THIS WAS ITTTTTTTT.

He was finally aboard the HOGWARTS EXPRESS.

Having ditched his sister and parents on the platform (and leaving his luggage there for them to deal with), Józef strolled proudly onto the train, puffing his chest out to show the Slytherin Prefect Badge pinned to his robes?

Wasn’t it so beautiful and silver and green and shiny?!

Of course, his enthusiasm was limited to a smirk - the coolest of all facial expressions - as he sought out the Prefects Compartment. He’d gotten all of the details from Flynn the last time he’d stayed with him, when he’d finally managed to complete The Badge Heist™. Stealing his cousins own prefect badge from RIGHT UNDERNEATH HIS NOSE where it had been pinned to Archie's fridge had ended up being a piece of cake (even though he was pretty sure Flynn had let him, he would never even admit that to himself).

He'd give it back. Eventually.

And so eventually Jó arrived in the compartment, pleased for once in his life that they’d gotten somewhere early. Being the first person here made it infinitely easier to assert his dominance, and he selected a seat by the window, putting his feet up and sprawling out.

If they made him do actual prefect stuff, though, he’d be really annoyed.

Anna was a funny shade of pale when she boarded the Hogwarts Express that morning. Not yet in her school robes, the girl had been forced convinced by her brother to already wear her Captain Badge. Alright, it didn't take her THAT long to be convinced, but she hadn't been sure whether to wait until she was wearing her uniform or not.

Anywho, she had it on and she SUPPOSED the first place she should visit was the Prefects' Compartment. Although she wasn't technically a PREFECT, she was still the CAPTAIN and that entitled her to a spot there, she was sure.

Opening the door, the somewhat apprehensive look on her face lasted only two seconds, as she cracked a smile and a chuckle when she saw the only person there was... a young child. "Hi?" She greeted him as she entered the compartment, giving him a curious, not sure what made him think he could be there like that. All sprawled out, no less.

It highly amused her, though, and she was all for it.

Józef's position, his attitude, the air of nonchalance he was giving off were all well thought out. A part of him, bursting with excitement, wanted to look around the WHOLE train and go buy some sweets from the trolley lady (and ignore the lunch his mum had packed for him). Maybe even see if there was someone he'd met in Diagon Alley around.

But the SMART part of him (the very small part) that had listened to Flynn and watched Flynn and PAID ATTENTION (and that in itself had been difficult) was overriding his excitement. His sprawl suggested relaxed, like he belonged here, and he didn't even JUMP UP when he saw the door inch open EVEN THOUGH he really wanted to.

His sunglasses over his eyes, Jó offered the new comer a nod, puffing his chest out a little more so she could DEFINITELY see that he was wearing the Slytherin Prefect Badge.

Which means he belonged here more than she did, Captain. It did say Prefects' Compartment on the door, after all.

"Hi," he responded after a moment.

Jessa wasn't wearing her badge yet for the simple reason that she didn't feel like it. There was an entire term ahead of her to keep that damned thing pinned to her chest and a few more hours wait while on the Hogwarts Express seemed inconsequential in that grander scheme of things.

Was she nervous? No, she'd had the last three weeks to be nervous and anxious then angry then resolved and now indifferent. It was just another year of school--her last--and so long as she didn't expect too much from it, there wasn't anything that could go really wrong. Chances were it would be another Hogwarts year, something would go wrong, it would take a while to be resolved and she would remain locked in her lab through most of it. A solid plan if you asked her.

Jessa nudged the door open to the Prefect Compartment, no longer overcome with anxiety at the thought of sitting in there for a bit with this being her third year to ride here. There were...miniscule amounts of anxiety, knowing she and whoever now held the Head Boy badge would have to host the small meeting but there was still a general atmosphere of indifference.

Her fluffy kneazle and cat walked before her, hopping up onto seats to get as comfortable as undead felines really could but it was only after closing the door that she saw him. The Ravenclaw sighed deeply. "Did you really have to be the first one? This soon into the ride? Before we've even gotten to the country side? Is this really necessary?" She didn't wanna have to deal THIS SOON into the school year for fudge sake.

From the corner of her eye she did notice the Anna girl but more or less figured with the changing of badges there would be a few older faces, ones that were more plausible being in here.

