Raymond just had a chance to get his things in the cart when he heard a friendly, familiar voice. He saw Roy, and embraced him in a brotherly hug. "Everyone! We are graced to have a legend in our presence!" Raymond called out, his arms opened with a grin as he introduced Roy. He gave a laugh. "Good to see you... My summer was full of riding dragons, slaying dark wizards and their henchmen, and as for the sirens.. don't tell Sam." Ray all said jokingly. "But when i wasn't dreaming, I was mowing the lawn, helping move furniture for new ones, and my dad helped me with learning how to use this bloody phoenix feather." Raymond said. Most wizard families had much more interesting and dangerous chores than what Raymond did, but his mom wanted them to be as normal as possible on the outside.

He heard the loud train whistle, signalling they only had about 15 minutes left to get on board. He looked at Roy. "Let's go get some seats, hopefully we can find everyone else!"

Raymond helped Roy with his luggage, putting it in the train cart, and as they walked towards one of the entrances, he put his hands in his pockets, moving his wand around in his fingers. "How was your vacation? You make any more masterpieces? Practice Quidditch so we can finally square off in the Tournament?" He asked. Roy was a close friend to Raymond ever since year 2, and although they had different interests, Raymond was still very impressed with Roy's art work, and the way he can change objects in to anything with ease.

Samantha turned her head noticing someone else coming into their compartment. "Oooh. Heeey Issak." She smiled at him. This room was surely getting very crowded. Samantha cleared her throat raising a leg ontop of the other. "Alright. What shall we do until the time being? Has anyone seeen Raymond?" She asked raising an eyebrow at them. It was weird not seeing her boyfriend around, especially because he loved going to Hogwards, so he wasnt this late. Probably he is in the train just somewhere else. She hoped to see him soon. Sam turned to Acica. "Oooohh. Really? Im taking those classes now. Aaaaaand I want to take my favorite class! Charms. Aaaand now, that I am very good at potion making, thanks to my auntie. I can finally make potions!" giggled clapping her hands with excitement. Sam passed a hand through her hair, sighing and looking out the window, hearing the choochooo of the train. It was so excited to go back to hogwards! But then she was worries for Raymond, where. was. He?

Krein said
A whole had passed, and Casimir's compartment still remained empty of anyone else but himself. It wasn't of any concern to him honestly, he ha grown used to the solitude of every train ride and school year. Often times people simply avoided him because of the rather... awry reputation he had built up for himself. Aside from knowing a great deal of magic, Casimir was known for his vengeful actions and willingness to use what he knew to get back at someone who had wronged him. He had already proven this several, several times, but was thankfully not banished from Hogwarts because the hexes and jinxes he used against others did not cause extensive or serious harm. He sat and simply "conversed" with his owl, making quiet comments about the cheeriness of the voices he heard... and their casual dialect. Casimir could be casual, but often times he spoke in a rather "proper" manner.The vvoices annoyed him a bit, especially a certain girl's voice that was very bubbly and "cutesy". He thought he knew who it belonged to... Samantha maybe? That girl was the definition of outgoing and social. He never had any problems with her however, at least not serious ones. This was going to be a long wait and ride, so Casimir pulled out his dark wand and began casting spells on random objects he had spread out before himself. They were lifted up into the air, tossed around, even transformed into something else and lit on fire. He kept it controlled so as to not draw much attention to himself or wreck anything, and gave occasional treats to an observant Jersey. Casimir considered trying out a tranfiguration spell on him, but the last time he had the poor owl ended up as a feathery and walking cup."Eh... living creatures are harder to change than nonliving things," he told the owl. "But don't worry, I think I've gotten better since that time."

"Oh my God I can't wait for this train to start!"

"Maybe we should totally hang out later!"

"Is your hair naturally white?"

