"Maybe later." she answer, smirking at him. While her posture hadn't changed, it relaxed ever so slightly.

Passed the test did he? Riku was curious if that also went for his less vocal guests. Though, he didn't honestly believe that would be the last instance of her provoking a confrontation. Riku stopped his analyzing thoughts in order to focus on the girl as she continued.

"I'll tell you my name, but you can't laugh, okay?" She stated, with a hard look in her eyes, as her body once more squared itself.

Strange. She seemed quite genuine in her statement and thoughts on his potential reaction to her name. Was it a potential nerve? He wouldn't put it pass the girl to react violently; if the situation called for it or otherwise. Before he could reply however, Dawn spoke up.


“Hey, are you sharing?” she asked the strange girl. Riku watched as she answered in the negative, and then upturned the bag and her head; emptying the remaining contents into her mouth.

Her casual disregard for social norms spoke plenty of the girl. From what he could observe so far, this chained girl, was a person that liked to moved to her own beat.

Poorly executed, but an admirable trait.



She then moved suddenly past him, muttering to herself, "Where's the food at?" Riku found that curious; was she searching on behalf of Dawn? He then shook his head internallly. No, it didn't fit the profile of the girl he created so far. Then...she still desired a meal? It was that late into the day; skipped a meal maybe?

"Where's the food at?" She shouted louder. Upon receiving a signal? An answer Riku supposed, she then turned around and gestured with a nod of her head and a raised eyebrow for them to come join her.

Riku chuckled loudly and openly at that.

This girl, walking in without a by your leave, insulted them, attempted to provoke him, then wants to leave while expecting them to follow.

Reality is indeed stranger than fiction.

Calming down, Riku thought about his response. Should he decide to stay, the others would do so as well; Kristen out of shyness and Dawn out of a reluctance to move and having no particular vestment to the bullish girl. While this girl would just shrug it off and be on her merry way.

On the other hand, depending on how he phrased it, Riku could manage to have Dawn come along due to her own hunger, and with her acceptance, Kristen would be pulled in due to peer pressure; if he had read them both correctly thus far. And with that, he would be able to continue to assess the use of this girl, or at the very least, satisfy his curiosity.

"While your people skills need some polishing, I am feeling for something myself. I suppose there's no harm in the four of us having a meal together." Riku stated, he looked at Dawn and then Kristen in turn, before he walked to the compartment door; giving the girl that had his interest a raised eyebrow, then stepping outside of it.

@Dawn Blanchomery @Kristen Coulter @Buffy Pfalzgraf

Dawn deflated a bit at the sight of the crumbs, which made her stomach ache even more, but she didn't give up hope. Sharing some food would've just satisfy her for a few minutes anyway, enough to actually pay attention to the conversation. But now her hunger was becoming too much of a distraction; she need to satisfy it now.

Luckily this nameless girl was thinking ahead by asking others, including the ones outside their compartment, where the food was located, if there was any. Dawn wondered why there would be food on a train this fast, key word 'express', but then recalled hearing something about a cart full of treats, one pushed by someone called the Trolley Lady.

She immediately straightened up in her seat, fueled by her appetite. She remembered the candies and pastries she saw in the windows at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, when a wizarding friend gave her a tour. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the strange treats she had never heard of, ones that looked so suspicious yet delicious. Dawn could believe that she had actually forgotten about the Trolley Lady—she was one of the things that she had been looking most forward to on her first day of school!

Dawn hovered at the end of her seat, half reluctant to move because she didn't want to leave the other two behind but surprisingly Riku got up to join the girl at the door, looking back at her and Chris. She glanced at him before standing up as well. “Well, in case if we're all going I'm going to leave my cloak then...”

She removed it, revealing a navy, blue sweater and pair of black slacks. She looked more like a boy than a girl, with the way the clothing was loose fitting and how she carries herself, like a tomboy. But Dawn wasn't thinking about her appearance, or her worn sneakers, just her next meal.

“I heard that there's someone called the Trolley Lady; she provided snacks and other stuff for the students...she shouldn't be too far away, given how long we've been riding.”

Kristen once again found himself just sitting listening to the others conversations. He started whenever the girl shouted down the corridor. He looked at the others warily, seeing if they also wanted to go with her. Of course dawn would; she seemed quite hungry. However, he wondered if Riku would go.

To his dismay, Riku did stand up.

Well, um.. I-I'm not really that hungry." He said quietly, but Dawn had also stood up.
Kristen really would have preferred if the others had stayed. He found the other girl quite abrasive, unsettling even. Dawn and Riku were both nice, but the other girl's mannerisms just brushed him the wrong way.

But, it was up to Dawn and Riku if they wanted to get something to eat. That's fine. Kristen would just wait here in the compartment.

Then, a little voice spoke up in his head. Go with them. it said. If you stay here, they'll go off with her, and forget about you. They wouldn't want to be friends with someone like you. They want to be around someone more interesting; someone like that girl. They probably already think less of you for not wanting to go. Get up now, or they'll go without you.
At that thought, he stood up. "I'm coming too!" He said, much too quickly.

The cabin group had decided to come along as they sorted out some food. Riku had decided to join politely and also chided Buffy. Etiquette seemed important to him. Dawn had given some helpful advice, she seemed sweet. Kristen had decided to come hesitatingly. Maybe he was shy around new people. But it was too early for Buffy to assume this was their personalities, or anything they might have just been reacting to the situation or being on their best behavior with new people.

