“House elves?” Sadie asked, taking a bite of her potatoes. Oh god, these were _divine_. This was already the best place in the world. She was going to get so fat here and she didn’t even care. This was exquisite. There should have been choirs of angels celebrating this meal. Huh. Sadie hadn’t thought about it, but she wondered if there would be church. She’d attended Catholic school in Swindon, but the books list hadn’t mentioned a bible. Were wizards religious? She couldn’t imagine Sister Maribelle being particularly on board with witchcraft. She filed that question away for later. 


It was loud, and Sadie had to lean in to better hear George talking to Seine. She grinned, looking over in curiosity. Seine held up a dark finger, busy working on a massive chunk of bread, before finally swallowing. 



“My dad has a show on the WWN, sometimes he writes columns for the Prophet. My mum’s a Healer at Mungos.” He must have caught Sadie’s confused look, because he chuckled and elaborated, “Wizarding Wireless Network is radio, St. Mungos is a hospital in London.”


“Gotcha!” Sadie chirped, then paused. “So Healer’s are like… Doctors?”


“Yeah, I guess? My mum doesn’t cut anyone up or anything, but I think it’s the same thing.”


Sadie felt a little overwhelmed—there was so much to learn and to know and it seemed like she’d never figure everything out. She looked at the pitcher of juice Xia He was pouring a little suspiciously. 


“It’s pumpkin juice,” the pretty prefect smiled, “I promise, it’s good.”


“Weird,” Sadie shrugged, thanking the older girl as she poured her a goblet and sniffing it hesitantly. It tasted a bit strange, but not unpleasant. She looked down the table and boggled at the sight of something… someone rather transparent near the far end of the table. She looked at Brennan in alarm, who finally made eye contact with her and followed her pointed look.

“That’s Nearly Headless Nick,” he remarked gruffly, “Don’t stare, Sades. It’s rude.”

“Is he…what…”

“He’s a ghost. Relax.”

Sadie shot him a sharp look. Relax? _Ghosts_ were real? She obeyed his request not to stare, but she peeked a few glances, gasping as the ghost tilted his head off his neck almost completely… Sadie winced and quickly dropped her gaze. Gross gross gross!