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The Hogwarts Express. A large steam-powered locomotive train that dutifully carries students too and from Hogwarts at the start and end of every school term. The express is the mainstay of platform 9 3/4, being the only train that comes and goes through it. Throughout the year's many students of all shapes and sizes have boarded this train, eagerly awaiting their arrival to the famous Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

Today is September 1st, the start of another school year at the prestigious magic school. New 1st year students wait on the platform anxious of what the next seven years hold in front of them, while more experienced students prepare for the trials and tribulations that stand ahead in their respective years. At 11'o clock this morning, the train will depart towards the school. Passenger carts filled to the brim with the future of wizards and witches. Welcome to another year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

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Dame tiredly yawned as he strolled through platform 9 3/4. He had always hated the fact the train left at 11 o'clock sharp. Dame never had been a morning person, having to set a few alarms for early in the morning to even get out of bed on time. Damian has a love/hate relationship with this day. He loved the part of Hogwarts, but the hassle of getting there was brutal to him.

Getting there an hour and some change early was a first for Damian, he would usually make the train by the skin of his teeth. The platform was oddly scarce of people to him. He never had the luxury of seeing the platform like this, by the time he arrived it was packed with parents waving goodbye to their kids. But now there were a few students boarding the train, probably trying to get the best seats they could. While other students stayed back, milking the final moments they had with their parents until a break occurred.

Damian gave out a small yawn once again. His eyes drooped low as he gave another look-over of the platform. Deciding to make his way to the caboose of the train, he scrambled onto the cart. Looking down the rows of seating compartments, Damian spotted an empty one at the very back. Throwing up his luggage lazily on the rack above the compartment, he slumped down in one of the window seats. Staring out of his window, he awaited the rest of the students to board the express and make their way towards Hogwarts.

It was that time of the year again. Piper yawned as she pushed her stroller along the busy platform. People were swarming on the platform like it was a beehive, concerned parents of the rookie first years hurrying their children along so they wouldn't miss the train that wasn't leaving for at least half an hour. In the middle of it all was Piper, who didn't seem to have a rushed bone in her body. She was used to this by now.
Hair a positive mess as usual, still in her civil clothing and trademark long cardigan, Piper tried to drown out the noise by thinking to herself. She hadn't encountered any of her yearmates yet, but that was probably because the platform was so darn busy. This year her parents had had to drop her off in front of the station instead of accompanying her to the platform, but Piper didn't mind. It was her fifth year now, she already knew the drill. It had been probably harder on her overbearing parents anyway.
It did make her wonder, though. Was Halle somewhere on the platform, or had she been wise and came early to get the best seats of the express? Summer had been long and boring without her friend, and Piper had a thousand things to catch up on. Well. More like, she had a thousand things to ask from Halle of her summer vacation. What did muggles even do during the summer? Piper was positively curious.

"Relax, Barnaby, we do this every year," Piper hushed at the big-eyed tawny owl sitting in a cage on her luggage. The bird was making off-note hooting noises, feathers on his head as messy as the light brunette's own hair. "I can't promise us the best seats since we're a bit late, but I'll make sure at least you're comfortable, okay?"
Silly bird. Barnaby the Bumblebee was the only animal - magical or otherwise - Piper knew how to handle. And even Barnaby sometimes nipped at her hand if she wasn't careful. That spoke mileages on how incompetent Piper was at handling magical creatures.
"What? The lot of you can smell fear," Piper defended with a mock offended look at Barnaby, who had simply been blankly staring at Piper while she'd been lost in her thoughts. As if Barnaby could understand what she'd been thinking. The bird barely recognised his own name half the time.

Boarding the train, Piper noticed it was already rather full. She walked among the aisle, trying to spot a cabin with some familiar faces or at the very least some open seats.
Finally Piper recognised some people from her year. A group of Gryffindor girls were sitting in the express, already mid-conversation. Opening the glass door to their cabin, Piper smiled with more confidence than she felt.
"Hey! Mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else seems to be full," she explained. The answer from the girls took a beat too long, but their expressions already told Piper she wasn't welcome. They must've known her, her house. Piper felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, but stronger than that was the flash of irritation she felt.
"If you don't mind... We were kind of saving this seat for..." one of the girls began, clearly trying to cover what seemed to be open distain towards Piper. She never had the chance of finishing, however, because her clearly more courageous friend shot a glare at the Slytherin at the door, stating: "We'd rather not associate with the snakes."
Swallowing her feelings, Piper nodded curtly and closed the glass door with a little more force than necessary. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the girls picking up conversation again, only to hear a muffled "isn't her brother in Azkaban, too?"
"What's the point in trying to prove people wrong if they're going to judge me anyway?" Piper muttered to herself as she pulled her luggage behind her in the aisle. If she was branded evil even before people got to know her, maybe she should just give in and prove them right. Piper was so sick and tired of the certain people who still thought all Slytherins were to become evil. Her brother wasn't a Slytherin, yet he was the one in Azkaban, not her.
Soon Piper had reached quite literally the end of the train. All the cabins were more or less full, and Piper didn't fancy the idea of sitting next to people that weren't on her year level. As she reached the last seats, her eye was caught by a vaguely familiar Ravenclaw boy from her year. Damian, the keeper of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She had played against him numerous times.
And somehow, his cart was basically empty save for him.
"Hey, were you saving seats for your mates or can I come here? I'm desperately tryin' to avoid having to sit with the newcomers," Piper joked with a cheery smile despite her earlier downfall. Barnaby chirped loudly in unision, seeming as tired of walking around with luggage as Piper was.

