The rain pattered on the top of the old Volkswagen, as the pair drove in silence in the early morning. The drive from Greenock down to London was a hefty seven hours; added with the stop for breakfast, Joseph and his father had to leave at nearly 2 in the morning in order to get to the station on time. They had made the same drive a month ago to come to Diagon Alley, at the behest of his ever-cautious mother, who always advocated for doing things ahead of when they needed to be done, even if it meant more work. She had stayed home with Delilah today; the 4 year old wouldn’t take kindly to the long ride. She had made her tearful goodbye that morning, before they had left the flat back in Greenock.

Joseph didn’t mind the time spent in the car with his father though. In fact, he relished it, as the head of the family was so often away, working in the factory or doing other odd jobs to bring in income for the family.

Arching his back and stretching his arms as far as he could in the small car, Joseph’s yawn broke up the steady beat of the rain.
“How much further, da?”
“Just a wee bit more, lad. I’m givin’ it laldie, but I cannae do more than this auld beastie can. We’ll be there soon enough.” The reply was made in his father’s characteristic deep voice, and accompanied by an affectionate pat on the faded dashboard of the car. Joseph smiled, and turned to rest his head against the window, watching the rain wash down the glass as the landscape passed him by.

As time passed, and the scenery faded into the cityscape of London and the rain shifted to sunshine, Joseph did his best to quench the fear that existed in his heart. It was all so fascinating, and magical, and just plain unfamiliar, and it was discomforting. It was finally starting to settle in. The realization that this new experience was real. That he could do magic- more than just by accident- and that this was going to be his life, if he could manage to make it in school.

“Are ye’ ‘aright lad?”

With a start, he realized that they had arrived at the station.
“Aye, just a wee scared, I guess… I’m goin’ to miss you and ma’. And Delilah too. And what if I-”
He felt the rough, comforting hand of his father on his shoulder.
“You’ll do fine, Joseph. I know ye’ will. Now come on, let’s go! We’ve got to get you on that train; Nine an’ three quarters, right?”
He nodded, and got out of the car, a smile on his face. His dad always knew what to say.

After walking through the parking lot dragging his large trunk across the wet pavement, he and his father finally made it to where the ticket said, about 10 minutes before the train was supposed to leave. Joseph was glad that he didn't have to wear his robes yet; when he had tried them on at home, they were very comfortable, but all the same he didn't want to walk through the station looking like a loon. He felt much less self-conscious in his blue jacket and jeans.
 
As soon as Joseph and his father arrived at the specified location, they were left dumbfounded, as they stared at a brick wall. Hundreds of Londoners moved through the station, occasionally bumping into them, oblivious to the fact that somewhere in that wall, magic resided.
“Da, where..?”
His father said nothing, as a frown creased his brow. He eyed the wall up and down, glancing between the ‘9’ and ‘10’ platform signs on either side of it.  "I guess it really does look like a solid wall..."

“I… I really ‘ave to run into that?”
“Aye, that’s what your uncle said.”
The statement was proven true as they watched a young girl, carrying a similar trunk, run into the wall, and be swallowed up.

Joseph swallowed.

“Don’t be scared, laddie,” His father said.
“Y’ell be fine. I trust your uncle. And most importantly, I trust you. Do me proud, boy.”

His heart beating wildly, as the prospect of running headlong into solid brick and mortar, and perhaps more importantly, being on his own for the first time in his life, slammed down on him.
His father's words acted like a life preserver, keeping him above the water just enough for a weak smile. If he didn’t go now, he’d probably chicken himself out.

“Goodbye, da.”

He ran straight forward weaving between the foot traffic as best as he could, and the wall opened up for him.

Joseph MacGregor stumbled his way through his first steps into a new world

Ashia was exhausted as her parents excitedly dragged her to the station; they were so happy that their daughter would finally be attending Hogwarts but so anxious that they wouldn't make it on time as well.

It had been a long way to get to London; precisely ten hours and all the excitment Ashia had built up during the car trip was soon over. Now where was that platform? Ashia felt anguish as soon as she didn't see the platform. Were they in the wrong station?

"guess this is it" her mother said " pretty sure you can figure yourself from here"
"wha-? mom!" Ashia replied quiet confused
"see that wall there" her father sighed and pointed at the wall between the 9 platform and the 10 "just run into it, you should be fine"
"you want me to run into a wall? Im not that stupid dad"
"c'mon you are about to go to Hogwards, Hogwards for lord's sake grow some courage and do it" her mother impatiently exclaimed
"well here goes nothing " Ashia hugged her dad and mom for brief moments and said her goodbyes before grabbing her trunk tight and running onto the wall which absorved her
"aw i told you she would make it through the wall !" she heard her mother say to her father through the wall.

Ashia astonished looked around the platform that was hidden behind that wall, she couldnt stop thinking about what she just did, she didn't think that was possible until that moment, but mostly she couldn't stop staring at the tracks, she soon realized what a magical world she was about to dive in.

