Piper Clark walked tentatively away from her mother, hugging her anxiously. The steam from the large red train blew around Platform 9 3/4. The train seemed almost intimidating, looming over Piper as she approached it. The entire news that she was a witch had been appalling news, especially the news which proclaimed that her father had been a wizard. Embarrassed, Piper ran back to her mother, trying to blink back the tears nearly blinding her. It hadn't been much more than a month since the news had been broken to her that her father who had left when she was young was actually a wizard, and consequently Piper was a witch. She glanced up at her mother, who whispered, "Be good. I'll send as many owls as I possibly can, and I can't wait to see you at Christmas." Piper squeezed her mother tightly, then let go and willed herself to walk towards the train once again.

Thoughts raced through her mind as she stepped onto the train and swung her luggage up - it wasn't much; just a heavy trunk, a book bag, and her owl cage. Wheels had been added to the trunk. She pulled it down the aisle. Hopefully she'd find an empty compartment. She was torn between I don't need anyone and How in the world will I make friends? The compartments towards the front were already filled with laughing students. Some shy first-years stepped into their compartments and closed the doors. Before she knew it, half the doors on the Express had been shut. Piper had never felt so alone and invisible.

Walking towards the very, very back of the car, she finally found an empty compartment. Settling down, Piper frowned. Was this how it would be at Hogwarts? Piper felt mildly excited about the fact she'd be learning magic, but most of her initial excitement had worn off and been replaced by heartache. Sighing and having nothing better to do, she pulled out her book bag and began to read The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One. If invisibility was going to be the new normal, she would adapt. She didn't need anyone anyway. The only thing that mattered was that she got satisfactory grades and made her mother proud.

Valencia looked around platform 9 3/4, marveling at everything she saw. "This is amazing!" She gushed, running up to her parents. Her father laughed, while her mother seemed uncomfortable surrounded by all of this magic.

"This is nothing compared to Hogwarts itself," Her father told her with an amused smile. This only seemed to excite Valencia more. She looked up at the train with a wide grin on her face. Nervous? Not at all. Well, maybe a little. She hugged her parents one last time, saying her goodbyes. As she walked towards the train, her mother called out to her.

"Be careful! Try not to get into any trouble!"

Valencia thought for a moment. "No promises!" She called back with a laugh, before boarding the train.

All the compartments up front seemed extremely full. Honestly, how many people were they trying to fit in that one? Valencia shook her head and kept walking, dragging her trunk behind her. She stopped in front of a compartment with a few people inside. "Hi! I'm Valencia. Can I-" The door slammed in her face before she could finish. "Um, rude." She kept walking, and stopped again at another one, with only one person inside. "Hello!" She chirped. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Piper had reached the chapter on Hover Charms when a shadow fell across her. She glanced up, slightly irritated at the interruption. "Hello! Do you mind if I sit here?" A short girl stood over her. She had medium-length brown hair and bangs, but her huge crystal blue eyes stood out most to Piper. She looked far more enthusiastic than Piper felt, but Piper remembered how she had felt when there were no compartments left. She could not let her emotion show. Be the strongest one in the room. Piper looked up, trying to be as disinterested as possible. "Sure, go ahead." she said nonchalantly.

She wondered how someone could be so happy. The girl's posture was upright, and she didn't look at all nervous to be here. Piper supposed she would be excited too if she didn't have so many problems, but the other girl seemed so cheerful. Even if Piper was going to play it hard (why was she doing this to herself?), she did not want to be rude. "I'm Clark. I mean, Piper Clark. What's your name?" She kept her tone indifferent. Piper hoped this ride wouldn't go terribly because of her stubborn decision to remain closed off. But she had made it, and she was sticking to it.

Valencia smiled even wider, which some people might've thought was impossible. "Thank you!" The tiny girl exclaimed cheerfully. She bounced inside and sat down across from Piper, blowing a stray lock of messy hair out of her face. "Sorry for interrupting your reading. I'm Valencia Vilks!" Valencia looked at Piper curiously. The other girl had long, blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, with delicate-looking features and an indifferent expression. [color=008040]"You know, you're really pretty."[/color] Valencia said, before turning bright red. "Not in a weird way, I'm not trying to...flirt with you or anything, I just...um...yeah." She nodded awkwardly and looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"So... What house do you think you'll be sorted into?" She asked, quickly recovering from her slight humiliation. "I'm not sure which one I'll be in, but Hufflepuff sounds pretty cool." Valencia looked around the compartment. She wanted to try and have a conversation with Piper, but she wasn't sure what to talk about, or if Piper even wanted to talk. Valencia didn't want to make the other girl uncomfortable or annoy her at all. Stop. You're overthinking this. If she doesn't want to talk, she'll tell you. Probably. She thought to herself. God, since when was socializing this hard?