Artemis allowed his left eye to twitch lightly, not at all bothered by the constant sound of annoying 10 year old voices chatting right by his ear. After his brief training of a few spells in his rather large arsenal for a third year, the albino has decided to study and meditate until it was time to get to Hogwarts. It was, after all, the beginning of they year, and learning the new material early on would he him immensely in future. Artemis was something of a quiet, subtle student, growing and sharpening his skills in private and in the quiet of his own room, so that people would underestimate him once problems arised. That's what he was trying to do....until a raid party of, at least, seven first years entered his compartment in a messy bubble, talking loudly and rough housing.

Thankfully, he hadn't raised his wand - or hand - against any of the children, but he was very close. A sharp tug on his silky locks forced him back into real life, and Art calmly turned his intimidating crimson gaze onto the rowdy kid who had decided to interrupt his inner monologue. "Hey, guy, you know anything about this school we're going to?!" It was a boy with sandy blonde hair and a heavy Texan accent. Artemis wasn't interested in unintelligent conversation, so he merely returned to his book without saying a word.

"H-hey, weird guy!"

Another tug. Feeling his patience waning, Artemis dully glanced over. His wrist twitched subtly, and unnoticeably, before the trashbin was suddenly blasted through the air, landing on the child's head and emptying it's contents onto his head and lap. Laughter, obnoxious laughter echoed all around, and Artemis took that as a cue. Silently, amongst the laughter, he drifted through the door and closed the compartment with an audible snap. "Hng..." A woosh of air left him, and the white-haired boy quietly began examining different compartments. The Hogwarts Express was almost completely full, however, and almost every room was filled. Wanting to sit down, finally, Artemis entered a random room without looking and glanced around.

A male, probably in his later teen years, was sitting in the compartment, talking to his owl, seemingly. Artemis didn't really know him, as he spent time in the library for the majority of his Hogwarts life. He knew, however, that the boy was slightly known amongst Slytherins for getting vengeance no matter what. Shrugging, Artemis flicked a strand of silver hair out of his eyes before sliding into a seat closest to the window, and across from the other guy.

"Hello, I'm Artemis..." He introduced himself, more out of polite habit rather than friendliness. Better to make allies in your own house, at least.

Willow's eyes strayed to the air vent above their compartment as she sniffed a tendril of smoke. What was going on in the other room? Her attention was taken away by Samantha's chatter and happiness. How could someone be so happy so early in the morning? The choochoo of the train startled Willow, making her jump. She blushes, looking down at her lap. Can't believe she got scared over a simple train whistle...

Willow noticed Samantha looking out the window, worried. She was probably wondering where her boyfriend (...Raymond was it?) was. Hesitantly, wondering if she even dares, she patted her hand consolingly, "I-I'm sure he's fine..."

I also hope nobody else enters this room Willow couldn't help but think. Then, she immediately took it back. It wasn't up to her to decide for others where they are and aren't welcome. She should know better, considering she knew what it felt like to not belong anywhere. But if someone else did arrive, she'd have to find a way to leave the compartment and take a short walk by herself...

"Oh, that's great!" Acacia said when Willow hesitantly replied to her. "We could be in the same class! Or at least, we could help each other with work." She had no doubt she would be the one doing most of the helping. Willow, if she remembered correctly, didn't exactly have the best grades, if the rumors were anything to go by. She, herself, passed the classes last year with flying colors and was planning on doing the same this year. Before she could continue with that line of thought though, Sam spoke up. Asking if someone had seen Raymond, and her new found ability to make potions.

"Hrm...can't say I know a Raymond. I do know how to make some very good potions though. Don't mean to brag, but its my best subject." She said with a confident smile, befitting of a Slytherin. "I was brewing third year potions in my first year! They said I was a natural. I have been the top of my class in potions since my first year!" She bragged, perhaps a bit too much. "heh, sorry, I shouldn't brag. I just love potion brewing." Oh she could actually brag about how great she was at potion making all day. Most other Slytherins envied her ability at potions.

As the train whistle sounded as it idled, Acacia simply ignored it. Unless the train started moving, she was not interested.

“Clothes?” Frankie Blackwood questioned her parents, staring down at the thin slip of paper in her hands. Her father pushed the cart and her mother was commenting on wizard fashion sense. Of course her obvious distaste was blocked out in favor of rechecking her items for the third or fourth time.

