date: september 1st

location: hogwarts train

interacting:@Margaret Murphy @Elias Mendoza @Lily-Rose Fournier

ooc:

Reducio

Outfit: A fleece offwhite sweater with a black pleated skirt and
a pair of black ballet heels.

If you had asked Eirene if she was nervous she would have smiled at you and laughed, Nervous what would I be nervous about? In truth she was feeling like she wanted to throw up. The days leading up to this journey had not been a pleasant one her house had been filled with tension upon the arrival of her older sister and she didn't think it would empty just because the two siblings were leaving. Her parents hadn't even decided to send their daughters off themselves instead whisking them away to another event, how else would they keep their children's disappearance out of the public's eyes?

The night before Eirene had spent the night in her older siblings' room like old times they lay warped under thick covers it gave Eirene a sense of deja vu. "Is it scary there?" Eirene asked whispering her sister poked her in the side before answering, "No silly it's magical."

She had spent most of the trip trying to keep up with her older sister, Eunomia, who didn't feel like holding her sister's hand for everything anymore deciding that Eirene needed to grow up. For what felt like hours Eirene waited next to her sister as Eunomia chatted with her schoolmates, the young girl had tried to listen in but she couldn't help but feel flustered with all that talk about charms and unicorn hair. Instead, she took the time to study her older sister who had transformed from a meek quiet girl to a spitting ball of fire. It felt like they had nothing in common anymore which scared Eirene. Would she lose another sibling? Before she could gather her thoughts though the piercing shrill of the train came rejuvenating the crowd with life as they surged forward.

"Just hop on and find a compartment!" Her sister yelled before running off with her friends leaving her little sister alone. Eirene stepped onto the train watching as the hallways emptied rather quickly which meant she would have to find one and fast. Dragging her heavy luggage behind her she searched compartments peeking in windows for an empty spot. Finally, near the end of the hallway, she spotted an empty compartment. Carefully she slid the door open stepping into the small room, the first thing she did was put her luggage away and take a seat on the plush chairs looked comfy so she took a seat.

To Maggie it seemed that her whole body trembled with the roar of the trains around her. From nervousness, excitement, or something else entirely she wasn’t completely sure. A mix most likely.

She pushed her trolley through King’s Cross Station, trying to keep her eyes peeled for this ‘Platform Nine and Three Quarters’ she was meant to be getting on. Such a strange designation. She’d never heard of such a thing. Then again, her family typically flew everywhere. It wasn’t like she’d ever been to King’s Cross Station before. Besides, it wouldn’t be the strangest thing she’d seen since she’d found out she was a witch. If she hadn’t been to Diagon Alley first she’d have likely called the existence of a ‘Platform Nine and Three-Quarters’ preposterous. Oh, but she had been to Diagon Alley. She’d seen things there she never thought possible. Things far more unlikely than a ‘Platform Nine and Three Quarters’.

As memories of that trip reared up in her mind, Maggie couldn’t help but also think of the consequences that had followed it. She glanced over her shoulder, half expecting a member of her family’s security would be following her. Maybe her parents. No. She'd’ve heard them arguing. Even over the hustle and bustle of King’s Cross. She only saw strangers.

With a sigh, Maggie faced forward. She straightened herself out, took a deep breath, and pushed her trolly onward. She tried to focus on the task at hand - find Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. She thought of asking for help, but something tugged at the back of her mind. This whole magic thing was supposed to be secret. She wasn’t sure who she could ask.

Instead, she decided to channel a bit of her mother. Put some of what she was taught to work. She hung back and watched. For anything unusual. Anything magical. Anyone wearing the strange robes she’d seen all over Diagon Alley. Or simply anyone that seemed out of the ordinary. It wouldn't be long before she'd be wearing that strange garb. Trade in her white summer hat and best Sunday summer dress for that pointed hat and robes. Her mother’s words echoed in the back of her mind. Chastising her. Telling her that if she was so ‘willful’ and ‘independent’ as to run off whenever she wanted that she could very well find her own way to the platform. Her stomach twisted into a knot at the memory. Her parents had been so angry. So disappointed. But the worst part was sitting alone in her hotel room listening to them argue for hours afterwards.

Look at her now. Willful? Independent? She was doing what she had always done her whole life: following the lead of others. Only difference was this time it wasn’t her mother or father. It was strangers. No different. Not to her. The thought made the knot in her stomach turn into something hot and sticky. It climbed up her throat, threatening to spill out and stinging her eyes. She tightened her jaw. Her expression became blank, neutral. Another trick her mother had taught her.

Though it did not take particularly long for Maggie to spot what she was looking for, it felt like an eternity to the girl. She began to push her trolley along, keeping a distance as she tailed her ostentatious targets. Then she suddenly halted. She blinked, then shook her head. They had ran straight into a wall and disappeared. She stood still as a statue for a long moment. Part of her wanted to wait. To see if someone else did the same thing. If there was some trick. Or perhaps she’d been mistaken.

