✴ To Leave With Enthusiasm ✴ PV Closed

(OOC: Is this RPG still open?)

Sen was sighing a lot today. He noticed everyone were already walking around trying to find their own carts to be in. He really didn't want to bump into someone accidentally and have to socialise, but alas, fate was not on his side.

Sen sighed once more. Where on earth can one sit? At this rate it really did seem like he had to pair up with another person or group. He would have to make sure to choose the people himself then.

"Annoying," he muttered, pulling the trunk along unenthusiastically. He noticed that a particular cart was quite and it didn't look like anyone was inside.

He proceeded to open the door, and once he did, noticed the girl sitting alone, reading Defence Against The Dark Arts silently. He stilled, standing there awkwardly. Well, this didn't go to plan.

"Um... Hi... Uhh..." He looked away as the girl looked up at him. "Can I sit here? Um, I'm Sen, Sen Leaf. I'm a first year, and it seems you're a second or third. It's fine with me if you don't want me here, I can always go somewhere else and you probably have your own friends or something..." He started rambling. What on earth was he saying?

This was not part of the plan. Abort! But alas, his body kept him there, standing awkwardly and being awkward.

"Um," he started again, "I'm just gonna... Go or, yeah. Ok bye." He started turning around, picking up his trunk with him.

Airlia watched people on the platform from the window. They were carrying their trunks and owls were squeaking. A young boy with black hair was chasing a toad and some girls were playing with a magical frisbee.

Families were hugging and holding hands. Parents were saying goodbye to their children and kids were boarding the train their younger siblings crying about being too young to go to Hogwarts.

It was a bittersweet goodbye to most families as people watched their children with a sense of pride while their eyes were clouded with tears.

Airlia wished her parents would be a bit more open and affectionate. That they wouldn't be as reserved and uptight. Maybe then she could be among those families. It would be nice to be really open and caring with her parents. But it wasn't the way for them. Saving face and being prim and proper were her parent's main motivations.

The cart door opening pulled her away from her thoughts as she turned to look. A boy stood on the doorway. He looked slightly awkward and had hair as black as the feathers on a crow. He had piercing blue eyes and he wore a scarf around his neck.

The boy stuttered with his words as he asked to join her, clearly uncomfortable.

But Airlia was polite and had been raised to never interrupt someone while they are talking and as such, she sat silently and listened as he embarrassed himself stuttering and tripping over his words.

When the boy finally seized speaking and turned around to leave Airlia called out: "You don't have to leave. I was hoping I would meet a new friend on the train. Seems as though fate chose that would be you."

She stood up and moved her trunk out of the way so he would have room to come in and reached her hand out for him to shake: "I'm Airlia Winter, I'm a second-year Hufflepuff. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Reducio

@OOC: Sen Leaf yes, it's still open : )

(Interacting with @Airlia Winter)

Sen was about to awkwardly shuffle away, having not expecting to actually meet anyone so early on, and not knowing what to do.

"You don't have to leave. I was hoping I would meet a new friend on the train. Seems as though fate chose that would be you."

The other girl gave him her hand to shake, which he took confidently, he'd already failed spectacularly at first impressions, he didn't want to fail at handshaking as well.

"I'm Airlia Winter, I'm a second-year Hufflepuff. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Sen Leaf, I'm going to be a first year when classes starts. Though I don't exactly mind which house I end up sorted into, I can't help but prefer Ravenclaw. It's a pleasure to meet you, Airlia." Sen smiled politely, taking a seat in front of the Hufflepuff.

He put his trunk on the floor to the side, not wanting it to be in the way.

"So you are a second year, right? Can you tell me about the school? What are the people like? Are Gryffindor's really as loud and brash as rumours say? Is every Hufflepuff kind? Are Slytherin's really as cunning and cold? Are Ravenclaws really so stuck up?"

Sen asked, almost at the edge of his seat. Curiosity brimmed in his expression, eyes wide and expectant.

"What are classes like? What are the teachers like? Is the librarian really so particular on silence as other students say?"

Airlia smiled at her new companion. Glad not to be alone anymore she smiled: "Well it's nice to meet you Sen. Don't worry you'll probably get to Ravenclaw if that's what you want. You look smart and that's the thing they treasure most."

Airlia looked out the window when the train jolted into movement. Parents were waving goodbye at the platform and younger children were running to keep up with the train to no avail.

