Overstimulated by the exuberant noise and chaotic walking and weaving of students bound for Hogwarts, it was safe to say that the four-foot Japanese boy found himself distracted and lost from everything that was going on inside the train. First of all, the scene was nothing like the one in Japan where everybody was conscious of the space they were occupying and the observance of immaculate silence from the passengers. This? This was pure madness.

Clutching his furoshiki-wrapped bento box, the tiny eleven-year-old weaved his way through the rambunctious crowd, keeping his head down until he found himself at the back of the train with the taller and older students of Hogwarts. This caused a slight panic, causing him to turn on his heels to head for the right end of the train, upfront, where his dad told him to go.

Although Aurora has enjoyed her summer break enormously having turned twelve, spent relaxing days in Greece with her family and visited her friend Everleigh’s house and gone horseback riding, she was still looking forward to going back to school. She had wished her Mum’s a slightly tearful goodbye at the platform. It didn’t matter how much she loved school, she would still miss her parents more than anything and saying goodbye would always be hard.

She had boarded the train alongside her sister but they soon separated in order to say hello to their friends before promising to meet up again later in the journey. With no such luck in finding anyone she knew, the twelve year old made her way to the front of the train where she could look out across the platform and spot those she knew getting on. Aurora herself was only four foot five (the promised growth spurt had unfortunately not happened over the summer) and therefore could squeeze her way in between the older and much taller students to find her way to a quieter section of the train where she came across a younger student looking concerned.

“Hi!” She beamed at the boy. Rora was a SECOND year now which clearly meant she was much older and wiser and she knew what she was doing. Truth was the Ravenclaw was still as lost and clueless as ever but that didn’t stop her from befriending the younglings. “Are you a first year? Are you lost? Do you need someone to sit with?” she bombarded the poor child with questions.

Princess Aurora Borealis of the Ravenclaw Tower reporting for duty!

Determined to get back on the right track, Yoji focused on the very long corridor ahead with the sea of very long limbs weaving in and out of his line of sight, breathing in and out slowly in an attempt to calm his nerves. He imagined himself back in the dojo, prepping for a counter-attack with his shinai, when all of a sudden out of nowhere, he was face-to-face with another student completely blocking his way making him stumble a few steps back, rattling him out of his focus.

It wasn't the worst part, actually, it was the rapid-fire questions in English thrown at him like continuous hits of an opponent's shinai that would've definitely defeated him in a spar. Yoji's face was ashen, his mouth ajar, the death grip on his bento box loosened, and just... well, complete shock and blanking out at this point.

Whatdidshejustsay?!

Having attended English lessons back in Japan, plus the many practice sessions he's had with his grandfather and dad, Yoji honestly thought he'd be ready... but apparently, that wasn't the case when thrown in at the deep end of shifting entirely from the Japanese language to English. The urge to call for his dad was strong, but he knew he had to start doing things all by himself, including conversations.

"A--ano..." Yoji paused, closing his mouth finally, and blinked away the shock several times before nodding his head to the girl to conveniently say 'yes' to all of her questions. He also gave a slight bow of his head to say his thanks, and to hide his reddened face and ears. He knew he was bound for a very long first train ride to Hogsmeade.

Oops.

Aurora’s intention was not to absolutely terrify the first year with her overeager nature and need to make friends with whoever was in her path whether they wanted to or mot. Still, despite the deer in headlights look that the boy was giving her, Aurora was not going to give up in her attempt to ‘help’. Besides, how intimidating could a petite blonde wearing her favourite pair of denim dungarees and a stripey t-shirt with her hair in braided pigtails really be?

The Ravenclaw didn’t understand what the firstie was trying to say to her but he was nodding and therefore that was clearly an affirmative to her questions and an indication that she could continue bombarding the poor child with more. She also didn’t mind if the boy didn’t want to talk much for she could talk on behalf of ten people if she needed to.

“My name is Aurora, like the Princess. I’m a second year so I know aaaaall about Hogwarts.” That was a lie, there was plenty that the naive twelve year old didn’t know. In fact, it had taken pretty much the entire of her first year to not get lost in the castle trying to find her lessons. She liked to think that she was helpful though. She glanced down the corridor with the aim of finding an empty compartment for them to sit in where they wouldn’t be accidentally trampled on by the giants older students. “Let’s sit here!” she grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him towards the nearest quiet compartment.

It was safe to say that his head was properly spinning now, from the tension and sudden bowing of the head to the unexpected run-in with a student who was very much foreign-looking, and foreign-sounding to him. Of course, he wasn't entirely alien to the idea of different-looking people, since Japan always had tourists milling about all year round. They were all very fascinating to look at and interact with, but Yoji wasn't really ready to have a role reversal all of a sudden. Sure, he'd been around Great Britain for at least a solid month before term started, but it wasn't enough to really get him going with all the changes. Everything was just flipped from his perspective.

