When Freya emerged from the pillar onto Platform 9 3/4, her eyes immediately gravitated toward the most impressive thing she had seen all day. The wall was nothing special, for even though it wasn't every day that a Muggle like Freya could thrust herself into stone with no ill-effects, she had had plenty of time to prepare since the Hogwarts representative had told her family how it worked. Though the owls were pretty cool themselves, Freya had seen them when her family went to Diagon Alley. What she hadn't seen, however? A steam engine. While Rye had a train station, their trains were modern, unlike the one that was right before Freya's eyes now.

"Dad, look!" The blonde exclaimed, blue eyes twinkling as she took in the majestic black engine, with plumes of dark silver emerging from its chimney. "How old do you think that is? Do you think magic trains need more regulator pipes? Do you think if it breaks down they'll let me look at it? Oh I hope so! Maybe you should come with us so you can help!"

Furrowing her brow in concentration, Freya's eyes scanned the engine, wondering if this magic ability she had would give her the ability to see through the solid thing, just like she had been able to get through that wall. Though it should have dawned on the girl that the wall had to be have been bewitched for her family to get through it as well, Freya vigorously snatched her wand from her front overall pocket to see if that did anything. Putting more pressure between her brows, Freya compressed her eyes into near-slits as she wondered when, exactly, she'd be able to see digestive tract of steam. Where was the firebrick arch, the firebox, the regulator valve, just under the dome? If she knew any spells, she'd say them at this moment, but Freya knew the best way to learn was from the professionals. It was how she learned plumbing, after all.

The whistle blared and her father chuckled in response. "Frey, you'd better be moving on or else you'll miss your first ride on a steam locomotive altogether. You'd certainly hope that it won't break down, or else you'll miss your chance to go learn about magic! Aren't you excited?"

Any other girl would be thrilled at the thought of learning magic, but the one-two sucker punch of Caelen discounting her desire for engine injury and reminding her that she was leaving them for magic school made her eyes overflow with tears. Her father, realizing what he had done, welcomed her into his arms while her mother stroked her shoulder, saying, "I'll be okay Freya, we're just a letter away. Remember what that nice person said? You'll be able to write with the school owls."

Her lip quivering, Freya wiped her tears and nodded. The train whistled once more, and with one last hug to her parents, she stuffed her wand back into her right pocket, patted her left to ensure that her wrench still was there, and grabbed her belongings to put them on the train. As she entered the steps, she turned back one last time and mouthed, "I love you" to her parents, silently wishing that her grandfather and grandmother had been able to make the trip as well. But plumbing never stopped, as her father said, even when the baby of the family was going to magic school.

Freya found an empty compartment on the train and threw her luggage above her head with ease. As she sat, she grabbed her wrench out of her pocket and toyed the nut mindlessly. It was a little rusty, but Freya couldn't go to Hogwarts without it and her other plumbing materials. She wouldn't be a true professional if she left all these necessary tools back at Rye.

The first thing Lydia did when the wizard from the Ministry had explained to her and her family how to get to the Hogwarts Express, was to google and understand where that peculiar platform was located. To her surprise though, nothing came up online and only later in the day her mother helped her understand that it was probably because muggles weren’t supposed to know about the magic world and “if that was online, then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, would it love?”.

So when the first of September finally came around and the Cooper family arrived at King’s Cross, Lydia was almost jumping around in excitement. She had been dreaming of the secret entrance to the platform, of the Hogwarts Express for so long that she couldn’t wait for this new adventure to start.

“Mom! Do you think the school’s owls will know how to reach out muggle house?” she asked worried at her mother as they made their way towards the secret entrance to the platform.

Lydia’s mom looked at her fondly and smiled. “Of course they will! Don’t worry honey, you’ll be able to keep in touch with us! And we’ll pick you up at the platform for the Christmas’ holiday!” She reassured her daughter.

Feeling better than before, Lydia nodded and then squealed happily: they had finally reached the entrance!

She took a deep breath and concentrated, her trolley safe in her hands, before running towards what looked like a normal brick wall.
Part of Lydia wondered if maybe she wasn’t a witch after all, if maybe there had been a mistake.

But all of her worries went away when, on the other side of the barrier, she saw the Hogwarts Express.

It was the biggest train she had ever seen, and it looked nothing like those trains that from Brighton would bring her to London or the other way around. This train looked old and majestic, almost scary.

