Closed A Whole New World Open

September 1st, 2022
The Hogwarts Express
333 words

Finally! Niamh perked up at the sight of another student. She shifted her weight off of her elbow and stretched, brushing her fingers against the luggage rack above her head. The metal felt like ice in comparison to her warm palms. It was about time that someone came to sit.

Besides, didn't she just predict that it would happen? Niamh could swear that she was thinking about being alone and bored just a second ago. It must be some kind of special magical power that the professor had neglected to tell her about: the power of thinking things and making them come true. There was a word for that, she knew. However, the eleven-year-old happened to have forgotten it in the moment. Whatever. The more important thing was that she had totally done magic before even arriving at Hogwarts. (She knew it was just a coincidence but it was more interesting to think it could be something bigger than that.)

Niamh turned to look at the newcomer. He was short, surprisingly short. Based on the perspective from her seat, she could guess that she was a whole 7 centimeters taller than him at least. He was a first year as well, certainly. If the older students she had seen on the platform were sharks, he was a minnow. Minnows weren't bad though! They were sliver. And minnow-y. And... Niamh couldn't think of anything else. He was nice, too, for putting her out of the misery of solitary confinement.

Because of that, her smile brightened as she "answered" his question at last. Perhaps she included a few more words than were necessary. "Hello! Of course you can sit here. Pick any seat you like. None of them are taken. Did you get stuck without any company as well? I would offer you some cauldron cake but I already finished mine." She held up the empty package that she had procured from her pocket, crumpling it, and stuffing it back into the same pocket.

Interacting with: @Harris Nocturne
OOC: I wrote this when I was sleepy so apologies for any errors x.x

Harris gave the girl a small smile. She was certainly very friendly! He decided to take the seat one over from her, not to close, but also not edged into the corner on the other end of the compartment. He fiddled with his package as he sat down. When should he open it? Probably sometime after he introduced himself to the girl he would be sharing the compartment with for the rest of the train ride. What should he say? Was she from a magic family, or a muggle one? Was that important right now? Most likely. Harris sorted out whatever thoughts were plaguing his mind. If he didn't talk to her, he wouldn't know anything. Besides, it would be rude not to give her at least a name. What else would he say? And his thoughts were getting away from him again. Dang it.

Harris fiddled with his jacket for a moment before deciding that if he didn't respond soon, it would get awkward, if it hadn't already. And it was far too late to try and find an empty compartment. He should have forced Kasey out of the house sooner if he wanted to do that. Oh well, here goes nothing. "Uh, thanks for letting me sit here. I'm Harris by the way, Harris Nocturne, nice to meet you. And yeah, I don't know anyone else who's going to Hogwarts. I've never met other people who can do magic until today," That was good, right? Simple. He gave her his name and responded to her. It wasn't that hard. Better than when he first met Laura at least.

@Niamh Quinn

"It's progressing to be a weakening day." bleated Mrs. Ortiz, "You haven't grown a bit, have you? Still be in need of your mother to drive you to the Hogwarts Express."
Katherine kept quite, there was not a thing she could do about her criticizing. On the other hand, Amanda was also going along with Kathy as she was eccentric about the magical passageway, but of course to influence Mrs. Ortiz directly at the heart, she said that she just minded Kathy and worried about her safe departure.
It was a very unpleasant situation, all the way, from collecting up the baggage to crossing the barrier. This encounter wasn't going to be an indelible one, it was nothing peculiar, after all. Kathy looked around, as the cats swiftly brushing her legs while passing by and the owls shooting busily was disturbed by her one and only sister, Amanda, "Sister, I am getting unsteady because of this crowded area. So, good luck! And don't forget to tell me every single thing about hogwarts in letters." She augmented, "After all, I am going to attend Hogwarts after two years and be the best student."
"That's my daughter!" Mrs. Ortiz said, habitually and Kathy didn't expected any better out of it herself.
Both of them went back happily, without a care about Kathy's departure. She signed, and shoved her trunk on the train with great stamina and started dragging her luggage, in search of a satisfying and almost empty compartment. She found none, but before she could lose hope, she saw the last compartment, and it seemed to be pretty empty and as she unlatched the door, she found a girl with pale skin and rosy cheeks and a boy with messy chocolate brown hair already present there. Kathy was quiet at first, immobile in front of the open compartment door. "Um- well, hello all. May I have a seat here if it's not occupied or-" she lightly tucked her scarf, "-if there is no problem with me being here?"

