Compartment 9 Private Closed

Sett listened to others. Shiro calmed down but still looked like he was in lion's cage. Ben seemed to be very cautious about everything. Jo seemed to be the calmest of the group. At least until she mentioned her status. Uncle Adrian talked to him about being the muggle-born. Sett got it lucky to have Adrian to teach him the basics and help him deal with his gift, but there were numerous kids that lived clueless lives until the day the letter came. And some families treated their kids like Sett's - pretended it wasn't real or shoved the child as far away as possible. This girl was clueless and Sett felt sorry for her. Adrian warned Sett that admitting his status might make others bully Sett but now all the boy saw was confused scared girl. He wanted to comfort her.

"Muggle-born" he heard himself saying. "I am muggle-born too. I was told that many kids are." He smiled to the girl. "I wonder what lessons we will get. Somehow I doubt that we will be learning algebra..." boy chuckled. "I mean all the stuff we had to buy look quite interesting. Did you look at the books yet? I think I saw a unicorn mentioned in one of them." 

     Aliea had gotten on board in time, gasping, out of breath as she clung onto her suitcase. She had managed to run away from her mom's teary hugs, say a brief goodbye to her dad, and sprinted as fast as she could towards the first door she could spot on the train. Now she was looking around, looking for a compartment she could sit in. Her mind drifted back towards her mom, who was probably clinging onto her dad for dear life, because she couldn't deal with the parting. 'Truly heartbreaking,' her mother had said. 
     Rolling her eyes, her eyes fell upon a compartment with three boys, and a girl. Aliea stopped in front of their compartment, and briefly contemplated whether to grab their attention or not. They seem to be in a light conversation... well all the other compartments are, so probably should ask, if I can join them. "Um," Aliea lightly knocked on the compartment door, peering inside. "Do you mind if I join you guys? If not, I could go to some other compartment. Hoping I didn't disrupt your conversation..." She trailed off nervously, glancing at each individual.  

The creeping fear of this all being a big joke came back as Ben met everyone in his compartment. No one had been to Hogwarts or knew it existed? No one had much experience with magic at all? Ben tried his best to hide his concerns because he had seen enough magic by now, obviously, to at least believe there was something special going on.

"Wow, seems like we're all in for a surprise," he said with a chuckle, happy to meet a few new friends. "Some of these lessons seem... interesting... to say the least."

After the first bit of conversation another girl entered the compartment and seemed to awkwardly ask if she could stay. It seemed there was still room and Ben didn't mind. He had been here first and no one spoke up immediately so he assumed it was his job to speak up in this case. She seemed nervous just like them so he was happy to welcome her to the group.

"Plenty of room, take a seat," he said as he motioned to the last real free spot from students or luggage. "We're just all nervous, never been here and most of us are muggle-born.. do you know anything about the school? Will I be able to call home when I get there? What are rooms like? ...Sorry."

Ben pulled himself back from bombarding her too much. He would hate similar questioning when he was pretty lost here himself. Nerves of course were present but he tried to ignore them as best he could by disguising nerves as excitement.

     Aliea smiled in relief. She smiled when she heard the boy's trail of questions. Looks like I wasn't the only one who was nervous... Although I do have some knowledge on Hogwarts, thanks to my mom. She entered the compartment, and sat down. There seemed to be enough space for the students and their luggage to fit in, but no more. She was glad she was able to fit in. She smiled at the boy. "No problem. I am a half-born, and I've heard some stories of Hogwarts from my mother. And I've heard that you can send owls, anywhere! So we'll probably be able to send messages home. And about the rooms... I'm not really sure, but I guess you have a dorm mate, in a same house as you?"
     She haven't heard, or rather, pay attention to her mother's stories about dorms. Now she wished she'd payed more attention. She was rather nervous, more than she would express herself. She hoped that she would be in a house that she'll enjoy being in. Aliea realized, that she didn't know the students' names in the compartment and decided to ask, "So hey, what's all of your names? My name is Aliea, Aliea Frost." She introduced herself, eager to know them. 

          As Shiro was about the group in the compartment became bigger. New girl introduced herself to the group and clarified some things. Shiro felt relief as he learned about the owls. At least he will be able to write letters. That should stop his father from having panic attacks every day. Shiro smiled to himself as his mind wandered back to the morning. His father did not understand most of the things Shiro and mother did but he always supported them. He never entered the greenhouse, as mommy said father's heart would not survive that. Yet he always bought what mother asked and even made fences to separate different plants. Father also was very nice about Shiro being covered in dirt most of the time. And of course the driving stunt his dad pulled off earlier that day. Dad wanted Shiro to make it in time, regardless of the fact that magic in general terrified him.
      His thoughts were interrupted by the girl, who introduced herself nervously. Shiro could relate to that. For him this whole thing was middle ground between a dream and a nightmare. Mother told him about the houses a little bit and expressed her hopes that Shiro would be sorted to Griffins or Ravens, as she called them. Mom herself used to be a Raven and talked about the house with great respect. Shiro was afraid of the ceremony.
    The boy almost jumped but managed to contain himself. Shiro didn't want others to think that he was biggest scaredy cat on the planet. “Ni-nice to meet you. I am Shiro Inugami. “

    Sett had some time to investigate new girl who joined their group. So far from what he saw Jo was doing best job at taking this, then Alea, Ben and finally poor scared Shiro. Only reason why Sett wasn't panicking was because he lived with uncle Adrian who used magic on daily basis. Little did he know about all the things he didn't know. Boy had no idea about most of the creatures, plants and things he was about to encounter.
    Honestly Sett didn't know what to think about the dorms. He was excited to live with other kids his age but the fact that he never had friends before made him scared. But it was one of those things he couldn't change. If on his way to become an Auror Sett will have to learn social skills he will certainly try his best.
    “I am Sett. Sett Corvo.” He smiled. “I wonder how big the school is, what teachers are like. They should be very powerful wizards in order to teach so many new wizards...I am certainly looking forward to practical studies, how about you? I hope we get to do lots of those, since I already finished most of the books...”

     Aliea visibly slumped against the seats as the other students began introducing themselves. A shy but excited looking boy was first to greet her back. She gave what was hopefully a reassuring smile back and replied. "Hey, Shiro. Nice to meet you too." Aliea supposed the boy did look quite nervous, but that was to be expected. In fact, she herself was also nervous. She didn't know exactly what to expect in the wizarding school. Her mother did tell her it was huge and archaic, but nothing much other than that. 
     Next was another boy who seemed pretty cool with everything but also enthusiastic, Aliea noted. The boy gave her a smile which she was happy to return. "Hi, Sett." She nodded at Sett in greeting, and spoke up again in response. "I really hope the teachers gives us some fun activities during class... That way, I'll look forward to classes. And yup, practical activities are fun. Although I still have several books I gotta read. I'm surprised you read all of them. They were a lot." Aliea widened her eyes at the boy's statement. Not only was she surprised, but impressed. She continued talking. "What house do you guys want to be in? For me it'll probably be Gryffindor or Hufflepuff." She asked the group.