A First, Second, and Third Year PV Closed

@Jack Burnett @Rakiak Kyverak

Ruka didn't really know what Jack was calling out to him for; It wasn't exactly like he was able to escape the overly emotional goodbyes of his new parents, specifically his new mother who was fussing over him like she couldn't bring herself to let him go. It was a strange experience to the third year who had never quite received such treatment before when leaving for Hogwarts. Even when his dad had accompanied him their farewell had been relatively short, a hug, a kiss on the head, a wave and a few encouraging words. Nothing compared to the near overwhelming affection Ruka had certainly not been this comfortable with two months ago.

Now, however, he felt himself leaning into Ffion Burnett's touch, smiling brightly as he let himself be hugged and kissed. The Burnetts had done nothing but made him feel welcome and like he was an important part of their family all summer long and he would have needed to try and work really hard to fight them on it, which he had no reason to, so over the course of the last two months he had slowly learned to just accept their parental love and enjoy it for as long as he could.

While Jack may have thought it amusing to watch him being fussed over, Ruka thought it sweet, let it fill him with a warmth he was hoping to carry with him throughout the school year.

"Relax, I'm coming," he told his brother with a small roll of his eyes, looking over at the other boy with a grin as he saw that Jack was being held prisoner by his own affectionate parent, preventing a premature departure anyway. It gave Ruka the time to turn his focus back on his new mother, smile never wavering from his face as he allowed his clothes to be adjusted. "He's just excited," he reassured her though he was sure she already knew that. Even after a summer spent being an older brother, there was still a part of him that felt the need to defend Jack's actions when he could. At least in front of others, even if those others were their parents.

Still, he couldn't keep from turning his head his brother's direction for a moment to poke his tongue out at him as if making fun of him for getting semi-scolded by their mother.

At being told to take care of himself, Ruka refocused his attention on Ffion, nodding his response and letting out a little laugh at her remark about Jack. "I'll see what I can do," he agreed, letting himself be hugged close and returning the gesture by wrapping his own arms around her to hold on tightly for a moment. He was going to miss this.

Wanting to reassure her that he was going to send letters all the time, Ruka opened his mouth only to be stopped by Jack's voice intercepting the conversation. "Repetition is key to remembering," Ruka told his brother, a wide grin on his face as he waved an accusatory finger at the other boy. "If I get hit by a memory spell, chances are this'll be the one thing I'm going to remember." He chuckled, expression fond as he watched Jack bouncing on his heels as if he was bursting with the urge to get on the train. While Ruka was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts he couldn't quite relate to his brother's urgency. He had had a perfectly happy summer and if it had lasted another month or so he wouldn't have complained either.

Following Jack's lead, Ruka first got on his tip-toes to hug Ffion goodbye one last time before doing the same to Todd, lingering in their embrace for a moment before pulling back with an only slightly sad sparkle in his eyes.

"I'll write," he mouthed in their direction, rolling his eyes after Jack with an amused grin on his face. "What- Who said?" he demanded to know loudly when Jack declared it was his turn to pick their seats, but his question was most likely lost as the other boy was already eagerly making his way to the train.

With a little shake of his head, Ruka turned towards his new parents one more time, beaming at them. "I'll make sure he does write too. And stays out of trouble. Mostly," he promised them with a small laugh. "Love you and... thank you." Still, two months later, he couldn't keep himself from expressing all the gratitude he held for them, especially not now when he wasn't going to see them until at least Christmas, if not longer. "Have a safe trip home," he told them as he finally turned towards the train as well, waving his final goodbye before sprinting after Jack.

"Wait for me," he told his brother as he caught up with him, slowing his step again as they made their way onto the train. While having protested Jack's decision of choosing their seats before, he still followed the direction the Slytherin wanted to go, feeling like it was only fair since Ruka had been the one to choose their seats on their journey home. "Well, someone's eager to go back to school," he said teasingly, bumping his shoulder against Jack's as they walked. "Been missing classes and all your friends, have you?" An amusing glint sparked his eyes as he chuckled, adjusting the strap of his bag lazily. "So where did you want to sit?"

Sitting silently in a train car with nothing but empty seats around him, Rakiak closed the book he had been attempting to read with a sigh. The title read, "Hogwarts: A History". Being a "muggle-born", as he had just recently learned the term used to describe himself, he knew next to nothing about Wizard/Witch society and was struggling to keep up with understanding all that was going on around him.

The past week or so of preparation had all been such a blur to him that he scarcely had time to register the events that had taken place, right up until getting to this platform. He still felt very unprepared, mentally at least (he had somehow managed to get all the things requested of him) and he needed something to help take his mind off things. Not only distract him but also calm him down, and would hopefully give him a better grip on his situation. This line of thought is what led him to take out this particular book from his trunk and make an attempt to read it. He hoped to find some amount of comfort in being more aware of the school's history, and to give him an idea of what to expect when he was there. He also had been under the assumption that reading a book about how a magic school came to be would be more entertaining than an ordinary history textbook and would instead be more akin to reading a fantasy novel. The moving illustrations certainly were fascinating to look at and for a time he believed he had found something that would successfully distract him from his current mental dilemma.

However after a few more minutes of "reading" (really it consisted mostly of oohing and ahhing at the animated photographs) he came to the conclusion that he wasn't actually learning anything (Aside from wizard books, even textbooks, were superior to muggle ones). What's more, when he actually did attempt to read the words on the pages he realized just how foreign everything was to him. Many of the terms, despite being in English, he didn't recognize and he gradually became more and more frustrated. Eventually, he felt it best to simply stop as the whole endeavor ended up reminding him of just how lost and unprepared he really felt for his new life at this school, thus ultimately defeating the purpose for him picking up the book in the first place. An exasperated sight escaped his lips as he closed his eyes tilting his head up to the ceiling of the car.

This hadn't been the first time his family had gone through the process of sending a child to a Wizarding school, and he felt that fact alone should have been enough to at least give him some semblance of mental preparation, at least certainly more than what he had now. However, that had taken place been back when they were still in the U.S., his current situation had a whole set of new problems.

For starters, he had only been in England for about a month and could barely remember his own address let alone how to find the secret entrance to the magical marketplace to fetch his school supplies! He felt himself shudder slightly as he briefly recalled the nightmare that endeavor had been.