Not wanting to be rude to his rescuer, Yoji did his best not to flinch at the sudden touch of his arm, and getting pulled (shoved?) into a compartment that was empty. The first year looked around the space, not sure what he was expecting to see inside, but moved furthest away from the girl and near the window where he could see the outside view.

The tiny boy bowed his head again, embracing his bento box against his chest and attempted to introduce himself. "Hi, my name is Yoji." well, that wasn't so hard, was it? "Nice to meet you, Au--," oh no. "Au-lola."

Blasted R's! He really ought to straighten out his R's if he didn't want to further embarrass himself and... well, mess up the spells he will be learning soon! Yiiiikes. Yikesyikeyikey-yikes! "Su--sumimasen." Yoji bowed apologetically to say he was sorry for butchering her name.

Merlin.

Vesper couldn't have been more excited about getting onto the train to Hogwarts if she tried! The twelve year old was practically bouncing on her toes as she looked back and forth between her two older siblings. "This is sooooooo cool! For the first time she wasn't about to be left behind again. The excitement was so incredibly real.

"Where do we go first?! What do we do?!" Did she get to choose a compartment this time or did Vera and Vasco want to do that? Vesper really didn't care as long as she got to tag along and burn off all of the energy that had her now spinning in circles so she could try to see everything all at once.

Vasco had never been more happy for the noise cancelling headphones he usually wore then he was right now. Sometimes certain things were easy to know in advance and the level of loudness that was going to be this train ride, was one of those things. Vera and Vesper together could be loud as it was but.. today was special, today their little sister was heading to Hogwarts with them for the first time. So things weren't going to just be loud, it was going to be insane, he was sure of it. This is why he was he was prepared for everything that might happen during the long, long, looooooong ride there. Merlin please help him. It was already starting.

Trying not to cringe at the loudness he grinned a little at his younger sister. "We find somewhere to sit. Who wants to choose the compartment?" The girls could agree on that one.

Aurora most certainly did not shove the poor child into the empty compartment, it was more of a gentle pull by the wrist. A forced guidance perhaps? Whatever it was the twelve year old was doing her best to be the most friendly ‘welcome to Hogwarts’ witch that she could be even if it was a little overbearing. The Ravenclaw had been lucky enough to have the guidance of her older sister by her side for her first year and so she couldn’t imagine how intimidating it must be for a firstie all on his lonesome.

A firstie who seemingly didn’t speak much English either. Huh.. Were there no Wizarding schools where he came from? Well he had picked the BEST alternative school to come to in her very honest opinion and Aurora would do her bestest to show him that.

“Yoji! That’s a cool name.” It reminded her of Yogi bear. Perhaps she would steal Anna’s thing and give him a cute nickname too. “You can call me Rora if you want? Or Rory? Or..” she thought about it for a second. “That’s pretty much all my nicknames. Sometimes my Ma’s call me Princess and an older student calls me Sleeping Beauty because Aurora was her name too,” she giggled barely taking a breath between any of her sentences. She didn’t really care what he called her as long as it was CUTE and not mean!

She plopped herself down in the window seat opposite Yoji so she could see everyone on the platform, hoping to be able to see another friend she could rope into unintentionally terrifying socialising with the first year even more. He said something in response that the blonde didn’t understand. Her head tilted in that confused puppy type expression “What does that mean?” she enquired. Rora could only understand the tiny bit of French that her sister had taught her over her years at Hogwarts but did find other languages fascinating. Whether she had the patience to learn another language was a completely different matter.

It was perhaps good for Vasco that Vera was not in her top loud form at the moment. She'd been both really looking forward to stepping on the train with Vesper with them, while simultaneously dreading seeing Papa standing behind them alone. She hadn't been able to stop herself this time from having a bit of a cry into his chest as she'd hugged him goodbye for this trip, and now as they were making their way through the narrow corridors to locate a compartment she was trying desperately to just let her face look normal again while also summoning the energy Scoot deserved for her FIRST trip up to the castle.

She was nearly there and ready to be loud again, if it weren't for the fact the food trolley had also given her a bit of a setback. Merlin, a mess she was. A mess very much trying to pretend to be polished.

Forcing a smile and slipping her arm around Scooter's shoulder, she gave her a tiny squeeze - glancing into booths as they passed. If they saw any of the usual suspects she might have suggested they join them, but no one yet spotted. "How about you pick, Scootalou? What calls to you as a good compartment?" She didn't bother looking over at Vasco, pretty sure he'd be find with the youngest getting the choice.

