Dahlia, as per usual, found herself analyzing her new environment. She was not in awe. No. Rather, she was curious. Her gaze darted among the students. Who would be in her year? She could tell somewhat from those who looked exceptionally young or exceptionally nervous that they were clearly new. There were also those too scared to run through the brick wall on the first try— another obvious tell.

Dahlia could not relate. The young lion had given her parents cheerful hugs goodbye and sprinted through the wall with the full confidence of a pureblood witch. She liked to think she knew a lot of about the wizarding world and, therefore, Hogwarts.

Her textbooks, as soon as she had purchased them, were cracked open. Dahlia didn't read them properly in advance. What did you take her for? A nerd? Merlin, no. She had skimmed them specifically looking for interesting bits about Hogwarts, stuff that could be practically useful to her. (In reality, she wanted to be ahead of the game so that, if anyone asked her a question, she did not have to suffer admitting she did not know. That would be, like, majorly embarrassing.)

Dahlia had one open on the table at that moment: Hogwarts, A History. It seemed like a good place to start in terms of castle-related secrets. Maybe there were secret tunnels used in a past battle. There were some at her grandparents' estate in Korea but she hadn't had time to finish exploring them during her last visit. It would be on her list of activities if she happened to find any.

Her gaze lifted from the text sporadically as she glanced out the window. Iridia had told her they could meet up on the train so Dahlia hadn't bothered to sit with anyone else. Hopefully she hadn't gotten lost on the way. Surely she knew one had to pass through the wall.

She scanned the crowd, fingers tapping a rhythm on the open book in front of her. It would be so much easier to use the floo network and arrive at Hogwarts in an instant. However, apparently, convenience was not a value of the Hogwarts faculty. An eight-hour train ride it was. The Gryffindor-to-be let out a sigh of frustration.

@Iridia Calanthes

The premise of Iridia and Dahlia knowing each other from childhood was plotted OOCLY. I have permission from their writer to assume this ^-^

After a busy morning of getting her stuff together, and using the floo to travel to the platform. Iridia stood with her parents as they exchanged goodbyes, although it wasn’t happy or sad, from her parents, it lacked a lot of emotion, with a warning from her mother to behave, and ‘keep up appearances for the families’, and of course look at connections for when she was head of both families. After that, Iridia was rather quick to get onto the train, not wanting to have to suffer through a quick lecture from her mother before she event left to go to hogwarts, she had been through far too many, and hogwarts was supposed to be her break from it all, if she could event relax that is. The train seemed rather small for how many students there were, and she doubted there would be an empty compartment, or that someone else wouldn’t join her and her travelling companion on the journey to Hogwarts.

So, with her head held high, and with the elegance of a Pureblood who had been raised right, she walked through the train, giving looks to anyone who bumped into her or rushed past, her hair turning light red colour in annoyance. She was looking for Dahlia, a friend she had made at a dinner she had attended, hosted by Dahlia’s family, and they had promised to sit together on the train, although actually finding what compartment she was in was proving to be challenging, especially when none of the seemingly Muggle or half blood students had any decorum, or politeness when it came to passing someone in a corridor.

When Iridia finally managed to find the compartment Dahlia was in, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she rushed in, shutting the door behind her, and sitting herself in the seat opposite her friend. Iridia’s hair now a bright angry red, and changing to a lighter blue, as it switched between the two.

“Oh thank goodness I found you Dahlia, you would not believe how rude some of the other students are, I was being shoved constantly in that corridor, I highly doubt any of them have even the slightest bit of decorum, I swear, at least mother and father taught me to have some. And every-time my hair changed colour, they kept asking to touch it like I was some type of magical beast!”

And there it was, Iridia’s more traditional Pureblood upbringing coming out as she complained about her journey to the compartment, as her hair continued to change colour, switching between almost every colour in the rainbow.

“I hope your journey to this compartment was much more relaxing, hopefully we get peace for the journey..”

@Dahlia Lee

time. morning on the hogwarts express.
place. hogwarts express.
with. @iridia calanthes

Dahlia's expression brightened as she saw Iridia approach. She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table in front of her. It was hard not to spot a girl whose hair changed color so frequently. Dahlia couldn't tell what each meant as she had never asked. The blue looked nice though!

