First-Year Entrance 2024-2025

Soon, a girl joined Novalie in the boat, bumping into her slightly as the boat wobbled, but Novalie didn’t mind. She chuckled and grinned at the girl, "Exciting, isn’t it? I’ve never seen boats like these before!"

Not long after, another first year hopped in - a boy who seemed to have the same lively energy as Novalie. She returned his smile as he sat down beside her.

"Hey!", she greeted, but he suddenly gasped.

"Woah, are those contacts?", he asked.

"Oh, uh-", Novalie quickly caught on, as this wasn’t an unusual question for her. She figured her eyes must have lightened from their usual dark green, something that always happened when she was particularly excited.
Rubbing her eyes, even though she knew it wouldn’t change anything, she grinned and explained, "No, they just change color sometimes. I can’t really control it, but it's cool, right?"
To give him a better look, she turned fully towards him, locking her gaze with his so he could see her eyes up close.

But then a thought struck her: Wasn’t this kind of thing normal in the magical world? Shouldn’t he - and every other student - have similar abilities? Why was he so surprised?
Tilting her head in curiosity, she asked, "Doesn’t this happen to you, too? Or does it show in different ways? My hair and skin color can change as well, if that's what you get!"

Unaware that she was one of few Metamorphmagi, Novalie assumed that all Hogwarts students had these abilities. She glanced over at the girl across from her, sure that she understood what Novalie was talking about.

@Vera Caird @Aodhan Shaw

September 2, 2024
Interacting with: @Mamori Anezaki
Mamori's original post: Great Lake

Upon the train's long awaited arrival at Hogsmeade Station, Corvinus slugglishly stretched her arms to release all the tense muscles she's had during this long journey of a trip. Though she felt this painfully bothering urge to just fall back to her seat and try to sleep, she knew she had to keep going or she'd probably lose track of where Mamori is heading.

Subtly grabbing a sugary, strawberry gummy from a plastic in her robe's pocket, Corvinus quickly followed Mamori out into the narrow corridor of the train, trying not to lose him among the other students passing by. It's safe to say that she could handle the claustrophobic atmosphere of the constricted space, but she could absolutely not handle the amount of heat and carbon dioxide caused by the cramped area!

Continuing to push forth, Corvinus stepped out of the express, keeping her hands in her robes pockets and trying to prevent the sugary sweets from spilling onto the freshly made linen. Without a word, she continued to mindlessly follow her friend towards their destination, occasionally swatting flies away from her.

She hadn't even realized they were already there until Mamori spoke, the boats ready for the first years to traverse on.

"Join you? Just what else do you think I was following you for?" Corvinus jokingly replied, giving the boat's bow a small tap. "So shaky.." She mumbled, shaking her head. "With my luck, it's gonna fall upside down the moment I get on."

And with that, she joined him on the red boat, wobbling before finally taking a seat beside him.

Red boat

"Exciting, isn’t it? I’ve never seen boats like these before!"

Vera didn't expect anyone to actually start talking to her, so the other girl slightly startled her. In a stand-off between Vera and a deer in the headlights Vera would win and maybe could hand out a couple lessons. She looked over at the other girl, eyes still slightly unfocused, and attempted a smile back.

"Yeah, I've- I've been on a lake before but never anything like this." Her voice came out on the quiet side and she physically shook it off, getting a little more with it as another kid got in the boat.

She offered him a small wave but otherwise more interested in looking around still. His question about contacts drew her attention back on board though.

What contacts?

And then she noticed the other girl leaning in slightly, eyes properly open, and she had to admit they were oddly light. Vera wasn't a scaredy pants but certain things are just off. Like seeing a real Husky with heterochromia for the first time. Not bad, just off. Cool... but off.

People can't usually just change their appearance on a whim, right? Maybe in the wizarding world they can. One way or another, it had Vera leaning in closer to both of the others now that the other girl seemed unsure as well.

"Is it like a magic thing? I think it looks really cool." She was starting to curse leaving her journal on the train because this would be an interesting thing to note down.

She looked over at the other boy in the boat now. "Can wizards usually do this?"

