Noa-Elise marveled at Elodie's description of her village, imagining a quiet little Hamlet nestled with wide rolling hills and fresh air. Her home situation is the opposite; set in the urban city of Manchester, the sights and sounds of Muggle Manchester can get a bit grating. She's grateful that Mother, though open-minded in terms of Muggles and their culture, was still wary of them so she had warded their house from strangers and placed their home with an illusion of a two-story apartment where the only occupied room was the first floor and the windows were boarded up. Should any ruffian would even attempt to break in, an earsplitting alarm would blare out and will only stop once they're off the perimeter.

"I can't imagine trying to help out in a pub," Noa confessed "I'm dreadful at cleaning up tables, I feel like I might accidentally break all the plates and glasses." A blush bloomed on her cheeks as she continued, "Actually, I never had to clear the table myself as Mitzy would just float them to the sink and would use cleaning charms so they could wash themselves."

Not wanting her new friend to think she was a laze-about, she quickly tried to change the subject-

"And you have mentioned a half-sister and a dog too. How sweet! I don't have any siblings nor do I have any pets. Sir Barkington is such an adorable name."

Looking at the scene outside the window, there was a sense of excitement with a bit of nervousness that she felt back at Platform 9^3/4. Just a few more hours and they will be arriving at Hogwarts. She turned her eyes to Elodie who was enjoying her Cauldron Cake, happy to see that Elodie was finally comfortable enough to let her guard down.

Leaning back against her seat, she hummed a bit of a random tune and asked, "How did your mum react when you got your letter from Hogwarts? Mother and Father had attended Hogwarts when they were children and they expected it from the day I turned 11."

Samuel sat into a the spot with a mutter of thanks, not really paying attention much to the conversation. Well, that was a lie. He would listen to the conversation as he tried to bury his nose into his book that was titled ¨everything about mushrooms¨, he adored this book and continued to reread it often. He could practically recite the book backwards in piglatin, but he read it regardless. It was easily to look like he was paying attention to it when he was just listening into the conversation awkwardly.

It wasn't like he didn't want to talk with them or that he was just trying to be rude- he really wasn't. He wanted to make friends, definitely, but due to the lack of.. well, anyone liking his personality most of the time, he didn't really expect to make any. They seemed nice, but he was too use to the swift awkwardness that would follow when he spoke.

Instead of socializing, he let himself listen and, in a way, feel the ground he stood upon. He didn't want to make a wrong move, so he kept to.. slight observation. Though, when he found an interesting detail in his book that he hadn't seen before, he would immediately differ to tuning out the people next to him in favor of the new interesting detail he stumbled upon. Whether it be in a photograph about mushrooms, finding a small insect in the background, or a small quote he had forgotten to read, he would focus in and figure it out.

Elodie blinked at the new face, offering up a smile. "Uhm, sure!" She sighed, turning to Noa-Elise. "Honestly, I didn't tell her at first. Like I said, I thought it was a prank or something. Later, though... she was shocked." The girl looked down, picking at her nails. "This woman who lived in our village came to me after my magic began flaring up. She was the one who took me to diagon alley, and was kind enough to pay for my school supplies."

Elodie stared at the ground. "Honestly, I think my mother might end up blocking the whole thing from her memory all together. She's never been too good with change, and I'm admittedly worried about her."

"I've been distracting myself with this incredible book, though!" She seemed to perk up, digging through her trunk and pulling out Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, holding it as if it were a precious relic. "I never knew such incredible creatures existed! Dragons and pixies and unicorns, all of them!" Elodie flipped through the red book, beaming at the other passengers.

"One day, I'm going to be just like Newt Scamander, travelling the world to study and care for all different manners of magical creatures. What about you all? Admittedly, I'm new to this whole 'magic' thing, but there seems to be so many different kinds of incredible things to do!"

Listening to Elodie's passion for being a Magizoologist made Noa smile. The Muggleborn had just found out that she was a witch but she already knew what she wanted to do for a career. Truth be told, Noa herself didn't think about what she was going to do after graduating from Hogwarts; she didn't even know which House she would be in.

However, it wasn't that she never had any dreams of her future career when she was a child... well, younger than eleven. When she was six, she became so obsessed with being a Healer like her mother that she started following Mother around the manor and even borrowing some of her case files from her bag. Why just last year, she had thought of herself as an Auror that she mistakenly thought that the leery janitor who was minding his own business was the illegal potioneer whose face was plastered everywhere in the ministry and the Wanted boards that she almost caused a scene within the ministry when they were only there to give Father his lunch during his break.

Father had apologized profusely to the man and insisted that she was just a bit too imaginative and thought all men with white beards looked the same. And 'No my darling starlight, Mr. Bitterman is not being suspicious, he's just usually a craic killer' he explained, earning him a glare from the harassed-looking man.

But there's something that Elodie said previously that made Noa frown, "Does your mother hate magic? I mean, there are dark witches and wizards out there but magic itself is so beautiful! I hear that the first years can change objects into different things and even make objects dance! It's amazing!"

