Adam felt the compartment filling up, and after both newcomers had settled in, he felt his stomach growl, too. Apparently he was a little hungry. It made sense; he hadn't had much of a breakfast, since he had been too excited to eat. Now, he regretted his decision. Eris' exclamation caught his ear, and he set his sights on one thing: finding the nearest source of food. He decided that this quest would be a good opportunity to explore the train, get to know some of his compartment-mates, and of course, satisfy his appetite. He was curious to learn more about Ava, Eris, and the other girl -- Michelle, her name was Michelle -- and boy that had come in after him. It was amazing that they were all on the same train, all headed to the same place. He wondered where they were all from. He'd never be able to meet anyone this interesting back in Nottingham; at least, not anyone his own age. Although they had only run into each other on one other occasion, Adam felt himself growing closer to Ava and Eris already, and he knew that the potential for friendship with the other two students was just waiting to be unleashed.

Rising from his seat, he slipped some money out of his suitcase and turned to the rest of the group. "Eris's right. I'm starved. Time for a food run!" He took a step towards the door and looked back at each of the other first-year students. "Who's with me?"

Eris laughed, glad another person had just as big an appetite as her. "Lugging that trunk around made me quite hungry," she agreed, settling back down in her seat. She hadn't realized she'd been on the edge of her seat.

"Wait, a wizard also came to pick you up?" Eris blurted out as Michelle started talking. She remembered when a wizard came to take her to school, and from what she had heard so far that wasn't a normal occurrence. Maybe it was a normal thing for muggle-borns, although Eris wasn't one exactly . "I was so scared when he came I nearly ran away. I couldn't believe it. My mum had told me I was a witch, but I didn't believe it. Also I had been living on the streets for a couple of months, so I thought he was just some hobo trying to take my food." Eris laughed awkwardly, realizing how odd it sounded to say that out loud. "I got kicked out of my mum's house." She said in a quieter tone than grateful to be asked what her favorite subject might be, responded. "I can't wait for defense against the dark arts. I want to be an auror when I grow up.

When Adam asked about a food run Eris nodded and stood up, cutting off whatever she was about to say about aurors. "i'm in.. though I'm broke." she smiled, as if to say sorry.

Suddenly, the compartment was bustling. As Ava was introducing herself to the new girl and being cut off by Adam (who she forgave… this once), someone else slipped by and sat down without as much as looking at them. Ava frowned, but said nothing of it. She had seen that the boy was carrying a knife, and she was not foolish enough to confront him about his lacking manners with the knowledge he could seriously harm her.
“I’m hungry too,” she agreed. “Could not eat anything this morning. My mother said that you can purchase food from a trolley on the train, though, so I will buy us something when they come around to this compartment.” Ava, who had never had friends before, wished to impress them by showing them her generosity. Surely enough, her parents had given her enough money that she estimated she could survive about fifty years on.
The silent girl introduced herself as Michelle, and she seemed to be more talkative than Ava had originally expected her to be. It was a nice surprise. “I’ve already talked about this with Adam and Eris, but I am really looking forward to getting to see some magical creatures. I know we won’t have that class for some years, but I’m sure there’s plenty to see around Hogwarts. My mother told me there’s a Giant Squid in the lake… that’s the first thing I will be trying to find.” She did not want to talk about houses again – she had noticed that Adam had not really enjoyed her description of the houses before, and she did not wish to offend any other potential Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors that were present.
Eris and Michelle seemed to be getting on well, talking about their experiences, when Adam stood up and suggested to go search for food instead of wait for it to arrive. Ava thought of it as a good idea, and followed suit. “Don’t worry,” she said to Eris, “treats are on me.”

Michelle laughed at Eris' response and was a little shocked when she asked about the wizard. "Well yeah... Is it not a normal thing? Maybe because I'm muggle-born and my family needed extra assistance." she answered and listened to Eris' story, and laughed a small bit but after she heard about her mom she felt sympathy for her. She had always had a loving and supportive family she couldn't imagine what being kicked out would feel like, she only knew she wouldn't like it. When she heard Eris' response to what she's most excited about she was confused, the wizard never mentioned defense against the dark arts. What was Defense Against the Dark Arts? She guessed magic could be dangerous but she never thought there would be a class special for defense against it, that kinda scared her.

When Adam got up and suggested a food run she rummaged for the little money she had. "Sure I'd love some food... can I get anything with 3 dollars? Sorry I mean sickles." She laughed and gestured to the coins in her hands, this was the only wizard money she had but she was really hungry. She supposed she wouldn't need the coins at school so better to use them now. When Ava offered to pay she was relieved just in case she did need those three sickles.

Eris grinned at Michelle, glad to have found another person who didn't know a lot about the ways of the magical world. "I don't know if it's a normal thing," She admitted, "I never really bothered to ask." She said shrugging, as she started to walk out of the compartment, waiting for Michelle to follow her out.

Eris thanked Ava and followed her two new friends out of the compartment, eyes wide as she thought about a giant squid lurking in the lake. She wanted to see that for herself. "Wow. I can't believe we're almost at Hogwarts. It's basically a dream come true." Eris remarked to one one in particular, as they traversed the hallways searching for the trolley. There were so many students that Eris had a hard time sticking with her friends, as she kept getting lost in the sea of people. The ginger was really quite short, and could barely even spot Adam and Ava's blonde and black heads of hair. She had to resort to jumping up and down, to the amusement of all the older students she passed. But hey, if jumping up and down was the only way to find her friends, Eris would do it.

