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Mysterious Egg
Author: Susan Fricks
Date: 09-24-16 14:23
Susan kept looking over the semi open door, trying to get a glimpse at Titus. Like promised she had taken care of his cat and she wanted to give Saidra back to him. But he was nowhere to be found. A couple of anxious first years passed by her, and she saw a girl giggling, holding hands with a boy, as he guided her along the corridor. But that was it. Everyone else seemed to be already installed on their seats, as the train kept moving far and far away from London.
"Hey Susan, close the door will you?" Charles Fairfax asked.
"Yes, we need some privacy for this," Tom Howard.
"What are you doing?" Susan asked, gathering around the two boys and Patricia McCourt.
Charles looked around to make sure no one was passing by and then he opened his backpack. Carefully he took out a shoe box and he opened it, slowly. Inside, in the middle of some straw was an egg.
"What is that?" Patricia asked.
"I bought this egg from a street vendor, in Diagon Alley. He assured me that inside there is this rare creature from Asia." Charles replied.
"What creature?" Susan asked.
"He said the name, but I can't recall it very well. But I'm going to win Best in Show: Magical Creatures with it. People will bring their cats, toads and owls and I will present the judges with something exotic. You'll see."
"I should have thought about that," Tom lamented himself, looking a little bit jealous at the mystery egg.
"How much did you pay?" Patricia asked.
"Six galleons, "Charles replied.
Susan studied the egg with curiosity like the rest of them. She couldn't help thinking it looked like a chicken's egg, despite it's strange texture and reddish color. What sort of creature did Charles brought to Hogwarts?
"I trust you all to keep this a secret," Charles begged. "I want to impress everyone. And my parents don't need to know I spent my savings on this," he added.
They all promise not to say a word. Susan looked at the compartment's door again, hoping Andrina wouldn't decide to barge in. Her sister was a prefect now, and Susan knew she would not have any trouble in sending them all into the detention for smuggling such mysterious and exotic egg into the school, which was probably not in the list of permitted creatures. Susan also wondered what the judges would think of this. Would they be mad at Charles or would they be amazed by his new pet, whatever it would turn out to be?
The door opened and as Charles closed the shoe box and hide it behind his back, Patricia and Tom started laughing, as if Charles had just told a joke. The boy in front of them was wearing Slytherin robes, and he had a prefect badge pinned on it. He had glasses, and his black hair did not flatter him, as it was in that terrible stage where after a big cut, it still has not grew into the right length.
"Hello Susan," he greeted.
"Titus!" Susan exclaimed. "You're a prefect!"
"Yes…" before he could say anything, Saidra came to his encounter. Susan witnessed the reunion between the two. They both seemed delighted to see each other again after a long summer. "Thank you for taking care of her," Titus finally said. "She looks good."
"Buttercup will not miss her," Susan declared. "But I will," she petted Saidra's soft grey hair. "She's a good cat."
"Would you mind to take care of her for a little longer? I need to go…prefects encounter at another carriage," he said. It seemed like he didn't know if he should be proud or ashamed to have been named prefect.
"Of course. You can come and collect her whenever you like. I'm not going anywhere," she said with a smile.
"Thank you Susan. You're the best. "he said and deposited a reluctant Saidra into her lap.
"We will be lucky if all the prefects are like him. He didn't even notice the egg!" Charles exclaimed, feeling relived, once Titus had left. He reopened the box and they started to study it again, trying to guess what sort of creature laid inside the egg.
Massive Cold (the Balfours)
Author: Saffron
Date: 09-24-16 19:15
Rosalea Balfour places a cool palm against Adiran's overly warm forehead. "I think I should take you straight to Hogwarts and leave you with Madam Pomfrey."
"He's fine. It's just a cold," Theron Balfour tells his wife. To Adiran and Lilith he says, "Let's get your trunks stowed."
Spotting Savannah, Lilith waves to her. "Have we a spot yet?"
"There," Savannah directs to one section of the train. Through a window Lilith can see Hope and Callie talking in a compartment.
"This way, Dad," Lilith says to her father. "I have to meet up with the other prefects and I'll have a patrol shift to walk but that's where I'll be the rest of the time."
Theron gets Lilith's trunk into the compartment then returns to the platform to get Adiran's trunk. "Where to?"
Miserable and thinking his mother's idea to go straight to Hogwarts isn't a bad one he shrugs. Stuffed up as he is his reply sounds something like, "Addyware."
