Hogwarts: A New Age [IC] [CLOSED]

[True Christopia]

Hogwarts: A New Age

OP: True Christopia/CO-OPs: Saint Ryvern
OOC

---

It's a warm September morning, and, as always, Kings Cross is packed with muggles. Every year, each of you find yourselves struggling through them all, either sliding through the gaps with a polite 'Sorry' or charging through with your trolley. As always, you each pass through the barriers between platforms nine and ten without a care in the world from the passers by. As you say goodbye to your family, giving kisses and ensuring that everything is there, the whistle of the Hogwarts Express sounds, signalling all the students to get aboard.

Now, you all stand in the hallways of the Hogwarts Express, as it lurches forward, looking for a seat.

---

Andrew had taken his time to get aboard the train, of course. He wouldn't see his family for a good four months, and he wanted to make sure he gave them a proper goodbye. Once the whistle had sounded, though, he hurried aboard and immediately took his place in an empty compartment, giving a wave to his mother and father as they slowly slid out of view, before sitting down. That was the one thing he could never get used to at Hogwarts - being away from his family. Hogwarts was a second home to him, of course, but he missed his family tremendously every time he left.

He didn't have a huge amount of friends, and simply liked to stay under the radar at the school, but maybe that could change that year?

[Ormata]

Professor Sauvanne Vannier
Hogwarts, Potions Classroom
Back Room

“Oh, hell. Who...the heck...decided to put this bottle here? Here, of all...ack.”

The descriptor one might use for the Back Room of the Potions Classroom would be ‘messy’. Most definitely messy. It was not at all clean, with tall shelves lining the walls of the small space. As per the norm of Hogwarts, spiders had decided upon infesting the cracking in the walls, making spiderwebs over the multitudes of bottles lined therein and it was Sauvanne’s job to clean it all up. Her hair was tied-back and she even had Muggle cleaning gloves on, for all sakes.

Standing back, she considered this. Reorganizing the bottles was out of the question at the moment, with all the webs, and...augh, she didn’t want to mess with them. No no no, Ms. Vannier did not like spiders in any sense of the word. They could be nice, maybe, but the idea was the same as dealing with a decrepit individual. Most of them aren’t nice, some are, but do you take the chance? She didn’t, no, not at all.

Whipping out her wand, Sauvanne got to work, flicking it back and forth as invisible hands grabbed onto webs, tugging at them and revealing the little heads of the arachnids, poking-out as they expected a fly or otherwise unaware insect, and with each reveal did a whispered word send the little arachnids tumbling down to the dust-ridden floor, sizzling and smoking. This took perhaps a few minutes, and before long the ground was littered with corpses. Sauvanne sighed.

“I do hope it’s not going to be like this every day. Not like last year,” she said to herself, flicking her wand and letting a broom get to work sweeping them away. A few seconds later and it looked almost good. Putting her wand back, she began to decipher the faded writing on the bottles. She’d only written on them a few months ago, but damn her if the place was so damp writing became illegible. She’d have to dry-proof it, one of these days.

“Leg of...leg of toad, alright, why do I have twelve bottles of this...ginger...what? What the heck is...oh, alright, that's what you are…”

Izaiah Russell
Hogwarts Express

Izaiah had brought two backpacks; it wasn’t like he had to bring a lot. They had a good deal of uniforms there, anyways, and he’d found that taking one or two was always alright. Besides, it wasn’t like he had to wait to clean them. Set a spell before you go out for a walk and they’re done by the time you get back, that’s how it was. Easy, easy, easy. He sighed, looking at all the kids as he stood at the station. Man, was he ever like them? Did that ever happen? Izaiah couldn’t recall it; it just didn’t seem to be possible.

Then he boarded; it was like getting on the bus for school, if you only had to take the bus a few times a year. The Ravenclaw wasn’t as pedantic as some of the other Seventh Years; they had claimed some compartments as their own. Why? Because they had the authority. Because those compartments were “the best” or some such nonsense. He hadn’t paid much time to that sort. They always had a superiority complex, always.

Adjusting his glasses, he felt the train lurch forwards with that characteristic jerk, and Izaiah came upon a compartment. A brown-haired boy was inside, one the Seventh Year somewhat knew of and somewhat didn’t. A Hufflepuff? Yes, he thought so, though only vaguely. You paid little attention to those lower than you, in a school hierarchy. That’s how it was.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Brooke Kline
Hogwarts Express

She sat down, head down as she registered the train’s movement. On time, it was; Brooke glanced at her watch to make sure. Yes, on time. A pencil scratched away. The train was stable enough, after all, for her to do so. On the paper was a little sketch, just a small one. At first glance one might think it to be a watch or something of that sort. Brooke just enjoyed the sketch, basked in it. Her parents had dropped her off at the station, not even getting out of the car as they yelled goodbyes from the window. Brooke didn’t mind.

All she heard was the scratching on the paper.

