Thinking | Speaking

As Cassian stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, the narrow corridor was filled with the noise of laughter and chatter, hinting at gossip amongst students who couldn’t wait to be back from summer break. You could also hear a mixture of owls wrestling among their cages and other creatures stirring about as students got tucked away for the journey to Hogwarts. Cassian stood there with his back straight, his eyes steady on the crowd of students. He was trained from childhood to be poised, long before he could properly tie his own robes. Even so, all of the energy buzzed along the narrow corridor, fluttered in his body in a way nothing his sheltered pure-blood upbringing truly prepared him for. As he walked the length of the corridor with control and measured strides, he took in all of the details, being that it was his first time on the Hogwarts Express after all. The polished mahogany walls, the faint scent of treacle from the sweets off the trolley, the rhythmic clunking of trunks hitting the overhead compartment. These were the familiar pieces of the many stories his parents and grandparents told about their Hogwarts adventures. Brushing up against the brass railing, Cassion couldn’t help but think of the thousand pure-blood withes and wizards that had come before him. This was a legacy he fully intended on upholding.

A true Hogwarts legacy would require the right company, and Cassian was already making assessments. Some of the compartments were far too loud for Cassian, seemingly like students who didn’t grasp the concept of dignity and decorum. Other compartments were filled to capacity as some students were pressed together in an undignified scramble. Then there were the compartments with the wide-eyed, unmistakable Muggle-borns witnessing magic for the first time, one would imagine. Cassian simply turned his head with no further care, keeping his smooth, polite, and unreadable demeanor. Pure-blood disdain was never meant to be full of theatrics; it was a more subtle, quiet understanding where lines were drawn in interaction and magical expectations. Beneath it all, coiled like a second heartbeat, was his secret. There was a whisper of the old serpent’s tongue manifesting within Cassian. A skill his father, Dorian, explicitly forbade anyone else to know he possessed.

A Parselmouth.

Even thinking about it in his mind pulled an awkward tension into his shoulders.

Not here. Not on my first day. Not when my reputation is on the line.

Reputations were about to be built and alliances formed during these first moments at Hogwarts, starting with the Hogwarts Express. Self-control was critical for overall control of the situation in front of him. As Cassian got mid-way down the train’s corridor, he found the perfect compartment sitting empty, and it was quite a shock to Cassian this late in the preparation for the Hogwarts Express to depart. It was as if the universe itself provided an invitation to Cassian as a silent acknowledgement of bowing to the Morvale timing. He hurried and slipped the compartment door open, hoping no one saw his excitement for the balming effect left from the closing door echoing in the silence of the compartment. He set his trunk down beside the bench and settled in the window seat. As Cassian looked out the window, he couldn’t help but notice the cold, postured reflection looking back at him.

Let the wrong sort take one look at this face, I’m positive they will keep moving.
But just maybe…someone worthy of my friendship would try the handle…
Maybe a fellow Pure-blood? Or how about someone with the right ambition in their eyes?
Definitely someone with Slytherin charm, such as myself.

As the train could be felt humming underneath his feet, Cassian couldn’t help but thumb his fingers across his knees, anticipating the journey ahead.

Cassian continued to stare back and forth from the window to the compartment door, wondering if someone would finally resort to approaching the nearly empty compartment. The door was unlocked, but not just for any and everyone to come in. But maybe that’s just what he needed to comprehend the reality he was about to step into with a more widely accepting magical community.

Callie rushed on to Platform 9¾, whit her mum behind her.
'Oh, Callie, this is so exciting,' her mum squealed. 'I remember when I was your age-'
Callie cut her mother off. 'Mum. You've told me so many times.'
But, she agreed. She couldn't believe she was going to Hogwarts. It was exciting and nerve-wracking. Callie pulled her trolley over near the station. Callie's mum followed.
They leaned against the wall and Callie felt her heart beat. This was it. The beginning of a new chapter of her life.
'Oh honey, before I forget, I got you something.' Callie's mum pulls out a small necklace with a pendant. 'Dad would've been so proud of you.' Callie clips the necklace around her neck and smiles. Callie's mum looks down and frowns.
'Honey, are you sure you want to wear that watch?'
'It's Dads. Whatever is dad's stays with us.'
Callie's mum shook her head. 'Oh Callie... That reminds me! Here's some galleons for the trolley.'
Callie took the pouch. 'Thanks, mum!'
The train pulled into the station, and Callie hugged her mum one last time and waved goodbye. She walked onto the train and pulled her trunk up. Callie's heart thumped. She walked around until she found a compartment. A boy sat inside. He was about her age, had dark skin and fairly curly hair. She slide the door open.
'Hey, is this seat taken?'
@Cassius Morvale