Against her own better judgment, her feet began to move. Her trolley began to rumble as she picked up speed. What was she doing? This was crazy! She couldn’t stop herself. The exhilaration and wonder outweighed her fear, her judgment, and her good sense. No, that was her muggle sense. She couldn’t think that way anymore. What once was impossible was now possible. Or rather it always was. She was just awake to the possibilities now. She had a new sense to develop. A new sense for a new world. She ran into the wall half expecting a crash.

She closed her eyes at the last moment. Her hands tightened around the handlebar of her trolley until her knuckles were white hot. She braced for an impact that never came. She skid across the pavement, barely stopping her cart before it came out of control. Her heart was racing. Her ears twitched at a change in sound. A different kind of hustle and bustle from King’s Cross.

Slowly, her eyelids lifted enough for her to squint at her new surroundings. They quickly opened wide as the sound of the train chooing filled the air and drowned out the words of those around her. She felt herself get lightly jostled by passersby. She thought they might have apologized, but she didn’t answer. She was too taken aback to fully notice. What would her mother say?

She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone came through the wall behind her. She quickly scurried out of the way of the newcomer. She breathed deeply as she took in her surroundings. Everything started to become a blur as she followed instructions being shouted out and followed others. Before she knew it she was already on the train, walking its corridors. Before she knew what she was doing she was already being jostled out of the way again - this time a bit rougher - as kids ran past to meet with their friends and share stories from their summer vacation.

She took a moment to regain her composure. She needed to get out of the hallway and find herself a train compartment fast. Luckily, she was already pressed up against one from being shoved about. She rapt her knuckles on the side of the cart as she peeked in.

“Excuse me?” Maggie greeted. “Do you mind if I join you?”

@Elias Mendoza @Lily-Rose Fournier @Eirene Tilbury

The place was bustling with Muggles rushing to work and going on vacation alike. The station was loud and the number of people overwhelming, but Lily pushed her heavy trolley through the sea of bodies ahead in order to make it to the space between platforms nine and ten. She could hear her youngest brother, Emmanuel, complain to their father that HE wanted to go to Hogwarts too. He was just a voice among others, however.

"How are you feeling?" Her mother asked as they stopped under the arch between the two platforms.

To be completely honest, Lily-Rose was terrified. She might have been excited the night before, but now that she faced the prospect of leaving home for a year for the first time, things were a little different.

"Good?" That sounded convincing.

Her mother chuckled, giving her a light squeeze on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I was petrified the first time I went through." Her mother looked up at the invisible gate fondly. "But I would give anything to do it all over again." She looked down at Lily-Rose with a smile.

"What if I miss you? Or Dad or .. Thomas and Emmanuel?"

"That's okay. You can always send us an owl. And you can come back over the Winter holiday." She shrugged, finally crouching by Lily-Rose. "But I think we'll miss you more than you will us."

"I doubt that." Lily chuckled.

"We'll see." Her mother gave her a quick hug. "Ready to go? We wouldn't want you to miss the train."

Lily nodded and held onto the handle of her cart tightly. She knew exactly what to do. She looked at her mother one last time before she finally rushed to the tall column made of brick ahead of her. She didn't close her eyes like she thought she would. When she crossed, she was met by nothing, but air and the distinct smell of steamy, smokey coal. Stepping aside not to stay in her parents' way, she pushed the trolley over, immediately catching a glimpse of the red locomotive her mother mentioned before.

She wasn't the only one to be amazed by the sight when her parents arrived.

"Well, that is magic." She heard her father exclaim as he continued to hold onto her mother's hand without which he would not have been able to cross as a Muggle.

Lily-Rose laughed, just like her mother, and they headed to drop off her luggage in the designated area before saying their goodbyes. Lily hugged both of her jealous brothers first, not without ruffling their hair one last time like she usually did.

"See you soon Dad." She hummed as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Have fun sweetie. And don't forget to send us an owl when you have time to let us know how the trip went." Her mother said as she hugged her.

"As soon as I can," Lily promised.

It wasn't long after her goodbyes and maybe a few tears from her mother, that she found herself on a departing train. She had waved her parents and strangers away through the small window of one of the wagons before heading farther in to find a place to sit.

Most places were full, so she noted that it might be better to hop onto the train a little earlier next year if she wanted to have first dibs on a compartment. She looked through a few windows until she almost walked into a girl her age.

She did not hesitate.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you." She looked at the girl inside the compartment too. "Do you think there would be enough space for two of us to join you?" She offered a smile to both strangers.

ooc: no worries! I started some icebreakers but please feel free to deviate from it!

interactions: @Margaret Murphy @Elias Mendoza @Lily-Rose Fournier

date: September 1st, Early Morning

Eirene knew that it was wrong to expect a quiet train ride by herself however with the appearance of three other students that wouldn't be happening. Of course, she should have seen this coming when she saw how quickly the compartments had filled up but she was so surprised when her new travel partners had arrived near seconds after each other. First, there was a knock a girl, with firey red hair, peeked in she politely asked if she could join she seemed excited but there was a sense of calm surrounding her before she could answer another girl appeared. She wiped her hands on her skirt smoothing out the creases before the pair was interrupted.

