Off to Hogwarts Open Closed

( INTERACTION: @AURORA RANVIER ; @MELODY RATHBURN )ー

Welcoming the newcomer with (what she hoped was) a warm smile, Arista couldn't help but feel endeared by the manner in which she carried herself. Aurora reminded her so much of herself; the way she stumbled on her words, breathless, and the slight stutters and frequent mumbling truly made her nostalgic of Arista's first day of Muggle school.

In fact, she distinctly remembered she was almost on the verge of tears at the end of that horrible windy day, even though nothing of significance had even happened yet. Arista just felt small and anxious all the time, and failing to make friends certainly didn't help. She hoped the same thing wouldn't happen again at Hogwarts. After all, she'd like to believe she had made good progress. And here they were, weren't they? Three girls talking, and none of them had burst out crying or gotten embarrassed over something inconsequential.

"I'm Arista Elderman, by the way," she introduced herself to Aurora. Arista mostly listened as Melody and Aurora talked about the lake and the giant squid (she wanted to know more about how Aurora's parents escaped the creature, but she digressed), and agreed internally that both the names Melody and Aurora were exceptionally beautiful indeed. Names that are perfect for princesses, Arista thought dreamily.

But now Melody had reminded them that they should probably change into robes, and Arista nearly hit her head on the compartment's ceiling as she jumped on her feet too quickly, getting way too excited to put on her uniform.

"It didn't seem real that we're actually going to learn at Hogwarts, you know," she said, fishing out her robe from her trunk and slipping into it easily. "But now it is. My dad always says the suit makes the man. But don't you think that's true for witches and robes too...?"

Arista pondered on Aurora's question solemnly. "I made a promise to my mum that I'll try to make friends and have fun at the castle," she said. "So I suppose I'm a little excited to come back next year and tell her I kept my promise. Even though it seems hard, I want to try my best."

She smiled. Rummaged her pocket a little. Then pulled out a couple of Chocolate Frogs, packages shiny and brand new. "My sister gave them to me, see. She said I could start collecting, but, um..." Arista bit her lips and grinned. "You can have them instead! I'm not much for collecting, anyway... And this is a sort of thanks - for being my first fr-" She stopped herself, clearing her throat. "I mean, y'know. For making this trip a little less boring and all."

Handing over the Frogs to Melody and Aurora, she beamed. She genuinely, sincerely hoped that this wasn't just a train kind of encounter - that they could run into each other again at school and maybe become friends? Her sister had said the folks you meet at the Express won't be the ones you hung out with at Hogwarts, but for the first time, she prayed that her sister got it wrong.

Word Count: 516

While all this was going on, a blonde girl appeared at the door of the compartment, dressed like the popular girl in a '90s teen movie, complete with pink tote bag. 'Hi!' she said, flicking her silky tresses over her shoulder. 'I'm Vivi. You don't mind if I sit, do you?' She sashayed confidently inside, did a sort of twirl and flopped down beside the girl with the serious face. 'I am so tired. I know it's my own fault, I was up until two in the morning on TikTok. I swear at this point I know the Jerusalema so well, I could probably do it asleep. I mean, I've seen police doing it; I've seen doctors doing it; like, I've even seen nuns doing it. I'm about ninety percent sure I saw the Teesh i.e., the Taoiseach, the Muggle Prime Minister of Ireland doing it. Turns out he has a TikTok. Who knew?' With that, she dumped the contents of her bag on the empty space beside her, and began to root through them. Somehow, she had managed to fit in a hand-mirror, a miniature Morphe palette, a copy of the latest Teen Vogue, a chapstick and three small bottles of perfume. It was these bottles that she seemed most interested in at that minute, eventually selecting one with rose-gold packaging. 'This stuff is divine,' she assured the others, before spritzing it on her wrists, the side of her neck and the air around her. 'Oh, and if I'm ever being too much of a pain, just let me know,' she laughed.

( INTERACTION: @MELODY RATHBURN ; @AURORA RANVIER ; @VIVIAN SEOIGH )ー

Smiling broadly, Arista nodded her head and said, "Yes! Friends." She didn't know what came over her, but in that moment, she felt like it was just right to hug Melody and Aurora's arms, pulling them into a sort of unbalanced embrace. But, if they were friends, surely the other two wouldn't mind, right...? She hoped so anyway.

Coughing, she was aware that her wide grin was still plastered on her face. But she couldn't help it; she was so ecstatic! It briefly crossed her mind that she might have used up all her luck on this trip, but quickly pushed it away. No, she told herself internally, you're just getting started. It'll be fine.