Rosalea helps locate a compartment that miraculously has no one installed in it yet nor has any trunks or other gear tucked away. She presses a box of tissue into Adiran's hand then looks in her purse for a potion. Putting the bottle in a pocket of his pack she reminds, "A capful every two hours. If nothing else it will help with the headache and fever."
"Yed'm. Ebry doo hours."
Rosalea kisses his forehead, reluctantly leaving the compartment. Theron gives Adiran some coins in case he should feel up to having something from the trolley when it comes around, saying as he does, "You should be able to get some hot tea with honey once the train is underway."
"Danks, Dad."
Theron hugs his son and exits the train to find Rosalea instructing Lilith, "Check on him a few times, please."
She assures her mother she will then bids her parents goodbye, boarding the train, calling out greetings to various friends, making her way to where the prefects will have their meeting.
Alone for the time being, Adiran takes some of the potion then stretches out on a seat. What a way to finally be starting Hogwarts. Adiran got up with a massive cold this morning. After hearing so much about the Sorting Ceremony and the feast afterwards, all he can think about is wanting to curl up in bed and sleep.
When the Hogwarts Express pulls away from King's Cross Station a short time later, Adiran isn't in a comfortable bed but he is asleep, at least for now.
Theories
Author: Finley
Date: 09-25-16 10:11
Finley sat in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with Phoebus and the Jones twins, one of whom was sleeping with a blanket drawn up over her, while the other doodled in a notebook with her head leaned up against the window.
"Do you have any theories?" Phoebus asked, in response to Finley telling him about what happened when she visited Sudeley Castle during the summer.
Finley hesitated and then shook her head, "Not really, no." Ever since the trip to the castle and the chance meeting with Eirene and her family, Mrs. Gill had gone soft on Finley. Any quarrel Finley involved herself in, typically with Charla or her new best friend Joscelind, was practically ignored by the proprietress of the orphanage. Finley questioned Mrs. Gill's change of heart, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Even Leroy had noticed the change. Finley had ended up admitting to him that she knew Eirene from school. It wasn't so far-fetched to believe that classmates could wind up at the same tourist attraction during a summer holiday. Leroy falsely hypothesized that Mrs. Nemo had wanted to adopt Finley but had gotten pushback from her family, especially Finley's classmate Eirene, who seemed like a little snob according to him. Because of the adoption drama, Leroy believed that Mrs. Gill was acting extra nice towards Finley.
"What are the chances that you and Eirene would wind up at the same Muggle attraction?" Phoebus asked. "Do you think she lives near your orphanage? That'd be my only guess as to how she wound up at that castle of all places to visit."
"I don't know anything about Eirene," Finley answered.
As if on cue, the third year Slytherin student appeared at the compartment door window. She peered in, knocked with the back of her hand, and then indicated with her index finger that Finley should set out into the corridor.
"That's spooky," Phoebus remarked, as Finley got up to leave the compartment. "Maybe she's psychic."
Finley stepped outside the compartment and closed the door behind her. The corridor wasn't empty. Other students were walking around, some to visit the loo, others to visit friends seated in different compartments. One of the new prefects was walking around looking very authoritative.
This was the first time the two had seen each other since that day at the castle.
Finley decided not to wait to see what Eirene wanted and asked her question first. "Where do you live?"
Eirene answered, "Moreton-in-Marsh. It's very near Winchcombe."
Finley nodded and asked, "Did you know I live in Winchcombe?"
"No, but it's all starting to make sense."
"What is?"
Eirene studied Finley for a long moment and explained, "Auntie Gemma and Uncle Theo have been arguing ever since we saw you at the castle. I asked my parents what the cause is, but they told me it's an adult matter and to mind my own business. I'm not sure they really know what's going on, but I think we've all guessed it."
"Guessed what?" Finley asked.
"I think Auntie Gemma and Uncle Theo are your birth parents."
Finley's jaw dropped. The thought that "Mrs. Nemo" might be her mother had been at the very back of her mind, but she'd not dared think about it too much or voice it aloud. She didn't want to get her hopes up that her parents might still exist and perhaps even want to know her.
"I don't know for sure, Finley, but why else would Auntie Gemma go to your orphanage under an assumed name? Obviously, she didn't want Uncle Theo to know that she was visiting. Also, think about this: there were plenty of times when she came to Hogwarts to see me when my parents couldn't. What if she also came to see you? She had to have known that you were of an age to be at Hogwarts. She probably didn't come visiting during your first year because she didn't have me for an excuse. And here's the biggest and most obvious reason why they are probably your parents: you all share the same last name. Theo and Gemma Pride. Finley Pride. Coincidence? I think not."