He was also worried that since he was trying to learn about English culture and wizard culture at the same time that he would end up with terrible misunderstandings and misconceptions, and that the resulting embarrassment would kill him if not make him wish he were dead. For example, he still didn't know whether a Puffskin was the name of an English pastry or a magical creature he had read about as he was skimming through his textbooks. Should the situation arise where the correct identity needed to be determined, he knew he would be too afraid to ask someone for fear they would potentially laugh at the absurdity of such a stupid question regardless of which it actually was. With each worry creeping into his mind, Rakiak felt his body slump lower and lower into his seat with his face gradually shifting into an odd sort of grimace.

In only a matter of days he had been forced by his parents to rapidly try and adapt as well as come to terms with being a part of a magical society he knew nothing about! What's more where he was going, his parents couldn't help him, and from what little he understood from the letters and the book he had just attempted to read through, the school would be in an area far from any sort of modern muggle civilization. In other words, he would seemingly be denied anything resembling a familiar comfort or the means to find it.

He rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers in an anguished expression. All things considered, it was a miracle he wasn't making a break for home in tears after being faced with the monumentous amount of challenges and stress when trying to adapt to the rather extreme culture shock.

Rakiak slowly turned his head towards the window and gazed at his grumpy, rather defeated-looking reflection scowling back at him. He recalled being so excited to initially receive his letter and couldn't wait to go to school. His eyed narrowed at the naiive reflection of his past self as it glared back at him. What a fool his old self had been.

Just then he noticed some movement through the window past his reflection. His seat was the one closest to the window facing the platform and out of curiosity he found himself sitting up and resting his forehead against the glass to get a better view. As he did so the book which had been resting on his stomach until that point fell to the ground with a muffled thud and was ignored.

The scene before him was of a family consisting of two young boys who Rakiak assumed were saying their goodbyes to their parents. Or perhaps enduring the goodbyes from their parents would have been a more accurate description in the case of one of them. They seemed to be taking on a more passive role in merely accepting the affection brought to them but in drastically different ways. Both boys were probably his age or maybe even slightly younger judging by the smaller one's height.

He couldn't hear what they were saying but the boys' body language clearly communicated their feelings, and he felt a corner of his mouth upturn slightly in amusement at the degree of contrast between the two. The one being embraced by the dad definitely seemed embarrassed and wanting to leave as soon as possible, while the shorter one with the mother appeared to be blissfully soaking in every moment while she checked their clothes and hugged and kissed him. The children also reciprocated by exchanging their own displays of affection back to the parents in the form of tiptoe kisses (albeit with drastically different demeanors and expressions). Shortly after, the two started off away from their parents.

The previously embarrassed looking one was leading the way and seemed glad to be free of the embraces his parents had him in mere moments before. The smaller, happier looking one was chasing and calling out to the other as they both headed in the same direction to the entrance of the train car.

Rakiak had assumed the taller one was the elder of the two given the height difference and his leading the way to the train car. Yet it was impressive that despite the exchange being brief and no words being understood, how it seemed quite evident that the younger one was clearly the more responsible and trusted of the two by the parents. Rakiak even noticed how the mother seemed to be communicating with them as they both looked towards the elder brother, no doubt entrusting the job of looking after him. He was fairly confident in this assessment as he had seen a similar expression on his own mother at some point. Seeing the displays of affection and heartfelt goodbyes made for a truly touching scene and for a brief moment Rakiak felt his worries melt away as he thought about how the two would be able to help each other get through their school year together.

''Must be nice to have family away from home'' he heard himself mumble to himself, his thoughts distantly drifting to his own brother who he hadn't seen in some time. The same brother who had gotten the first letter admitting him to a school of magic back in the U.S. It had been several years, but the memory seemed oddly vivid as seeing the two brothers had apparently succeeded in bringing the memory to the forefront of his mind.

The idea of a school for learning magic seemed very farfetched at the time. He remembered how the day his older brother had gotten the letter his parent were making a big deal, but it wasn't all focused on the whole magic idea. Rakiak's parents were very practical people and they seemed more perturbed about the idea of sending their eldest son to a boarding school with no verifiable accreditation on the internet. They also frowned at the term, "magic" but didn't outright dismiss it either. Maybe they assumed it referred to the more theatrical illusionist variety rather than the more fantastical type. The fact that they had mentioned little about that particular aspect of the school lent itself to the idea. His older brother had been a bit eccentric so they probably didn't find his schooling choice surprising, but they were determined to make sure that his time at school would be worth something and amounted to a career once he entered the "real world" as a working adult. Additional information and followup assurances about the school appeared via more letters in the following days as if in response to their concerns. At least he assumed that's what the letters were about. Rakiak hadn't read them himself, but given the rapid dissipation of their concerns and protests he had begun to suspect that either the letters were enchanted/bewitched (he wasn't sure how freely people at this school were able to use magic) or that whoever wrote them somehow knew exactly what to say to distill all concerns they had had about the school. His parents were very pragmatic people after all, as long as their concerns were addressed in a convincing manner they would have no reason to object.

This was probably why despite being muggles, they really didn't seem to be too surprised (except for how they knew the new address when they had just moved) by the concept of their younger son being selected to be sent to a magic school as well.

His parents weren't uncaring, they loved both their sons like most normal parents and only wanted to make sure they succeeded in having a bright future. They attempted to hide their disappointment at the letter of his acceptance to go to Hogwarts, hoping instead he would choose to pursue a more respectable profession like engineering unlike his brother. Still, when Rakiak had expressed genuine interest in wanting to go, they offered little resistance and instead seemed to be doing more to try and prepare him for boarding school life in another country than to dissuade him to attend.

They had also already intended to send Rakiak to a boarding school and instead may have actually been pleased that the automatic acceptance made the process of finding and paying an institution for the same service of teaching and sheltering their son at a school extremely simple.

They had sent him off with heartfelt goodbyes similar to the family Rakiak had just seen through the window, but there was something about watching those two brothers and their departure from their parents that really touched Rakiak. He let out another sigh, but this one was much different, almost dreamy in contrast to the harsh exhasperated one from earlier, but there was a faint sadness to it. If he had been the same age as his brother and been able to go together with him to school, maybe he wouldn't feel as nervous and scared as he did now.

He thought for a moment and once again found himself cursing his former self for not asking his brother more about the wizarding world. The first letter hadn't been meant for him so he didn't pay much attention to it aside from the fact that it meant his brother was going away for a while. When he came back for the summers he didn't say much about his time at school aside from it being very different from how things were at home.

Rakiak also couldn't ask him before he left for the train station since he didn't join their family in the move to England as he was already out on his own by then. For all Rakiak knew he was out studying Dragons in Romania since as he had recently learned was apparently an option for a Wizard profession. Dragon studies huh... Rakiak was lost in thought for a moment before shaking his head and focusing on his current problem. He racked his brain trying to recall any information his brother might have told him that he forgot, anything that might better prepare him and put his mind even a bit more at ease.

