After the standard goodbyes and hugs, Noah immediately extracted himself from his overprotective and paranoid parents, leaving Catherine behind with them. He was sure that she'd take all of mum and dad's reminders and all that boring stuff and just pass it on to him and Scarlett when they get to school.

The rising fifth year made his way down to the back cars where all the cool kids sat, and snagged himself an empty compartment.

Time to chill, yes?

Gemma had so many mixed feeling about this term. Her dad wasn't real sure about her even going, but with her Aunt on staff and of course Willamson there he allowed it, which she was glad. She couldn't stand being in that house without her mother, but what would the castle be like without her? She just wasn't sure.

Making her way on the train she thought about finding Hope and then remembered she wasn't going to be there this term, which made her start to tear up. She had to get it together, she wasn't going to show tears or anything at school, no, she would show she was fine and hide all the emotions she had.

Trying to avoid people and quickly finding somewhere to sit she went into a compartment before realizing someone was in there. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize someone was in here. I can go if you want to be alone."

It had been - unsurprisingly - fairly easy to secure an empty compartment, and Nem hadn't even had to search the train for too long before one was all but delivered into their hands. Certain their peace and quiet would not last for long, they'd settled into the vacated compartment, and made themselves as comfortable as they were likely to get.

Nem had had no intention of returning to school this year. Not based on how last year had ended, nor on the fact that the other students might take issue with their presence; they'd been set on it as far back as the start of fifth year, that they were wasting their time not doing bigger and better things, whether that was under the guise of working for Lucien Rosier or not. But the situation had shifted, and here they were. Their judgement remained unchanged; all this school stuff was still a waste of time, and they were starting the year more apathetic than ever, but continuing as a student had its uses. The decision had almost been taken entirely out of their hands, but that little misunderstanding had soon been cleared up. The charges had been cleared too, with the caveat that they attend counselling over summer, which was whatever. People had insisted, and Nem had dutifully turned up, but nobody could force them to talk, nor report on what they weren't saying. An hour of silence twice a week was wicked boring, but they put up with it.

Leaning back against the corner of the compartment, legs stretched diagonally out across the seats, Nem tugged at their collar and resumed flipping through the book they'd brought for the train ride. Without anxiety, without interest, utterly unmoved.

It took a lot for Ash to go back to Hogwarts. Her bodyguards had given her lots of hugs, bought her lots of presents, and helped her pack. One of them even embroidered a phoenix on the inside of her robes. And she had gone surfing with Theodore a bunch of times before she had to go, just in case it was the last time she saw him. Now she was ready. Hogwarts could NOT stop her from being alive and well.

Just kidding. It probably could.

As evidenced by her walking into a random compartment and finding Upstead. TRAITOR Upstead. Well, she wasn't moving. The universe was NOT IN CHARGE, did it hear? ASH was in charge. So instead she just took a seat across from them and crossed her legs. She was a firestarter, emotionally and mentally as well as physically. She was born to start fires. She smiled. "Hey Nem." She wasn't going to come after them before they even made it to Hogwarts. Well, she told herself she wouldn't. "How was your summer?" SEE UNIVERSE? Ash was actually so angry that she was nice, just to spite the universe and the people who thought she didn't have a handle on her emotions. Was she in control of the universe or her emotions? No. But she reserved the right to pretend that she did.

Lo and behold, an interloper.

Eyes flicking up from the page as the door slid open, Nem noted Fox and went back to reading. Nothing personal. They didn't move their legs out of the way either, leaving it up to her to navigate around them, or rather over, if she was so determined to sit directly opposite.

Skipping the greeting, Nem shrugged. "Fine." Exactly what the kid's game was, coming in here, they neither knew nor cared, but it was the kind of thing they were more than prepared to handle. They tugged at their collar again, turned the page of their book, scanned through the writing. "What about yours."

Summer updates. Merlin alive.

