First Journey to Hogwarts Open Closed

Blair was nervous. Although her mother was a witch, and had told her about her own experiences at Hogwarts, she couldn't help but feel anxious. There would be so many new people at Hogwarts, and despite her naturally outgoing personality, she was still nervous about whether she would be able to make any new friends. As she stepped onto the train, she waved goodbye to her parents and her little brother, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

She picked up her trunk, lugging it down the corridor of the train. She could hear chattering and laughter coming from the compartments as she passed. She looked out the window, watching the trees fly by as the train began to move. She stumbled a little, blushing and hoping nobody had noticed. She looked down the row of compartments, many of them full of groups of other new students and upperclassmen alike. She wished she knew a group of students already, but her mother was so engrossed in her work at home that she had never met other wizards or witches her age.

Blair continued to walk down the corridor, peering into each compartment. Finally, she stopped as she came across a compartment with a girl who looked around her age. Finally. she thought, opening the door slowly and inching into the compartment. Blair looked at the girl for a moment, wondering if she was feeling nervous too. "Hi, do you mind if I sit with you? My name is Blair." she said, a little awkwardly, smiling kindly at the girl.

@Blair Rhodes

Oh no, panicked Gabriella. A person. Oh no. She didn't know why she was so afraid. Despite wanting friends all her life, now that it actually came to making one, Gabriella wasn't too sure she wanted to go along with it.

She turned her head towards the door and looked the girl up and down. The girl had light brown hair down to her shoulders, and pretty hazel eyes. Gabriella shifted uncomfortably in her seat. And the girl was quite small - Gabriella imagined she would only go up to her shoulders.

And that's the other thing, she thought. I'm a head higher than everyone else my age. I stick out like a sore thumb.

She stopped, trying to think whether she had remembered the phrase correctly or not. Stick out like a sore thumb... it's definitely a weird one.

Finally, she turned to the girl. She had done enough procrastinating; it was time to actually speak.

"Hi, Blair," she said. My name's Gabriella, but I guess you can call my Gabby if you want." Gabby... she tried out in her head. Gabby... She had always wanted to be a Gabby, but her parents bluntly refused, telling her it was an 'ugly name', and she had never been close enough to anyone else to try it out. Gabby. It rolled nicely off the tongue.

She turned to Blair. "Come and sit down," she said, gesturing to the seat opposite. "I'm new here. How about you?"

@Gabriella Haworth

Blair waited for a moment, noticing that the girl seemed nervous and hesitant to answer her. Though building friendships had always come a bit easy to her, she understood the girl's anxiety as they were surrounded by hundreds of new students. On top of that, they were about to enter a whole new world of magic. She didn't know whether the girl came from a Wizarding family or not, but even if she did, anxiety was still normal.

After a few moments, the girl spoke. Blair smiled brightly at her, lifting her trunk above her head with a bit of difficulty and placing it above her. She sat down across from the girl, Gabby was her name, and smiled again. "Hi, Gabby. It's so nice to meet you." she said. Suddenly, all of the anxiety she had been feeling seemed to disappear. Just finding a potential friend before she had even reached the castle was very reassuring to her. "Yes, I'm new here. I'm a first year. My mum is a witch, but I don't really know many other wizards or witches my age." she explained, a sad look crossing her face for a moment. She quickly perked back up, looking back at Gabby. "How about you? Do you come from a Wizarding family?" she asked curiously. She had attended a normal Muggle school for a few years, at the request of her father, and so most of her friends back home came from Muggle families. She was very excited to meet friends who shared her magical abilities.

Gabriella smiled happily at the girl sitting opposite her. So early into her journey, and she had already met a potential friend. "No, my family are Muggles," she explained. "My parents both teach at
a private school that I was going to go to - before I got my letter, that is." She wondered whether she should tell Blair more about her family, and decided she should - just as a way to get a conversation started.

"Yeah, I never knew anything about magic until I got my letter. I always knew I was a bit weird - my schoolmates even used to call me a 'witch' to make fun out of me!" She laughed, sadly, hoping she would be able to put those days behind her as she came to Hogwarts. "My younger brother always made fun of me too," she continued, "though not for the weird stuff. He's into things that are cool and trendy, while I'm just not, so we've always been a bit of a clash, I suppose. I stopped reading a while back, because I just couldn't be bothered to put up with his constant teasing about it. A few months ago I tried to get into it again, but I found I didn't like it any more. I guess I could make it one of my new school year resolutions, though." She laughed, a hollow laugh that reverberated around the carriage and shocked even her.

"Anyway, sorry for the sudden doom-fest," she laughed, and she was happy to note that it was a normal laugh again. "What are your family like? How's your life been?"

@Gabriella Haworth

Blair listened intently as Gabby explained her family life to her. Though her father was a Muggle, she had never really felt out of place in the Muggle world like Gabby had. She had always known that a world of magic had existed, which was helpful in making her feel like she belonged somewhere. She nodded as Gabby talked, feeling empathetic for her.

"Oh, that's quite alright. I like hearing about other people's families." she said, smiling brightly. She absolutely loved getting to know the lives and personalities of the people around her. Everyone was so different, and that's what she was most excited about at Hogwarts. She was looking forward to learning all she could about all her friends and classmates.

