, pulling a hand through his dirty blond curls, forgetting the tie that was holding them back in the process. It fell to the floor, drifting under the table. Great. He was going to have to go and get it now.

Clambering to his knees, he scrambled under the table, reaching out until he felt the familiar satin of the ribbon. His fingers closed around it, and he began to sit up, forgetting for a moment the table above him. Ow.

More careful this time, he pulled himself up onto his seat. Chewing on his lip, he stared up and down the table. There really were a lot of people here. And food. He hadn't noticed until now just how much food the table held. How does it not break under all that weight, he wondered idly, pulling a bread basket and stick of butter towards himself. He really hoped that no one had seen his whole debacle with the hair tie. After all, this was his entrance to a brave new world and he had already tripped. Twice.

@Lark Flaer @Logan Berry @Clem Larch

"We could head back ta the Common room all te'gether after too for your shirt."

James looked down at his torso sheepishly, only just now noticing the conspicuous orange stain around his middle.

"Yeah, I reckon that sound like a goo-" his reply was interrupted by a thud and the emergence of a boy with dirty blond hair from beneath the table.

"Are you ok?" he said to the boy, who was tying up his hair with a silk ribbon, "That sounded like a pretty bad bump."

James stuck out his hand.

"I'm James, and this is Lark and this is Logan. We're kind of the cool kids here at the Ravenclaw table and we're considering inviting you to be a part of our group. But first you've got to eat one of these..."

He slid a violet-coloured jellybean toward the boy and gave him a wide grin.

James felt caught up in the rush of making new friends. His mind shifted to worry for a moment as he hoped the boy didn't think his joke had been serious. He wasn't entirely sure what was considered "cool" at Hogwarts but he was quite certain that a gorky eleven year old with a Jurassic Park backpack was not even close to it.

Lark was about to stand when the table shook and another boy appeared. She couldn't imagine how much that had to hurt and winced in sympathy. These tables had to be so old and made out of some pretty darn sturdy trees.

"I'm James, and this is Lark and this is Logan. We're kind of the cool kids here at the Ravenclaw table....

Lark gave a bit of a wave to the curly haired boy as James introduced them. 'Cool kids! Lark gave a short laugh. I mean to her they were already the cool kids, who knew how everyone else would feel about that. Did she really care though? If these were her friends the rest of her life, that was all she needed cool or not! James slid a bean towards the boy. It felt like they group of them already had a sort of secret handshake.

'Is this what it really feels like to have friends..'A warm feeling swept over Lark as she watched the others interact with one another. It had been a long time since she had felt this way. Sure her parents filled a large section of her heart and life, but the last year or so she had a sort of void growing in her chest. It wasn't just the past couple months here that had made her feel a million miles away from her parents. Every since her mother had shared the news about being pregnant both of her parents had made less and less time for her.

Pulling herself back to the present trying to not let her mind wander as it was dangerous territory that could end in tears, Lark smiled at the blonde haired boy.

"Just be careful! Could be annnnyyy flavor!" She stretched the word out playfully. What else could a violet bean taste like other than grape? It couldn't be that bad! Plus if it meant finding another friend then she was all in at this point.