As Buffy started down the hall she absentmindedly passed her hands along the narrow train corridor. She hummed a Welsh football song as she walked but her thoughts were elsewhere. She wasn't thinking about the others though. After hearing Dawn say she was leaving her cloak Buffy got to thinking the Hogwarts uniforms. Not specifically wearing one, she was still in an outfit that was picked to annoy boomers as much as possible. No, she was thinking about the rules surrounding uniforms she had read about. Hogwarts had a lot of rules. Thinking about another rule she stopped humming almost as quickly as she had started. It was a rule that had been bothering her.

"No Youtube. No Spotify. No texting. Ugh."

Buffy complained to the group, the disappointment physically registered, as if she was struggling to walk in peanut butter or against a stiff wind. "Pulling rabbits out of hats had better be fun, you guys." She stopped for a moment and glanced to the others, wondering what they thought.

Growing up Muggle, Buffy wasn't aware some of the kids on the train had grown up their whole life without things like a wireless phone network or video games. Her comments also might have been foreshadowing. A bored Buffy was a Buffy at her most chaotic.

@Riku Aburame @Dawn Blanchomery @Kristen Coulter

Riku walked along side the chain wearing girl, internally pleased. It seems all those hours of study and grinding to meet each of his mother's goals, had come to fruition; he had predicted their behavior to a tee. To was important to have some confirmation of the profiles he was creating; it would make predicting them much more accurate.

As he continued to stroll at the leisurely pace, he glanced over at the girl that was his current muse, and noticed the near palpable dejection coming from her.

"No Youtube. No Spotify. No texting. Ugh."she complained.

A muggleborn then? While her clothing had been evident to the fact, it was good to hear it confirmed. She wouldn't be a half blood, not if she didn't realize the grandness of what she would learn; an entire field of knowledge that was barred to those like his mother, simply due to the luck of genetics.

Riku shook his head subconsciously, failing to correct himself in time. It wouldn't do to place his experiences and general dispositions on the girl; if anything, she'd be in for a massive culture shock.

"Pulling rabbits out of hats had better be fun, you guys." she finished off saying, as she stood in place; causing them to come to a stop.

There was no particular need to antagonize her. It would be best to reassure her, as well as learn as much as he could about what she was capable of.

Deciding to placate her, Riku colored his speech with what he thought would be her usual way of speaking; though he still felt annoyed at her question.

" It'll be different, sure. But we'll be seeing an entirely different world. Everything you thought was made-up or just a myth, exists. You might not be able to watch random people online, but you'll learning how to make reality your bitch. You might not be able to listen to music, but you have a near millenia old castle to explore, with a lake and forest filled to the brim with creatures to do whatever the hell you want. And you might not be able to test, but you could learn how to baffle the mind, read it to your leisure and erase what you desire." he finished with passion slipping into his voice at the end.

Riku looked at the others, waiting to see if they had anything to add. With them finished, he smiled and nodded at them each in turn; it would be good to reinforce their ability to express their opinions when prompted by him with simple rewards like that.

Riku then decided to learn more about this strange girl. He stepped closer to her, lightly placing his hand by her elbow, and started to direct her forward. "So there's nothing to worry about, Tik Tok; the four of us will be sure to find some way to keep you occupied." this level of openness was near foreign to him and almost counter to his teachings, but a step outside of his comfort zone would be required here it seems; this girl had best be worth it. Riku glanced back at his other two interests, and spoke to the girl, "And yes, you'll be named as such until I've heard your name."

@Dawn Blanchomery @Kristen Coulter @Buffy Pfalzgraf

Dawn did a double take internally; the girl was a Muggle-born like her? At perhaps she just grew up with them, but either way she spoke so freely about her life without magic like she wasn't surrounded by people who probably didn't understand very well. Dawn had made a point to refrain from referring to muggle technology, which wasn't very hard considering that she just spent her time reading and surfing the web every now and then.

Riku told the girl, who he nicknamed Tik Tok, that there were a lot of interesting things to do in the magic world, and she agreed. That's why she honestly couldn't wait to go to school and learn things. From what she heard, Dawn would be learning a variety of subjects from hexes to love potions to how to turn into an animal, which was something called an Animagus. Most of the time it felt so unreal but it explained why she often felt like things didn't always seem like they really world, how sometimes Dawn noticed things her friends and family didn't. She tried to imagine telling them hippogriffs actually existed!

After Riku finished speaking, she added, “Well, from what I've heard your life is literally going to be turned upside down, but in a very interesting way.”

As they walked Dawn wondered why Riku was so interested in this girl. She seemed normal to her, just with a bit more self-esteem than the average kid their age. She noticed how he moved close to her and directed her forward. Even though he was being pretty open to the rest of them Dawn was curious about his interaction with their newest member.

She shrugged and continued to walk ahead of them. They were approaching the end the train car and she saw, in the next one, a figure moving and pushing something stacked with treats: the Trolley Lady! Dawn hurried along, digging her hand into her pocket to find the small bag of coins she had gotten. Her parents had to arrange her wizard bank account at Gringotts, and learning about the wizarding currency system had been eye-opening for all of them.

Soon Dawn was in the other train car, approaching the Trolley Lady, not minding much that she had left the others behind. With a smile she began picking what she wanted, mindful of how much money she had. She chose a few peppermint toads, fizzing whizzbees, and Bertie Botts Beans. When she finished she gave the elderly woman her money and headed back to the compartment. When she passed the others she nodded but it was obvious that she was in a rush to get back and eat her treats.