Just then, Rakiak heard approaching footsteps outside his section of the car followed by the friendly chatter of two boys (at least two anyway, were there more?) apparently very familiar with each other. He immediate froze in response to hearing the footprints and realizing what they meant. At this rate they would probably pass by his section and that was NOT how he wanted things to play out.

Since he had taken so long to find the darn hidden platform (he was really getting tired of the whole secret magic entrances) he was one of the last ones on the train and while looking for a seat he passed several areas that were already full up or close to it. There were some with friendly students offering some space for him to sit but he made an effort to politely decline them. When he finally found this car it actually already had an occupant but they seemingly left for some unknown reason without a word right when he had resigned himself with having to sit with one person, and in a stroke of luck they never returned.

He had wanted to be as alone as possible for a multitude of reasons. One reason being that he was in a very nervous, fragile state of mind and wanted some time to calm himself on the ride to school to prepare himself to meet people. First impressions mattered so he didn't want peoples' first opinions of him to be of a nervous wreck.

The second was that he didn't know much about the wizarding world and had hoped to cram as much information in the ride to Hogwarts as he could to minimize the likelihood of others assuming he was stupid for not knowing the simplest, everyday things. Once again first impressions counted, and he didn't want to seem nervous AND stupid.

There was also that awkward silence in the presence of strangers with nothing to talk about that he HATED. It didn't happen often with people who were friendly and/or good at keeping a conversation going, but this was a skill rarely seen in Rakiak's experience of interacting with others, and he'd rather not risk having to deal with being the one to constantly start conversations about topics he knew nothing about in an attempt to keep awkward silences at bay. Since this was going to be a long ride to the school it would be torture to have to endure that the entire way, not to mention he didn't want his first impression of having to constantly start random conversations to make him seem like a chatterbox.

Finally, he just felt more comfortable by himself. It's not that he didn't get along well with others. On the contrary, he actually found making small talk and mingling with others was a skill that he prided himself on, but even though he could, he really just didn't feel like interacting with people right now. The stress of needing to make the perfect first impression in a completely foreign environment worried him to say the least. So he wanted to put off needing to interact with people as long as possible.

Being one of the last people on the train and waiting for a bit he had assumed he had escaped the worst and that he had managed to keep this area all to himself, he didn't even bother to think about why the other person left and didn't return and just blindly accepted his solitude with gratitude.
At this point Rakiak didn't care if there was a spatter of vomit on the seat in front of him that he had somehow missed if it meant he could be alone for his ride to Hogwarts he still didn't feel ready!

He frantically began moving in fits of starting and then stopping himself trying to determine what to do. He recalled a technique frequently used on public transportation of placing one's items on the seat next to oneself in silent reservation. This was quickly dismissed as there was too much room around him to claim the entire area to be occupied by his stuff. The small room could fit more than 4 people after all!

The footsteps and voices were getting louder and with each step and increase in volume Rakiak's mind became more frantic and panicked. It was possible that there were other empty cars past his, and that these people would elect to use those instead after all he hadn't looked past this one on account of only having one person (which he had resigned himself to having to endure if necessary).

For a brief moment his mind desperately tried to cling to that hope, before reluctantly discarding it. This late in the train's departure and the chances of there being another empty area for more than 2 people was doubtful. The panic grew to the point where the arguments for the various decisions were practically echoing his head.

Maybe I could wait out in the bathroom?

For the whole train ride? What about your stuff? Not to mention the selfishness of preventing people who really needed to go is disgraceful. His own voice shot down the idea in his head.

What if I pretend I'm with other people who are coming back?

You're a terrible liar you couldn't keep that up and even more so in the sorry state you're in. Also you're better than that.

What if I try talking REALLY loud and seem obnoxious. No one wants to sit next to that person right?

Wasn't the whole goal about making a good first impression. You really want to be known as that loud, obnoxious kid on the train? You'd probably end up with complaints and more problems than just having to sit with people.

With each idea his mind came up with a counterpoint to discard it and he was running out of options. In a truly desperate attempt for an effective plan he found himself trying to think back to why the initial occupant might have left in the first place and remembered the hypothetical vomit. He gulped and his eyes were wild with desperation as he carefully examined the seat in front of him, but there was nothing there.

Even if there isn't any now, we could always... He moved his hand closer to his mouth

WHAT?! NO! Gross! What the-jeez FIRST IMPRESSIONS remember? Vomit boy? Really?!

It could work!

At what cost though? Y'know these people might not be so bad. You don't know.

Willing to risk it?

The footsteps seemed only a few paces away now. They'd be in front of the door any minute! Shiznits! Rakiak made a bizarre swear in his mind. He was out of ideas and out of time. If he was going to do something he needed to do it now! His frantic eyes suddenly spotted the book on the ground.

Aloof nerd! We'll read the book and pretend we're too busy to deal with them. Plus the book's long enough we can keep that up the whole ride right? It's not a death sentence to one's reputation right?! We can bounce back if need be.

Wouldn't that seem like we're ignoring them though. I'd rather not act like a snob.

You got a better idea?! Look, some people get lost in reading to the point of forgetting everything around them. It's not considered ignoring people, its being oblivious! Right?

Fine. I can live with being an aloof nerd, better grab the book fast then!

Rakiak shot as fast as he could forward onto the floor and flailed his arms out briefly to grab the book and thrust it back in front of his face. In the rapid burst of movement, his glasses were thrown to the floor, but he didn't have time to look for them. In a brief, albeit dramatic flurry of motion he had returned to his original sitting position with the book in front of his face.

His body was leaning forward slightly in a bid to look genuinely interested and invested in what he was reading, he even practiced a few nods as if he was really pondering the meaning of the words he was reading. His hair was a bit disheveled in the mad dash for the book but it was not so unruly that he felt confident all but the keenest eye might overlook it.

They were so close outside the door that he worried about them hearing the frantic grabbing of the book on the floor, but he didn't have any time left to do anything about it now. He took a deep breath and proceeded to try and focus on reading the book and appearing genuinely interested.

Alright, this is it! First impression, make it count! He thought silently in his head.

"I get to pick this time because you got to pick where we sat on the ride home at the end of last school year," Jack reminded Ruka when he asked who had said it was the other boy's turn to choose where they sat on the train. He paused a moment to wait for the Gryffindor, waiting until he'd caught up so they could enter the train together and he could help the other boy with his luggage - luggage he might not have had as much of the last couple times he'd been sent to school.