Thanks to her father’s help they managed to put her trunk on the train, and the little girl turned towards her family.

Her little sister was already crying in her mother’s arm, saying how much she would have missed Lydia; her mother was caught between calming the younger child and also smiling reassuringly at the older; her father was just looking at Lydia fondly and with so much pride in his eyes that Lydia couldn’t help but hug him tight.

After an emotional goodbye and the promises of writing letters to each other frequently, Lydia hopped on the train and started looking for an empty compartment.

The train was incredibly packed, full of you g wizards and witches chatting happily together. The further on the train she went, the emptier the compartment were, and Lydia stopped when she reached one where there was only another person sitting inside.

“Hi! Can I sit with you? The train is full of people already!” she asked as she opened the door, a string of her long red hair falling over her face.

In front of her sat a girl with a wrench in her hands, and Lydia couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. “Are you muggle born as well? I’m so excited to finally learn about magic! My parents were so shocked when I got my letter! Oh, right sorry,” she said and extended her right hand towards then other girl “I’m Lydia, Lydia Cooper!”


@Freya Thomas

Her silence was soon interrupted by the compartment door jostling open, and Freya turned to see who entered the room. As the girl's long, red hair fell over her face, Freya took her in, knitting her eyebrows into a seemingly angry expression.

The blonde was not angry but instead focused. She tousled her hair as she took in her counterpart's long, straight hair, heavily contrasting her own. She was beautiful and friendly, excited for what was before them, while Freya simply wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. Instead, she fingered the nut and listened to the words from the effervescent girl. Blinking heavily, now more fixed on avoiding tears than taking in the new person, she nodded.

Her wand poked her stomach uncomfortably; it did not fit well in her overall pockets. She slouched to counteract the feeling and gazed down upon her wrench as she tried to counteract the motion and make it look more deliberate. Meanwhile, the green-eyed beauty continued to blabber on, and as Freya completed her movement, she furrowed her brow once more. How could such a tiny person have so much energy, be so excited, especially as she revealed that she was a Muggle-born as well? She was leaving everything she knew, everyone she loved, for a place that was unfamiliar and terrifying. Just like Freya...

She bit her lip; Freya knew that she had told Mum and Dad that she'd give it a good try, that she wouldn't go in with a bad attitude. But all Freya wanted right now was to be back hope, fixing a leaky sink. This girl, though she seemed nice enough, reinforced the reality that was Hogwarts. With a deep inhale, Freya relaxed her face, though maintained a neutral expression, weakly returned the shake, and said, "It's nice to meet you Lydia. I'm Freya. Freya Thomas. I am a...Muggle-born. The word seems so strange, though, I always just thought I was a girl, and Mum and Dad were...Mum and Dad, and now they're all Muggles. It's weird...

"I'm going to miss them," she added weakly. "And home. And the business."

Saying any more felt unfathomable; Freya had to bite her lip once more to recenter herself. To deflect any awkward silence, she mumbled finally, "Have you looked at the books already? They seem interesting."

In reality, she still wasn't convinced that magic was for her, but Freya had felt intrigued by her textbooks, particularly Magical Theory. She did not understand what classes would use such books, but at the very least, she knew she'd look forward to whatever course involved that one.

As Lydia closed the door of the compartment behind her, she noticed that the other girl didn’t look too happy, and she blushed lightly.

Her father had always told her that sometimes she could be a lot to handle, especially when she got excited about things. So the fact that the other girl didn’t seem too thrilled and happy about Lydia’s excitement, the red headed girl didn’t take it personally.

“Nice to meet you Freya!” she said and then sat opposite of her.

Lydia took her time studying the other girl, and she couldn’t help but notice how sad and almost on the verge of tears she was. Her short blond hair reminded her of her little sister, and Lydia thought that probably, just like her, she wasn’t too excited about going to Hogwarts.

Sometimes when she would get too caught up in the excitement, Lydia would forget that not everyone might feel the same happiness as she did.

Clearly this was the case, because Freya didn’t look excited at all, and Lydia couldn’t help but nod along as the other girl talked about her parents. So before speaking again, she took a deep breath and tried to tone down her hyperactivity.

