Her head turned back to the girl. "I am sweet and loving. I wasn't taking him from you Sophie... I told you to keep him." Ughhh children were so stupid... She didn't need her mangy kneazle anyway... it probably had fleas!

"Well... that's because you didn't even bother asking me my name." She said and shook her head. She never even said she wanted the feline! Newells... She'd remember that name... she'd remember their faces too. Hades hath no fury like a young witch treated poorly!

As she turned to make her way on the train she said loud enough they could hear her, "I never realized people would be so rude and nasty at Hogwarts!"

Sophie raised her eyebrows in obvious disbelief. Was Caleb really being a MAN?! She thought he kind of was. Also, he was still taking up for her just like a loyal dog should! She loved having a brother! "It wasn't entrusted to me," she grumbled. "I just wanted to see what I'd get when I filled out an application." That was ALL. Now she was stuck with Nox, yet oddly didn't want to give him away.

At least Caleb was being funny with that whole kneazle skinning coat manufacturer comment. "Do they really have those?" she asked. "Can I shave him and sell his fur?" Because that made a whole lot of sense to Caleb. Then he was gone...and barking for her to follow. She rolled her eyes in his direction.

...and then the older girl spoke and Sophie felt about one inch tall. No. Not even that. It was a HALF inch tall. "Uhh, you'll have to excuse my brother. My parents actually found him living in a jungle," she lied. She followed that up with a grin. "You can sit with Caleb and I on the train if you'd like." Sigh, ...because that's what people usually did when they were left feeling a half inch tall.

The light.

Ah...he guessed that made sense. Just because it didn't effect him didn't mean that it didn't affect anyone else, including himself. "Not that I'm aware of," Ben mused with a bemused look. It was just something he picked up when with family. As to the question about time and slowing it down all he could do was offer a shrug.

His owl twittered beside him at the croak not sure of what to do, the whole scene rather amusing. The Gryffindor moved his hand tentatively towards Gus, touching the from himself to show he was okay. "See, Conrad. Its all good. " Conrad in turn hooted before making slow steps along his perch to bring himself closer to Gus, tilting its head curiously.

"Hoot."

She wanted to punch the girl. She would have too but her mother was waving her way and she needed to get on that train...

"Oh, well then, isn't that sweet of you. No." She said and vanished into the closest train car.

UGH.

Sophie glared at the girl's retreating form. Just for that, she hoped the girl ended up in HUFFLEPUFF.

That, to Sophie, was the worst sort of insult. She huffed then turned on her heels. She supposed she would join her BROTHER on the train.

Adi laughed. "You never know,'' he responded jokingly. "So, dude. Had a good holiday? Did anything exciting?'' Before Adi could say anything else the Train pulled up. "Hey! I guess we'd better get going.''

He looked back at the Owl and Toad. Conrad was closer to Gus now. And he hooted. "Looks like they're gonna be friends all right.'' Adi put Gus on Conrad's cage. He trusted his toad was not going to try to escape this time because it had never tried to. Plus Adi never gave it a reason to try.

"Come on, let's go!'' the Hufflepuff said to Benjamin. Hogwarts, here he came!

Mordred grinned at Sophie and looked around once more. He never got the chance to ride the Hogwarts Express for the last time, and it would have been great to spend his last year with his friends. Durmstrang was strangely pleasant to him during his last year, he believes that it was because of his first transfer there that made him more prepared for his second transfer. He knew what to expect from the school, and in return, he earned the respect of his peers. The young man sighed and smiled at Sophie. “Weird it is. Seems like seven years is a long time…but it isn’t.” he shrugged and gently ruffled Sophie’s hair. She will definitely hate the gesture, but it is Mordred’s unique and weird way of showing his affection.

Mordred nodded and rubbed his forehead as he thought about his dad. “That’s what I have been telling him…but…he’s in pain. I understand that. I mean, I lost a mother too. It’s…well, it isn’t easy. My dad and I got regrets, so I guess that’s what make us depressed and all.” Mordred bit his lip and looked at Sophie. “What if…what if you lost someone that you really love? How will you deal with it?” he was curious.