After checking in with Aaron and Alanna, making sure they were both relatively okay and settled with their own friends, Abra had made the long walk to the Prefects' Compartment, his new badge clutched in the hand which was shoved in his pocket. Somehow this walk was both easier and more difficult than it had been the year before. Easier because he'd done it once, he knew what to expect, knew he really did have a right to be there, and more difficult because now it was under different circumstances, now he had a whole new and different set of responsibilities and expectations set before him. Getting on the train itself had been more difficult than ever this year, in fact, given... things.

It was all a bit much to think about, to the effect that when Abra entered the compartment just after Jessa it was with his mind so occupied that he didn't immediately notice that something was amiss. He was already sat in one of the empty seats before noticing someone - an unfamiliar someone that was far too young to be a student leader - sat there, with a Slytherin prefect badge(???) somehow gleaming on his chest. Abra looked from the boy with the badge and the sunglasses, to Jessa, to Anna, and then back to the boy.

"I'm pretty sure you're not actually supposed to be in here," he said to him, hopefully keeping the uncertainty out of his voice. Was this a test by the professors, to make sure they were handling the whole authority thing well, or was the kid just messing about of his own accord?

Abra rubbed at one of his eyes - his contacts were aggravating him already - and looked back at both of the girls in turn. "Hey Jessa. Hey Anna; congratulations again." That last part was for Anna specifically, as Abra had no idea about Jessa's new badge, after all. Speaking of which, he went ahead and pinned his own badge to the front of his jacket, now that he was situated in the compartment.

Daisy was quite proud to be Prefect. She certainly didn't expect it and would make sure to abide by the rules. She was wearing her Prefect badge as she made her way into the compartment. Daisy spotted Anna, Jessa and Abra and waved at them, ready to speak with them. Daisy was about to head over to them, when she spotted the First-Year sitting rather casually, wearing a Slytherin Prefect badge, she rolled her eyes and walked up to him.

"What are you doing here? You're a First-Year wearing a Prefect badge. I can tell how young you are just by looking at you. I think you need to explain yourself."

Patrick strolled onto the train with a bit more swagger than he had last year. This year he hadn’t suddenly shot up six inches making it hard to figure out how his body functioned. No this year he had figured out his height, spent the whole summer working on his grandparents farm, and playing sports. It may have also been the badge but he was going to chalk it up to the other things first.

It was warm when he was leaving to Catch the train, but because he’d been at his grandparents farm finishing his projects he was still in his jeans, boots, and baseball hat that had seen better days. He had begun strolling through the train starting at the back checking on students the same way Skylar had for him when he was a youngster.

Pushing open the door, he wasn’t surprised to see other people in the compartment, “hey y’all. Oh, congrats Anna.” he recognized her from last year where they were talking about brooms and stuff on the bridge. He glanced around spotting a... kid, literally. He had on a badge he knew wasn’t his because he knew what Maxton looked like, and this kid sure wasn’t Maxton. Crossing his arms across his chest he watched Daisy question the kid. “Well kid looks like you’ve got some splainin to do.” It was more under his breath as he may have asked for his name first since none of them recognized him. But why would a kid try to push the limits like that before the term even started? Didn’t he know how many house points he’d set his house behind?

Anna had to stifle a laugh when the boy puffed out his chest to obviously show off the Slytherin prefect badge he was wearing. The girl knew it wasn't his, and it just made the whole thing funnier. "Nice! New Slytherin prefect. Nice to meet you."

Aaaand she couldn't keep it together any longer. The Gryffindor let out a laugh just as Jessa was walking in, which was helpful because she was already speaking to the little guy over there so Anna could take a seat and try and pull herself together to at least not embarrass the boy too much.

That was HILARIOUS, though, HA. That kid. Anna liked him already.

She grinned at the Ravenclaw girl and then to Abra, who had just joined them. "Hey!" She greeted him back with a quick wave. "Thanks! You too." She added with a nod, her smile lingering a bit longer as she looked at him to make sure he knew she was glad he was returning that term. Thank MERLIN she wasn't replacing him for unfortunate reasons.

When Daisy walked in, Anna waved back at her and also sent her a smile. She watched as the Hufflepuff girl went straight to the little boy and started questioning him. She bit her lower lip to stop herself from laughing out loud again. "Well, he's the new Slytherin prefect!" She happily told Daisy, grinning and not being able to contain a chuckle.

And Patrick was here! "Speaking of Slytherins!" She grinned at him as a greeting. "Congrats to you too!" She said as she gave his arm a friendly slap. Aaaaaand he was also already ready to tell off the little boy, making Anna laugh again.

