Starting Anew

Olivia glanced over the crowd as her mother hurriedly pulled her across the platform, speaking non-stop. Mesmerized, Olivia watched the old-fashioned black train, its golden lettering sparkling in the sun.
“Livi, are you even listening to me?“ her mother sighed in frustration. “The Owlery is at the top of one of the towers. You won't have time for it tonight, but first thing in the morning, after you wake up, go there, grab one of the school owls, and write to me so I know you’ve arrived safely and if we forgot anything while packing, okay?“
“Sure, Mum,“ Olivia replied dutifully, unable to take her eyes off the train.
Her mother gave her a patient smile. “The first journey to Hogwarts is always special,“ she said. “It’s where you'll meet your first friends.“
She gazed at the train with a faint, wistful look before quickly tearing her gaze away and ushering Olivia into a carriage. “Have fun! Write to me tomorrow with everything!“
“I will!“ Olivia called back, waving enthusiastically. “Mum and Dad love you, don’t forget that“ Olivia felt a warm tug at her heart. “Of course. Love you too. Bye, Mum!“
She was pushed further into the carriage by a group of older students chatting among themselves, and soon her mother was out of sight. Olivia paused for a moment, then squared her shoulders, tightening her grip on Billy’s suitcase, determined not to let her nerves show. With her chin held high, she strode down the aisle, silently cursing herself for not leaving more time, as most compartments were already full.
However, after a few minutes of wandering through the train, she spotted a single girl through a compartment window, roughly her age. Olivia took a deep breath, cleared her mind, lifted her chin even higher, and opened the compartment door.
“Is this seat taken?“ she asked, hoping her voice sounded firm.

Olivia waited for the girl's response, and when she heard a shy “You may,“ she exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. For a brief moment, their eyes met, and Olivia caught a glimpse of the freckles on her face before the other girl quickly broke eye contact and started fiddling with her hands. Silently, Olivia lifted her suitcase onto the luggage rack and then dropped onto the seat diagonally across from her, as far away as possible. Out of the corner of her eye, she observed the girl, glancing at the rings on her fingers. One of them, with a blue stone, cast a soft light onto her pale face, making her look strangely endearing.
“That’s a pretty stone,“ Olivia said, just to break the silence, gesturing to the blue one. As if the mention of it had lifted the weight of her awkwardness, she hurriedly added, before the blonde had a chance to reply, “I'm Olivia, by the way. It's my first year here. Is it yours too? My mum went to Hogwarts, my dad didn't—he's a Muggle. What about your parents? Are they wizards?“
Olivia flushed as she realized she'd babbled, lowering her head in embarrassment.

Eleanor struggled at the train door with her large luggage. Mom and dad helped her lift the suitcase in and exhausted Eleanor turned around, only to see mother's teary eyes. "Be safe out there, but don't forget to enjoy. You're starting an outstanding journey and me and your father are proud of you", mother said, while grabbing Eleanor into a tight hug. "I will miss you all so much!", Eleanor struggled to say behind tears that she so hard tried to hide. "It is shame my cousins couldn't come here today", she continued, stepping back from her mother. "We will tell your greetings to them right when we get home", Eleanor's father said, hugging his daughter when it was his turn to say goodbyes. Suddenly train whistled and let a huge pile of smoke in the air. "Hurry up darling, Christmas holiday will come before you know it and we'll meet again!", dad encouraged her daughter, but as if Eleanor heard his voice break, just a little.

Eleanor stepped on the train while waving final goodbyes, grabbing her luggage and starting to pull it through a long aisle. Still fighting against her tears, she swiped her long blonde hair behind the left ear, wondering where to get seated. All corridors which she passed seemed full already, with people who, to her eyes, seemed all so familiar to each other. After pulling her luggage for so long she was sure the train would end soon, she heard someone speaking in next corridor. She peaked in and saw two girls seated in there, and it seemed like they had just arrived. Suddenly feeling a bit relieved for some space, Eleanor knocked on the door and opened it. “Hello,” she said sounding more confident than she in reality was. “is there any space for me and my excessively large, stubborn suitcase?”, she asked pointing out at her light blue suitcase she was pulling behind her.

The stone seemed to glow from within—at least, that’s how it appeared to Olivia. She didn’t know much about birthstones—no one in her family had ever shown any particular interest in petrology—but she decided she would look it up once they were at Hogwarts. As she examined the pretty stone in the hand of the girl opposite her, unable to suppress a certain fascination, the carriage door opened. Another student, with long blonde hair, stepped in. Olivia eyed her curiously and gave her a small grin before turning her attention back to the shy girl who had just asked a question, so softly that Olivia had to blink once to be sure she hadn’t imagined the sound.

“Not much,“ she replied with a shrug. “It’s supposed to be one of the best schools out there. Somehow, they divide you into four houses, and then...“ she gestured vaguely in the air, “...you learn something about magic, I guess.“ A grin spread across her face. “My mum has a book about magical creatures at home. Man, I really hope we study unicorns or something in our first year. I didn’t even know they were real.“ Olivia imagined a herd of majestic creatures strolling across a meadow. Did they live in that mysterious forest, perhaps?