After a while spent hopping up and down, Eris finally caught a glimpse of Adam's blonde hair and hurried over towards Adam and Ava. "Sorry I got lost," Eris muttered to their shoulders, as she would have to look all the way up to reach their heads and she was already humiliated enough from hopping up and down frantically. "Any luck finding the trolley?" Eris asked.

Adam thought back on his answers in the compartment. He hadn't talked to the black-haired boy at all, although he was still interested in learning his story -- or at least his name. When Michelle asked them all about their favorite subjects, he was caught off guard, but luckily Ava and Eris had answers that he could rebound off of. "DADA sounds cool," he had replied, "but I'm also interested in Transfiguration. Could you imagine pulling off magic at that level all the time?" He had listened to Eris and Michelle discuss their welcoming wizard for a while, and when it seemed that conversation had dulled, he had suggested a food run.

Now, here he was with Eris and Ava and Michelle again. He had just caught a glimpse of the trolley and was trying hard to reach it. Luckily, his height helped. The trolley attendant saw his approaching figure and stopped, and when Eris asked if they had found anything, Adam ceremoniously revealed the mobile snack shop with an over-the-top "Ta-da!"

Now, he wasn't sure what he wanted. Ava had graciously offered to pay for the snacks, and even though he was determined to find a way to pay her back at some point in their time together, he made sure not to pick an expensive treats. He finally decided on a package of Every-Flavor Beans, and promised to share some with their compartment-mates. Adam lived for these jelly beans, even after dozens of horrible discoveries when he thought he was getting a typical flavor. The Harringtoms were real risk-takers when it came to candy.

He wondered how the other boy was doing back in the compartment. He hoped that he hadn't decided to stab everything. That would be hard to explain. Oh, how exciting it all truly was!

“Three sickles is good enough for a couple of sweets,” Ava answered, “but we’re ready for a feast, I think.”
They all seemed to be leaving the compartment apart from the mysterious boy. Ava wondered if it was safe to leave their belongings with him, but since nobody else questioned it, she decided to trust that nothing would happen.
Adam and her had walked out first, and it became clear that they were not the only ones looking for food. The train was filled with students, and Ava made sure to stay near Adam, who was like a beacon so tall in comparison to herself. She looked back, and noticed that they had lost the others. Suddenly, a face appeared from the mass – it was Eris, who was jumping up and down to find them again. Ava had to try really hard not to laugh at the sight, but she nudged Adam and let him know that they should slow down a bit, so Eris could catch up.
They were at the trolley purchasing their snacks when the train jolted into motion, and Ava had to try her best to not fall over. They were officially on their way to Hogwarts, she realised. She removed some more Sickles from her robes. “Time to celebrate,” she grinned, as bought even more Chocolate Frogs to share with the others.

Kaegen thought hard for some way to distract him. He firmly decided that trains were not for him. No way was he ever going to get on something like this willingly again. Not going to happen.
He reached into the tiny pouch and pulled out a tiny round, wooden cage. Inside the seamless cage there was another. Inside the there was a round wooden ball. It wasn't very well done, not all that smooth, but there were no chinks at least. Kaegen forced himself to think about the ball, about the hard work he put into making it. Anything to get his mind off of the train. His eyes had almost slowed down when the train started. Kaegen was knocked slightly off balance, and gave a small yell, sounding a lot like the snapping of a small branch. he managed to leap for the overhead storage in a surprisingly agile motion and hung there from his fingers, his wooden cage forgotten on the floor as the train left the station. This was horrible. Everything he hated. Too many people, the ground moved, no fresh air, no mist and hard floors. He hoped that hogwarts wasn't like this. He looked down, contemplating letting himself touch the ground. After all, the train was moving smoothly now. He decided that maybe was too big of a first step, and just stayed there, hanging from a baggage compartment. little ball rolling back and forth on the floor.

Well Ava had the sense to not fall over, Eris toppled to the ground when the train moved. When she sprung back to her feet, Eris’s Gabe was Scarlett but she forgot her embarrassment as she saw all the sweets. They weren’t normal sweets like mars bars or candy floss. Eris wished she had enough money to buy some of everything, but of course she didn’t have any money on her. She didn’t want to buy everything if Ava was paying that was simply be rude and wouldn’t be a good first impression for Eris to make, but there was so much new candy that Eris was almost drooling. Finally she decided upon a pumpkin pasty and an everlasting gobstopper, whatever those were. She made a silent promise to return next year with more money and buy a little bit of everything. She hadn’t been to gringotts yet but she knew her mother’s famolu was a rich pure blood family that would most likely have enough money for Eris to buy candy and she would take pleasure out of robbing her mothers no good for nothing family. Most of them had died in the second wizarding war anyways so they wouldn’t miss the money.

Michelle followed them out of the compartment determined to stay close and not lose them in the large crowd of students. She kept her eyes on Eris until one minute she was gone. She searched around for a few minutes until she saw the red haired girl jumping up and down and bolt off again. When she finally reached them Adam had found the trolley and revealed it to them with a Ta-Da. It was a trolley they were looking for? She huffed they could've waited, but she supposed that maybe she would have been too hungry to wait.

She graciously accepted the chocolate frog Ava was offering and kept it to her chest. She was beginning to feel slightly nervous about the number of kids and when the trained jerked forward she was she tensed and felt her stomach drop. "We should get becak to the compartment now right guys?" she almost pleaded. She hated the feeling of bumping into others and hoped they would be in a better spot soon. She began to think back to the boy in the compartment they had left their stuff with. I hope he isn't snooping, or worse left our stuff unsupervised anybody could see it then.