The poor kid was just trying to have fun, Anna was sure. Ha!

Daisy looked at Anna and was struggling with how to reply to her. She didn't want to appear way too authoritative but she also felt that some weren't taking this matter with the right level of maturity.

"Boy, then they make Slytherin Fifth Years quite young these days, don't they?" Daisy replied, a tiny bit of sarcasm in her voice in order to hide her annoyance.

Another person (Jessa)! This one didn’t have a badge though, and so Józef raised an eyebrow (or tried to - he still hadn’t gotten the hang of the one eyebrow thing). Not that you could see it, anyway, what with the sunglasses that were too big for his face. She did have cute pets though, but he wouldn’t acknowledge that just yet.

"What do you mean? I got here early!" Honestly, wasn’t that just the sign of an EXCELLENT prefect? "Who are you, anyway?" Because he had a badge, and she didn’t.

Did you see his point?

And here was another person (Abra) withOUT a badge, asking him questions. TSK TSK. Jó POINTED at the shiny badge on the front of his sweater. That explained everything, didn’t it? Explained how he was definitely supposed to be there and this new boy…. Oh. He was putting a badge onto his jacket. Then he should understand what it meant to be supposed to be in here.

Goodness, the compartment was getting quite cosy, wasn’t it? And all eyes were on him! He was totally cool with being the center of attention, but what he wasn’t cool with was someone ROLLING THEIR EYES at him. As tempted as he was to stand up and confront this newcomer (Daisy), Józef forced himself to remain seated, to maintain his air of nonchalance and coolness. He did., however, push his sunglasses onto the top of his head, just to show that he could do an eye roll EVEN BETTER than hers had been. "How do you know I’m a first year?!" was all he could manage, affronted that his age had been judged so badly! That was just plain RUDE. He was almost as tall as his sister and she was going to be a fourth year!

RUDE. "Don’t need to explain myself to anyone." His eyes went from the girl in front of him to the new boy (Patrick) who had basically asked the same question. MERLIN. He had the badge on, didn’t he? The first girl who’s entered got a grin as she seemed to take his badge at face value - she was a good type, he decided. Of course, he wasn’t aware that she was just playing along for her own amusement, so he did wonder if she was a bit stupid, but he was mostly glad that his plan had worked on someone.

And he didn’t like this other girl (Daisy) much AT ALL. He scowled right back at her sarcasm, holding it for a moment before pushing his sunglasses back over his eyes. "It would be a shame to waste potential just because of someones AGE," he managed, annoyance obvious on his face and in his voice, even though his eyes were covered and he’d attempted to keep his voice level.

How did Flynn DEAL with these kind of people?!

Juniper had just dropped off Boo with Slate so she could head to the perfects compartment. She figured that it would be easier if she didn’t bring Boo with her while she was with the other captains and prefects. She wasn’t sure how well behaved or lack of well behavior that her cat would be. Plus now she knew where Slate was she could sneak back to the compartment with him later. It was fine she had left him with snacks so he would be good a while.

She pinned her badge onto her robes as she made it closer to the prefects compartment. She hadn’t told many people about making the Ravenclaw quidditch captain and the most of the ones that she did wasn’t on this train. Straightening up her badge as she moves into the compartment. She wondered who else had been given badges new this term, there were a lot to leave from last year. But she knew that many faces would be back.. Maybe.

She took a deep breath and and went inside. Entering into the compartment, Juni first spotted Jessa and Abra, two faces that she expected to see. ”Hey Jessa, Abra.” Then noticed that there was a little one there too. Who was obviously not suppose be there. ”Is this kid lost?’ Not directing her question to anyone, just as a general consensus.

Who did this kid think he was?

Now there was some new faces with badges, Anna, Daisy and Patrick. ” Hey Anna, Daisy, Patrick.” Wait Anna was Captain? Not Abra. Now this was confusing. She was really looking forward to the quidditch season. This was going to be great. Were they missing anyone else, Bel Derf? They would be along soon yes? Now they had to get rid of the kid that wasn’t invited.

Jessa did her best not to scowl, reminding herself that not only would she have had to deal with this at some point or another during the term but that even if she still had the Prefect badge, this kid would be her problem too. It was one of those inevitable things and it made no sense to get worked up about it, least of all when the kid was being cool as a cucumber. “Jessa Cambridge.” Was about the only response she gave to all he’d said. Early. Of course. How silly of her.