Mordred however did not expect her to understand everything completely. It was a big mess. Even the former Slytherin is still confused about some things. He smiled at Sophie affectionately and gently poked her nose. “I don’t expect you to understand everything, Sophs.” He said as he saw the confused look on her face.

Ethan’s quite a big responsibility, but Mordred doesn’t have much choice. “Yes. His legal guardian. I…actually don’t want to think about the custody papers, blah blah blah in the muggle world and the wizarding world.” The young man rubbed the back of his neck as he was reminded of the things he needs to settle next. “They’re confusing. And…it’s the muggle world. I’m pretty stupid in that category.” Mordred pursed his lips and looked straight into Sophie’s eyes. He can see all the questions jumbling in her mind. “Yeah, I did finish school. In Durmstrang.” Surprise, surprise. “And…I’m planning to work for the Ministry here. Been traveling for the last two years learning more about Dragons.” That…sounds like a plan. “I can’t live off mom’s inheritance money forever…” even if it was possible for him not to lift a single finger to work because of the huge amount in his Gringgot’s account right now. “Ethan lives with me now, meaning, I have to feed him…send him to school…spoil him once in a while…” which is, by the way all the time. “Dad stuff in short. I just…hope I’m doing it right. I don’t have a younger brother to look after, so…” he shrugged and grinned hoping to make Sophie better. It was just sad to see her so worked up.

Was there anything she can do to help? “Marry me.” Mordred blinked at his own thought and shifted his weight from one leg to another, obviously taken aback with his subconscious. “Merlin, Mordaunt. Get a grip!” Mordred cleared his throat and blinked a few times. “I…need you not to worry about me.” He nodded and looked at their hands. “I can do this Sophs, really. But…an owl or two once in a while will help. It can get lonely dealing things on my own…especially now that Ethan’s gone to Durmstrang.” He looked at her and grinned. “Oh and…if you need help with your NEWTs, you can send me an owl…or…we can see each other when it’s Hogsmeade weekend for you guys.” He can do that. Mordred looked down at their hands once more, and he gently rubbed Sophie’s ring finger. “I miss her…my mom. You guys will get along so well…”

Well, seven years was a long time when you were in... say, third or fourth year. But now it did feel like it all went by quite quickly... and very slowly at the same time. "Weird..." It was all she said when she shrugged. "I'm looking forward to going deeper into one particular subject, though." Sophie added, a half smile playing on her lips as she took a glance at the Hogwarts Express. More and more students were boarding the train, since it was almost time for it to leave. Siiigh.

Uuuugh, why did this sort of thing need to happen? Why couldn't parents live forever? This way none of this would be happening and Mordred and his dad wouldn't be depressed. Depressed... Merlin, that word was horrible! Sophie also bit her lip and got close enough to give him another quick hug. She was trying not to hug him that much, but she couldn't help it, okay?? First, it was Mordred, second he was depressed! He used that word himself! Ugh! "I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better..." But there wasn't anything she could do, was there?? Ughhh! So she just hugged him tight. Proper tight, that was. As if to not let him go. .....Or to take him back to Hogwarts with her. His question made her blink several times and look back up at him. What would she do? "I... don't really know, to be honest..." Sophie said taking a small step back and trying to think of a better answer. "I guess I'd just... be really sad for a while and... then try to distract myself...?" It was more of a ponder than an answer, really, but well. "I suppose I'd lose myself practising Charms or something like that." She shrugged her shoulders and looked around almost uneasily. "Would try not to avoid people, though. I found out I tend to be a bit anti social whenever I get really into Charms." As of last term, at least. She wasn't pleased with herself, nope.

Good thing he didn't expect her to understand everything, because it was all very confusing indeed. "I just hope you can sort everything out soon." And have one less thing to worry about. Merlin!

"So you'd need to see all of the paper stuff also in the Muggle world?" Sophie would've thought it would only be in the Wizarding world. But well, what did she know? Oohh, he was learning about dragons. That made Sophie smile. "I assume you enjoyed that?" She sure hoped he did. At least something to make him happy these past two years! The girl nodded as he went on about his plans. It all sounded good enough for her. Not that she knew much about finances and all that, but anyway. "You'll be fine." She told him truthfully. Sophie had always had faith in Mordred's capabilities, and it wouldn't be this time that it would all change. He'd be perfectly fine. He was Mordred, after all! Right? Right! And about Ethan... "Does your... dad help with anything? Or is he still too...." She trailed off, looking into Mordred's beautiful eyes. Was his dad mentally well enough to help looking after a kid? "At least he's going off to school now as well, yeah? So you'll have more time to... think and do other things."

