Just around the corner Solo

Sitting on the train in an almost empty carriage, Fyriel enjoyed the subtle swaying of the train’s movements. She felt surprisingly calm for her first trip to Hogwarts. She had no idea if she was meant to change into her robes before arriving or if there would be time before the Sorting Ceremony started. Fyriel sat by the window. Her stuffed badger pal sat on her lap and on the foldable table in front of her were an empty chocolate wrapper and one of her favourite books, about a girl with supernatural powers who discovers she’s not who she thought she was, and is part of a much bigger story that got swept under the rug by her family.

She couldn’t see much through the window as it was completely fogged up. For some reason it was comfortably warm inside the train, even though she couldn’t see anything that was warming it. ‘Must be magic’, she thought. Fyriel wiped some of the condensation off the window with the sleeve of her jumper. All she could see was a landscape of mossy hills with morning dew spread over them like an icy blanket. Fyriel looked back into her carriage, she noticed another wizard sitting in the furthest corner across from her, by the door. At least she assumed it was a wizard, she couldn’t really make out if it was a girl or a boy. The wizard, or witch, was snuggled deep into a blanket. He or she also wore a woolly hat and a scarf big enough to hide their face in. Fyriel could hear a muffled breathing and perhaps a little snore every now and then. She figured the witch or wizard was sleeping so she didn’t bother them with her questions.
A long time had passed when Fyriel woke up from an unexpected nap. ‘I must have dozed off”, she told herself. “A well-needed nap on a busy day’. She felt more awake than before. It took a few minutes before she noticed her fellow traveler had gone. A lonely feeling struck her but when Fyriel spotted other students shuffle by in a hurry outside her carriage door, she quickly realised they were all wearing their robes. The lonely feeling faded and a slight panic took its place. “Oh Merlin’s beard, I should get changed”, Fyriel mumbled to herself.

Fyriel hauled her suitcase from the luggage rack. It was old and black leather, it looked like it had been used for decades and then was forgotten somewhere up the attic for a long time. The black leather had dried out, and had cracked patches all over. She remembered getting the case from her grandmother when she was just a little girl. When she received it she wasn’t too happy to have a dusty, used suitcase but now she’s very fond of it. Other students get new suitcases and try to make them look vintage. Hers was truly vintage and had many memories. Inside her case, were standard Hogwarts robes neatly folded. She changed into them and wished she would be able to wear a Hufflepuff scarf with them. Tucked under some mundane clothes was a black pointed hat. She unpacked it and tried to get the wrinkles out, it wasn’t made to be squeezed into a small suitcase so she tried her best to make it look perfect. It could be quite cold outside at this time of year so Fyriel grabbed her winter cloak from the luggage rack and wrapped herself in the warm fluffy fabric.
She heard the train whistling to let all the students know that they had almost reached their station. She packed her things and had a look around the carriage. Fyriel let out a deep breath and uttered to herself, ”That’s it. It’s time to see my new home for the next years. Let’s start my new adventure!”