Though not particularly fond of sharing rooms with other people, Vivienne managed to get a fairly decent night's sleep. Perhaps it was because she knew this was a place where she belonged, waking up bright and perky ready to socialise. She took her time to get her hair just perfect before getting dressed.

“Ready?” she turned to Maddie, flicking her hair behind her with a smile. “I can’t believe we still have to dine with the other houses, it's truly disgraceful.”

---

Bryn woke up full of energy, flying out of bed with excitement at the start of the day. A whole day without classes! To socialise! She couldn’t wait to spend more time with other students… And maybe she could explore, figure out what kind of pranks she could play… not that she was thinking of those on her first day!

“Min, you ready?” she practically bounced around her new friend’s area of the dorm, waiting for her instead of running right out for breakfast like she wanted to. “I’m <i>starving</i>, I hope breakfast is as good as dinner was yesterday. I wonder what we’ll be doing afterwards, since we have no classes… Well, as long as we stick together, it’ll be fine.”

---

Gus didn’t sleep well during his first night at hogwarts.

He was still groggy when he woke up in the dorm, eyes squinting against the light. He was too used to Archie being around… even when they didn’t need to share a room, they often chose to. The Ravenclaw dormitory was full but it wasn’t the <i>same</i>. The twins were inseparable growing up, and they’d never expected to be split up at hogwarts.

From what he remembered Ravenclaw and Gryffindor didn’t even have that many classes together. How were they meant to spend time together?

He went through the motions of getting ready, dressing and walking out of the dorm without really thinking about where he was supposed to be going, completely disregarding everyone else and following the crowds to the great hall as if on autopilot.

---

Ishbel had woken up early, a force of habit from living on a farm and waking at the crack of dawn. She’d quietly gotten ready and slipped into the common room to wait for others to wake up, taking a sketchpad with her. She quickly lost herself in sketching the rest of the morning away, not paying much attention when people started to filter in.

“Morning,” Liqin saw Ishbel first when he dragged himself out of the boys dorm, eyes still heavy with sleep and uniform messily put on. His camera was slung around his neck. “Do we go to the great hall for breakfast?”

“I think so,” Ishbel nodded with a smile, putting down her sketchpad. “Let’s wait for the others?”

Maddie had awoken feeling well-rested and eager to begin her day. Though she wasn't especially excited to begin classes, she was looking forward to the social aspects of Hogwarts, and to get to know some of the cute boys around school. She and Viv had approved of the other girls that shared their dorm; thankfully, the majority of those sorted into Slytherin belonged there.

Maddie finished applying a light coat of mascara to her lashes before flipping her wavy hair over her shoulder and nodding as she checked out her reflection in the mirror. "Yep. Honestly, it wouldn't be so bad, but there are some really weird people in our year. Like, really weird." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. At least some purebloods seem normal. Ugh."

As Maddie and Viv entered the common room, Jacob was waiting for them, along with a few other Slytherin boys. He had obviously been crowned the undisputed leader of the group, which surprised no one. He nodded to the girls. "Morning ladies," he greeted them. "I think we ought to have some breakfast, and then have a chat with the Montagues. Something's going on, and I want to know what."

---

Min had slept fairly well, given that so much of this was new to her. The previous day has totally exhausted her, so she was relieved to be feeling more energized. "Good morning, Bryn!" she laughed at her friend's enthusiasm. "Just about, I need to finish brushing my hair first." She shrugged at Bryn's question. "I'm really not sure. We can probably just hang out and get to know each other." She paused, unsure about how to bring up the topic but figuring it was better to ask Bryn now. "Bryn, why was everyone acting so surprised about how those blonde boys were sorted? Isn't it pretty uncertain about how people will be sorted?"

Much like his brother, Archie had slept terribly. He had tossed and turned all night, and at one point had even gotten up and thought about going to find Gus, but realized he had no idea where his brother's dorm was.

When he awoke in the morning after what he assumed was far too few hours of sleep, Archie put on the same clothes that he had worn the previous day. He hadn't noticed that a huge cowlick was sticking up at the back of his head, nor would be probably care if he had noticed. His mind was buzzing with a million questions, and he was still reeling from the events of last night. He felt like he was in a trance, and mindlessly followed the other Gryffindor boys to the Great Hall for breakfast.