“They’re still your Mum and Dad, and you’re still you,” she said and gave Freya a comforting smile, “Being a witch doesn’t make you any less you. And for the word muggle, I like to think of it more like an adjective rather than a noun. Like, I might be a witch, but I’m still a girl; the same way my parents are still my parents, even if they are muggles. It’s like saying: I’m blue, but still a girl, and my parents green, but that doesn’t make them anything less,” Lydia tried to explain, but then shook her head.

“Sorry... that probably doesn’t make much sense, does it?” she apologised, and then added “I’ll miss them as well, my parents I mean. But we can always write to people back home, and they can write us! Speaking of home, where are you from? And what business are you talking about?”

Lydia couldn’t help it, she was curious, always and about everything.

“Yeah, I’ve looked at a couple of them, and some are quite interesting while others just look scary!” she said as she thought about the potions book.

“What about you? In which house do you think you’ll get sorted?” Lydia asked her and she hoped that maybe talking might make Freya feel a little bit better.

Though Lydia might have initially been a bit too perky for Freya's taste, she certainly could take a cue and toned down her energy. Freya loosened her gaze slightly as Lydia spoke, taking in her words with consideration. She still spoke a bit too much, but the words were good, so Freya didn't feel nearly as overwhelmed as before.

At her question, Freya nodded solemnly, but backtracked to her soliloquy. "It actually did make a bit of sense," she concluded quietly, thumbing through the words as if they had been printed on pages in her memory. Freya was a clever girl; her analytical mind dissected nearly every statement as she absorbed the information, trying to fit the pieces together to understand. It was part of her nature, to destruct and construct simultaneously as she took in her situations, creating a map in her mind in case she needed to find a solution for the person in front of her. She knew that the people you met through happenstance could be forever friends, and until that proved otherwise, she would keep this Lydia in her memory. "Muggle, it's a noun, but I shouldn't think of it that way. They're no different, just because they don't have magic. I'm not any different or more or less special."

She paused as she mulled over these words. As she completed her analysis, her face brightened, reflecting the first moment of true relaxation since she had boarded the Hogwarts Express. "I'm from Rye, have you heard of it? If you have, you might have heard of the family business. Grandpa started it a long time ago, though plumbing's been in the family for ages. Dad works under him, and I'm the junior staff member! I help fix things. Where are you from, though? What does your family do?"

As Lydia continued the conversation, Freya's face fell again, worrying about the magic learning that was before her. The frown only deepened, eyebrows tight once more, when she mentioned houses. As much as she didn't want to ask, Lydia seemed friendly enough, so Freya inquired, "What do you mean exactly by houses? Is there one I should want to be in?"

Her fears did not waver and the tension in her face did not relax, but Freya issued a small smile at the redhead. Hopefully she wouldn't make too much fun of the Muggle-born, remembering what Freya said previously about Muggles not being any less. It had seemed, thus far, that Lydia could live up to these hopes, but time would be the only indicator of the truth.

Lydia felt her heart a little lighter as she looked at Freya smile. She looked definitely more relaxed, and as she started talking about her hometown, Lydia gave her a small smile. 
As she listened to the blonde girl, she took off her shoes - after all, the train ride would have lasted for quite a while - and sat crosslegged on the seat. She felt extremely happy that she had decided to wear a simple pair of jeans and not a dress like her mother suggested her to do, this way the whole train ride would have been more comfortable, and then before arriving at the school she would have changed into her uniform anyway. 

Freya's question brought the red headed girl back to reality. "Rye? Yeah, I've heard of it! I've never been there, but I think it's not too far away from where I live!" Lydia said as she thought about where exactly the little city was supposed to be, "Plumbing? Is that why you have a wrench with you? And you're part of the family business? That's so cool Freya! I bet your family is really proud of you,"  she added.

"I'm from Brighton! My mom is a doctor and she works in the hospital, while my dad has a bookstore; sometimes he travels for work, looking for old books that he can then restore and sell to collectors," she answered, her face getting a little sadder than before as she thought about her parents. She was definitely going to miss them, no matter how excited she was for her new school.

Lydia noticed that Freya looked extremely worried all of a sudden, and she realised that she didn't know about the whole sorting system of Hogwarts. 

