An Enthusiastic Travel Companion
date
01/09/25word count
458outfit
⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊speech
#8C2626mentions
@Ewan MacLeod
@Eonaria Kabukimononotes
xxx
As the train moved, Lucille's eyes once again returned to the world outside. She had completely turned away from her pair of companions, trio if you counted Daisy May, but her ears were still tuned in to the conversation, even as her eyes weren't. Ewan spoke of his house after she did. He seemed a bit more uncertain than she was, which was probably a good thing. He hadn't settled on a house yet, which meant that whatever the sorting hat gave him, he'd be alright with it. She figured that might be a bit of a disadvantage for her; the sorting hat might place her in a random house and Lucille would never understand why.
"You're right, of course," Lucille offered quickly when Eonaria explained the sorting to the pair. "But I do hope the hat will take pity on me and throw me where I wish to go. Who knows? Perhaps our next meet will be in the common room!" Lucille's enthusiasm was clearly still there, with the naive hopefulness of a first year attending Hogwarts for the first time.
"What's in the snack trolley?" Lucille asked, spinning around to face Eonaria when she mentioned having been here before. There was an excited gleam in her eye to find someone who would have some recent experience with Hogwarts and, of all questions, Lucille opted for this one. It seemed only the promise of food could break her intense gaze outside. Just as the words left her mouth, the compartment door slid open, and the trolley that they had all probably been waiting for came into view.
Her question answered whether Eonaria said anything or not, Lucille looked at the trolley the way a puppy looks at a steak. The lady that had brought it said something, but Lucille didn't quite catch it. She assumed it was probably a question of what they wanted. She straightened, dishing her hand into her pocket and feeling around for the money she had brought. She looked up to see Ewan doing what she assumed was the same thing, and offered a smile. The trolley was supposed to have amazing snacks, and you would never find ones that tasted just like them. Lucille glanced at it, finally pulling some money out of her pocket, and deciding right then and there, that she would buy everything chocolate she could see.
"Would you all like to share? Or is this an every man for himself scenario?" she asked the others. Her voice was light, full of jest, and clearly indicating that she wouldn't mind either response. Of course, if they weren't all sharing, she might have to ditch her initial plan of buying only chocolate and get something savory to cleanse her palate.
| sta 7 eva 7 str 6 wis 5 arc 6 acc 4 calming presence | iNPC: Antoine de Laurent |
An Enthusiastic Travel Companion
The train rumbled steadily beneath them, the clickety-clack of wheels on tracks carrying them closer and closer to Hogsmeade Station. When Ewan stole a glance out the window, the scene had already changed: rolling greens and scattered woods filled his vision. Every so often, a small village would appear in the distance, trails of smoke rising from the little chimneys into the sky.
At that point, the compartment door slid open, and the kindly voice of the trolley witch soon followed. “Anything from the trolley, dears?” She asked, her cart full with sweets and every treat imaginable.
The smell of chocolate and sugar hit Ewan’s nostrils, and his stomach gave a grumble in response.
Lucille asking if they’d like to share made him grin. “Aye, I don’t mind sharin’.” He fished in his pocket, feeling for the clink of coin beside his trinkets. Holding a few coin pieces carefully on his extended palm, he asked the trolley witch for a couple of Chocolate Frogs (the cards inside were what he was after, of course) along with a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, and some kind of marmalade pastry. Not too much, but just enough to sweeten their journey.
Offering the opened beans box around the compartment, he commented with a lopsided smile “These’ll be fun. Bit of a gamble: could be treacle tart… could be soap.” His voice gave away his amusement, rather than worry. After eating one that tasted of grapes, Ewan unwrapped his first Chocolate Frog as the foil crinkled in his lap. The frog inside leaped heroically one single time, as expected, before he managed to catch it, chuckling under his breath.