September 1st, 2022
The Hogwarts Express
387 words

And another one! Her eyes brightened as she watched the new arrival enter. She leaned her elbows on the small table in front of her and rested her chin in the palms of her hands. This train ride was shaping up to be decent after all. Well, as decent as a train ride could be. Her leg twitched, itching her to get up and move around. Why did dress shoes have to be so uncomfortable? They had been part of her school uniform ever since primary school but they never got better. These ones specifically cramped her big toe in a way that was truly unpleasant.

"As I was just saying, feel free to sit wherever! Or well, wherever except where he's sitting but I think that's obvious." Niamh laughed at her own comment and motioned for the girl to sit. "But do sit! These shoes are quite uncomfortable but it is better when you're seated." Another laugh. She really did crack herself up sometimes. Maybe she was just that funny.

It was lucky that both of the people who had approached her were nice. Aoife had warned her to stay away from the bigger kids because they would often bully the younger ones. However, Aoife was also far too much of a worry-wart for her own good. Once she had warned her not to eat raw brownie batter when they were baking together. Like with most of her older sister's warnings, Niamh completely ignored it and ate the batter anyway. It was delicious and she did not get salmonella. Hah.

"Same! My family are all muggles. It's super duper cool though! Like, even the train and stuff and the platform. I saw another girl with a witch hat running through the wall so I thought I would try it too and it worked!" Niamh spoke in paragraph form. Muggles. That was the word that the professor had used for non-magical people. It still felt strange on her tongue, describing normal humans as an other.

"Oh yes, my name! I'm Niamh Quinn, Hogwarts first year. I assume you all are first years too? Or are you a second year?" She glanced at the newest arrival. The girl looked more mature in her opinion than herself or Harris so she could easily be a year older.

Interacting with: @Harris Nocturne, @Katherine Ortiz

Was it strange that Harris felt more at ease when there was another person joining them in the compartment? He didn't like new people all too much, but Niamh reminded him a bit of Laura, and the new girl was very polite and quiet, much like himself only a few moments before. Or, maybe it wasn't that he was reminded of himself and Laura, but perhaps of his brothers? Whatever the reason, he found himself warming up to the idea of befriending these people. He waved to the newest addition to the compartment as she sat down, offering a wide smile.

He also found it interesting that Niamh was from an all-muggle family. He knew nothing about Hogwarts, but the professor that delivered his letter did say that his "mother" had been a witch. Did that mean that people with no magical background could get magic? If that was true, if someone was born to a completely magical family, could they wind up with no magic? Did magic have even a little bit of a genetic aspect to it? If had to, right? He could probably ask a teacher when they got to Hogwarts.

"Yep! I'm a first year," Harris allowed himself to be a bit louder. There was no use in soft words or mumbling, it would only lead to him inevitably having to repeat himself. "I was raised by an all-muggle family, but I heard my mum was a witch." He didn't like thinking about her, and he was in luck. Harris could focus on the two girls on the train with him rather than her. He did want to know if the other girl was a second year. She was certainly taller than Harris. But then again, everyone was taller than Harris. If she was a second year, could she tell the two people who were new to the magical world anything? Did she know anything about their classes? From the list provided, he had a vague idea of what classes he might be taking. And from what he saw, there was no language arts class, which he was immensely grateful for.