"And of course I'm eager to go!" he answered, sounding as though he were surprised the other boy even thought it peculiar enough to perhaps try to tease him about it. "We haven't gotten to do magic in ages! That's what I miss." As if in emphasis, he pat his robe pocket in which his wand rested at his side. But the copper-haired boy's comment about classes and friends earned him an incredulous look from the redhead.

"Classes, maybe. People I get to annoy without being punished for it - like you - yes. Friends? No." He pursed his lips and began to seek out a compartment that wasn't yet too full to accompany two more, avoiding those from which voices drifted that he could recognize. "And you know that very well, so don't even start with me."

Before too long, he opened a compartment that had only one boy in it; one who Jack didn't think he'd ever seen before. At least...not what he could see of the boy around the book he hid his face behind. Perfect. But...wait. Is that...?

Glancing at the floor, the Slytherin noticed a pair of glasses and raised a brow, bending to pick it up before straightening again and holding it out.

"Excuse me," he greeted, trying to hold back a laugh behind a clenched smile. "But, uh...are these yours? You might need them," he advised. "Unless you make a habit of attempting to read books at such close proximity and upside down."

@Ruka Burnett-Tân & @Rakiak Kyverak

@Jack Burnett @Rakiak Kyverak

Rolling his eyes at his brother's back, Ruka let out a little laugh. "And who said we were taking turns?" he asked teasingly, though with a little shrug gave up the argument as if following Jack's lead hadn't been enough indication that he was merely joking. With a grateful smile he let the Slytherin help him with his luggage, pushing it up and onto the train where it was a bit simpler to drag it along with him down the aisle.

In response to Jack's words about what he missed about Hogwarts, Ruka simply hummed, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Cute," he said, nudging his elbow against the other boy's side. "You think after spending a whole summer with you you're still able to annoy me." He chuckled, placing a hand across his chest as if clutching at his heart. "Yes, my bad," he agreed solemnly, nodding in agreement. "How dare I insinuate such a thing. Your victims, I meant. Projects. Business associates. Poor choice of word on my part." Grinning brightly, Ruka let himself fall behind Jack to give his brother room to decide which compartment he wanted to occupy.

Most of them were already full with groups of people, friends who had met up after a summer apart to spend the train ride together, terrified first years huddled together to take comfort in each other. Ruka almost felt tempted to squeeze into any of those compartments merely for the sake of disturbing those people's fragile order.

Instead he followed Jack further down the aisle until the other boy stopped to open a compartment door, revealing a single boy with his face buried in a book. Nothing unusual, really, Ruka himself had spent his last two train rides to Hogwarts with his face in one of his school books, desperately avoiding other people without seeming too rude for doing so. Spending such a long time on a train was the perfect opportunity to do some reading, especially if you weren't travelling with anybody and had some alone time to spare.

Getting onto his tip-toes to peer over Jack's shoulder to get a better view of the scene, Ruka raised his brows when his brother bent down to pick up a pair of glasses. Unlike Jack, the Gryffindor was unable to even try to keep his laughter hidden, a quiet snicker escaping him as he made his way through the door and pushed his trunk under one of the empty seats. It didn't seem like anybody else was occupying the compartment, and considering most others were already full he thought it safe to assume that Jack had entered this one with the intention of staying there for the duration of their journey.

"Don't embarrass him," he scolded Jack playfully, though his own eyes sparkled in amusement. "I'm sure there's a good reason for his strange reading habits." Remembering a certain girl in the Courtyard from his last year at Hogwarts, Ruka's face lit up with excitement. "Isn't there? In fact, are you a Hufflepuff? They seem to be reading upside down a lot. Might be a badger thing." Regarding the boy with a bright smile, Ruka let himself drop in the seat opposite him. Of course, the badger girl from the fountain had been trying not to seem like she was eavesdropping, which was most likely not the same reason this boy had for pretending to read Hogwarts: A History. Still, the comparison was amusing enough for Ruka to let out another small laugh.

"Are we staying here then?" he asked in Jack's direction, patting the empty seat by his side as if to emphasise that there was enough space before turning his focus back on the boy with the book and the lost glasses. "You don't mind, do you? Unless we're disturbing your..." He gestured vaguely in the direction of the book and the glasses Jack was holding out. "Whatever it is you were trying to do there."

Rakiak clenched his jaw and held his breath bracing himself upon hearing the door open. As one of the boys casually picked up and asked him about his glasses which had been on the floor Rakiak maintained his silence trying his best not to react to the question. He almost failed. For a split second he was about to speak up out of habit before catching himself and choosing to not respond. The whole plan was to pretend like he hadn't noticed them come in. Responding to the first thing they said would be a fatal error in creating and maintaining the perception of someone totally engrossed in their reading. He sighed internally in relief as he assumed his slight change in breathing was not noticed.

Curse this kid and his sharp eyes. He knew he had dropped them, but did not think anyone simply passing by would even notice they were there so felt it was safe to ignore them. Now that they were being used as a means of engaging him, he silently cursed his false assumption.

How the heck did he spot them so quick?! Did he detect them using magic or is he just naturally perceptive? I can't even find my own glasses half the time when I'm actively searching for them, let alone spot someone else's mere seconds upon entering a room!

Although he could hear what was being said, he made no effort to comprehend the meaning in an attempt to make his act more realistic. If he didn't react to the meaning of the words it would be as if he never heard them. That was the idea anyway. However the sarcasm in his voice was really unnerving. The peculiar tone indicated that he knew something obvious that Rakiak didn't. Had he incorrectly assumed that Rakiak should've been able to find the glasses using magic too and was asking why he didn't use it?

The lack of knowledge about how magic worked in the wizarding world was far more dangerous than he had initially anticipated. He had no idea what magic folk were "normally" capable of. This also made it much more difficult to try and take the necessary precautions against them. For all he knew this kid could be reading his mind already and know he was faking reading his book.

Despite his wavering confidence in his ability to keep playing his role, Rakiak maintained his steadfast grip on his flimsy shield. He sensed the presence of another person make their way to the entrance of the compartment and move to come inside. Despite the book blocking their faces, the color of the two boys' hair peeked out over the tops of the pages. One was red, the other more of an orange/copper-like tone.

The seconds felt like minutes. How much longer before they give up? He clumsily readjusted his hold on the book to better shield his face from their gaze.