Miley Hugged her parents a final goodbye and watched them leave. When she couldn’t see them anymore she turned around and ran top speed into the brick wall pushing her luggage thingy. Her owl jerry was clearly enjoying it sitting on the handlebars as he puffed out his chest feathers. She ran right into the station and to the middle of the platform then took a sudden swerve and turned to a very quick stop just for fun. She stood there looking around “see anybody we know jerry?” She asked the owl. Jerry flew up and sat on her head looking around. “Jerry stop that! You’re gonna make my hair super messy!” Her hair today was platinum blonde with super light streaks of pink and blue, nothing crazy but definitely pretty. She looked around a bit more than shrugged and went inside the train. She sat in an empty compartment near the front of the train. Hogwarts here I come again again again again!

Bittersweet. That word was one that Lara would always associate with September 1st. Today was the day that she would finally be returning to Hogwarts after an amazing Summer with her family, which she is excited for, but that also means that she had to say goodbye...she hated saying goodbye...

It was with a heavy heart, that she had finally parted ways with her parents after one last long hug and head towards the train to look for an empty compartment, Salem mewling softly inside his carrier each time the trolley jostled slightly and interrupted his beauty sleep. A small smile made its appearance on Lara's face at the sound. At least she didn't have to say goodbye to everybody.

Unfortunately, the small comfort she managed to get from her beloved cat didn't last long as she was faced with the daunting reality that she was too late and that there were no empty compartments left. It was either go up to a stranger and ask to sit with them, or sit in the hall, the second of which would have been very tempting if she didn't have her boy to think about.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and made another round through the train before seeing one near the front who so far had only one person inside.

Okay, one's not so bad, I can handle one person.

Knocking slightly on the compartment door as she peered inside, a tiny bit of the tension bubbling up inside her left as she recognized her fellow Ravenclaw, from what she saw in previous years the other girl at least seems friendly.

"Um, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you, I, um was just wondering-would you mind if-if I join you? Everywhere else is occupied and...sorry..."

Well done Lara...that didn't sound like a weirdo at all...

Shoving. Lots of shoving. Brady pushed himself throw the throngs of the students that now inhabited the hallway of the rail car. He knew where his favorite room was. It was a specific one. Unfortunately, he was late today. Normally, in his past 3 years, he was the first one in the railway room before anyone else.

As Brady made himself through the throng of students, muttering apology's where he could and brushing past others, all he could think about was the coming year. Last year, he had been the star Hufflepuff Quidditch player. The fact that he lacked a lot of wizarding talent seemed to be forgotten in light of his sheer talent for Quidditch. He could only look forward to the year with a mixture of caution and excitement.

As he moved further into the hallway, suitcase in his hand, Brady was shoved violently forward. Likely by a Slytherin. Luckily, he was shoved for his potential compartment, the one he had occupied all these years. Unfortunately, there was a girl standing in the door way, seemingly talking to another occupant of the compartment.

Barreling forth from the shove, Brady ended up planted his head directly into the back of the girl speaking into the compartment, only having time for his cheeks to redden for the impending embarrassment that was sure to follow. He could only hope that he did not fall in a heap on top of the hapless girl.

@Royaletutor59@unicorgi

Anxiety building as she was waiting for the compartment's current occupant to respond, Lara was mentally debating whether or not she should just back out now and make due with the hall-way when she felt something collide with her back. Startled, it was all she could do to keep her balance as she stumbled forwards slightly, a startled squeak leaving her lips just as Salem miaowed angrily from where he was jostled in his carrier.

"Woah!"

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“Jaxon! Jacob! If I have to enter that room and wake you up with stinging hexes I can promise you that you won’t enjoy your last day with me! Now get up!” Isabella Chaucer as a person wasn’t very loud, but when she decided to put on her mother voice it seemed to grow extra powerful. So much so that Jaxon, the 15 year old who jumped straight up with a sigh had to control his breathing.