"Hey!" Dahlia greeted the metamorph, unfolding her arms to rest her chin in her palms as Iridia sat. She nodded, humming in affirmation at her mini-rant. She hadn't, personally at least, noticed the pushing and shoving to get on the train. Rather, Dahlia had been too focused getting on the train herself. Had she shoved people? Perchance. They were in her way though. Hence, they deserved it. "Yeaaaaah—" The girl paused mid-phrase, "I tried to make a competition of it, you know? Like, challenging myself to get on the train as fast as possible." She shrugged. It was likely her entry speed that prevented the environment from bothering her all too much.

She let out a slow sigh at the hair-touching comment. "Seriously? Like what do they expect it to do? Give them the ability to fly without a broomstick?" Dahlia let out a snort at her own comment. "It's literally none of their business what color your hair is anyway. Even if it didn't, like, change colors." She nodded in affirmation.

Her gaze drifted around the cabin as to check if anyone else was paying attention to their conversation. "Did you smell those boys though? They're so obviously not well-acquainted with bathing," the witch spoke in a low voice, "I had to put my hand over my nose when passing them." Dahlia made a face. The young witch, although unprejudiced for a pureblood, did not particularly care for the male members of their species. She had yet to meet one who wasn't either rude, infuriating, or lacking a brain. They also had the unfortunate tendency to smell like a cross between a trash bag and cottage cheese. Needless to say, Dahlia did not see the appeal.

She recentered her focus on her companion. "Probably. I think most people are too shy to talk to anyone." Dahlia gave the doorway a second glance. "We hope." Merlin forbid she be stuck next to someone annoying for eight hours.

Iridia sat herself down across from her friend, her emotions calming as her began to turn a pastel yellow, happy, not that she had been able to rant about what had happened, and she grinned at Dahlia’s words as she nodded in agreement, she had smelt the boys, and she certainly agreed with her friends opinion on them, Iridia did not have any interest in boys whatsoever, although her mother had urged her to get to know the ones that were purebloods, for the future she said, and Iridia knew exactly what that meant.

”Yes, I had wondered what the smell was when i got on the train, and then when I was trying to find you, I realised, I do not even want to speak to any of the boys, but mother is adamant I try and get to know the Pureblood boys, she says for the future, but I could not think of anything worse.”

She said with an eye roll as she took out a two small brown bags, full of candy one of her house elves had made, and she passed one over to Dahlia, while she was happy to be away from home, she would definitely miss her house elves cooking, especially the sweet treats they made her, but maybe mother and father would send her some over owl during the year.

“Here, the elves made a few too many and mother said I wasn’t allowed all of them, so I made a bag for you instead, I’m certain the elves will be making more throughout the year, so tell me if you want anything in particular. Also I really hope the journey is relaxing, it’s so long, mother was ranting about it when we got to the platform.”

She spoke with a small giggle as she ate a handful of the candies out of her bag, humming in delight at the taste, her families elves were very talented, and anyone who hadn’t tried their food should really be jealous.

“Enough about that, how are you feeling about going to hogwarts? I am hoping to get into a different house to my parents, I think it would be nice to be different for once.”

@Dahlia Lee

time. morning
place. hogwarts express
with. @iridia calanthes

Dahlia let out, approximately, the longest sigh in her eleven years of living. She pushed herself off of the dividing table with her arm and landed on the backrest with a dramatic thump. Perhaps she had expected more ample cushioning in the seats as that hurt more than the young witch had expected. She brushed it off and straightened her back once more. Her mother, if she were to be in attendance, would scold her for the improper posture.

She continued with her original point. A small bruise, if one had occurred, on her back, was not the greatest of her concerns. She would cope. "O-KAY!" Dahlia emphasized the second syllable. "Glad to hear it is not my imagination. There is literally a problem here." She cast another glance around the cabin. It lacked purpose as, in all honesty, Dahlia did not care who overheard their conversation. Merlin forbid a girl speak the truth.

