Startled into silence by the sound of the doors opening, Lavender fell in line and followed the headmistress into the great hall. She gazed in wonder at the magical ceiling, happy that she had something else to look at than the long tables full of students. They all looked so at home in the castle, looked like they belonged there. It made her happy as well as anxious. So she kept her eyes at the majestic magical ceiling. When her name was called, she walked forward and sat down on the stool, facing the other students. Suddenly, she heard a soft voice in her head, sounding quite confident about what to do with her. The applause which erupted after the hat belted out [i][color=ed1c24]"Griffindor"[/color][/i] made her feel even better. Lavender smiled as she walked down to the Gryffindor table and enjoyed the welcome she received from those sitting close to her. It was nice to belong somewhere, and it sure sounded like she'd found her place. 

She looked back and waved at Brynn before sitting down, a little sad that she wouldn't be seeing that bubbly girl a lot. She was relieved when Jay sat down next to her. A friendly face was nice. 
Not that the other faces around her weren't friendly. [color=ec008c][i]"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."[/i][/color] she whispered to herself. 
She looked around the table and smiled at the faces looking back at her. She then followed their gazes back to the sorting ceremony and watched the others get sorted into their houses. 
She listened attently to McGonagal's speech, but wasn't sure she'd be able to remember it all straight away. She saw that most of the other students weren't paying attention and decided that it was unlikely this would be their only reminder. 

Her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when she heard McGonagal announce the feast. Instantly, all the empty plates on the table filled up with the most wonderful food Lavender had ever seen. It all looked and smelled wonderful. She hesitated for a second, but as everyone was digging in, she piled up her plate with everything that looked good. Between two bites she looked over at Jay and giggled [color=ec008c][i]"If we get food like this every night, I'll be too fat to ride a broomstick before this month is over! Then I'll never know if I could be any good at Quidditch!" [/i][/color]