Closed Compartments, Cabins and Corridors Open

Theodora looked to her right where Neil was sitting. He had started bombarding her with questions and in her confusion, she had already forgotten the first one.

Theodora didn't know what to say. She was totally overwhelmed by all the questions. Only one had occurred to her. The one about primary schools for wizard kids. Theodora knew what primary schools were. Her dad had told her about how he used to go to primary school. He had explained to her what it was.

Theodora hesitated. She decided to just answer the question about primary schools. If Neil wanted an answer to the other questions too, he would just ask them again. There would be absolutely no problem.

Before Theodora had opened her mouth, however, Justin began to speak. He apologized for dissing the wizard hats.

Theodora immediately felt much better. Her shoulders dropped. She had felt so lost before, but now she realized that it really didn't matter that Justin and Neil had lived like muggles growing up, while she knew nothing about muggles. That wouldn't stop them from becoming friends.

Justin then reworded Neil's question and jokingly said something about the Hogwarts houses. Theodora smiled. Then she started speaking.

"Well, I was indeed home schooled, because we don't have primary schools for wizard kids. I had a tutor. She's also a with and she came five days a week to teach me math and English and things like that. But I assume you both went to a primary school?"

"Yeah, Of course I went to primary school. Don't get this smart by nothing." Neil laughed.

He was intrigued by what Theodora had said about her lack of primary school experience. Having a tutor sounded like something only wealthy and old fashioned people had. It made Neil wonder about how a wizard kid who couldn't afford the tutor would get educated but he didn't want to bombard Theodora with too many questions after seeing her confusion with the amount he had started with.

"Are you rich or something? I mean, are wizard tutors expensive? Sounds expensive." Of course, there was the possibility that all wizarding families were wealthy because they could simply use magic to turn ordinary objects into gold or something of a similar vein.

Neil didn't ponder the thought of wealth for much longer as Justin brought up the subject of houses. So far, Neil had acquired some basic information about the houses at Hogwarts. There was definitely a house for nerds. One was about loyalty and then an ambitious one. Or was it a brave one? He would figure it out later.

"Figure Justin gets put in the bird one. Keeps talking about logic and all that. Don't know for you though." Neil gestured back to Theodora.

"And me? Don't really give a damn what house I'm in as long as the people are alright."

The conversation bore Justin. He yawned as his eyes began slowly closing at the current conversation at hand. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, shifting his feet that were still resting on top of his luggage.

Yeah, I probably shouldn't sleep mid-convo. That's disrespectful as fuck. Justin thought to himself, as he jolted himself awake and put is feet down on the ground. I need to get active.

Justin hoisted his luggage up in the storage compartment above the seats, effortlessly. He then began doing pushups in the middle of the cabin as he actively listened. Justin always retained information better when he was physically active.

The boy continuously went up and down as he talked to his new classmates, "I went to school too. Man, I miss ditching class with my friends to play basketball. That was fun," Justin said nonchalantly as he continued pumping his push-ups. "I miss recess too. We used to beat up bullies on the playground. Where I come from, bullies get bullied. I wonder how my boys are doing. Probably out failing class. They weren't that bright," Justin said, with a hearty laugh so loud, it could be heard from outside the halls.

The boy then got up on his feet, and began stretching his arms and shoulders, like an athlete before a game. "I think the raven one was blue? Aww, thanks Neil. You seem pretty blue to me too," Justin said, with a wide smile.

He then put two hands on the seat, and began performing triceps dips. "Is there a house you want to be a part of Theodora? I want the Red one. Their mascots a lion. That's my favorite animal."

WC: 284
@Theodora Green and @Neil McKenzie

Theodora shrugged when Neil asked her if she was rich. She had never really questioned the amount of money her family had. Her mother sometimes spoke of people at the ministry who lived in mansions. They were definitely rich.

"No, I'm not... rich, I think. My mom has a pretty good job at the ministry though, so we never really have to worry about money."