---

Nadia was already in the Great Hall, and was among the first students to arrive that morning. Her nose was already buried in A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration in preparation for classes starting tomorrow. She was a bit disappointed that not many of the kids she had met yesterday got sorted into Ravenclaw, but Nadia was there to study - so she needn't focus on distractions from her schoolwork.

Carter had followed Gus to the Great Hall, though he was sure the other boy hadn't noticed him. Although Carter was happy with the outcome of his sorting, he knew that not everyone would feel the same way; Gus being one of them. "Hey Gus," Carter said, quietly so as not to startle him. "Why don't we eat breakfast together? I could use the company." And so could you, he thought to himself.

---

Eli emerged shortly after Li, yawning but bright-eyed. "Morning everyone, how'd you all sleep?" He yawned again, before noticing Ishbel's drawing. "Hey, can I see? What are you drawing?"

Saiorse wandered down the stairs, lost in thought. She had been up part of the night for reasons she didn't fully understand herself, but felt well rested anyways. Twirling her curly red hair, she paused at the end of the staircase and stared at the other three already in the common room. After a second she blinked, and locked her gaze on Ishbel. "Are you all ready? We don't need to wait any longer."

“At least we can avoid most of the weirdos, thanks to our house,” Vivienne inclined her head, thankfully to be a slytherin through and through. She could only imagine how horrible it would be to be a pureblood in another house. She shuddered at the thought.

“Good morning, Jacob,” Vi smiled slightly, before nodding to the other boys - whose name she didn’t remember, even though she had a vague memory of each of their families. It wasn’t something she needed to bother with. Only the best among the best could get attention from someone like her. “You’re right, though I’m not sure what my appetite will be like around all those… commoners.”

She snorted, starting to walk while talking. “If we talk to them, perhaps they’ll be confident enough to ask for a house change. The hat must have been wrong, and I’m sure both them and the teachers will see that.”

---

“Hanging out is nice,” Bryn laughed, leaning against a wall to wait for Min to be finished. She paused at her question, trying to figure out how to answer it properly. “Well… I don’t know all the details, cause only my dad’s a wizard, and his parents weren’t. Basically there’s a bunch of pureblood families, those who’ve been wizards forever and ever, and their family is one of them. A pretty famous Slytherin family, so everyone thought they’d be Slytherin too. That’s why everyone’s so shocked.”

Ben had been one of the first Gyffindor boys to get up, and one of the leaders in heading down to the Great Hall. Once he sat down he turned back around to watch the others coming in - noticing Archie wandering in as if he’d lost his soul.

“Hey,” he tapped Archie’s shoulder before he walked past him. “Want to sit with me? Everyone else I know isn’t here yet… Here, you’ll feel better once you eat.”

Before Archie could say something, Ben half pulled him onto the seat beside him and started piling food onto his plate. He only stopped after a few moments, realising he was definitely overstepping.

“Ah, sorry. I’m used to looking after my younger siblings in the morning.”

---

“Hmm?” Gus blinked, turning to look at Carter. He hadn’t even realised that he was there until he’d spoken up. He gave a faint smile. “Sure, sounds good to me.”

He sat down, though not without his gaze trailing over to the Gryffindor table, trying to find his twin. He mindlessly put some food on his plate and started eating it. It took a few moments before he realised how rude he was being - sitting down and eating without even attempting a conversation with Carter, who had gone out of his way to eat with him. “Uh, did you sleep well?”

Olivia was running a bit late, running into the great hall with her hair falling out of the messy ponytail she’d pulled it into. Her tie was completely undone and she looked like she’d just rolled out of bed. Which she had, having stayed up most of the night thinking about a maths problem that she’d been doing before getting on the train to hogwarts.

She waved to Carter and Gus, before sitting down beside Nadia. She leaned over and whistled at the book in Nadia’s hand. “Already starting? Impressive! What subject are you looking forward to most? I looked into them all beforehand… It’s so annoying they won’t let us take Arithmancy before third year, though I’m sure the rest will be interesting too.”