Ash was going to tell Nemesis Upstead all about how great her summer was. Even if it wasn't great. Even if they didn't care. She was going to mess with The Universe's mind. The stupid, horrible universe. It was a sick joke. "Oh, my summer was fine. I like, went surfing, hung out with my little brother, got a boyfriend, talked to all of my muggle and wizarding world friends, got a tattoo, and went surfing some more. Very relaxing and nice. It was kind of you to ask." Just in case the universe was taking notes, there were people who would be full of rage if she died. Ash neither knew nor cared whether the universe was sentient or whether it was just accidentally horrible, but just in case it was, she was going to spite it. Maybe she couldn't hurt Upstead. But she had the last laugh with Rosier, and she was going to have the last laugh with the universe too. "I count myself luckily that nobody in my family died before I could see them. Sorry about Rosier, by the way. I know he meant a lot to you." She continued on as if she hadn't just been doing an experiment to see what happened when she mentioned Mr. obnoxiously evil. "I'm excited to go back to Hogwarts and get back to Doing Stuff. Summer is a little too relaxing, y'know? I get so bored." And alone. Not that that was anybody else's business. And going to Hogwarts made it easier to avoid therapy...

Ash was going to talk this entire time. Nemesis Upstead was reading a book alone. They probably wanted to be alone. And if they didn't care, then she could at least show The Universe how little she played by its rules. "Is that an interesting book you're reading?" She had soooo much boring small talk in store. One of the worst combinations. What's your favorite color and When's your birthday and How's your family and Do you like the ocean and Who do you think will get the most famous this year and Should I write a book. She had enough small talk to bore herself to death. And bore them to death. And bore The Universe to death. She was going to T A L K
F O R E V E R. Maybe then The Universe would understand. Maybe Nemesis Upstead wouldn't, but the universe would get the message that she was going to break all of its dumb rules and be calm towards a... well... arch-Nemesis. Perhaps she wouldn't be so chill in five minutes when she got worked up, but right now, she was too busy Defying The Establishment and Annoying The Universe.

"Hey do you think the Universe is a sentient creature who wants everyone to suffer, or a sentient creature who is just super dumb? Or it could be non-sentient and completely coincidental." Her previous Boring Dumb Question "forgotten", she was on to the next one, which was only slightly less boring and dumb.

Ash had always wanted an opportunity to be an annoying child. Or just a child in general.

Ooh, company already?

Come to think it, after all that happened last term, some if not most would be reluctant to come back to school. Obviously, each had their reasons as to why they had to come back, but Noah was almost certain that the back train which used to be the place for party kids, slowly turned into the sulking end of the ride.

But whatever. All of that uprising was a thing of the past... but not forgotten.

Noah sat the moment the compartment door opened, and eyed the newcomer carefully. Did he want to be left alone? Mmmmwell, yeah? But he also thought that the newcomer could also use some company. Had she been crying? She looked like it. "It's alright," he said leaning back on his seat keeping his gaze at the girl. "Come on in..."

Was he going to regret this? Will there be tears on this ride?

After an embarrassing, teary eyed goodbye back at the train station (Honestly, Minjae was too sensitive sometimes) Daniel had placed his luggage in the luggage compartment and was currently walking through the corridor at the back of the train. He had refused to stand at one of the windows to wave at his older brother.

He opened up several compartments to check if they were empty but as his brother had been stalling his departure at the platform because he did not want to let him go , it was difficult to find an empty one now.

He opened and then closed several occupied compartments as he walked down the corridor, mumbling an "excuse me" every time. He had only recognized Ashley in one of them seated with an older student he was not familiar with, before moving to the next compartment. And the next one, and the next…. OH!

An empty one! Grinning from ear to ear, the first year threw his bag on to the seat on the right and sat down near the window after closing the compartment door. His black cat, who he had found back in Diagon Alley had jumped on the seat opposite of his.

"We're almost at Hogwarts" He said to the cat , his voice edging with excitement before he leaned to the side to reach his bag and opened it up to reveal a first grade Transfiguration book. He placed it on his lap and flipped to the page he had left off, as he immersed himself in the world of theoretical magic.