"If you need someone to show you around the school at any point you can come to me. And if you have any questions feel free to ask. I might not be the smartest, but I know a thing or two about being a first-year at Hogwarts." She wanted to be helpful but felt a voice inside her head telling her to steer clear of the topic of potions.

Airlia was notoriously bad at brewing any kind of liquid in that class. She even boiled water wrong and it turned red. To this day no one seemed to know how she'd done that. Being asked about potions was one of her worst nightmares as she could do only bad when it came to the subject.

She wondered about the boy's blood status. His name was unfamiliar to her so there was no way he was a pureblood. If he were she'd know which family tree he belonged to and Sen Leaf rang no bell from her history classes from her mother back home.

(@Airlia Winter )

"You look smart and that's the thing they treasure most." Airlia smiled at him, making him smile back on reflex. It was nice meeting such a nice girl who didn't make fun of him for once, especially so early in his new adventure.

"Really? Huh, I wouldn't know a thing about-." He started to mutter bitterly, but cut himself short. He reprimanded himself mentally. Now was not the time to bring up the past.

He followed Airlia's gaze to the parents and younger siblings waving goodbye. He felt a pang of sadness and nausea. If they were still alive, would they be there, standing on the platform waving goodbye to him as well? Would they be as tearful and proud? Or... Or...

"-if you have any questions feel free to ask. I might not be the smartest, but I know a thing or two about being a first-year at Hogwarts." Sen snapped back to reality.

"I see, thank you for the help in advance!" He gave her another smile, tucking his irrational emotions away.

He didn't want to indulge the stranger (friend? His mind whispered traitorously) in his personal problems. Especially when said problems were his own, and he could deal with them like that, alone. Even more so when the stranger is being so kind and helpful to him, unlike so many others.

As the two fell into silence, and his depressive thoughts left him, he could see curiosity brimming in her eyes. It wasn't too hard to spot, the way her eyes peered at him in thought and furrowing her eyebrows slightly as she examined him. It made himself curious as to what she wanted to ask.

(Rewrote my previous response due to lack of words. Added some questions you can just answer in your next. Sorry about that.)

Airlia just sat for a moment before shaking her head to clear it: "Oh, but you did already ask questions didn't you. My mind is usually jumping from one thing to another, sorry about that."

"So, yes I am a second year. The school is amazing. Hogwarts is beautiful and the grounds around it are spacious. You certainly won't get bored there. We have classes from Monday to Friday and we have weekends off; except those that didn't do their homework during the week complete them on Saturday or Sunday." She herself could remember waking up on Saturday thinking of having a day off before realizing she needs to hand in a three feet essay on Monday. Those weekends were the worst.

"The people are nice. Gryffindors are usually loud but I've met a few really shy Hufflepuffs that were hard to make friends with. Not all Slytherins are unfriendly and Ravenclaws are a lot of help when it comes to studying. While the stereotypes do usually get some people just right there are always people who think and act outside the box so to say." Airlia thought back to all the people she'd met. She believed that every one of them had been sorted right, but not everyone was from the same mold.

Airlia thought back to all the other questions the boy had asked: "Well the library is a zone of silence but you can whisper. The classes are nice... Except for potions... I'm really bad at potions. The teachers are really nice too. Some are more strict than others, but they're always ready to help out which is nice."

Airlia realized she was rambling and blushed: "So where are you from?" She asked to give him the chance to speak for once. She wished he would enter some long monolog to make her conversation faux pas less visible.

(@Airlia Winter)

Sen smiled slightly to himself as Airlia went on about Hogwarts. There was nothing she spoke of that didn't surprise him really. The only thing he was relatively surprised by was the Ravenclaw part.

He thought most, if not all, houses kept to themselves without much mingling. He voiced his thoughts: "Don't houses usually keep to themselves? I would have thought students studied in their house groups... Huh." He let Airlia ask her question.

He was somewhat curious about what she meant being bad at potions. One can't be so horrible right? Though, he supposed, it's like muggle school, someone can be horrible at one subject and excellent at another.

"Where are you from?" He smiled to himself as she blushed. He could relate somewhat, his mind remembering just earlier.

"I'm from England. In a small town, not quite the country side however. And yourself?" He felt a pang of annoyance, what did the Hufflepuff want to ask him earlier? It definitely wasn't over this. It was obvious she was somewhat riled up over it, and yet he's still waiting for the question.

