It had taken Leon several train rides to calculate the perfect spot on said train. Everyone just assumed the back was a good spot and so they headed there. Making it crowded and noisy and hard to get a compartment to yourself.

The front was always filled with eager firsties, ready for a new year at Hogwarts..

But the middle cars were perfect, he wasn't even in the back of the middle cars.. No no.. Leon Kennedy was in the precise middle of the middle cars.. sitting in a compartment by himself, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

He rubbed at his scratchy chin, wishing he had had time to shave this morning, but the 7th year had overslept and just barely gotten here on time. He shoved his things to the side and yawned a bit..

Maybe it was time for some shut eye, yeah?

Kimi had already stored his belongings in the luggage cart when he saw an older boy sitting alone and said "Hey there mind if i join you?"

It had been a great but short summer. It was hard to believe that it was already time to get back to Hogwarts. The fourth loved summer but she also loved being at Hogwarts just as much. She couldn't. Saying goodby to her parents, and her aunt and uncle, who was dropping off her younger cousin, Ashlynn. She also seen Aunt Marilyn and give her a hug.

Kat hopped on board the train, taking her trunk and owl, too the luggage compartment before heading to the middle cars. That way if she seen someone heading to the back cars she would see them. Assuming that her friends were heading to the back. She found a empty compartment and slid into one of seats. Taking somethings out of her bag. Her and her mother spent the afternoon and evening the day before baking, cookies and cupcakes. Who needed the food trolley when you where in a compartment with Katerina Delgado

Of course, she would get some candy when the trolley made it's way to her.

If she were being honest, Charlie couldn't have gotten away from her parents fast enough. She had gone through the standard goodbyes with them, giving each of them hugs and talking about how much she would "miss them." Whatever. She wasn't sure if that was entirely true, but she had time to think about all that on the train, the steps of which she was bounding up shortly after the final goodbyes were made.

Charlie caught her breath, leaning up against her trunk albeit the anger of other passengers behind her. Shortly after, she resolved to follow other students with luggage, stowing her trunk up on a shelf and then finding her way towards the middle of the train.

Now, she just had to find a compartment to sit in.... Right. That could be a problem, seeing as she had yet to really meet anyone. Well, she'd have to figure that out pretty quickly.

After all of the goodbyes - and there were so many if you counted all of the pet mice she was leaving in Noah's care - Hazel scurried onto the train with her things in search of the perfect compartment. It was a compartment to collect all of her people in, of course. Derf and Chloe and maybe Abey unless he was with family and was Theo coming, she couldn't remember...

Hazel ticked the names of all her friends off one by one as she searched, before settling on a compartment somewhere in the middle. Setting her small bag on the floor she peered out the window to see if she could still see daddy and papa and Noah. She could juuuuust make out the mop of red hair that was her little brother, but she could tell that they couldn't see her.

Oh well. Sitting back down on the seat, she looked out into the corridor, ready to summon anyone who walked by for her fantastic firstie compartment of fun. She hadn't seen any of them on the platform so maybe they were already on the train. Hazel gnawed on her lip before standing. She was going to go find them. What if they were all in separate compartments having the same idea she had?!

She'd only taken one step out the door, however, when she saw a girl she recognized. The one who didn't want to climb on her shoulders. Beaming, she waved to the girl. "Charlie, right?" She wanted to make sure she remembered the girl's name. "Need a place to sit?"

He was on the train!

This was actually real! He was heading to Hogwarts! He was a wizard and he was going to learn magic! Somehow it all still felt like a dream more than reality, but he knew that his imagination wasn't good enough to conjure up all of this madness!

His head peeked into the closest compartment, noticing a girl already sitting there...

Should he try to go and find another compartment? Maybe she was waiting for friends... but then again she was older so maybe she could tell him a bit more about Hogwarts? It would be nice to know from someone who was actually studying there rather than a history textbook.

That cemented it. "Hi," he greeted brightly, beaming at the girl in front of him. "Is it alright if I stay?"

Saying goodbye was one of Remy's least favourite things to do. Especially when his siblings were almost nine months old and almost walking. They were so close in fact, that he had been trying to help them walk quicker all Summer... Just so his first letter from Mum wouldn't include the phrase 'they walked today'.... but no. His siblings didn't want to let him see them walking - so he would just have to see it at Christmas or over a Hogsmede weekend.

