Tancred looked away from where all the girls were heading. He couldn't see Lindsey anymore. It was killing him! He wanted to be with her at all times. This wasn't fair at all! Where's the justice? Why is this happening? What was the point?

Just then he overheard a Gryffindor asking one of the professors about what was going on and such. Boys are going to be seperated from the girls all the time? ... What?! He looked like he was going to blow. If this was true, he was going to regret coming back to Hogwarts. What was the point of going to Hogwarts if you can't even be with your girlfriends or friends that are girls?

He jumped on a carriage and sat there thinking about all the possible solutions to why they were splitting the guys and girls up. It all ended to one thing in his mind. They want to keep us all separated now at all times. ... But why? He looked around and hoped that some of his fellow Hufflepuffs would join him. He hadn't had the time - well he did, but he was enjoying his alone tiem with Lindsey - to catch up with any of the guys.

As Cale walked along, it became clear that there were simply no other empty carriages left. And no Jack. Drat!

He found one that had only one boy in it, a Hufflepuff, and decided to ask if he could sit there. If they were going to be split up like this, might as well make new friends, right?

"Hey, can I sit here?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat next to the Hufflepuff.

"I was there. I didn't happen to see you though. I take it you were at the front of the train. For I was at the rear and did not hear your voice," he smiled. "It wasn't bad. I finished my book. I intend to write my own book this year. I shall write about my torturous times at Hogwarts." He chuckled, "I did not know you were Prefect. Congratulations are in order I guess."

Dan unwillingly made his way over to the boys carriages. He couldnt see how they could separate the boys and the girls, they must have built a new caslte or something. He found Clifford sitting in a carridge with a younger looking student. " Cliff , can you belive it , two schools , one for boys the other for girls " he was sure this would have some impact on Cliff, he wouldnt see Eva.

Dan glanced back towards the platform Ems had gone, he turned round and politley nodded at the younger boy.

Tancred looked up and saw that the same Gryffindor kid he overheard earlier wanted to sit with him. He wasn't a Hufflepuff, but it was better then sititng alone. Right? Right.

"Sure," Tancred said with a smile. "I'm Tancred. Tancred Adara. Seventh year." He grinned as he introduced himself, leaving out the part that he was returning for his last year. No one needed to know that part just yet. Only certain few needed to know. "You are?" He looked at the Gryffindor with a raised eyebrow.

"Cale Newell, Fifth year," he said with a grin. See? Making conversations wasn't as hard as he thought. "Nice to meet you Tancred."

"So, this is all rather...strange," he muttered to his new companion, looking around at the chaos that was still unfolding around the platform. He was dying to know what was going on...didn't they tell prefects these kinds of things? Maybe not. They were apparently very hush hush about whatever was going on.

Clifford was a funny name, Aiden decided. So as soon as this older boy introduced himself, a loud, squawky giggle erupted from Aiden's mouth. He stopped this abruptly, however, because the Gryffindor realized that it was quite impolite to laugh at something that can't be changed, like a name.

Going on as if this little outburst hadn't happened, Aiden said, "I bet you're right." He then absentmindedly added, "I really need to speak with Issy..."

As if on cue - like he heard the lull in the boys' conversation - a small, furry prairie dog poked his head out of a pocket in Aiden's robes. "Nice to see you again, Minky," the second year giggled, greeting his pet with a slight pat on the head. Minkus had uncharacteristically slept through the entire train ride to Hogwarts, which was unusual for such an active pet. If Aiden wasn't such a laid-back fellow, he might've been worried.

"Oh, hey Dan." Clifford said, when he spotted friend. He hadn't seen Dan in aaages! He hadn't seen loads of his friends in ages; Dan, Excelsior, Emily ... he blamed the squirrel business from last term. "Did you have a good -- Wait. What?"

It had taken a few moments for Dan's words to sink in, and Clifford's eyes widened in surprise. "Two schools?!" One for boys and one for girls. "But - But I thought we were just going up to school in separate carriages!"

One for boys and one for girls. The necklace he still had hidden under his robes seemed to burn against his chest.

The strange news had shocked him slightly, and playing with the silver shain around his neck, Clifford blinked as the squeaky boy -- squeaked alot. Whoa. He didn't remember his voice being quite as squeaky as that. What he was laughing at though, Clifford didn't have the foggiest idea. "You wanna be careful before you burst a lung." He warned the boy, a little bewildered.

He only seemed to grow more bewildered when Aiden the squeaky head started talking to his pocket. Ooookay. This kid was either crazy. Or on a sugar high. Or both. "You're pocket is called Minky?"

"Thanks; I didn't know when we met. My folks saved it for a surprise-- they opened my letter and took out the Prefect badge. I only found out right before King's Cross." He grinned, remembering how proud they had been. "And yeah... I was at the front of the train." With her! With my angel! he wanted to say, but he held his tongue... for now. "You're writing a book? Wicked! But I think Hogwarts won't be torture, somehow... at least we can hang with other blokes and stuff. Should be fun."