[New Roman Empire]

Adam Tarkin
Hogwarts Express

Adam was the first of his family to get on the train, he always loved this part of the journey. He would always meet up with Susan and the two would sit and talk like they hadn't seen each other in months. When in fact the two were never out of contact with each other. They both were extremely close with own another and that seemed to work well for them. They both had someone to depend on if times were hard. Not that he didn't go to his foster siblings, but it was nice to talk with someone you didn't see on a regular basis. Adam was looking forward to Quidditch, he was the seeker for the houses team and that was an adrenaline rush. He was dragging Susan behind him as she was clenching his hand to keep a hold of it as the two talked. They came to a door that a student had asked if they could sit. Adam saw it was Andrew a fellow Hufflepuff and he nudged the kid over and took a seat. "Andrew! I didn't think I would run into you on the train! How have you been?" Asked Adam as Susan practically slammed into him with whip lash causing them both to hit the wall of the car.

Susan Rabnott

Susan was caught off guard as she managed to wave to her parents as she was pulled into the train following Adam. "Can't we just walk normally instead of you pulling me around." Chuckled Susan as she was trying to keep up and latched onto Adam's hand. Then he took a sudden right into a pulling her in as well and she collided with Adam pressing him against the wall. "Whoops sorry mate, I apologise for Adam here he can be a bit in a rush and in a hurry at times. Do you mind if we join you as well?" Asked Susan as she stood up waiting for a response and pulling her hair out of her face.

[True Christopia]

Andrew Bishop

Andrew'd never seen the Ravenclaw before, but seeing as the cabin was empty - why not? He didn't exactly want many friends, but if fate so decided that he was to have another, then why challenge it? "Of course, it's empty isn't it?" Andrew smiled "So, what's - " He was about to ask his name, although in came another Hufflepuff - Adam, his name was - barging in to take a seat. Taken aback, Andrew exclaimed "Adam, bloody hell, be a bit more careful, yeah?" He then turned to the Ravenclaw, offering the seat beside him "Take a seat, mate." he told him, before nodding to Adam "Yeah, I've had an all right summer. You?"

[Talchyon]

Hogwarts Express
Cyrus MacGregor

A stocky, flaming-red haired young man wearing slacks, a light blue button-up shirt, a dark grey sweatervest, and a dark blue tie around his neck, grabbed his traveling bag in one hand and the two books in the other. The seats were filling up already. Not a big surprise. But he was going to have to find one amongst the shuffle. He thought about sitting in a coach with others, and then, thought against it. There were some he knew, such as those from his Ravenclaw house. But not well. Others he recognized seeing, but had never taken the time to talk to any of them. That's what happens when you don't have classes together all the time. And of course, there were the new students, who were experiencing the train ride for the first time and had no idea what waited in store for them at school this year.

This was his fourth year. He was well into figuring out which of the electives classes suited him. For example, Divination was a joke. If your prophecy doesn't turn out, well, big deal. No one else's did, either. It was all just a bunch of hooey. There had been some rumors from before that a centaur had once taught the course. Now that would have been something. But as it was? There was nothing redeeming about the class to bother taking it.

Ancient Runes, on the other hand, was fascinating. For a young man like Cyrus MacGregor, the ancient runes carved into stone were a lasting tribute to a world long forgotten. Who knew how many legends they contained that were accurate and historical? Who knew how many secret spells one could learn by reading stone carvings? For that matter, the school library of Hogwarts itself had a good section on deciphering runes and on using them. Who knew how many ancient runes were hidden at school, in the very walls or floor? Hence, one of the books Cyrus had in his hand was a standard rune lexicon. And the other - a little ambitious, perhaps - was the earliest accounts of the great wizard, Dedric the brave.

Cyrus passed by a full compartment, with what looked like a few Hufflepuffs and a few other Ravenclaws. One's name was Izaiah, but Cyrus hadn't had much dealings with that other student from his house. Cyrus didn't know the other girl from Ravenclaw. They were just settling in. Cyrus instead went a few compartments down and found an empty one, and lodged himself in there. Putting his bag on the floor near him, he leaned against the seat and opened his reading material. If someone wanted to join him (and seeing how full the train was, it was almost a certainty), well, he would just have to make the best of it.

[Ormata]

Izaiah Russell
Hogwarts Express

"Andrew! I didn't think I would run into you on the train! How have you been?"

"Whoops sorry mate, I apologise for Adam here he can be a bit in a rush and in a hurry at times. Do you mind if we join you as well?"

"Of course, it's empty isn't it?" Andrew smiled "So, what's - " ..."Adam, bloody hell, be a bit more careful, yeah?"..."Take a seat, mate." he told him, before nodding to Adam "Yeah, I've had an all right summer. You?"

"Thanks," came Izaiah's reply, smiling even though he somewhat regretting his choice of compartment. They were kids, most likely. Something like that. Boisterous, loud, annoying, kids to be treated at the end of a ten foot pole or something to that effect. He had nothing against them, he had probably been the same. It's just that you got used to treating someone with maturity. You got used to treating people as adults. Putting on the kiddie gloves wasn't something Izaiah was used to.

Ah, Summer. Izaiah's had been alright, though he wouldn't have said such a thing to them. He'd spent it indoors, or practicing a charm to not be noticed. He'd even put the thing on a broom, though he'd never thought to have tried it out outside. There was a chance of it failing; he'd been waiting to show the thing off to the teachers or something. Get their opinion on how well the thing was made. Yet, most of the time he'd spent at home, comfortably in the internet and comfortably in his bed. You got to sleep in, and that was nice. Very, very nice.

