Summer had been uneventful for him; aside from going to the beach with Lisa, V, and Stewie and his brother Minjae getting into a verbal fight with their father, not much had happened.

He boarded the train with Cat, his black cat, by his side, and as he walked through the train's corridor looking for an empty seat, Daniel began to think about his fifth year at Hogwarts. The OWLs exams would begin in a few months, and the Hufflepuff had vowed himself that he would get a perfect score.

after opening a compartment door.
Daniel threw his schoulder bag on the seat opposite him and took a seat by the window.

Summer had been EPIC for Jasper. He always looked forward to the summer quidditch season (U17 ruled) and this time he had even gotten to help with some camps for younger kids, which was heaps of fun. AND. He turned fifteen which was pretty sweet. AND he got to hang out with his friends without the looming pressure of homework and exams. He was ready to head back to Hogwarts though.

He boarded the train with an easy smile in place and a backpack casually slung over one shoulder. Naturally, he ran into several friends as he made it past the first few cars and chatted with all of them before spotting Daniel in a compartment on his own. Sliding the door open, Jas stuck his head in and greeted his dormmate far too loudly, "Sup, dude?!" His energy levels were THROUGH. THE. ROOF. "Fifth year, isn't that crazy?!" Totally mad. It'd be E P I C on every level. LEGENDARY ~ even.

His summer had not been entirely uneventful, as he had claimed. He assumed his trip down Knockturn Alley with Serena had been different from his usual day. As the train began to leave the station, the Hufflepuff looked out the window and reflected on that day. He hadn't felt in any real danger despite being in a notorious place like Knockturn Alley, apart from a general sense of unease.

The Hufflepuff turned away from the window to acknowledge his hyperactive dormmate standing in the doorway. Daniel had always wondered where he got his energy from, given that he was his polar opposite. "Hello, Jasper," he replied, refraining from saying something lame and that 'the sky was up' before he nodded, agreeing that fifth year was 'crazy,' though he wouldn't describe it that way. 'Important' would be a better word. "It is, this year marks the beginning of shaping our future careers" he stated. He wasn't going to get too deep into it right now . "How was your summer?" He continued not truly caring but he was a little bored anyway.

As he dropped off his trunk in the luggage compartment and headed onto the train proper, Rajesh had to admit that for the first time since his first year he was really looking forward to the new term. One, his first major set of exams were thankfully behind him and he was quite satisfied with his results. A relief to be sure. Hopefully there would be a reprieve before they started studying for their NEWTS happening next term as they focused on the classes they wanted to take.

But the second part reason was better. His Aunt Hady was coming to Hogwarts to teach making Care of Magical Creatures class even more enjoyable! Raj had been practically bouncing when he had found out, dragging the older Atreyu-Rehman out of the worry for what 6th year had to offer. Her appearance at the reserve was always a treat and just one train ride and they’d both be in the same place for most of a year. The sixth year taking a seat in an empty compartment to wait out that ride.

"Uh, yeah totally," Jas had to hold himself back from making a weird face. He'd been shaping his future career since the very first day he could mount a broom on his own. He was almost tempted to skip OWLs all together, tbh. He didn't need O's to go pro. So shrugged the comment off without making a big deal of it. "It was great," he grinned, ready to go on about Quidditch despite knowing his dormmate didn't care for the sport the same way Jasper did. That was weird, right? Everyone loves quidditch.

"It was pretty busy with summer training and U17. Bummer we only placed third this year, but we had a lot of new players this year and Ireland's roster was totally stacked." He didn't sound as disappointed as he had been in the moment. "I keep telling coach we have to train harder," he shrugged. If it were up to Jas, they'd have several practices a day.

"How was yours?" Oh and, "How's Cat?"

Tahani was walking through the train corridors, searching for an empty compartment to sit. Most of them were full. She finally found a compartment with only one person in it. Hopefully he would not mind?
She slowly slid open the door and sat down and smiled at the boy. He was much bigger than her, was probably a fifth or sixth year. 'Hi, I'm Tahani,' she said, introducing herself.

After finding the first available compartment that he could, Solomon pushed through with his trunk, having only just recovered from just a small amount of upset over saying goodbye to his mum before boarding. ONLY A LITTLE UPSET, MIND. He was quite sure the rest of the emotion would surface under the covers in bed tonight, because as excited as he was, going to boarding school was terrifying for a mere eleven year old.

It seemed most people were already acquainted with each other as he passed through the train corridor, either that or they were all just really good at making friends. He had made a couple, he supposed, in Diagon Alley and at camp, if you could call them friends already. Majority of them being girls, weirdly.