For their part, Nem continued to sit and read. No huge level of attention was really required, as it was a book they'd read once before, and very recently, while passing a quiet day in Prince's flat. As the minutes ticked on, Nem focused partly on reading, and partly on applying that reading to a mental store of other thoughts and theories. Every now and then they tuned in to what Fox was saying, in case she stumbled upon something interesting.

Inconsequential stuff, mostly, though the mention of Lucien Rosier was noted, and was perhaps the one moment Nem was tempted to laugh, or really to react at all. 'I know he meant a lot to you.' Good one; what these kids thought they knew could fill several landfill sites. Unmoved, Nem turned another page, glossing over every word spoken, including that Kitridge-like (rest in pieces, or whatever) spew about the universe.

When it was over, they let the silence hang in the air for a long moment, finally looking up again as the compartment door opened once more to reveal a kid... who instantly moved on. After he had done so, the door sliding closed in his wake, Nem made to return to their book, paused, and glanced over at Fox instead.

"... Sorry, did you say something?"

Somehow in the time between arriving at the platform, boarding the train, and putting away her luggage, Kinsay had lost Teddy and Fifi. She figured they'd want to find their own friends anyway, which ... while fair, was still a little disappointing - especially because Kinsay hadn't found Emm and Matty yet. Or Cooper! Train time was so stressful.

Feeling a little overwhelmed, the ~ thiiiiiird ~ year took it upon herself to find an empty compartment, in hopes that Matty 'n Emm would come find her when they went looking............ They would go looking for her, right? Um.

So making her way back from the luggage compartment, she stepped inside the first empty compartment she saw. "Oh." Color Kinsay surprised. Not only was this compartment not empty, but there was also a black cat inside and "those are bad luck." .... Which, was not something she meant to say out loud.

Ash waved at Daniel, hoping that he would not come in. Minjae would be so mad. Thankfully he moved on. "I did actually say something. I said two things. The first one was an inquiry on what you were reading and the second one was about whether or not the universe is sentient and evil or not." Repeating herself was annoying, but she took that as a good sign. The Universe would surely be annoyed too. "Nevermind. Do you think you'd ever write a book? I would buy that." And then she would read it. And then she would set it on fire. "Hey, I should write a book too! We can be twinsies and write books together!" That would be traumatizing for her and boring for them. But also, really good for publicity. "We could make each other look bad. Then there would be drama. And then people would have to read both of our books, and we would make loads of cash. That's what famous people do, y'know." Although she was joking, there was a hint of truth in her words. Making a book to yell at someone else was probably the best get-rich-quick scheme on the planet. And if they wanted money, that would be a great way to get some. Her father had taught her that. A terrible father, but a great businessman. It was a shame she couldn't have both.

Alfie was overjoyed to be on the train and on his way to Hogwarts. He had been quite a handful for his parents for the past few days as he could hardly contain his excitement, and barely stopped talking about Hogwarts for a second. He couldn't believe it was really time. He was really going. He had been waiting for this ever since he had gotten the letter telling him he was a wizard.

He walked down the train, pulling his trunk behind him and holding the cage for the owl that he had talked his parents into getting him. He wasn't concerned about finding an empty compartment, necessarily. He was excited about making new magical friends. He was sort of looking for some of the people he had already met, or for others his age. Toward the back of the train he came across a girl standing in the doorway to a compartment, and a boy and a cat inside the compartment.

"Woah! Cute cat!" He moved past the girl and into the compartment. "Hi! My name is Alfie! Can I sit here with you?"

Back at the manor, Daniel had been flipping through his books but it was really the potions and transfiguration books that had caught his attention the most. The potions book because he had seen Minjae brewing a couple since he became off age and he had found it fascinating to watch as he had brew. The transfiguration part was actually due to the description he had gotten of his wand. He still remembered the wand shopkeepers words clearly ‘Excellent for transfigurations and creature magic, and not suitable for dark magic.' *Excellent for transfigurations... A subject he had been eagerly wanting to learn ever since he found out that he was a wizard like his older brother.