He set the two backpacks down at his feet, hands on the little handles at the top. You kept your hands on your stuff; that sort of thing was a general rule to Izaiah. You always did it, never didn't unless you felt like tempting fate. It was just something one did, not trusting, though Izaiah didn't not trust them. It's just that such a thing didn't think he did trust them.

[Tritainius]

Hogwarts Express
Adrian Leivon

Holding his briefcase in one hand and his ticket in the other, Adrian quickly strided through Platform 9 and 3/4, his eyes darting at the crowds of people around him. Adrian never understood why the platform was located in a place that was surrounded by muggles, considering that a particularly-observant fellow could simply find the kids walking through walls. Perhaps the concept of "hidden in plain sight" was at work. There would be a witch hunt, and he was surprised that there hadn't been hundreds of non-wizarding people that discovered the Hogwarts Express. The Obliviators were even more numerous and competent than he thought.

Boarding the forementioned Hogwarts Express, he did quite a bit of walking, and finally found a relatively quiet cabin, which had some seats available. There were a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, having their conversation. Although there were still some boisterous kids here, there were less of them, and he had to make the most of that. He didn't mind the fact that there were little to no other Slytherins here, as he didn't really like the other members of his house, anyways. Too many of them were illogical extremists, and of course, he did not like such people.

With those two pressed against the wall, it seemed that he interrupted in the wrong moment. But again, he couldn't expect that much from Hufflepuffs, who had a reputation for this sort of behavior.

He cleared his throat, and quietly grumbled. "Mind if I sit here?"

[Saint Ryvern]

Hogwarts Express
Cyrus MacGregor

A stocky, flaming-red haired young man wearing slacks, a light blue button-up shirt, a dark grey sweatervest, and a dark blue tie around his neck, grabbed his traveling bag in one hand and the two books in the other. The seats were filling up already. Not a big surprise. But he was going to have to find one amongst the shuffle. He thought about sitting in a coach with others, and then, thought against it. There were some he knew, such as those from his Ravenclaw house. But not well. Others he recognized seeing, but had never taken the time to talk to any of them. That's what happens when you don't have classes together all the time. And of course, there were the new students, who were experiencing the train ride for the first time and had no idea what waited in store for them at school this year.

This was his fourth year. He was well into figuring out which of the electives classes suited him. For example, Divination was a joke. If your prophecy doesn't turn out, well, big deal. No one else's did, either. It was all just a bunch of hooey. There had been some rumors from before that a centaur had once taught the course. Now that would have been something. But as it was? There was nothing redeeming about the class to bother taking it.

Ancient Runes, on the other hand, was fascinating. For a young man like Cyrus MacGregor, the ancient runes carved into stone were a lasting tribute to a world long forgotten. Who knew how many legends they contained that were accurate and historical? Who knew how many secret spells one could learn by reading stone carvings? For that matter, the school library of Hogwarts itself had a good section on deciphering runes and on using them. Who knew how many ancient runes were hidden at school, in the very walls or floor? Hence, one of the books Cyrus had in his hand was a standard rune lexicon. And the other - a little ambitious, perhaps - was the earliest accounts of the great wizard, Dedric the brave.

Cyrus passed by a full compartment, with what looked like a few Hufflepuffs and a few other Ravenclaws. One's name was Izaiah, but Cyrus hadn't had much dealings with that other student from his house. Cyrus didn't know the other girl from Ravenclaw. They were just settling in. Cyrus instead went a few compartments down and found an empty one, and lodged himself in there. Putting his bag on the floor near him, he leaned against the seat and opened his reading material. If someone wanted to join him (and seeing how full the train was, it was almost a certainty), well, he would just have to make the best of it.

Wallace Dane
Hogwarts Express

I can't believe I actually survived this summer, Wallace thought as he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. Late to arrive because his parents decided at the last minute that they would neglect their son, Wallace had apparated to King's Cross to hop onto the train. Well,he attempted to apparate to the station, but his poor conception of the magic behind apparation left him several blocks away from his desired location. He had spent the last 15 minutes dragging his bags through the streets of London.

His parents neglect wouldn't have been so hurtful if he hadn't run into them on his way into station since they had to drop off his younger sister for her second year at Hogwarts anyways. It wasn't Wallace's fault that he didn't agree with his parent's supremacist ideologies, he didn't give a damn what someone's blood background was. Still, Wallace managed to muster up a smile and wish his parents goodbye before he made his jolly way to Platform 9 3/4.

The one downside to arriving so late at the station was that all of his friends had found compartments together and Wallace was left without a spot to sit in any of them. His Hufflepuff acquaintances simply apologized, and his pals from the other three houses wished him better luck next year. Not one to let life get him down Wallace heads down the hallway of the train, passing by Andrew's compartment, raising an eyebrow at all the ruckus. Persisting, he eventually finds himself in the doorway of Cyrus' compartment. Not recognizing the Ravenclaw Wallace decides that it is a great day to make a new friends, and knocks on the door before pulling it open slightly.

"Hello there, mind if I join you?" He asks with a smile, hoping that the redhead will have some pity on him.