Theodora then thought about Neil's other question. Were wizard tutors expensive? She had absolutely no idea. She pondered about this for a while, but wasn't able to really come to a conclusion. Justin had started doing push-ups in the middle of the cabin while telling Theodora and Neil about his time at primary school.

Theodora listened to Justin's story. An uneasy feeling crept up on her when Justin spoke of bullies. She hadn't thought of bullies yet. It's gonna be fine. Theodora told herself. Stop worrying about things that aren't even relevant yet.

The conversation had now landed on Hogwarts houses. Justin asked Theodora if there was a house she wanted to be a part of. This was finally an easy question.

"I want to be in Ravenclaw," Theodora immediately answered. "That's the bird one. My mom was in Ravenclaw and she says it's the best house."

At that moment an elderly witch opened the cabin door. "Anything sweet, dears?"

Neil stared as Justin starting preforming pushups right in the compartment. Neil was quickly becoming convinced that Justin must be a very strange person. Not that he thought it was a bad thing. Many of the most influential people were also the most odd, just that Neil was realizing he didn't understand Justin at all. At least not yet. Naturally, some people are more puzzling than others and Justin just happened to be the type who doesn't shy from his odder impulsions. It was actually somewhat admiral to not no qualms doing push-ups without explanation on the compartment floor.

Theodora was a subtler puzzle for Neil. He had first assumed that students in wizarding families would start out at Hogwarts with the advantage of understanding the ways of the wizarding world, maybe knowing some of the class material already. But from what he had gathered, Theodora also had the disadvantage of no prior experience in primary school. Social development was probably more vital to the brain than any spells or potions.

"There, I've got it. Children of wizards must be quite lonely, no? A society that makes no sense is pretty fitting for a bunch of unsocialized people, isn't it? Homeschooled until eleven, bet it messes with brain development."

Neil figured he had completely figured out wizarding society. Turns out it was all a bunch of nutjobs. Neil ignored that his analysis might be offensive to Theodora. He hadn't meant to be degrading or even considered the possibility.

Neil's attention finally crawled out of his own head when he noticed the sweets trolley had arrived at their compartment. He wondered if Justin regretted bringing so many snacks when they already sold them on the train. On further inspection, Neil realized he didn't recognize a single snack being sold. He waited to see what the others wanted to buy, looking at the treats curiously.

"Looks like you haven't had much socializing either," Justin replied to Neil bluntly and nonchalantly, while continuing his tricep dips. "Still got ways to go to learn basic empathy. But don't you worry. We all start somewhere," Justin laughed. He had no ill intention towards Neil. He was just the type to say his mind with no filter. "Hm... maybe it's street smarts you lack. Imagine coming to a school where majority of people come from magic families, and you call them... unsocialized and poor brain development. Dude you're going to get socially destroyed," Justin exclaimed, as a word of warning, as his workout refused to slow down.

"Watch out. We grew up with insults and fists, but these magic kids grew up with insults and spells. I'd be on the safer side with my words," Justin told the boy. "And please don't say mean things to Theodora. She's the first friend I made in the wizard world," Justin requested the boy.

The boy then lifted himself up from his tricep dips and walked over to the trolley lady. He tossed her a pouch of coins and said, "Two of everything please."

"My, my... everything is so lovely here. What would you say is your personal favorite, madam?" Justin smiled as he started a wholesome small talk with the trolley witch.

WC: 221
@Theodora Green
@Neil McKenzie

Theodora frowned when Neil talked about the brain development of wizards. She really didn't understand why Neil found wizards to be this weird. She also didn't know what was wrong with the wizard society.

Theodora was thinking of saying something about it. She didn't know what she'd say yet, but she wanted to know why Neil said things like this. She had to admit that his words kind of hurt.

Before Theodora could say anything however, Justin spoke up. Theodora was happy Justin was so relaxed in this situation. It was nice that he was here to keep the conversation lighthearted.

