"I see. I'm sorry for all the questions," Tayla blushed. "Mum's a witch but Dad's a Muggle. We knew all about Mum but she hardly ever talked about magic. I grew up in the Muggle world. How about you?"

'No, idea, but I hope soon!'

'I'm a muggleborn'

Iris had escaped, uh... yeah. She'd escaped from the crowded confines of the Prefects' compartment. She wanted to find Fallon or Jimbo. Other than Aaron, they were her only two best friends still at Hogwarts. That was a sad thought... Gosh.

She was still in her muggle clothes; Iris didn't plan to change into her uniform until the train got closer to Hogsmeade. Her Head Girl badge was pinned onto her chest.

Every so often, the tall girl would peak her head into a compartment, in search for one of her friends. And also if there were shifty looking kids in a compartment...

'Hi Tayla, I'm Ella.' Ella smiled. 'I'm half and half too. Dad's a Muggle but me and my five older brothers have lived with our Mam all our lives so we pretty much grew up in the Wizarding World.. but we know a bit about Muggles.'

"Hey...do any of you know anything about that ship in the Daily Prophet? I wonder if we'll see it when we get there."

'So, Tayla, what house do you want to be in?' Rose asked

"Im half half mum's a witch dad's a muggle"

'What ship?' Rose asked

"The ship in DA!"

"Hi Ella. I like you name," Tayla smiled. "I'm glad I'm not the only half-and-half witch here. And as for the house I want to be in...either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. But Mum was in Gryffindor so I prefer that. You?"

Rozanna Jupitus was finally aboard! You could say that a bit more excitement was required on her behalf, but she was actually feeling a bit crumby. Her hair, very long, curly and brown, fell in front of her shoulders, and she was already dressed in her school robes, because she didn't like the thought of changing clothes with a billion of others on the train. All ready, she entered a secluded compartment at the back of the train and sat down.

She stared out of the window for a moment, but the train was moving too fast and it bugged her eyes, starting to make her feel a bit sick. Looking away from the outside world, she stretched her arms out and finally smiled.

Nothing but a space for her wand to sit joined her in this compartment. And that's how she wanted and expected it to stay! So she put her feet up on the opposite sofa-type chair, closed her eyes and relaxed as the train made it's way to the wonderful world of Hogwarts.

"I really want to be in gryffindor"

'DA? What's that!?'

"Diagon Alley"

'Oh, right... But what's this black ship everyones talking about!?' Rose had no idea as she didn't get the wizard paper she got the muggle one!

"I meant the ship in the lake at Hogwarts. It was in the Daily Prophet, wasn't it?"

"Mum told me that first years pass through the lake to get to the Hogwarts castle," Tayla said, narrowing her eyes in wonder. "If that ship is still on the lake, do you think we'll still pass through there? It's traditional isn't it?"

"There's a ship there? Spooooky"

'What is it a bad ship or something?'

"I dunno..." Tayla said. "We're not allowed to go in or explore it...but I'm kinda curious about it..."

Tayla bent forward in her seat and whispered. "The teachers have checked it out and found nothing...I was wondering, maybe...if we could check it out some time."

Tayla straightened up again and shrugged. "But I guess that would be breaking the rules, won't it?"

"Not a lot of people do." She answered wryly. Then she smiled as she acknowledged the complement "Thanks darling, and I can't wait to let you all hear it. - The songs I mean." she said with a giggle

Then her smile dropped at the mention of the ship. For some reason, she really did equate her favorite professor's disappearance to that ship's sudden appearance in the middle of a closed lake. "Well, The Prophet did say it was safe..." She said slowly, trying to remember that article that she had read on the Daily Prophet "But, I don't think its just an ordinary ship, Freya..." She started "I mean, no ordinary ship could get into the Black Lake. Its landlocked for crying out loud!"

Then she smiled a bit "I'm sure it wasn't." After all, Freya didn't spend the summer crying over a certain someone. But, she was glad her mother didn't imprison her in the manor because of that ship, she would have died in there without anything else to do. "Your dad was probably just really concerned about your safety."

"Well, lets just hope that he doesn't show up." Cass said with finality as she nodded. After all,m ,who wanted that freak back into their lives?

"Oh..whoopee." Cass said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes "A whole year with Mr. Panda running around loose in Hogwarts. This ought to be fun." Maybe her fellow lions didn't have what it takes to hex the stuffing out of that Panda, but she wouldn't say the same about the other houses, after all. Mr. Panda can get really annoying.

Then she twirled her wand absently once more - a habit she had begun to develop - and said in a threatening manner "Just do make sure it doesn't get to the dungeons." Then she paused for dramatic effect "Because if it does, I can promise you that it really be his last year." She disliked that Panda VERY VERY much. More after it had glomped her during first year, almost making her fall off the tree house that used to be on the grounds.

Then her glare was replaced by a frown by the mention of that ship once again. But this time, it wasn't the memory of her old teacher that saddened - or possibly angered - her, but it was that tone in Heather's voice. That very same tone that sent alarm bells ringing inside the blonde's head. That girl was planning something bad.

"Good luck trying to get in it." Cass said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes "I'm pretty sure there are a bunch of enchantments around that thing." She didn't think Hogwarts would just let students go in and out of a mysterious ship that appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the Black Lake, especially not with all the chaos happening. Like the replacement of a few professors (Like Professor Welton) and others. "Besides, even if you were able to break any of the spells cast on that ship, you're going to need something less sinkable than a dingy to get past Henry the Squid."

Cass' eyes widened with every sentence that came out of Levi's mouth. How could muggle authorities just ignore that?! The boy had a huge scar on his face for heaven's sake and they still didn't care? What was wrong with them?!?

She blinked owlishly for a moment before crossing her arms over her chest then leaning slightly on the door frame with her legs crossed. To a casual on looker, she would have looked relaxed, but they couldn't see the thoughts running around her mind.

"Don't you have relatives to stay with or something?" She asked. It was impossible that Levi didn't have any relatives. That was just not possible.

'Yeah, but it would be pretty awesome!' Rose said 'If only we were allowed...' Rose sighed

"Yeah it would," Tayla grinned. "I hope the teachers mention something about it when we get to Hogwarts. And I guess we'll just have to wait and see...I think we'll see it in the lake on our way to the castle."

Tayla looked out the window. It was already dark outside. "I wonder how much longer till we get there."

'At this rate I don't think we're ever gonna get there!' Rose moaned 'And my parents didn't know it would be this long, and didn't make me any lunch! I's been 40 hours!'

Hugo strolled the train, to stretch his legs. He really had to get used to his body which had grown quite a few inches over the summer. He still wasn't very tall, but he was getting there. He held the daily prophet in his hand while strolling, which really wasn't a good idea, reading and walking with your laces untied. "MYSTERIOUS SHIP APPEARS IN THE BLACK LAKE" He frowned and stood still for a while, still reading. Durmstrang... Wasn't that where Edmond skipped off to? He shrugged and started walking again, while reading the article. After finishing, he looked out the window. The raindrops started falling harder. He folded up the prophet and looked for a trash can. No. Trash. Can. WHAT. He needed to get rid of that thing. He looked at a compartment with a lone girl in it and slid open the door quietly.

"H-hi," Hugo said half shy, half charming. "Would you be interested in a free copy of the Daily Prophet?" he asked. "From last week?" he mumbled. "Read all about the mysterious ship and stuff," he told the girl. Wow, he was weird. But... He needed to get rid of that paper. He didn't want to hang on to it for the rest of the ride and throw it away at Hogsmeade, right?

"Want to go to the food trolley with me? I'm hungry as well," Tayla replied. "How about Ella and Thomas?"