"Well, my mother is a witch. She's a Herbologist, and she works really hard at that. I don't really see her or talk to her often, even though we live in the same home." she explained sadly. She had always yearned for a relationship with her mother, but she wasn't sure if that was something she would ever have. "But that's okay." she said quickly, a smile resurfacing on her face. "My dad is also a teacher at a Muggle school. I'm very close to him and we do a lot of things together." she said. She knew she was lucky to have a father like him, who was so caring. "I'm very excited to be here, but I'm not quite sure what House I'll be placed in. I feel I could fit in more than one." she continued, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

Interacting with: @Gabriella Haworth @Blair Rhodes
Amelia's speech: Yellow

Amelia had said goodbye to her mother and hopped onto the Hogwarts Express, she dragged her trunk behind her, struggling slightly with the weight of it - she must have overpacked. Amelia was a whole mixture of emotions, scared, nervous, excited but above all she was mostly excited and anxious. She peered into each compartment, trying to find one that was empty or at least people she thought might be first years. To her dismay, all the compartments she looked in were full or had students that looked much older than she was in them.

After what felt like hours and hours of her stomach churning with anxiety, she had found a compartment with two girls in it. One of them was sitting by the window, she was rather pale and had long, black hair. She was definitely taller than Amelia, but looked rather nervous so she suspected she might be a first year. The other one was sitting across from the latter, she was much tanner than the latter and had short brown hair. They were both engrossed in conversation but this was the only compartment that Amelia found that was fairly empty. Perfect, Amelia smiled to herself, a great chance to make friends.

She slid open the compartment door gently, she cleared her throat to announce her presence, not wanting to startle the two girls. "Hi, I'm Amelia Faye. Is it alright if I sit with you two? I don't think there's another compartment that's free." she smiled sheepishly, shuffling her feet awkwardly on the floor.

Word count: 257

@Gabriella Haworth @Amelia Faye

Blair, who had been deep in thought about her conversation with Gabby, was slightly startled when she heard the door open. She looked up to see another girl who looked about their age. As she spoke, she seemed very nervous. Blair remembered that she had felt the exact same way just a few moments earlier while searching for a compartment. Blair smiled warmly at her, gesturing at her to come and join them. "Hi, Amelia. My name is Blair. Of course you can come join us!" she said, trying her best to make the girl feel welcomed.

She studied Amelia for a moment. She was taller than Blair, but then again, almost everyone was taller than the small-framed girl. She had pretty, long hair and a kind face. I can't believe I've already got an opportunity to make some friends before I even get to Hogwarts! she thought excitedly. She knew that all three of them had to be nervous, and probably thinking the same thing as she was.

"We were just talking about our families at home. I would love to hear all about you!" Blair exclaimed. Blair was about as genuine as they come - she aimed to show kindness and spread happiness to everyone she came across. On top of her naturally friendly demeanor, she wanted to learn about these girls as they could potentially become close friends of hers. She felt that making friends with some girls at school would perhaps help her overcome her insecurities about her failing relationship with her mother.

@Blair Rhodes @Amelia Faye

Gabriella beamed as the girl asked if she could join them. As Blair replied, she gestured towards a seat, which the girl sat down in. She listened as Blair exchanged pleasantries with the girl; she found out that the girl's name was Amelia, and that she was a first-year too. "Hi!" she said, adding herself to the conversation. "I'm Gabriella - but you can call me Gabby if you want."

Blair asked about Amelia's family, which Gabriella decided was a good idea. Everyone had different backgrounds at Hogwarts - some who were wizard-born, some who were muggle-born, some, like Blair, who were half and half... finding out about their families was just the way to find out what life had been like for them so far.

The more she waited for Amelia to reply, the more she began to imagine for herself what Amelia's family would be like. Maybe they were nice Muggles like her family - maybe Amelia was just as bewildered as she was! But then again, she could be from a strict wizarding family, grown up with spells all around her. Maybe she would be the top student for this reason! Gabriella found it unfair that those with wizard backgrounds would be at an advantage - or maybe I should have just read my books, she thought to herself. That's why I'm at a disadvantage.

Interacting with @Gabriella Haworth @Blair Rhodes

"Thanks!" she smiled at Blair, who had invited her to sit down. She was now incredibly less nervous than she was a few moments before and the butterflies in her stomach had decided to cease their fluttering. "It's nice to meet you Blair and Gabby."

She dragged her trunk inside the compartment behind her and slid the door shut. She hoisted her trunk up on the luggage rack above the seats and sat down next to Blair. "I'm a half-blood!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, "My mum's a witch and my dad's a muggle. My mum's a journalist for the Daily Prophet while my dad's a doctor," she explained, "a doctor's basically a muggle healer." she added in case the two girls were pure-blood and didn't know what a doctor was. "I'm probably closest to my mum. She told me all about the wizarding world and her experience at Hogwarts, so she did, and it got me so excited to finally come to Hogwarts. It just sounds so cool, ya know? I'm probably most excited for Quidditch."

Amelia shifted in her seat and crossed one leg over the other to get more comfortable before continuing, "What house are you guys hoping to get into? I hope I'm in Hufflepuff, just like my mum."

Word count: 211