Then, before Arista could ask if Aurora got another famous witch or wizard, another student appeared on the door.

She turned her head to the newcomer and blinked, trying to take in everything the other witch was saying. Tik Tok... She knew what that was - her sister had been doing some dances and... challenges...? (she really wasn't quite sure) on the app, and Arista herself was going to install it to kill time, but her brother had other things in mind.

"Ooh, I'm jealous," Arista said, smiling regrettably. "I wanted to get into it, but my brother was terribly adamant. He said the stuff's rotten for you and sort of forbid me to have it on my phone. And I mean, since you're not allowed to have phones at the castle, I didn't really think much of it."

She gave a short sigh. "But you made it sound fun! It must be, if you stayed up all night to erm, dance...? on it..." she trailed.

Arista giggled a little as she watched Vivi fish out a variety of items out of her bag and on to the seat next to her. She thought this witch must be the popular type - she could see a little of her very fashionable sister in Vivi, especially by her magazine and make up. "You smell lovely," Arista said, after Vivi sprayed her perfume on her person.

"My name is Arista Elderman, by the way. This is Melody Rathburn and Aurora Ranvier," she told Vivi, gesturing to her friends with a warm smile.

"Oh!" Suddenly, a thought struck her. Both of Melody's parents were wizards, weren't they? And come to think of it, didn't Aurora said her parents were familiar with Hogwarts' Great Lake? Which meant they might not know what Tik Tok is... Arista suddenly felt bad; she didn't want to exclude her new friends to the conversation...

"Erm... Uh..." she bit her lips, looking back and forth at three witches in the compartment. "Melody and Aurora, are you perhaps familiar with Tik Tok...? Or, um, smartphones...? Well, they're kind of..." she stuttered.

Arista looked at Vivi with pleading eyes, signaling her to help her explain.

Word Count: 479

Reducio

So after this would be @Aurora Ranvier's turn to post, then @Melody Rathburn, then @Vivian Seoigh, and back to me, yes?

Interaction: @Melody Rathburn, @Arista Elderman, @Aurora Ranvier, @Vivian Seoigh

Interaction : @Melody Rathburn @Arista Elderman @Vivian Seoigh @Kage Suzuki

It was not as bad as Aurora thought her first day would be. In fact, it was great. She was worried that everyone might be intimidated by her presence, but after seeing both students started to warm up to her, she felt her shoulder getting lighter.
"I'm Arista Elderman, by the way". Said the other girl as she put on her school robe. Everyone indeed has really lovely names. Was that what Hogwarts about? collecting people across great Britain with cool names?
Arista held up a couple of small boxes and said, "You can have them instead! I'm not much for collecting, anyway... And this is a sort of thanks - for being my first fr-"
I knew what she was going to say, but I think she was too embarrassed to say that, not that I blame her. She noticed some similarities between her and Arista, and the big difference is that Arista has a friendly face. She gave Aurora the small box. Aurora was confused. She grew up in the muggle world, so she never saw this before. Maybe it was one of those things in the wizarding world. She remembered back when her father still around. He always brings her cauldron cake after his shift at st mungo's.
"Thank you, Arista." Aurora saw Melody started to unwrap it. It was actually a chocolate frog with a card inside it. That must be the thing that some people collect.
"It says I got the Headmaster!" Melody said it in a very excited tone. Aurora giggled because she thought it was funny. Melody's excitement reminded her so much of her best friend back home, Naomi.
"So.. we're friends?" At that moment, Aurora was so happy. It was hard to make friends in her muggle school. Maybe this time Aurora will finally have lots of friends. She can't wait to write to Naomi about it. "Yes! Friends." Arista hugged Aurora and Melody.
Aurora was not a big fan of hug, but because she just made two new friends, perhaps it shouldn't be a problem to let others hug her once in a while.
Before Aurora could say "YAY FRIENDS!", a blonde girl opened the compartment door. She looked like a lifesize Barbie doll. Her name is Vivi, and she immediately told everyone about her addiction to tik tok. Aurora can tell that she was indeed an extroverted person. What a nice personality to have, it must've been so easy for her to talk to people. She sat beside me and sprayed her perfume to her wrist, neck, and entire compartment.
Aurora coughed a little as she tasted the perfume inside her mouth, but decided not to say anything because she didn't want to offend vivi.
"Melody and Aurora, are you perhaps familiar with Tik Tok...? Or, um, smartphones...? Well, they're kind of..." Arista tried to explain what tik tok is. Of course, Aurora was familiar with it, although she was not a big fan of it.
"Yes, um- I grew up surrounded by a muggle. I am more familiar with muggle technology than magic related," She chuckled. "My mother is a muggle-born" She added.
Then, another girl showed up in the compartment. she looked a little annoyed, maybe she just has a grumpy face as Aurora has. She held a 'magical theory' book, and Aurora felt attacked at the sight because she has not even touched the book she bought from Diagon alley and it was a week ago. And her worry of being the dumbest student Hogwarts ever admitted slowly creeping up her mind.