After hugging them both once more, giving his Dad a hug and listening to his Mum telling him to study for the 684563th time, Remy extracted himself from the platform and started to look for a certain blonde whom he hadn't seen in almost a week. How unfair was that?

Looking in each compartment as he walked down the train he failed to see his boyfriend, so instead he moved into the first empty compartment he came too after he had moved down half the train. That was far enough - and Olly would come looking for him if he didn't appear - after all, they had agreed to at least start the train journey together.

Having stowed his main trunk before finding the compartment, he dumped his rucksack on the over head compartment and sat and waited. Perfectly happy in the silence... although also sad from the silence... expecting to hear Gwyn or Mer babbling at him any second.

Hopefully she had bought enough cupcakes and cookies for everyone, or at least enough for the ones who ended up in her compartment. But she did have a lot so she actually wasn't too worried. Just as Katerina made herself comfortable in the compartment. She heard someone finish opened up the door to the compartment, she had left it cracked to see the passersbys.

She smiled as the younger looking boy appeared. Nodding as she answered him. "Sure. Come on in." That was Kat a friendly little hufflepuff. She had never seen him so she was going to assume he was a first year. Yep yep. "Cupcake or cookie?' She'd offer one right off the bat.

They were so yummy she grabbed a cupcake and stared to eat it.

He was relieved when she'd told him to enter the compartment, so he'd quickly moved inside before shifting the door back to the slightly open position it had been in before. Then he allowed himself to drop down onto the seat across from the older girl.

Cupcake or cookie?

Pondering it for a second he came up with his answer, slowly reaching forward and grabbing one of the cupcakes. Nibbling at it, he beamed at the girl across from him. "These are amazing!"

Amazing might have been an understatement. Picking this compartment was definitely a decision that he was not going to regret. Though, considering he was sitting here and eating one of this girls many cupcakes, he figured he should probably introduce himself.

"I'm Ambrose," he offered, still beaming at the girl. "First year," he added on as an afterthought thinking about how a few of his previous conversations had all included the question about which year a person was in.

Katerina watched the boy as he headed into the compartment. Finishing the last few bites of her cupcake. Then her attention went back to the boy. She beamed back. "Thank you." Everyone seemed to have a love for her cupcakes. No wonder she made them several times during the year for her friends, and uh everyone or anyone that wanted them.

Ah she was right, he was a first year. She smiled widely. "I'm Katerina or Kat." She didn't mind either one but Kat was her favorite. Even though there were a lot Kats at school and in her year alone. And since he mentioned his year she may as well tell her hers. "Oh Fourth year." She nodded proudly, no longer being one of the little kids at school now.

At the moment, Zara was trying her best to contain her excitement. She was really heading off to Hogwarts and she wasn't as terrified by that fact as much as she dreaded she might be. It wasn't like she was going to be alone there. Leo was with her, but she knew things were going to change and she was okay with that. Change was part of life and with all the stories she had heard from her parents and family, she was at first a little scared. Okay, she was terrified when she first thought about leaving home, but the was when she was a lot younger. Fine, she was eight at the time when she first thought about it; but four years was a long time and she was excited now.

Making her way down the corridor, Zara kept looking for a possible compartment to enter. She wanted to meet new people since she knew friends would only add to her whole Hogwarts experience, according to both her parents and Mina. Keeping all the advice in mind, she finally found a quiet and empty compartment. "I guess this shall do," she quietly voiced as she settled in. They ride was going to be a long one and there was still a lot of time to meet people.

"Nice to meet you Kat," queue another beam at the girl across from him. Fourth year... so she had 3 full years of experience. He wondered if she was a muggleborn or if she'd already known about magic before she'd come to Hogwarts. Did knowing about magic make going to Hogwarts and doing magic easier? He supposed he'd find out soon... very soon... "So what's Hogwarts actually like? I've read a bit but most of that is just history so I'm not really sure what to expect."

Hopefully this would enlighten him a bit as to what he should expect over the coming weeks. "What kind of food is there?" That was another important question. Ambrose was definitely expecting western food, though he was hoping that maybe he could get his hands on some Chinese food. He'd also preemptively brought a few sets of chopsticks assuming they would only eat with a knife and a fork which he'd rarely ever used at home.