"Well, that is the only thing I can't do, really..." Sophie replied with a half smile. "I know you can do this, but honestly, do let me know if I can help in any way. Honestly!" Did he understand that? Could he actually get the truthfulness behind her words? She sure did hope so. She smiled up at him again when he grinned at her. Merlin, had she missed that lovely FACE and grin and hair and. Merlin. "Oh, don't worry, I'll write so much you'll get tired of my handwriting." She chuckled and hugged him again. Sorry, Mordred, she just couldn't not hug you! "And thank you. I hope I'll do well. I never got to tell you, but I finally beat a boggart for my Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL!" She grinned at him. "I failed the first time I saw one in an assignment, but at least I managed to get it right during my exam." Was it bad that she was proud of herself? "Professor Hadley told me I could consider being an Auror, but I'm not sure I want to." She shrugged. Sophie wanted something more to do with Charms and all that. "I still don't really know exactly what I want, though. And I've only got one more year to go!" Asdfghjkl! She would have to research even more that year. And she would. She wanted to find a perfect profession for her!

When all of the people around them started rushing, Sophie looked around and bit her lip. "It's almost time to go... maybe I should... get my things on the train..." And go... Noooooooo! Uuuugh! Could she hug him again? She definitely would before boarding the Hogwarts Express, that was for sure.

Pirates in his family...now that would certainly interesting Ben thought to himself. "Uh huh, it was nice" he answered, losing the scottish affirmative in his response. At sight of the train, the Gryffindor looked over to where his trunk had been only to find it already had been loaded up it seemed, the elder Atreyu's simply on their own silently waiting.

He didn't know how friendly the owl and the toad would actually be but they seemed to be getting along for now as they didn't go after each other as he looked back. Or at least the larger of the two hadn't attacked. A good thing when Adi put Gus into the cage with Conrad like there was no possible issue with that arrangement. "You behave," he instructed as he moved with the Hufflepuff to the train, waving goodbye to his parents as he went.

Mordred smiled as he watched Sophie. It was a good thing that she’s into her studies. And that she did well in her Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL! Boggart, eh? “I wonder what her boggart was…” he thought. He wanted to ask the question, but decided not to since it might trigger bad memories. He didn’t want to do it. The situation is depressing already.

“Auror? That’ll work too, but it’s a tough job.” His late mother was an auror, and died because of it. “I say you stick to the subject you’re most confident with.” The former Snake need not guess as to what particular subject Sophie was referring to. “I’m proud of you, Charms Queen.” Mordred pulled her again and hugged Sophie. “I can bet on my life that you’ll beat me in Charms when you do all that studying.” Mordred loosened his hug and stepped back to study her. The young man felt something funny inside his stomach. It was his first time in two years to feel it again. He caught Sophie glancing at the train, and he too looked at it. Mordred bit his inner cheek and looked at the brunette. “I have to let go, again.” Mordred then hung his head and stuffed his hands inside his pockets. He felt something inside and grinned. “The going-away present, of course.”

“You know, just seeing you today makes me feel a lot better.” Little ray of sunshine, right? “I guess all I need is an inspiration.” And that inspiration is you, Sophie! “Don’t worry so much, Ms. Worrywart. Dad is still helping me out, and so is Uncle Aldred. Both of them got their hands full, though, so I’m taking Ethan under me.” And the muggle paperworks are awful! Mordred nodded and sighed. “We can’t live forever in the wizarding world. Ethan was exposed to the muggle world, so he’ll be needing a legal guardian there in case he gets in trouble.” And that’s what you call, thinking ahead. “I need to cover both worlds to secure things. It’s…not a requirement, but I like to be careful.” Mordred’s auror instincts never failed him, therefore he will depend on that. He then looked at Sophie and smiled. “Adult stuff. It’s not easy, but I’m learning.” Mordred assured her once more that he got everything under control.

