“Alright then… how about instead of just standing there, we pack your things back into your trunk before someone else decides to make an untimely appearance?”

“Do you want them folded or should I just throw them into your trunk… Dude?”

"Did you come from far? I came from London, so it wasn't far for me.”

Allegra had rudely just told her to throw everything into his trunk. Nicole rolled her eyes once again and bitterly muttered out, “I was just trying to be nice save his clothes from creasing...”

She did not particularly like this other girl whatsoever, she acted like she was far superior to anyone around her. She was the arrogant one in all fairness not him. Regardless, the boy responded to her, more gentle in comparison to this Allegra.

After he had thanked her Nicole merely nodded her head in acknowledgement before gathering the clothes in her arms and heading towards his trunk. She dumped them in but as she turned caught a glimpsed of something gold catching the light. H… she didn’t catch the rest but clearly that had to be his initial right?

While she was so focused on that and putting more clothes and bits and bobs away, she had caught a snippet of the conversation between H and Allegra.

"My family owns a country estate on the River Wye that runs through Wye Valley”

She whipped her head round to stare at him in shock. How had she not at least bumped into him once? She had to think for a moment, he said the River Wye. Nicole remembered briefly to a time she saw this massive estate not too far from where she lived but her mother shushed her about it as they were out in public. It was then she later learned the place was glamoured to hide from site of muggles.

“Hold the phone. Are you living in that massive estate near Ross-on-Wye? What are they called… the Harrisons? Or something like that…” She called out as she snapped her finger over and over trying to remember the name.

Though the moment had swiftly ended on a short note as he started to frantically search for something. He has so much energy for someone so lanky…

"Have... either of you seen my wand?”

Nicole let out a sigh of frustration. Of course, he had lost the one thing he needed for this school.

“No… where did you last see it dude? You need to keep track of your belongings a bit better. But I can help you look for it I suppose… Is it in your trunk before we do start though?” There was no point searching for something that he just happened to put in his trunk.

Reducio

[font=Book Antique]Gilbert has given me permission to locate his wand.[/font]

[font=Book Antique]Cole's words hit Allegra with an unpleasant sting. The girl seemed more inclined to give lip about everything said and done, and it was beginning to grate on Allegra's ears, the remarks, the defensiveness. Doing her best to ignore it, Allegra continued packing things, listening as the boy talked about his home.

"I've never been to W..."

She was interrupted by Cole bursting in with a loud declaration. Her heart sank. Great, so Cole was familiar with the area too, lived close even. All of a sudden, Allegra felt alone. An outsider. A rush of homesickness hit her as she though of her parents back home. Her place of safety. A hidey-hole when things were tough, when she'd had a bad day, when other children found her strange or spooky. When her talent of playing the piano wasn't enough to get her through the day. When she felt isolated and estranged.

She could feel already a wall between herself and them. They would leave the Hogwarts express and part ways; those two would become friends and bond over their similarities while Allegra was pushed to the side and left to her own devices. They would make a bunch of friends and have a good time, while Allegra walked the corridors alone with no one to offer her company or a kind word. It couldn't turn out this way! She had to try and find a way in, no matter what.

"I've never been to Wales," she began again, in a scramble to have something to offer. "I hear they have good music there. A lot of choir singers and folk songs. And sheep."

But her effort at conversation was quickly halted as the boy asked after the whereabouts of his wand. Cole replied:[/font]

[font=Book Antiqua]“No… where did you last see it dude? You need to keep track of your belongings a bit better. But I can help you look for it I suppose… Is it in your trunk before we do start though?”[/font]

[font=Book Antiqua]Unwilling to engage with Cole, Allegra shrugged and rifled through the trunk, in case the wand had gotten mixed up with the boy's belongings. Her hands ploughed their way through different textures, feeling around for any object that was long and thin. Eventually, her fingers brushed over a hard ridge, covered in fabric, and she wrapped her fingers around it and pried it out.

Seeing what she had gotten hold of, Allegra's heart sank further. She had found the wand indeed - wrapped up in the boy's underwear.
[/font]

"Where did you last see it, dude? You need to keep track of your belongings a bit better. But I can help you look for it I suppose… Is it in your trunk before we do start though?”

"I've never been to Wales, I hear they have good music there. A lot of choir singers and folk songs. And sheep."

Whoops. Looks like I remembered his name wrong. It was Harrington. But hey at least I got a name after him. Nicole thought to herself, as she dazed for a moment but then snapped out of it to hear him asking what ‘dude’ is. Wide-eyed, her jaw dropped a bit as she stuttered. Was he messing with her? Or was it just the class difference showing. Either way she did manage to give out an answer to him.