Aella Andino waved goodbye to her parents still shocked by them bringing her to the station in the first place, the young first year nervously stepped onto the train and started heading down the cart trying to find a compartment to sit in.

She found one compartment that was mostly full she was just going to sit in anyway but when she opened the door she heard the students arguing so she quickly shut the door and carried on walking. Her arm ached slightly from carrying her bag and trunk but she didn’t let it show as her mother always said ‘you can’t ever show weakness it will make you vulnerable’

Aella eventually found one compartment that just had two girls inside, she opened the compartment door walking inside and shutting it again behind her and then she sat down beside one of the girls. She placed her bags down beside herself and then looked up between the two girls “Oh sorry am I interrupting something?”

Aella felt a little rude that she didn’t really introduce herself or ask if she could sit with them she just sat down but it was the only empty or almost empty compartment she could find and she didn’t plan to move so her feeling of guilt passed

@Valencia Vilks
@Piper Clark

The petite girl gave an even wider grin and practically skipped inside, taking a seat. "Thank you! I'm Valencia Vilks!" Did this gi- Valencia ever speak in anything but exclamation points? "You know, you're really pretty," Valencia stated matter-of-factly, then turned red for some reason. "Not in a weird way, I'm not trying to...flirt with you or anything, I just...um...yeah." She stared at the moving ground of the train. The corner of Piper's mouth twitched upwards, amused. Stop it, she thought to it, alarmed, but her stupid mouth decided not to obey her and she cracked a small smile for a few seconds, then forced it down.

The girl recovered from her sudden wave of embarrassment quickly, which was to be expected. "So... What house do you think you'll be sorted into? I'm not sure which one I'll be in, but Hufflepuff sounds pretty cool." Piper remembered how her mother had been so excited for her, naming the Hogwarts Houses and telling her which she thought were most interesting, despite the fact she herself had never been to Hogwarts. The Houses were essentially the four groups that students were Sorted into, which affected their entire lives. Piper wondered which House her father had been in, but that absolutely did not matter. At all. In fact, it mattered so little she wasn't even thinking about it. So there.

Piper realized she had been zoning out and Valencia was waiting expectantly for her answer. Resigned to discussion, she sighed and set her book aside regretfully. "Well...let me think..." She was saved from answering by the fact that the compartment door opened suddenly. Piper wondered who it was and hoped it was already the delicious snack trolley she had seen in passing through the train. Instead of delicious Wizarding treats, however, it was another first-year girl. At this point, Piper was unsure of whether to be disappointed or relieved. Possibly both; reading on the train and introverting had been much more fun than she had initially thought.

The new girl had olive-toned skin and unique, grey-colored eyes. She walked in and sat right next to Piper, swinging her bags next to herself. Piper raised an eyebrow, mind on the analytical defense. “Oh sorry am I interrupting something?” Piper shook her head, her face an expressionless mask, irritated that the girl had invited herself in. She had asked if she was interrupting, but Piper doubted the girl cared. But who knew, maybe Valencia would Valencia-ify her and she could pick up her book while the other two talked. On the other hand, someone who walked in and sat without further word was probably not very Valencia-y. Determined to act as though nothing had happened, Piper searched her mind for what had happened before the girl had barged in. Right, Houses. Piper looked back at Valencia. "Which House was which again?"

Valencia waited patiently for Piper's answer. The small slip of a girl seemed to be interested in absolutely everything around her, and her attention bounced around from place to place. Even though she had grown up with a wizard father, she'd spent almost entire life in the non-magical community. Everything was new and exciting, something she had never seen before, and she was loving it.

"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Valencia seemed to snap out of her trance and looked up at the newcomer, her head tilted slightly in a way that might remind someone of a curious puppy. The new girl had long brown hair and almond-shaped gray eyes that seemed to sparkle with secrets - although perhaps that was just Valencia's imagination. "Nah, you're good. We were just chatting." She glanced over at Piper, and then back at the girl. "I'm Valencia, by the way. Valencia Vilks. What's your name?"

