Lavender giggled when Harold went for the catnip. How the sloth could possibly think he was going to get away with anything...
She heard Mitzi and Karen talk about Mitzi's toys, and making friends and suddenly realised the two other girls were as nervous as she'd been.

"Oh good, I thought I was the only one. I must have at least four books in my bag, and my mobile is filled to the max with music and games." Lavender smiled, and looked out of the window. She caught a glimpse of her parents. Her mom had been crying, her dad had his arm around her. They seemed okay now, but Lavender knew this must be hard for them, too. She watched in silence as her parents turned and headed towards the wall that led back to the rest of the station.

Swallowing down a sudden surge of emotion, Lavender looked back at the other girls. She sighed and settled back down in her seat. "I love the thought of Hogwarts, but I sure am going to miss home. I've never been away for long." She turned to the cage holding her owl. April was still nibbling her owl treat. "Have all the owl treats you want, April. No chance of you getting fat with all the flying back and forth you'll be doing this year." Lavender rummaged through her bag and pulled out a big bag of sweets. "Speaking of treats, anyone want some? My mum must have been afraid I'd starve on the way!" she said, as she dumped the bag on the little table.

Oscar pushed the trolley with two hands, wondering where he was supposed to enter the platform. His legal guardian, the orphanage administrator, had told him a rather detailed description of the platform and how he was supposed to board. He finally reached platform eight, nine, and... there was ten. Oscar maneuvered the unwieldy cart loaded with all the essentials of a year at Wizarding school, including Helios's cage covered by a spare ratty blanket. Ocelots weren't common in normal society and Oscar didn't want to be fined for possession of an exotic animal, with no permit.

One he felt his heel against platform nine's wall and was facing ten, Oscar stopped and gathered his nerve. It was natural they said, like riding a bicycle after the first time. "Well, here goes nothing!" Oscar said to himself, before beginning his trot, then jog. The wall was approaching and looking all too solid, but the boy knew this to be false. Yet everything screamed danger! Then he was through and the Scarlet Express stood in all its glory. "WOOHOO!" he exclaimed, drawing odd looks from even stranger looking people than himself. Oscar looked at the time and realized it was getting close to the time for departure!

He found a man to help him lift his trolley to the storage area. He slung on his rucksack with all of the things he'd want to fiddle with during the long ride. He'd already read through Hogwarts, A History and was abuzz with anticipation. He'd read a bit of his Charms book and was poring over Potions Making. It was intensely interesting to Oscar, all of those ingredients with such potent effects if done properly! And the infinite number of ways he could use such expertise to make fun on others wasn't lost on the mischievous boy either. So he had both textbooks in his bag, two separate notebooks for each of the subjects, and odds and ends that might help him pass the time, like muggle's chess board. While Oscar enjoyed the Wizarding version better, he was annoyed that he always had to buy new pieces in order to keep playing.

With his bag and Helios's cage, Oscar made his way down the compartments, looking for one that was a bit more empty. One like a party already, but he wanted a bit of quiet for once. The idea of finally beginning his magical education had left Oscar feeling pensive and he wanted an opportunity to decompress from it all. He chanced upon a compartment with only one boy in it who was engrossed in the first year's Charms' textbook. This was the sort of guy Oscar wanted to befriend, someone after his own heart. And if he was a serious sort, it'd be even more enjoyable to prank the boy! He rapped on the compartment twice to give notice before opening the glass door. "Hello there! My name's Oscar Coutts, pleased to meet you." Oscar decided to flash one of his charming smiles that always seemed to smooth over first meetings. "Do you mind if I settle down here?"

@Heathen