He took his cue from the professor's comments on Prefects... How true; he should be showing leadership! "Hang on a second, Ignatius..." he said. "Slytherin boys, this way please... " he called, leading the way to one of the carriages and motioning for Ignatius to follow and board the carriage. After all, it was his duty - with great power comes great responsibility, he'd heard somewhere.

Dans words had the desired effect on Clifford, he needed to rant with someone about this " i was with Ems on the platform " he began " and one of the professors ... " He was never great with remebering which professor was which " i think it was the muggle studies one, said that we were been separated, two schools " Dan said with a slight nod. He still couldnt see how they were going to do it, he had a vision of two castles side by side.

"I haven't started it yet. But I do have a journal. Of my travels. I think it is in my trunk, I forget," Iggy smiled at the younger male, "Yeah I would be glad to finally hang out with some other males. I have only met other females at the school, and you and Niall." He smiled inside, when he thought of his new friendship with Niall.

He nodded and followed Will, dragging his little trunk with him. His hand tightened around his little pygmy puff. Poor little James.

This was all getting a bit much and Clifford gnawed at the end of his liquorice wand harder than necessary, stopping when he thought he might risk losing his teeth. "One of the Professors said that?" He blinked. Oh gosh. If a Professor said it, it had to be true!

"But -- There isn't even two schools!" How on Earth was that going to work?

Dan nodded, he was sure of what he heard, and Emily had heard it to so he cant have misunderstood what he had said. " I know, i dont know how its going to work " well he had an idea, that mental image that kept popping up " i keep imagining a second castle or something " he confessed.

He glanced down at his feet, this was too much for his confused brain to take in at once.... two schools !!

"Niall? I'm not familiar with him; will you introduce us?" he said. "I'd also love to read your journal, or your book at least when you finish it." Will ran a hand through his hair; he really liked Ignatius, but felt a little nervous around him... he didn't want him to think he was too eager, like a yapping puppy (which was, in fact, what poor Will feared he really was at heart), or a lesser man than Ignatius was. He was scanning his mind trying to come up with some incredibly cool thing to talk about when he spotted the pygmy puff. "Awwww!" he cooed. Great. Cooing like a giddy schoolgirl. Real cool, Jones. "I love pygmy puffs, is all. Can I hold him?" He climbed up into the carriage to prepare for the ride to school, checking on Freddy the toad, who was stowed happily away in a container in his pocket. Fred seemed content, so he sat down and relaxed.

Tancred smiled at Cale. "It's nice ot meet you Cale," he said, still smiling. He nodded his head. It was strange that this was happening now. "I agree. It's just strange. They've never done anything like this before. It's just sad. It's like they don't trust us anymore."

He glanced over at what all he coul see of the girls' carriages. He could tell that Lindsey was there because he could see the orange-red hair. Will he ever see her again? He didn't know. He just hoped that he would get to hold her in his arms soon. This whole separation thing was killing him.

Aiden watched curiously as a new boy joined the compartment he shared with Clifford (gigglegiggle). The second year could only stare as he heard what the boy was saying.

And then Aiden's sense of calamity left him, something that occurred quite rarely. "WHUTT?!" the boy shouted, his voice squeaky as ever. Then, Aiden's lip jutted out in an uncharacteristic pout. "But... all my friends are girls," he realized, mumbling sadly.

Still in a state of shock and disappointment, Aiden didn't know - for once - how to respond. "My healer says I have very healthy lungs," he mumbled seriously.

Clifford's next comment DID result in a slight giggle from Aiden. "Nooo, Minkus is a prairie dog." He confirmed this by grasping MinkyPinky in one hand and pulling him all the way out of his robes' pocket. Minkus squirmed in Aiden's hand, so the boy handed him over to Clifford, not thinking that there was a possibility that this older boy didn't WANT to hang on to an unfamiliar, squirmy rodent.

"He is a Ravenclaw 7th year. Reader of Shakespeare. Wears amazing hats..." His hand, that had previously been around James, flew to his mouth. He was spouting about Niall like a little school girl. "Erm yeah sure," he mumbled through his fingers.

Iggy frowned, "Yeah sure." He removed his hand from his mouth and pulled James out of his pocket. "His name is James." He sat down next to Will and tucked his trunk between his legs.

Two castles? Two Hogwarts? One for girls and one for boys. It was the most insane thing Clifford had heard. He didn't want to believe it - so he decided he would simply refuse to believe it.

"They honestly can't do that." He said seriously. Well, as serious as Clifford could get anyway. "I mean, Hogwarts is just one castle! How are they going to keep us all apart? And then there's classes and stuff. They can't separate us." He just couldn't see it working. Nuh uh.

He almost jumped again at Aiden's squeakiness, but his ears were slowly growing accustomed to the high-pitchedness and he just about managed to keep his backside in the seat. "Don't worry." He said, realising the squeaky kid's sadness. Sad squeaky wasn't nice. "I'm sure it's just all one, big, fat misunderstanding." Everything was just going to be okay. Hopefully.