Luckily, he had just been dozing from the first time she woke him. He groaned and sighed before stretching out his colt like limbs. Puberty was still working its way through his body and he was currently in the ‘to long limbed’ portion of it. Not that his shoulders looked like they would fill out all to much anyway. He scratched his back and stumbled his way over to his dresser. His clothes for the day were at the top, carefully folded and ready for the sleepy teen. Across the room Jacob, Jaxon’s twin, was still struggling to untangle himself from the sheets, only managing it when Jax had already pulled on his muggle clothing. His mother was a pretty good shopper and also got along decently well with muggle fashion, considering she was a pureblood. But Jax wasn’t complaining, and he happily dressed in a white collared button up shirt and khaki pants.

After dressing Jax did a quick mental note of the belongings he was taking to the school. He had already packed of course, and then repacked two more times but you could never be to thorough. Once he was content that everything was in place he threw on a pair of black dress shoes and then padded into the bathroom that he and Jacob shared. He had showered the night prior, once again wanting to be ready to go as fast as possible. As such all he had to do was throw some toothpaste on his brush and scrub away. As one hand scrubbed, the other threw some mousse into his hair and styled it to his usual look.

After both tasks were complete the young man did a quick check for zits and smirked happily after seeing none. The week prior he had had a nasty outbreak of the annoying things and was glad the moisturizer his dad gave him was working well. As he re-entered the bedroom, a flash of orange caught his eye and he had to think fast to catch his cat as she jumped at his chest. He pat the cat a few times and shook his head. ”What are you doing, crazy thing. You can’t fly.” He chuckled a bit and then grabbed his trunk, throwing a quick reminder to his twin to get ready.

The smells coming from the kitchen were heavenly as Jax lumbered himself down from the second floor. His trunk made a rhythmic clunk, clunk, clunk to announce his arrival and as such he was greeted to the sight of his plate being sat at an empty spot on the family table. It seemed that he and Jacob were the last to the party as the rest of the family were all accounted for. Jax grabbed his seat beside of Hudson and gave a grateful smile to his mom, who nodded in response and blew a kiss over to him. ”Aw, come on. I’m 15, not a kid anymore.” Hudon at his left side gave him a glare as if asking what was wrong with being a kid and Jax just ignored him, going to instead tear into his breakfast. Two seats down from him, the second set of twins ate silently, almost in unison.

It was slightly strange, but Jax didn’t pay it much mind. It was a common occurrence at this point and he and his twin did the same thing when they were younger as well. As he ate and glanced around he knew he was going to miss this, being with family. But just as he always did, he’d get over it after a week or so back in the castle. The routine would take a hold of him and that would be that, no more thinking. “Where in the name of the Minister is your brother?!” His mom asked, waving around her spatula as if that would make the Hufflepuff just appear. Jax just shrugged and finished off his eggs and toast with one big gulp.

The rest of the morning passed quickly, Jacob having to struggle just to be decently on time for the family apprating. But, with a little help from both Jaxon and mom both twins were standing at the base of the stairs near the door and ready to go. Their father, as was tradition stood in the middle and once the Chaucer family were all gripping each other and the luggage tightly he apparated them all with a loud POP!

The family then ‘appeared’ in a dark alley, exactly one block away from Kings Cross. Jax had to sink to his knees after the mass apparition and concentrate in order to keep his breakfast from ending up all over the street. He hated apprating, and would much prefer to fly but, seeing as that as out of the question he would just have to suffer. His mom had leaned down to make sure he was ok and after a quick head count the family made their way to the muggle station. They got the regular amount of stares, no more and no less than normal and as the group made their way to 9 and ¾ they were given some small waves from other families with large trunks and bizarre animals in cages. It was no wonder, as the Chaucer/Hastings clan were pretty well known in the wizarding world. They took turns running into the wall and Jax had a massive grin plastered to his face when it came to his turn. A quick jog and then suddenly his favorite part of the school experience smacked him in the face.

Smoke, and screams from hundreds of excited children met his senses and the grin got even wider. The Ravenclaw loved the first step onto the platform, and it never failed to take his breath away. As he looked on however he realized that Jacob’s morning antics had them running late. He yelped and gave a few rapid hugs to the rest of the clan and then sprinted towards the train car. With some help from the attendants he got his trunk stowed away made his way into the crowded aisle with Sandstorm’s carrier, and his smaller backpack that contained his folded school uniform. He was bumped and jostled and had to use his summer found height to try and peek over the tops of the other students. He could vaguely make out one of his fellow Ravenclaws near the front of the train, but the path towards her didn’t look very promising. At least not without some serious bruises and so the Ravenclaw took the easier route and rode the throng towards the back. After a particularly savage elbow to his ribcage, Jax decided he had, had enough and threw himself towards the closest compartment. He recognized Piper at the doorway and gave a relieved gasp.

”Piper! Thank magic I found a friendly face, the rest of these guys are CRAZY” He accentuated crazy with an exaggerated arm wave back towards the throng and breathed in and out heavily. He was smiling however and shuffled a bit closer, getting a glimpse of Damien inside the compartment itself. ”Oh, hey Dame! Don’t mind starting our ‘share a space’ early hm?” He gave a hopeful look in Damien’s direction and then ducked from another flying elbow. Sandstorm let out low growling noise as if ready to claw the next elbow that came closer to her human and Jax held her carrier closer to his chest.