"Also what house are you in?" that was enough questions for now, though he was curious about that last one particularly. He'd read a bit about the house system to, though he couldn't remember much more than the colours and the names.

Zoryn was PUMPED.

She was practically BURSTING with excitement. Actually, she was DEFINITELY bursting with excitement. Bursting with excitement AND bursting into this compartment. Because that's definitely what she just did. Ahem. OOPS?

She threw the door open and did a SOMERSAULT inside, grinning from ear to ear as she did so. Jumping up onto her feet, she threw her hands into the air and wiggled her fingers a bit. Y'know, like jazz hands. It was the fancy thing to do. "AND SHE STICKS THE LANDING!" How was THAT for an entrance!?

"Hi! I'm Zoryn," she added as an afterthought, beaming at the girl. This was gonna be the BEST year of her LIFEEEEE. Also, could she sit here? The eleven-year old twirled in her skirt and sat in the seat directly across from the girl already sat in the compartment. Hi. She kicked her feet back and forth, too distracted to want to sit completely still. SO MUCH WAS HAPPENING. It was AWESOME.

The end of summer was always hard for Olly. He was very close with his family and hated to leave them. It was especially hard to leave Colin, who was his triplet and who Olly loved more than anyone. Except maybe Ellery, who was also his triplet. They were both clinging tightly to Colin before they had to say their goodbyes. But eventually they did and boarded the train together. Olly said goodbye to both of his dads before he hopped up onto the train behind his sister.

They meandered down the corridor. Olly had promised Remy he'd meet him on the train. It was a promise he definitely wanted to keep. Although he had been able to spend a lot of time with his boyfriend over the summer, he was excited to be able to see him every day at Hogwarts. And it wasn't too difficult to leave Ellery because he'd see her there every day too. So he said goodbye to her when she went off to find friends of her own to sit with, and he looked for Remy.

It didn't take very long to find Remy in an otherwise empty compartment. Olly grinned and slid the door open. He flopped down in the seat next his boyfriend and immediately grabbed his hand. "Hey."

The blonde returned the beam with a smile. "Like wise. Kat tried not to look out the door too much when she heard someone coming down the corridor of the train. She was looking for Cornelius mostly. She smiled just thinking about him. Anyway, "Hogwarts is great, I love it. Its huge. The grounds you can find something to do outside or inside. Everything is.... there are no words." So he had just read about it. So did that mean he was muggleborn? She couldn't possibly imagine someone with magic parents not know a thing about the school besides what's in history books.

The food? Now that was a answer she really knew about. She was a Hufflepuff her common room was right next to the kitchens. It made those late night all nighter need food right now easy. Cupcakes runs for the common room was fun too. "All different kind. The house elves are good little cooks. You can ask them for anything, and they will deliver." Kat just adored the house elves, she liked going to the kitchen just to see them.

"Hufflepuff, the best house." Well all of them were nice, but Hufflepuff was extra nice you see. She laughed slightly, Even for a first year he did have a lot of questions. Not that Kat didn't mind, she would answer as best as she could.

Leon had gotten exactly three and a half seconds of quiet and alone time when he heard a voice and the 7th year inwardly groaned. One minute.. he couldn't get one blessed minute of peace and nap time.

He cracked one eye open and a sigh left his mouth.. perfect.. a firstie..or perhaps something close?

His other eye opened and he looked around and then peered out the door.. surely there were tons of empty compartments. After all he had done his research carefully..

But no, his perfectly laid out plan had to be foiled by a firstie..

"Uhhh.." Truthfully Leon wanted to snap at the kid, he was grumpy due to being hungry and tired. But he refrained and took a breath.

"Not at all, I was just heading out actually.. seats are lumpy. " '

Fifth year. Huzzah!

Fifth year meant that she was one step closer to graduation... Which was BOMB! But currently, she had a rather pressing matter at hand.

WHERE TO SIT!

This was something very important. For reasons. She had seen Casper on the platform and made promises to meet up later, but at the moment he was just looking for a comfy ideally not very crowded compartment to settle into. Brushing her blonde locks over her shoulder, she let out a small sigh. Where was SAM? She felt like she hadn't seen much of her since she took off to Edinburgh to stay with Casper and Uncle Oli for a bit. They were both busy with other things, yeah?