Mordred blinked, looked at the train then back to Sophie. “Right, you need to get in now…” the former Slytherin smiled at her weakly, and pushed Sophie’s trolley for her. “I hate letting go. Really.” He pursed his lips and stopped at the nearest train entrance. “I don’t think I’m allowed to get in.” Mordred stuffed his hands inside his pockets once more and got hold of his present. “I know she hates me for leaving without saying goodbye, but please send my warmest greetings to Ella.” Nope. He did not forget the blonde badger. How could he when Ethan talks about her 24/7?? “Oh, and before you go, I want you to have this.” Mordred pulled out a pair of hair pins and clipped it to Sophie’s hair. “It’s…my mother’s. I want you to have it.” Seeing that he doesn’t have a sister, Sophie was the next best person to give it to. “She’d tell me to give it to you anyway if she was still here.” Mordred grinned and looked at Sophie once more with his mother’s hair pins. “Merlin, she’s beautiful…”

So it was that time again and Kace looked around and noticed he maybe a little early, but that wasn't a bad thing. He rolled his cart to the conductor for him to take his luggage. He even noticed Charlene looked comfy in her cage and decided to put her in the back too. She would sleep for the whole ride. She had a long night of hunting.

After dropping off his owl and luggage he looked around for his friends.

Tag was getting ready to put some of his stuff away, but noticed that people were getting on the train and what not. Maybe he would wait it out till the last few minutes, to put his stuff away. He looked at his cage, which held Stella and thought for a few seconds.

"Don't think I'd want to leave you by yourself. But, carrying you around everywhere, you could jump out of my grip." Tag said talking to his kneazle. She'd stay in her cage, and he'd check up on her every half hour or so. Carrying his trunk and the cage was tiring so Tag had to put the cage down and looked around. He hadn't spotted anyone familiar yet. Spoke too soon. "Kace! Hey!" Tag said a bit loudly, waving at the younger friend.

You know where all the cool kids sat? At the back of the train. Nobody wanted to be the eager beaver at the front. Lame-os, they were. And some people only sat there because the back was full and they hadn't been quick enough to grab a compartment. Shame, really, because then they had to sit with the eager lot at the front.

Grayson wasn't going to be either one of them. He was standing near the back of the train because he was a cool kid. And being a cool kid, he had a cool way of standing too; as if he didn't care that he was standing alone. With no one. Not even a leather jacket to make him feel better.

Still bitter about that, Ma.

Speaking of his mum, the woman had been kind enough to give him the extra money he had been hoping to get. Use it responsibly, she had said. Well, responsibly was how he had spent it. The sub and drink stayed in his bag -- the hand luggage -- but the packet of crisps were taken out and hastily ripped open. He'd have the others later because Merlin knows how long it would take to get to wherever Hogwarts was.

Munching was happening.

Hey yo.

Marigold hugged her mum and dad goodbye and scampered off. She would write to them and all that. She was being INDEPENDENT. Moo had taught her a lot. Like how to fluff her hair and curl her eyelash and wink. (Though her winking looked a lot like blinking still). She was going to tell Moo about her world, the magical world, and make her swear to never say anything, but then Moo have kissed her on both cheeks goodbye and gone off to Italy for her end-of-summer-Calvierri-family-bonding-trip or whatever. So next summer.

Marigold felt pained about the fact that Moo didn't know that aspect of herself, and even more pained at the fact that telling her might change their friendship. Which would be horrible. Marigold didn't know how she survived so long at Hogwarts without Moo's hilarious letters and scandalous gifts. Plus, she had to introduce Moo to Ruby. That would be fun.

But that was for another time. Now was her time, her time to go back to Hogwarts. But first....

HEY YO GRAY. Marigold noticed the guy she had met and skipped over to him, already coming up with a greeting.

"Hey, Gray." #poet

Gray. SNORT.

Grayson wasn't used to nicknames. You had to be super close to people to have those, which he wasn't. Not many people, anyways. Whatever. Like he was bitter about small things like lack of nicknames. Grayson was a great name, thanks. And Douglas. Douglas was cool. The boy just wasn't sure about his surname. Whitlock. It was odd, mkay?

Something he was sure about was who that voice belonged to.