He decided to speak up, to satisfy his curiosity: "What did you want to ask me earlier?" He watched her as she tried to remember what he was talking about. "You know, when you were thinking particularly hard about something."

"Houses do stay in their common rooms and dormitories, but some study together in the library with their friends from other houses, and in some classes we are paired up with students that aren't from our own house." She spoke to untangle the mess her words seemed to have made in the boy's head regarding friendships and work between houses.

"I've never been to the English countryside, well maybe I have but when we travel to the manors of... friends-" She decided to leave the word; pureblood out: "I am never allowed to leave the house grounds. I'm from Finland, from a tiny town called Taika. It's the only town with no muggles; just like Hogsmeade."

She blushed in embarrassment when asking about the earlier question she'd had rummaging in he head. It wasn't the type of question many would word out or truly ask of anyone if they wished to make friends. Usually, things like that weren't asked so early on...

"Well... I pride myself on not caring about blood status. I have been raised to value pureblood above all but it's not the way I think. I do always seem to know the blood status of someone when I meet them. People are easy to figure out on that field of magic but... I couldn't figure you out? What are you? You aren't pureblood. That's for sure." She realized once again that she was rambling: "Sorry, it's not proper to ask so early on."

@Airlia Winter

Sen nodded in understanding. He supposed it made sense that students may have friends in other houses, and prefer to stay with them. After all, there was no guarantee everyone you like is in the same house as you.

Like how Airlia was a Hufflepuff, and he himself is more of a Ravenclaw, he mused the thought in his head.

Sen wasn't that good at Geography. His teachers bored him to no end, having favourites and not reinforcing rules, not to mention, the subject itself was taxing. This particular class was the one he probably disliked the most asides P.E., both with two-faced classmates he used to call friends. He also had no need for such subject, why learn about places that you're never going to visit and things you're never going to use?

But he'd heard of Finland a few times from other orphans and classmates, although he didn't remember anything particular about the place. For some reason, a few other children wanted to travel around the world, making plans about the places they wish to visit.

He wondered what kind of place the Hufflepuff visited, that she wasn't allowed outside the grounds. From the look of her face there was something bothering her.

He was a bit surprised that she actually answered his curiosity, as he could see the subtle discomfort on her face. He was surprised at the mini speech, and could tell she was feeling awkward, it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

But... 'Blood status? Field of magic? Pure blood?' He almost didn't hear the apology, and he was certain his confusion showed on his face. He then recalled something about the term "blood status" in a book.

"Blood status... Isn't that the thing where you either have muggle parents, wizard parents, or one of each? If I recall correctly, if you had muggle parents, you were labelled a muggleborn. Then, because of high and mighty people, they were sometimes nicknamed 'mudbloods'." Sen murmured, recalling and comparing a few history books on the wizarding world.

"Half-bloods are where one parent is a wizard and the other a muggle. Pure-bloods, like the name suggests, is where both parents are wizards. A squib is someone born into a wizard family but does not gain any magical powers. They are often looked down. You are a pure-blood, both parents are wizards. The fact that you were raised to value this blood status thing is proof that your parents are, no offence meant, supremacists."

Sen tilted his head in thought at her question after giving a history(?) lesson. He didn't notice the change of speech, from confident to soft but robotic as he rambled his thoughts aloud.

"I do not know," he concluded, frowning, "no one really told me. Not the letter, or Orphanage. My parents died when I was young and I don't have any siblings. I don't remember them, nor have I cared enough after seven years of age to ask. For all I know is that this could just be a fluke, perhaps I really don't have any magical powers and they've made a mistake. Or perhaps this is an elaborate prank, or dream to get my hopes up then crush it."

He shrugged nonchalantly. It wasn't as if his status as an orphan was a secret - hell he didn't really care. It wasn't that big of a deal, though he wished people would stop making it one. But he did believe the teachers, or the headmaster, or someone made a mistake.

He decided to change the subject, knowing it would get awkward quite soon otherwise. His tone of voice changed back quite abruptly, now noticeably curious and lively: "What's Finland like? I don't exactly know much about it." Maybe asking something familiar to Airlia instead of subjects she isn't sure about will make her feel more comfortable.

Wait. He remembered something she said, 'Hogsmeade? Isn't that the place only third years and above can go?' He'll have to ask someone about what they know sometime later. He tucked the piece information away in a corner, intent on reading up on it when he got the chance.