Hogwarts Express: Food Trolley

[Wilber Winterbottom]

It goes without saying that everyone's favourite person in the train is the trolley lady. Old, plump, and just as sweet as the food she sells, she can provide you with the sugary delights you desire -- from Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans to Chocolate Frogs to Pumpkin Pasties, it is all there in her trolley! The woman comes around during the middle of the journey and is generally the cause for any traffic jams taking place in the corridor.

When you hear "Anything from the trolley?" be hollered, even from a distance, it would be wise of you to jump up, make sure you have your money in your pocket, and get in the corridor before a long line begins to form. If you are the unfortunate soul that has to deal with an endless line, keep calm and stay put because the wait is certainly worth it. Please make sure you are waiting your turn with patience because the trolley lady is likely to refuse making a transaction with you if she sees you trying to cut in line or pushing people out of the way.

OOC: No one plays the trolley lady, so please role-play receiving snacks and paying on your own.

[sweetpinkpixie]

She had been in her Shakespeare era since mid July and had set the overly ambitious goal of reading all of his works before summer's end...which was a goal that could only come to fruition if she finished about 20 books on the train ride from London to Hogsmeade. Even she knew that was too much and had instead compromised with herself to settle on two train ride books and one feast book and then she would check the library and hope to find all the rest of the remaining works to cross off her read list on the weekends. However, as the blonde scampered down the train corridors towards the trolley, it was becoming less and less likely she would even read one of her train books due to her excitement of finally getting to Hogwarts. She could not wait to see where her fellow St. Woboldo's Primary School graduates ended up and had a few favorites she hoped would end up in the same house she was sorted in but if not herself then the house her brother ended up in. They family hadn't spoken to it, offering only words of encouragement and excitement instead, but everyone knew that herself and her twin were not going to end up in the same house. She hadn't said as much over dinner at the table but her reading of Hogwarts a History, particularly the chapters with emphasis on the Founders, made it very obvious to her that they would be seperated.

Okay, so she had talked to Nyle about this during their late night tent twin meeting with cookies and milk sneaked out from the kitchen after mum and dad had supposedly gone to bed ... and at first they had both felt some sort of way about it, especially after learning just how strong and important their bond was after dad's incident. By about the fifth milk dunked cookie, however, they were both joyous about the prospect of being in different houses and finding somewhere in the castle or grounds to meet up and catch each other up on everything.

Finally catching up with the Trolley Lady, Iris pushed her thick rimmed glassed up on her face a bit more and took a moment to survey her options and narrow down what she wanted. It was obviously a rite of passage to buy a treat on the trolley. She would pick something up for her brother too who, last she saw of him, had cornered a prefect or someone who was checking on all the first years on the train to tell them all about some seeds he was keeping in his pocket. "True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings," she hummed while picking up a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and wondering if it was too quintessential or just the right amount of quintessential or if it was worth wanting to gag over the awful flavors because getting a good flavor was just that fantastic. Or maybe she should go with a cauldron cake instead? Bouncing up and down on her heels, Iris glanced around to see if she could spot any familiar faces who could help her make a choice because, for once, she was at an impasse.

Except for what to get Nyle, hence the pouch of licorice wands tucked under her arm.

[Nordic Witch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Finally catching up with the Trolley Lady, Iris pushed her thick rimmed glassed up on her face a bit more and took a moment to survey her options and narrow down what she wanted. It was obviously a rite of passage to buy a treat on the trolley. She would pick something up for her brother too who, last she saw of him, had cornered a prefect or someone who was checking on all the first years on the train to tell them all about some seeds he was keeping in his pocket. "True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings," she hummed while picking up a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and wondering if it was too quintessential or just the right amount of quintessential or if it was worth wanting to gag over the awful flavors because getting a good flavor was just that fantastic. Or maybe she should go with a cauldron cake instead? Bouncing up and down on her heels, Iris glanced around to see if she could spot any familiar faces who could help her make a choice because, for once, she was at an impasse.

Except for what to get Nyle, hence the pouch of licorice wands tucked under her arm.

JT was starting his second year, and after leaving his cat cage and other belongings in a compartment he went out in the train corridor in search of the trolley lady. He had though forgotten to store his long stuffed neon green snake in his trunk that he now had wrapped around his neck and shoulders. Oops! Was he going to be teased for that? He'd think about that if it happened. It was best not to dwell on what ifs like his daddy had reminded him that morning before leaving for Kings Cross.

When JT finally caught up to the trolley lady after what felt like a walk across the whole length of the train he saw that a girl that was bouncing up and down on her heels with rimmed glasses was already there eyeing up the candy selection. He took his place in the queue behind her observing that she had already grabbed some Bertie Botts and liquorice wands. Not being able to keep quiet JT offered to the other girl who could be in his year for all he knew, he wasn't the best at remembering names he said "The pumkin pasties are nice, unless you want something more foodlike then I'd go for the cauldron cakes." JT could take some pasties, cakes and bertie botts too but he was never going to buy some liqourice wands, he really diskliked liquorice always had since an incident with KT under a pine tree.