The twins made their way into the back of the car furthest in the back, a handful of treats with each of them.

"Didja open your frog yet?" Armand asked.

"No, I'm waiting to sit down first," Damien said. "I don't wanna loose him like the last one. I think their first jump makes them tastier."

While his dad would say it was one for the books, Yoji would respectfully disagree and say it was rather unnerving and unexpected, and perhaps a little bit too much of everything. The thought of going to an entirely different school, with a different set of culture was already off-putting for the poor Japanese boy. However, he was promised the best kind of education there is, probably even better than Mahoutokoro, and Yoji was already sold on the idea. He was though, blind-sided by the challenges it would present. Such as... well, really loud individuals such as his present company. Not that he blamed her for her personality, but he knew he needed some getting used to... and fast!

And speaking of fast, Yoji had to make an effort to keep his mouth shut as Aurora spoke rapidly, him barely keeping up with translating everything in his head. While he was presented with optional names, and a bit of background about her mum and an older student calling her with another nickname, Yoji was rather pre-occupied with a rather important detail. "Ro..ra. Rora," the first year slowly and carefully pronounced her nickname "Rora-senpai." and looked at her warily to see if using the proper honorific was okay. His Japanese accent must sound so ridiculous to her.

As soon as Rora took a seat, Yoji followed suit and took the seat across her, his short legs dangling off the cabin floor. As he did so, he caught the questioning look of the girl and smiled because well, it was an opportunity to explain his langugae to her. "Ano... 'sumimasen' means 'I'm sorry'..." he wasn't sure if he should explain the other uses of the phrase, but for starters, he'd stop right there to avoid any more confusion.

Sadly Aurora was not clued up on Japanese culture, or many other cultures for that matter. She knew a fair amount about Greece seeing as the family regularly holidayed there and her Mom had attended university in Athens but other than that it was safe to say that the petite blonde was fairly ignorant. Not that it was her fault she was only twelve after all and had so many years ahead of her to experience the world. Hopefully anyway. Hogwarts might have been the COOLEST school in the world but it definitely wasn’t the safest. Rora didn’t know what Senpai meant but she had heard it before from another student before and therefore didn’t question it.

“Yes that’s it! ROAR-a. Like a lion! But I’m not a Lion, I’m a Ravenclaw. I suppose I could’ve been a Gryffindor but I reeeeally wanted to be a Claw like my family were. Being a Claw is fun but everyone likes to read a lot and I don’t like reading books much.” she rambled on. The excitement of going back to school was clearly FAR too much for her small body to handle and it all came out in a torrent of words. “What house do you think you’ll be in?” she asked. He seemed like a Hufflepuff in her very incorrect opinion. The younger Puffs she had met had been sweet and shy and that was exactly what she would be basing her opinion on whether it was right or not.

The twelve year old giggled as Yoji explained he was apologising to her. “OH! That’s okay! I guess it’s a kinda hard name to say with an accent. I probably wouldn’t be able to say many Japanese words correctly.” Or any really. Aurora had considered joining one of the extra-curricular societies and learning another language like Mermish but whether she had the patience to was another matter. She had also been extremely disappointed to discover that Mermaids were not the beautiful red headed variety that she had wished they were and that learning Mermish would not consist of singing along to ‘Part of Your World’ as the main constituent of the curriculum. She was back to the drawing board on that one.

Text Cut: SS will not for the life of me let me quote you both (Stefan, it does not like your post XD)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Sadly Aurora was not clued up on Japanese culture, or many other cultures for that matter. She knew a fair amount about Greece seeing as the family regularly holidayed there and her Mom had attended university in Athens but other than that it was safe to say that the petite blonde was fairly ignorant. Not that it was her fault she was only twelve after all and had so many years ahead of her to experience the world. Hopefully anyway. Hogwarts might have been the COOLEST school in the world but it definitely wasn’t the safest. Rora didn’t know what Senpai meant but she had heard it before from another student before and therefore didn’t question it.

“Yes that’s it! ROAR-a. Like a lion! But I’m not a Lion, I’m a Ravenclaw. I suppose I could’ve been a Gryffindor but I reeeeally wanted to be a Claw like my family were. Being a Claw is fun but everyone likes to read a lot and I don’t like reading books much.” she rambled on. The excitement of going back to school was clearly FAR too much for her small body to handle and it all came out in a torrent of words. “What house do you think you’ll be in?” she asked. He seemed like a Hufflepuff in her very incorrect opinion. The younger Puffs she had met had been sweet and shy and that was exactly what she would be basing her opinion on whether it was right or not.