[New Roman Empire]

Adam Tarkin

Adam finally managed to pry himself off the wall. "Sorry about that, ya know the whole new year fever." Chuckled Adam as he regained his composure and became more relaxed. "Sorry about that mate, the names Adam Tarkin and my friend here is Susan Rabnott well if you didn't know her already." Informed Adam as he noticed the man was from Ravenclaw and felt somewhat stupid at the comment. "My summer was good, last week I started to get back on my broom. Never can't have enough time to prepare for quidditch especially when the competition is fierce." Chuckled Adam as Susan was just shaking her head.

[The Land of Golden Blobfish]

Percy Manigerious

Percy was a little late. Okay, maybe little was an understatement. In fact, he was REALLY late. He was about ready to leave for Hogwarts when he forgot that the Bowtruckles still needed to be fed, not to mention the Clabbert’s cage cleaned out. And to make matters worse, their Ashwinder had somehow gotten out and would no doubt be terrorizing a tourist or two. To put it plainly, there was a lot of work to be done. So after Percy, with the help of the house-elves, got everyone in order, he was no doubt late. “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.” was what his father always said. Percy doubted the train could care less.

Hogwarts Express

Somehow, through sheer luck he supposed, Percy made it just in time. That is, if you didn’t account for all the packed compartments. Luckily for him however he found one with only two students already inside. He had seen them around before but never gotten around to talking to them. Oh well, today would be the day. “Hi there, names Percy. The others are full so you don’t mind me sitting here, right?” Instead of wearing his school uniform like almost everybody else, Percy was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans with the exception of his Hufflepuff cloak over top. All were noticeable dirty. However that wasn’t the strangest thing about the kid. He held a small, brown pot in front of him. The plants leaves that stuck out were recognizable to every unfortunate student that had dealt with one in Herbology. A mandrake. “Oh don’t worry about it, just make sure you don’t pull at it and it’ll sleep quieter than a baby. But take these earmuffs, you know, just in case.” After putting the pot down, he slung his backpack onto his lap and reached in. Almost immediately the bag started shaking. ‘Shhh, shhh, no Felix we’re not there yet. Just hang in tight.” He pulled two pairs of earmuffs out and handed one each to Cyrus and Wallace as if nothing happened.

[CoraSpia]

Ava Burnside

Ava strode down Platform 9 and three quarters with a confident expression on her pretty face. Behind her she dragged a huge wheeled trunk, upon which rested what appeared to be a considerable-sized sweet jar...by considerable, it was half the size of the trunk it rested on.
"Oh for goodness sake," she sighed, and deciding that it was safe with no muggles "Wingadium Leviosa," she cried, raising her wand. The trunk and the colossal sweetiejar eagerly began bobbing on either side of her as she walked, taking up a large space on the corridors and softly apologising to people as she gently nudged them out of the way. She'd found a nearly empty carriage, and not wanting to be given the whole twenty questions treatment about her fathers recent arrest, she walked in. It was occupied by a lone younger student who she vaguely recognised: a Ravenclaw she thought, and this was only made more obvious by the books he was carrying, she'd seen him on the corridors but she had no idea of his name. As she entered, another boy, one of the fleeting random faces on the corridor, entered just ahead of her.
"Mind if I sit here?" she asked in her soft, gentle voice. Everybody surely new her, she was Hogwarts best chaser after all...

Professor Gleen

The Defence against the dark arts classroom closely resembled an old mans sitting room, or it would if their weren't a few too many over-stuffed plushor leather armchairs and sofas and a wide open space in the middle set out for duelling. However, its roaring fire, its clearly visible bottle of fire whiskey on the mantle and its abundance of random nicknacks scattered around gave it a homely feel.
Gleen, however, was looking at it not with his eyes but through a two-waymirror on his lap, watching thehouse elves putting the finishing touches to his room as he sat on the train.

It was a peculiarity of his, the way he travelled to school. No other teachers did it: hoards of excited and nervous first years and nobody to welcome them...surely the first adult to sho them a friendly face would rapidly become their favourite teacher,and over the last few years it seemed to be working. Propping his mirror beside him, he sat with a broad inviting smile on his facein one of the designated first year carriages, waiting either for students, or for his personal favourite student to deliver to him what he had asked her for: some muggle sweets of which he was most fond.

[Ormata]

Izaiah Russell
Hogwarts Express

"My summer was good, last week I started to get back on my broom. Never can't have enough time to prepare for quidditch especially when the competition is fierce.”

Izaiah snorted; the teams were moderately fierce, yes, and each had a good deal of pride against the other Houses, there was a reason why each played as they did. Ravenclaw’s team was analytical, spending time on how the heck they wanted to win, on strategems and methods to gain victory. Gryffindor had their headlong charge in. Slytherin was driven by ambition. Hufflepuff was driven by a want for a good game. They just had to find balances. Sometimes Ravenclaws needed more courage. Sometimes Gryffindors needed more brains. Sometimes Slytherins needed more teamwork. Sometimes Hufflepuffs needed to play rough.

“Really? Where’d you fly it, then?” He was genuinely curious. Brooms were one of the greater pluses of the wizarding world, Izaiah felt, and he could use some distraction.