Kathy beamed as the girl indicated her to sit down on any one of the seats and chuckled when the girl guffawed on her own talks. She sat down beside Naimh, as she found that place suitable. The girl introduced herself as Niamh Quinn, a first year and as for the boy sitting across her, Kathy didn't knew his name yet but got to know that he too is a first year. As the conversation got taked up, Kathy got to know that both of them were muggles. So to be exact, she was the only Wizard Born in that compartment.
"Excuse me for my unpunctual introduction, I am Katherine Ortiz, a first year too. You can call me Kathy or anything ethical." She ceased, while rummaging through her bag and took out the Every Flavour Beans, placing it down on the small pliable table present nearby, "You can have it if you want-" She looked at both of them in assurance, "It's not poison, after all. It has all kinds of beans in it, from earwax to honey. So be heedful!" It ended with a twinkle of smile from Kathy.
She popped one of the beans in her mouth herself, "Oh, it's Pepper." She said, while drinking some water to stop the wheezing.
"By the way, I am a Wizard Born, don't mistake me with the Purebloods though. I have never met muggle-borns actually. I am eagerly waiting to know more about muggle traditions! Can you tell me more about yourself, if possible? Same goes for me."
Kathy submissively waited for their responses, and anticipated that she wasn't getting too much tiresome for them.

Harris eyed the beans. They looked and sounded like jellybeans, but what jellybeans were pepper or earwax flavored? Magic ones, he guessed. He could try one in a minute. Kathy was from a wizarding family. She probably knew loads of magic!

"Hi Kathy! I'm Harris Nocturne! I'm not actually a muggle-born, apparently, I'm a half-blood. But as far as I'm concerned, the only family I have is made up of muggles. I've got two dads, both are the best parents ever, and three brothers! Back at home I've got my own little flock of pets," Harris beamed, he loved talking about his girls. They were the absolute sweetest in the entire animal kingdom. Surely Kathy wouldn't mind, she had asked to know a bit about them. "Three of them are fluffy white ducks, Jupy, Dallas, and Lolly, all are very nice. And I also have a hen named Mimsy. She likes to peck. I couldn't bring them because they wouldn't be allowed at Hogwarts," And that was true. The school only allowed certain pets.

Of course, he shouldn't just talk about himself. That would be rude. And awkward. Besides, he was sitting by someone who had grown up around magic! He could ask about that! Who knew what kind of pets wizards had? Could they keep dragons? Unicorns were real, right? And phoenixes!

"Do you have any pets? Do you think they're any different than muggle ones? Ooh! Do you know any spells?" Harris asked excitedly before reaching over to take a jellybean. He looked at the cream-colored bean before hesitantly taking a small bite. The strong, bitter taste of horseradish instantly assaulted Harris's tongue. It wasn't unpleasant, just unexpected. He ate the rest of it without so much as wincing at the powerful and immensely accurate taste of the bean.

September 1st, 2022
The Hogwarts Express
311 words

Niamh nodded along, listening as the conversation progressed. Ethical, hmm. Such a proper word. Was it, like, a wizarding thing to speak all posh and stuff? Maybe it was just Londoners. She had never traveled outside of Ireland before the trip to the Hogwarts express but she had encountered plenty of tourists before and the ones from England often did speak like that.

Her face contorted into an expression that could only be described as comical, lying somewhere in between horror and disgust. "That..." she trailed off, taking a swig of pumpkin juice to clear the flavor. "That was a booger! I'm sure of it," the young witch exclaimed as the taste wore off in her mouth, "Oh my Lord! Did you put a curse on these or something?" She reached for another eagerly before hearing the answer.

"Gee, your parents let you keep birds? Mine won't even let me get a dog," Niamh remarked. Maybe she was still slightly bitter about that, just slightly. She had prepared a whole poster including what type of breed they should get and what they should name him but her parents still said no because of Conor's stupid allergy to anything with fur. It wasn't even a life threatening one, just constant sneezing and itchy eyes. He could handle itchy eyes, right? Niamh spoke up again, "Have you ever had baby chicks? There's this livestream online that I was watching once of chicks hatching and they're so adorable and fuzzy."

"Also, what's a pureblood compared to a wizard-born? I thought that was just someone who had two wizard parents," she remarked, chewing a jelly bean thoughtfully. Marshmallow, she noted. Thankfully it wasn't another one of the odd beans. Her mother would scold her not to talk with her mouth full but her mother wasn't there so she could do as she wished.

Interacting with: @Harris Nocturne, @Katherine Ortiz