The twelve year old giggled as Yoji explained he was apologising to her. “OH! That’s okay! I guess it’s a kinda hard name to say with an accent. I probably wouldn’t be able to say many Japanese words correctly.” Or any really. Aurora had considered joining one of the extra-curricular societies and learning another language like Mermish but whether she had the patience to was another matter. She had also been extremely disappointed to discover that Mermaids were not the beautiful red headed variety that she had wished they were and that learning Mermish would not consist of singing along to ‘Part of Your World’ as the main constituent of the curriculum. She was back to the drawing board on that one.

Anna was on a mission.

To be fair, she was usually on many missions and of those many she maybe actually completed a modest handful by the end of the day but today THIS was one mission she was certain to complete.

She had had to be very tactful while smuggling the small pink picnic basket in among her things and perhaps the hardest part of it all had been keeping a secret from her little cousin and sister BUT a pirate princess knew how to stick to the code even when they were more guidelines than anything else. She had even added a cute little rainbow bow to the top of the basket just because and now with her trunk settled on the train and a very fervent need to find as many people as she could to say hi, give long overdue hugs to, and a couple of other quintessential Anna-isms. The FIRST of those being Aurora because of her special delivery mission. She had very VERY important, and super adorable, cargo to finally pass over!

So it was that the Hufflepuff was skipping through the train corridors with her curls almost seeming to brush against the ceiling as she did (which really said something about how high she was skipping considering how petite her frame was) when she found her friend at last. Yes, the blonde was speaking to another petit someone and perhaps the polite thing to do would have coughed or knocked on the side of the compartment to signal her arrival and gently interrupt...but Anna had not embraced such etiquette. Not her style anyway seeing as her excitement for seeing friends was never subdued. Unless it was the Dark Knight who...to this day still terrified her and it was always scary going back to her own common room in case she happened upon him.

Her ankle would still hurt from time to time at the memory of the kick.

"Aurora! Hi! Aurora I bet you'll neeeeeeeeeeeeeeever guess what I've brought you!" she chirped upon coming to a sudden stop next to the pair. Of course Aurora would know precisely what was in Anna's possession since this had been the plan all along but it was fun to play make believe sometimes. "Oh my gosh you are so adorable," she continued while not even pausing to take a breath all that much as her attention shifted to the little dark haired boy. "Is this your first year? My little sister and one of my cousins will be first years this term too. I'm sure the three of you will get along fantastically and make great friends." And she really should have stopped there but, well, excitement for the start of the term and for completing her smuggling of precious cargo were not to be discouraged presently. "What's your name? My name is Anna and this'll be my third year."

Vesper might be younger and smaller than her two siblings but did Vera know that she could read her like an open book? After all of their many conversations via mirror and throughout the summer, the youngest Thanatos knew what was going on in her sisters head after watching the way she had held onto their papa just a little bit longer than usual. They hadn't completed the task they had set out to accomplish. She felt it too. Their papa was now going to be all alone. Just him and Raven his crow.

"Ummmmm, weeeeeeellllllllll I was going to let the two of you pick but since you want ME to choose.. maybe an empty one for the three of us?! And if you see any of your friends then can sit with us too? If they want.." Cause their besties wouldn't mind sitting with her, right? Cue the brightest smile ever being given to Vera because her big sister needed to be happy now, no more sadness. They would figure out something later. Vesper promised and she didn't break those.

Yoji wiggled just a tad in his seat as he finally nailed Aurora's name. He knew, of course, that it was done consciously but he was hoping he'd be able to get the hang of his R's without even thinking about it. "ROAR-a... senpai." As much as he wanted to drop the honorific, Aurora would have to wait for that to happen. It was used heavily back in Japan, and it was something that he was accustomed to, maybe even closely linked to his identity as a Japanese. But yes, only time will tell.

Again, Yoji watched her (and her mouth) open and close and pronounce each word with ease and speed that he almost... almost missed her question. "I-... I'm not sure." the boy said quietly, dying a bit inside because he was not up to speed with the basics of Hogwarts' history. In his defence, he had a lot going on before the term started! "My tousan...I mean, dad, was a Ravenclaw. Also my grandfather... and grand uncle." They were all very smart... and spoke the English language very well. His grandpa Ryden and grand uncle River were British to begin with though, so it's actually his dad who was impressive with the language. "So, maybe, Ravenclaw? But I think any house is okay." he said nodding eagerly. It wasn't much about the house but the learning he will get from school. Well at least that's how Mahoutokoro operated, and he somewhat expected Hogwarts to be doing the same. But then again, he will have to hold on to that assumption because... well, if anything the train ride and its people should tell him how different it will be in his new school.