His attention was soon drawn to the card within the packaging. Sliding it free, his eyes lit up at the sight of Rowena Ravenclaw, whose gaze was intelligent and measured in turn. “Brilliant…” he murmured to himself, tilting the card so that the portrait shifted and the figure nodded regally at him. “They say she came up wi’ half the magic Hogwarts is built on.” He commented conversationally, his voice tinged with awe and respect. “Imagine bein’ remembered centuries after your time for the ideas you left behind. Woah…” Ewan carefully tucked the card between the pages of a small notebook he had produced from one of the inner pockets of his cloak, probably already thinking about how she fit into the history of Hogwarts with the three other founders.
An Enthusiastic Travel Companion
XXXLucille spun around to face Eonaria, asking about the snack trolley with an excited gleam in her eye. She chuckled slightly, trying to think back. She wasn't usually a fan of regular British Wizarding sweets, but some of the ones offered on the snack trolley were acceptable.
XXX"Ah, there's Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs, of course, and..." Eonaria scrunched her nose slightly. The Honeydukes selection was much more appealing to her, but sadly, she was likely not going back after that one fiasco last year. "Liquorice Wands... there's probably more, but I don't remember them all."
XXXThe compartment door opened as the trolley witch arrived, smiling merrily with her cart. "I don't mind sharing either," Eonaria agreed as she watched Ewan purchase a few treats. She herself tugged a few Sickles from her pouch to buy a dozen Liquorice Wands. It was kind of embarrassing, but those were the only ones that seemed good now, and she was both a slow nibbler and a hoarder of candies.
XXX"Whenever I get the Every Flavour Beans at home, I always check the scent very thoroughly," she offered. "Sometimes it mostly smells of wax, but others have stronger scents. It has saved me from many extremely peculiar ones. I don't think that's safe for sharing, though. I don't think anyone wants to try a bean that has been that close to my nose already." Eonaria idly watched Ewan's Chocolate Frog attempt to escape before getting caught.
XXXShe didn't like chocolate very much, as most of them had some combination of being too sweet, too rich, too bitter, too sticky, or otherwise unpleasantly textured. She did like collecting the cards, though. Eonaria would usually buy a Chocolate Frog, take the card, and then gift the frog to one of her friends while trying her best not to look at the frog.
XXX"It's almost unfathomable," Eonaria agreed dreamily. "I'm sure there will be no one else quite like the founders of Hogwarts. It's an amazing place to learn and discover."
.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬ . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. ♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.
post number 1000! 
| Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 𝄞 Shop ˙⋆✮⋆˚࿔ | iNPC: Akari Kabukimono |
An Enthusiastic Travel Companion
date
01/09/25word count
436outfit
⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊speech
#8C2626mentions
@Ewan MacLeod
@Eonaria Kabukimononotes
congrats Eonaria!!
As Lucille fumbled in her pockets for the money, the others bought their treats. Ewan offered his Every Flavour Beans to the pair of them and, after a moment of hesitation, in which she wrinkled her nose at the box, she finally caved. "Alright, let's see what we get," she said, reaching out and carefully trying to pick one that looked unassuming. She finally settled on a plain white one, as Eonaria explained her method to get a good bean. In all honesty, Lucille wouldn't want to eat something that had been so close to her own nose and, besides, regular white can't possibly be that bad, can it? In a moment of bravery, Lucille popped the bean into her mouth and... it was not what she expected.
Her eyebrows furrowed together in a slight scowl as she chewed. Finally, swallowing, she spoke. "That tasted like... glue? Or paper? Somehow both? I don't think it's the worst of the batch, though," she said with a laugh, finally turning to the trolley and ordering quicker than normal, in an attempt to get a nice treat to remove the odd taste in her mouth.
She got a few Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, a couple chocolate bars and, after seeing Ewan's chocolate frog leap, quickly decided she wouldn't be getting any of those. Perhaps this was the Muggle side of her speaking, but she didn't think she could eat something that leaped of its own accord. The card that it came with was interesting, though, and Lucille leaned forward to get a better view of it.
