Ernie had watched with a little bit of amusement as Zacharias assessed the room. He almost joked that maybe the other man had been sorted into the wrong House, but Zacharias gave his answer before Ernie could comment. He nodded and patted his friend's shoulder. "All right, you go on over and I'll be right there."
He went for the bar and ordered some drinks, deciding to get something fun for Zacharias and him to try - it was, after all, supposed to be a late birthday outing. Two of the drinks were... unique, with a mix of fruit juices and at least two different kinds of alcohol, and were presented in glasses that resembled miniature cauldrons. Steam erupted from them, and from one of them stood a tall, sparkling stick. The other two drinks were simply glasses of pumpkin juice so that the young men could switch off of the alcoholic drinks whenever they wished to.
He carried the drinks on a tray over to the table Zacharias had chosen and put it down, settling the drink with the sparkler down in front of his friend. "And a belated happy birthday to you - they call these Bubbling Cauldrons, a mix of a lot of things that is supposed to taste brilliant."