She looked up and said “yeah you can totally sit here!” With a big smile “I’m Miley what’s your name?” She looked behind her and saw Brady get shoved into her “hey Brady! You ok? Ouch it looks crowded out there” she looked out into the hallway and saw jaxon get shoved past her compartment, probably smart moving to the back to avoid getting killed in all this nonsense. “Come in guys before you get squashed!”

Straightening up slightly, Lara gave Miley a small smile while trying to ignore the burning in her cheeks from the previous encounter.

"Thank you."

Moving deeper into the compartment with her luggage and irritated cat, Lara turned to look at the boy that ran into her. She vaguely recognizes him from around the castle, if she's not mistaken, she thinks he's on the Quiditch team, however she cant say for certain considering her complete lack of interest in the subject.

"A-are you alright?"

Piper realised she'd been standing in the doorway of the compartment Damian occupied for too long when someone pushed past her with force. Almost losing her balance, Piper put Barnaby as her priority, trying to not drop the caged owl who was looking a bit annoyed at the turbulance.
She didn't have the time to recover from the incident before she already heard her name shouted by a familiar voice.
"Jaxon!" Piper exclaimed with a friendly smirk, finally glad to encounter someone she considered a friend. "...and Sandstorm, of course," Piper continued less enthusiastically, briefly meeting the cat's eye. The animal hissed at Piper, probably sensing her ineptedness on top of being already agitated by the crowded, hazardous aisle. Realising from the Ravenclaw prodigy's familiar greeting at Damian, Piper quickly realised the two were in friendly terms. Great, Piper thought, relieved.
Noticing Jaxon's near dodge of an elbow in the face from another passanger, Piper laughed, pulling the boy by the arm with her inside the compartment, into safety from more flying objects and swinging body parts. Barnaby tried to flap his wings inside the cage, clearly a bit out of it himself. Piper couldn't help but grin. She felt much better surrounded with people she knew.
"I don't know what I was thinking earlier, trying to sit with a bunch of Gryffindors. At least you Ravenclaws don't have it out for me," Piper sighed, feeling stupid. The Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry was still very much a thing, and perhaps out of any houses, the Gryffindor house had the most prejudice against Slytherins. And vice versa, of course. Piper smiled despite herself, all the while she lifted her smaller luggage into the hat compartment. Barnaby hooted in his small cage, curious eyes fixated on Jaxon's cat.
"That said, I hope you're ready to get your arses kicked in Quidditch this year," Piper challenged playfully as she sat down, looking at Damian pointedly. Then she looked at Jaxon, her eyes twinkling with her usual bright energy as she continued:
"And will this be finally the year you convince me to join the Duelling Club?" Perhaps a little teasing, but all in good faith.

Elspeth Macbain

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Elspeth made her way towards the platform. With a steady gait and no rush in her steps, people nevertheless stepped out of her way and gave her a wide berth. Perhaps it was her intimidating aura, or the Slytherin colors she wore proudly on display, or even perhaps the prefect badge pinned proudly on her chest?

Most likely however, it was the large tarantula that had perched itself on her shoulder, like a parrot would a pirate.

Her parents weren't available to come with her, which, while disappointing, was not terribly surprising. They had been unable to accompany her during her second and third year as well - she did not resent them for it. She knew full well how time consuming their jobs were, and was content with knowing that they would make time for her during the holidays.

Once inside the train, and much to her annoyance, she found it hard to find available seats. Nearly everywhere was full, and Elspeth cursed her sloppiness; had she arrived earlier this would not have been an issued. Unfortunately, she spent had spent extra time acclimating to the new broom her parents had gifted her with - a reward for her being appointed as prefect. She hadn't asked for it, but nevertheless accepted it gleefully. It was top of the line, naturally - the Firebolt Supreme - a world class broom that was in all honesty too good for her. She was not a bad flier, in fact, she was quite good, but she was no Quidditch player.

It was superb, and she admittedly might have been a tad too absorbed attempting more and more complex maneuvers on the thing, thus, her not quite tardiness when boarding the train.

As she slid open another door, she found that it was nearly full. There was one clearly available seat left, only with the slight caveat that the entire compartment was filled with Gryffindors. The gaggle of girls - who seemed to be in her year, actually - looked up at her with a start, and instantly their faces twisted.

"Is that seat available?" she asked politely.

Licking her lips nervously, one of the girls responded, "Like we told one of you Slytherins' earlier, we don't associate with snakes."

Her response elicited a raised brow. Interhouse politics were irritating at times. "That doesn't answer my question. Is. That. Seat. Available?" she asked, punctuating her sentence to make it clear that Elspeth Macbain does not suffer fools.