“So, what subject are you most excited about?“ she asked the two girls, pulling her brother’s yo-yo out from the side pocket of her suitcase.

@Olivia O'Brian"You didn't know they were real?" A short breath escaped Sage as she became surprised at Olivia's words. "Of course they're real! ... I mean, I'm not too informed about magical creatures, but..." She quieted down as she noticed how much she had been speaking in the last few moments, her face a bright shade of embarrassment. "I'm, uhm, s - sorry ..." Sage exclaimed, neatly folding her hands in her lap, fingers tapping against. "Potions." A last squeak of words came from the scrawny blonde, as she looked to the window, as if that would give her any guidance on managing anxiety. She took a quick deep, yet shallow breath, before continuing to watch the two girls who had been sitting near her, as of now. "Do you two have any interests? Either of you?" She stared at the gleaming rings sitting upon her lengthy fingers, her other pointer finger hovering over, and eventually touching the miniature, shiny spider perched upon her finger, as she moved it back and forth to examine the metallic gleam. It seems as if one simple question had drained all of the life out of her, Sage's already-pale face gradually draining of its color.

The yo-yo unraveled before she flicked her wrist with a small movement to bring it back up. She couldn’t help but smile at the blonde’s astonishment and felt a little giddy with joy because she had said more than just one sentence, even though she seemed to immediately felt slightly awkward about it afterward. Cheerfully, she let the yo-yo drop again. “I like music. Listening to it, composing it, playing it – although I often fail at the last one,” she explained, her voice carrying a hint of self-deprecation. “And drawing. Though I’m not very good at that either.” The yo-yo landed smoothly in her hand.

“Potions, you say?” Olivia pondered aloud, “I’ve snooped around in my mother’s potion books a bit. It’s kind of like cooking, isn’t it? Actually, it sounds quite fun, but… the ingredients make me a little squeamish.” She scrunched her face slightly, remembering a recipe that involved leeches. “Maybe I shouldn’t have researched that subject – maybe I’d be more excited about it otherwise.”

She let the yo-yo trace a graceful loop in the air before casually catching it again. “What about you guys?” she asked, trying to offer an encouraging smile. Then, a thought struck her. “Oh, wait,” she began, “I don’t think I’ve even asked for your names yet?”

Eleanor struggled to fit her suitcase under the seat while listening to other girls’ conversation about Hogwarts classes and magical beasts. Swiping her hair away from the face she sat on the seat after finally settling her suitcase to its place. While steading her breath she took a better look at the girls while listening their conversation.

“Oh wait, I don’t think I’ve even asked for your names yet”, she heard brown-haired girl say in the middle of the conversation. Eleanor decided this was her time to join the conversation she had been so excitedly listening to.

“I am Eleanor”, she started glancing at both girls quickly.
“My both parents were Ravenclaws at Hogwarts, so I hope I will be also, even if it doesn’t matter that much”, she shrugged. “I cannot wait to start magical beasts studies also, I find them astonishing! Also herbology sounds interesting, my mother is a herbologist”, she kept telling a story about her parents.
“Sorry, I am just so excited it is difficult to stop talking when I start”, she blushed just a little bit.
“So it sounds you both come from magical families or… is it okay to ask? I don’t know if it is acceptable topic to ask about..”, Eleanor continues but then remembers her parents’ teachings about being discreet about topics which some people might find difficult to talk about, even if she didn’t usually have difficulties talking about anything.

Captivated, she listened to the girl – Eleanor, Olivia reminded herself – and tried to ignore Eleanor's sudden discomfort when the conversation turned to their parents. Olivia had noticed before that some witches and wizards became noticeably cautious when the topic of blood status came up, which had made her uneasy as well. When she had asked her mother about it, her mom had simply waved it off and murmured, “Just ignore this political nonsense.“
“My mum's a witch,“ Olivia confirmed with a shrug. “She was in Gryffindor. But I don't think I have much of a chance there. But hey – maybe we'll both end up in Ravenclaw!“
Olivia was actually convinced the Hat would sort her into Hufflepuff, but the idea of sharing a dormitory with the two girls from the compartment suddenly seemed so real that she had to hold herself back from spilling all her ideas about what they could do together. She glanced briefly at the other girl and hoped fervently that she shared similar wishes.

“But it sounds like your mum's a bit cooler than mine,“ Olivia said finally, a hint of envy in her voice. She had only researched herbology a little, in connection with potions, but had barely scratched the surface.
“You have to tell me everything you know about those mandrake things. Do they really scream, or is that just metaphorical?“ She made a face. “My mum only writes boring Muggle novels. You probably wouldn't be interested – in fact, no one really is.“ Sie rolled the yo-yo up and placed it next to her on the seat.

Suddenly, it occurred to her that Eleanor might not actually know much about Herbology just because her mother was an expert – after all, Olivia had no idea how heart surgery worked, even though her father was a surgeon.
She blushed at the thought of how hasty she'd been. “Well, you don't have to, of course,“ she added quickly. “Only if you want to.“