"Which House was which again?" Piper asked. Valencia though for a moment. "I think Gryffindor is bravery, Slytherin is ambition, Hufflepuff is kindness, and Ravenclaw is intelligence? I'm not actually sure. The real descriptions are probably way more detailed than that, but that's all I remember." She shrugged. Her father, a proud Gryffindor whose family had been in various houses through the years, had taken the time to explain each of them to her, but she hadn't been paying much attention, instead focused on a yellow butterfly that was fluttering through the house.

I decided to change her talking thing? So yeah now it's green, not just bold. Jeez, I'm so indecisive XD sorry

Aella watched the two girls with intrigue as they spoke to each other about the houses, she got the sense the blonde haired girl didn’t like her much probably because she didn’t ask to sit in that compartment with them but Aella didn’t really care she had to sit somewhere and she wasn’t going to waste time waiting for them to answer when she could just sit down and if the girls had an issue with her they could just say it. The other girl however Aella wasn’t sure if she was annoyed or not since she unlike the blonde girl answered Aella and she stated that Aella hadn’t interrupted which made her feel better.

The girl introduced herself as Valencia Vilks before answering the blonde girls question about what each Hogwarts house was and the differences between them. Aella had a little trouble with the fact some people didn’t know about magic or Hogwarts, not for any of the reasons her parents do, only because she can’t imagine a life without magic she would be utterly clueless in a muggle world and she finds it strange that people can live without magic when she relies on it constantly.

“I’m Aella Andino” She introduced herself to the two girls hoping to ease some of the tension she created between herself and the other girl it would be a long train ride she didn’t want it to be awkward or tense for the whole time.

“And you are?” She faced the blonde girl who hadn’t spoke a word to her yet.

@Valencia Vilks
@Piper Clark

Of course Valencia introduced herself without hesitation. How was she not annoyed at all by the girl's intrusion? Piper paid close attention to Valencia as she explained the Houses, glad for an excuse to not look at the new student. "I think Gryffindor is bravery, Slytherin is ambition, Hufflepuff is kindness, and Ravenclaw is intelligence? I'm not actually sure. The real descriptions are probably way more detailed than that, but that's all I remember." Interesting. "In that case, Ravenclaw sounds like a good fit." Studying and researching was a little-known favorite pastime of Piper's. Maybe if everyone there was wrapped up in reading, they would not focus on her.

Suddenly, the girl, whom Piper had been so carefully ignoring, introduced herself as Aella Andino. Great. Now Piper was forced to acknowledge her presence. She was quite annoyed now, especially as Aella had the nerve to say, "And you are?" Why did literally everyone feel the need to push relationships on her? She pressed out a simple, "Piper." She was unsure of what else to say. Despite Valencia's insufferable bounciness, Aella had brought in a new source of annoyance, so Piper turned and continued speaking to Valencia. "You hope to be in Hufflepuff, then?" Good match. Piper glanced around for something to focus on; eye contact made her uncomfortable.

She pulled out her wand and started fiddling with it. When would she be able to perform magic? She had read quite a bit already about Hogwarts, but she was intrigued at the subjects, particularly spellwork. How would that function? Was there a system? Piper zoned out, only half-hearing the things around her as she imagined what the homework would be like. She hoped lots of reading and practical work - lots of it to keep her busy. Mainly she wanted to learn how magic worked; how it existed and how it worked through witches and wizards. This would be one of the first things to investigate.

"I’m Aella Andino." The girl responded. Valencia paused for barely a moment before her eyes lit up. "Hey, we match! Y'know, with the alliteration. AA and VV." She grinned, happy to have found this small detail. Aella suddenly seemed quite a bit more interesting to her, as it wasn't often she found someone with the same name pattern.

"In that case, Ravenclaw sounds like a good fit." Piper said. Valencia nodded thoughtfully, and then fell silent as she watched the interaction between the two other girls. The obvious tension in the tiny compartment was growing by the second, and she didn't really like it. "You hope to be in Hufflepuff, then?""Yeah, Hufflepuff seems like the best place for me." She shrugged, and changed the subject.

"So... where did you guys grow up? I'm from muggle London. My dad's a wizard, he's super into Muggle studies and wanted to live in that world with my mom. He's a Gryffindor. Actually, there have been people from all of the houses in my family, so there's really no telling what I'll get." She was honestly just rambling now, trying to break the tension. "I'd never even been on Diagon Alley before yesterday, and it's so different from where I live! What about you?"