“Check!” Her father chirped behind her, barely glancing into the car as he pushed along in his red turtleneck sweater and blue jeans. He certainly stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the elegant robes of the wizarding world. Frankie scribbled across the messily scrawled word and continued down the list until the very last one.

“Jabber?” The cat’s name easily rolled off her tongue as she raised her pencil and began to scribble on it, confident that they hadn’t forgotten her precious ocicat. She might have gotten a little carried away, but she preferred the words to be completely blacked out.

Her father hummed, “Che- err…” The erupt ending caused Frankie stop in her tracks and turn around to face the brunet middle-aged man. “Jabber seems to be missing, Frankie.”

“Well no duh!” She said, already grasping the situation at hand. Her chattering mother closed her mouth at the distressed sound and assessed the situation.

“Oh, dear. Don’t get too upset. He probably just wandered off; he was here earlier.” The Blackwood woman cooed. “Why don’t we go looking for him? We have time.” Her mother always talked to her in that sickly sweet voice that sometimes made Frankie cringe, but it nevertheless calmed her.

“What about my stuff? We can’t just leave it here while we look for him.” The redhead pointed out and her mother just smiled before turning towards her husband.

“Harold!” She barked, her voice instantly turning demanding and aggressive. “What do you think you’re doing? Get the bags!”

Harold Blackwood simply rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated bow, “Of course, my Queen.”

“And you’re sleeping on the couch tonight…” Frankie snickered, swiveling on the heel of her foot and backtracking where they came from.

She went all the way to the barrier, glancing around to see if she could find a sign of the cat. She peered into trashcans, peeked into the mens' room, and stood on a bench to see. She never saw anything, but she head a very distinct meow that could only be her pet. Jabber was named as such because of the incessant need of his to continuously yowl no matter what situation he was in. It got annoying often, but Frankie had grown too attached by the time she discovered this. She stood on her tips of her toes, almost falling off the bench in the process, before she finally caught sight of an orange blur interweaving with the cloaks of witches. She jumped off the bench and sprinted through the mass of dark blues and pinks and other such hues. Many received her elbow and many elbows she herself received – talk about karma – until finally the little rascal was only two feet away. She dove, she scooped, she caught.

With Jabber in arm and her parents satisfied, Frankie entered the train. She was late and the warning whistle has already went: this unfortunately means that all of the compartments were filled up. She shuffled down the train, a struggling cat in hand with a wish to roam, until she found a compartment that wasn’t overflowing. She would have preferred an empty one, but she would rather be stuck with one stranger than many. He was a Hufflepuff and was on the Quidditch team, that’s what she knew at least. His name escaped her currently, but she could always ask.

“May I sit in here? I swear I don’t have a disease.”

Isaak said a quick "thanks" and then sat down next to Acacia in the compartment. when he heard Samantha ask about her boyfriend Raymond, Isaak wondered who she was talking about for about a couple of seconds, he then remembered that he was the chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and Isaak's dreams of becoming a member of the Slytherin team came to mind, and he wondered if he would play against Raymond. He was hoping to ether become a chaser or a seeker, he liked flying fast and doing aerial maneuvers. his father said that if he got on the team, he would buy him a fast broomstick. if he was a chaser, he would get a Cleansweep Eleven and if he was a seeker then he would receive a Nimbus 2001. the idea of getting a broomstick as fast as the Nimbus 2001 made him hope more than ever that he would make it onto the Quidditch team.

when he heard Acacia brag about her potions, he chuckled, and said to her, "That is impressive, but remember not very many students hold potions in that high of a regard, charms in my opinion is the best class."

Isaak was a natural at charms, the professor who taught the class said that he was ahead of most of the class and Isaak loved the class most. he thought of the idea of changing how things act and giving them special properties was an amazing thing. he could hardly wait to find out what new spells he would be learning this year, whatever they were, they would at least be more advanced than first year charms.

Willow listened in awe as Acacia talked about her skills in potion brewing. Everything she made blew up in her face, she was completely useless at potions. That was the subject she was determined to learn more on because it's one of the requirements of becoming and Auror. The main problems were all the specific instructions, they always confused her.

