It took Genny much longer to return to the entrance hall than she had expected.  Truly, when she had left both the sorting hat and her luggage behind, she’d expected to return for it in a few short minutes to haul it back up to the Ravenclaw common room, since she hadn’t really believed the hat.  At this point, she was just happy to see that nothing seemed to have touched her things in her absence, a small blessing considering what she had already encountered through the rest of the castle. 

Hufflepuff or Slytherin… Hufflepuff or Slytherin.  It was not exactly an easy choice, partially because Genny had never expected to need to choose.  Unfortunately, both were lower in the castle than she was comfortable with, now that she knew it was practically crawling with monsters.  Hufflepuff was looking better at the moment, since it was both farther from the dungeons and closer to her present location. 

All she really wanted was a shower, but she’d settle for a bath since showers were less likely to be in either common room.  She also couldn’t decide whether or not food was a higher priority.  She’d brought some food, of course.  She wasn’t completely unprepared for her visit to the not-quite-abandoned castle.  

Hobbling around the debris to where she had left everything, an errant scent crossed her path.  Is that pancakes?  She sniffed a few more times.  I think that’s pancakes.  Her body directed her towards the great hall, since that was where it expected food to be, but she stopped herself.  Are there any beasts that secrete the smell of pancakes?  It would be a good lure for humans. 

Frozen by her thought, it was then that a strand of conversation met her ears."So that dead Typhon outside. You did that?" 

Typhon?!  What?  Wait.  People! 

Forgetting both her bath and the fact that she needed one because she smelled, particularly that charred patch in her hair, but also the general ambiance of grime and ten years worth of birdy buildup…Genny made her way to the doors of the great hall and peaked in.  There are people! 

Genny stepped through the doors and took a couple of paces before she stopped.  Did she recognize these people?  There was one woman in what looked to be combat gear sitting at the professor’s table, which had been pulled to the center of the room, and she had an amused expression on her face while she spoke to another woman in robes who seemed to be taking advantage of the food without even bothering to sit. 

Combined with the incongruous setting lent by the candlelit ceiling and a ridiculous number of pumpkins, it was an odd scene.  But, by Hogwarts standards, it was still slightly less odd than a booby trapped common room, and therefore probably safer. 

Not knowing how else to start, Genny went with and old standby,  “Hello!” 

She walked into the room a little further.  “I thought I smelled pancakes and then heard voices…”  a few more paces and Genny could see the whole table.  “Um.  Maybe I didn’t smell pancakes?  Do pumpkins generally smell like pancakes?”  She stopped, realizing that she was babbling and then became suddenly very conscious of herself.  It was then that she remembered that she had begun to think that she smelled like a barbecue gone wrong, and took a panicked half step back towards the door.  She froze again, caught between her desire to see who else had returned and her desire to be a little more presentable when she did that.