"Hey Gold!" he called, looking in the fellow fourth year's direction and smirking a little. Yeah, he was calling her that. Didn't care whether she liked it or not. Or maybe he cared a bit after their fake!tattoo meeting in that ice cream shop in Diagon Alley. But only a bit. And speaking of fake!tattoos... "Been giving out any more of those fake tattoos?" His blue eyes made brief glances down towards the girl's arms to see if she still had hers.

Kace was looking at the platform and just plain dazing. He was in his own daydreams. Then he heard a familiar voice and it brought him back to earth. He turned around to the right and left and noticed Tag! Hey it was his friend! He hadn't seen him in forever!

"Hey dude! What's up!?" he said giving him the famous one armed hug. "How come i haven't seen you?" he asked him. "Last time i saw you we were in the tree house doing our thing and exploring." he said recounting the good times.

Lucy hugged her parents and boarded the train .. her father helped her carry the trunk and the snowy owl .. Lucy was very nervous because she had never been away from her parents for a long time and she felt a little alone .. Her father found a compartment and gave her a kiss: "Good luck, dear! ". Lucy was so excited..she could not say a word and nodded .. then looked out the window to greet her parents and to see if there was someone else first-year student..

At least Stella wasn't bugging out on Tag, that was good. He didn't want her acting all weird in front of people she's never met before, but thankfully she seemed to be hunched over, quietly watching people.

There was a hug from Kace which Tag did not reject, and gave the younger one a good one armed hug, or the best he could without putting his kneazle in the cage, down. "Just getting everything ready for the train ride. But other than that I've been pretty chill, relaxing, these past couple of days. How are you BadgerBoy?" Tag asked Kace in return. New nickname. Badgerboy. "Yeah. I didn't get very far with that there, did I?" Tag said laughing at himself. "I need to get more practice with climbing trees. We should explore the castle sometime together. See if the Professor's or groundkeeper added in something new on the grounds." Tag enjoyed exploring the grounds every now and then.

The platform was quite full by the time Leah walked through the barrier. She moved down, all the way until she reached the end. After all, the back of the train was cool, apart from the fact that it was away from the food trolley.

She stopped and pulled her trunk towards the train. After kisses and hugs with her family, she was alone. Looking around, the second year hoped to bump into someone she recognized.

Ian nodded, agreeing. It is a long time, however our time is short here today. It's not the best day for 'fun' He even used the air quotes muggles liked to use. [b]Now, there will be lots of fun and excitement and now that we're on the train, the decree against the use of underage magic isn't really enforced, so you'll see more of it. I remember my first time. It was lots of fun and a little scary. The magic world is so completely different from the muggle world.

Ian began heading toward the other end of the platform, hoping it was a little less crowded. He wasn't exactly the best person in crowds. Oh, that's cool. What part of England is Devon in? Of course he considered all the English folk southerners as a Scot, but that didn't mean she might not be from an area close to the heavenly land of the Scots. I'm from a fishing village up along the Scottish Northern Coast called Wick. Me dad owns a fishing boat and I live there with me 4 sisters and 3 brothers. He found a suitable place for their carts and began to survey the platform a bit more.

When was it not a time for fun? Still, she knew the boy had a point and it most likely wouldn’t that fun today as it was so busy so she settled on next summer. Besides there were bigger fish to fry. ”You’re right.” Aubrey completely forgot about the whole wall thing when he mentioned the fun that happened on the train. The twinkle in her eye was surely back again. ”You mean we can use magic on the train?” This was going to be awesome. ”I can’t wait to get on this train.”


Aubrey walked along happily with Ian, her mind dancing with fantasies of what all awaited her on the train. ”Devon is part of south west England. It’s a cool place to go surfing at and we get lots of tourists.” She took a breath. ”Fishing is so much fun. Have you ever been? Do you enjoy it? Her questions were starting to run together. Wow, he had a lot of siblings. ”I bet sharing at your house is no fun. I only have 2 sisters myself. Which she always thought was a lot before talking to Ian.
She brought her cart holding her trunk to a stop and looked around when somebody caught her attention.


Normally she would just smile and keep going on about her business, but there was something about this girl that screamed that she was alone and not by choice. Aubrey never really had a problem with being alone considering that she had two sisters that were forever in her face in some fashion, but this girl looked like she wasn’t digging the whole alone thing.


