First Year Entrance 2020-2021

Interacting with @Elisabeth Erner, @Akari Kato, and @Rohan Fog

Robert had always wanted to learn another language. Wanted was the key word, though. Somehow, he'd never really been able to follow through. He listened as Rohan and Akari talked about the languages they were familiar with. Rohan had taken some latin in school, and Akari had grown up listening to Japanese, but hadn't learned how to speak it.

Robert decided to chime in as well. "As I said before, I took Spanish in school for a couple years, but it was always my worst subject. This summer, I also tried to learn Hebrew, but only got about as far as שלום, pronounced shalom which means 'hello,' before giving up." Of course, this wasn't a totally accurate representation of what had happened. Learning Hebrew involved memorizing a completely different alphabet from English, which Robert had actually been pretty good at. It was only when he realized he actually had to learn vocabulary that he started to struggle.

Robert didn't really want to keep talking about languages, a subject he knew for a fact he was bad at, so he decided to try and change the subject. "So, what classes you guys excited about for Hogwarts?" he asked. He knew that he was equally ignorant about this subject, but at least now they were all in the same boat (literally and figuratively), as none of his other boat-mates had taken any classes either.

Interacting with @Robert Toukmond, @Akari Kato, and @Rohan Fog

Taffy rubbed her puffy bloodshot eyes, she wondered how many times had she cried since her departure from her family that waved her off only hours ago, from strangers showing her the tiniest bit of kindness, to now when she saw the stary night sky. Silently cursing under her breath, Taffy brought her hand down from her eyes and readjusted her glasses"No more crying for the rest of the night." She said to her self.

The buzz of the others mindless chatter was giving her a headache, looking around her dropped her trunk staring at it rather hesitantly what if someone steals it or goes thought it? shaking her head she shook the thoughts from her head walking away from her luggage. She willed her herself from looking back before what little resolve she did have disappeared and she begged to go back home, to what was familiar.

"Seulement quatre par bateau." Taffy repeated to herself quietly the words 'only four per boat' fell from her lips, the words she spoke were french, her father's native language both her and her brother spoke the language. tears formed in the corners of her hazel eyes quietly she wiped them away as he boarded the last boat not noting the girl already sitting there.

boat 6
interacting with: @Lea Hirsch and @Taffy Miller

While Walter embraced the darkness of the night with small steps, the boy he met on the train was still telling something. He couldn’t concentrate to other boy’s last words about the difficulties of the being muggle because of the stunning view across him. The lights of the boats, which were docked on the land they were stand, were in harmony with the brightness of the moon which reflected on the lake. With the students on the train getting off, there was a big crowd. It is obvious that first year students did not know what to do. As these thoughts passed through his head he heard the voice addressing first-year students and left his luggage behind. He was trying not to miss any instructions by turning towards the commanding voice, as he also lost the boy on the train. But he didn’t care much, as he was in a more significant situation than losing the boy. Walter learned that the man whose voice was heard from the first moment he got off the train, was caretaker of the school and, again, thanks to the man's introduction, the woman next to him was the head of Slytherin house. While he was looking the faces, which are noticed difficultly because of the darkness, of man and especially woman, he noticed that the students around him were getting into the boats one by one.

Walter split the crowd and tried to get into first boat he saw. However, three girls and the boy on the boat shouted him excitedly. While their voices mixed, each of them told that the capacity of the boats are four people. He was very angry with himself to experience something like this the moment he set foot. During he was trying to find a boat with less than four people, he thought when he missed this important instruction. Luckily, there were still empty boats. He chose a boat with two girls and moved to getting into. Meanwhile, he examined the girls, but as a result of the darkness he could only see that one of them using glasses. Both of them sat quietly and silence is one of the things that bothers Walter most. While he was trying to settle down on the boat, he nodded to the two girls for the purpose of ‘Hello’ and started looking around with the hope that his nod noticed in the dark of the night.

Eva stepped off the train and looked at the boats sitting on the lake. She was still thinking about her parents. Ever since she waved goodbye to them at the train station she couldn't get them out of her mind. She missed them so much. Shaking her head slightly she tried to focus on the task at hand. She needed to find a boat to board. She could barely make them out in the darkness, but she could hear the voices of the other students around her boarding the boats.

Leaving her bags behind on the train as she was told, she walked over to the boats, silently counting how many kids were on each boat. Only four to a boat, she reminded herself. "Full, full, full, full, full..." She thought looking at each boat. Then after five full boats she looked at boat six. One..two....three.. There were only three other students were on this boat. Eva walked over to the sixth boat. As she got closer she noticed it was awfully quiet compared to the other five boats.

"Hello" Eva said smiling when she had walked up to the edge of the boat. She was a bit nervous and she hoped her nervousness didn't show in her voice. She stepped into the boat at sat down. She listened to the other five boats, and the students chatting to each other. Why was no one talking on this boat? She wondered. Eva started thinking about what she could say to start a conversation but her mind wandered off and she got lost in thought of Hogwarts and her parents.

Boat 6
@Taffy Miller @Walter Medrano @Eva Evergood

Brown eyes would glance up at the girl that joined her in the boat. The dark lighting didn't allow Lea the visibility she would've preferred, but the young girl did note that the girl had long hair, had glasses, and seemed to be rubbing at her eyes. The first year's head would tilt to the side slightly, wondering if the other girl was crying or just very tired. Considering how late it was and how far away they were from home, both seemed like reasonable conclusions.