"She wants you to talk to BOYS? Already?" Lia pulled a face. "Like, seriously talk to them?" She made a mental note not to let her mother breach the subject of romance with Iridia's mother lest she be infected with any of these ideas. She could not physically disrupt as, unfortunately. the Scottish highlands were quite far from London. She would not be coming home until Christmastime. That was, in her perception, light years away. Dahlia would have to take up a strategy of greater stealth and creativity to be determined. "Does she not know that it's best to wait till they have at least developed brains and personalities? Like, maybe in FIFTH year," Dahlia chewed on her lower lip. She selected the year at random. Fifteen was a grown-up age, was it not? "You can tell whether they're going to become aurors or, you know, guys who live like hermits and hunt endangered animals for wand cores." Dahlia did not know anyone in actuality who fit that description, however, it was best to cover all the bases.

The young witch's eyes widened at the sight of sweets, taking the bag from Iridia. She was at the age where food was deeply motivating especially if it contained sugar. "Thank you so much!" Her basic manners were not horrid. "I like all sweets! Or, like, most. Don't worry!" She opened the bag, mouth forming a small 'o' shape. Her hand reached in, immediately grabbing a random sweet and popping it in her mouth. Dahlia's parents, being the sort of individuals they were, did not believe in keeping house elves on moral grounds. However, on peace-keeping grounds, her father had warned her not to bring up elf rights as a topic of conversation with other purebloods. Arguments were entertaining, yes, but she did not particularly fancy one right then. Hence, she complied.

"The journey IS so long. They seriously need to just... put Hogwarts on the floo network or something. It would be so much easier." She let out another sigh, glancing towards the window. They had begun to pull away from the station and were now underground. "Fascinating." Her tone was dry as she pointed a finger at the stone wall outside.

She turned back to Iridia at the change in subject. "I'm excited! I don't know what house I'm going to be in. My parents did not go to Hogwarts so, like, I don't have a family history with any of them... Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, right?" Dahlia tilted her head slightly. "My parents learned about it from their friends. Do you know which one is the best?" Of course that was Dahlia's first instinct. Her parents had given her a washed-out answer about 'best fit' but that did not suit her needs.

Iridia nodded with a slight groan at the thought, her hair turning a green colour at the same time. She certainly didn’t want to speak to boys, or even attempt to get to know them, and Dahlia was definitely right about that. They were going to be so very immature, and have no sense of what they want to be when thwir older, ok maybe some of them would be well into their heirships, most of them didn’t care about that yet, and would certainly want to live out their first year at Hogwarts with trouble, so she could see why Dahlia was so horrified with the idea of it.

”I know! I tried to twlk mother, out of it, but she said if she did not get at least 3 letters from other parents, she would lock me in my room for yule! But, hopefully I can get away with only having to talk to like 3 of them, and just for a few minutes.”

Iridia spoke as she took out her own bag of sweets to put one in her mouth with a hum of delight, her hair now going a yellow, she’d have to write to father about the elves maybe making some biscuits for them to send, she loved their biscuits! And she would certainly miss them while she was at hogwarts. But her train of thought was interrupted when she heard Dahlia, and looked up to where she was pointing, before she started to gigge at her expression with a nod of 6, her mother said they would see the countryside as they travelled, although she personally could not think of anything worse. An 8 hour train ride seemed so very pointless when they had magic. She shook her head at the thought, before she looked at Dahlia as she asked about which house was better, and she hummed, because she truly did not know how to answer.

“Well…if I asked my mother, she would say Slytherin, she and her whole family have all been in Slytherin, but my father and his family were all Gryffindors, so he would say Gryffindor. Personally I want to be in Ravenclaw, apparently you have to get in the commonroom using a riddle! I would love that!”

She spoke, her eyes going a bit wide in excitement as she spoke to her friend, her hair going a more bright yellow, while she ate from her bag of sweets. Since none or Dahlia’s family had ever been to Hogwarts, Iridia had took it upon herself to teach her everything she would need to know before they got there, since she knew it would feel rather scary if she knew nothing about it before going. Iridia wasn’t sure how the Muggles dealt with it, if she was completely honest.

“But you’ll be in a great house, since you’ll be apart of it of course! Hopefully we get put in the same house, I need someone with me to survive the horrors of boys and disgusting manners.”