Another thing Willow longed to try was Quidditch. Well, not necessarily Quidditch, but just flying on a broomstick in general. However, in her first year she almost broke every bone in her body during Flying Class. But under all that fear she felt during her flight, she also felt excitement. If only she could learn...

Willow turned to the window again, not sure what to say next in the conversation and much more willing to simply listen. People were starting to file out of the platform, some still lingering to wave tearfully goodbye. She searched the floor for her parents, wondering if they stayed as well. Her heart dropped a little when she couldn't find a trace of them. But, she knew that they had important jobs to get back to. They already wished her farewell, she couldn't ask for anything more.

Jersey's head turned a full 180 degrees as he looked at who had come into the room. Casimir was a bit surprised to see someone actually have the fortitude to walk in here.... unless it was going to be some sort of prank. If it was a prank, then Casimir would show the planners the terror that were his spells.
Really though, the guy that just came in didn't look suspicious. He also bore a slytherin emblem, obviously telling he was from the same house as he was.

"I'm Casimir. Nice meeting you," he said simply.

Krein said
Jersey's head turned a full 180 degrees as he looked at who had come into the room. Casimir was a bit surprised to see someone actually have the fortitude to walk in here.... unless it was going to be some sort of prank. If it was a prank, then Casimir would show the planners the terror that were his spells. Really though, the guy that just came in didn't look suspicious. He also bore a slytherin emblem, obviously telling he was from the same house as he was."I'm Casimir. Nice meeting you," he said simply.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Casimir." Artemis voice gained a large note of it's usual calm, monotonic drawl as he grew comfortable, now that he was away from the loud, abusive little tykes from before. He reached into his sleeves and grabbed something incredibly tiny, though with a whispered command the item grew, showing that it was a medium-sized chest, bone white with the green and crimson emblem of the Slytherin.

Artemis reached into the trunk and yanked out a book he managed to grab during his brief time away from his parents, in Knockturn Alley. It was a large, leather tome, seemingly dusty and ancient in it's appearance. On the cover, written in old, cursive lettering, was 'Introduction to Da-' While the rest of the words were abruptly destroyed and/or cut off. It was an interesting book, indeed, though most of the pages were magically locked away until the reader fully understood and mastered everything that was on the first page, and even then, the words were confusing, with most of it blurred out until the confusing words were deciphered and understood.

"Hm..." Art began, leaning back and gazing intently into the dusty pages.

The book intrigued Casimir. It was ancient, giving the indication that it was written many, many years ago by some unknown author. Unknown to him at least. What was most intriguing about the tome was its scratched out title. Now Casimir was really curious, and had half a mind to simply put Artemis to sleep, wipe his mind, and keep the book for himself.
But he couldn't do that, particularly to someone who had done him no wrong.

"Mind telling me what's on the first page? Reading is something I enjoy doing, particularly when the content has been hidden away as this book would suggest...."

Grace patrolled the train seeing to the others and chatting with first years who were nervous.. She couldn't help herself when she saw those who were younger needing an older sister type.

This was likely due to her being the youngest in her own family and knowing she would be the last. It was why she was so protective of her nieces, she loved all three but most especially Clarice.
Clarice unlike her sisters didn't act as if it were strange to have an aunt so close to their age. She was more like a little sister to Grace and just thinking about it like that made Grace smile.

As she passed one compartment she spotted poor Willow Matthews with Acacia Cornet but luckily a fellow Gryffindor Samantha Carlson was there with her.
Grace had tried to chat to Willow on several occasions but the girl was so shy she seemed ready to run at any moment.
Sighing she began her walk again.
Soon she found her niece sitting in a compartment and joined her with a hug before sitting next to her.