Another joined their ranks, offering a nod in greeting. Lea repeated the motion back, realizing that she rather enjoyed the silence of their boat. The rest of the world seemed so still in this moment that it made sense that the people within the boats would be the same. However, when glancing around, she could see people talking and the soft murmur of their words. Perhaps not all thought the same as the eleven year old, but considering that she was actually going to Hogwarts, she had already learned that lesson. There was no way the young girl would be here if she had her way.

The lighter hair was a lot more noticeable in the dark, light reflecting off the wavy hair of the last girl significantly more than the others in their boat. She was also the first to speak in their group, offering a "hello" before she boarded. Perhaps the others weren't as keen for silence as Lea was. The brown-haired girl let out a breath before offering a small wave to the newcomer.

"Hello. I- I'm Lea." The words were meeker than the girl had intended, cringing slightly at how soft-spoken and quiet they were.

boat 6
interacting with: @Lea Hirsch @Taffy Miller, and @Eva Evergood

He was feeling comfortable after the girls repeated him with a similar way Walter did. Important threshold was passed, but even so, he had to break the silence. While he was just starting to talk, someone new appeared to get into boat. With the arrival of the last first-year in the boat, they would be three girls and one boy. New girl’s bright red hair was easily noticed although the deep darkness of the night. Also, her blue eyes clearly revealed herself.

Walter was busy with examining the girls while the last guest on the boat broke the silence on the boat. Before she got into boat, greeted them with smile but unlike Walter, using word, not nod. As the girl settled in the boat, the other girl without glasses began to speak. And eventually he learned the name of a new person -Lea- from his new school.

He felt it was his turn to speak now. The silence was as dominant as the darkness of the night, so he cleared his throat unobtrusively and started to talk. “Hello. I’m Walter. But everybody simply says Walt.” He was not sure why he said that he was called Walt as the girls glanced at him. Now, he felt as if he had to continue his words. “I’m coming from London. And I miss London already.” After finishing his words, he realized that he was chattering and giving all the necessary and unnecessary information about himself. He spoke for the last time with an innocent smile, thinking that people he had just met might misunderstand him. “Sorry, eh, - I think I'm a little excited. That's why I'm babbling. What about you? What are your names?” He finally managed to change the turn at the girls.

Interacting with @Starlee Kennedy, @Remi Yao, and @Aemadall Zarcovich

Jess grinned at Akari, then looked back at Starlee as she, too, furiously told Remi to sit down before he ended up sending them all overboard. As the girl threatened to push the rowdy boy out of the boat, Jess had to promptly cover her mouth with her hand to hide her surprised laugh, not wanting Starlee to think Jess was making fun of her or to let Remi see the situation as less serious then it could turn out to be if he didn't end up sitting down. Her gaze snapped over to the second boy in the boat as he also hopped on the wagon and yelled at Remi to sit down, realizing that she still didn't know who he was. Her fear only increased as the caretaker yelled at their boat for Remi to sit down unless he wanted to be eaten by the... Giant Squid? That was a joke, right?

Still a bit worried about the caretaker's joke-but-possible-threat, Jess sighed in relief as Remi sat back down, but her newly-acquired comfort quickly turned into guilt as she saw how upset he looked. "You're not unwanted!" she said quickly, trying to make up for her earlier rudeness. "The kids on the other boat are probably just tired or something..." She hoped he didn't mean their own boat, too, since she didn't really know what to say to explain that without placing the blame on Remi himself. The boy asked what houses they would be in, and Jess grinned slightly at his emphasis on the word "good" when he said he wanted to make some new friends at the magical school.

Starlee then also said she thought she would wind up in Ravenclaw, and Jess smiled, amused. "Yeah, me too. I'll probably be in Ravenclaw, I think... maybe we'll all be in the same house!" That would be swell, if she already knew some kids in her house when she started at Hogwarts that year. She nodded at Starlee's next words, and grinned slightly at the girl's joke about Remi's impulsiveness. Turning to the other boy in the boat, who still hadn't introduced himself, Jess asked, "What about you? What house do you think you'll be in? And what's your name?"

She heard the caretaker shout something from the other boat, and the small fleet jerked into motion. Jess dipped her hand into the dark, swirling waters of the lake as the boat moved, jerking it back quickly when she felt how cold the water was. The kids were soon surrounded by mist, blocking out the light from the other boats and setting a cold, eerie chill into Jess's bones. Starlee seemed to feel the same, as she said she hoped they'd all be okay. Seeing the worried scrunch of the other girl's face, Jess leaned towards her and tried to make her voice sound reassuring and braver than she felt. "I'm sure we'll be fine... it's just fog, that's all."

@Remi Yao
@Starlee Kennedy
@Jess Malters
@Marcus Iwasaki

I was starting to let the craziness of today fade into the background. Diagon Alley, leaving home, magic... everything. I made a decision that if I got to my dorm, I was gonna crash face-first into my pillow and hope this is all one crazy dream and I was gonna wake up.
The other kids appeared to be having some apologies and conversation, neither of which were my style. I heard the caretaker say something about a giant squid which appeared to worry others. I wasn't afraid of squids but I'd hate to get attacked by one.
My concentration broke when the other kids turn the conversation to me. I opened my eyes and looked at them.
One of the kids made me realized I was bigger than them which I didn't really care much about. I started to just ignore that and close my eyes again. I would have slept then and there if they didn't ask me about my name. I let out a sigh.

"Um... Just call me Logan. Maybe I'll be in Ravenclaw but you'll never know what could happen"

I sat up straight to prepare myself for the torrent of questions that would soon be flying right at me. I saw the mist clear up a bit. I had bigger things to worry about than some dumb old mist.