[Skylus]

Derek Forester
Platform 9 3/4

"Now, dear, don't forget to write us letters."
Heather Forester was giving her son a last minute "cleaning up" while her son stood before, protesting.
"Have I forgotten to write you letters? I never forget."
"It could happen, dear, I'm just reminding you."
William Forester, husband to Heather and the father of Derek, stepped up to his wife.
"Heather, he might be late if we keep him here."
Right on cue, the clock on the nearby wall began to strike 10:00 A.M.

"For the love of...I've got to go. I will write letters, I promise."
With a very rushed goodbye, Derek flew through the column and disappeared from his parent's view.
Heather quietly leaned over to her husband as he put a arm around her.
"...Have you heard the news, Will?
"About the "Pureblood" problems? Yes, but the Muggleborns are the cause too..."

Hogwarts Express

Derek landed on the other side and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he was running past the train.
"Watch it!"
"Watch where you're going, lad!"
"Oh, look, another strangler, they keep increasing every year, don't they?"
He passed the other magic folk, and a few seconds after he leapt for the steps and made it inside the train, it began to leave the station.

Hogwarts Express, Room 43

That was close...at least I made it with all of my things...
The train was moving quite fast now, and Derek merely was content with staring out the window, watching the green forest go swiftly by...

[Saint Ryvern]

Wallace Dane
Hogwarts Express
"Oh no, oh god that is a mandrake. That is in fact a mandrake, you don't need to be a Ravenclaw to recognize that," Wallace may not be in Ravenclaw, but he is, in fact, terrified. Seeing the mandrake enter the compartment in someone's arms, Percy might be their name, Wallace isn't paying attention that, unlocks one of the Hufflepuff's deepest fears. Based on the memory of mandrake day back in the second year Wallace is traumatized by the fact that he and several of his friends were knocked unconscious and subjected to terrible nausea when Professor Longbottom pulled an unexpectedly mature mandrake out of its pot, which immediately began screaming.

Not able to stop himself from shaking, even though he knows the baby mandrake is harmless when asleep he apologies several times to everyone in the compartment before pushing his way back out into the hall. Searching for another compartment he eventually stumbles upon Brooke Kline, though he does not know her at all. "Hi," Wallace says entering the compartment at sitting down, forgoing asking if he can sit down because he still can't stop his legs from shaking. After composing himself he puts on a smile and looks towards Brooke.

"I'm Wallace, nice to meet you."

[Talchyon]

Wallace Dane
Hogwarts Express

The one downside to arriving so late at the station was that all of his friends had found compartments together and Wallace was left without a spot to sit in any of them. His Hufflepuff acquaintances simply apologized, and his pals from the other three houses wished him better luck next year. Not one to let life get him down Wallace heads down the hallway of the train, passing by Andrew's compartment, raising an eyebrow at all the ruckus. Persisting, he eventually finds himself in the doorway of Cyrus' compartment. Not recognizing the Ravenclaw Wallace decides that it is a great day to make a new friends, and knocks on the door before pulling it open slightly.

"Hello there, mind if I join you?" He asks with a smile, hoping that the redhead will have some pity on him.

Looking up, there was a smiling Hufflepuff standing in the door, not one Cyrus recognized. Yeah. He knew his luck at keeping an empty cabin wouldn't hold.

"I guess. Come on in."

Percy Manigerious
Hogwarts Express

Somehow, through sheer luck he supposed, Percy made it just in time. That is, if you didn’t account for all the packed compartments. Luckily for him however he found one with only two students already inside. He had seen them around before but never gotten around to talking to them. Oh well, today would be the day. “Hi there, names Percy. The others are full so you don’t mind me sitting here, right?” Instead of wearing his school uniform like almost everybody else, Percy was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans with the exception of his Hufflepuff cloak over top. All were noticeable dirty. However that wasn’t the strangest thing about the kid. He held a small, brown pot in front of him. The plants leaves that stuck out were recognizable to every unfortunate student that had dealt with one in Herbology. A mandrake. “Oh don’t worry about it, just make sure you don’t pull at it and it’ll sleep quieter than a baby. But take these earmuffs, you know, just in case.” After putting the pot down, he slung his backpack onto his lap and reached in. Almost immediately the bag started shaking. ‘Shhh, shhh, no Felix we’re not there yet. Just hang in tight.” He pulled two pairs of earmuffs out and handed one each to Cyrus and Wallace as if nothing happened.

Earmuffs, eh? That actually might be great. Cyrus could put them on and act as if he didn't hear the other boy, and then could ignore him. Thankfully, this other Hufflepuff brought a mandrake with him for just such an excuse.

"Thanks... I think. Um. Have a seat, why don't you. Name's Cyrus." And Cyrus then put the earmuffs around his neck. "Soon," he thought. "Soon I can go back to what I was doing..."