Now that he was having a proper, and somewhat calm conversation with Aurora, Yoji was finally able to relax a bit in his seat as the train started to move out of the station. The tiny Japanese boy slowly untied the furoshiki that wrapped his bento box when another loud sound jolted him in his seat, slightly unliding the container. Yoji could feel his face turn pale at the sudden intrusion-- no knock, nothing but more English words spoken rapidly, brief family history (?), and finally an introduction. Holy Mochis, they do everything in reverse! "H--Hai..." he said, carefully putting back the lid of his bento box, "My name is Yoji. N-nice to meet you, Anna-senpai." the tiny boy slightly bowed his head to her, noting the budding dull pain in between his eyes.

It seemed like the whole Senpai thing was going to stick. Aurora didn’t mind as long as it didn’t mean something tragic like OLD PERSON. Rora was only twelve and therefore in her absolute prime and therefore could never be described as old nor was she someone really to be respected as she was in a world of her own. But the good news was that Yoji was finally starting to speak to her in full sentences which meant that Aurora could continue rambling on.

“Ravenclaw is the BEST house” For obvious reasons of course. “BUT I have friends in aaaall of the houses so you’d be happy wherever you go and meet lots of amazing people and the Professors are really nice but sometimes they give you homework and lots of reading and that’s not so exciting.” Little Yoji probably wouldn’t do so well in Gryffindor though, some of those kids were LOUD and that was coming from probably one of the bubbliest on the train. “Do you like Magical Creatures? There’s a whole stables with Winged Horses and Thestrals. There’s also Gnomes too but they’re super scary. One tried to attack me last year.” It was probably best not to tell a first year that. “But don’t worry! One of my friends helped me.”

Speaking of FRIENDS!

The bundle of energy otherwise known as Anna Walles had arrived and the BEAM on Aurora’s face showed how happy she was to see her. If the poor little first year wasn’t already intimidated by Aurora’s presence, the pair of them together was about to blow his mind. “WHAT IS IT?!” she asked, wide eyed as she looked towards the picnic basket completely forgetting what on earth Anna would be showing her. Until it suddenly dawned on the twelve year old that the contents of said picnic basket was the MOST exciting thing EVER! “OH! Is it Merryweather?!” she squealed, wrapping her arms around the other girl. “You’re the bestest bestie in the whole of Bestietown.” Anna had some truly brilliant ideas and the co-ownership of a bright pink Pygmy Puff was clearly one of them.

Back to talking about the shy first year. “This is Yoji Bear! He calls everyone Senpai. I don’t know what it means though. He wants to be a Ravenclaw like me. He looked a little lost so I took him under my wing. Maybe we could show him around the castle when we get to school?” she giggled. Anna and Aurora would clearly be the best Hogwarts Tour Guides he could find.

Her Mom had seen her off on the train. Just like all the other parents had with their own kids. She was sure that some of those Moms and Dads were just as nagging as her own Mom was about her leaving, and how to behave, and why she should consider changing into something a bit more comfortable on the train than what she chose to wear for her first trip. She had reassured her Mom LIKE...FIVE TIMES that she would be fine that there would be no trouble.

Was it because of what lead to her being pulled out of Ilvermorny? Paige knew it wasn't because Mom found a new job overseas thought that new job sounded splendiferous, she wasn't dumb. The Teachers at Ilvermorny were the dumb ones. Paige gave her a hug and a kiss and hopped onto the train. Before her Mom was out of sight she got one final piece of advice 'make a good first impression, and make many friends!'

A good one huh? Paige thought about it for a moment before stopping at a compartment that she heard lots of talking come from. Lots of loud and very excited talking about a gift it seemed. Paige liked that, Paige wanted in on that! So a good first impression? Well Obviously!...

"Hi, Is this compartment taken?" she impersonated her best New York City Queens accent just as her Mom had told her to make a good first impression.

The compartment was clearly taken. Paige had assumed by two girls but it seemed there was a third and a boy in the train compartment with them. No matter! That still left one more seat for her. So she took it. Not bothering with an answer from the three in there already.

Text Cut: HARK! It worked this time XD it's giving see me senpai vibes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

SPOILER!!: Why, that's just rude! D:

Yoji wiggled just a tad in his seat as he finally nailed Aurora's name. He knew, of course, that it was done consciously but he was hoping he'd be able to get the hang of his R's without even thinking about it. "ROAR-a... senpai." As much as he wanted to drop the honorific, Aurora would have to wait for that to happen. It was used heavily back in Japan, and it was something that he was accustomed to, maybe even closely linked to his identity as a Japanese. But yes, only time will tell.