Before she spoke, she opened the chocolate bar and broke a piece off with her hand, before popping it into her mouth. She wanted to get rid of the bean's aftertaste before anything else. Daisy May, seeing her owner unwrap some food, quickly hurried up, assuming Lucille had a cat treat. Lucille immediately lifted the chocolate bar out of the cat's reach and, after a few meows of protest, Daisy May quickly realized that she wouldn't be getting a snack from Lucille anytime soon. "I'll get something for you when we reach, I promise," she told the cat, who seemed quite annoyed at the fact that everyone was enjoying a meal except her.
Looking up, she focused her attention on her travel mates again. "I heard that she designed the moving staircases. Remarkable, certainly, but I imagine I'll be quite annoyed at her until I figure out how to get around," she joked, giggling a little. Lucille offered the opened chocolate bar to Eonaria and Ewan, before breaking off another piece for herself.
| sta 7 eva 7 str 6 wis 5 arc 6 acc 4 calming presence | iNPC: Antoine de Laurent |
An Enthusiastic Travel Companion
“Glue an’ paper, huh?”, he chuckled, shaking his head. He placed the open box sideways on the empty seat next to him, so that the others may have access to it should they wish to gamble again.
As Lucille unwrapped her chocolate bar, Daisy May padded forward with what looked like hopeful eyes and impatient meows. Ewan laughed softly at the kitten’s protests. “Aye, chocolate’s no good for ye. But maybe there’ll be somethin’ better at Hogwarts… like mice!”
He gave the cat a conspiratorial wink.
Eonaria’s words about the founders lingered in his head. “It is somethin’ else, truly…” he leaned back against his seat, speaking quietly, “They were visionaries, on top of being powerful witches an’ wizards. Kinda feels impossible to imagine one person shapin’ so much o’ the world.” He paused, considering Lucille’s joke about the moving stairs. His laughter soon followed quick and light, his auburn hair flopping about. “Haha, I’ll be cursing her as well, should the stairs disappear from under me!”
The countryside blurred past the window, soft green rolling hills and the occasional dot of sheep, cottages, or woods. Sunlight spilled across the glass, warming his cheek as he leaned closer, eyes following the sweep of fields rushing by. For a moment, he thought of home. Then the train jolted slightly, pulling him back to the present.
He broke a piece off Lucille’s offered chocolate with a word of thanks, letting the sweetness melt on his tongue.
“What classes are you looking most forward to?” He asked, glancing between the two girls.
“I can’t wait for Charms, and Herbology seems interesting…”
An Enthusiastic Travel Companion
XXXEonaria watched in bemusement as Lucille bravely popped a white bean into her mouth before declaring it of the taste of glue and paper. "Perhaps it's... envelope-flavoured?" Was that a thing? She had no idea if envelope had been added to the flavour collection recently, or if had always been there. Thank goodness I've never happened upon one of those. She started nibbling on the end of one of the Liquorice Wands, stowing the rest of them in her pocket alongside her actual wand. If any magic-casting was required, Eonaria hoped she would grab the correct wand and not make a fool of herself.
XXXDaisy May seemed quite upset that she wouldn't be able to have a snack with them, meowing in protest. Ewan made a joke about there being mice at Hogwarts and Eonaria grinned at that. That was one upside of not being able to bring her own cat-- she'd probably go on a mousing spree! And she did not want to deal with dead mice. "As long as you don't eat any pet rats," she warned Daisy May playfully, patting her forehead lightly. "Those are off limits!"
XXXEonaria eyed the conveniently-placed box of Every Flavour Beans, wondering if she should take a gander just for fun. They were chewy candy similar to Liquorice Wands, after all. The red ones are usually safe, right? What's the worse that could happen, tomato? She reached out and carefully selected a darker red bean. It didn't have a particularly strong scent that she could detect from a distance, so Eonaria tentatively bit into it. expecting a fruit.
XXXAh.