The first year sat with his trunk as a foot-rest, and watched the door, constantly worried that a group of seventh years would come and push him out of the window.

Had Jasper revealed that he was thinking about skipping his OWLs to focus on his Quidditch career, Daniel would have called him a fool. Contrary to popular belief, Daniel liked Quidditch, though not enough to participate in it. In fact, if there was one thing he was bad at, it was broom flying. It felt unnatural to him, and he was nervous about flying, though he never voiced that out loud. Except for speeding, which he enjoyed, the loops were a no-go.

"Placing third is better than placing last. Which team are you in?" he asked as he bent forward to collect his bag from the opposite seat and unzipped it to take a book from it. He didn't intend to read for the time being, but he felt more at ease with a book on his lap. It didn't take long for him to realize he'd forgotten it. Daniel slumped back in his seat, an irritated expression on his face. How could he possibly have forgotten? He was confident he had gone over his packing list at least five times before leaving!

"What?" He asked absently as Jasper asked him a question and he waved his hand. "Oh, nothing significant happened. I did go to the beach with Lisa, Stewie, and V though" And a trip down Knockturn Alley to join Serena in her search for her family's heirloom, but he had promised the Slytherin that he would keep that a secret. Also contrary to popular belief, he kept his word. He was sorted into Hufflepuff for a reason.

"And Cat is..." as if on cue, the black cat jumped up from her seat and walked over to Jasper's legs and meowed loudly as she looked up at the fifth year. "She wants to get out, you're in her way" he sighed. "Well, she hasn't scratched me since last year so I guess that is a step forward. Did you know that there is a spell that will make small animals such as cats befriend you?" he asked. "It's kind of like the imperius curse but less... illegal" he snorted.

He hadn't expected to be able to ride by himself, not with as crowded a train as the Hogwarts Express was for the ride to and from Hogwarts, so he wasn't surprised by the door opening not too long after he had settled himself in. Raj managed a small smile to the young girl who entered, not able to help but remember what it felt on his first ride. The innocence.

"Hello Tahani, I'm Raj," he returned politely. "First time?" As in not catching up with friends and finding space with older strangers.

Tahani smiled at Raj. 'Hi Raj, pleased to meet you.'. First time, yes. 'Yeah, first year!,' she exclaimed. Man, she was nervous and excited. How was first year going to be? What to expect? She had a million questions in her head. 'What about you?,' she asked Raj. 'What is first year like?,' she asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by La_Luna

Tahani smiled at Raj. 'Hi Raj, pleased to meet you.'. First time, yes. 'Yeah, first year!,' she exclaimed. Man, she was nervous and excited. How was first year going to be? What to expect? She had a million questions in her head. 'What about you?,' she asked Raj. 'What is first year like?,' she asked.

"Sixth year..." the boy...young man answered. Six years he had travelled this way on the first of September to his home for a majority of the year. As to what first year was like, well, he certainly wasn't about to talk about what his own first year had entailed. No need to frighten the poor girl with memories that still threatened to haunt his dreams. "It can be...interesting. And filled with a lot of new things."

Yeah, that was calm enough.

Six years. That's a lot of years. Six years in this world of magic seemed bizarre to her. In an exciting way. Maybe it's because she was muggle-born and this was straight out of a storybook. Some days, she was convinced all of this was a dream. Hence, six years seemed like a long time to her. It probably wasn't to pure and half-bloods as they were already accustomed to this world.

Raj's response was..interesting. His face seemed to give away that something terrible had happened. Tahani didn't want to pry. So, she nodded. 'I am muggle-born, this is all no new to me. Some days, I'm not even sure all of this is real,' she confessed. Felt good to say it out loud, although she did feel kinda stupid saying it to a complete stranger.

Well obviously Jas knew that third was better than last, but Jasper liked to think BIG. League champions, big. That's the title he was after. By the end of summer he was sure he'd be able to pull Serena on board and get her to transfer over. They'd be an unbeatable duo and they'd have league champs in. the. bag. "England U17," he offered casually. Only the NATIONAL U17 league that everyone who's anyone played for before going to the pros. But again. No big deal or anything. "This summer was my second year." He made it on as the starting beater being the youngest in his age bracket. But again, no big deal.

"Which beach?" If Jasper was surprised to hear that V and Daniel went on holiday together, he didn't show it.

Jasper smiled down at the cat, reaching a hand out to give him some gentle scratches under the chin and stepping inside so as to close the door behind him. "Hey, did you miss me this summer?" Jasper was certain he was Cat's favorite of all the dormmates. "Were you planning to let him out?" Bad move, Daniel. Especially with how crowded the corridors were at the moment.

