"Is it just me, or did the Sorting Hat's new song have a slightly terrifying tinge to it?" Alexander asked as Florence as she clapped along with the crowd. "Nope," she replied, "I felt it too. It was creepy enough to give me heebie jeebies." Florence shuddered slightly. Nicolai, on the other hand, was not paying even the slightest bit of attention to the announcements being made up front, as she was waiting, rather impatiently, for the feast to begin.

The sorting ceremony began with a boy named Euan Abercrombie, stumbling forward rather nervously to put on the hat. The hall was silent for a moment, before the rip near the brim of the hat opened to shout, "Gryffindor!"

The long line of first years thinned very slowly, much to Nicolai's dismay, Florence now rubbing her back as if coaxing her to not lash out in hunger. As soon as Dumbledore made his way up front, Nicolai smiled, knowing full well that he wouldn't be making any more lengthy announcements before the feast.

"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands — welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate. Food sprang up on the table like daisies popping out of the ground when the snow melts away. They wasted no time in plopping spoonfuls of the different kinds of dishes laid out infront of them.

"I'm going to bloody miss this," Nicolai sighed, eyeing her mountainously full plate longingly, before she dug in. Xander, meanwhile, stared at his friend and her overwhelmingly large portions of food, looking as if to scold her, but refrained to do so, knowing full well that it was going to be no use.

"Hey Cho," Florence smiled at the girl who sat across from her. She had been wondering how she was coping throughout summer, not really able to determine her state from the letters they sent back and forth to each other. The raven haired girl smiled, setting her fork down, "Hello, Florence. How was your summer?"

"It was good. I could ask you the same thing, really. How are you holding up?"

"Fine," she said, looking away from Florence in the process, "Just glad to be back, you know?"

"Yeah..." Florence trailed off, deciding that the noisy environment wasn't really the best place to have a heart to heart conversation with the girl. She made a mental note to talk to her about it somewhere private.

When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster. "Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices,
said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students —and a few of our older students ought to know by now too."

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."

Nicolai leaned closer to Florence, "Don't know why he bothers with that. We all know someone's bound to buy something in that list...Or, like, two someones, them being redhead mischiefs."

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Profes- sor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Where do you reckon Hagrid's at?" Florence whispered to Nicolai as she clapped along with the crowd. "He wasn't by the boats with the first year students as well."

"Probably resigned from his job...? Or maybe he was booted out—" Florence gave Nicolai a look, "What? Just exploring all the possible answers here. Who knows? He could be somewhere in Tahiti spending his days under the sun in bliss."

"But he's never taken a vacation before, not that any of us are aware of what he does. Why start now?"

"Why not start now?" Nicolai retorted, "Everyone needs a vacation atleast once in their lives."

Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the —" He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge.

As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Most of the staff did not try to hide their surprise, as did the rest of the students, who has never seen anyone interrupt Dumbledore like that ever before.

She was a very stout woman, who was dressed head to toe in different shades of pink, her cardigan being the strangest piece on her outfit. Her heels clicked against the floor as she made her way to the front, before smiling sweetly at the silenced crowd.

"Sit down, lady," Nicolai muttered under her breath, "I'm so bloody tired. I need to get to bed."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure no one gives a shit about what she's going to say," chuckled Xander, "Frankly, she's not going to last very long since she teaches Defense."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

"More like annoyed," Nicolai mumbled, resting her chin against the palm of her hand.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins. Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again, but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

By her first pause, Florence's thoughts had drifted away from her attention, now thinking about how extremely stuffed she was and how it made her completely drowsy. And her bed, oh her fluffy, comfortable bed, was waiting for her at her quarters, ready to take her into its loving arms.

One by one, rather rapidly, students lost interest in the woman in pink yammering away about the Ministry, not at all seeing the crowd before her grow restless, continuing her speech with the same determined look on her face. Whatever the message she was trying to send out, it definitely did not stick.

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again, thanking Professor Umbridge before he finished his announcement about the Quidditch tryouts.

They were soon dismissed to go up to their chambers, finally, Nicolai and Florence parting from Xander, who had to take care of the first year students.

"The new defense teacher seems like a tool," Nicolai remarked as they climbed up the stairs, taking it two by two to get to their rooms quicker. Florence chuckled in agreement, "Anyone who'd start their career with a boring speech like that is definitely a tool."

"But think of all the Defense teachers we've had in our seven years, though. Our first two years we had Professor Rochev and Hart, or as I would like to call them, the normal professors. Everyone after them...whew."

"Let us enumerate, shall we?" Florence said, "A man who was hiding Voldemort under a turban, a pompous conman who gave himself amnesia, a werewolf, a Death Eater disguised with polyjuice, and now a ministry minion...in pink."

"Sounds like Dumbledore didn't set the bar too high."

Nicolai went up to their room as soon as they answered the riddle, grumbling about how she had zero energy to deal with anything else. After bidding her cranky friend good night, she trudged up to Cho's bedroom, knocking softly on the door.

It took awhile for someone to answer, a head of strawberry blonde hair popping out from behind the door, "Oh. Hi, Florence. We were just unpacking...Do you need anything?" Marietta asked, swinging the door wide open.

"Yeah, I was wondering if I could talk to Cho for a bit, if she's awake, that is..."

"Yes she is, hang on one second." she disappeared into the room once more, Florence hearing a bit of conversation to be followed by footsteps, Marietta coming back with Cho Chang in tow. "Hey," she offered her a small smile, "Can I talk to you downstairs?"

The common room was clear of any other person, seeing as it was already past ten, and most of the students were knackered from the long trip. The two sat infront of the fireplace, watching the flames dance and the logs crackle ever so softly. Cho was silent for awhile, completely aware of what it was that Florence wanted to talk to her about. And she let Cho take her time, waiting, until she was ready to speak to her about it.

"I miss him so much, Flo." her voice cracked at this confession. She could very well hear the heartache and sorrow laced in her words, Florence reaching over to rub her back in a comforting manner.

"I-It's not fair. He didn't deserve it, C-Cedric didn't deserve to die. He's—he was kind, and fair, and young. He didn't deserve it."

"Dear, he really didn't," Florence said solemnly, "I-I know its been tough for you, coming back here and knowing that he's gone....I just wanted to make sure that you know you can confide in me with whatever it is that you're feeling."

"It just hurts—so much—to think that I'll never be able to see him again, and that his death, people are treating it like it was just an accident." she mumbled, wiping away the trail of tears on her face, "His murderer is out there, and they don't believe that he is... In a way, it's insulting to Cedric's memory."

"I believe Harry. That you-know-who is back, and that he robbed Cedric of the right to live out his life. Its—It's just—why? Why don't they believe it, Florence?"

"It's because people are too scared to believe it, Cho." Florence replied, clasping her hand, "That's what's wrong with everyone. They fear him, and they refuse to be consumed in fear, so they try to neglect the truth."

"His death shouldn't have been for nothing."

"It won't be for nothing, Cho. I promise you. There are people out there who do not fear him, Voldemort."

Cho gave out a little gasp, flinching at the sound of his name, "You shouldn't be afraid of uttering his name. Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself. And fearing him means your letting him win."

They sat in thoughtful silence for a bit, contemplating all the things they had to face.

"T-Thanks, Florence. This really means a lot to me... You being here. And for volunteering to be my emotional support..." Cho said, a small smile on her face.

Florence chuckled, "Anything for you...After all, you are kind of like a little sister to me."

She leaned against Florence's shoulder, the two basking in each other's company.