Gulping, the girl being questioned's eyes darted across her companions in the compartment, pleading for assistance. Her companions however, were in similar states of speechlessness. They were saved from having to answer when one of the girls peered over Elspeth's shoulder and cried out, "O-oh! Jane, Jane, over here! We saved you a seat!"

Behind Elspeth, a Hufflepuff girl started, and she wheeled around to see who had called her. Her face lit up on sight, and she approached the compartment, before stopping nervously at the sight of a certain Slytherin.

Elspeth looked at the girls in the compartment to the Hufflepuff girl fidgeting nervously in place, before sighing. Pursuing this was useless and a waste of her time. "I see, I apologize for the trouble then," she said, before turning in place to continue her search for another compartment.

On her way off, she could hear the girls talking.

"That was terrifying..."

"Thank Merlin you came by when you did-!"

"Wait did you just use me to snub Macbain-!"

As the babble increased in noise, Elspeth smirked. Well, it was not a complete waste of time, she supposed.

Elspeth Macbain

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Elspeth made her way around, looking for an available compartment, when a voice called out to her. "Hey, Macbain!"

Turning around, she saw an older Slyhterin prefect approaching her. Nodding respectfully, she paused as he approached her. "You're looking for a compartment? Right, so listen, prefects actually have their own compartments in a carriage near the front. I was supposed to inform you but I figured you would have already known. Sorry 'bout that."

Frowning, Elspeth sighed. "That would have saved me a good deal of trouble, Johann. While I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, I did, in fact, not know that. Still, thank you for informing me."

Looking suitable chastised, the older Slytherin replied, "Right, won't happen again, believe me. I just, ah, had other things on my mind." At his admission, Elspeth began noticing a few things off with her upperclassman. His hair was slightly disheveled, and his robes were oh-so slightly crumpled across his shoulders and hips. Most damningly however, were the soft purple bruise marks sprinkled around his neck.

A small, cold smile, found its' way across her lips. "I believe your mind was the least of which you had other things on. Unless of course, you were thinking with your other head." Her polite tone did nothing to stop the frostiness seeping from her words. The other Slytherin scratched his head sheepishly before changing the topic in a rush.

"A-anyway! The prefects have a meeting, and the Head Boy and Girl will be giving instructions. We'll be required to patrol afterwards, so shall we go?"

"Yes, let's," she replied in her most deadpan tone, before adding, "I hope you realize this does nothing good for my image of you, Johann."

For his part, the Slytherin sighed despondently as they made their way towards the front of the train.

"Oh, I do hope you didn't forget to inform Thomas as well." Remembering her male counterpart, she could only hope he got the message as well. It would not do for two of Slytherins' prefects to be meandering about.

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@webboysurf

The morning had been an ordinary September 1 morning for James Dalton. He groggily pulled himself out of bed between 7:00 and 7:30 AM and got dressed. He chose to dress in his school uniform rather than change into his uniform on the train like he normally did this time. He would have to meet with the other prefects as soon as the train left, and then patrol the train, so it would just be so much easier to be dressed in his uniform with his shiny new prefect badge from the get-go. Once he was dressed, he hauled his luggage downstairs and set it by the front door before heading into the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast before his parents took him to King's Cross station in London. As usual, Platform 9 3/4 was a bustle of activity as parents said good bye to their children and students boarded the train to begin their journey to Hogwarts, whether it be their first year, their seventh, or somewhere in between like James, in his fifth year at the magical school. James said good bye to both his parents, gave each a hug, then boarded the train. There were still about fifteen minutes left before the train left, giving James plenty of time to board the train and carry his luggage into the prefects' compartment. He sat down and nodded at his fellow prefects, not recognizing any of the ones that were here yet. His fellow Gryffindor prefect wasn't here yet - he wasn't even sure who she was - and the others were not ones he was familiar with either.

Thomas Korevny

Interaction: Elspeth @TheHangedMan

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It was rare for Tom to be early to anything. His typical strategy for riding the train was to simply strongarm his way into a compartment of Slytherins and sleep through the train ride so as to avoid having to interact with his house mates. Of course, today was different. He was there an hour early with a moderately sized trunk resting next to him. His uniform had been freshly pressed the night before, and a new shiny badge rested upon his chest. He was surprised to find that he had been chosen, and he believed that nearly every member of his house was equally shocked. On paper, though, Tom was spotless. He was never even written up for insubordination. He was perhaps the most Slytherin in that respect, somehow always managing to let the blame fall on others rather than himself. Tom had the sneaking suspicion that placing him in this role was an effort to get him to straighten out, and a chance for him to discover if he really had what it took to be a figure of authority and justice. If this was a test, Tom was determined to pass.

He waited until the train got busy before pushing his way on to the train with bag in tow. He started from the back and pushed his way to the front, partially just as a way of reaffirming his dominance and to scan around to see who was present. He pushed his way towards the front, until he managed to catch a glimpse of a couple Slytherins making their way to the front (including a particular blonde prodigy). He silently followed, giving glares to those he passed. Those who knew him and his reputation (which were quite a few, given his role on the Slytherin Quidditch team) averted their gaze and tried to get out of his way. Tom wasn't proud of the reputation he had muttered, but he figured it was better to be hated and feared than just hated.