The Ravenclaw smiled her greeting to Abra, before noticing his new badge. “Looks like I’ll be running into you on patrols from now on.” Both being in the towers it was bound to happen at the beginning or end of each nightly duty. She would say congrats however in case he preferred his old badge and she was unintentionally rubbing salt into a wound.

The next few entrances, while initially a surprise were well founded, each had a badge and she’d known there were quite a few people to be replaced. Jessa nodded to each as they entered with their greeting, for now paying less attention to the kid and the small army of questions he’d gotten.

Finally, quietly, slowly, Jessa clicked the lock shut on the door to the compartment before turning to everyone present.

“Meet our volunteer test subject for the duration of this train ride.” She said coolly. When did he volunteer? When he walked in and decided to pretend to be one of them. Momentarily, blue eyes drifted to all the open windows, reminding herself of the exits before she turned to look at him. “It was brave of him and before we begin, I’d like him to know how much we appreciate him sacrificing Hogwarts and his future to die bravely in the pursuit of science. Not many would risk this and we should all take a moment of silence—but while we do, I’ll need cloth, numbing potion, a silencing charm on this compartment, and I suppose a suturing kit—I could use a spell but that might affect the study.”

Maybe she was joking in an attempt to spook the kid, maybe her undead subjects sitting next to him were proof she was not. Either way, if he did stay, something was happening.

Looking back at Anna, Abra caught her smile, and he thought he understood the meaning behind it. Smiling back, he gave her a small nod. He really had been touched by her thoughtfulness when she'd written to him over the summer to check that everything was okay.

"Sure will," Abra said to Jessa, managing a smile for her too. He looked down at the badge and prodded it so that it sat on his chest a little straighter. "Bit of a surprise to get it, to be honest." A good sort of surprise, he thought, but a surprise all the same.

The compartment was starting to fill up now, and a couple of new faces had arrived - Daisy and Patrick - people he knew of from around school and Quidditch but did not know personally. Abra raised his hand in greeting to both of them as they appeared, but as a lot of everyone's attention seemed to be on the apparent interloper, he left the congratulations for the time-being. "Hey Juniper," he said when the girl in question arrived, just catching a glint of the badge she wore as she moved into the compartment. As for her question, it was a very good one, but the kid didn't seem very lost to him...

Wild. This kid was wild. But the problem was, even though Abra was just a little bit irked by the situation and the boy's attitude, when Anna laughed, it was sort of contagious. He had to fight to keep his face straight, and the corners of his lips definitely twitched a little bit.

Ahem. Nothing to see here.

For a moment, he considered asking where the kid had got the badge - if the school had actually sent it to him, or else where he had got it - or perhaps what his name was, but then Abra heard the lock of the door click, and he looked around, curious. As Jessa spoke, he listened, and he sort of... started to worry. Just a lot little bit. He couldn't tell exactly how serious Jessa was being, but it made him anxious all the same - after all, what didn't? Surely she didn't mean it, was only trying to spook the boy into getting out of there... but... in all honestly it was pretty difficult to tell. Even if she wasn't being serious, Abra didn't really want to get caught up in the business of frightening possible first years or transfers on their first trip to Hogwarts, even if they were somewhere they shouldn't be.

"Uhhhh..." Abra said intelligently, looking from Jessa to the boy a couple of times, effectively ruining the proposed moment of silence. He let his gaze rest on the kid again, and gave him a look full of meaning. "I think it's time for you to get going." No, but seriously. He even got to his feet, all the better to usher the boy on his way.

Abra seemed to get what she had meant, and he got a nod back. Good, GOOD. It was all good and she was glad.

Okay, so Anna had never really interacted with the new Hufflepuff prefect, but as soon as she replied to her, the Gryffindor let out the loudest laugh so far. Merlin, that girl was TOO FUNNY!! Conscious that Daisy was probably trying to be serious, Anna tried to compose herself once again by first covering her mouth with her hand, then using the same hand to facepalm because honestly, these guys were going a bit over the top.

"Hey!" The brunette smiled and waved at the newcomer, this time the Ravenclaw Captain. Nice, they were all going to have the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better before--

Well, talk about them going over the top! Anna raised her eyebrows, at first amused, then very much unsure of what was about to happen when the Ravenclaw girl started... talking quite a lot. About some somewhat creepy things too. Anna scoffed. She was joking, right? ..........Right? Her eyes darted between a few of the other people in the compartment, those who Anna thought would know Jessa better, as she herself didn't. She tried to read their expressions to see whether the girl was being serious, but Anna was still not sure. One thing she WAS sure of, though: those pets of her were most definitely unsettling.

