Rose Weasley had never been so tense, excited, worried, or perplexed in her entire life, which was only 11 years long. She was sitting in the Great Hall, on her first day at Hogwarts. The only people she knew were her cousins, James and Albus, and another shy girl she met on the Hogwarts Express.
She was waiting in line to be sorted, which worried her greatly. She read a lot about Hogwarts, and heard even more from her parents. Oh, how much she wanted to be in Gryffindor, just like her mom and dad.
A short man wearing long robes (whom many have been calling "Professor Flitwick") called out in his squeaky voice, "Weasley, Rose."
Rose swallowed, her feet becoming bags of sand, reluctant to move forward. She shot a worried look at the Gryffindor table, and after seeing James' encouraging smile, which she returned not as enthusiastically, she stepped out of the line and sat on the stool. Professor Flitwick placed an old, tattered hat on Rose's head.
Rose shifted on the stool nervously. She saw the hat call out the names of the houses people were being placed into before, but she had a tingling feeling in her stomach which would not settle down. The hat started muttering.
"Intriguing mind, Ravenclaw? No. Hm… GRYFFINDOR!" the hat called out. Rose was smiling from ear to ear as she pranced happily to the Gryffindor table. She saw James grin. She plopped down across from James.
"Nice! Hope you're good at Quidditch. We need some players this year," James mentioned. Rose glanced at Albus, James' brother who was also sitting next to him, and saw that he was happy that he made Gryffindor, too.
She looked further down the table and saw Fred, her cousin, loudly catching up with all his friends about summer break. The excitement of that moment was so overwhelming that she almost didn't see the Headmistress taking the stage.
The Headmistress was a stern lady, with emerald robes and spectacles. She cleared her throat and everyone commenced their chatter and looked at her.
"Thank you," she said, "First and foremost, welcome to Hogwarts, everyone! I am Professor McGonagall, your Headmistress. For those of you who are returning, may this year be as good as always. As for the new students, I hope you find our school as wonderful as many of us staff and students think it to be." Everyone cheered.
"Now, this year will carry forth with a few…changes. This year, we have visitors from a different nation and you are expected to treat them well. Please welcome, our visitors from Panem!" Confused faces look at each other and murmering commences. Tentatively, people start clapping. The huge main doors open.
"Does Hogwarts usually have visitors?" Rose whispers across the table to James.
"Not usually. Panem….Never heard of it," he replied.
Rose turns around in time to see four people enter through the majestic oak doors. A blond haired man, staggering, followed by a girl with plaited brown hair, a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, another boy with brown hair and grey eyes, and finally, a younger girl with blond hair in two braids.
"Welcome Haymitch Abernathy-" the blond haired man stood on the stage- "Katniss Everdeen-" the brown haired girl stepped onto the stage- "Peeta Mellark-" the blond boy stepped onto the stage- "Gale-" the brown haired boy got on- "and finally, Primrose Everdeen!" the younger girl stepped onto the stage.
Rose looked more closely at the girl named Katniss. When she did, realization struck her. Her eyes widened and she continued staring. When Katniss caught her eye, her eyes widened, too.