Gryffindor Table

[Joseph Witchard]

Gryffindors post here for the Opening Feast.

[Rowan Kahne]

Amazing was the only response Rowan could come up with when the wonderful Sorting Hat bellowed out Gryffindor as her new house. She was so frightened of the other houses; her father being from Ravenclaw and Slytherin with it's notorious reputation. Hufflepuff would have been interesting since that's the house Tempest had been in, but she was most happy with the announcement made.

The idea of starting her first year here at Hogwarts didn't frighten Rowan in the slightest. She had so been looking forward to coming to school that she felt like the day would never come. Rowan tried to absorb everything in as it came, but there was so much to see she knew it would take all seven years to get it all. And in those seven years the only time she wouldn't be here would be during the summer when everyone had to go home.

But she wasn't going to think about that right now. Rowan bounced over to the Gryffindor table in response to the cheers of her new house mate. Her smile flashed brightly across her face as she sat down right in the middle of everyone.

"Hi! I'm Rowan Kahne. I am so excited to be here. And there are so many people I want to meet; people my sister told me about. So, what's the story around here?! Who's who, and who's to be avoided at all costs?"

[Stanley Coulter]

Stanley watched the person after Rowan step up. Though watching the sorting hat speak to the boy, he had no trouble overhearing Rowan and couldn't help but be amused at the sound of her voice. This girl was eager to get started, possibly to a fault. Stanley was certain that he hadn't been that way when he first started; his first year was still fresh on his mind, and he remembered how reserved and quiet he was the first few days he had been at the castle. But this girl might not have the type of father to make you hesitant to express your excitement about things, so he didn't give her much thought after that, other than introducing himself to her.

He extended his hand across the table to where Rowan was sitting right after he heard the sorting hat shout "RAVENCLAW!", thus making the Ravenclaws cry out in thunderous applause. "Welcome to Hogwarts," he said, offering her a smile. "I'm Stanley Coulter. Judging by what they called out, I take it your name is Rowan Kahne?"

[Rowan Kahne]

"Welcome to Hogwarts," he said, offering her a smile. "I'm Stanley Coulter. Judging by what they called out, I take it your name is Rowan Kahne?"

"Hi! Yup. My name is Rowan. It's a pleasure to meet you too. So, what year are you? Is this place as exciting as all the stories tell?"

Rowan shook Stanley's hand as she spoke but her eyes seemed to be every where at once. She just couldn't contain the fact that she was free from the persecution of her Father's mandates and anger. The energy in the room was intoxicating and infectious and Rowan couldn't help the feeling of needing to see everything at once.

Glancing back at Stanley as the next student was placed into their new house, a smile stretched across her face in her excitement, "Does this place ever settle down?"

[Stanley Coulter]

As exciting as all the stories tell? Stanley pondered this for a moment, but he already knew that he was not the person to answer such a question. He was, after all, very new to the wizarding world; he had only been at Hogwarts for one year, and he knew very few stories of this historic school. He found the stories interesting enough, but what if this Rowan girl had grown up in the wizarding world? What stories did she know that she considered "exciting"?

Thankfully, Stanley didn't get a chance to answer. He had just started to tell her how old he was when she asked her question. A question that, thankfully, he could answer.

Does this place ever settle down?

"Err, I suppose it depends on your definition of 'settle down'. The Great Hall is always crowded at meal times. You'll probably be lucky if you find a place in this castle that's not occupied by at least one person at any time. But you've got to take into account how many students Hogwarts has."

[Rowan Kahne]

"Err, I suppose it depends on your definition of 'settle down'. The Great Hall is always crowded at meal times. You'll probably be lucky if you find a place in this castle that's not occupied by at least one person at any time. But you've got to take into account how many students Hogwarts has."

Rowan couldn't help but giggle at Stanley's explanation. It was so serious in nature, "Well that sounds wonderful! That means things here shall never get boring! Though it may get tedious when one needs a moment of peace, but I think I can live with that. I've had way too many years of silence and loneliness."

Rowan smiled her excitement at Stanley and was startled both by his seriousness and by his handsomeness. Rowan flushed a little bit at her own exuberant outbursts, and settled down more comfortably at the table. Flustered Rowan peeked up at Stanley through her lashes. It was odd, she had never had any friends but she had always been so open and accepting of all people. But here sat a boy, a handsome one at that and she wasn't sure how to continue forward. She really wanted Stanley to like her. Having a friend would be wonderful.

"So," Rowan stumbled a little as she fought to find something to say, "What year are you? Tell me some about you, if you'd please."