When he was close enough to the other two, Tom raised his voice to speak over the chattering masses towards Elspeth's back. "Elspeth, you look lovely as always." While his speaking wouldn't reveal as much, Tom felt a slight pain in uttering the compliment. It wasn't that she didn't look nice (despite her sour expressions), but the pleasantries of kissing up to her always wounded his pride slightly. He followed with another compliment in an effort to attempt some form of conversation. After all, he wanted to at least attempt to get along with Elspeth if he was going to be working with her. "I'm looking forward to working with you. As Prefects." His words came out as slightly disjointed and awkward, which he only realized after the words lingered in the air. He let out a small sigh to himself at that as he continued following his cohort.

Recovering, Brady straightened himself, the only evidence of his total embarrassment was the neon-shade of red his cheeks had taken. Muttering a thousand different apologies under his breath, he shuffled more into the compartment, pulling the door shut behind him in order to prevent anymore potential embarrassment.

Finally, now given the peace, Brady glanced around the compartment. Miley and....Lara? It sounded right, but he wasn't totally sure that was her actual name. He was familiar with her face, though. "Yeah, I'm fine." Brady muttered in response to the two of them, placing his suitcase on the ground as he did so. Looking towards Lara, he only could feel his face getting redder "I-I didn't mean for that to happen. Hope I didn't hurt you, or anything." Stretching out a hand towards Lara, Brady began to make his introduction, "I know Miley and I have met before, but I don't think we have. I'm Brady." Smiling as he spoke and prepared to shake her hand. He had to do something polite to make up for his earlier faux pas.

Finally gathering himself and taking a seat besides Miley, Brady smiled at her. "Glad to see you, Miley." Brady spoke softly. There were definitely worst companions one could have on the train ride to Hogwarts. He was lucky to have Ravenclaws, and even further lucky to have Miley and Lara. It would be a good ride to Hogwarts, this year.

As Brady stuck out his hand, Lara gave him a small smile in return as she accepted the Hufflepuff's handshake. "I-I'm Lara, and, um, don't worry about it, I'm alright." Not a lie, she might have been a bit startled at first, and her cat is definitely peeved about the rude-awakening, but nothing serious.

Gently placing Salem's carrier down and ignoring the irritated sounds the cat was still making, she took the seat across from where Miley and Brady was sitting. She was still a little nervous, but her two travel companions seems nice enough(which she couldn't be more thankful for, who knows what would have happened if they turned out to be total pricks?), so she was confident that she'll make it to Hogwarts in one piece at least and at the very least this beats having to camp out in the corridor.

Elliot

The leaky cauldron was the same as it had always been since Elliot had first visited there with his Mum. It was a dark, shabby building but Elliot liked it, he found it relaxing and cosy as he sat in a massive arm in the corner of the room. On the table in front of him was a bowl of porridge and a book called, "Animal Ghosts of Britain." He'd been in London the past few days with his Mum and Dad visiting family and getting a few bits from the shops in Diagon Alley that he needed for the year, also he grabbed some essential bits from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes that he didn't need but thought would be a lot of fun. His parents said there goodbyes and left him the night before trusting him to get to the train station himself seeing that he'd already done it quite a lot.

It was around 10 in the morning when Elliot finally decided to set off with his belongings. Any sensible student would have probably set off an hour before that giving themselves plenty of time and to make sure they wasn't rushing but that was something that Elliot ever really worried about. He just strolled on through the busy streets of London without a care in the world letting people dodge all of his luggage.

As he walked into Kings Cross station he looked around at all the muggles and wondered how none of them noticed people flying through the wall that led onto platform 9 and 3/4 and whether his own father was that ignorant before he'd met his mother. He strolled through the wall onto the platform with not much time left and sent off his luggage as he stepped onto the train. He moved and dodged around people with relative ease as he looked for somewhere to sit. Looking into a compartment he noticed Halle stood up with a few people sat down including Jax the only one he really spoke to.

"Hey halle." Elliot said smiling as he took a seat next to Jax, nudging him. "Alright mate. How've you been?" He looked around smiling and nodding at the rest of the people knowing a few of them when he played against them in quidditch. With a stretch, Elliot spread his legs and got comfortable ready for the journey.

@Hitman@Cio@Daydreamz@Cole

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Damian had been looking out the window for a good while. He felt at ease as his mind wandered off watching the chaos that ensued on the platform outside of the train. Students and Parents all filed onto the platform in no time, a cluttered mess of goodbye hugs and kisses. Damian actually was relieved he got onto the train early, as it started to fill up slowly he realized the compartment he still sat in was empty. He sighed silently, he wished he brought his owl on the train for some company. The owl was situated at home for the moment already knowing how to get to Hogwarts. Damian decided it was optimal to not bring the Owl along on the train, as to keep his luggage down to the bare minimum.