"Hi Clarice how I've missed you, I do so hope you've had a lovely summer with you dad an sisters." says Grace taking Clarice's hands in her own

"Oh sure, they say that." Acacia said to Isaak with a smirk. "But when you find they find themselves with a head of a pumpkin, or the victim of a Swelling Solution, they'll be thanking my skills." She ended the sentence with a smile towards Isaak. He was a Slytherin, he likely knew her reputation when she wasn't with people from other houses. He should know enough to know that the smile, was anything but friendly. In fact, it was more of a threat, almost daring him to challenge her skills and the usefulness of potions. Not all potions were simply for harmless pranks. Some, were quite deadly, and quite painful. She knew more than a few of those.

"Charms are cool I guess." She continued, quickly changing the subject. "They're not really my thing though. I prefer Defense Against the Dark Arts as my second favorite subject. Charms would probably be my third." Though, to be perfectly honest, arts of the rather, darker, nature would be her favorites. She couldn't exactly tell them that though. Isaak might be okay with it, but the two Gryffindors would definitely not like it. Now wasn't the time for that however. Instead, she gave Willow a friendly little poke in the side to get her attention, as she was staring out the window.

"So, Willow, what's your favorite? Wait, no, let me guess! Defense against the Dark Arts? Transfiguration? Its Transfiguration, isn't it?"

Krein said
The book intrigued Casimir. It was ancient, giving the indication that it was written many, many years ago by some unknown author. Unknown to him at least. What was most intriguing about the tome was its scratched out title. Now Casimir was really curious, and had half a mind to simply put Artemis to sleep, wipe his mind, and keep the book for himself. But he couldn't do that, particularly to someone who had done him no wrong. "Mind telling me what's on the first page? Reading is something I enjoy doing, particularly when the content has been hidden away as this book would suggest...."

Artemis's crimson gaze immediately glanced at Casimir once he heard the voice, and the Slytherin mentally berated himself for not taking cautionary measures. Regardless of if the older male was Slytherin or not, he was still a stranger, and therefore shouldn't be trusted enough to get comfortable around. However, seeing as the other male was already aware of the book, Artemis untensed his arms and breathed out a small, silent breath.

"...Corda aperire anima Vae librum legendum. Vere enim obscuris, sed non est malum et obscura sunt?" As he read the tongue, twisting, lilting words, the book glowed a sickly green color, obviously reacting to the strange chant, yet not ready to activate.

"I believe that it is Latin in nature."

Verlin heard everyone greet their friends enthusiastically and rolled her eyes. "It figures. Sitting alone again Ester." The cat let out a little meow of sympathy, and jumped into the girls lap purring comfortingly. She stroked the cats head, and the cat nuzzled her hand. The trolley lady went by and she bought herself some chocolate frogs, and took out the ham sandwich her mother had made her. Everyone seemed to overload on sweets on the train, but she loved it when her mom made her sandwiches. In a compartment a few rows down she heard talk about Quidditch, and couldn't help but say out loud, "Nimbus 2001 that's nothing special." She had no idea why these kids were getting excited over out dated brooms. She didn't own a broom herself, but followed Quidditch like everyone else.

She opened up one of her chocolate frogs, and was dismayed to learn it was another Ron card. "Ron I have like 10 of him." She was after the rare Severus Snape card. She had read up on the life of Snape some, and was interested by his story. She threw one of the frogs legs to her cat who had a taste for chocolate. She tried to prevent the cat from eating it, but had since given up. She drummed her fingers on her lap making a little rhythm. She was feeling quite bored. The train ride was always the most boring part for her.

Samantha smiled at Willow. "Yeaaah. Im sure he is here." She sighed hoping that Raymond will be in the train and not late as he sometimes is. It has been long since she hasnt seen him, but they talked on the phone and sometimes video chatted. She missed him alot but anyways it was time for herself to talk with her friends. She turned to Aracia raising an eyebrow at her. "I see. Well, Charms has always been my favorite. I mean, I like yours too but you know." Samantha digged in her bag
and took out a necklace with a small vial hanging out. It was colored pink. "My aunt gave me this. Its a love potion, but I dont need it." she put it back on her necklace. And looked at Willow. "So, Willooooow! What do you think about us heading to hogwards together? I know you dont talk much kind of person and well im glad, that im here with you."