At that moment Justin walked over to the trolley witch. Justin had already brought so many snacks with him that Theodora hadn't expected him to actually buy something from the witch, but Theodora was wrong. Justin got out his money and bought even more snacks.

He's funny. Theodora thought and she smiled. He seems to be enjoying live at its fullest. Just doing whatever he likes.

Justin now asked the trolley witch for her opinion about the snacks she sold. This had a shocking effect on the old lady. She looked at him, speechless and almost started crying. Apparently students didn't often ask her for her opinion.

Justin's comment on Neil's apparent lack of empathy gave him pause. He never had the goal of pissing wizards off, just wanting an explanation for all the quirks of the way they did things. He could have gone on further on how they seemed as a society much too stuck in the past, that they ought to embrace modern technology sooner or later. But Neil could feel he was already being made out to be a jerk, and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Had plenty of socializing actually. Lots of friends. Played football. Not any issues with empathy really, I'm just honest is all. If wizards get offended from just a bit of observation no wonder they'd be so behind in the world. I'm not saying all wizards are damn fools, just that they should learn to accept a bit of criticism, don't you think?" Neil took on a defensive tone. He wasn't going to just let himself be made out as a jerk even if he didn't always check the words rolling up from his throat before blabbering away.

Neil folded his arms, glancing back over to the trolley witch. The various sweets and snacks intrigued him but he really didn't want to make another attempt to bother with wizarding money after all the trouble he had at Diagon Alley, not to mention that he only had a few sickles left. He turned his head away from the trolley, feigning disinterest.

"Don't need any snacks. All the sugar's not good for your teeth, y'know." Neil nodded at his own statement, finding it a reasonable excuse.

"You can still be an athlete and an unsocialized idiot, but I'll take your word for it. You seem pretty confident in yourself," Justin shrugged. "And it's not the critique that was offensive. It was the words 'unsocialized' and the condescending way you said 'poor brain development.' So many other words you could have chose to relay what you wanted to say," Justin said bluntly.

While talking with the sweet trolley lady, Neil mentioned something about sugar and teeth.

"That's Neil over there," Justin told the lady. "Yeah, he said sugars are bad for his teeth."

Justin then peered over to Neil as his conversation with the trolley lady continued. "That is a funny thing to worry about when you can just fix teeth with magic. You're right," Justin chuckled.

The conversation with the lady continued.

"Oh, I'm a muggleborn. Don't know too much about this whole magic business. But I probably will one day, right? I'm going to school for it," Justin laughed out loud.

The lady quietly said something to Justin.

"Why thank you. That made me feel so much better about Warthog, I mean Hogwarts," Justin smiled brightly at the old lady.

The boy then turned to Theodora. "You getting anything Dora?"

WC: 205
@Theodora Green
@Neil McKenzie

Theodora smiled. She was looking at Justin talking to the trolley witch. Theodora was very invested in the conversation Justin was having with the old lady. She admired Justin for how outgoing he was. Theodora sighed. I hope I can be like that one day, too.

Theodora startled when Justin suddenly turned to her and asked her if she was getting anything.

She now remembered she had actually planned on buying something to eat once on the train. From the moment she had gotten onto the train however, she had been so preoccupied with taking in every bit of this experience, that she had totally forgotten about that.

She sat up straighter. "Oh, eh, yeah. I think I'll buy something too." She said.

Theodora got up from her seat and walked over to Justin and the trolley witch. She smiled at the elderly woman and looked at all the sweets.

Theodora had grown up without a lot of sweets. It had been only on special occasions that her parents had allowed her to eat treats.

Theodora let her eyes wonder over the sweets. She stopped when her eyes spotted the freshly baked pumpkin-pasties.

"Two pumpkin-pasties, please." Theodora said to the trolley witch. She searched her pockets for her money.

Theodora pressed her fingers to her lips as she realized her money was in her trunk. She looked up at the overhead compartment with her trunk in it, then she looked at Justin.

"Could you... maybe... My money is in my trunk... Could you..."