Angelina Quickly grabbed her bags and ran, The sooner she was in the train the better.  She was stopped abruptly by a shrill voice with a fake sweetness that she knew was only there for the public appearance.  Angelina stopped and bitterly turned to her older sister.  She sighed and plastered on a smile that her sister knew was fake even from their long distance.  "Oh my darling little sister!  I can't believe your going to Hogwarts!  Just like me!"  Angelina gritted her teeth, "Yes, just like you."  Her sister, Emily, went back to applying her makeup, "You know sweetie,  that attitude won't get you very far!  If you want to be famous, act like me."  Angelina rolled her eyes, "Yeah cause we all want to be rich spoiled brats who don't know what it's like to smell air that isn't covered in perfume!  "  Emily snapped her makeup bag shut with a loud snap.  "I don't know what's your problem, but you need to get ahold of your self"  Emily grabbed her sister's shoulder.  A few witches and wizards looked nervously at her as if wondering whether to get involved.  Emily composed  herself and forced a little laugh.  "Your so funny darling.  I must be going now."  Angelina was pulled into a hug, and Emily whispered in her ear, "Mess up and I swear you will never know what it's like to breath without pain."  Angelina gulped, "It was nice to see you too.  "  Emily swung around and paraded through the crowd.  Angelina sighed and gathered her bags.  She had met her sister, so she felt ready for an adventure...  Or maybe some snacks and phycological therapy.  She turned toward her sister,  "Aye lassie!  See you when the loch flows over!"  Her sister gave a yell of outrage.  Angelina knew that her sister hated it when she spoke with her mother's irish accent.  Angelina turned before her sister could run to her, and hopped on the train.

(interacting with @Joseph MacGregor)

Ashia would continue to look around the platform in a mixed feeling of confusion and excitement, she would then search for other people to begin the journey of Hogwarts with, she couldn't help but be excited about her start in school even though she was still hadn't even stepped on the train and didn't know much about what was going to happen even when she arrived at Hogwarts.

Once that feeling started to wear down she started to feel the weight of her trunk in her hand, she knew that she needed to go inside the train and sit down but she was not ready to hop on the train, not alone atleast, she didn't want to embark in her journer alone.

She saw a girl hop in the train and a boy near her. She aproached the boy, Joseph, in hopes of going in the train together with whoever else had hopped in. She was really confident about herself and didn't hesitate a second to aproach him.
"Heyo! My name is Ashia, wanna go in the train together? What's your name? " Ashia gave a big and warm smile while holding tight her trunk with one of her hands.

(Interacting with @Ashia Brack)


Still in a daze, Joseph gaped at everything around him. Swathes of children in robes shuffled onto a large train, Some s young as he was, and some looking like they were nearly adults. And the animals too. He saw weasels, frogs, Owls, and all sorts of other creatures. And most of all, all the magical things he saw- wands, charms, walking trunks, flying books, magic pens- sorry, quills. It was all there, and every single part of it amazed him almost as much as it had a week ago when he went into Diagon Alley.

He managed to bring himself back into reality, and realized there was a girl next to him. Talking, even.
"...What's your name?"

He blinked. "My... My name? Oh, it's er, It's Joseph. Joseph MacGregor. Pleased to meet you."

The girl seemed interesting. He thought she said her name was Ashia, but he wasn't sure. He hadn't been paying much attention, he just knew that she asked him his name, and something about the train.

"As far as the train goes, I couldnae' tell ye about what we're supposed to do. I figure we're s'posed to get on it, but I dinnae' know when, or where to get a ticket from..."

He had spied another girl get onto the train, after what looked like a spat with her sister, so he was beginning to suspect he should just hop on. But he was feeling a bit unsure as to how exactly he found his seat, or if he paid a ticket, or what. He certainly didn't want to be thrown off of the train for freeloading!
He wished his cousin had told him about this...

(interacting with @Joseph MacGregor )
___________________
She continued to stare at the boy and realized he seemed stuck in thought just as she had been minutes ago and she was happy she wasn't the only one confused in this strange place. He seemed to be the same age as her and his accent sounded very familiar to her and she knew he was Irish as she had heard people with that accent around her neighbourhood before although her parents always told her to use their own accent because they saw it sounded more "formal " and "proper" and she had never questioned why.

"nice to meet you too Joseph" Ashia was very curious about the boy and wanted to know more about him, but first; getting on the train.
"a ticket for the train? I sure am glad i'm not the only one figuring that out heh" she chuckled
She looked around looking for some instructions or some sort of clue about boarding in the train, but only saw people hopping in with similar trunks without having bought anything prior, then with a confused gazed she looked back at the boy.
"but ehm... but there ain't seem to be place to buy any, so i'm guessing this is freeload paradise"

Cassie let out a huffed when she finally on board the train the car she's in empty but she knows that in a few minutes, she needs to share it with another people. Her mom still standing near the car she's in. Waving goodbye for now then walks away leaving Cassie inside the train. Cassie felt relieve since she doesn't want people to know that she needs her mom waving goodbye as the said train moves.

From inside the car, Cassie is people watching. It's new for her, sure but since her parents told her everything about Hogwarts (inside out - the things she needs to know), Cassie felt in ease. From where she seated, she saw a girl looks like quarreling with her sibling. A boy and a girl, looks like they introduced their names to each others. The both of them seems confused as a lot of younger and older students of Hogwarts (in robes or not boarding the train without buying ticket)

Cassie knocked on the glass door, hoping one of them heard and see that she's the one that knocking. Cassie signaling to both of them to board the train and maybe goes to the car she's in.

Interacts with : @Joseph MacGregor | @Ashia Brack