And then without warning, Clifford had a strange, wriggly ... thing in his hands. What the --? He didn't do animals! Especially fidgety ones! Ew. Ew. Ewwwww. "I think Stinky Minky Minkus wants his Daddy back!" He gasped, pushing the weird creature back into Aiden's hands and rubbing his hands on his trousers. Gross, much? The only creature he liked was Henry the lizard.. and that was because they liked eating flies together.

Oh gee, this was going to be a carriage ride to remember it seemed.

The train had been dull and boring. Flynn wasn't one that appreciated travelling, nor held the patience for it. He stepped off the train with his robes on and all ready for the feast.

There were people seeing to them and the boys and girls had to go seperate ways - something which his parents and brother had forgot to mention. No matter, he was far to excited and just wanted to get into the castle already!

"I don't know hardly any Ravenclaw chaps." he said. It was a fact which disappointed him; if nothing else it'd be helpful to know them as they often ended up on the Wizengamot. Besides, they were clever- he really liked the few he'd met. However, he was a little surprised at the way that Ignatius kind of gushed about him... he raised an eyebrow as Ignatius clapped his hand over his mouth. "He must really be cool, if you like him." he commented honestly.

He took James from Ignatius. "Oh, he's so soft! Hi James..." he held up the pgymy puff, scrutinizing him. "Wouldn't it be cool if he went rabid and grew fangs and started like, attacking people in the night?" he said, grinning. "I saw that in a motion picture comic book once. I have every last one of the series of horror wizarding comics, 'PUFFS', do you know it? And in that one, the lead character, Puff Daddy, ravaged the villages after being hit by a particle accelerating potion that turned him from Puff Daddy into Puff Deadly. It was really awesome, it was totally gruesome. He was all 'RAAAAWR' and ripping people's throats out and stuff like a were-puff or something." He grinned, petting the little puff happily.

"I have only met him twice. But he seems really nice," Iggy said, calming himself down. He needed to practice his self control again. It seemed to be lacking on him.

He frowned, "Erm no not really. I got James for a reason. And that was, that he didn't have fangs. And wasn't going to savage me." He shook his head, "You have been filling your head with too much fiction. That sort of thing isn't good for you. You will start believing it at every turn." He actually had a slight phobia of been savaged to death by anything. Not that he would ever show that fear.

Garret was all alone in his carriage, he was hungry and he was exhausted. But he was also super excited about finally getting to go to Hogwarts, so he was bouncing a little on the seat. He stuck his head over the side to look around for Heath, Spencer or anyone else he knew.

Then he spotted the mousey looking kid from the wand shop, "OY! Hey!" he waved, not caring that the carriage tipped slightly to the side, what was the kid's name again? "Er... Flake?"

That couldn't be it.

The younger boy now also seemed to be upset by this news. He spoke to Clifford more, but loud enough so the other boy could hear " well i know but it looks like thats what going to happen " he said glumly " i cant remeber exact words but the professor said something like, the two genders will not be mixing from now on " he could only imagine that there would be seprate lessons aswell.

" Im guessing ... " he continued now speaking to both Clifford and the younger boy " that were going to have split lessons and everything "

Hearing a ridiculously loud shout coming from one of the carraiges was not an everyday concept so it was no surprise that Flynn had almost fallen over, frightened, by the sudden form of noise pollution.

He looked over and saw that the source of the racket was the boy from Ollivanders - Garret. However, Garret was after someone called Flake (maybe a nickname? No parent would be that cruel surely). Flynn decided to walk over anyway - if anything he could make new friends.

"Hey Garret," he said nervously, "You remember me don't you?" Not to sound desperate or anything, eh Flynn?

Will laughed; it was true, even his parents said he read too much fiction and was too much of a daydreamer. But still, how could you NOT want to daydream about rabid potion-activated giant pgymy puffs terrorizing villages and London itself? "Naah... It's just a bit of fun." he lied. He believed it could happen. In fact, he wanted to get into the potions lab this term and see if he, Will Jones, could make it happen. Life imitating art, oh Merlin yes! Giant monstrous pgymy puffs! Perhaps Ignatius could be persuaded to let James be the guinea pig...or guinea pygmy, as the case would be. He imagined himself in a white lab coat and black elbow-length gloves, on a stormy night in the castle... little James strapped to a table.... the lightning flashes.... It lives! My creation liiiiives! Mwhahahahhaaaaa.. Okay, back to reality. He shook the thought off.

"Besides... Hey-- what if that's why the girls are being separated from us? Like, what if there's some weird curse put on the castle and every hundred years or so if the boys and girls meet, it turns them rabid or into monsters or something? They could be doing this for our own safety... girls are dangerous enough without a terrible curse... " he mused. "especially girls like Prefect Trelawney and Des. Heck, Des IS a bit of a curse if you ask me." he grinned.