A second girl almost slammed into the first offered an apology and also asked to join, she had brown hair and sharp blue eyes that caught Eirene's attention once again before she could get a response in another person appeared! This time it was a boy with brown hair and a childish feeling surrounding him, "Please come in there's enough room for all of you."

She got up to rearrange her luggage opening up more space for the trio to place their items before taking a seat. Eirene was quiet as she watched them assuming that they would put their stuff away and then introductions were required. "My name is Eirene Tilbury, it's a pleasure to meet you all."

The young girl stood up and closed the door, the sound of bustling around the train had begun to irritate her and soon the compartment was enveloped in thick silence. "I guess we should introduce ourselves." She pointed to the redhead (Margaret) since she was the first to arrive she should be the first one to begin. "Erm here's some questions of course you have to say your name, where you come from, and perhaps ask a question of you're own."

She had seen her mother use this tactic to disarm closed-off clients and potential investors although Eirene wasn't sure she could pull it off with as much grace. Her hands returned to her sleeves as they had lifted waving around while she was speaking and now fiddled with her buttons carefully balancing them perfectly.

wc: 405

Maggie turned to face Lily-Rose and shook her head. She held her hand up. “No worries,” she said with a smile. It still didn’t reach her eyes. Then, before the girl in the compartment could answer them, another newcomer arrived. A boy this time. Unlike the girls, he didn’t wait for an answer and went inside.

Maggie could almost hear her mother and stuffy friends scoffing at such presumptuousness and whispering to each other of the audacity. She was neither her mother nor her friends, however. She studied the boy for a moment and without judgment before turning her attention back to the compartment's original inhabitant, patiently awaiting her answer.

A smile reached her eyes briefly for the first time in the introduction once Eirene welcomed her into the compartment. Her shoulders slumped for a moment as if a weight had been lifted. She took a deep breath. She hadn’t realized she’d been so tense. Or why.

“Thank you,” she responded as she lugged her items into the train compartment. Her noodle arms heaved her trunk into its new temporary home. She wiped her brow with her hand as a heavy breath escaped her.

Eirene and Elias. Maggie made a mental note as two other students introduced themselves. Before she could give her name, however, Eirene’s finger was pointed at her. Her eyes went wide for a sliver of a second before calm returned to her.

“My name is Maggie Murphy,” she introduced with a curtsey. “I’m from Dublin, and it’s a pleasure to meet you all as well.”

Maggie thought for a moment about a question to ask. The first to pop into her head was to ask what class they were each most excited about. They all seemed very interesting. Thinking, Maggie finally took a seat, carefully smoothing out her skirt as she did so.

“What’s the most trouble you’ve all been in?” The words came out of her mouth before the thought could even finish. She was surprised at herself. Where had that come from? She supposed trouble was on the mind given how much of it she’d been in recently. But why then did she smirk when she asked it?

@Eirene Tilbury @Lily-Rose Fournier @Elias Mendoza

date: september 1st

location: hogwarts express

interacting: @Margaret Murphy @Elias Mendoza @Lily-Rose Fournier

She watched as each of her companions introduced herself, including their personalized questions. Eirene's mother had always told her that the gateway to knowing another person was to connect with their interests, and Eirene intended to do just that. Maggie was from Dublin. She knew that her parents had once traveled there for some type of business, and now she regretted not asking to come along. It would have made great conversation with the young girl.

Her question however was what caught her attention. The most trouble you've ever been in? Eirene never really got in trouble too often. She wasn't as rowdy as her cousins always breaking vases and expensive leather. However, she once got in trouble with her father for hiding away during one of his many lengthy business conferences but that wasn't an interesting story. She doubted that her new friends would be excited to listen to it.

Before she had too much time to dwell on it Elias began to introduce himself. He brought an air of excitement to the room, which was strange since there wasn't anything particularly exciting. He was originally from Spain with various moves back and forth to England. It explained his Spanish accent that kept peeking through his introduction. Once he was done he too provided his question. What house do you want to be sorted into?

Now that the conversation had returned to Eirene she cleared her throat and spoke, "Once again my name is Eirene and I'm from London, however, my parents are from the United States." Ok now for a mildly entertaining story. "The most trouble I've ever gotten in...Once I raided the kitchen with my older sister before a big dinner party. My parents were quite upset." Elias's story reminded her of the incident that she had forgotten about even though it was only 4 years ago. Unlike Elias's parents, hers had not laughed the situation off resulting in a long grounding.

"I hope to get sorted into Ravenclaw because that's where all my siblings are but if I had to choose one based on what I like...maybe Hufflepuff." Hufflepuff sounded nice and cozy, and from the looks of it a lot less competitive compared to the other houses. Just what Eirene wanted a smooth easy sail through her time a Hogwarts.