As the compartment door opened up, Daniel placed a finger on the word in the book before looking up to see an older girl standing in the doorway. His eyes moved from her to his cat and then back at her with his eyebrow raised.

“In some cultures they’re actually a symbol of good luck and prosperity” he answered and gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Who are you anyway ?” and why was she already making assumptions of his black cat without even having met her yet?

When a kid around his own age moved past the girl to get further in to the compartment, Daniel focused his attention on him for a second before looking back over at the girl. “See, that is how you greet a cat” he grinned.

Alfie… Hadn’t he met a boy named Alfie before? He was definitely not the Alfie he had met in Diagon Alley though. ”I’m Daniel. You can both sit there if you want” honestly, the compartment was not his. Or was the girl too afraid?

What, Nem wondered, should be first on the agenda, upon reaching school. Sure, there was the feast, but beyond that. They had some things to sort out, and then they'd obviously be stopping by to see the Headsman. Maybe Recard too. And Varma. Perhaps Weasley. Schmoe. How much did any of them know? Would any of them even be back, or had they totally lost their composure and quit the castle? Nem also had to admit to a little curiosity regarding the status of the Wooden Bridge, and the ravine below it, but none of these things would provide much in the way of long-lasting entertainment. Bernadette would be around, at least. Oh, and they didn't doubt that some of those have-a-go heroes would be crawling out of the woodwork, now they had their opportunity. That might be fun.

Nem had drifted back to their book again, clearly back to paying very little attention to the inane prattling. It wasn't unlike accidentally setting Ezra off with anything that reminded him of a Thrianta or whatever, only when he got going he tended to stick with the same topic and get really into the minutiae of the matter. Showed he really did have something resembling a brain in there, so... maybe the two situations weren't that alike after all. "I'm not interested in drama. Or fame."

They shifted slightly now so their bony shoulder blades pressed against the wall of the compartment, and ran a crooked index finger back and forth along the neckline of their shirt. "And I already have a twin. We're very alike." That depended on perspective, but though a veritable chasm of difference had been opening up between them over the years, Nem and Pax were still strikingly similar in some ways. Appearance, for example. Certain aspects of it, at any rate. Nem paused at a point on their current page, marked it with a finger, and flipped back several chapters to check something else as they spoke. "Like looking in a mirror."

Victoria had said her goodbyes. Dad, mum, the twins...

and Prince Charleston. Her Yorkie. With a bowtie SHE had picked out, and with him firmly held by her father, she had let him lick her face one last time before she boarded the train. She knew the rules. She KNEW the rules. And she and her dad had spent much of the summer trying to get her used to the idea that her Yorkie would be left home. And for the most part, V had been fine aaaaaaaalllllll summer....

The moment she had stepped foot on the train, waving one last time, she began to sniffle.

And as she looked for an empty compartment...the sniffles turned into...little tears...

And then the little tears turned to big tears.

And soon, Victoria was ugly!sobbing in the middle of the corridor and she was trying to hide her face because she did NOT want to be THAT first year crying on the train. She tried to get as faaaaaar into the back as she could go before the train left and perhaps she could find a shadow to hide in. Was there a bathroom??? ;___;

There was a part of Phoebe that expected to run into Tavie on the train. Turn a corner and spot Flynn. But they weren't on the train, and so Phoebe was sort of pretending like she wasn't looking for anyone. She wasn't going to be disappointed not to see people she wanted to see, so anyone she did see would be a pleasant surprise.

Except... this was not a pleasant surprise. Phoebe spotted Nemesis Upstead sitting in one of the carriages with Ashley Fox, and her stomach clenched. Fear. Revulsion. Anger. Her skin crawled and her heart sped up, AND THIS WAS NOT HOW THIS TERM WAS SUPPOSED TO FEEL. It was supposed to be better.

Maybe she should have gone to see that therapist like her mum suggested.

