Facing the doorway as she was, Jez saw the newcomer before she spoke; it gave her enough time to identify her as a probable human, and saved her from being startled and doing something embarrassing and violent.

“Hello!”

Jez gave a mumbled greeting, vague and Incomprehensible. Another younger woman (this was to become a trend, though she didn't yet know it) and seeming a little worse for wear. Was it a result of exploring the castle? Couldn't the bloody Hat have handed out a comprehensive list of monsters?

“I thought I smelled pancakes and then heard voices… Um. Maybe I didn’t smell pancakes? Do pumpkins generally smell like pancakes?”

The foodstuffs in question, or rather, the single remaining foodstuff in question, was hard to see amidst the acres of pumpkin. There was also a large ham, Jez noticed. The array struck her as awfully dubious. Looking back to the witch, who appeared slightly singed, Jez wondered at the magnetic power of pancakes. For some reason that may or may not have been rampant paranoia, she pictured a human-sized mousetrap baited with buttery, syrupy pancakes. It was unsettling.

On an unrelated note, the crispy newcomer looked to Jez like someone in the midst of regretting their decision to speak. This was oddly reassuring; dark creatures didn't tend to look sheepish or uncertain. Having the social skills of a disgruntled bear, however, Jez wasn't at all sure how to be welcoming or reassuring.

But she tried.

"There's a pancake left over here, between the pumpkin and the... the other pumpkin," she said, gruff as she attempted to be helpful. "I don't know where this stuff came from, though. I'm sticking with rations, but Mkichaa, here," and she nodded to the Slytherin, "ate one and so far she hasn't died or nothin'."

There. That was a pleasant welcome, right?

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