(OOC: This is for myself, Serena Ford, Mariah Menstil and Amelia Lovell.)

Charlie ran ahead of his owner as Rowara Dragon drug her chest into the compartment and placed it in the overhead bin. The cat took the seat by the window to take a look at the outside world and watch as the other children boarded the train. The compartment was empty, to begin with. She took a seat by her cat and looked out as well. She didn't have much, herself.

Rowara is of the average height for her age, a slight 11 year old as she was on the skinny side yet lovely long hair helped her beauty as well as her ocean blue eyes. Her hair hung just below her shoulders though at this time she had it in a ponytail for better viewing. She undid the ponytail and pet Charles as his eyes were currently fixed on a child's pet rat.

"Rats are friends, not food."

"I know. I just wanna play with him." He replied.

You see, Rowara was an empath. Some help may have come from her mother, some may have come from the fact that she was Autistic (from her Muggle father's side) and therefore more sensitive in general to animals. She can sort of hear him in her head. Like a thought but clearer. She can only do that with animals she has in close proximity for a long period of time such as with Charlie and her younger sister's cat, William, who is deaf so doesn't talk much.  She watched as children he age and some older passed the compartment finding their own friends or seats until someone came to the door of this one and said...

"Is it taken?" Mariah asked the girl occupying the compartment, her voice firm but friendly.

Mariah was also 11 both in stature and physique. Her younger years were extremely active as it was spent with her three older brothers.

Speak of the devils and they will appear.

Three burly boys pushed through the hall behind Mariah, each one looking exactly like the other. The tallest one pressed his against the top of her head and wiggled it, messing up her black girls. Mariah swatted at it. The middle laughed and patted her shoulder and the last snickered. Walking on with a sweet glance her way.

She couldn't help but smile as they walked away. She looked back at the girl, embarrassed, and gave a delicate shrug.

"You have any?" She asked glancing back at their retreating forms. "Brothers, I mean." She stayed in the door, still unsure whether the girl would want her to come in or not. She fiddled with the end of her frilly skirt. Her mother took her shopping in london before they went to Diagon Alley for a whole new wardrobe. She was grateful. She loved new clothes.

Rowara shook her head twice. ”Not taken, no brothers. Just a little sister. Thankfully by the look of it, brothers are a pain.”

Rowara was glad she just had a little sister and gets along with her well.

Her name’s Emily. She has a cat too. This is Charles. He’s my therapy kitty. Charlie come meet, what was your name again? Oh mine’s Rowara. But yea come have a seat. She nervously said rather quickly. Almost like diarrhea of the mouth the words kind of melded together. Charlie moved from the window and sat on the other side of Rowara who had switched sides with the cat to be by the cool window. She was getting warm. Too many people on this train. It was getting a bit much for her but she reminded herself that they can close the door for more quiet. Actually... ”Can you close the door though. Getting too noisy. Thanks.”

Rowara Dragon tried to calm herself. She tried masking, meaning acting normal and it was getting too much. She moved her hands back and forth with a twist at the wrist like a quick sideways wave. She was getting worked up.

Charles noticed this and went to crawl onto her chest.

"Uh- sure," Mariah replied quickly, noting her nervous rambling. She stepped forward and slid the door shut behind her. " Sorry I... didn't know."

She sat across from Rowara and gave the girl and a bright smile.

"I'm Mariah," she introduced, sticking her hand out for the girl to shake. She noted her kitty. Mariah was never a cat person. They made her nose itchy, but she looked to look at them from a distance. They were undeniably cute. Mariah just wasn't a fan of shedding a torn furniture. It's why she also stayed away from dogs. To each their own, she supposed.

Mariah never had pets except for her father's owl, Ezra. He was a majestic thing, solid brown with black speaks down his back. He was playful as well, nipping at her fingers gently since as long as she could remember. She loved that bird and wanted it take it with her to school, but her father needed him for his work at the ministry.

Mariah wondered how Rowara was going to send letters to home if she didn't have an owl. She put the thought away for later, planning to ask her when the moment arrived.

"It's ok. I just, uh, well the reason I have Charlie is I have autism and that makes me, like, super sensitive to light and noise and such." Rowara slowed down a little bit wondering if she should even say any of this off the bat. "So, ya. It's ok. You didn't know, now you know and um yea, just a sister." She looked out the window. People were still boarding and she could see her sister on her mum's shoulder trying to find Rowara through the windows. Miss Dragon quickly jumped up and popped over to the window and waved 'I love you' in sign language to her sister. She quickly saw her elder and waved back saying 'I love you too.'

"That's her right there. We sign a lot cause her cat is deaf and she wanted to learn sign language so she could talk to him. We're still learning the basics but at least the cat understands us now. William. Sir William something something I don't remember. She names her animals long names. We have an owl named Archibald Feathersworth the second. We never had a first. She wanted to name the family owl when our old Pepper passed away. Mum's old owl. So we let a 4 year old, now 5, choose the name of the bird. Where she got Archibald from, I'll never know. Love our new bird though. He's a barn owl. Heart face, I love the heart face. Do you have any pets?" She asked after she was done babbling. One thing she could do was talk. She's even been told by others she talks to much. Now she remembers that time and looks down away from Mariah. "Sorry if I talk too much." She said sombrely.