"Fox. You're taller," Phoebe stepped to the door of the carriage and gave the younger girl a nod. "Upstead..." What exactly did she want to say to them? "Are we supposed to play nice?"

Third year, huh? It was crazy to Evan how much his opinion and attitude could change towards the Wizarding World in such a short span of time. And as he boarded the Hogwarts Express for the third time, he felt such a weight on his shoulders. No Noah this time, no friends, and not just one little sister but TWO to look after.

At least one of the Nam's seemed excited to be here though.

Stepping onto the train, somehow Evan quickly managed to lose sight of his sisters, but also tried not to fret. They probably had friends to go see, or a corner to curl up into with a book. Which was entirely his plan. And he made his way towards the very back of the train hoping to fight the most quiet.

But instead he found a... sobbing girl?

O______o

He wanted to skirt by and not saying anything, as Evan Nam was anything but master of emotions but... what if she was someone's younger sister too and no one was stopping to help her?

He tapped her shoulder and pointed towards an open door near her. "That one's free if you need somewhere to sit? It seems empty so far too?"

Victoria was enjoying quietly sniffling and OPENLY SOBBING when her throat felt all fuihefiuhrgihigth in between the sniffling when she suddenly felt a tap and a VOICE.

SOMEONE WAS SEEING HER CRY. Victoria suuuucked in from her nose and wiped it on her sleeve as she hurriedly wiped her eyes. "I'm FINE!" she said LOUDLY as she put her hands on her hips ,but as she eyed the free compartment and then glanced back at him - then to the compartment, then back at him - she burst into tears again and fled into the compartment.

She didn't bother shutting the compartment door, though. Because what did it matter? That boy had already seen her crying ;__;

how utterly embarrassing to be the first year who cried on the train

Evan was reaching into the bag over his shoulder he carried for supplies and his lighter reading, believing he might still have some tissues for the girl if she needed but.. well she seemed to have taken care of that with her sleeve. Which he would... just remember to stay away from that arm.

Although as she yelled she was fine, which... he hadn't asked since it seemed she clearly wasn't, and honestly he didn't even think it was that unusual to cry on the train. He'd cried a bit in the loo before boarding. "No one said you weren't." She seemed on the verge of pulling it together too so he was going to move on.

But then she was a mess again and fleeing into the compartment. So he paused again, before following quietly and perching right inside the door on the train, pulling out the previously abandoned tissues and offering them. "Here. These might work better than your sleeve."

Or maybe they wouldn't. Since trash and all.

Oh, so they were dropping pretenses apparently now. That was a pity. Faking was more fun and more safe. And just as much as her annoying but clam personality melted away, so did her expression. It was as if her face melted, but not literally. It was more like her soul draining away actually, until there was nothing left but her eyes. Her eyes were brown and would be honestly quite pretty if they didn't have a look of emptiness in them. Or pain, or the cold screams of dying souls or whatever. "You do seem like the type of person who would like mirrors. Not just the solitary confinement kind." Since they thought so much of themself, apparently. Blah blah, I'm special and good at magic etc. "I bet you would like them a lot more though if you tried wearing one of those ominous hoods like the hoodie squad. It would be very cool, and you wouldn't have to actually see your face." Yes that last part was uncalled for, and yes they were attractive, but insults never needed to be accurate anyway.

Her eyes flickered to the door. "Hey Phoebe. I have grown taller. Surprise." She did not bother to answer the question about playing nice. Nobody was exactly being nice right now.

Ash had many things that she took turns hating. The Universe, the government that left her to die, archNemesis Upstead, Emmerson, Rosier's memories... It was the Universe today, but archNemesis Upstead was coming pretty close to being more evil than the universe. Almost. Then again, archNemesis Upstead never made her commit any arson. "Have either of you ever almost drowned before? Or burned to death? Or done anything super cool like that? Treason doesn't count, because then I wouldn't get to win this game." This conversation was stupid, but it was infinitely better than having a real conversation. If she was stuck between having a one sided small-talk conversation with archNemesis Upstead, that was better than having a two sided conversation where they tried to see exactly how much they could talk to her about without making her explode with blind rage. Wayyyy better.