Thinking | Speaking

The sound of the compartment door sliding open gave Cassian cause to lift his head. The quietness surrounding him vanished in an instant, replaced by the silhouette of a girl with curly long hair framed in the doorway. She looked a bit flushed from the rush of boarding the Hogwarts Express. She looked earnest and bright-eyed. The sort of excitement that came from seeing the wizarding world from a brighter perspective, something he’d never been allowed. Something about the rather unorthodox wear of a wrist watch as a first-year and the necklace she was still touching hinted at a difference in upbringing between the two of them.

Possibly she’s a Muggle-born? A half-blood at best.

The thought flicked through him like a cool ripple. Not full of disdain, but definitely cautious of the next interaction. Her voice was simple with a glimmer of hope.

“Hey, is that seat taken?”

Cassian subtly straightened his posture in the seat, drawing his shoulders back in a manner that projected authority. His expression, however, remained smooth and unreadable so that she couldn’t grasp his true feelings.

“No, it isn’t,” he replied in a polite yet restrained tone.

He turned his chin slightly to the empty seat opposite of him as an invitation, hoping the girl received the message. Though it was not necessarily a warm invitation, Cassian felt it was, however, a courtesy for now that he could ascertain. Studying the girl a bit more, he took notice that the way she wore the watch and necklace gave a sense of sentimental value, something Cassian rarely saw in pure-blood heirs. He was always taught to treasure legacy, not trinkets.

But she didn’t seem like the foolish loud of witches wandering the corridor earlier when Cassian first boarded the train and had manners, politely asking versus assuming that the seat was empty across from him. He folded his hands on his lap, maintaining his impeccable composure.

“You’re a first-year as well, I assume?” he asked with an even voice. “Everyone seems rather eager today. Understandably.” He allowed for a small pause before continuing. “I’m Cassian Morvale.”

He spoke his name not boastfully, but in a manner to allow the Morvale name to linger in the air with the quiet confidence of someone raised to know his pedigree mattered. He watched her in a careful way, waiting to see what her response would be.

Let’s see who exactly you are…before I decide anything else.
@Calypso Jones

Callie stood there, silent. The boy looked her up and down, examining her. She could tell he was a pureblood, from the way his lip curled when he saw her watch. She clasped her hand protectively. He was haughty, for sure. But, the boy surprised Callie.
"No, it isn't." He said, tone polite. He nodded to one of the empty seats, and Callie sat. She kept her distance, not wanting to earn another curled lip.
The boy spoke again, pride hinting in his voice. “You’re a first-year as well, I assume?
“You’re a first-year as well, I assume?” He paused for effect. “I’m Cassian Morvale.”
She nodded. The name sounded familiar. She sat there, until it clicked.
"Oh! You're a Morvale! My mum told me about you. She works at the Ministry. She said your family is nice. I'm Callie. My mum's an Auror, but you probably don't know her. Tabitha Jones." She took a breath, monitoring the boy's reaction. Callie spoke again. "If you're wondering about the watch, it was my dads. I'm half-blood, and he died a few years ago. The necklace was a wedding present to my mum. She was Ravenclaw. What house do you want to be in? I want Ravenclaw." She cocked her head, monitoring Cassian's reaction. He was a proud pureblood, and certainly acted like one.

@Cassian Morvale

Thinking | Speaking

Cassian rested his elbow lightly on the window ledge as he listened to Callie without interruption. She spoke rapidly and earnestly, the way people do when they are attempting to fill in the silence. Her words were in quick succession: the Morvale name recognition, Ministry of Magic connections, the watch, her parentage, and Ravenclaw hopes. That was a great deal of information sharing with someone he had only just invited to sit. He ensured not to shift his expression. He continued to watch her with the same steady manner of analysis. His gaze tends to make people feel as though he were noting far more than he acknowledged.