The second boy, the orange-haired one he judged from the direction it was coming from, spoke up apparently playfully scolding the red-haired one. His words offered Rakiak a glimmer of hope. Maybe he noticed his desire to be alone and could convince the other to do the same?

They were both inside the compartment now and judging by how the orange-haired one was setting his trunk down and getting settled, it seemed they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

For a moment he considered lowering the book and conceding to have a conversation with the orange-haired one, albeit hopefully a brief one. Their tone of voice seemed much kinder and more likely to be the understanding type. At least he couldn't detect the same snarky sarcasm he had from the first one's brief inquiry. Upon remembering the sarcasm from the red-haired boy however, he decided against it and maintained his grip. These two seemed to know each other well and he didn't. Best not to lower one's guard too easily just because they sounded nicer.

Still Rakiak couldn't help feel slightly more comfortable hearing the orange-haired boy's voice and the lowered caution made it so that he could more clearly make out what he was actually saying compared to the prior one. Not that much of it made much sense.
What's a Hufflepuff? (Rakiak took a very small comfort in his confidence that this was NOT an English pastry). Now he's talking about badgers? What does that have to do with reading?

Suddenly something clicked and Rakiak finally understood what both of the boys were implying. Reading upside down.... A sense of dread came creeping into his mind, he suddenly focused on the object in front of him his eyes darting all around the page. The odd appearance of the letters and the orientation of one of the moving pictures finally made sense! In his haste to retrieve the book he had apparently failed to realize that he was holding it upside down!

As he came to fully understand his clumsiness, his posture withered as it seemingly took most of his mental strength to keep the embarrassment from overpowering his sensibilities and causing him to do something drastic. How had he missed something so simple?!

Regardless of if they had in fact been able to read his mind, he saw little reason at this point in trying to ignore them completely. Still his pride prevented him from admitting his mistake as he finally spoke up to address the two boys.

"Thank you." There was only the faintest indication of gratitude as Rakiak spoke to the red head. Although he decided it was pointless to try to ignore them now, he still held onto the plan that he was going to use reading the book as an excuse to not have to converse with them. If they could read his mind they should have clearly understood his intention. He lowered the book just enough to see the outstretched hand with his glasses but took great care to not make eye contact with either of the boys to maintain that reading the book was still more important. He gently took the glasses with one hand, with the other still gripping the book.

"However, I'll have you know I'm near-sighted so I don't actually need them when reading". His eyes narrowed slightly despite still being focused on the book in front of him as he placed the glasses on his lap. There was a slight harshness to his voice as he continued to speak which betrayed a subtle bitterness for the red-headed boy's use of sarcasm and potentially taking him for a fool.

"Also I wasn't reading upside down" he scoffed. "I was merely getting a different perspective when looking at one of the pictures". It was a lame excuse but also wasn't exactly untrue. Instead of actually reading he had mostly been focusing his attention on one of the pictures and its odd composition. His focus on the picture rather than the words had been one of the reasons he hadn't noticed the book was upside down earlier.

Upon hearing the question from the orange-haired boy about if he minded their presence, Rakiak wanted to explain that although he bore them no ill will (which was potentially changing with regards to the red head) he did actually mind and would prefer that they find seating elsewhere. He made sure it was exclaimed especially loud in his mind in case they were listening in. However what he actually ended up saying was quite different.

"I doubt there are any other seats open at this point so unfortunately I'm not sure either of us have much of a choice. I do hope you'll forgive me however if I'm not much of a talker. I'm trying to get as much reading done as I can before we get to...Hogwarts” He had to pause briefly to recall the name of the school.

Fearing that the pause would have been taken as a sign of forgetfulness or stupidity. He quickly tried to come up with an excuse before they had time to point out his hesitation. He probably already seemed like an idiot because of the upside down book thing, and he was not about to give another reason for them to doubt his intelligence.

Closing his eyes, he lowered the book for the first time (partially because his arm was feeling tired by this point) and gently massaged his temple with the other. “Sorry I’m-” He was about to tell them how it had been a long trip to get to the train and how the fatigue was starting to get to him, but as he opened his eyes he blinked at the two boys in surprise.

This had been the first time he had actually looked at the two new inhabitants of the compartment and he was surprised he hadn’t pieced together their identities from earlier. Although he didn’t really know them, he recognized them as the brothers he had seen from only minutes earlier on the platform. There was a mix of emotions happening all at once.

Unbeknownst to them, their brotherly bond had provided him the briefest moment of peace in this stressful time and part of his brain was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude. It suddenly felt wrong to behave so coldly, but at the same time he still didn’t appear to be in the best state of mind to initiate friendly relations.

With his initial intentions apparently scrapped, his brain started determining what to do given the light of this surprising, albeit simple turn of events. Eventually his brain seemed to settle on something apparently without consulting the rest of his being because he felt he said it before realizing it:

“I-I’m Rakiak” he finally managed to utter awkwardly.

"I did. By the unspoken rules of siblings," Jack answered casually in response to the older boy's question about taking turns. "Sharing, taking turns...that's what we're supposed to do. Deal with it." Despite realizing knowing Ruka was joking, Jack liked to provide a proper response to an argument if he had one regardless of how serious or frivolous said argument was meant to be. And if he just so happened to also get the last word in by doing so, well so be it.

Making a face at the comment about being able to annoy the older boy, he glanced over his shoulder to cast Ruka a sneer. Then he held up his index finger. "One, I realize now my wording was bad, but I meant that you aren't one of the people I get to annoy without being punished for it because our parents were always around to punish me.

"Two, don't underestimate my ability to be annoying. The better I know you, the easier it is for me to know how to push your buttons even if you're my brother. And three," he said, adding a third finger to join the other two he had put up by then, "Little brothers are known to be the most annoying creatures on the face of the planet. They're designed that way. If your little brother can't annoy you, no one can."

Dropping his hand, Jack nodded and raised his head proudly when Ruka falsely apologized, knowing full well that the Gryffindor was being sarcastic but choosing to behave as though it was meant sincerely anyway. "That's right; how dare you. And don't you forget it."

When they were finally at the compartment and Jack had leaned down to pick up the glasses, his grin threatened to overtake him when he heard Ruka snicker. On one hand, he was glad the older boy had gained more of a sense of humor over the summer, but on the other hand, he thought it was ironic that he was soon scolded not to embarrass the new kid when Ruka's own behavior was likely to have caused him more embarrassment than Jack's.

He kicked lightly behind him in warning, still unable to tone down his own toothy grin as far as it had split his face. However, it hardly seemed to matter; Ruka had already moved past him and seemed to be putting his trunk under one of the seats, settling in.

