An Empty Compartment Open to Everyone! closed

"Yeah," Siobhan mumbled as she looked at the boy with the short brown hair...Lars she thought his name was, "Lots of people can't pronounce my name so Sy for short, I guess," she said, less cheer given then she thought they might have expected. She knew people would butcher her name forever and always, but at least they were trying, right? Nicknames, she hadn't known a nickname yet to stick.

"That's why i have a book ain't it?" she asked a bit indignantly. Of course she liked to read, those who didn't wouldn't carry a book in their belongings. She supposed she was a little upset over the whole nickname thing, but 'it's not his fault,' ringed around her head like a verse stuck on repeat, so she tried to smooth her tone into a better one. "Do you....read as a hobby that is?" she asked him.

Lars, she was certain that was his name by now, started listing off muggle goodies, some that she knew quite well and loved. But she was distracted by the new boy who had walked in. "Hey," she called over to him, "Come on over and sit down by me, there's room!" she patted the seat next to her. "As for the candy, i'd like some oreo's if you don't mind. I think i might have a rice krispie treat to trade you, squashed as it is," she continued to root around in her bag.

"As for houses, Tina," she teased the name on her tongue, "Probably Hufflepuff, though with kindness comes a hard backbone. Kill them with kindness am i right?"

"Yeah." Tina gives Siobhan a small smile as she wondered if someone could actually kill someone with kindness. Perhaps it could harm someone who was consumed by evil or could be poisoned by the very sound of a kind word. Maybe the sight of a gesture could give them a queasy feeling that slowly puts them to sleep forever. She hated the thought of something good being used for the wrong purpose. She decided to think about it later before stammering a question. "So, um, where are you from? I mean where were you born?"

While looking out the window, she watched the surroundings become less and less familiar. She couldn't believe this was happening. She would finally be able to perform spells and understand the formula behind it instead of accidentally using magic fueled by emotion. She turned to face Siobhan again and asked, "What do you look forward to? Are you excited for classes, adventures, or sports?"

She had to know if there was anyone who was feeling the same way about Hogwarts as she did. The excitement, the anxiety, and the tension was all hidden by her mostly stoic expression, but it didn't mean she wasn't feeling them.

"I'm from Scotland, the current country I'm guessing we're going through, I'd recognize those rolling hills anywhere," she laughed, "But my mom said I just had to ride the train, it was a tradition, and it was an opportunity to make a bunch of new friends, so here I am."

She closed her book, running her hands along the spine, as if she was nervous. "I'm from Glasgow, muggle Glasgow. Of course now that i think about it I wonder where the wizarding part of Glasgow is held. That'll be fun to explore later, especially when I'm old enough to drink," she grinned, "Where are you from?"

She stared out the window, watching as things blurred together, watching the two boys being utterly silent. Super uncanny how silent they were being she thought.

"Ah, probably potions," she said answering Tina's question, "It seems similar to cooking, so i think i'll be fine. I'm kind of terrified actually," another nervous laugh, "dunno if i'll find any friends, besides you lot, not to say that you ain't a good sort, i'm just really rather," she looked down, "This is all new to me. Magic. i sort of got thrown into this random environment, trying to sort out everything and it's kind of been taking a toll on me," she looked at Tina, "As for sports, I dunno what ya'll play here, but i'm guessing you don't have a version of the highland games? Or..rugby by any chance? My dad's partial to curling, but I think it's kind of boring, I much prefer football." She continued on, "What are you looking forward to? I'm guessing you're not as confused as me and must have some idea."

Scotland? She thought she recognized that accent. "I've been to the capital of Scotland before. Edinburgh, right? The city was beautiful and I really enjoyed taking strolls in the park with my parents. I've never been to Glasgow though. Maybe we'll visit there next summer."

She glanced at Lars and the new kid. Was something wrong? Did they feel left out? She couldn't understand their sudden silence as she turned back to Siobhan. She rather called her by her full name since it was unique name that she felt should be embraced. When she asked where she came from, she decided to just tell the whole story. She wasn't sure how she would feel about her coming from a foreign place since it seemed that most people were from the United Kingdom. "I was born in America and lived there for a while before I returned to my parents' birthplace in Cambridge, England. Have you ever been there?"