Interaction: @Melody Rathburn, @Arista Elderman, @Aurora Ranvier, @Vivian Seoigh

@Melody Rathburn@Kage Suzuki@Arista Elderman@Aurora Ranvier

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Arista had looked at her sort-of pleadingly when she had tried to explain TikTok, but it seemed like Aurora already knew what it was and Melody wasn't that interested. When Melanie said she didn't know what it was, Vivian replied: 'Oh, you're lucky, believe me. It's all fun and games when you're watching Ellen deGeneres doing the Macarena, but wait till your friends are posting all your most embarrassing moments. I remember one time--' and with that, she launched into the amusing story, especially the way she told it, of the time the Teesh--'that's, like, the Prime Minister of Ireland,' she said--visited her old school. 'And I'm not going to lie, the Teesh was kinda peng. Not the current one, mind you; he looks like a praying mantis. The guy before him; this was, like, maybe six months ago--before the election.' She detailed how determined she was to see him up close, and determine if he really was going bald like her friends insisted he was. 'See, all the schools want to be multicultural and all that, so I said, OK, how do I make sure I get to chat with Teesh personally--oh, what if I was, like, the head of the Jewish society in the school or something. And everyone was like, but, Vivi, you're not Jewish. And I was like, yeah, but I could be. So I went Jewish for the month. The nuns thought I was b-s-ing them, which I was, but they couldn't exactly say no, so I set up the Jewish society--' At this point another girl, a dark-haired girl, came into the carriage. Apparently her name was Suzuki. Vivian continued on. 'Anyway, when he came, they had to introduce me to him, because I was head of the society and everything--there were loads of people standing around--and we were talking, and he was asking me questions, and I actually knew some of the answers. I actually learnt off stuff so I'd know what to say. But then I told him--it just kind-of slipped out--I was just talking, and I happened to mention that I thought he was such a mack-daddy. Because he was a mack-daddy. And then I turn and look over my shoulder, and my best friend--my actual ride-or-die--is there with her phone held up, getting her perfect angle, like some sort of miniature Alfred Hitchcock. Next thing you know, me calling the Teesh a mack-daddy is all over Snapchat and TikTok. So--' she said, 'moral of the story: never, ever let your friends film you calling a government leader a mack-daddy.'


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( INTERACTION: @VIVIAN SEOIGH ; @KAGE SUZUKI ; @AURORA RANVIER )ー

Arista nodded seriously as she listened to Vivi's story. Truthfully, no matter how attentive she tried to be to Vivian's every word, Arista only understood about a third of what the other witch was saying. Sure, she was familiar with Tik Toks and Muggle celebrity culture, but only just vaguely. She thought Vivi was incredibly convincing, though. Whatever this blonde, beautiful girl was saying was surely of the highest degree of truth and importance.

"Never ever let your friends film you saying mack-daddy," Arista echoed, contorting her face to the most solemn of expressions. Even as she said it, the words felt foreign and unfamiliar on her tongue. She had a faint feeling that her sister would burst out laughing if she saw this exchange, but she couldn't really put a finger why. Oh, well.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she cried. "These are for you." She fished a couple of brand new Chocolate Frogs and handed them over to Vivi and the girl who looked like she had been sulking near the window (Arista hoped the chocolate could somehow cheered her up).

Beaming, Arista said, "Melody got the Headmaster. Maybe you'll have some luck and get some rare cards."

She had seen the dark, tall silhouette of Hogwarts slowly looming in closer to them, and decided that it wouldn't do if the the dark-haired girl - Suzuki, was it? - and Vivi boarded off the train all Chocolate Frog-less. Come to think of it, that towering sight might possibly just be her (and their) first look at Hogwarts. Her anxiety suddenly crept up again.

"Anyone else worried about not sleeping in your old room tonight?" Arista blurted out, hiding her nervousness with a thin smile. "There won't be Tik Toks or Muggle things from here on, I think..." she grinned timidly at Aurora and Vivi, clutching her skirt between her fingers.

Word Count: 311