[sweetpinkpixie]

Iris had now placed her two options for herself on either of her palms, turning herself into a set of scales personified. Only she wasn't weighing them in the traditional sense, though that certainly would make her decision making easier if she did, but rather seeing how she felt in seeing one higher than the other. "Three pound of sugar, five pound of currants, rice—what will this sister of mine do with rice?" she quoted with quiet dramatic flare as the hand carrying box of hit and miss beans was lifted up a little higher "… I must have saffron to color the warden pies..." And her scales changed to reflect the favor being for cauldron cakes. She was certain she would know the answer once she performed a ceremonious weighing, but the budding first year was no more informed than she had when she had first surveyed the trolley. "...dates...nutmegs...a race or two of ginger....as many of raisins o’ th’ sun...." Something about this shopping list quote was lacking, and she would surely try to go find a copy of The Winter’s Tale to refresh her memory since her copy had not made the cut to fit in her trunk, but her recollecting would have to wait thanks to the presence of a peer! Her first contact with a new someone who would now be a new someone she could wave to when they passed in the corridors!

"Oh, hi," she greeted politely with a smile. Raised to look for the signs, there was certainly no denying that the one presented to her now was crystal clear. "Cauldron cake it shall be then, thanks! I had already been leaning that direction, by the way, but your recommendation really just solidifies matters." Especially since she was mildly allergic to pumpkin and the last thing she wanted to do was get sick at her first feast. "I'm Iris. This is my first time on the Hogwarts Express...which is why I was every shade of fretting over what should be my first bite."

[Nordic Witch]

Watching the blonde girl as she weighed the candy in her palms like she was weighing her options was just weird to JT. Candy was candy. You couldn't go wrong with whatever you picked in his book except for salty liquorice, but that was him. Tuning her out as she said stuff that sounded like mermish to him JT looked over the other trolley options that he saw as he bided his time until it was his turn. It was then that the girl spoke and he forgot the idea he had about asking if the trolley lady had the latest teen wizard magazine, and got his full attention as he returned her smile. "Hi back! No problem, cauldron cakes are really tasty I promise. It's very nice to meet you Iris. I'm JT, James Tiberius if you wan't to be really formal." He though really hoped that the girl was okay with calling him by his nickname or James not James Tiberius because he hated being called that because it was just his parents who used his full name when he had done something he shouldn't have.

Nodding in understanding JT said remembering his own first ride. "I fretted over things like my first train snack too last year, but beans, cakes and liqourice wands should be safe. They will last you till the feast after your sorting. I'm in Slytherin by the way. Have you got any idea where the sorting hat will place you?"

[sweetpinkpixie]

His weird was her normal, so Iris wouldn't be very much bothered by his judgements. There was surely something she would find odd about him eventually because that was just how life worked. But also, there was something amusing about herself personifying the scales of Lady Justice while she debated which of the snacks to go with when there had been no crime committed other than her own of indecision. But ALSO he might find it interesting to know that the imagery and depiction dated way way waaaaaaaaay back to Ancient Egypt and the goddess Maat. "I don't really want to be formal unless you want me to," she replied bluntly with a firm nod of the head while returning the items she did no longer required - meaning that she had a cauldron cake for herself and licorice wands for her brother. "So I'll be sticking with JT, if that is perfectly alright with you." Easy to say, easy to remember...she would be able to journal about this quite easily later, and commit the longer version of his name to memory as well just incase she were to ever grow cross with him and therefore full naming him a necessity.

Paying the trolley lady, Iris tucked the licorice wands into her beaded bag and once again pushed her thick rimmed glassed up as they were dangerously close to falling off. Something must be loose on them because they were not sitting comfortably on her face anymore, giving her view of the world a somewhat Dutch angle of clarity. His face was perfectly fine though, which was very good because she could continue to look at him without the risk of a headache later. "Oh, Slytherin. That's the one with the common room beneath the lake, right? That must be fascinating to wake up to! My Auntie Dot was a Slytherin when she was at Hogwarts, though I doubt very much I am suited for that house," she explained. "Mum was a Hufflepuff, but I believe my brother inherited that disposition, and dad had alternate schooling so no house associations to be predicted there...Between the two remaining houses I do have my inklings but I think I would like to keep that conversation between myself and the Sorting Hat, if you don't mind." And she suspected that Uncle Di would be receiving a certain spirted correspondence about. "Which of Slytherin's house traits do you think was the one that tipped the scales in favor of your Sorting there?" she asked while carefully peeling off some of the paper wrapped around her cauldron cake.