Aria could barely contain her excitement. There it was! The famous Hogwarts castle! Right in front of her! Aria had a great train ride to Hogwarts. She now knows a lot more about Hogwarts and feels more confident thanks to her conversation with second year @Elisa Wagner. But now she was on her own. Only the first years were allowed to ride the boats to the castle. Yes, Aria was feeling more confident, but she was still pretty nervous.

Aria walked up to all the other first years. They were all chattering away. There was a huge buzz of excitement in the air. Aria was a social butterfly and very out going, so she had no trouble talking to the other first years too.

Wow! I can't believe we are here! Do you guys believe it?! It's the actual Hogwarts Castle!

Aria smiled at all the children around her. This was it. These were the children that would be her year for the next seven years of her life. Aria was nervous, but she was ready.

Aria looked around at all the boats. All the boats were starting to fill up fast. Since Aria didn't know anyone yet, she decided to just get in a random boat, which happened to be the orange boat. Aria took a moment to dip her hand in the water.

Wow. The famous Hogwarts Great Lake. This is crazy!

This was getting real.

Actions:

Reducio

Aria joins the orange boat.

@Lev Makarov | @Camilla Carter

Little Lemmy exited the Hogwarts Express floating on could nine. What an adventure that had been! He had simply stuffed his guts full of chocolates and sweets when the trolley came by. Then he had met a new friend that he hoped to have for life! Well, that seemed far fetched considering he had mostly just talked her ear off and maybe she was a bit annoyed the whole time, but Lemmy was a dreamer and dream he did. Then came the sugar crash and inevitable nap which likely came a relief to this new lifelong friend. However, he had awoken just before the train pulled in to Hogsmeade Station and the thought of glimpsing Hogwarts in person for the very first time flooded his little body with a burst of energy!

"Oh my goodness! Can you believe the day has finally come!" Lemmy exclaimed to no one in particular as he hopped down off of the train, his luggage clanging and banging behind him as he struggled to pull the chest, but he had not a care in the world. Fortunately his luggage would be handled and the presence of an adult running his way drew his attention. "Hello Ruckus! I'm Lemmy LaRue!" The boy waved and jumped up and down. "Oh that does sound delightful. Oh! A special way. Cant argue with more food!" Lemmy talked through the Caretaker's speech really just to himself as he had a habit of doing. No harm though! Soon his little legs scurried off towards the boats as instructed.

"I choose purple!" Again the part-Goblin would exclaim to no one or everyone depending on who cared to listen or not. There was only one other boy in the purple boat and soon enough Lemmy would plop down into the boat with him with a bit of a thud that made the boat shift back and forth. "Hello, new friend! I'm Lemmy. Lemmy LaRue. What's your name? Can you believe that we are about to go across this lake to Hogwarts! I wonder why they even do it this way? The caretaker said it was for a dramatic introduction, so I guess that it." He rambled on excitedly as he reached out his hand for a proper introduction.

Joining purple boat. Please leave space for Camilla Carter!

When Novalie noticed the surprise on their faces and even received a compliment from the girl in front of her, her cheeks flushed a bit more than usual. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to know anything about it either. The boy, however - while not seeming entirely informed - appeared to have some understanding.

"Oh yeah, super uncommon where I’m from, but definitely a wizard thing", he claimed and his confidence made her believe him instantly.

Novalie felt a wave of relief wash over her, realizing that her 'condition' might not remain a mystery forever. He went on to mention that he once knew someone who could change their appearance, though it had been a long time.

Novalie's eyes and smile grew even wider as she eagerly leaned in closer to him, clearly invading his personal space by now. But she was too excited to notice - she had to learn more about it!!

"Wow! Wow, wow!!", she exclaimed, her irises now so light they almost sparkled like diamonds in the moonlight, "Was he your friend? Where did you meet him? What exactly could he do?"

She was desperate to know everything and it showed.
Novalie shot a quick glance at the other girl in the boat, assuming she must be just as curious as the redhead was! Well, who wouldn't be?!