After Mystie said goodbye to her family and getting her baggage placed in the luggage car she made her way to the back of the train. Finding an open seat is one of the compartments she sat down and took out one of the old warn out
potion book she bought at Cranville Quincey's Magical Junk Shop and started to look through it and folded down corners of some pages.

Nem could have sighed. Almost did. If they weren't contending with people who couldn't spot a subtle comment if it jabbed them simultaneously in both eyes, then instead they got people who saw the subtlety but swiftly abandoned all pretence. How did these people get through the days without going utterly insane from the tedium of it all.

They shook their head an infinitesimal amount, now idly flipping through pages of their book with growing disinterest. "Sorry, you've lost me. I don't have a clue what you're on about." The 'and neither do you' was implied.

For all their reaction to Fox's insult, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that Nem had missed it entirely. Again the door opened, and again they looked up. Ah. James. Nem watched her for a moment, their association with the James Matriarch immediately springing to mind, even if it started with a slightly confused, fairly muddied memory. They gave a small shrug. "Why do we need to play anything? Haven't I always been nice to you?"

When Fox spoke up again, Nem looked across at her, arranging their features into a kind of pity. If this kid talked herself into having some kind of nervous breakdown, Nem was not above throwing her off the train. Super cool or what.

"I don't think anyone in here's committed treason anyway." They afforded James half a glance, then went right back to staring at the pages of their book, shifting their feet over so they went across their own bench of seats instead of diagonally across the compartment, freeing up a seat for James if she wanted it. Made it easier to lean up against the seat back and rest the side of their head against it against it, not to mention reserve this half of the compartment for themselves alone while unsubtly cutting off the rest. "Phoebe's hardly the type."

"I know," she replied immediately. "But it's bad luck in Europe." She wasn't trying to argue because Kinsays didn't like arguing, but sometimes you have to defend yourself. That's all. "I'm Kinsay. Who are you?" That was the BETTER question because Kinz hadn't seen him around the castle before, which obviously meant, he was new.

Like this other kid who had just pushed past. Kiz hadn't seen him before either.

She wasn't going to follow him into the compartment though because she had other people to sit with. Less than last year (which she was trying not to think about), but she wouldn't want to sit with anyone else. Emm and Matty probably wouldn't like that very much... And neither would Kizzy. They were her people. She needed them. These kids also seemed younger (she could tell by the excitement) and Kinsay was a proper teenager who got invited to proper teenage parties now, so Emm probably wouldn't like it if she sat with younger students. So. Um. She really couldn't be sitting here even if she wanted to. Sorry. (She really was).

I'm Kinsay," she repeated herself for the benefit of Alfie, before she looked over at the cat again. For the record, she also thought it was cute! "I can't sit here because I have to find my friends," she replied honestly, but not unkindly. "Are you first years?" It was pretty obvious. They wouldn't be so happy to go to Hogwarts if they weren't. Kinsay sure didn't want to be back. Though, um, she didn't really have much of a choice.

Adam Luck - with his fancy new grown up short hair cut, in case you forgot - was SUPER stoked to be heading back. People would probably think he was crazy, but the reality was that he loved to learn. He soaked up every bit of knowledge he could - it was a wonder he wasn't a Ravenclaw, honestly. And after last term, when they'd obviously been forced to teach them terrible things about muggles that weren't true at ALL, Adam was ready to learn more about actual MAGIC. Bring on the homework! He was ready!

Looking around the train for anywhere to sit - it was weird not having Leighton around to watch out for him - he stumbled across Kinsay, talking to some younger kids who were clearly first years. Aww, look at her making new friends with the kiddos! Adam was PROUD and very clearly delusional.

"Kinsay! Hey! Who are your new friends?" he asked with a grin as he barged in to the conversation.