"Hey, it's okay," she said as she tried to give her an encouraging smile, "I know that all of this can be overwhelming and confusing. It was for me at the beginning as well! You see, Hogwarts has four different houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.  Every first year student gets sorted into one of them once they arrive at the school during the Sorting Ceremony. All Houses sound really cool, and each of them has their 'main' qualities: Gryffindor is the house of the daring and the brave; Hufflepuff of the loyal and fair; Ravenclaw of the wise; and Slytherin of the ambitious and cunning," she tried to explain without overwhelming her, "Some people might think that Gryffindor is the House to be in, while others think that Slytherin only has dark wizards and witches, but that's not true. I've read all of this in a newspaper while I was at Diagon Alley with my family to shop for school supply. Personally, I hope I'll be either in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff."

Lydia really hoped she hadn't overwhelmed Freya, but most importantly that she hadn't made her feel bad for not knowing these things. "I think most of us muggle-born first year students don't know all of this. I guess sometimes I just get too curious and impatient to wait for someone at school to tell us everything," she added and she smiled, embarrassed.  

Eyme, dressed in a pink shirt, pair of Levi's, and sneakers, pushed her cart through the sea of people at the train station. These people were the non-magic, the muggles, and she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to herself on her first day of school. Housing the cage of an owl was not very normal in the modern world and she didn't want to get into trouble today.

Not far ahead of her was her older brother Eyan, who would be beginning his second year at Hogwarts. He was a Ravenclaw and loved his house dearly, which is probably why he had wasted no time to get ready in the morning and why he was no rushing towards the column that would lead them to Platform 9¾. He was practically racing towards it and it was all little Eyme could to catch up and not get lost in the crowd that she was so tentatively maneuvering through.

Their father, Tobas Root, had already used Floo Powder to get to the platform but he recommended that Eyme use the traditional route as a first year, and she wasn't really complaining either. The rush was completely exhilarating, which added onto her excitement towards the new school year. Still, the excitement didn't ebb away the growing anxiety in her at all, the anxiety towards all the fears and worries that most first years probably experienced.

Eyme almost missed the column but she just saw some other wizards run straight through it at the last minute and aimed her cart I'm the right direction not a second too late. Soon she was going through the barrier and on the other side, where she was greeted by the sight of hundreds of wizards all about, and by the sight of the great red freight, the Hogwarts Express.

She headed over to her family, where her father was conversing with one of his colleagues and where her brother was checking off on his third list of supplies to make sure he really had everything he needed.

“Cauldron, hat, robes...,” he murmured. Eyan pat his pocket and added, “...my wand...” His eyes wandered over to Eyme, where they settled into her cart. “Oh, my owl.”

Eyme sighed inwardly; she had been hoping to keep his screech owl, Langston, but her father had already promised to gift her one for Christmas if she did well. But the holidays were so far away.

After speaking to friends and exchanging farewells, Eyme and her brother boarded the train, exactly a minute before the warning whistle blew. She gave luggage to the porter and carried one small, green bag, where she kept her entertainment in for the long ride.

Eyme wandered down the thin corridor, looking for someplace to sit. Her brother said she could sit with him and his friends if she wanted to but she wanted to find her own friends, or make some. Not too long in her little journey did she stumbled upon a compartment occupied by two girls who seemed to be close to her age, which was perfect.

She stepped into the doorway and smiled at them both. “Do you have room for one more?”

If anybody asked, August would say that no, he hadn't been following the girl in front of him to see where she was going. He'd make up an excuse like how he was trying to find the bathroom or another friend that already sat on the train. It wouldn't be because he was completely and utterly lost and confused as to what to do now that he didn't have his mother's eyes on him.

Elsie had ran through the wall with him after watching another family do the same a few minutes prior. His mum and older sisters had followed next but his dad had to stay in the car because he wasn't allowed to park up with the caravan attached - apparently it took up too many car spaces. August's confident grin had faltered as soon as he stepped on board and face the reality of knowing absolutely nobody compared to usually knowing everybody.

The moving figure of the girl in front of him had him not-so-discreetly following behind before watching her go into a compartment that didn't seem full quite yet. His bottom lip was worried between his teeth as he hung outside for a few minutes to make it seem like he hadn't been so close behind. Fiddling with his worn out dungarees and retying the mixmatched shoelaces on his too-big black converse shoes (that he totally hadn't stolen from his older sister) gave him a good break between when the door shut to when he approached it.

He even knocked! Sliding the door open enough to peek his head in, he gave a sheepish smile to the three girls. "Uh, hi. Can I join too, please?"