Everything Eirene said made absolute sense, and the fact that Finley, Gemma and Theo all shared a surname seemed to be all the proof anyone needed. "Do you think anyone will ever be honest with me?" Finley finally asked.
Eirene drew herself up to full-height, which was nearly as tall as Finley herself, and said, "Oh, I'll get to the bottom of this. Once they cool off, I'll ask point blank and if they don't answer me, then there are other ways of finding information."
Finley liked Eirene's spunk. She smiled and murmured her thanks.
Seemingly finished with the conversation, at least for now, Eirene spun on her heel to return to her own compartment. Finley went back into her own, her mind a whirl with all the information she'd just gotten from the younger girl.
"Well?" Phoebus asked.
Finley plopped down onto the seat next to his and said, "You're never going to believe this." And she told him everything.
(Willow) Chit Chat
Author: Rowan Westwick
Date: 09-25-16 14:27
Willow's shoes were off, revealing toe socks striped green and silver, and she had her knees drawn up to her chest. It was the first day of a new school year at Hogwarts, much of which would be spent on the Hogwarts Express. Sharing her compartment were Amorica, Amorica's older cousins Eden Jenkins, Marlow MacDougal, and Heather Rabnott, and her younger cousin Lauren MacDougal.
Marlow was a prefect, and Heather was Head Girl. Together, they were revealing some of the shenanigans they'd already witnessed on the train both before and after the prefects' meeting, which Heather had jointly led with Head Boy Hunter Green.
"It was just oozing out from underneath the compartment door," Marlow described.
"What was it?" Amorica asked.
"I was told it was some kind of mucous used as fertilizer."
"Fertilizer for what?" Eden asked.
"I didn't ask, but I assume it's for that magical plants competition. Have you all decided what events you want to put your names in for?" Marlow asked, changing the subject.
They went around the compartment revealing the events they thought of as the most interesting. Finally, it was Willow's turn.
"There's no guarantee we'll get picked, right?" she asked, trying to remember the description of the SAT from one of the pamphlets she'd picked up last school year. "I think I will probably try for as many as I can, if only because there's a high chance I won't get picked for anything or only one or two events. That said, it's probably easier if I say which events I definitely won't submit my name for: Astronomy, Magical Creatures, Broom Racing, the one about Muggle knowledge, and possibly not the inventing one or the one about wizarding law."
"It'd be a sad thing if you put your name for however many that ends up being, only to not get picked at all," Amorica remarked.
"I know," Willow agreed. "Oh, the trolley's here."
True enough, the elderly trolley lady was outside the compartment door. The girls fished in their pockets and purses for money and purchased enough sweets to get them through the rest of the train ride.
Eager (Doug)
Author: Briar Rose
Date: 09-26-16 15:36
Douglas Dippet had bounded through the barrier at Platform 9 3/4 this morning, eager to get going. Now that he's been on the Hogwarts Express for awhile he's not sure why that was. The sooner the train arrives, the sooner classes begin. Doug can't wait to be able to do spells rather than just wave his new wand around - aspen, unicorn hair, 10 1/4", slightly flexible - and not have the wand do anything. It did once, by accident, and he promptly got in trouble, his mother confiscating the wand for the rest of the day and all the next.
Duncan has also been eager, though not to get to school. He hadn't seen any of his friends, particularly Devon, for the last two weeks as the Dippets went on holiday. He was also excited about showing up to the train wearing his new badge as the fifth year boys' Hufflepuff prefect.
Duncan met up with Devon first thing but by the time the train pulled out of King's Cross Station he'd gone to the prefects meeting. Doug had found Adiran Balfour alone in a compartment, snoring, or so he thought it was Adiran. The other boy was turned facing the seat back. Doug knows Adiran only somewhat but there was an empty seat with plenty of room for sprawling out so with a shrug Doug decided it would do. Easier than going up and down the train looking for others he might know.
When the trolley came around Doug had already polished off the sandwich his mother had sent so saw nothing wrong with loading up on sweets. Thinking of sweets also put him in mind of the box of biscuits Aunt Briar sent to have on the train.