Tina listened carefully as Siobhan talked about her fears of making new friends and being thrown into a different and new environment. She couldn't really relate to the latter since she had been planning on attending Hogwarts, but she still felt bad. She had the same fears of not making new friends, although she believed her fears were a much greater extent. She commented, "The Triwizard tournament is the only thing I could really compare the highland games to, but it got cancelled after a kid died. That was during the Voldemort, I mean you-know-who , era. As for sports, we have quidditch. It has some rough elements of rugby and football like fighting bludgers but you need to know how to fly first."

"I'm looking forward to everything. The yule balls, the classes, the adventures... I've been waiting for this day for a long time, " she says, trying to keep her sentences short. She hoped she didn't sound like a know it all, but she has done a lot of things in her life and wanted to do so much more.

He sat down "Thanks" he pulled out a book and started reading. He overheard their conversation and tried to be nice and not have his nose stuck in a book for an entire trip to somewhere. "Scotland? Scotland's a pretty nice place. I remember heading there for a trip... we had to leave pretty early because a wizard managed to release like 10 entire cages of pixies in the hotel we were stayin' in" he said as he closed the book. "I don't know much about Scotland that much because I'm from Ireland, but I guess you could already deduct that from my accent " his family has a long line of extremely thick accents... it's weird.


He looked over at the boy with the brown hair. "'Ey you've been awfully quiet you alright?" he asked in a slightly concerned tone. He doesn't like to leave other people out of conversations he's in it just doesn't feel right and it makes him feel weird "Don' mean to be rude or anything just don' wanna make ya feel left out" he looked around and saw that he still had the owl plush on his shoulder so he took it off and put it in his trunk. "Y'know I don' think I properly introduced myself, name's Jackson, ya can call me Jack though" he said smiling.

Ellara's mind was a whirlwind as she processed everything she'd seen on this magical morning! Kings Cross Station's architecture was gorgeous even in the mundane - sorry, she was pretty sure wizards called it the muggle world. Her eyes opened to a world of magic only two months earlier, the young girl failed to hesitate when instructed on how to enter Platform 9 and 3/4 by a magical family, her dad, of course, quickly in tow. There was a small part of her that believed everything she'd heard of was a lie until she passed right through the solid brick wall!

The next passing of time went by in a blur, as she was thrust into a throng of bustling witches and wizards, all frantically bidding farewells to the soon-to-be Hogwarts students. Owls, cats, and even spiders as pets... There was simply too much to look at as Ell scanned her way throughout the space. She snapped out of her dazy pretty quickly at the sounding of the train, alerting lingering students that they'd be leaving soon enough. Suddenly, everything was happening far too quickly, and she threw her arms around her dad, wishing him goodbye and swearing that she'd try to write every day. Owls seemed like a fairly reliable mode of postal service, even if they were a bit foreign to her in concept.

Soon enough, the young witch had loaded on her trunk and embarked the ancient train, which seemed like a quite a mundane mode of transformation, considering this was a school of magic and all. Where were the brooms, flying carpets, or magical transportation? Now faced with deciding where to sit, she searched the hallway, poking her head into a few various compartments. Most seemed full or occupied with older students that probably didn't want to be bothered by a soon-to-be First Year who had no idea what she was doing! However, time was running out, and as one of the older students reminded her to find a seat soon enough, she quietly slipped into the first compartment door she could find, turning around to discover there were already two boys and two girls inside!

"Oh, hi, sorry! One of the older students just told me to find a compartment, and this was the first one I saw..." Her voice trailed off as she scanned the faces of the other students, nervously brushing a fiery lock of hair out of her face as she offered the others a hesitant smile. "Do you think there's any space for me to tag along, as well?" she questioned hopefully.

Tina smiled at Jackson when he introduced himself. She has never met someone who has traveled outside of their home, but then again she hasn't met that many people at all. Unable to contain her happiness, she rants, "I think we've stopped at Ireland on on our way to the United Kingdom. Isn't Dublin in Ireland? I love the warm weather there. The temperature is just perfect!"

"Everyone is welcomed." Tina replies to the new girl with a small smile. She was happy that she got the chance to accept a new person into the group this time. She wondered what this girl would be like: kind, funny, or interesting... There was still a chance that she might be mean, but she was willing to put her guard down a little. Cautiously, she asks, "What's your name? Where are you from?"