Willow jumped from the poke since it hit a rather ticklish part of her. She felt her face burn as she stammered out, "D-d-defense Against the Dark arts is actually...my favorite."

She saw the Hufflepuff prefect walk by their compartment at the corner of her eye. She didn't really know her name, but she's seen her around the school last year. She seemed so nice and regal, someone she could look up to. Willow's eyes drifted towards her feet, where they usually go when they didn't have anywhere else to look. There were only four people in the compartment, but to her she felt like she was being squished by thousands.

To calm herself down, Willow began reciting Quidditch tactics in her head. She's read about so much on the sport, and it fascinated her to watch the brooms flying all around. Since she couldn't participate, she might as well just watch.

Sloth Grip Roll, Dopplebeater Defence, Bludger Backbeat....

Slowly, her breaths began to slow and she leaned against the seat, slightly comfortable once more. Just in time too, she was suddenly aware of Samantha speaking to her.

"Oh um...I'm happy to be going with you as well..." She mumbled quietly. Although her delivery was hesitant, her words rang true. Her going with at least one potential friend was better than her walking into the castle by herself, like she used to.

Isaak knew very well that Acacia's smile probably had a sinister message to it, they were both Slytherins and he knew about who she really was. despite being apart of the same house, Isaak found her manipulative personality unpleasant. he may have somewhat of a mean streak when it came to muggleborns and Hufflepuffs, but when he becomes friends with someone, he will stand by them as a loyal friend. Isaak's youthful arrogance and foolishness wanted to make a snide remark that would question her skills as a proper witch, but even though he was a second year he knew that making insults at a potentially dangerous witch or wizard who was older than you and more advanced in their magical learning, was not a smart thing to do. so he just allowed the subject to changed, and was now pondering how the school year would turn out with someone like Acacia being Slytherin house.

He listened to her say how she liked Defense Against The Dark Arts better than charms, and Isaak almost burst out laughing but he kept himself from doing that. it was quite clear to him that Acacia preferred the actual dark arts over the type of magic that was used to fight against it. he guessed that she only liked the class just because she got to learn more about what type of curses there were.

he looked at Willow, noticing her nervous demeanor and asked, "are you alright? you seem to be as nervous as a first year before the sorting ceremony."

Verlin sighed, and went traveling a long the rows with Ester on her shoulders, She wanted to see who was in the other compartments. She was none to interested or impressed until she came across a compartment with a grinning girl. She shuddered. She didn't know why, but the girl gave her the creeps. She saw the boy didn't seem to be having a great time talking to the girl. She decided to stop here seeing a potential story. She made her tail appear, and wagged it back and forth.

"Ello names Verlin. Do you mind if I sit. I was sitting alone you see, and well I'm quite bored." Without being invited she sat down with a toothy grin her yellow contacted eyes flashing. Ester looked up and acknowledged everyone in the compartment, and tried hopping onto Isaak's lap. "Sorry about that. She likes you I guess." Verlin raised her eyebrow at the cat as if to ask 'What the hell?'

Soul said
Artemis's crimson gaze immediately glanced at Casimir once he heard the voice, and the Slytherin mentally berated himself for not taking cautionary measures. Regardless of if the older male was Slytherin or not, he was still a stranger, and therefore shouldn't be trusted enough to get comfortable around. However, seeing as the other male was already aware of the book, Artemis untensed his arms and breathed out a small, silent breath."...Corda aperire anima Vae librum legendum. Vere enim obscuris, sed non est malum et obscura sunt?" As he read the tongue, twisting, lilting words, the book glowed a sickly green color, obviously reacting to the strange chant, yet not ready to activate."I believe that it is Latin in nature."

Casimir wanted that book now considering it had some sort of warning in Latin mentioning woe to anyone who opens the book. It was a book of darkness or something along those lines, but in short it appeared to be a book about the Dark Arts. Casimir knew spells in that category of magic even though he never really used the most dangerous ones he knew about. He wondered what other things that book had in its contents.

:Hm, you wouldn't happen to have anything else like that with you, would you?"