@Dahlia Lee

time. morning
place. hogwarts express
with. @iridia calanthes

Dahlia sighed loudly. Others in the car would surely be disturbed more so by the noise generated by that one breath of air in comparison to the ongoing conversation. She chewed on her lower lip— carefully, as not to pierce the skin. She wouldn't want the other students thinking she was a vampire on her first day.

The young witch leaned in, eyes bright with a new scheme. "I think there's a way to solve this," she spoke in a low, conspiratorial tone. "Consider: I tell my mom about a horrific story that occurred because of one of the boys your mother wants you to talk to. She tells your mother, obviously. Your mother is horrified and drops- Or!" Dahlia interrupted herself with a new idea. "We could find a boy who isn't a total human troll, which, now that I think about it, might be hard. His parents have him in the same situation though, right? We get him to tell his parents about you. You tell your parents about him. Like a fake potential future husband who's actually just a co-conspirator." She hummed. "The first one is totally the better plan though. We need to find a way to kill all the guys with one stone though. Or, contrarily, throw a stone so awful it discredits guys who are not directly impacted. I know you know what I mean. Or, like, you could just stay with my family over Yuletide. That works too."

Dahlia paused to catch her breath, gears still spinning. Bringing up the concept of arranged marriage with her mother brought the chance she would be encouraged to do the same as Iridia. However, Sooji Lee was not exactly that type of pureblood. She cared that Dahlia marry the correct man, yes, but she also cared that Dahlia feel enamored with him too. The second part, to the eleven-year-old, seemed harder.

The witch bit into a sweet, chewing with her mouth shut before speaking. "Hmm... Wouldn't that be difficult if you are tired though? Or if you couldn't solve one particular riddle? You'd have to ask your housemates for help which is embarrassing." Dahlia's teeth grazed the inside of her cheek. "Both Gryffindor and Slytherin are good houses though, I've heard. I want to be either a Gryffindor or a Slytherin. I don't care which." Dahlia did not know too much about the housing system at Hogwarts. Her own parents had gone to Mahoutokoro so they had not been able to tell her much about the castle. "We should definitely be in the same house though. It would be so rude to separate us."

Iridia would listen eagerly to Dahlia. Her hair turning yellow in happiness. She would need any sort of plan she could get to put her mother off the idea of finding her future marriage prospects. She certainly agreed with the fact that there were not many boys their age who were polite, most of them were rude, and preferred to roll around int he mud playing quidditch than studying and learning their etiquette. She was hoping her father would take her side on this, and try to convince her mother otherwise, however, her father encouraged it! He had said it was good that her mother was looking into marriage prospects, as it meant he didn’t have to worry about her finding the right person to marry, as he knew her mother would only choose boys from respectable houses who were raised correctly.

”Hmm, you know that could work, but if you tell your mother, won’t she get the same idea for you? I could not be more horrified if you have to endure what I do, if your mother even gets a whiff of my mothers plan to find me an eligible marriage candidate for when I come of age, I’d hate for you to have to endure the same thing.”

Iridia did agree that having to answer a riddle each time you wanted to go into your common room would probably get rather tedious, however she personally thought that it sounded like a lot of fun. She always loved to solve things, and riddles seemed like something she could solve. And on the topic of houses, she did agree that either Gryffindor or Slytherin would be a good fit for herself too. Mostly due to family expectations and experiences. Although she did think they would find Ravenclaw accepted too, as it meant she was very intelligent. She supposed the one house she couldn’t see herself in would be HufflePuff, and for her sake she hoped she wasn’t in it, she didn’t want to think of her mother’s fury if she found out. The thought made her hair go a light blue, and it stayed like that for a while, until it went back to yellow.

“Oh I do hope we are in the same house! Then I won’t have to try make more friends so quickly, mother said that she only spoke to father due to her parents, as they were in rival houses, and apparently Gryffindor and Slytherin’s did not get along very well when they were in school. I’ll try to will myself into Slytherin or Gryffindor with you.”

Iridia spoke with a grin as she put her own bag of sweets on the table, looking out the window with her nose scrunched at the…dreary sites they were going past. Her own house was much prettier, although no one could see it unless they were told the address, Fidelius charm and all, and the amount of wards on the house made it impossible as well.

“Aren’t you excited though? I want to learn as many new spells as possible this year! Father promised me that he would buy me some new creature books if I learnt all spells for first year by the end of the year!”