Tina never bothered to hide her American accent, but she was feeling a little self conscious since everyone had interesting accents. She knew it was too late to speak with an English accent and realized it would be best if she remained honest. She could easily slip and speak in her normal voice if she attempted that. She turned to Siobhan, curious to know if she had done any traveling. "Have you ever been outside of Scotland?"

"Thanks! You really enjoy asking questions, don't you?" Ellara slipped into an open seat next to the compartment door, a bemused expression gracing her face at the red-headed girls non-stop conversation. The group seemed nice enough, and from the slightly nervous, yet strangely hopeful smiles, reflected on the faces of all present, she figured out pretty quickly they were all First Year students just like she was! That was a comforting thought all on its own. How awkward could it have been if she settled down with a bunch of Fifth-Years or up? Yikes!

Ellara slipped her smaller bag, containing a few coins for the trolley witch (a kind word of advice given by an older student) and a pen and notebook, as an emergency in the case that she got bored during the journey. Tina, fortunately, had finally paused a moment in her babbling, and Ellara took the opportunity as a chance to introduce herself to the other students present. "My name's Ellara Butler," she replied, beaming to the rest of the crowd. "I'm from Manchester, England, and... I guess that answers all your questions!"

The First Year wasn't all that sure what to add, as for right as she finished replying, the red-headed girl moved on to speak to brunette about if she'd ever left Scotland. Everyone seemed relatively nice from what she could tell, and though Ellara was always told not to judge a book by a cover, she tended to do it, anyway. This would be an interesting compartment ride for sure. To make conversation, she added in, mainly in the direction of the boys which were no longer speaking, "Why do you think we take a train to Hogwarts when there are things like broomsticks and magical transportation?"

"I haven't ever been to America, Tina," she said with a sigh, "But i've always really wanted to. I've heard New York City is a wonderful place to go to, full of the melting pot of wizards and muggles and really full of life." She turned to Jackson, her Scottish accent slipping out heavily despite her trying to reel it back in to a well normal level if she could say.

"Ireland eh? That's a rather charming place tho you know the scots and the irish have always had a beef with each other. sports, music, you name it, it's there. But you seem the nice sort, tell me, what did you do in Ireland?"

She turned back to Tina. "Yes, sorry it's hard to keep a conversation going with so many people at once. I've well i've never really heard of hogwarts outside of a letter. My mum's actually. So i was wondering if you could tell me more, what's hogwarts like? What classes are there? Why are we divided into four houses, who founded it? What kinds of magic are there and what'll we learn? I'm just dying to know more!" she said with a wink.

Turning to the new girl, whose name she had already forgotten and she would have to ask Tina what it was later on, "I'm Siobhan Baird, nice to meet you mate. I reckon we're on a train because we've been going through many countries sometimes stopping at a station to pick up some people who haven't been able to make it to King's Cross in London. Also none of us know magic yet, except for I guess those who've grown up around it, but for those who haven't, muggle transport is easier and less suspicious. I do hope that Hogwarts has WiFi though, so I can contact my dad, and my lil' brother."

"Not exactly. I was just rambling and trying to fill the silence." Tina answered Ellara earnestly. She had only ever talked to her family, animal friends, and on rare occasions, her teammates. "I've lived in isolation for most of my life, so I'm not used to being around so many people."

"I have a cousin who lives in Manchester, England, but I never met him. His mother, my aunt, would always come to visit, but she never brought her husband or son with her. I never really understood why." Tina listened carefully as Ellara spoke before turning to Siobhan. Trying to answer everything at once she says,"Perhaps my family could invite you with us if we go to America next summer. When I was in Ireland, we mostly just toured the place by viewing landmarks, eating at different restaurants, and learning hurling from my father's Irish friend. I don't know much of what Hogwarts is like except from what my parents told me. They said it was big and and beautiful and that it became a second home to them. There are more classes as you advance years, but the first year classes are flying, DADA, Astronomy, Charms, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and History of Magic. I think we are divided into seperate houses due to disputes between the founders, but personally I think it's unnecessary. Salazer Slytherin founded Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff founded Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw founded Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor founded Gryffindor. There are different kinds of spells you can learn like jinxes and charms, but you'll have to wait to know the exact spells you'll learn."

Tina looked out the window to see that they had arrived. She waved goodbye to everyone before turning to Siobhan, "I hoped I answered all your questions. If you have anymore, just owl me."

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before departing from the compartment. She had met so many amazing people and hoped she would meet more.