In a moment of carefree attitude, she opened out her arms, almost hitting the boy who sat next to her, his enormous book almost whacking his face.

"Oh I am terribly sorry!" she squeaked out, "I hope I didn't interrupt you from-" Noa squinted at the title "Erm, 'Everything About Mushrooms'. It sounds like a good read" ending it with an awkward grin.

Memorizing plants and moons were her lower subjects, according to the tutors. Her mind has a tendency to wander when she has little to no interest in the topic at hand. This will definitely be a problem for her once she attends Astronomy and Herbology, she just hoped she can make it up with her other subjects.

"Um, may I sit here with you guys? All the other seats were taken, my mum always says to pick a compartment in the back."

They all turned to see a girl with red hair holding her trunk with a tired look.

"Oh of course!" Noa nodded "We have room for one more. Is it okay with everyone?" she asked, not wanting to force her will on others.

Interacting with:
@Elodie Norman
@Samuel Moreno
@Brooklyn Claymore

Elodie blinked, chewing her lip nervously. "That's fine with me. As for my mother... It's not like she HATES magic, it's just... living your whole life thinking the world works one way, then finding out it's incredibly different... It can be hard, y'know?"

The girl tugged on a particularly stubborn lock of chocolate-colored hair, her bright brown eyes flashing behind her glasses in a way that made them appear amber. "There's also the fact that every time my magic flared up when I was home, it was.... bad. I shattered a glass cup in the pub once, and almost knocked over an entire bookshelf another time."

Elodie sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Honestly, I considered finding a way to get her to forget the whole thing, but.... I don't think I'll ever be able to lie to her. I just get so... upset when she won't look me in the eyes because she knows what I am. I don't know if she'll ever look at me the same again."

The memories flashed, images flooding her every time she closed her eyes, flashing behind her eyelashes with every blink. That day had been a particularly bad one, a December weekend so cold that her lungs burned every time ten-year-old Elodie took a breath. She had been miserable, mocked for her ineptitude at the math the village schoolteacher attempted to teach her, shivering in her old, ragged coat that was too thin to properly protect her from the biting winter winds. Whenever she thought back on that day, she flinched at the memory of the way her mother had looked at her when her misery and anger had made the only bookshelf in the cottage rock back and forth as she sat with her head on her knees in the corner, tears blurring her vision.

In an attempt to shake off the melancholy emotions that arose within her chest, the girl turned to Samuel, eyes flashing with interest. "Everything About Mushrooms, eh? Sounds cool!"

Interacting with:
@Noa-Elise Forsythe
@Samuel Moreno
@Brooklyn Claymore

Noa can't help but feel down at Elodie's words. Especially when she recounted how her mother felt about magic and the possibility that her child could do it. She didn't want to presume and she could feel the tension in the air.

Elodie must've felt it too as she turned to the quiet boy and commented about the book he was reading. As they waited for their companion to reply, Noa took the time to think about some helpful tips to share with her new Muggleborn friend, well, she hoped they're going to be friends.

"Well" she started, "Since we're on our way to Hogwarts I can share some of the information my parents have told me since their time. I heard that the Slytherin house has a view of the Great Lake. They even have merpeople and a giant squid there so it must be amazing to see that" she giggled.

"And the library has a great deal of books, some of them can also teach you spells that the professors won't. But Mother said they're terribly difficult to learn with knowing proper pronunciation and wand movements. I'm much more interested in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts subjects. The ones I'm worried about are Potions and Flying, I have never ridden a broomstick, even the toy ones."

A thought entered her mind, "Muggles have transportation called 'cars', yes? Are they safe?"

Noa hoped that the hitch in her tone wasn't that too obvious. She had seen her fair share of those things but they're frightfully loud, even louder than an Apparition pop and she had seen them causing accidents on others. Muggle ingenuity both fascinated and scared her at the same time, kind of like Mother. Maybe she could also ask them which houses they might get sorted into.

@Elodie Norman
@Samuel Moreno

─────Elodie blinked at this, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Yeah, muggles have cars, and they're usually safe. My family didn't have one, though. Couldn't afford it." She said this with a shrug. "I can't wait to take Care of Magical Creatures! I can't believe we have to wait until THIRD YEAR to take it." The girl pouted, unwrapping yet another Cauldron cake. Cake had been a rare thing when she was growing up, and she couldn't help devouring as much as possible.

"As for the classes we're taking now, I think I'm excited for Potions. I love cooking and baking, and how different could potions be? I'm super worried about Defense Against the Dark Arts." Elodie huffed out a laugh. "I'm a bit of a coward, and the dark spells I've been reading about are super scary!

"I bet you'll do fine in Flying. I think I'll feel silly when I take that class, though. I mean, I can't believe witches ACTUALLY use broomsticks. I thought that was just some ridiculous story, but apparently not. Either way, I think I'd like to experience flying at least once." She sighed dreamily. "When I was little, that was all I ever wanted. To fly, feel the wind on my face without a care in the world.