He would have said something, but the Irish boy's comment about Hufflepuffs reading upside down a lot finally caused Jack's dam of laughter to erupt past his personal self-control.

"What do you mean, 'are we staying here'? You look like you already made yourself right at home!" the Slytherin pointed out, gesturing to the seated ginger, but sounding less than scolding with his laughter still gradually dying down. "And if you should be asking anyone first, it's the original occupant of the compartment, not me!"

Moving inside enough so that he didn't block the walkway outside, but not yet sitting himself down, the redhead sighed and turned to the stranger.

"Please excuse him; he may be a third year this year, but he's still got a lot to learn about human interaction." Upon speaking the last two words, he threw Ruka a pointed look. However, this was probably just as well, because the unfamiliar young man had been acting for quite a while like he hadn't even heard them come in. Unless he was deaf, it seemed unlikely.

Could he really have been that interested in his book? Sure, there were a lot of people engrossed in reading, but generally in safe places where they didn't expect to be disturbed; not on a train to a magic school that had yet to leave the station.

Ironically, though Rakiak might have considered Jack's first comments to him sarcastic, Jack had not at all meant to be sarcastic with them. In fact, he was no where near as sarcastic a person as Ruka was. Thus, Rakiak had been wise not to assume from that interaction alone.

Jack wasn't, however, in the habit of making his words seem nice just for the sake of being nice. He simply hadn't thought about whether they might have sounded too friendly or nice or not. If he had, he likely would have attempted to redact his words or immediately have said something else to change the impression they had given.

As the Slytherin watched, however, something about the lines of the unfamiliar boy's body tensed and Jack guessed he must have started panicking for some reason. Curious, he raised a brow, but said nothing; simply watched and waited for the other to appear from behind his book. Eventually he did, acknowledging them - no, wait; him? Jack? - with a thank you of gratitude. A thanks for what, though? Picking up his glasses and handing them over? Or pointing out the further mysteries of his reading habits?

"Uh...yeah. No problem," he answered with an uncertain smile, figuring maybe it didn't matter anyway. At least the other boy was finally talking to them. The glasses were finally taken from him, though there was no eye-contact. When it was explained that the boy was near-sighted, Jack wondered if that was why. Maybe he couldn't see far enough to make out where Jack's eyes were...?

"Oh. Okay," the Welsh boy answered, nodding. "Good to know." The harshness of the other's tone and slight narrowing of his eyes wasn't missed, but Jack didn't appear affected by either. He also continued to remain standing, though, somewhat awkwardly rocking back and forth on his heels with his trunk gripped by the hands held behind his back.

When the tan-skinned boy continued on, Jack nodded again in acknowledgement, though his smile had begun to once more curve his lips upward. A different perspective? he repeated silently in his head, excited by the phrase. How refreshing.

"Were you?" he asked, expression brightening in honest delight. "That's awesome! You happen to be reading one of my favorite books, too, as it so happens. Which picture were you looking at? The moving staircases? The one of the portraits? The Great Hall?"

At last, their new companion was addressing their seating situation. Jack's thick brows shot up, admiring the other boy's guess about them not having much choice as well as his honesty and openness. As for the pause regarding the name of the school, he had been wondering about the other boy's status as a first year, but his hesitation only confirmed that in Jack's mind and he smiled. More likely than not a muggle-born first year, too, if the name 'Hogwarts' was unfamiliar to him. And to think last year he was in his very same shoes.

Still, the redheaded boy was quiet as the noiret seemed to take a moment to collect himself, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. It was followed by a small apology, one Jack wasn't sure was warrented, but quickly stopped before the sentence was finished when the swarthy young man finally took a moment to truly regard his fellow compartment occupants. For some reason, he looked surprised, as if he recgonized them, and Jack worried maybe they had chosen a bad place to sit after all.

Soon, however, his concerns subsided when the black-haired boy chose to speak what Jack thought must have been his name. It was a name that, even by wizard standards, sounded rather unique, however. Presuming it even was his name. Had his apology been for not having introduced himself earlier then, maybe?

Casting Ruka a brief, curious glance, in case the Gryffindor might have known something the Slytherin didn't, Jack finally tried to speak up in reply.

"Rakiak...is...your name?" he inquired, trying to sound as gentle as he could so the other kid didn't think he meant offense. "Heh...that's pretty cool if it is. Mine's just Jack; Jack Burnett. Ruka's is probably almost as cool as yours is, though," he stated with a low chuckle. "Is that your first or last, though?"

Glancing at the seat next to Ruka and across from who he assumed was 'Rakiak', he continued, "Um, so...you're alright with us sitting here? Don't worry about talking if you don't wanna; we won't make you," Jack assured him with a wink. "I definitely get trying to cram in all the knowledge you can about a magical school you've never been to before on your trip there."

@Ruka Burnett-Tân & @Rakiak Kyverak

@Jack Burnett @Rakiak Kyverak

Silently rolling his eyes at Jack, Ruka decided to let his younger brother have that argument, didn't really feel like going into how he didn't have to deal with anything if he didn't want to. Letting the other boy have the last word was granting him a small victory that Ruka could bear to go without.

When Jack glanced back at him to make his three points on being annoying, Ruka could barely keep from letting out a laugh, but he managed to contain it, instead just pressed his lips together to keep the grin spreading on his face in check. "I can think of plenty of things more annoying than you," he pointed out lightly, shrugging his shoulders for emphasis. "So I'm happy you'll soon be surrounded by other people you can practice being the most annoying creature on the face of the planet on again. You seem to need it." Letting his lips curl into a smirk, Ruka waved his hand through the air dismissively.

The conversation would soon cease to matter anyway as Jack opened the door to a mostly empty compartment that Ruka almost immediately made himself at home in while his brother was handing the original occupant's glasses back to the boy with the book. Ruka had sidestepped the little kick Jack had tried to deliver his way easily, years of dancing experience leaving him quick on his feet, and a summer spent living in the same house as his brother having prepared him for small, warning attacks like that. Sitting down at least removed him from the danger of being kicked or tripped for the time being, so Jack's words about how he was really supposed to ask the original occupant for his Okay on them staying in his compartment were merely met with a shrug.

"No use in disturbing his reading any further if you weren't intending on staying here anyway," he pointed out like that was obvious before turning his attention back on the other boy who still seemed weirdly engrossed in his book despite their surely obnoxious presence. There was absolutely no way this kid hadn't noticed them, must have at least seen them out of the corner of his eyes even if he had issues with his hearing, but from the way he held himself they could have just as well been invisible to him.