Mariah gave the girl slow nods as she rambled on, letting her know that she was listening until she was done.

"I've never met anyone with autism before," Mariah admitted. She wanted to ask her what it was like and, given her age And inexperience, what it meant. The truth was Mariah had never been around anyone with disabilities and, therefore, had no idea how to respond. Her mother said you were supposed to treat them exactly the same as everyone else.... so she went ahead and asked because if it were anyone else about anything else, she would've.

"What's Autism? Does it hurt?" It was a child's curiosity at its highest and had Mariah's mother been there, she would have shushed her daughter gently and changed the subject. As it were, her mother wasn't there so Mariah watched the girl expectantly, a waiting an answer. Her face was open and curious, as innocent as an 11 year old child face could be in that moment.

Mariah had been rummaging through her bag as she spoke, and when she finished her question, she had in her hand two chocolate frogs her mother got her at diagon alley before they went to the station. She offered the girl one.

“It doesn’t hurt really but it’s like all your senses are more. You hear more, see more and it’s too much. Mum said it’s called hypersensitivity. Sensitive to light and sounds and space and think differently from other people. I don’t really know a lot about it myself,” She took the offered frog. “Thank you, but like sometimes I’ll get overwhelmed with too many people. Or as I said, lights and noises. I hate the train. The chug chug and vibration of the train, I feel everything, hear every little noise. I have Charlie here though. He helps calm me and I can pet him and feel better and focus on other things besides what’s bothering me. It’s rough but it’s all I’ve known. I also have this thing for when Charlie has a day off that’s like a fluff ball. It resembles the fur of Charlie. He has to have a day off every once in a while. So, yea. It’s rough but I’m learning to deal.”

She finally finished and opened the chocolate frog. It immediately jumped out. Charles pounced on it and kept it there until Rowara grabbed it and bit off its legs. “Muahaha you can’t get away now.” She chuckled.

(OOC: on phone so no colors)

"So like, you have a superpower?" Mariah asked smiling. It made sense to her. After all, she could see and hear everything. " Like say, there was a damsel in distress four compartments down, you'd hear her?" She opened her own frog carefully, snatching it before it could wiggle away.

"Sometimes it makes me feel bad when I eat these," she confided. "It's like they're alive." She popped it into her mouth and gave a little shudder. "But they're so good."

Mariah's mother warned her all her teeth would fall out if she kept up on the chocolate, but she could hardly care, despite how her mother tried to scare her with horror stories about muggle healers who attacked your mouth with torture devices. Dentists, she called them.

"Albus Dumbledore," Mariah noted to the card. "I've never collected these. My brother, Dill, does, but he has plenty of Mr. Dumbledore."

She, personally, enjoyed much more frivolous things such as clothes and art.

“I got Nicholas Flemel. Whoever that is.” She said as she looked at the blank card. “Not at home.” She commented. She liked collecting things but never thought to collect these. More into keychains for some reason, and stuffed animals from a muggle store called Build-a-Bear. She has several. A bear, bunny, dragon, monster and more. She can’t get enough they are so cute with their little clothes. She even has the wardrobe available to keep all the clothes all nice. She brought it to school but only brought her bear, Fred.

“But yea no superpowers unless you think my ability to ‘hear’” She did air quotes. “Charles and other animals when in close proximity to them for long periods of time. But really it’s just constant noise. Like listening to a fan on high with a squeaky noise. So annoying.” She looked down at her feet. “I hate it.”

Rowara never liked having to hear everything and not be able to ignore it like everyone else. Even thought about making herself deaf so she didn’t have to hear the world. She would never admit that to mother though. She keeps so much to herself because she doesn’t want her mum knowing fully what she deals with.

"I dunno," Mariah replied in regards to Nicholas Flemel. It sounded familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. She made a note to ask Dill later.

"That sounds frustrating- hearing things like that all the time," she said, sympathetically. She wondered if there was a way to make the girl feel better. A way to... block the noise as it were, but she was very inexperienced in such a thing so she left it unsaid. Mariah couldn't imagine suffering from such an ailment and quietly felt guilty for being glad she didn't.

"So what house do you hope you're sorted jnto?" She asked. "I personally hope I get Gryffindor. My whole family is Gryffindor except for Mum. She's a muggle. I think she's quite proud of it too. She tells it to every wizard family we meet." Mariah smiled when she recalled.
"Dad swears she has to have some magic in her and she just missed her letter, but Mum refuses to hear it."

Mariah liked to share with this girl. It put her at ease to have someone to talk to on her ride to her new school. It beat staying in a compartment with her rowdy brothers.