Again, Yoji watched her (and her mouth) open and close and pronounce each word with ease and speed that he almost... almost missed her question. "I-... I'm not sure." the boy said quietly, dying a bit inside because he was not up to speed with the basics of Hogwarts' history. In his defence, he had a lot going on before the term started! "My tousan...I mean, dad, was a Ravenclaw. Also my grandfather... and grand uncle." They were all very smart... and spoke the English language very well. His grandpa Ryden and grand uncle River were British to begin with though, so it's actually his dad who was impressive with the language. "So, maybe, Ravenclaw? But I think any house is okay." he said nodding eagerly. It wasn't much about the house but the learning he will get from school. Well at least that's how Mahoutokoro operated, and he somewhat expected Hogwarts to be doing the same. But then again, he will have to hold on to that assumption because... well, if anything the train ride and its people should tell him how different it will be in his new school.

Now that he was having a proper, and somewhat calm conversation with Aurora, Yoji was finally able to relax a bit in his seat as the train started to move out of the station. The tiny Japanese boy slowly untied the furoshiki that wrapped his bento box when another loud sound jolted him in his seat, slightly unliding the container. Yoji could feel his face turn pale at the sudden intrusion-- no knock, nothing but more English words spoken rapidly, brief family history (?), and finally an introduction. Holy Mochis, they do everything in reverse! "H--Hai..." he said, carefully putting back the lid of his bento box, "My name is Yoji. N-nice to meet you, Anna-senpai." the tiny boy slightly bowed his head to her, noting the budding dull pain in between his eyes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

SPOILER!!: HA! Mine worked ;)

It seemed like the whole Senpai thing was going to stick. Aurora didn’t mind as long as it didn’t mean something tragic like OLD PERSON. Rora was only twelve and therefore in her absolute prime and therefore could never be described as old nor was she someone really to be respected as she was in a world of her own. But the good news was that Yoji was finally starting to speak to her in full sentences which meant that Aurora could continue rambling on.

“Ravenclaw is the BEST house” For obvious reasons of course. “BUT I have friends in aaaall of the houses so you’d be happy wherever you go and meet lots of amazing people and the Professors are really nice but sometimes they give you homework and lots of reading and that’s not so exciting.” Little Yoji probably wouldn’t do so well in Gryffindor though, some of those kids were LOUD and that was coming from probably one of the bubbliest on the train. “Do you like Magical Creatures? There’s a whole stables with Winged Horses and Thestrals. There’s also Gnomes too but they’re super scary. One tried to attack me last year.” It was probably best not to tell a first year that. “But don’t worry! One of my friends helped me.”

Speaking of FRIENDS!

The bundle of energy otherwise known as Anna Walles had arrived and the BEAM on Aurora’s face showed how happy she was to see her. If the poor little first year wasn’t already intimidated by Aurora’s presence, the pair of them together was about to blow his mind. “WHAT IS IT?!” she asked, wide eyed as she looked towards the picnic basket completely forgetting what on earth Anna would be showing her. Until it suddenly dawned on the twelve year old that the contents of said picnic basket was the MOST exciting thing EVER! “OH! Is it Merryweather?!” she squealed, wrapping her arms around the other girl. “You’re the bestest bestie in the whole of Bestietown.” Anna had some truly brilliant ideas and the co-ownership of a bright pink Pygmy Puff was clearly one of them.

Back to talking about the shy first year. “This is Yoji Bear! He calls everyone Senpai. I don’t know what it means though. He wants to be a Ravenclaw like me. He looked a little lost so I took him under my wing. Maybe we could show him around the castle when we get to school?” she giggled. Anna and Aurora would clearly be the best Hogwarts Tour Guides he could find.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Moose

Her Mom had seen her off on the train. Just like all the other parents had with their own kids. She was sure that some of those Moms and Dads were just as nagging as her own Mom was about her leaving, and how to behave, and why she should consider changing into something a bit more comfortable on the train than what she chose to wear for her first trip. She had reassured her Mom LIKE...FIVE TIMES that she would be fine that there would be no trouble.

Was it because of what lead to her being pulled out of Ilvermorny? Paige knew it wasn't because Mom found a new job overseas thought that new job sounded splendiferous, she wasn't dumb. The Teachers at Ilvermorny were the dumb ones. Paige gave her a hug and a kiss and hopped onto the train. Before her Mom was out of sight she got one final piece of advice 'make a good first impression, and make many friends!'