As Elodie reassured her about the non-existent broomstick flying prowess that Noa sorely lacks, she smiled as her new friend happily noted how much she wanted to try flying herself. Noa grabbed the bottle of her pumpkin juice, frowning a bit when she realized that the ice had melted; she had a bit of a bad habit of chewing it. Mother disapproves of it while she learned it from Father.

After taking a few decided gulps, she leaned back on her seat and thoughtfully tapped on her chin. "Care of Magical Creatures does sound interesting, though I hope we can learn more than just flobberworms and murtlaps once we get to the third year. And you don't have to worry about Defense Against the Dark Arts." She smiled encouragingly at Elodie, "Most of our lessons are going to be in a classroom setting if Mother's correct. All of the spells we're going to be taught this year are purely defense."

That little tidbit did disappoint her slightly if she was going to be honest.

"Truth be told," she carefully muttered "I was hoping that we can learn more about the dark creatures and spells. Which is for more than just gratifying dark arts!" Noa quickly added, knowing that her words might get misconstrued.

"It's just that people had been saying that things that are perceived as dark are... evil. I mean, some abilities were previously affiliated with dark wizards and witches that aren't that bad."

Ooh she's really digging her own grave.

Clearing her throat, she tugged at the ends of a stray thatch of hair and offered an awkward grin," Anyways, I doubt we will get a new faction like the Death Eaters so soon; I'm rather keen on knowing which house I'm going to be sorted."

There, a light-hearted subject.

"Do you know which house are you going to be in? Um, from what I remembered, Grffindors are for the brave and chivalrous, Ravenclaw is for the creative and intelligent, Hufflepuffs for those who are loyal and patient and Sltherins are for the cunning and ambitious. Though it's rather difficult to pick which one, isn't it?"

@Elodie Norman

─────Elodie blinked at this, tapping her chin. "Probably Hufflepuff. Maybe Ravenclaw, if I'm lucky!" She giggled, kicking her legs cheerily. What about you? What house do you think you'll be in?" The girl said, taking a bite of the cake she held and closing her eyes to savor the taste of chocolate on her tongue.

She paused as she chewed, eyes growing inquisitive after she swallowed. "What are death eaters? I haven't heard of those before." Elodie leaned back, twirling her hair around her fingers thoughtfully. The only books she'd read from her collection of them for school had been Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Book of Spells, meaning she was quite uneducated in the history of the magical world. Despite this, she vaguely recalled reading something about them in passing, and she narrowed her eyes in an attempt to recall what they were.

"Weren't they evil wizards an' witches or something?"

Elodie had never been great at reading the room, and was unaware of Noa-Elise's uncomfortable feelings as she pondered this, biting at the cuticles of her pointer finger thoughtfully and tossing her hair over her shoulder.

Death Eaters.

Now there's a subject that is sore for wizards and witches with pureblood ancestry.

"Yes, they are evil" Noa nodded, "They are a radical group of witches and wizards who believe that purebloods are above all magical beings and think that Muggleborns and witches and wizards who chose to be with a Muggle are traitors. They were the followers of" Her voice dropped into a whisper "the Dark Lord Voldemort."

Unconsciously, her hand flinched as soon as she uttered the name. It's been years since his defeat by Harry Potter but his notoriety still left a mark in the wizarding world. She was pretty careful with her next words, actively trying to feel about how Elodie would react to the secret she wanted to share.

"The Dark Lord was gifted in the Dark Arts you see," she explained "An intelligent student who had charm and the gift of gab that made him popular to a certain type of people. Most of them became Death Eaters while others silently supported his ideals. Apart from curses and hexes, he also could talk to snakes. A Parselmouth as we call it in the wizarding world."

Not meeting her friend's eye, Noa focused her attention on the scene outside, the houses now being far apart and the flat fields turned into thick forestry. The sunny afternoon sky now was painted in orange and soft purple, twilight was upon them.

"Many still believed that having that kind of ability is a curse. That if you share something with the bad people, you're destined to be one or at least have an affinity with the Dark Arts."

As if out of shame, Noa chewed on the inside of her cheek before taking a deep breath and sitting up straight, "My mother's side had been staunch supporters of the Dark Lord's ideals though they didn't actively share it with others. I haven't met them as they have cut ties with Mother ever since she eloped with Father but there were whispers from other purebloods that the Von Thessics would've joined them if they were in Britain at that time."

A very unlady-like snort escaped her lips, "Of course, it's not as if my grandparents who're from Germany needed more excuse to support such a monster. I just can't understand how one person can think they can decide who is superior to another person."

Okay, that was rude of her to speak ill of her maternal grandparents but she never met them so...

"As for houses," she continued "Mother firmly believed that I would be in Ravenclaw though Father insists that any house would be lucky to have me." The first smile broke on her face for the first time in the conversation, "Though I'm sure he just says that. If it's for personal preferences... I would like to think I'm a pretty good fit for a Slytherin. I just have... an affinity for snakes" she finished in a quiet tone.

The skies start to darken.

@Elodie Norman