“It’s a nickname you can call your friend, or in this case since I didn’t know your name. Was just a bit more nicer than calling you boy or something else stranger than that.” If dude wasn’t in his vocabulary, then what other things had she said that he had no clue on? She may have to be careful with her words a bit around this Harrington kid.

She felt that Allegra was a bit ignorant with her comment about Wales. Though Harrington had taken a more nicer approach towards correcting her, Nicole couldn’t resist muttering out.

“Of course all that’s there is choir singers, folk songs and sheep.” She shuddered upon remembering the time an older kid had decided to insult her using a term in regards to sheep and welsh people.

But thanks to her he found his wand. In his trunk. Well Nicole did say to check, but she could get that Allegra was probably not going to engage with her any further now. She just found it odd how this other girl can switch moods so fast.

With that fiasco over with she simply lifted her own trunk, stood on the seat and placed it into the overhanging compartment before plopping down next to Gilbert. She gave him some space for himself as it looked like he wished for it.

The door knocked and was slid open by a woman rolling a trolley full of sweets. The trolley witch plastered a smile on her face.

“Anyone want any sweets? We have quite a bit here, just take a look and I can give you prices if you wish.”

Nicole stared at the cart for a short beat before heading over to see what she could grab. There were an assortment of sweets and delicious treats she had never heard of before. Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans? Jelly Slugs? Blood-flavoured lollipops?

What on earth? Nicole thought but something had caught her eye. Oh they do have chocolate here. A chocolate frog sounded like a good call. But there was price tag labelled on it, and Nicole realised she was a bit short on money. Her mother had yet to go to her vault, so she wanted to keep the small amount of wizarding money she had for an emergency.

Nicole quickly went back to her seat and slumped back, head down.

[font=Book Antiqua]The name Harrington meant nothing to Allegra. Hearing about his name explained his mannerisms, the unusual speech pattern and the values he appeared set on. “M’lady,” he’d called her - was this how people addressed each other in those circles? “...I gladly appreciate it...” it was unlike an average eleven year old, somewhat affected and old fashioned sounding. If that was the case, no wonder he’d hated the idea of Allegra, a girl, helping him with his trunk.

Who cares if I’m a girl!!!

Allegra’s family was involved with wealthy circles of a different kind. Most of their connections were well established classical musicians, the kind who performed in the Royal Albert Hall and other such venues. Harrington. Harrington, who? The boy still hadn’t given mention to his first name. If he was not careful, she would end up referring to him all year as...

“I’ll just call you Harry, short for Harrington,” she declared.

It might have been vaguely amusing if not for the resounding embarrassment that followed. Her attempt at conversation had failed: Ross on Wye turned out to be in England, not Wales. The matter was only made worse by Nicole cutting in, expressing her disdain at Allegra’s assumption. Well, Allegra had tried, hadn’t she? She might know little of that area of the country, but had gone with the few things she did know. It didn’t seem to matter. Nicole was adamant about ripping into everything Allegra said. Each retort a punch to her chest. Her brown eyes dulled to a weak grey. Her features became small. Homesickness threatened once again.

“Well whatever you say, yes there are a lot of sheep in Wales,” she snapped, trying to keep her voice from rising. “And their choir singers are excellent so there is no need to act so miserable about it.”

On the flip side of the coin, “Harry” seemed a little more inclined towards conversation. Listening to him calmed her and she managed to collect herself. As he talked about the piano, her eyes lit up, only for her to frown when he said that he hated it.

“Oh, but I love the piano!” she gushed, her mood rapidly improved at the opportunity to discuss what she loved. “I’ve played my whole life. It’s my favourite thing to do. I cannot imagine not liking it. What happened to make you hate it?” she chattered, as she handed the boy’s wand back to him. “My favourite piece is Für Elise by Beethoven. Do you know Beethoven? He’s quite famous.”

After the trunk was finally stowed away, she noticed that Nicole flopped down next to “Harry” - meaning she was stuck with the temperamental girl for the rest of the ride. Vaguely, she wondered what house each of them would end up in. She hoped not to be in the same one as Nicole. It might be alright ending up with “Harry,” as at least they had something in common. But there was no telling where the Sorting Hat would place them, not until they arrived and the Sorting Ceremony occurred.

The carriage door opened at some point, as the trolly lady went by. Allegra merely shook her head at the sweets, not really too tempted. Thereafter, she eyed her two companions warily, hoping that the next few hours wouldn’t be incredibly awkward. Or perhaps a friendship would form? Was that too optimistic, should she cut her losses now and try again at the castle? Would other children treat her the same? Would she be the odd one out again...?[/font]

“I’ll just call you Harry, short for Harrington,”

"Oh, but I love the piano! I’ve played my whole life. It’s my favourite thing to do. I cannot imagine not liking it. What happened to make you hate it? My favourite piece is Für Elise by Beethoven. Do you know Beethoven? He’s quite famous.”