XXXThe taste of spice burst in her mouth, instantly bringing the familiar sting. She coughed slightly, trying to swallow it. Eonaria wouldn't say she was very sensitive to spice, having grown up with seasonings stronger than what is usual for the general population of England, but her tolerance wasn't very high. According to her mother. "I think this is some sort of chilli pepper," she said, doing her best to keep a straight face. How did they infuse spice into a jelly bean?! She resumed awkwardly nibbling at her Liquorice Wands, trying to pay attention to the conversation.
XXX"You might get used to the staircases, but perhaps we shall never learn how to get around properly," Eonaria joked. "And funnily enough, some of the stairs do disappear from under you... though they don't let you fall through to the next floor, thankfully." She grimaced. Actually, that was something she should ask a seventh year. Did the staircases have some sort of pattern or code to their chaos? A method to their madness other than counting steps? If there was, she hadn't found it yet.
XXX"Oh, no thank you," she declined Lucille's offer with a small smile, ignoring the way the back of her eyes were prickling from the lingering heat of the bean. "I'm not a big fan of chocolate."
XXX"Ooh, Charms and Herbology are really fun!" Eonaria beamed. "I also love Astronomy, and Potions can be nice if you know what you're doing. What about you, Lucille?"
.・-: ✧☾♩♪♩♬ . 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。. ♬♩♪♩☽✧ :-・.
I forgot I didn’t reply already, sorry guys!! Also I assumed that it is the chilli pepper and not the chilli dish.
| Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 𝄞 Shop ˙⋆✮⋆˚࿔ | iNPC: Akari Kabukimono |
An Enthusiastic Travel Companion
date
01/09/25word count
423outfit
⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊speech
#8C2626mentions
@Ewan MacLeod
@Eonaria Kabukimononotes
xxx
Lucille's brows furrowed in a dissatisfied expression. There was no way she had just eaten an envelope-flavored bean but, now that Eonaria had offered the suggestion, it seemed an appropriate way to describe the flavor. She wrinkled her nose, clearly annoyed at the poor choice of bean she got, but was quickly distracted by the flow of the conversation. Lucille wasn't one to linger on a poor experience.
Ewan joked about Daisy May finding mice to eat, and Lucille giggled, although there was a dash of truth to the joke. Daisy was well-behaved enough, but she had the bad habit of hunting if she didn't get fed on time. Her way of taking matters into her own hands. The thought had made Lucille nervous before, but she figured with enough exposure, she could desensitize Daisy to the sight of rats and ferrets running about.
Then, unexpectedly, and bravely, Eonaria took a bean. Lucille watched her carefully bite into it, almost hesitant, and giggled at the regret that seemed to follow, even as she tried to maintain her composure. Eonaria's eyes watered at the spice, and Lucille raised an eyebrow when she rejected the chocolate. "Suit yourself. It will help with the spice, though," she said, amused at Eonaria's attempts to hide the effect of the taste.
She noticed Ewan's eyes drifting out the window, and shifted her gaze as well, hoping to see something interesting. She saw the same old trees and fields that had been outside their window for a while, and figured it must be an idle habit of his. Still, there was something calming about the way the scenery flew past, changing slowly, if at all. She liked how you saw little signs of civilization, a house at the outskirts, or an actual sign welcoming you, before you saw the main areas of towns and villages.
She was still listening to the others, although her intent gaze might have made them think otherwise. "What about you, Lucille?" Eonaria asked in reference to classes, and Lucille immediately turned to give the pair her full attention once more at the mention of her name.
"I honestly can't wait for Care of Magical Creatures in our third year. But I suppose until then, I'm quite interested in Herbology. Charms, too. I've spent far too long watching people cast spells and not being able to do them myself," she said, slightly pouting, although anyone could see the girl was still filled with mirth. "It seems we've got a compartment of gardeners already," she mused.
| sta 7 eva 7 str 6 wis 5 arc 6 acc 4 calming presence | iNPC: Antoine de Laurent |