The confetti continued floating as it nears the ground, but rather than continue falling, most began floating around over the heads of the students, swirling in random directions.  Professor Flitwick, seeing that his various charms were successful, released a sigh of relief.  "Dinner is served!" he announced with a cheer before sitting back down next to Professor McGonagall, a rather embarrassed smile on his face.  "I had it charmed to go off when it heard the word 'Hogwarts.'  I was terrified that Hagrid would set it off from outside when he yelled, or that too much of the confetti would fall to the ground."  McGonagall actually chuckled at Flitwick's confession.  "You've yet to disappoint, Filius."<br/><br/>With dinner now present on everyone's plates, Professor Edgar gave a short huff and gave up on whatever he'd previously been looking for and began eating.  After taking a bite he looked back up suspiciously, his gaze once again lingering on that same spot, but then he returned to his plate.  Professor Trelawney glanced at him curiously and smiled.  "You are right to be worried.  The omens for this year do not bode well, not well at all, though I did not foresee any danger tonight."<br/><br/>Sitting on the other side of DJ, Professor Hall let out a snort at her question.  "They're harmless enough to watch while distracted by bits of paper and dinner, but I assure you that the novelty of teaching them will wear off."<br/><br/>Some of the students at Leah's table could be heard commenting on the professors, and there was a bit to hear about Professor Hall as well.  "Look how he moves his jaw around even when he isn't chewing...it's kind of odd to watch" said one.  "Yeah, it kind of looks like he's constantly swishing mouthwash around" replied a brown haired girl nearby.  The response got a few looks of confusion from her fellow students.<br/><br/>"What's mouthwash?" one finally asked.<br/><br/>"Oh, it's just something Muggles use to clean the inside of their mouths."  She seemed a bit self-conscious that her response had not gone over well.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, not all of the gossiping was about Professor Hall.  Leah heard at least one remark from somewhere at her table about how she had to be the oldest first year Hogwarts had seen.  The girl nearby who'd made the mouthwash remark turned to her after a minute.  "So, is that boy who went to Hufflepuff your brother?"<br/><br/>Stephen was sitting over at the Hufflepuff table, and not looking very happy about it.  After a few moments a large student approached him, possibly the largest student in the school, and he talked for Stephen for a minute or two.  Afterward, Stephen stood up and followed the large boy over to a different part of the table, where he quickly seemed welcomed.<br/><br/>Over at the Gryffindor table, Shylar was approached by Jimmy Peakes, one of the beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.  Despite being 7th year and having not skipped any grades, he was shorter than most of the senior boys, and a little thicker than most, too.  As usual, he had a mischievous grin on his face as he walked up to her, blowing a small patch of confetti at her to get her attention.  Unfortunately, the confetti was not interested in falling away afterward and danced around in front of her.  "I've got some good news for you, Shylar.  Our Seeker graduated last year and we'll be holding tryouts for a new one.  You interested?"