Compartment # 25 PV to Passengers Closed

Mary was feeling kind of bad for Venice. Serena seemed to be aware of the wizarding world but not Venice. She couldn’t imagine how she was feeling but would not want to be in her position. On the other hand, even if she had some muggle friends, she didn’t know much of their world and technologies. She tried to remember her first time eating chocolate frogs but couldn’t remember of a time she was surprised when opening one.

Probably to avoid Venice from feeling bad she changed the subject of the conversation, moving to Hogwarts houses. Mary didn’t know to which she wanted to be sorted, she was not really anxious, she trusted the hat to sorted her in the house that would be best for her. The members of her family had been to most houses, even if in her father's family most attended Slytherin while in her mother's family it was Ravenclaw. She felt closer to the values of Ravenclaw house if she had to chose between those two. 
"I'm so excited!! I couldn't sleep last night, I can wait to discover the castle. And well regarding the houses I really don't know. As I said my father was in Slytherin and my mother in Ravenclaw so maybe it will be one of those, maybe another one. To be honest, I'm sure the Hat will take the right decision, so I decided not to worry about that."

The train was moving now, having filled all its compartments. On the other side of the window, the brick wall slowly faded away. The chugging of the train filling the compartments with sound. It wasn't unpleasant, it just wasn't very quiet. They were still close to the city, and so the view were mostly buildings, houses and walls.

She sat there listening to Serena's story. She wanted to ask if it was true, or if the girl simply wanted to make her feel better. She bit her tongue to stop herself from asking. The annoyance was still there, and anything done to comfort her would have been accepted with hostility. They didn't know this, of course, they all just met and Vee didn't want to be impolite. She nodded to acknowledge Serena as she finished her story, to let her know that she listened.

After this, they changed the topic back to the sorting. She still doesn't know what that meant. She let out a sigh, releasing herself from her tense hold on herself. It was pointless to keep pretending that she knew what she was doing and what she's supposed to do. Perhaps this was the perfect opportunity for her to ask them for a little guidance so she won't look too surprised when they do get to Hogwarts.

"Uhm." She started, her finger fumbling with her palm, "What exactly does sorting mean?"

Serena's eyes widened slightly as she gazed out of the window. It was only now that she noticed that the train had started to move. Everyone must have boarded... This was it, this was the beginning of her journey. They were on their way to their new home. The girl watched as the Kings Cross platform faded away. She wasn't sure if she'd miss home but she was definitely excited about the next adventure.

And in all honesty, she was very relieved that the conversation had become a little less awkward now. She grinned as she looked over to Mary, "Me too - I've heard it's huge! So exploring the castle is definitely one of my top priorities!" She replied, wondering what sort of things they should expect there. The young girl looked over to Venice, who had spoken up and asked a question about the sorting process. She paused for a moment, not entirely sure what the correct response was. "Well, I don't know that much about it. I'm the first to actually go to Hogwarts in my family. They all went to different schools and I think it's different in each one..." She started off, giving herself a disclaimer in case she gave them the wrong information, "But my understanding is that there's four houses that were created by the founders of Hogwarts. And they all look for students with different traits, such as Ravenclaw respects intelligence. So I guess the sorting process is to put students into their respective houses. The one that best matches their personality and intelligence." She explained, wondering if she had missed anything important. "My father studied in Africa but he claimed that he would have been a Ravenclaw if he attended Hogwarts when we were talking about it the other day."

Serena fell into thought for a moment. She knew she wouldn't be a Ravenclaw. There was no way. She wasn't smart enough for that. However... what house would she be? As far as she was concerned, she didn't have any admirable traits in abundance. It was more like... she was mediocre at everything. She wasn't overly smart or brave. In fact, the one thing she was very good at was self-doubt and a very low level of self-respect. Both things she should never be good at. As she thought about it, she turned back to Mary and replied to something she said a little earlier, "I think my brother would have been a Slytherin, if he had attended. Most people I know would have either been a Ravenclaw or Slytherin, I think. Not sure what my mum would have been though..." She replied honestly, wondering if her mother and her were similar. She didn't think they were but she had no idea what house either one of them would get.

As the train was moving, what she could see from the window was changing slowly, moving from city center with high buildings to neighborhoods where houses with gardens could be found.  She was smiling as this moment she had been waiting for finally had arrived. She remembered how relieved she felt when she received her letter. 

While Serena was explaining to Venice what the Sorting was and how it was working she was nodding, approving was she was telling. Once she finished she just wanted to add a few information as Venice seemed really new to all of this. "All Serena said is correct. During the Sorting Ceremony we are called once at a time and sat under the Sorting Hat and he decides into which house we fit better. And there are four of them; Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." She wanted to reassure Venice. "But don't worry, it's not a test or anything like that, it's really about your personality." Then she turned towards Serena, she was kind of impressed by this international baggage she had, most of her family was English so she didn't really knew foreign peoples. "Wow Africa! That must have been really different than here. And where did your brother studied if you don't mind me asking?" She hoped Serena would not mind her question, she didn't really seem very enthusiastic when she was speaking about him so maybe they were not in good terms. 
 

