Bishop laid down on the seats as he quietly said he would wake Karen when they arrived. Her actions had made him a feel a little better, but he also felt as tired as Karen looked. He looked at the wall while he waited, unsure of what to do next. Bishop tried to distract himself by playing with a rubber band he found in his pocket, but it didn't entertain him as much as he wanted.

"I don't think they were here for pocket money." The train was moving again, but the rain did not lift, and the gloomy demeanor that the sky was fighting to let go of, did not go away. The rain pounded down harder than ever, and the trained rocked uneasily as it sped along the tracks, but held itself steady at sharp turns and forced itself from not going over the edges of cliffs as it went.

After around two hours a woman came along telling the students to change into robes. They were almost at their destination, Hogwarts. The students began to grow more anxious as the Castle came into view, the bright lights illuminating the dark, gloomy lake that it towered over. The trained puffed along into Hogsmeade Station, where it came to a halt. The Second Years and up went to a separate pathway, while the first years were sent along a main pathway to a dock, were boats with hanging lanterns waited for them. A gigantic man stood waiting for them on the docks. He had a massive gray beard as well as a mass of grey hair that sat upon his head, resembling a bird's nest.

"C'mon now firs' years! Hurry 'long now!" He called out to the oncoming students, guesturing to the boats. The first years piled in the boats. They were crammed enough with only two people, but when three and four had to be packed in, the boats seemed about ready to capsize. Somehow they made it across the lake, and into the warm, dry castle. They were led into a hall where the headmistress left them for preparations, leaving them to talk.

Cal looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of Terrance.

When Bishop had his robe on he nudged Karen. He didn't think she would be such a heavy sleeper, so he did the best he could without magic. After a few minutes of trying to get her up, he gave up and rolled her onto the floor with a loud thump. "My apologies, but we're almost there." Veil sat on Bishop's shoulder as she sniffed at Karen. They sat close to the door, ready to leave at any time. Bishop hoped that what happened on the train wouldn't happen again anytime soon.

@TheHangedMan

Charlyn had her gown on already by the time they were told to get changed. She admired the black Hogwarts clothes and couldn't wait to give it a bit color once she has been sorted into one of the houses.

The big man that helped them find their way to the boots and over the lake was very intimating to Charlie. She didn't show it but she had to admit she was a little scared. But that seemed totally unnecessary. The man seemed like he was a nice, warm hearted guy. And she quickly relaxed as she sat in a boat with him alone. They talked and she learned that he would be there at the table of teachers crossing his fingers for her when she got sorted. Her excitement grew.

@LordofthePies

Karen groaned on the floor, given an abrupt awakening from her sleep courtesy of Bishop. She wanted to be annoyed with him, but from the looks of it, she had been too deep into her slumber that it necessitated having to push her down. She was still a little annoyed though, but she didn't show it; again, it was not his fault.

"Urgh, thank you for waking me, Bishop," said Karen. getting up while brushing stray strands of hair off her face. She pulled out her Hogwarts robes and put them on, straightening them. She tied her long light hair back with a black ribbon and hauled her bag off towards the exit.

"Shall we go then?" she said, gesturing towards where the other students were headed.

@SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @BlackPanther @Dutchess Sarah
After reassuring Lavender that she really was okay, and explaining that she had no idea why anyone would target her after all she really wasn't that remarkable. Brynn felt as normal as anyone else unless they were going after people with non-magic parents. She happened to be the only muggle born in the carriage, not that it made a bit of a difference she was still very magical just like everyone else, end of discussion. After that she refused to talk on the subject, changing the subject to obscure muggle things anytime it came up.

A couple hours later a witch came along and told them all to get their robes on and that they'd arrive soon. Brynn took this as a happy distraction, excuseing herself to put on the second hand robes that her mother was able to afford. They were a bit too big but that didn't bother Brynn much, it just meant they'd fit next year too.

At hogsmead station and all the way to the castle Brynn stuck close to those she'd known on the train. The giant man was frightening at first, though after a while his demeanor proved quite the opposite. He was a pleasant old fellow and a story teller. Across the lake he told about the giant squid and the merefolk and everything else between his chat with a student up in his boat. Then up to the castle he told about the forest, though they were not to go in it! Finally he left them at the castle with the same women who had saved Brynn hours ago. She soon left them too, going to ensure that everything was ready for the sorting. Brynn turned toward all the friends who'd stuck around. "well here we are, I figure we're about to be sorted isn't this swell," she said excitedly. "I do hope we'll see each other again, even if we do end up in different houses."