She walked the short distance to where the girl stood and introduced herself. ”Hello. My name is AJ.” She was already getting tired of having to go through the whole nick name thing so she tried a different approach this go round. ”Everything okay?”

Ian smiled as he walked along with this girl. Her spirit was certainly contagious and he felt better being around her. He nodded. Yes. But you might want to control that impulse just a little until you learn a little more. I wouldn't want your magic stick getting all angry and setting the train on fire... he told her with a grin. He would hopefully try to show her a few things while they were on the train, but he didn't want her to get too carried away. He looked forward to hearing what grand adventures she engaged in while at school.

Her explanation of her hometown seemed exciting. He'd never been surfing, though he'd seen it on the television at the house. Her questions were coming rapid fire now and he struggled to keep up with them. Yes. Everyone in the village fishes. At least everyone I know. Dad's taken me out a couple times. This summer I got to spend two weeks on the boat when he went out for herring. It was fun, but a lot of work. And one of the ship's men nearly went overboard in a storm. He laughed when she talked about sharing. Well, there's really no choice, especially when the fishing trips come up poorly. Sharing is just a part of what we do. It's almost second nature. One thing I don't share with them though are my magic books. They are kind of scared of it all, I think.

As he sat upon his trunk, he watched as AJ walked up to a girl that was alone. Very social, this one he thought to himself. He kept an eye on their things, though she was relatively close by.

Marigold grinned a bit at Gray's reaction to her calling him Gray. Yeah, she remembered that. Yeah, she was expecting him to call her Gold. Aaaand she wasn't disappointed. She raised her eyebrows at him and bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"Gold sounds weird," she ended up saying through her giggles before standing up straight and fluffing her hair. "If you sit with me for a little on the train, I'll draw you a gecko." It was the easiest type of lizard to draw, in her mind. She took her muggle pen out of her pocket and twirled it in her hands. Mhm.

AJ laughed at loud as he was going on about her not getting out of control with her magic stick. "It's funny that you should say that." Images of her wand fitting appeared in her head. "I actually DID set fire to the other magic sticks and then well... there were snowballs. One of them actually hit the shopkeeper on the head." That was awesome and she wished that she could somehow experience that again. "When this one chose me..." she said pointing to her wand. "...it shot off multi-colored sparks and I even saw stars." It was cool for her anyways. "I'm sure the man didn't appreciate getting smacked in the head, but he was cool about it."

"Sounds like loads of fun. I would love to go fishing on a boat." The most they ever did was cast a line over a pier. "Does it make you sick to be on a boat that long?" She had heard stories about throwing up and that sounded like it would suck all of the fun out of fishing. Her eyes bugged out at the mention of a man almost going overboard. "Wooow." Fishing on a boat sounded like it was hard work and dangerous, and she definitely wanted in on that.

"Wait, so are you the only one that has the magic powers?" Aubrey had never thought about the odds of all of her family being able to attend Hogwarts. Considering that her parents had zero magical blood it was amazing that the three of them all managed to get into Hogwarts at all.

He laughed a little when she told him about her wand fitting. Apparently, it hadn't gone as well as it could have. He was sure the wand maker had been quite flustered about destroyed wands and snowballs and being assaulted with a wand (though the last one probably happened more often than he'd care to think). Wow. That's quite an introduction to magic. Good to hear you found the right wand for yourself. I've heard sometimes that some witches and wizards never find quite the right one and their magic is a little hinky.

As he answered the fishing questions, he remembered what a great summer it had been. He seemed to get along with his brothers and sisters more than usual. Perhaps they were getting used to the whole magic thing. They certainly seemed to be nicer to him this summer. The summer before, they'd acted like he was a mutant. No...not too bad. I mean when the swells get rather high, it's touch and go, but I've been on the boat since I was a wee lad. And the fella that had nearly gone overboard wasn't paying attention to the first mate's instructions, so it was kind of his own fault.

He nodded at the last question. Aye. The only one in my village that I know of. If there's another, they haven't let me know. Makes it rather easy to abide by the restriction about underage wizardry. If I used magic, it'd be hard to deny it was me.