Serena smiled and nodded, as she listened to Mary speak. It was good to know she was on the right track and had not completely made up some incorrect information. It would be just like her brother to tell her lies in order to embarrass her. So she never fully trusted the knowledge she had. Though in fairness, she had little faith in her own abilities anyway. Self-esteem and confidence was not great for this girl. 

Turning over to Mary, she shook her head to indicate she didn't mind. It was not a secret. "He's at Durmstrang Institute. It's somewhere in Northern Europe." She replied, pondering for a moment. She couldn't recall the exact location of it for some reason... Even though she had visited, it was strange. Shrugging, she just smiled and nodded, "Most of my family are in Asia or America now, so tend to go to schools there" She explained, "What about you? Did all of your family go to Hogwarts too?" She asked the fellow first year politely.

The train continued to go full speed ahead, making it's way to Hogwarts. The closer they got, the more excited she became. She couldn't wait. This was the straight of something special. The start of her very own journey. The first time she was away from her family and on her own, learning to stand up for herself and becoming independent. Serena ran her hand through her hair as she looked out of the window. She had no idea where they were but the scenery was beautiful. They were definitely out of London by now as the cityscape disappeared and the huge green fields started to show. Rooting around her bag as she suddenly remembered something, Serena pulled out a bag of doughnuts. She opened them up and offered them to the girls in the carriage before grabbing one herself and snacking on it. It had been a while since they had eaten - and the journey was long - so she had to eat to keep herself going!

Mary listened to Serena explaining that his brother was studying at Durmstrang Institute. Then she followed about her family being a lot outside of Great Britain. “Well my close family, parents, brother and grandparents all went to Hogwarts. But I know some members on my father’s side went to Durmstrang, but we don’t really have close contact with them.” 

Now that she was thinking about it she noticed that it’s been a while she had not seen her cousins and her parents were not really trying to keep in touch with them. Even her father’s parents, she would maybe see them two-three times a year on important dates but not that much. And the other hand she was very close with her mother’s parents. They would spend holiday at their place, eat with them at least one a month on Sundays. Now she was wondering why.

Her father didn’t seem very close to his parents, he was not behaving like her mother was with her own parents. Maybe there was some family secret or history there? While she was caught up in her thoughts, the train was on its way to Hogwarts and the landscape would be changing from time to time. At some point Serena took out some food and started to eat. She had offered doughnuts to her and Venice. This only when Mary noticed that she was hungry and took out her own lunch, some sandwiches. She also had some pumpkin juice and offered it to the other girls.

"Oh wow, so you've probably heard a lot about Hogwarts then?" Serena asked the fellow first year. As the first in the family, she knew very little about it. Things that most people knew, I guess. Everyone who knew about the Wizarding World knew about the famous trio and he who must not be named. People knew about famous alumni or had heard various stories about the castle that they were on their way to. However, unless you had been there yourself, you probably don't know much about the castle secrets. Serena had no one to tell her about those. It sort of made things scarier but also more interesting. The good kind of nervousness. She would be the first to visit, the first to uncover the secrets of Hogwarts and see it with her own eyes before anyone else in her family did. That was kind of exciting, "I wonder what it's going to be like..." She mused to herself, excited about the prospect of finding out, "I've heard a little about Durmstrang but... I don't know, it doesn't sound like my sort of place. Hogwarts is definitely more appealing to me, from the sounds of it."

Looking over to Mary, she smiled, "Are you looking forward to any classes or activities in particular?" She asked the girl. Serena knew the class list for first year and had heard about a few of the activities they had. Quidditch, of course, being one of the main sports that was played there. Everyone who was in the magical world knew what that was, surely! Smiling, she shooked her head, "I'm okay, thank you," She replied as Mary offered her some of her pumpkin juice. The first year continued to eat her doughnuts, happily 'nom'-ing away on them. They filled her munchies criteria happily and the custard or jam inside them was enough for her not to need something to drink alongside it. 

She probably should have eaten proper food but... she was too excited to eat properly. Besides, Serena could do with the sugar rush. It was bound to be a long time before she could fall asleep in her bed. They were heading to the castle now but she heard they wouldn't arrive until shortly before dinner time. Serena looked out of the window, watching the trees fly past the window as it moved so quickly. It was so beautiful outside. This journey of theirs was about to begin and she was thrilled that she had met someone like Mary who seemed so nice before she had arrived there. At least it was one familiar face in the school that she could befriend!