Thoughts | Speech

1st September, 2022.

And so it begins...

Mellani couldn't believe it. She had walked through a wall. I walked through a wall. A literal proper wall. Pillar, more accurately, but still something solid. She couldn't believe it. How had she, a normal girl in a normal family, turned out to be a witch? The kind you hear about in fairy tales. She was nothing and no one special. Then why had this peculiar looking person come into her house and told her that she was a witch? Told her that, what was it that he called them? Something which started with a 'M'. Oh right, a muggle. What a title to give ordinary people living their lives. Anyways, why had he told her that her life as a muggle was over?

She knew that being a witch was going to be fun. That it would be something adventurous. Something fun. But she didn't think she was ready for it. She wasn't ready to leave her best friends. She wasn't ready to leave her friend who she came home from school with every single day. I won't even be going back home everyday... She knew her friend was careless when coming home. She was worried. Worried for her brother. Worried for her friends.

To her disappointment, even phones weren't working. Maybe that would get better? She hoped so. Then the whistle of the train blew. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had forgotten to get on the train first. She ran and got on the train, wondering how the people inside would be.

Interacting with: @Nora De Carie

Interacting with @Mellani Miller

Reducio

As Nora waved goodbye to her gruff father and over-enthusiastic mom, she couldn't help feeling a bit relieved. Yes, she was sad to leave her old life behind, but Hogwarts was a chance for her to start fresh. No one knew her there, save her cousins. She would be all alone, but was that such a bad thing? The arguments between her and her dad were rising dramatically over the last few months, each one bigger and pettier. Nora could barely think of anything else, and not a week passed before she found herself crying in her bed. One thing she hated about it all was how often her mom was dragged into their fights. How her mom was forced to pick a side, or be trampled. But with Nora at Hogwarts? They'd have so little time together that they'd cherish the time they did have.

Besides, it wasn't like she wasn't going to make any friends. With hundreds of students packed into one building, it'd be pretty hard not to. Just as she was walking into the train, she could see at least a few handfuls of them that she wouldn't mind befriending. One compartment she passed was filled to the brim with a bunch of rowdy older kids, who were passing around a ferret. Poor little guy. Nora's own ferret, Oonie, was tucked safely away in her right pocket.

The next few compartments were also full, and as Nora travelled through the train, she began to get worried. What if they were all full? Would she have to stand in the passageway? Or would it be less awkward to squeeze into a bigger group, and hope they don't notice?

Nora tucked her anxious thoughts away, inhaling sharply before focusing on the task at hand. She needed to find a compartment. Preferably, an empty one, but one or two other kids would be fine. As long as they were the same age as her. Or looked like it. Exhaling a shaky breath, she pushed past two older kids snogging and checked the next one. Aha! Jackpot.

The compartment was tidier than the others (not having been rustled by so many students) and only one other girl was inside. It was perfect. Too perfect, maybe. What if she was waiting for someone? Or holding a seat? Or-- The train's whistle blew, cutting off Nora's brain mid-thought. Uh-oh. If she didn't want to be still standing when the train started, she better get a move on and start settling in.

Sliding open the door, Nora peered at the girl, and asked, "Hey, can I join you here?"

436 words. #420c55.

Note: I am so sorry for taking so long to answer this. Thank you for your consideration!

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𝑀𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: @ 𝐼𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: @Nora De Carie

⟵ ---------------------------------- Thoughts | Speech

𝒪𝒪𝒞 𝒩𝑜𝓉𝑒 Reducio Really sorry for taking so long

Mellani was lost in her thoughts when she heard a voice. She got up with a start to look at the source of it. Another girl, who by looks was her age had entered the compartment nervously, asking if she could sit.

"Oh, yeah, of course! Sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts...", she said, giving the girl a shy smile. Hopefully she had sounded welcoming. At any rate, she was happy that the girl had asked her, because, to be honest, sitting alone would be quite boring. "So... I'm Mellani. What's your name?", she asked, fiddling with her hands, a clear indication to her nervousness. She hoped the other girl would not judge her.

Was this girl also new, or was she just returning to Hogwarts? Not that Mellani minded, but it would be good to know. She also wondered whether the girl would judge her for not having magical parents. As in parents who could perform magic with a wand. She obviously thought her parents were magical, but not in the way that the wizarding world people thought. Just in the normal, they have done so much for me and are awesome way, but she had come to know that there were some students who had magical parents too, called 'purebloods' or something from what she had heard.

She found the concept kind of weird. Like why judge a person because of their blood? Then again, the world was weird. They judged people for no reason. Someone has darker skin, so they're "black" and absolutely cannot be accepted. Someone falls in love with another person of the same gender, so they're "gay" and "disgusting". Like people seriously needed to learn not to judge someone for how they look or how they love, but start seeing who they were.