Even the held out glasses seemed to go unnoticed for a moment.

At least the sound of Jack's laughter drowned out the momentary awkwardness of the situation, filling Ruka with a flicker of pride. Few things made him feel as good about himself as making other people laugh, especially if those other people were his younger brother, so he let a satisfied smile settle on his face even as he listened to the laughter gradually die down again.

Meeting Jack's eye with a look of mock offence when he was called out for needing to learn a lot more about human interaction, Ruka dramatically clutched his shirt right above his heart as if the comment hurt him more than he could express, but he soon after turned his focus back on the boy who had yet to even acknowledge their presence. No matter if Ruka's behaviour had somehow inconvenienced him in any way, the stranger's attention remained on the upside down book as if there was nothing more interesting in the world.

It took a moment but eventually there was a shift in the other boy's position - tension, then a slump as if he was done putting his energy into keeping a straight posture - and he seemed to finally lower his book enough to at least acknowledge the glasses being held out to him.

Ruka watched with his head tilted against the window pane, a little smile still curling his lips when the boy uttered his first words of gratitude. He didn't specify exactly what his thank you was for, but Ruka thought it safe to assume it was for the retrieval of his glasses. The whole interaction seemed almost ridiculously delayed, as if it had taken the boy a moment to process everything that was going on around him, and for a second Ruka almost felt bad for seemingly having overwhelmed him like that.

However, once he continued talking, a satisfied smirk settled on the Gryffindor's face. Despite the little delay in conversation, it was ridiculously pleasing to hear that the boy didn't shy from speaking his mind, wasn't scared of calling Jack out on the mistake he had made in assuming he needed his glasses to read, even boldly went as far as to state that his having the book turned upside down was about getting a different perspective of one of the pictures in it.

"See?" Ruka said brightly, clapping his hands together in obvious delight. "Told you he might have a good reason for it!" Humming excitedly, he could only muster a small roll of his eyes when Jack immediately jumped on the little foundation for conversation the other boy was setting up, but his expression remained soft, eyes sparkling with intrigue.

Once the other boy pointed out that neither of them had much of a choice in their seating arrangement as most compartments were already too full, Ruka couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at the fact that the boy didn't actually state that they weren't disturbing him or that he didn't mind them joining him. Unfortunately, he even said, like their presence was even bothersome somehow, and Ruka could feel a speck of sympathy for the boy. He too usually preferred his solitude, would pick reading a book by himself over enduring other people's company pretty much any day, and considering the way the boy had paused before uttering their school's name, it was even relatively safe to assume that he was a first year and probably nervous enough to be heading towards a place he'd never been before. There was probably more than enough on this kid's mind without them bothering him.

Meeting Jack's gaze with a little shrug and gentle smile, Ruka straightened up a little, pulling his knees up against his chest and resting the heels of his feet on the edge of his seat.

The interaction seemed to be putting some strain on the other boy, judging by the way he rubbed at his temples once he finally put down his book enough to show his face. There was a moment, just a short flicker of recognition in the boy's eyes, as if he hadn't realised who he had been talking to up until just then, as if he knew them from somewhere, but it was over before Ruka could study it more closely.

Hugging his knees tightly, the Gryffindor leaned forward a bit when the boy uttered an apology, stopping himself mid-sentence for a moment as if needing to think of how to best finish that sentence. Maybe actually looking at him and Jack for the first time had thrown him off his train of thought, or maybe he just wasn't feeling all that comfortable without his book to hide behind anymore, so Ruka decided not to let the half-finished sentence bother him just yet. It was a good thing too, because there was an ending to it, presumably a name, even if it was quite unusual and didn't sound much like any Ruka had heard before.

Still, with his own name being as unusual as it was, who was he to judge?

Jack was saying as much too, giving away each of their names with a quick comparison of unusualness. "Almost," Ruka repeated indignantly, poking his tongue out at Jack and rolling his eyes before turning his attention back to Rakiak with a small smile on his face. "That's me, Ruka," he pointed out just in case that hadn't been clear from the way Jack had worded it. "The one with the almost as cool name as yours." He grinned brightly to show that he wasn't actually offended by that statement. Rakiak was a pretty unique name, regardless of whether it was the kid's first or last.

Nodding along with Jack's words about how they weren't going to force Rakiak to talk if he didn't want to, Ruka leaned back to make himself comfortable. "Anyway," he said, poking his thumb in Jack's direction, a teasing smile crossing his face. "This one will hardly let you get a word in once he starts talking anyway, so you don't need to worry about joining the conversation. An occasional nod here or there will do." Chuckling lightly, Ruka patted the seat next to him again, a little more insistently. "Now will you finally come sit down? That open door is gonna attract flies and I'm sure Rakiak here would hate even more buzz in his compartment."

Flies, annoying classmates, either way Ruka wasn't really in the mood to share the compartment with more people than strictly necessary. After a summer away from school he was going to have to slowly ease himself into social interaction again.

With that request made, Ruka turned back to Rakiak, trying his best to smile encouragingly. "It's a long train ride," he pointed out gently, gesticulating towards the boy's book. "So if you do want a break from reading and get some information on Hogwarts through conversation, I'm sure both of us are able to answer a lot of your questions." He cast Jack a careful glance as if unsure whether he was overstepping any boundaries with his offer or not. "So you just say the word."

As if struck by lightning, Rakiak was suddenly assailed by his brain processing a whirlwind of information. He had apparently just put the things he was hearing to the back of his head, and as if triggered by seeing the boys’ faces he found himself replaying some of what he had heard and was trying to process it.

“A-a third year?” Rakiak felt himself mutter in spite of himself. He had assumed the shorter boy, whose name apparently was Ruka, was the same age he was, maybe younger, but according to his brother he was at least 2 years older, either that or he was a prodigy that was able to skip grades. Ruka’s mannerisms and behavior on the platform gave him the appearance of having a higher mental maturity which prevented Rakiak from completely discarding the idea.

The second part of what Jack had said in the same statement though caused him to raise an eyebrow. Was it just a playful jab at his brother being more of a recluse or was the emphasis on “human interaction” meant to imply something else? Although they looked human, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that they were something else entirely. After all, in the past week he had seen all manner of things beyond his comprehension and even creatures of different races he had only imagined, such as goblins. It suddenly didn’t seem too far of a stretch then to imagine that these two might not be human at all.