A good one huh? Paige thought about it for a moment before stopping at a compartment that she heard lots of talking come from. Lots of loud and very excited talking about a gift it seemed. Paige liked that, Paige wanted in on that! So a good first impression? Well Obviously!...

"Hi, Is this compartment taken?" she impersonated her best New York City Queens accent just as her Mom had told her to make a good first impression.

The compartment was clearly taken. Paige had assumed by two girls but it seemed there was a third and a boy in the train compartment with them. No matter! That still left one more seat for her. So she took it. Not bothering with an answer from the three in there already.

"HI!" Anna repeated even more exuberantly at the boy, the nymph. She wasn't quite sure why he was giving her big nymph vibes but Anna rarely second guessed her instincts much - if at all. Just go with the flow of the moment and feel whatever you were feeling, it was a very important life motto. Aurora was apparently getting bear vibes though - maybe a teddy bear because Anna was feeling a very real hankering to snug him. How lucky was he to give off so many different energies on his first day! "I call people lots of other things other than just their name. It's a form of endearment and expression of culture," she nodded to Aurora. Her friend probably hadn't meant it that way but the way she had phrased her statement could sort of sound like she thought it was weird that their Adorable Nymph called everyone 'senpai' and it wasn't weird. Even if Anna didn't know what it meant, she was certain it wasn't weird. Yoji was too adorable to mean anything sinisterly! "Oh we should! Actually, I was going to ask you about helping me make a kind of treasure scavenger hunt adventure to help my cousin and little sister get acquainted with the school and some of its neat offerings. They can do it in a team of three maybe!" Fabulous that Aurora was totally on the same page in the same book as her and neither were reading ahead of the other. "What do you say, Yoji? Does that sound like something you'd like?"

SO very engrossed in the possibilities of being a guiding light to the future generation (big thoughts coming from the third year here), Anna had aaaaaaaaaaaalmost forgotten about the pink basket in her hand. "Oh! Yes it is! I gave her extra breakfast just in case and a bath last night and powdered her in some powder so she smells nice and feels fresh! Don't worry, mum and dad never suspected a thing!" And even if they did, how could they fault her for making her friend's dream of owning a pygmy puff come true?! Well, okay, so she had had to explain away the reason why she had come home with a heavy shopping bag, mere knuts left of the allowance she had been given, and none of the school books she had been trusted to go out and get for herself. It hadn't all been spent on Aurora though, there had been ice cream with Solomon the Valiant and not the Apologetic of the Glistening Waters, make up with her more favortist Spanish Rose, back to school shopping with Eulalia Bean, cute socks with herFairy Godmother of High Fashion, Compassion, and Cute Ankles...so there were apparently plenty of reasons outside of purchasing everything needed for pygmy puff care. "She is all yours at last. Until the Christmas holidays maybe...unless we both stay at Hogwarts over the break."

But Anna had plans and hopes for this Christmas. The ten year curse over the seven seas was probably coming to an end at last and her pirate king father would surely return. This time, surely.

The Hufflepuff was just handing the basket over when someone else joined them and her eyes widened as yet another wave of new friendship making delight blossomed. She didn't know what her accent was, but it sounded exotic! "Where would anyone take it?" Anna hummed playfully. "I'm just kidding. It's a joke. You can join us if you'd like? In chronological order...I'm Anna and this is Aurora and this is Yoji," she introduced while gesturing towards each of them as the newcomer took a seat.

The fact her little sister was the only one who currently could read her mood was something she was very much aware of. Especially considering Scoot was the only one Vera had shared her concerns with - knowing both of them would have been on the same side. She hadn't even said anything to any of her friends, preferring to stay on the upbeat side. Though she had also alluded to what was going on in her small head with Professor Khanna, who had had some very sage wisdom to impart. It was too bad that hadn't been enough for the Thanatos girls to meet their goal before today.

Another squeeze for Scooter as she glanced into more compartments, finally spotting an empty one. "How about that one there, then? Plenty of room if anyone else wants to come join us." Because yes, they'd absolutely want to sit with Scoot too. She was the best of the first year batch - Vera was declaring it already. Seeing Vesper's smile was easier for Vera to match as she beamed back and squeezed into the open compartment, flopping down on one of the seats and turning to her siblings. "What are you going to do first day back, Vas? And what are you looking forward to most Scoot?"

Yoji nodded, not in agreement, but to show Aurora that he completely understood what she was saying. At least most of it. The tiny Japanese boy sat back, determined to focus his mind on the conversation and not on the forming dull pain in between his eyes. He didn't want to look rude, not when Aurora was being super friendly-- trying her best to make him feel like he belonged. At the subject of Magical Creatures, he was curious about it, but not as much as in Potions, Charms, or Defense Against the Dark Arts. The beauty of having the chance to study in Mahoutokoro as a day student was the early exposure to core subjects and get his interests going as early as seven years old.