A frown momentarily crossed her features, a furrow between her brows, her mind wandering off.

"That sounds great... the last school that I went to was small, but then again it wasn't a boarding school either..." he responded thoughtfully. "I saw a picture of the castle too! It looks... magical."

That was a terrible adjective to use, especially talking about a school of witchcraft and wizardry, but it was still something that didn't feel like it was good enough to describe it.

House elves? He couldn't remember much about those. "Those are the little things that clean and make food right? With the big eyes?"

"Hufflepuffs yellow, right? With the badger... uh... I forgot what type of people go there though..." he was wracking his brain at that point, but he was semi-confident in the information he was able to remember.

Foueth year. It was already Jonas' fourth year. He was already half way through his years at Hogwarts. Walking down the narrow compartments, he tried to find an available seat.

Her ears perked up when she heard someone say her name. Turning around to see the source of the voice, she saw Hazel from the Menagerie displays, a pleasant surprise. "Charlie is right," she affirmed, grinning, "And you're Hazel! I do remember you from the Menagerie... although that wasn't that long ago."This... this was good. She might end up having somewhere to sit if things had gone okay with them, and that was even more good. Sure, Charlie was not exactly keen on the other girl's idea of shoulder-sitting, but at least she still wanted to help her out, right? She sure hoped so.

"A place to sit? Why yes I do," she replied, instantly feeling a wave of relief wash over her. Apparently they had hit it off not half bad. She was already off to a good start, and she hadn't even actually stepped foot on the school grounds yet. Charlie only hoped she could keep his momentum up with others, too, but that was another thing she could think about at a later time.

"I suppose we should get to finding a compartment to sit in?" She asked the rather important question. Sure, they had people (or a person) to sit with, but now they needed somewhere to do the sitting.

Well this was it. Her last train ride to Hogwarts. Janelle wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. What she did know, was that seven years had gone by awfully fast.......and that was kind of scary. As Janelle made her way down the corridor, she discreetly peeked into each compartment she passed. She didn't particularly want to spend her last ride alone, but picking the right compartment mates was important.

Janelle finally decided that it would be best to find someone around her age. She didn't mind the ickles, but not today. At last, she spotted a boy who definitely looked older and a familiar younger boy. That would have to do. Janelle tapped on the door and then opened it. Poking her head inside, she said, "Hi there. Do you have room for one more?" She hoped the answer was yes because truthfully, she was tired of roaming the corridors and really wanted to sit down and chill.

Zara alternated from brief glances at the compartment door and peering out at the platform. There were still so much happening outside as parents and families were saying their goodbyes. It tugged at her heartstrings a bit. She was going to miss her own family, but Hogwarts was an adventure she was looking forward to.

Just as she passed her glance from the door to the window, she saw moment from the door in the corner of her eye and whipped her attention back to the door. Just as her eyes settled on the opening of the compartment door, there was the girl. Someone do fun of excitement, it was radiating off her. Zara couldn't help but smile at it.

"Beautiful landing," she smiled brightly as she clapped. An entrance like that deserved an applause after all. Entrances were first impressions and that was a beaut for sure.

"Hi! I'm Zara," she replied as she waved. "So nice to meet you!" Waving was always expectable in her opinion even giving the small confounds of the compartment. Handshakes were not her thing and what little lady did that at the age of eleven? Seriously?

The Fourth Year had the same important matter at hand - where to sit.

Carl had said his farewells to his aunt and uncle outside Platform 9 3/4, as they were not very comfortable running through the barrier. He had then stored his luggage and his owl at the big compartment for trunks. Now he was looking for a place to sit in. Like many others, he was having trouble deciding whether he would sit in the front, the middle, or at the back.

As he wandered into the Middle Cars, he saw a familiar Gryffindor who also seemed to be dealing with the same problem. "Dora! Hi!" He grinned, patting her on the shoulder. "Wanna sit together?" They haven't talked properly in such a long time, they had so much to catch up on!

Kimi was taken a back by the boy's attitude and said "Well fine leave if you want to, dont let me stop you"

Kimi smiled at the older girl and said "Course i dont mind if you join me" Kimi was really happy that he had some company