Staring out the window once again, zoned out in his own head he heard a voice from outside his compartment door. "Hey, were you saving seats for your mates or can I come here? I'm desperately tryin' to avoid having to sit with the newcomers,"

Damian turned his head towards the compartment door to see a fellow 5th-year student of his. Piper Ward, one of the few Slytherins that seemed to not have a bad reputation. Piper was one of the beaters for the Slytherin quidditch team, and Damian recalled a time she launched a bludger his way. The bludger struck his back forcefully, somehow able to keep his balance on his broom Damian had completely gotten the wind knocked out of him. His back was sore for a whole month after that blow from the bludger. As Damian recalled this incident he shuddered inside. He didn't hold anything against her for it. He actually commended her for it, she was a hell of a beater. Sad that she played for the other team. Other than that, they never really had any interactions.

Damian gave Piper and her owl Barnaby a quick smile, Barnaby gave a small chirp as she finished talking. "Yeah su-.." Dame was cut off by another faint voice in the background. This time it was familiar to him. ”Piper! Thank magic I found a friendly face, the rest of these guys are CRAZY.” The voice came from Jaxon Chaucer. His old dorm-mate throughout the years, and probably the closest friend he had at the school. A chaser for the Ravenclaw quidditch team, he's watched the talented Wizard score many goals with the quaffle over the years. Way better to have Jax on Damian's team than the opposing team, Damian would hate to try and stop him from scoring on the pitch. Although he was a great quidditch player, he also was a great duelist. Albeit Dame never cared to join the dueling club. as Quidditch was already enough on his plate, he admired Jax's drive for it. After dueling club, Jax would return to the dorm telling Dame of the duels he had won, or the lessons he had learned from the club.

”Oh, hey Dame! Don’t mind starting our ‘share a space’ early hm?” Dame saw Jax's head pop out from the side of the compartment door. He had grown a little over the year but still seemed like the same ole' Jax to him. Damian gave Jax a brief smile, as he did Piper earlier. A student brushed past Piper quickly, she lost her balance for a split second but regained it. Barnaby sure didn't seem appreciative of the turbulence. "Jaxon!" Piper exclaimed, she bent forward a little eyeing down Jax's cat. "... and of course Sandstorm."The cat gave out a small hiss to Piper. I guess they aren't on the best of terms. Damian chuckled to himself. "Hey Jaxson. Long time no sees." Damian now went from his slouched position to a straight up position, to make himself more presentable. "Here guys, get in. Make yourself at home."

The crowd of students behind them had grown larger than before now, all trying desperately to find their own compartments with people inside. Piper noticed this, grabbing Jax in the process and tugging them both inside of the compartment that Damian was in. "I don't know what I was thinking earlier, trying to sit with a bunch of Gryffindors. At least you Ravenclaws don't have it out for me," Piper said, as she started to put her smaller luggage in one of the hat compartments. Damian shrugged, "Yeah. That's gotta suck to have a quarter of the school hate your guts based off the patch you wear on your robes. Glad Hufflepuffs aren't that way with us."

"That said, I hope you're ready to get your arses kicked in Quidditch this year," Piper joked, as she sat down across from Damian. Damian chuckled softly at the joke, "Yeah with you sending bludgers my way, I wouldn't be surprised if you did somehow manage to beat us this year." Damian joked back, recalling the time he got the wind knocked out of him by a bludger sent by her. "And will this be finally the year you convince me to join the Duelling Club?" Piper eyed Jaxson with the question.

Not a few moments passed before another voice came from the compartment door. "Piper! Is there room back here?" Another girl appeared this time. A Hufflepuff named Halle Moore. Halle was the keeper for the Hufflepuff quidditch team, and she was brilliant at it. She was quick to dodge bludgers, and even quicker to stop shots. Damian always held a type of respect for his fellow 5th-year, as she always helped Dame whenever he needed it. Whether it be giving Dame some ink for his quill during class, or helping him in charms class when he started falling behind, she was always there if you asked. They've been on good terms throughout the years, and near the end of 4th something started to feel odd between the two. Damian couldn't put his finger on it, but the few conversations they held near the end of the year always left more questions than answers for Damian.

Halle used her wand to throw her luggage on top of the compartment on the rack. A suitcase was half dangling off the rack, which Halle didn't seem to mind. She held onto her Owl cage which housed Gawain, her Owl. "Did you have a nice summer?" Halle asked Piper. Damian opted to look out the window, getting one last look of the platform before Halle noticed him and Jax inside the compartment too. "Nice to see the two of you, too," Halle said as she pocketed her wand, giving us a friendly wave. "Hope you had nice summers, too." Damian turned his head from the window to her, giving her a small wave back as he smiled, "Likewise Halle. You ready for the school year?"