Pushing her trolley on Platform 9 3/4, Leanne marvelled over the wondrous magic that was surrounding the barrier. Having devoured stacks of books (which included Magical Theory, Charms:A Beginner Guide and countless others), the only thing she could find was that it was a bastardised portal charm. One day, I’ll figure out how you work, and design my own version of...

“Stop gawking at the barrier, nerd, and get on board the express!” One of her brothers, Samuel hollered from the side, attracting the attention of the surrounding non magicals. They stared at the strange looking family, before resuming their activities.

Her face flushed with embarrassment. Shooting a irritated glare towards him (Who gives you the right to say that, when you haven’t even turned 11 yet? ), Leanne started her run towards the barrier. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and she could feel the ‘whoosh’ of her cart, as the surroundings morphed around her. The stone brick wall she last saw (of Kings Cross) twisted and turned, revealing the express in all of its full glory. Students of all ages swarmed through the crowds; some exchanging greetings, others saying goodbyes.

Her mother, at that moment, had to start fussing about: straightening her collars, rechecking her trunk, listing endless reminders. Despite being such an exciting day, Leanne longed to escape from this ‘torture’, and eyed an empty carriage in the express. They were slowly being filled, as the departure time loomed sooner and sooner.

To her horror, she was finally released just as the express was sounding its last bell. Hopping on at the last second, Leanne released a sigh, as the train started pulling away from the platform.

“Because of you guys, I might be known as The Straggler, the First-Year-who-almost-missed-the-train. Now, that has a nice ring to it.”

Pausing at various compartments and refusing to enter (too noisy or too many people or too many boys), Leanne finally found one.

Inside the compartment were four first-year students, all chatting away. Dragging her overpacked and have trunk beside her, she cautiously knocked the door, sticking her head in.

“The other compartments are full, could I join here?”

OOC: Sorry for the delay

Freya's eyes closed for a moment as she remembered all that she had lost, though it had once been hers not so long ago. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the wrench tighter, as though she could have both realities if she held on just a little harder. When she opened her eyes from the reverie, however, Freya only was greeted with the cheery face of Lydia and a wrench, which potentially had lost its purpose. Much like how she felt, now: purposeless. 

Nonetheless, she responded kindly, "Neighbors! That would be nice for the holidays, to know someone is near me from school. Brighton sounds familiar, though with the business and all, I can't say I leave Rye all that often. I'd love to see the bookstore, though. Do they have books on plumbing? Oh-" Freya's eyes sparkled as she held up her wrench. "Yes, this fella's straight from Pipeline Plumbing!"

The blonde squinted as she took in her partner's explanation, focusing on the girl's lips as she formulated those strange words. Griffindoor. Ravenclaw. Huffandpuff. Slytherinn. Each of them had their own identity, their own display of characteristics, which would potentially shape Freya as an individual. For a brief moment, she wished she had a pencil and paper, and made a mental note to ask her parents if they'd be willing to send her some. For now, she spelled the words over and over, trying to commit them to memory.

"How'd you learn, then?" She asked after a pause. "Which one do you think you'd want to be in? I think I'd like-"

Another girl interrupted her words when she entered, and Freya's brows creased once more as she took the newcomer in. She nodded, and not a moment sooner, a knock rang out as another student came in. Another girl wandered in, a bit more sheepish, but Freya's eyes lit up as she took in the familiar-looking attire. In what was the most natural statement she had had thus far, she declared, with a puff of her chest, "I like your outfit. Are you a plumber, too? You both are totally welcome to come in; what are your names?"

Energy restored, and not wanting to make the others feel nervous in the silence, much as she had felt before, Freya felt it prudent to return to the conversation she had been having with Lydia. "We were just talking about the four houses, and I was saying I think I'd want to be in ... erm, I think Griffindoor or Slytherinn. Bravery and ambition are great traits, though I do love learning...and friendship...okay maybe all of them seem cool." 

She giggled nervously, a bit self-conscious about all the information, though the way she pronounced these words made it so that the others would be unaware that she had no idea how to spell them. 

One more girl came in and broke Freya's feeling of awkwardness. It was getting a bit cramped, but she said all the other compartments were full so...Freya looked towards Lydia, the girl who she felt most comfortable around and who seemed to have a knack for making decisions and welcoming people, before she said, "If it's alright with the others, sure!"