"I suppose," Bishop let Karen lead them out of the train. He didn't want to have to deal with Hogwarts without his new friend. His mother had told him stories about this place when she was still alive, he still had trouble believing them even though Hogwarts was in front of him. This would be a good chance to see if his mother was exaggerating or not. Hopfully not many people have birds of prey. Bishop thought as he looked at Veil.
He walked close to Karen, unsure of what else to do. She seemed like the type of person that would figure it out herself, which was both scary and comforting.

@TheHangedMan

@SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @Dutchess Sarah
Jay looked relieved that everyone was okay. Once Bruno excused herself he did the same and put on robes that fit him well and looked brand new. Considering they were from his uncle, they look amazing on him. With a small smile, he watches jewel curl up loosely around his neck.
Then he sticks with Brynn and the others as they cross the lake. He isn't scared of the large man, but rather curious about him.
He smiles at Brynn when she talks about being sorted. "Yea of course I'll remain friends with you."

Lavender smiled at Brynn. She was honestly relieved the girl was okay. She liked her.
"I wasn't muggle born, but I was raised by them. Long story. Not sure whether they'd see me as full blood or not... though, if that is what full blood wizards and witches do, count me out!" Lavender shrugged and tried to help Brynn avoid the subject whenever she could. It felt oddly right, talking about muggle stuff on the train like that. It made her feel a bit rebellious, somehow.

When the witch asked them to put their robes on, Lavender pulled her bag down from the luggage rack and pulled her robes out. The witch in Madame Malkin's shop had told her she was supposed to wear them over her regular clothes on arrival day, as changing completely would take too much time and space. The robes looked rather warm, so she took her jumper off and pulled the robes on over her t-shirt. They felt smooth, flowy and comfortable and weren't as warm as she had expected. She wasn't cold, either, they were just right. Lavender toyed with the idea of putting her jumper back on underneath them to see if they would adapt or something, but there was no time. Besides, she didn't want to look silly.
She shoved her jumper into her bag, and waited for the train to arrive at their destination.

At Hogsmeade station, Lavender stayed close to the others she had met on the train. She saw other students doing the same thing and realized everyone was shaken up by the intrusion. Well, not everyone. Some of the kids seemed genuinely pleased and excited by the whole thing. She guessed none of them had been in danger of being abducted by escaped convicts. A small shudder ran through her, and a second one followed when she caught sight of the giant man who was calling all of the first year students towards him. As she came closer, something about the twinkle in his eyes reminded her of her father, and she immediately took a liking to him.

She followed the others into the boats and listened with silent fascination to the giant's (Hagrid, his name is Hagrid, she reminded herself) tales of merefolk, spiders and giant squids and whatever else lived in the lake and the forest.
Her first glimpse of the castle that was going to be her home-away-from-home for the next couple of years left her breathless. It sure looked magical! She felt her excitement rise again and suddenly she felt at home.
She exited the boat and followed the others, keeping her eye on the forest. Lavender was incredibly relieved that they weren't going into the forest and followed Hagrid into the castle instead, all the time trying to look everywhere at once. She was going to strain her neck if she wasn't careful.

Standing there, inside the castle, waiting to be sorted, Lavender was shivering a little. She had gotten wet, and she wasn't quite comfortable yet. She hoped they would be allowed in, soon. She turned to see the friends she had made along the way standing close to her and joined them, saying "Well, here we are. Exciting, isn't it? I do hope we get sorted soon, I'm hungry! Do you think our birds have been taken care of? And where do you think they are now?" Lavender had been told to leave her owl with her trunk and bag, and hadn't been allowed to bring anything into the castle herself. Once she had seen the size of the boats, this had made perfect sense to her. She hadn't given the whole thing much thought and had been busy trying to take everything in, but standing here, waiting, she suddenly wondered how April was doing, and where she would be staying.

@Classpet @SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @BlackPanther

@Dutchess Sarah

Charlyn felt excited to see the big hall of Hogwarts for the first time. She noticed she knew more than most first years. That's probably because she never let her dad pass a day without telling her about Hogwarts.
So when one of the many students, a girl, asked about her owl, she couldn't help but answer that question proudly.

"Don't worry", she spoke up with a generous smile on her face. Her fear in the train was long forgotton. "The owls all get taken to the owl tower on campus. They're fine there. And our luggage is gonna be in our rooms once we get sorted. I wonder if the sorting hat has something to say before we get on the stool."

@KahleenCuthald

"Sorting Hat? You mean a hat is going to decide our future? And it makes speeches? Wow!" Lavender stared at the girl who had spoken to her, amazed by this piece of information.
Suddenly she realized that she didn't know who this was, and that this person had just answered all of her questions. Not wanting to be rude, she smiled and added "Thanks, by the way. The owl tower sounds nice! Do we get to go there when we want to send letters? I'm Lavender, by the way. Lavender James. Oh and this is Brynn, Jay, Isaac and Anna. We met on the train." Lavender pointed to each of her new friends in turn. Realizing she was bombarding the new girl with information, Lavender fell silent and waited for whatever was going to happen next. She was excited, and a little tense, and it showed.