Another student soon entered into the compartment, noticing Halle off the bat "Hey Halle." he said, making his way to a seat as he noticed Jax. "Alright mate. How've you been?" Elliot said as he sat down next to Jax. Damian didn't know the student's name off the top of his head, but he looked vaguely familiar. A few seconds past and Dame remembered he was the seeker for the Gryffindor quidditch team. Dame had played against him a few times in the past years, and he was very agile on his broomstick. Very hard to keep up with, just like any seeker. Other than that, Damian didn't know him all too well.

What a cast of characters. Damian thought to himself as he looked around the compartment once more. Maybe this school year will be the most interesting yet.

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Jaxon gave another glance over of the train corridor and could easily imagine it being a battlefield with tons of hazards. He wasn’t even sure if he could -fly- through the crowd it was so thick. Luckily he didn’t have to wait to long outside of the compartment. He felt a tug on his arm and then was pulled into the compartment itself, just in time as well as a trunk was dropped on the space his foot had just previously occupied. That was a close one, he thought even as Sandstorm gave another low hiss at being cathandled so roughly. Jax just chuckled and opened her cage to let her out, the cat then rewarding his nice action by jumping up to his shoulder, causing the Ravenclaw to wince as claws sunk in to steady. The cat was quite large as well and it forced Jaxon to lean to his left.

”I don't know what I was thinking earlier, trying to sit with a bunch of Gryffindors. At least you Ravenclaws don't have it out for me.” Jax sat down with his cat and pulled her down to his lap, letting his fingers start fluffing the hair on her head. He nodded along as Dame spoke up about the stupid House rivalries and thought that if every House was like Ravenclaw then everything would be better off. Then again, he may be a little biased… At the comment on Quidditch however Jax got a playful smirk to his face, lips even tipping slightly in his arrogant manner. ”I think I got some ideas on how to outmaneuver those deadly bludgers in out games though, so we’ll see.” He shrugged then as Sandstorm started biting his hand to let him know that was quite enough petting. He stopped and stretched his arms out.

He looked over at the two in the compartment, two of people in Hogwarts that knew him the best. Dame had been his dorm mate since first year and the two had gotten really close. Jax considered him so much of a friend he had ‘almost’ came out to him, but chickened out. It was hard to figure out what to say to someone that you considered a friend when you’ve kept something integral to yourself out. That, and the whole ‘crushed on you in second year’ thing… He sighed mentally and figured he’d just get himself sad if he kept up thinking that way. Instead he remembered all the good times, trading sweets and notes for homework while cutting up and just being kids.

Then of course Piper was someone he considered his ‘secret’ friend. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of being friends with the Slytherin, it was just that he already didn’t talk to many people so no one paid attention to the more friendly greetings to the Slytherin girl after he found her practicing spells. ”And will this be finally the year you convince me to join the Duelling Club?” Jax grinned more, and gave another half shrug at her.

”You’re only hurting yourself if you don’t. You already spar with some of the best fighters there, if you put the time into it you could be one of those as well. And you can’t even use my excuse of ‘people are scary’ because you’re awesome with new people.” It was true, Piper may be a Slytherin but she was as easy going and social as his twin, and that was saying something!

Speaking of new people… ”Piper! Is there room back here?” Jax tilted his head in curiosity before a trunk came flying into the compartment, followed unceremoniously by other living necessities. A bewildered look came over both Jax and Sandstorm who had paused mid lick of her paw and stared towards the door where Halle appeared. As the Hufflepuff introduced herself, Jax suddenly remembered, she was Keeper that blocked his last shot the last year. It was a good shot to, and the respect for the Puff had been high.

”Uh, yea. My summer was pretty good, we spent the break in Australia with my dads family. The beaches were really cool.” It was also the reason for the bronzed tan he was currently sporting underneath his shirt and pants. He usually had a simple Olive complexion but the Australian sun had done a relatively good job on the teen. ”How was yours?” He gave a polite smile to let the girl he was truly interested and then his breath stopped when he heard another familiar voice and spotted a truly familiar face coming into the compartment next. Elliot freaking Forrester, of course he would find them, and of course the one spot open was the one that Sandstorm had previously been taking, right beside of him. The universe could be cruel sometimes and when Elliot sat down and nudged him, Jax had to ensure that he was still breathing. He gave a half cough and gave a wonky grin as he glanced over and mumbled a little. [color=#4BF6FF]”Oh hey Elliot. I’m amazing, err.. Good? Yea, good. How are you?” His eyes bugged out slightly as the Gryffindor stretched out and knew this was going to be a long train ride.

Sandstorm seemed to sense the inner turmoil and abandoned ship, going instead to jump over towards Damian, curling up in between him and the window. It was a common thing, the cat seemed to acknowledge that Dame was her humans good friend and room sharer. Jax just glared after his cat and decided he’d find the floor very interesting for the moment.