Ava Burnside

Ava strode down Platform 9 and three quarters with a confident expression on her pretty face. Behind her she dragged a huge wheeled trunk, upon which rested what appeared to be a considerable-sized sweet jar...by considerable, it was half the size of the trunk it rested on.
"Oh for goodness sake," she sighed, and deciding that it was safe with no muggles "Wingadium Leviosa," she cried, raising her wand. The trunk and the colossal sweetiejar eagerly began bobbing on either side of her as she walked, taking up a large space on the corridors and softly apologising to people as she gently nudged them out of the way. She'd found a nearly empty carriage, and not wanting to be given the whole twenty questions treatment about her fathers recent arrest, she walked in. It was occupied by a lone younger student who she vaguely recognised: a Ravenclaw she thought, and this was only made more obvious by the books he was carrying, she'd seen him on the corridors but she had no idea of his name. As she entered, another boy, one of the fleeting random faces on the corridor, entered just ahead of her.
"Mind if I sit here?" she asked in her soft, gentle voice. Everybody surely new her, she was Hogwarts best chaser after all...

"Who was this Slytherin girl?" Cyrus wondered. She looked kind of familiar, but not enough that he really recognized her. Long blond hair was nice, but not her hard expression that came out even when being polite.

"Why not? Pull up a seat. Name's Cyrus." Cyrus said with a politeness he didn't feel. Those earmuffs were looking better and better the more people were coming. He knew that having an empty coach to himself was not going to fly.

Wallace Dane
Hogwarts Express
"Oh no, oh god that is a mandrake. That is in fact a mandrake, you don't need to be a Ravenclaw to recognize that," Wallace may not be in Ravenclaw, but he is, in fact, terrified. Seeing the mandrake enter the compartment in someone's arms, Percy might be their name, Wallace isn't paying attention that, unlocks one of the Hufflepuff's deepest fears. Based on the memory of mandrake day back in the second year Wallace is traumatized by the fact that he and several of his friends were knocked unconscious and subjected to terrible nausea when Professor Longbottom pulled an unexpectedly mature mandrake out of its pot, which immediately began screaming.

Not able to stop himself from shaking, even though he knows the baby mandrake is harmless when asleep he apologies several times to everyone in the compartment before pushing his way back out into the hall...

When the first newcomer Hufflepuff had left, all Cyrus could get out was, "Er..." And then the boy was gone. What was his problem with mandrakes? Cyrus thought the earmuffs that came with it were great!

[True Christopia]

Andrew Bishop

"Nice, man. I was thinking about joining the team, as a chaser, maybe. Wouldn't mind being the seeker, though, but you've got that covered, eh?" Andrew would say with a grin "Hopefully we'll win this year." he added, letting off a sigh. He wasn't lying, of course he'd like to join the team. He did like a game of quidditch. However, his Owls were coming up, and he simply couldn't spare the time for them. With Muggle Studies, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and more, he had a lot on his plate.

He didn't really have much of an idea on what he wanted to do when he was older. He had thought about opening up a shop, or writing a book. Maybe he'd sell muggle novelties - although, maybe that wasn't such a good idea given the current climate. He'd think on it some more.

[The Valyria Empire]

Charles Battista
Hogwarts Express
Charles always enjoyed the train, and considering this would be the second to last time he'd ever ride on it he decided to enjoy himself. As he sat in his cabin, he noticed how empty it was, minus the case that held his Supreme Firebolt behind his legs. He was used to his cabin being filled to the brim with people asking questions about the year's Quidditch strategy.

Charles sighed, and looked out the window. As he did, he fiddled with the captain badge he had already pinned on his jacket. With his right hand he reached into his pocket and fondled the the ten galleons he had. His mother often spoiled him due to him taking after her ideals unlike David even more so for his final year of Hogwarts. So when he noticed the trolley he decided to splurge and buy a few cauldron cakes and three chocolate frogs.

While examining one of the cards he opened, being that of Herpo the Foul he realized that his cabin was still empty.

"Now I feel like a foul for buying these cauldron cakes...." Charles whispered to himself. After several years of being surrounded by people he felt odd being alone. "Perhaps I should search for Brook, or Alex. Maybe their cabins are empty." Charles said as he positioned himself to leave the cabin. I'll wait a little longer, maybe they're on their way here. Then we can discuss any tactics we learned over the summer. Charles thought placing his hand on his broom case.

[Skylus]

Derek Forester
Hogwarts Express
Derek found himself getting bored. It wasn't something that he did often. But sitting alone in a cabin such as this really got to him, so, he picked up his things and left the cabin to go sit somewhere else.
Let's see...annoying first-years, no...Slytherins, no...whole cabins full of women, definitely not...
Then he heard something. It sounded like "Qudditch", but he wasn't exactly sure.
It came from his left.
Derek stepped closer to the door and stood awkwardly in front of it, suddenly wishing he hadn't brought a lot of things with him, but he had decided to stay the entire year, even over summer break.
He then noticed that the cabin was empty, save for a boy staring at a card in his hand.
Derek poked his head into the cabin.
"Excuse me, but do you mind if I join you?"
Then he noticed the long case behind the boy.
"...I knew it was you, Charles. I see you still have that Supreme Firebolt."

[CoraSpia]

Ava

Ava smiled at Cyrus as she took a seat, leaning back contentedly. "Ava Burnside," she introduced herself, hoping that the boy didn't read the daily prophet, and if he did had not heard about her fathers escapades. She was not in the mood to be interigated today...especially not this early. She hefted the massive sweetiejar onto the luggage rack, placing it above her trunk and praying it didn't fall onto her head.