@Classpet @SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @BlackPanther

Charlyn grinned big as the girl responded with big eyes. It seems she didn't know much about Hogwarts. Charlie was happy to help out with information since that has been her favorite topic ever since age three.

"It's awesome to meet you all." She couldn't stop grinning. Finally! Friends. "I didn't meet any others on the train. I've been alone the whole ride. Apart from Rascal, my owl. And speaking of owls, the tower is open for everyone to enter. But your owls can also fly by to visit you at your room - that's if you are not in Slytherin, because the Slytherin house is positioned directly beneath the lake and I don't think your owl can dive down and bring you a wet letter. Sometimes you can see the huge octopus swim by. Man that's so cool. I only heard from it though. Oh and your owl brings your morning mails when you're sitting at the big tables in the big hall. Tons of flying owl will appear and drop the thing on your plate! My father says the ceiling of the hall looks like the sky outside. I can't wait to meet the teachers. As from what Hagrid told me, we're gonna have tons of fun all seven years!"

Just then Charlyn realised she's been rambling on with no stop and didn't even introduce herself. "I am Charlyn Avalon. But you can call me Charlie."

@SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @BlackPanther @Dutchess Sarah@KahleenCuthald
Brynn waved when Lavender pointed at her beeming between Charlie and her other friends from the train. Charlie's facts were a little out of order, she'd read it was a giant squid, not an octopus. Maybe she was saying that there was also octipi, that would be neat. None the less the mistake, if it was a mistake, didn't bother her. She was to bisy being enthralled by all the neat owl facts to care; they flew in and threw mail at you or came in through your window. It was all so neat, she almost wished she could've gotten an owl. "It's nice meeting you too Charlie, who told you all that stuff. Not much of that was in Hogwarts a history at least not the bit I read. Did you know there's a giant squid as well, it's supposed to be like 50 meters long. I've read lots of books about squids and octipi, big ones are really rare. Atleast for non-magic folks, I dunno about wizards. There's this squid called a magnapinna squid, it looks like an alien with super long tenticals. They're really spooky looking I wonder if there is one of those in the lake too. Wouldn't that neat!" Brynn stopped at that face plastered with a grin.

Isaak kept rolling his eyes when the subject of being against blood coming up. Merlin's beard, these muggle raised witches and wizards bring so much drama with them to magical world. he thought to himself annoyed. In keeping with the subject, he decided to ask some question about muggles.

"Is it true that muggles kill one another over these 'electronics' as they call them, during Christmas? I've stories about that. I also heard that there's a whole bunch of laws and persecution that muggles do against one another of simple things" he said. He was interested in getting an answer, but he also was turning the tables on the idea of muggles being better than wizards.

When he caught sight of the giant man, Isaak remembered his dad telling him about him, Hagrid was his name. His dad said he was a nice man and even though he didn't always look too favorably on Slytherins, once you get to know him he could be a good friend. Isaak wondered how well he would get along with the groundskeeper. Once on the boats Isaak thought of the stories of the giant squid in the lake and turned to look at the others.

"Did you know that there's a giant squid in this lake?" he asked them with an obnoxious smile.

@KahleenCuthald@BlackPanther@Dutchess Sarah@Classpet

@KahleenCuthald@Dutchess Sarah@Classpet
When jay is introduced to the new girl he gives a smile. "Pleasure to meet you" and then watches as they all start talking.
Jay listens about the Owls and the giant sea creature and tilts his head. He remains silent for now letting them talk about all the neat things they would encounter. He was a bit nervous about where he might be sorted. If anything he was discovering that he may favor gryffindor more then Slytherin. He shakes his head slightly to calm himself down.
Jewel pokes her head up from around his neck and flicks her tongue in and out as she watches them. She seems to be listening to the conversations as well. She then tilts her head up before putting her head back where it was.

Bishop had already lost Karen and he had just gotten off the train. He quivered on the boat as he held little Veil against his chest. As if the large man in front of him wasn't enough to frighten him, the talk of giant sea creatures certainly did. With what happened on the train, he was still unnerved. So, of course, Bishop sat in the middle of the boat, that way the giant... thing in the lake was less likely to drag him under the surface. He wished that he hadn't gone on the boat with five others, but this was better than being alone with the giant. If a squid did come to eat them, Bishop hoped that it would take either the babbling one or the one that asked about it first.
He didn't want to be without his new friend for longer than he had to be, but if he ever wanted to see Karen again, he had to refrain from jumping off the boat or kicking the others off himself.