---

“Good,” Liqin nodded to Eli, before getting distracted beginning to fiddle with his camera.

“I slept well,” Ishbel smiled, before holding out her sketchpad. There was a light blush on her cheeks - she didn’t normally show her art, but Eli seemed like he wouldn’t make fun of her for it. “Just some plants I remembered from back at my parent’s place.”

She turned her head after handing it over to see Saiorse, giving her a smile and wave. The girl seemed a little… odd, even more so now that Ishbel wasn’t so distracted with the thrill of getting sorted. It didn’t put her off at all, though. “Yup, I think we’re ready. Let’s head down.”

Ishbel stood up, nudging Liqin to stop looking at his camera before heading towards the great hall.

Jacob nodded in agreement. "It's only a matter of time before their parents find out too. I'm sure they'll be livid...I think my father would burn down Hogwarts before letting me be in any of the inferior houses. Let's hope the Montagues haven't gone all soft and 'noble' on us." He snickered at the thought of it. "I can't imagine how shameful that would be."

Maddie laughed alongside her friends. "They're one of the most respectable families too. I wouldn't even be able to face my family if that had happened to me..." she shook her head. "And where does it end? We're already overrun with Half-bloods. What's going to happen to the pureblood lines?" Though she was basically parroting her father, she knew that her friends would all agree with her, which is all she wanted.

The group of Slytherins all sat down at the table and began eating their breakfast. Talking, laughing, and making jokes at the expense of other houses made the meal enjoyable for all the students. Soon they had all finished, and were left to their own devices to decide how to spend their final day of freedom before classes started.

---

Min nodded along as Bryn explained, grateful to have some insight as to what was going on. "Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I was so confused yesterday, but I thought it best not to bring it up. Thanks for explaining, Bryn." She finished brushing her hair, and laid the brush down on her nightstand. "Alright, now let's go get you some breakfast before you fade into nothing," she said, laughing as she linked arms with her friend and headed to the Great Hall.

Normally, Archie hated being told what to do, but in this instance he was grateful for Ben's insistence on helping him. He allowed the other boy to guide him to the table, and for the first time showed some emotion as Ben put food onto his plate - he laughed. "Hey, I may be spacey, but my hands still work," he joked. He then half smiled at Ben. "Thanks man. I appreciate it a lot."

Archie scanned the Ravenclaw table for a few moments before spotting his twin, having breakfast with Nadia and two kids he wasn't familiar with. He decided to keep an eye on his twin and catch him before he left the Great Hall, so the two of them could talk.

The girls arrived at the Gryffindor table, and spotted Ben and Archie. They went over and sat across from the boys, exchanging good mornings and putting some delicious-smelling food onto their plates.

---

Carter smiled sympathetically to Gus, feeling badly for the boy. "I did, thanks for asking. How about you? I hope that you managed to get at least some rest after yesterday." Carter's mind was already whirring with writing ideas, but he stuffed them back down. He refused to be one of those soulless writers who'd take advantage of people for a story. Plus, Carter wanted to make friends.

He waved back to Olivia as she sat down next to Nadia. Nadia didn't look thrilled that the other girl had sat down next to her and disrupted her reading. She closed her book and stifled a scowl. "I'm actually reviewing, I've read everything before at least once." She sighed, annoyed that her peaceful breakfast had been disrupted. "I'm sure there's a reason for it." She figured she may as well eat some breakfast now, and try and get back to her reading again later.

---

Eli gasped at Ishbel's artwork. "Whoa, you drew that from memory? It's awesome! I could never draw anything even close to that good, you're really talented Ishbel!" He was very impressed by the girl's work, and felt very honoured that she would show him her art.

Saiorse followed the group into the Great Hall, pausing a few times for a second or two to stare at the paintings, before hurrying to catch up with the group. They made it to the Hufflepuff table, where Eli noticed the delicious looking food. "Oh my gosh, they have scones!" he exclaimed, before taking two for himself and smothering raspberry jam all over them. "Scones are my favourites. So good. You guys gotta try these!" Saiorse also took a scone, and mirrored Eli's jam ritual before taking a bite and nodding. "You're right, this is really good...I like it a lot."