Daniel's snort left Jasper unimpressed. There wasn't anything funny about the imperius curse. "Sounds inhumane, bro."

Quote:

Originally Posted by La_Luna

Six years. That's a lot of years. Six years in this world of magic seemed bizarre to her. In an exciting way. Maybe it's because she was muggle-born and this was straight out of a storybook. Some days, she was convinced all of this was a dream. Hence, six years seemed like a long time to her. It probably wasn't to pure and half-bloods as they were already accustomed to this world.

Raj's response was..interesting. His face seemed to give away that something terrible had happened. Tahani didn't want to pry. So, she nodded. 'I am muggle-born, this is all no new to me. Some days, I'm not even sure all of this is real,' she confessed. Felt good to say it out loud, although she did feel kinda stupid saying it to a complete stranger.

Muggleborn…

Ah so that explained it. There was the excitement and curiosity of the 11 year old that was familiar with the wizarding world if not Hogwarts and then there was the wide-eyed first years who had been truly thrust in the world of the unknown. “Oh it’s all very real, I assure you,” Raj mused with a smile. No pinching needed to make sure it wasn't any sort of dream.

He could only imagine what it felt like to her as he himself had been surrounded by magic most if not all of his life. He grew up on a hippogriff and dragon reserve for Merlin's sake. "There are certainly fun things...like creatures...to learn about."

Tahani smiled. 'Yeah it's all so new and overwhelming,' she confided. Her parents were clueless. Encouraging, but clueless. She felt like she was alone in this. Because as much her family and friends tried, they weren't in her shoes.

'Care of Magical Creatures does sound interesting! I'm looking forward to Charms most,' she said. She had read through the Standard Book of Spells and she was very much drawn. There was a spell for everything. Well almost everything. She was very fascinated by this idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by La_Luna

Tahani smiled. 'Yeah it's all so new and overwhelming,' she confided. Her parents were clueless. Encouraging, but clueless. She felt like she was alone in this. Because as much her family and friends tried, they weren't in her shoes.

'Care of Magical Creatures does sound interesting! I'm looking forward to Charms most,' she said. She had read through the Standard Book of Spells and she was very much drawn. There was a spell for everything. Well almost everything. She was very fascinated by this idea.

"I can only imagine..." he mused. "Though I suppose quite a few people at Hogwarts deal with that." After all while purebloods might have think highly of themselves, it was the muggleborns and mixed bloods that vastly outnumbered them.

Charms...charms was good too. Rajesh nodding in acceptance of her remark. "Charms is fun too." It was one of the classes he was continuing on with in his search for his future.

After bidding her parents a final, tearful farewell, she boreded the train, kitten snuggled close in her arms. It was nearly as busy and loud inside as it was outside, with everyone finding compartments, greeting friends, and so on. Being the nervous first year, she quietly scooted past other students until she found an empty compartment. She stepped inside and went to sit by the window so she could wave to her parents one final time. She left the door open so others would feel free to join her, if they wanted.

And that was the extent of his Quidditch knowledge. He knew the rules and had seen a few matches, but he wasn't going to pretend he understood how the entire U17 setup worked.

"You must be one of the youngest members on the team" he said without looking at Jasper and opened his bag again. Perhaps he had misplaced his book in another pocket?

He had to admit that hearing the words 'going to the beach together with V' must have sounded odd. He still remembered when Jasper had cornered him in the dormitory and had told him off for bullying the girl. But that was then and this is now.

He wondered how Jasper would react if he knew V had wanted to go to the dance with him last year, even if he had given no reaction now "I don't know, just some beach" he had the impression that the others had been extremely awkward.

After giving up on finding his book, Daniel turned his attention to his cat, who was purring loudly as Jasper scratched her under the chin. "I don't understand why Cat is so nice to others but so cold to me," he mused. He considered himself fortunate if she did occasionally sleep on his lap.

Daniel leaned back in his seat, trying his best not to roll his eyes. Leave it to Jasper to completely misinterpret his words, but he wasn't surprised. After all, he was a Quidditch jock. "It is, I didn't mean it like that" he said, not wanting to start an argument right now. "It's getting darker," he said, looking out the window. "I should put on my uniform..."

'I suppose they do,' Tahani said, as Raj spoke about muggle-borns dealing with Hogwarts. She hoped she got to make a mark. ' Are there a lot of muggle-borns in Hogwarts?,' she asked. According to her research, there were, but she wanted to be sure. 'And umm, is it different, do people umm..treat you differently if you are muggle-born?,' she asked reluctantly.