WIS: 8 ACC: 7 STA: 5 EVA: 5 ARC: 6 STR: 5
Fearless

Interacting with @Mellani Miller

Reducio

She stared nervously for a second, awkwardly standing halfway-in and halfway out. The train had just started to move, and that was enough to make Nora struggle to stay upright. She was glad that she had had the mind to grab the door frame, for with her clumsiness, she surely would have fallen into the compartment. On the way to London, she'd have to travel by train too, and when it started moving, she'd spilled her entire lunch on a stranger's lap. Not a great first impression, and certainly not the one she wanted to make this time around.

"Oh, yeah, of course! Sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts...", the girl responded, smiling at Nora. Thank the gods, Nora thought. If it was difficult for her to remain standing in a train that was literally run by witches and wizards, she had no idea how she would fare if she had to travel down the passageway. "So... I'm Mellani. What's your name?", the girl asked, and Nora noticed that she was fiddling with her hands quite a bit. Was she equally as nervous? That comforted Nora a bit.

"Nice to meet you," she responded, settling in across from Mellani, "My name is Nora. Are you a first year, too?"

Briefly, she wondered what kind of background Mellani was from, and whether she was a muggleborn, a halfblood or even a pureblood. She knew that there were some people who cared a lot about that kind of thing, but being a halfblood with the pureblooded side of her family not giving a flip about blood supremacy, she didn't really either. However, it was interesting to learn about people's backgrounds. Nora thought she had a pretty unique life for a witch, not growing up as a normal muggle or a privileged pureblood. Her dad tried to keep the wizarding aspect of his life far from her, but he couldn't just ignore the fact that she was a witch, so he had to tell her some stuff. Nevertheless, it had always felt rather unbalanced, and she worried that she didn't have the same knowledge some other witches and wizards her age would. Then again, the muggleborns came knowing next to nothing, unless they'd done a ton of research between getting their letter and arriving at the station. And even then, they'd never be able to be fully prepared for the amount of prejudices that would be held against them just for being. So maybe Nora could be thankful for the exposure she did get, and she really hoped Mellani didn't care about her blood status any more than Nora did about hers.

441 words. #420c55.

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𝑀𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: @ 𝐼𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: @Nora De Carie

⟵ ---------------------------------- Thoughts | Speech

𝒪𝒪𝒞 𝒩𝑜𝓉𝑒 Reducio Really sorry for taking so long

Mellani smiled at the girl who introduced herself as Nora. "Yep! I'm also a first year. I'm really excited and nervous to see what Hogwarts holds for us..." Mellani was still fiddling with her fingers. She had never been great at making conversation with people, and today was not exception. In fact, it was probably worse today thanks to her nervousness about this new school that she was going to be a part of.

"So... um, are you also new to magic existing or did you know about it beforehand?", Mellani asked Nora at an attempt to make small talk, unknowingly admitting to the fact that she was a muggle-born and had no idea about magic. She hoped that maybe this girl would know a little about magic and would be willing to help her with understanding how things worked around Hogwarts. Maybe with time, they could also be friends and help each other with studies.

Mellani could not stop thinking about her friends back at home, how they had reacted when Mellani had said that she was going to go to a different school and would probably not meet them again for around an year, if not more. She had really hoped they could stay in touch over the phone, but she had only now found out that phones don't work great around magic and they would have to write letters to each other like people in the 90s, not a thing that Mellani thought her friends would be willing to do.

WIS: 8 ACC: 7 STA: 5 EVA: 5 ARC: 6 STR: 5
Fearless

Interacting with @Mellani Miller

Reducio

Nora smiled, hearing that Mellani was also a first year. She didn't know if it was better to have someone to guide her or someone she could figure things out with, but she was happy to have either. Besides, Mellani seemed nice enough, seeing as she hadn't kicked Nora out yet. She seemed like the kind of person Nora could get along with. Maybe they could even be dormmates someday, if they ended up in the same house. Nora thought she might get Gryffindor (it was her Dad's house), but she wouldn't mind Slytherin either. She was a bit judgemental of Ravenclaw (for the smart house, could it really not get it's mascot and name lined up?), and Hufflepuff didn't really seem like it suited her. However, it was the hat's choice, not hers, so she supposed she'd have to wait and see.

"So... um, are you also new to magic existing or did you know about it beforehand?", Mellani asked.

"Well, I'm a halfblood. I've had some experience, but my dad, annoyingly, has always tried to keep me separated from the magical side of his life," she replied honestly. If Mellani was a blood purist, then she'd rather know right away, rather than try to dance around the subject. Nora was comfortable in her blood status, so she had nothing to hide. If Mellani didn't like it, then they'd simply not be friends. However, she doubted that there would be an issue. Mellani's question sounded like it came from more of a genuine interest than anything else. A pureblood would probably have just directly asked. Just to be sure, Nora bounced back the question. "What about you?"

278 words. #420c55.