“Auror Jones…yes. I’ve heard the name. My father mentioned her once.” He didn’t elaborate, but there was no dismissiveness in his response, just simple acknowledgement. He briefly glanced at the watch she clutched, taking in her tension and protectiveness. The reaction irked him beyond reasons he cared to explore. “I wasn’t sneering at it,” he said quietly. “I was noticing it. There’s a difference.” Cassian paused to offer a small courtesy of clarification. For Cassian, this was a courtesy. Callie’s confession about her father’s death earned a softening in posture, but not out of pity, as Cassian did not do pity. This was more akin to solemn respect.

“I see…then it makes sense that you keep it close.”

Her mention of her blood status, while noticeable, didn’t provoke anything more than a faint narrowing of his eyes. He was filing the information the same way he filed everything else: neatly, quietly, and without comment. While he certainly had thoughts on the matter, he didn’t allow for them to surface. At her question about the Hogwarts houses, his gaze moved to the compartment door and then back to Callie.

“The Morvale Family has all been Slytherin for generations. So, I suppose that’s the expectation.” His tone softened thoughtfully. “My mother is a brilliant pure-blood witch who was sorted into Ravenclaw, so I wouldn’t mind that house either.”

He tilted his head slightly, “You mentioned you want Ravenclaw. Why?”

Cassian asked this question in a genuine manner of curiosity because, unlike most pure-blood boys on the train, he actually listened when people spoke. Callie was interesting to say the least to Cassian, far more than the average chatter he’d endured so far.

@Calypso Jones

Callie sat quietly as Cassius responded. He looked pitiful when she mentioned her dad's death, something she hadn't seen from a pureblood. But, seemingly, Cassius was not one to pity. She shrugged it off. Cassius mentioned his family was slytherin, a much-known fact. Suprisingly, his mother was a Ravenclaw.
"Oh really? I didn't know that." Callie shrugged. There was still a lot to learn. When he asked about Ravenclaw, he seemed to have real interest.

"I guess I want it because I want to make my parents proud. I've only got my mum, and she's everything to me. I want to do good, for her and for my dad. You know, " Callie paused to cough. "You know, a lot of the purebloods on the platform all sneered at my mum when she passes. I guess they know about my dad. But you're different, Cassius. You don't judge me for that. You don't seem grossed out. I quite like you. I think you'd make a better Gryffindor than Slytherin."
Callie checked her watch. The train began chugging along the rails. She looked up at Cassius, whose facial expression was too boring to be true. "Oh perk up, Cassius! We're going to Hogwarts! Surely, surely there's one part of you that's screaming with excitement?" Callie laughed and shook her head. Cassius was an interesting person. She looked out the window into the countryside, and drifted off into her thoughts.

@Cassian Morvale

Thinking | Speaking

Cassian sat and listened to Callie as she spoke. He studied her with an unreadable focus; he kept his composure. Her motivation for being sorted into Ravenclaw was forthright; it was the deliverance that made him reassess her slightly. While comfort wasn’t first on Cassian's mind, he didn’t dismiss her either; he absorbed the information as he usually did.

“Those with the least to contribute tend to have the most to mention,” he said in a smooth tone. “Their opinions aren’t worth your attention.” He didn’t say it to soothe her; however, he mentioned it as a factual observation. This would be the same he would do for any topic of discussion, like the weather or the structure of a spell.

Her comment that he would make a better Gryffindor cast a very faint tightening around his eyes. This was the closest his expression ever came to a sense of amusement. It wasn’t irritation, but mere disbelief of the notion.

She’s really lost her marbles, has she.

Restoring even calm to his face, he spoke. “That would be…unexpected.” There was a bit of dryness in the undertone of his voice.

Unfortunate is more like it.

When Callie urged him to perk up, he turned to give her a glare of analytical confusion. “There’s no sense of being performative,” he stated. “It doesn’t enthrall the moment to be more real.” Without adding any emotion, he continued to speak, “But yes…I am anticipating what’s in store for us once we step onto those castle grounds.”

Cassian turned his attention back to the window as the landscape slid past in muted colors. He kept his composed posture within his seat, though now he felt a loosening of the initial weight of introductions had passed. He let the quiet settle again, finding it preferable to needless chatter. While craving the quietness to be restored to the cabin, he did find himself not minding crossing paths with Callie at the castle. Her openness and unfiltered intentions were refreshing, and they made Cassian curious to see how she would navigate Hogwarts.


@Calypso Jones