Aside from the fact that he felt awkward speaking a foreign language, he really had no chance to speak with Aurora around. She really liked talking, didn't she? But of course, Yoji didn't mind at all. He was perfectly content with sitting quietly and listening to all of their stories and conversation!

And... Yoji Bear? What is a Yoji Bear? Yoji had no clue, so he just kept quiet about it, smiled and gave Anna-senpai a timid wave of his hand, his eyes immediately drawn to the pink basket she was holding. However, he slowly tucked his hand back at the question, a scavenger hunt? "A-ano... what is a scavenger hunt?" he asked complete confusion on his face, and maybe a little panicked. Was it like hunting a deer???

The first year wasn't able to manage his confused expression when another student decided to join them. An American? "H-hello," he said bowing his head slightly at the older girl.

Seeeee? She said that Anna had some of the best ideas and creating a scavenger hunt sounded like one of those. “YES!” she beamed in response. “We could have rhyming riddles to give them clues to the next place to visit. I’ve gotten really good at them now.” Mostly due to the fact that she wouldn’t have been able to enter the Ravenclaw Common Room if she couldn’t answer them. For someone who outwardly appeared as a ditsy blonde Aurora was actually pretty smart in her own way. “We should make a list of all the coolest places in the school they need to visit. I’m sure someone has a notepad and pen somewhere..” On their persons she meant. Of course Rora had quills and parchment paper in her luggage but that was stowed away somewhere and now the train was moving she was fairly certain she wouldn’t be able to access it again. Anna had asked Yoji Bear what he thought and Aurora giggled a little at his confusion, not because it was funny but because the first year was SO CUTE! “You’ve never been on a treasure hunt before?” she gasped. She’d leave it up to Anna to explain. If Rora took the helm she’d probably ramble on and confuse the child even more.

A loud audible squeal did escape from the petite blonde as the basket was handed over and Aurora took a peek at her new fluffy friend. The waft of baby powder filled the cabin and the twelve year olds delighted facial expression said it all. “Thank you thank you thank you!” Did she say thank you enough because she really was grateful. She picked up Merryweather carefully and showed the bright pink Pygmy Puff to Yoji. “Isn’t she the cutest?! Did you bring a pet with you?” she asked. She would offer to share Merryweather with him but the Puff already had two mums and she didn’t want to confuse her even more with more parents. She would of course let him have a cuddle though. As for staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas break? Pfft! That was absolutely not going to happen. “I’d cry if I didn’t get to see my Mums at Christmas.” She was fairly certain Ari would drag her home anyway.

As if the compartment wasn’t already full up enough of excited and loud girls, along came another who seemingly sat down without even waiting for a response. Luckily Rora didn’t mind as she had practically forced her presence on Yoji and would be hypocritical if she protested. Anna did the introductions and the Ravenclaw waved with a grin as her name was announced. “HI!” Poor Yoji didn’t have a chance. “Are you new? I haven’t seen you around before.” Not that that meant anything as Rora wasn’t the most observant person in the world. There was far too much excitement going through her brain to stop and people watch. The fact that the girl had an accent was also a little bit of a giveaway.

Did new girl want to say hello to the Pygmy Puff too?

How could she not? She lived with her for her entire life. Minus the time Vera was away at Hogwarts obviously but now she was going there too! Sorry not sorry but a girl was excited that it was finally her turn to get to go on the Hogwarts express along with her siblings. She had waited a long time for this day and while it was a sad occasion it was a very happy one too. And something was telling this eleven year old that now that they were going to be in the same place and able to talk a whole ton more, that they would be able to figure out a plan of action all that much more easily.

Ooooh, Vera had found them an empty compartment? "It looks like the bestest one to me! Lets go!" Following right behind Vera she joined her on the same bench and flopped down right beside her. "Ummmm, the boat ride and the feast! And of course the sorting!" Those were the most important things things. "Meeting all of my house mates too!" That was the most exciting part. Getting to see who she would be with for the next seven years.

The girls were correct in thinking he wouldn't care where they choose to sit. As long as it wasn't overly crowded and extremely loud, all would be good. So as seeing as to how it was only the three of them currently, there wasn't any issues in the compartment they had selected.

Vasco slipped into the compartment behind his sisters, sliding the door shut after him. Flopping down on the bench across from them, he folded his arms behind his head. "If you're talking about tonight we have the sorting and the feast.. if you mean tomorrow we have lessons. But I mean besides that I have some exploring and things I want to do."