“Anyone want any sweets? We have quite a bit here, just take a look and I can give you prices if you wish.”

The young girl couldn’t resist snorting at Harrington being called Harry. He hadn’t given much of his name up until now. Plus Harrington was so long and formal, it was nice to see a different side of her even if she hadn’t meant for that to happen. Though the moment ended a bit too soon as she snapped back at Nicole once again.

She decided that perhaps it was best to ignore Allegra’s words. The girl was getting a bit boring now with all the snobbish tendencies and it was better for her sake to just not get involved with her. Hopefully the train journey would end soon, and if not she would simply try and find a new compartment to stay in. He had then introduced himself as Gilbert.

“Oh okay then Bert it is!” She let out a laugh. But instantly felt a bit out of place when they discussed piano and such. Nicole wasn’t an expert in music but she knew that Gilbert’s words may annoy Allegra even more.

Flopped in her seat, head down she thought that maybe a treat could lift her mood of being stuck here with oddballs such as these two. However, her financial situation was never the greatest and so she couldn’t really have anything. She hadn’t realised Gilbert had briefly left and came back until he had announced that he had bought a load of snacks for everyone. And even got her the chocolate frog.

"That is the one you wanted right? I noticed you had your eye on it...." Wide-eyed, Nicole’s jaw dropped in complete surprise.


“Thank you… I didn’t realise how much Freddo’s cost in this world, but that’s a lot more than what I can afford.” Her face flushed in warmth. Being in a room with two people who seemed to have the funds for anything and everything, she began to feel out of place yet again.

She decided to open it up and carefully fiddled with the lid until it came loose. What Nicole hadn’t expected was for the frog to jump out towards Allegra.

This girl must hate me by this point. She panicked to herself.

“Sorry!” Flustered with herself and lack of knowledge of the wizarding world. Nicole just slumped down in her seat and gave up with it. Maybe going to this magical boarding school was a mistake for her. Although her mother had told her about the wizarding world. Nicole regretted not asking more questions about things. An example being the Freddo’s being live frogs….

[font=Book Antiqua]
"Harry" turned out to be called "Gilbert." The matter of the name solved, Allegra noted his wooden expression as he spoke. As if he'd spoken the same words a hundred times before. The name, like everything else she knew about him, was old fashioned, and reminded her of a character from a muggle novel called Anne of Green Gables. It was easy to envision him in a stately home in the glorious depths of the countryside, with meals served on a silver platter in a grand dining room with dark mahogany furniture and embroidered cushions.

“Oh okay then Bert it is!” said Nicole, who seemed as keen as Allegra to avoid the blunder over Ross on Wye. Allegra's shoulders sagged with relief. Please let this be the end of the bickering, she thought.

"We can call him Bertie Botts," she added, keen to continue in this manner. "Like the beans."

However, her new found enthusiasm was marred by Gilbert's stance on the piano. "...tedious rhythm clicking..." he called it. A prospect that caused Allegra to recoil.

"It is certainly not!" she gasped. "How could anyone find the piano tedious? You must have a bad teacher to think that. Melody, my piano teacher, was the most fun teacher in the world. Well, she has a scary face. But she's really nice. Anyway, she said that the piano is more than rhythms and notes. It's using the music to express something."

As she slumped in her seat, Gilbert got up suddenly and left. Allegra wondered if her speech about the piano had bored him and he had gone to look for somewhere else to sit. It would be dreadfully awkward if she was to share the rest of the journey with Nicole alone. But then, Gilbert came back, and upon his return, he brought a pile of sweets. He hadn't gotten bored. Thank goodness.

Allegra watched as he handed the chocolate frog to Nicole - a selfless act, one that hadn't even crossed her mind, she realised, as Nicole referred to the frog as a Freddo, a muggle chocolate that was very much not-alive, unlike its wizarding counterpart. A small giggle escaped her. "It's not a Fr-"

Her explanation was cut short when the life-like frog hopped towards her and landed on her chest. She shrieked in surprise and grabbed it, squishing it between her fingers. The frog's legs writhed as she passed it back to an apologetic Nicole. In that moment, the tension from before melted, and she tentatively hoped that perhaps they had reached an understanding.

She looked at the array of sweets that Gilbert had brought in. He might as well have bought the entire trolley. Even thought Allegra had rejected the sweets before, she couldn't help but eye them, and helped herself to a sherbet lemon. "Thanks," she offered.
[/font]

“Oh okay, then Bert it is!”
"We can call him Bertie Botts,"