@Vera Caird @Aodhan Shaw

Vera's speech: #22706f | Vera's thoughts
-----\/-----
@Novalie Moon | @Aodhan Shaw

Noticing the blush on the other girl's cheeks, Vera gave her a tiny smile before she turned her attention to the boy. His antics reminded her of her older brother Matt, he would mess around for comedic effect too before very seriously dropping something completely out of the pocket or made-up at her.

"Ah, but I forgot the name of the last person I saw with that kinda magic power." And it sounded exactly like something Matt would say but he wasn't Matt, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt and leant in closer too, her elbows going to rest on her knees.

The redhead was obviously very interested and Vera couldn't blame her - she'd be itching to know more if it was her with changing... bits as well, so she played along. Her own interest came from being completely unaware of such changes being possible in the first place.

"I'm not from a wizarding family, so this is all new to me too," she let slip without a second thought. Here's hoping it doesn't come bite me, she thought as she plastered on a smile to look a bit more confident about the whole situation than she really was.

A side of her was hoping that she'd bump into a - what do they call them? Muggles? - into a Muggle-born kid who's a little out of their depth like her. Everybody seemed so excited and she was too, really, but it was all happening so fast. At least these two seemed nice and she was happy to let the other girl ask her questions as she listened.

Kim had waited for most of the other students to leave before she decided to step out of the train as well. Despite her hope for the platform to be at least a little emptier, she was now stuck in a crowd of excited kids, most of them older than her, and although she had been the tallest girl in her class back home she felt tiny at that moment.

Taking a step forward, she stumbled as someone crashed into her from behind.


Oh, sorry!

She looked around to see if the person was okay but they had already disappeared into the crowd. What she did spot now though was the adult calling out for the first-years. A little bit relieved that she wasn't completely left to her own devices, she moved toward him and the boats that were rocking in the dark water of the Great Lake, her mother had told her about.

Admittedly, her mother hadn't said much about the school or its grounds, since she was of the firm opinion that one should make their own impressions of things instead of letting it be influenced by others. Kim had sulked after that and since her cousin went to a different school she couldn't go to him so she resigned herself to do as her mother told.

When she had finally made her way through the crowd, most of the boats were already taking by at least one person. A small smile formed on her face when she saw the rubber ducks attached to them. She decided on the orange boat after a few seconds. When Kim tried to carefully step in, she immediately lost her footing and fell into a girl already sitting in it.

Horrified and embarrassed, she scrambled away.

I am so sorry! Are you okay? I stumbled, I didn't mean to fall into you, I swear!

Kim was aware that she was rambling but couldn't seem to stop the flood of words spilling out of her mouth.

I was looking where I was going, I promise, the pier was just so slippery. I'm really sorry!

As her hand touched the water, Mila could feel the little boat moving under the weight of another student joining the boat. Turning around to see who had joined her, the young girl left the little yellow ducks alone in the water. "Oh, hi!" she exclaimed happily as she realized Erlea had joined her boat. They had shared a compartment on the train but Mila had completely forgotten about her as soon as the train had arrived. A big grin appeared on her face, like a four-year-old who found one of their favourite toys after losing it. "I am so excited!!" she squealed, unable to contain emotions. They were almost at Hogwarts, just the boat ride was left.

Admiring how easily the other had secured a rubber duck for herself, Mila watched as Erlea held up the duck to her face. Her face broke into another big smile as the other girl imitated the sound of a duck, and as soon as Erlea started giggling, Mila broke out in laughter as well. "You are a great duck! You should jump in the water to be with your family," she giggled as she pointed at the floating ducks. "I am sure they missed you a lot," she added.

It seemed like someone else approved of the idea of Erlea being reunited with her family, as a random student jumped onto their boat. Surprised by the sudden movement, Mila let out a high-pitched scream and wrapped her hands tightly around the side of the moving boat. Once the surprise had disappeared, Mila let out a small chuckle, adrenaline still coursing through her. Her eyes spotted the instigator, who seemed quite happy with herself. The new girl had curly blond hair and blue eyes filled with a level of confidence Mila was jealous of.