[Tritainius]

Hogwarts Express
Adrian Leivon

Everyone was engrossed in something else, which was rather predictable. Strangely enough, it seemed that the other students were drawn to this specific cabin. Yet another student had strided in the room, making this place even more crowded. What made this cabin more special than any other cabin? There wasn't much difference between them, as the former state of quietness had disappeared from here.

Since another boy had sat himself down without repercussions, Adrian took that as a cue to sit down himself.

Opening his suitcase, he pulled out his copy of Hogwarts: A History. It was better to be prepared for class than not prepared at all, that was for sure. To make sure nobody else saw the rather messily-organized contents of his case, he quickly closed it.

Adrian knew that it was likely for him to get motion sickness, because reading a book on a moving vehicle often did that to him. Nevertheless, he did so, immediately becoming engrossed. It was rather interesting, even if nobody else thought so. He didn't really care about the opinions of others; it was his own opinion, and it was his own book.

Only the elderly lady with the trolley of sweets could interrupt him, which she just did. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

He perked up. "Of course!"

As you should know, Adrian loves chocolate and candy. So much, in fact, he was addicted to it. He has attempted to go cold turkey on it, but Hogwarts being Hogwarts, that was nearly impossible.

Due to that fact, he immediately bought three chocolate frogs, two cauldron cakes, a pumpkin pastie, and a sugar quill. Over a third of his money had left his pocket. Putting the rest of the sweets beside him, he resumed reading his book, munching on a chocolate frog. There was a Ptolemy card in hand. Sweet. He was looking for one of those. He hadn't had lunch, as only at the last minute, he began packing.

That was a terrible mistake.

[Sulania]

Jamie MacCarthy
Hogwarts Express

The young redheaded Ravenclaw made her way through the filled train of students and would-be students coming from all corners of Great Britain. Scots, Irish, English; Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, all the like. Going through them, their faces all seem to blur in a mist of unknown, with only some familiar faces popping out here and there. Though those familiar faces as well only stuck out due to simple familiarity, very few called Jamie MacCarthy a friend, even fewer she actually returned the kindness. She didn't say a word, only the casual "excuse me" and "my apologies" as she bumped into some people and others into her, another typical year aboard the Hogwarts Express.

She wore a typical Hogwarts uniform, showing off the blue of her place in Ravenclaw. Her bright red hair put into a nice bun, accented by her pale skin and hazel eyes. Her luggage already taken into storage on the train, held her collection of books for the year, along with art supplies and all of her necessary wizarding material. She had a little carryon purse with her wand, a hazel wood with a dragon heartstring at 12 inches, along with a little bit of pleasure reading from a book detailing a brief history of ancient art in the wizarding world, particularly in how runes were incorporated. There was other less important materials, basic bobbles and pens, some makeup, that sort of thing.

She passed by various compartments of bustle and needless amounts of talking. She wanted a nice quiet compartment to read and think, not one where every other moment would be filled with needless talking about what so-and-so did over the Summer. Of course, this was becoming a harder and harder task as more and more people filled the various compartments.

She eventually came down to a solitary compartment a flaming red-haired boy, a fellow Ravenclaw, as well as various others collectively making their way into the compartment. She passed them, only gazing in to see anyone she might possibly know as she had in previous passed. She recognized the red-haired Ravenclaw as Cyrus, one of a few years below her, she was not sure as she had only known his name. The others she didn't know, a Hufflepuff and assorted others were the only things that stood out to her. She wasn't talkative as it was, and she wasn't really interested in the mass gathering, so she simply moved into the compartment next to them, also empty.

She sat down, sitting her small purse beside her and removing the book she was intending to read, letting the Hogwarts Express take her to her destination.

Professor Sedwig
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Slytherin Dungeon

Professor Sedwig maneuvered around the now clean and pristine area that was the Slytherin Dungeon, in the form of small dog, a feat achieved through his becoming an animagus. He had taken the form of a corgi, his favorite animal, as he sniffed through the various nooks and crannies searching for any sort of thing that is out of place. He had to keep it clean, as he knew the incoming students would be bound to have a bit more than a few lazy peers among them. It was the same every year since he became headmaster of Slytherin, keeping the House in line and keeping everything nice and organized. All hefty work for the poor corgi.

He was satisfied. It'd be clean anyway for the coming days, but it would be back in the shape it was in when they left by the week's end. You'd think wizards, even young ones, would at the bare minimum keep a clean space. The canine professor had to keep up the appearance that everything was nice and neat, and he would form it to be as such.

He jumped on a small table in the dark room, and gave one last look over the various furniture and decorations before coming to his satisfied conclusion. With a quick jump, he transformed back into his typical self. Long brown hair and trimmed beard went well with his tanned white face, his dark robes betraying what would be his typically calm face to a more authoritative and dark appearance. He turned around and looked back at everything with his now brown human eyes before giving a small sigh "Another year." He gave a look to the portraits of Horace Slughorn and the late Professor Snape, added in respect to their valiance in the Second Wizarding War.

He wondered if the other teacher's were up to anything. His classroom was already made nice and neat for the coming year, and his priority was his House, but as it was done he decided to just lurk around the school. He exited the Slytherin Dungeon, again taking the form of his canine self and began meandering around the grounds of Hogwarts, passing the time before the students arrive.