Come to think of it, the Ruka fellow did briefly refer to him as a huffle-something and then mentioned something about a badger. Was that a race or type of shapeshifter? Is that common at this school? As he silently pondered this, he quietly observed the brothers’ playful banter which caused him to smile slightly. Watching them caused him to suddenly remember that his own brother had been particularly fascinated by the concept of shapeshifting and transformations.

Upon remembering Jack’s question about what he had been reading he quickly lifted his book to his face again “Oh uh….S-Salazar Slytherin I guess?” He returned the book to its resting position at his lap no longer using the book to shield his face. The picture he had been having trouble determining the orientation of originally was that of a silver snake slithering this way and that and right below it was the portrait of an older man with a steely gaze.

Rakiak had been surprised to hear that this was apparently one of Jack’s favorite books. Most people wouldn’t claim to have a history textbook as a very fond read let alone one’s favorite. Surely he meant this was his favorite school textbook rather than favorite piece of literature. Realizing Jack knew far more about what he had been looking at, he had quickly decided against trying to use the book as a conversational piece and merely answered the question he had been presented with and hoped he wouldn’t have to elaborate on it. He still wanted to avoid looking stupid as much as possible and having someone else tell you all about a book you had supposedly just been reading wouldn’t look very good, at the very least it wouldn’t be great for his confidence.

“Yes that’s my first name, my parents apparently had a knack for unusual names actually since my brother’s is pretty weird too”. He gave a halfhearted chuckle. This hadn’t been the first time someone said his name was weird and probably wouldn’t be the last so he had gotten used to having to confirm people’s suspicions. Still he realized his haphazard introduction probably didn’t help things in confirming it as his identity so decided to confirm the suspicion .

Jack huh? The boy had probably implied that his name was boring and uninteresting, but ironically the things that initially came to Rakiak’s mind when he heard the name were anything but boring. Images of a daring giant slayer, a time-travelling samurai, a curious pumpkin king, a playful winter spirit, and even an eccentric pirate captain had all flashed through his mind as he thought about familiar carriers of the name. He wondered if this particular Jack’s name belied a far more complex and unusual character like all the others that came to mind.

“Oh that’s not-err oh…” He had begun to protest Ruka’s statement of their name being almost as cool as his until he realized the boy was not actually bothered by it or maybe didn’t even believe it and trailed off apparently losing his nerve to finish defending the coolness of the other boy’s name. Personally he felt Ruka had a much more natural ring to it than his own name did and had he been in a better state of mind, he would’ve probably said so. Since he wasn’t however, he only managed to quietly repeat both names to himself. “Jack and Ruka got it.”

Once again, Rakiak furrowed his brow slightly, this time in response to Ruka’s comment about “flies”. It seemed a bit out of place given that trains weren’t exactly known for their tendency to have insects on board, but he quickly disregarded it as an arbitrary excuse to get his brother to come in and sit down.

As relaxed and at ease as what they were saying seemed to be, the knowing quality of their voices and subtle changing expressions hinted at them assessing and mentally piecing together the situation. Normally this wouldn’t have been much of a problem, but given his current cautious and agitated stated, he really felt unnerved by it. Still the two were being friendly enough and Rakiak felt a bit bad for being on edge given that they hadn’t really done anything to warrant such suspicion. The more he thought about it the more he figured he was being a bit unfair about the whole situation given that he had not even bothered to look at them and see their faces when they had initially addressed him. His rudeness seemed to be either unnoticed or ignored but either way these two weren’t treating him with any amount of hostility. On the contrary they seemed to be quite considerate and understanding as well as willing to accommodate his desire to be left alone. He had little reason at this point to reject their staying, and their comments actually helped put him more at ease in that they distracted him from his worries.

“Well its nice to meet you both” he made a slight nod to acknowledge their official introduction.
After hearing Jack’s question once again clarifying his opinion of them sharing the compartment he quickly responded “Ah sure I don’t really have any reason to object, just as long as you don’t mind me minding my own busine-” he paused after coming to the delayed realization that both boys seemed aware of this being his first trip to the school.

“How did you know I was new?” his tone was genuinely curious but also betrayed a hint of concern. He was sure he hadn’t mentioned it as this was one of his top concerns to not appear completely unprepared. Yet the comments and expressions on both boys seemed to heavily imply that they were aware of his status as a first year and, based off of Ruka’s question, his desperate struggle to understand more about his situation.

He felt fear creeping back in again. Was there some glaringly obvious aspect of his behavior or appearance that gave away his ignorance? It was possible that these two were just unusually perceptive and good at reading people but was that really the case? His mind found its way back to the fear that they could read his mind.

Rakiak scratched his head in frustration. He felt like yelling too but given his current company managed to restrain himself from doing so. He was mentally exhausted from the panic, and overanalysis he was putting into everything these boys said and did on account that he knew little to nothing about the extent of magic. Trying to consider all the potential possibilities that magic had was driving him insane and preventing him from having a normal conversation free of worry.

Suddenly Ruka offered a solution to the problem in the form of answering any questions he might have had. "R-really, you'd do that?" He couldn't detect any sarcasm from the boy, but the sudden offer seemed almost too good to be true and he blinked in surprise before determining that he wasn't misinterpreting what Ruka had said. He still didn't know what to make of his new acquaintances yet, but they hadn't given him any reason to doubt their sincerity aside from his own assumptions. He also felt he owed it to them to give them the benefit of the doubt given his unwarranted, cold behavior earlier which Rakiak increasing became convinced that they had noticed and simply chose to ignore it. They were being quite generous all things considered and it probably wasn't good to look a gifthorse in the mouth.

Rakiak felt a wave of relief wash over him leaving only the nagging suspicion of the brothers’ ability to read minds. The offer seemed unusually well timed to quell his rising panic after all. Still, the promise of answers exceeded his persisting caution. His posture relaxed significantly and he let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you that’d be a huge help actually, I’m really lost to be honest”. He placed the book off to the side to devote the entirety of his attention to his new acquaintances. "I've got so many questions I really don't even know where to start"

He thought for a moment adopting a classic thinking pose with his index finger to his chin while staring absently off to an empty part of the compartment. He really had so many questions he didn’t know where to start. There was just so much he didn’t know that he found it difficult to try to prioritize what information should be determined first. Once again, he found himself muttering before his mind had rationally determined a course of action, “Can wizards read minds?” Luckily it was spoken much quieter than his normal speaking voice and he immediately hoped that the two boys hadn’t registered it as a legitimate question and would instead pass it off as him muttering to himself.

Rakiak quickly thought of something he wanted to know and quickly posed a different question in a much more coherent voice “Ah what are Hogwarts houses? Do I need to know about them before I get there?”