[Stanley Coulter]

Stanley was taken aback at Rowan's question. No one had ever really asked him such questions before, now that he thought about it. He hadn't ever really wondered why; he honestly didn't consider himself all that important. But Rowan seemed nice, and it was certainly a nice change of pace to be asked to talk about himself.

He smiled and laughed a little. "Never really thought about it before," he admitted, "but thanks for asking. Well, let's see. This is my second year here. I don't know about you, but my family is all Muggle. I'm the first wizard to come out of my family. My dad actually was pretty against me coming here." He paused on this thought, but only for a second. It was just another memory where he and his mother had differences of opinions with his father. "My parents own a small chain of fast food restaurants in the U.K. I don't know if you've ever eaten there, but I'm the heir to the Burger Bonkers franchise. Not that I want it, though; I've spent years working there for my parents, so I don't exactly look at fast food the same as most people my age."

At that Stanley stopped. He had told her pretty much everything she needed to know, and everything he was pretty much willing to divulge. It still felt a little odd to him to tell someone all that stuff just because they asked. Maybe because it was a girl, he supposed. "What about you?" he said, turning the tables on her. "What's your story?"

[Rowan Kahne]

Rowan listened to Stanley's story with rapt attention, and was a little surprised that he also asked her story.

"Ha! Now there's an interesting story. Hmmm...what is there to say about me that's not offensive. Well, my mother was a muggle...what's the term...ummm...street walker? Well, anyways, and my father is a Wizard. I don't know much about his side of the family, but I know he married into a very influential family; the Acklands." Rowan paused to think about how much to tell, but she'd really spilled the beans about her mother so, she continued rambling, "I have a half sister named Tempest who went here for a bit, but my Dad took her out of the school and sent her away. I haven't seen her since. I don't know much about my father except that he's not a very nice person. He had me raised by a Nanny, and I very rarely saw him. I think it's super cool that you have an inheritance to a family business. I've never been to a fast food restaurant, what's it like? I've get nothing. It all belongs to my sister, but she said she'd take care of me."
Rowan looked down at her plate, "Too much? I don't really have much of a filter. Never had any friends other then my Nanny and the Butler, and Tempest."

[Stanley Coulter]

Stanley listened intently. He always thought he had a hard family to deal with, but now, listening to Rowan, he was humbled a bit. His mother was a wonderful woman. His father was a very difficult man; he and Stanley rarely got along with each other, or even spoke to each other, but Stanley knew deep down that they both loved one another. But here was Rowan, sitting there having been cast aside by her parents, and she was a girl that seemed to have a rather happy, bubbly outlook on life. Stanley's eyes began to wonder as she spoke, thinking what it must be like to live in such a situation. He couldn't really imagine it.

She asked if she had said too much and Stanley blinked. "What? Oh! No, course not! I asked about your history. I gave mine, you gave yours, it's only fair." He smiled at her a little before continuing. "Well, you've made one. And you'll make other friends soon enough. It's a little hard not to, given how closely everyone lives together here.

"And I don't think I'll ever see myself running a restaurant. Might of have been interested in it if I hadn't been born into the business, but now it's ruined for me. If my parents don't change the will, I'll probably sell it as soon as I get the chance. I think my dad would prefer that over me just taking it and then closing it down. Fast food isn't anything like the food here," he said very seriously. "The Hogwarts cooks, whoever they are, are able to cook and give off a taste of home cooking. Fast food, on the other hand, gets very predictable after a few times. And it's some of the most unhealthy rubbish you can put in your mouth. Our family doctor used to always tease us, because he refused to touch anything of the sort."

[Rowan Kahne]

Rowan didn't know what to think, or even to say. "You want to be my friend?!" A smile spread across her face as the idea warmed within her. But shortly there after a frown furrowed her brow, "But what do we do now that we're friends? What do friends do?"

Listening intently to Stanley's explanation of his families business it still all seemed very strange. Rowan didn't know anything about unhealthy food except the usual chocolates, cookies, cakes, and pastries. Still not understanding the idea of a fast food restaurant Rowan couldn't help but ask, "What kind of food do you serve that's so unhealthy? Cookies? Chocolates? Sugary treats? I'm sorry. I just don't understand! I've never eaten outside of our family mansion. Our cook always made sure we were well fed with all the proper nutritional requirements met to keep us healthy. My sister Tempest told me about a restaurant that served spaghetti and meatballs, and other pasta specialties, served with garlic bread and salad. It sounded wonderful, but I wasn't allowed to go. I'm a humiliation you know." The words rolled out of Rowans mouth matter-of-fact like, for she had never known any different.