[World Anarchic Union]

"... And have a very nice year, Will. Ah, I remember these ancient days where I would board this train. I have to catch the bus but send some letters my way. Goodbye"
His aunt gave William a warm embrace, as he murmured a "goodbye". With his possessions with him, William boarded the train in a hurry. He could see some new faces and numerous people he had seen before but never spoke to. He had few acquaintances and even fewer people he could call friends. Mostly because of his introverted personality but also of his, quite unpopular views. His aunt, a witch herself, didn't know of William's beliefs. She had treated William with much love and respect and had been a loving parent since... that tragic incident.

It will be six years in a few months... William thought to himself, before boarding the train. Swiftly, he felt the floor move and realized he had nowhere to sit as the train began speeding up. Almost all of the compartments were full of people, friends and couples conversing and enjoying themselves. Someone occasionally greeted the long-haired boy, who responded quite passively and moved along, eager to find a seat. He could hear some people talk about him behind his back but he didn't take up more than five seconds of their time He was beginning to feel the weight of the books that he was carrying, mostly a heavy tome of the Modern History of the Wizarding World, which was a personal favorite but also a back-breaker.

As he had passed through many compartments, suddenly a boy jumped out of a compartment, shaking quite visibly. William realized he had found a seat and entered the compartment. Inside were three people, two boys amd a girl. He had noticed and passed by them in the previous years Hogwarts at classes, the courtyard or the occasional visit to Hogsmeade but had never talked with them properly. He noticed the girl was a Slytherin and the boys were from Hufflepuff and his house Ravenclaw. One had with him a mandrake, hopefully sleeping. Sighing, William entered the room.
Hopefully there aren't any of them here. he thought.

"Hello. Mind if I sit here?" he said, struggling to carry his bags after quite some time.

[Ormata]

Brooke Kline
Hogwarts Express

"Hi," Wallace says entering the compartment at sitting down, forgoing asking if he can sit down because he still can't stop his legs from shaking. After composing himself he puts on a smile and looks towards Brooke.

"I'm Wallace, nice to meet you."

“Brooke,” came her response as she frowned at the boy. Well. Perhaps ‘boy’ wasn’t the correct word to be used. Boy would imply him to be younger than her, which he most certainly would not. He looked to be a good deal older, in fact, at the least a few years. He couldn’t have been a Seventh Year, though. He was shaking, after all. Seventh Years didn’t shake. They simply didn’t. Looking him over, though, he didn’t look so old. A round face, large nose, prominent eyebrows, those things definitely didn’t make him look older. No, that was more in the eyes.

“Are you alright?” He was shaking, after all. His legs shuddered as though he’d come out of a winter, though it was more than warm in the compartment. Perhaps a fear? Perhaps, though kids weren’t supposed to be so afraid. You didn’t have to be so afraid against whatever had been seen on the train. After all, it wasn’t as though they allowed wasps as pets. No, not at all. Brooke set her pencil aside, on the crease on her notebook, leaning forwards at Wallace.

[Talchyon]

Hogwarts Express
Cyrus MacGregor

Ava

Ava smiled at Cyrus as she took a seat, leaning back contentedly. "Ava Burnside," she introduced herself, hoping that the boy didn't read the daily prophet, and if he did had not heard about her fathers escapades. She was not in the mood to be interigated today...especially not this early. She hefted the massive sweetiejar onto the luggage rack, placing it above her trunk and praying it didn't fall onto her head.

"Nice to meet you." Glancing at the older blond-haired girl put her things away, Cyrus wondered if she had any goodies from home in her jar. Well, she wasn't sharing right now anyway, so, it was probably a moot point. He was about to open his book again when there another person at the door...

As he had passed through many compartments, suddenly a boy jumped out of a compartment, shaking quite visibly. William realized he had found a seat and entered the compartment. Inside were three people, two boys amd a girl. He had noticed and passed by them in the previous years Hogwarts at classes, the courtyard or the occasional visit to Hogsmeade but had never talked with them properly. He noticed the girl was a Slytherin and the boys were from Hufflepuff and his house Ravenclaw. One had with him a mandrake, hopefully sleeping. Sighing, William entered the room.
Hopefully there aren't any of them here. he thought.

"Hello. Mind if I sit here?" he said, struggling to carry his bags after quite some time.

The boy with the long, dark ponytail looked familiar. Yeah, that's why. He was a fellow Ravenclaw. Cyrus knew he had seen him around. For whatever reason, hadn't actually talked to him.

"Come on in. We got room. Name's Cyrus. Cyrus MacGregor. We should probably know each other since we're in the same house and all, but I don't think I've ever actually met you. Seen you around some, though."

And then, at a glance at his heavy history tome the boy had, Cyrus nodded and said, "Nice reading material you got there."

[CoraSpia]

Ava noticed Cyrus glancing at her sweetiejar before sighing. "Believe it or not," she said, "They're actually Gleens. I thought he was joking, but apparently he loves muggle sweets and never has a chance to go and get them...well he's got like 30 kilos of muggle sweets to be getting on with, so I hope he doesn't want me to send him more."
She gave another friendly smile as the next boy, another unfamiliar ravenclaw, entered. "Hi," she said happily. "Ava Burnside."