@Weird Tales @KahleenCuthald @BlackPanther @Dutchess Sarah @Classpet

Lavender smiled, she had hit a sore spot with Isaac. Again.
"You know what, you are right. There are rotten apples everywhere, and it's not fair to judge an entire group based on those. Muggles aren't perfect either, and we too have groups that feel they are better than others based on heritage, appearance or other factors beyond anyone's control. I guess I just have a problem with people like that, be they magical or non. I judge people on their actions, not their pedigree."

She turned back to Charlie and Brynn and couldn't contain her own enthusiasm when surrounded by so much joy and excitement. "You do know a lot about Hogwarts. Your parents went to school here, too, didn't they? I knew about the owls bringing us mail, but all of them at once? How do they stop from flying into each other? I do hope they only drop mail on the table, though!" Lavender giggled at the thought. She didn't mind being in the dark, she liked surprises. But Charlyn's enthusiasm was catching, and made her want to know everything. Besides, she was making Brynn forget what had happened on the train, and that was worth a few spoilers! "Spill, girl, what else do you know? Any fun secrets, parties we need to know about? Teachers to look out for? Give us the who's who?"

@Classpet @SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @BlackPanther @KahleenCuthald

@LordofthePies @Classpet @SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @BlackPanther @KahleenCuthald @Dutchess Sarah

Karen climbed off the boat, her excitement matching, even surpassing the kids around her. For the others, this was the start of days of adventure, for Karen, this was the true beginning of her vow. Here, she would learn what she needed to continue her parents work, and carve out a legacy worthy of the gift they left behind. Two lifetimes of research had yielded an incredible treasure with no likeness or comparison.

And they had entrusted that treasure to her.

She walked with the others to the castle, her mind so filled with thoughts of her future that only later did she realize that she had been separated from Bishop. Once inside the castle where the others were waiting to be sorted, an agitated Karen looked around for her companion. As her first friend, she felt a kind of attachment to him and was not keen on losing sight of him so early on.

After a minute of looking over several other students, she finally caught sight of him, in the company of other kids who where discussing Hogwarts and its many fascinations. Bishop was behind them, and Karen was unable to approach him without interrupting the others so she waved at him, hoping she'd get his attention.

Chalryn laughed at the enthusiasm everyone was showing around her. She ignored the comments about muggles and wizard, better and worse, bla bla she didn't care. She rather give some more information out.

"My parents both went to Hogwarts and they told me a lot about it. For the squid, I probably got that one wrong. I apologise. And to give up some more magical facts, the kitchen is centered directly beneath the great hall and it has four large tables just like the ones in the great hall. One for each house. House elves cook all the delicious things and then with a little bit magic they disappear from the kitchen and appear right on our house tables. The headmistress is strict, but fair. You can talk to her about things, but don't expect her to be friendly. She is old schooled, I think. And there's this huge Quidditch place on the grounds! Man I can't wait for some Quidditch! I love watching. Maybe I will even play. I don't know yet. But I can't wait for the matches. It's gonna be so awesome. Oh and we get points. It works like this: There are four giant hourglasses in the great hall. Green for Slytherin, Blue for Ravenclaw, Yellow for Hufflepuff and Red for Gryffindor. When we get things right in class or do honorable things we get points. 5 or 10 or something. But when we do things against the rules they will take some points away. The hourglasses show who has the most points out of the four houses. And in the end of the year one of the houses earns the house cup. And the Quidditch cup of course. I can't wait for lessons to start! I am so eager to learn. Man, when is this door gonna open? I wanna see the famous great hall already."

Charlyn's excitement was growing into unknwon highs. She was so excited, there wasn't even a hint nervousity. At this point she didn't care what house she would be in anymore. Her mother was a Ravenclaw and her father was a Gryffindor. But all she hoped was that she'd be in a house with this wonderful Lavender girl. She felt that the girl shared her excitement and she loved giving away answers to all the questions she had. They would make a great team, she thought.

@SouffleGirl123 @Weird Tales @BlackPanther @Dutchess Sarah @KahleenCuthald

Charlie had started talking about new things that Brynn had never heard of. Elves were real, what, so cool. Brynn had so many questions: were they tall or short? Cute like lord of the rings elves? What did they eat? Where was the kitchen? Could she meet elves? She wondered about quidditch too, she'd heard of it a little but it still seemed strange, was it like football or baseball? Brynn had no idea.

@TheHangedMan
Before she got to any if her questions though something distracted her. Brynn peered around her group, spotting someone waving. She didn't really know who she was but thought it polite to wave back. After all why not she looked nice, really everyone looked nice. With a smile she waved at her and signaled her to come over. The more friends the better.