Thinking of Aunt Briar brings his cousin Grace to mind. Living in Hogsmeade, Grace probably slept late this morning then has spent the rest of the day goofing with Charlotte. She might be on the train to be with some of her friends but Doug wasn't going to get up and go looking.
Adiran stirred a few times, the first time to groggily sit up, saying hello to Doug then complaining of starting Hogwarts with a "dupid code." He'd taken a potion then gone back to sleep. This last time he stirred, he got up to go splash water on his face in the WC. Back in the compartment he peered out the window. "Nearly dere, I dink." He took more of the potion then accepted a chocolate frog from Doug.
Doug had spent some of the ride reading various Quidditch magazines, some of talking with others who dropped by the compartment, some of it snoozing, probably snoring louder than Adiran. Now, he gets up to retrieve one of his new sets of Hogwarts robes. Adiran does the same. They spend the short rest of the ride discussing which house they each think they'll get and about this Scholastic Aptitude Tournament Hogwarts is taking part in this school year. Doug has a good idea of what events he'll sign up for, hoping he's picked for at least one of the broom races.
When the train comes to a stop at Hogsmeade Station, Adiran and Doug join the other first years as a hairy giant of a man directs them to gather around him. Stepping into one of the rowboats awaiting the first years, Doug thinks, "This is really it! Hogwarts and learning magic!"
(Tessa) Almost There
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 09-26-16 18:58
Tessa came out of the lavatory on the Hogwarts Express and returned to the compartment she shared with Blakeney and the two newest Ellis siblings to start their magical education, twins Daphne and Emily. Alys, her friend Chip, and Conrad were in another compartment with a few other people.
The twins were all excited about starting at Hogwarts and wondered where they might end up. Would it be Ravenclaw like oldest sister Alys, or Hufflepuff like Blakeney and Conrad? Tessa had tried sussing out their personalities to see where she thought they might fit and guessed they'd either be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but only the Sorting Hat would tell. Tessa wasn't about to make a bet with Blakeney, however, as the latter had a history of winning any bets she made.
Emily stared at the crest on the front of Tessa's school robes and asked, "Will my crest just magically appear, or will someone have to stitch it onto my robes?" She and Daphne were already dressed for the Start of Term Feast, though their robes were plain.
"You know, that's a good question," Tessa replied. "The Hufflepuff crest didn't appear as soon as I got sorted, and I didn't knowingly ask anyone to stitch it on, magically or otherwise. It was just there the next morning."
"House-elves," Blakeney said, matter-of-factly.
"What? They just came into our room at night, rummaged through our trunks and dirty laundry, and put the crests on?" Tessa asked disbelievingly.
"Well you don't think Madam Malkin snuck in and did it, do you?"
Tessa shook her head and said, "It's just hard to imagine whichever way."
The compartment door suddenly slid open and there was Chip, dressed in his uniform sans robes. His tie was loose and his hair was a bit disheveled, as if he's just woken up from a long nap. Perhaps he was attempting to be stylish, though.
"You lot ready? The train's already slowing down, so we must be arriving soon." His eyes fell on Tessa, whom he'd barely glanced at upon first boarding the train. They suddenly widened and he blurted out, "You got pretty over the summer!"
Then, realizing what he'd just said, he flushed red and backed out of the doorway before disappearing down the corridor.
Daphne and Emily burst into giggles.
Tessa shook her head, not knowing what to think about Chip's revelation. She turned to Blakeney, who was staring stonily at the compartment door. Tessa suddenly remembered how much Blakeney liked Chip, and she felt guilty that he'd noticed her and not the one who had a crush on him. She sighed inwardly and hoped that Blakeney wouldn't blame her for his actions. She really didn't have any feelings for him herself, and Blakeney knew it too.
As if coming to the realization herself, Blakeney started to relax and remarked, "He took the lazy route with his appearance, didn't he? I hope he'll tidy up before the feast, or Professor McGonagall might take points. I'd hate for Hufflepuff to get off to a bad start because of some boy's unkempt appearance."
Tessa figured McGonagall wouldn't care quite so much about how Chip looked, but she didn't comment. Instead, she changed the subject. "I'm looking forward to the feast. Dessert, especially."
The twins chimed in with their most loved desserts, which ranged from ice cream sundaes to pies of every flavor. By the time the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station, all of their stomachs were growling. They parted ways, then, with the older girls heading for the carriages, and the twins following the half-giant Hagrid to the boats at the lakeside.