@Dahlia Lee

——————————————————————— date : september 1st, 2025 location : hogwarts express with : @iridia calanthes action : n/a word count : 436 speech : #818199 collage credit : marigold wesley !! code credit : myself ———————————————————————

The young witch chewed on her lower lip. Iridia had a point. Pureblood society culture was infectious. Telling her mother would very likely backfire into unsavory schemes in relation to her own romantic life. It did not matter that she had her mother on record saying the opposite, that she ought not to even consider dating at the age of eleven. However, Sooji Lee was never one to pass up an opportunity for plotting especially when it was in relation to how their family could surpass others. Dahlia was already at risk given that her mother spoke to Iridia's mother on a regular basis. It was inevitable that the subject would be breached.

Dahlia slumped in her seat, letting out a groan. "You're right. She will probably find out anyway when they meet next. I'd be surprised if they weren't discussing the prospect as we speak." The witch ran a hand through her hair. Perhaps she ought to begin thinking of counter-schemes for her own sake as well. Surely, she could get out of anything if she threw enough of a fit. It had worked in past scenarios.

"I hope so! I am so excited to meet everyone though. I hope whichever house we are in has a lot of new first years." She hummed. "It would be better, if there is a rivalry between houses, to be in the bigger house, right? A Quidditch team with more people to pick from during tryouts is probably a better Quidditch team on average," she noted. Dahlia was not sure of how proportions between houses were controlled. Were there years where everyone fit into the same house? Her grandparents believed in the ddi, or the Korean translation of the Chinese zodiac calendar. Dahlia's birth year corresponded to The Year of the Water Snake, representing wisdom and intelligence, both traits pertaining to Ravenclaw. Hence, according to them, it was possible to predict that the incoming first-year class would disproportionately consist of Eagles and those born later in the year would possess traits more common to Hufflepuff. Dahlia did not agree that everyone born within a given year shared common traits. However, it was a theory.

Her gaze followed Iridia's towards the sights. View was an overly generous term to attribute to the mundane nature of the passing suburbia. "We have... 4 hours left, right?" Dahlia rose an eyebrow in Iridia's direction. "They ought to begin some of the sorting procedure on the train for timing's sake. This is exhausting." She folded her arms, resting them on their shared table. Her head fell sideways on top of them.

STA 5 | EVA 5 | STR 3 | WIS 5 | ARC 6 | ACC 6
& half-veela

Iridia giggled at her friends reaction to her words, but she agreed with the sentiment. Marriage prospects were tiring, and also, who wanted go marry someone that was chosen for them? Not only that, but Iridia had no interest in boys, she never had, at least not yet. Iridia had been told countless times from her grandparents that prospects were important, and that she should always be on the lookout for new ones. While her mother badgered into her that she needed to start networking. Make friends with other Purebloods, the richer the better in her families eyes.

“Bigger houses do seem good, and you’re totally right! Can you imagine being on a quidditch team, and hearing everyone in your house shouting your name? Cheering for your team to win? Although I’m not too interested in quidditch, even I can admit that seems amazing!”

Iridia spoke, her eyes widening in wonder at the thought. Personally she wasn’t too into quidditch. She had badgered her parents about all the extracurricular activities Hogwarts had to offer, and duelling seemed much more her style than anything else. Although she wasn’t sure yet what she did want to do, she’d decide as soon as she could. Right now she was just wondering on how they would survive the dreary trip to Hogwarts. The sights were not pretty, and the train cart was so stuffy, with all the magic in the world, she didn’t understand why they couldn’t make the train bigger on the inside. It didn’t make much sense to her, if she was completely honest. Magic had so many capabilities, how no one had thought to make the hogwarts express’ compartments bigger was anyones guess, and not something she was really going to dwell on, not while she had someone she needed to keep company.

”I wish I had bought some cards for exploding snap, then perhaps we won’t be as bored. Maybe I should have bought my travel chess set mother got me as a gift for the year, but I put it in my trunk rather than on the train. Hmm…ah! Gossip, have you heard anything interesting recently? While I hate to admit it, gossip can be entertaining.”

@Dahlia Lee Do we want to end here? And do something else as they are in 2nd year?