Abra's advise for the kid made the now fourth year look back at the little boy to see what he was going to do, half of her hoping he'd step up to the crazy Ravenclaw prefect because that'd be hilarious to watch. The other half of Anna wanted people to just CHILL, because all of this wasn't worth the hassle. She felt like everybody who was trying to put a point across was standing up, so she did too. "He's just a kid having some fun. What's so wrong with him being here with us?" She said resolutely, gesturing towards the little boy with her hand while looking straight at Jessa because that girl was acting like she was in charge. "It's not like he's trying to steal your badge, is it?"

Patrick was a bit concerned with just how serious everyone was being. He figured if the kid was bold enough to come into the prefects compartment he was bold enough to risk expulsion from someone else. He took a step back as daisy seemed to want to be head hancho on scaring him. Although it was hard for Patrick not to look slightly intimidating these days as he was nearing 6 feet tall.

More people were entering into the compartment. He waved at a few of them he recognized most of them from quidditch or classes in previous terms. With a quick waive “hey y’all,” muttered to each pair entering the compartment he tried to keep up with the faces. He was really intrigued by the group of people he had working with him this term. But he was going to— oh Merlin. They were threatening the kid now.

He snuck a glance at the others trying to see what they were going to do or not do he supposed. Honestly, at this point he figured it was harmless fun take a few points tell his head of house upon sorting, cause let’s be honest he couldn’t be more than a first year.

Then Anna spoke up, his head was nodding up and down. Sure he thought he was funny...but Patrick knew that Maxton was the prefect for slytherin not this kid. Why no one asked him to confirm or why they didn’t use process of elemination. “We could just get his name, take a few points and be done with it... that’s better than scarring the kid for life or making him minced meat...” although the more he thought about it this wasn’t his problem, “but then again I’m just a quidditch captain.”

Honestly? Derf hated riding in a separate compartment and was why ever since he had been badged in his fourth year he had really only made an appearance, stuck around for whatever meeting they may have, and then returned to roaming the train corridors and mingling with friends. Or stuffing his pockets with sweets from the trolley.

And he always felt strange pinning prefect badge to his robes...even more so this year and he was honestly surprised that Professor Noble had wanted to keep him on in light of how useless he had been during the inferi attack. But he was grateful...very much so...and hoping to earn his own self respect back this term. That had been the worst thing about last term...losing that for himself.

So it should come to no one's surprise that the 16-year-old was dragging his feet towards the prefect compartment. Just going to make an appearance check and see if he HAD to stick around and then bow out.

And as it turned out...sticking around for a little was precisely what he had to do.....and he REALLY wished he had had better timing because seeing Jessa with her felines and then threatening - jokingly or not - with....that stuff on someone he could only imagine to be a first year by his size....it was overwhelming and the tension in the air was very much palatable. And, well, Derf felt for this kid in a way....you know? He HAD been this kid his first year - save for the attitude that Derf had not overheard because of his timing to the compartment - so he wasn't exactly judging the kid for being in here. When someone saw something off limits to them it only made you want to do it more, you know?

Yes, Derf would be that kid to be told not to push a red button but do it anyway. Curiosity and such.

But...anywaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

Stepping into the compartment a bit - and not really noticing any changes per say because his attention was - like everyone else's - on this one boy. Though his eyes did dart to Jessa who he was, honestly, disappointed in. "I reckon he didn't actual sign a waiver to volunteer for any of your experiments, Jessa," Derf said plainly, a part of him snapping over her interest in necromancy in light of last term. He knew his best friend, he knew her threats were most likely empty, but in light of everything he couldn't just...you know... roll over. And, well, he was going to be discussing things with some people. Probably."So save your suturing kit for another time."

Why was everyone standing, by the way? Sweet Scamander talk about tension.

And the focus was just...the first year being in the compartment, yeah? It was a win-win for Derf if he got to LEAVE and then get the kid to come with him. So...how about a little round of pretending? Derf was excellent at that, you know? Making up stories and half believing them and then going about living his life. How else was one dramatic Hufflepuff full of angst going to survive in this world?

Sunglasses inside though? Was this kid American?

So there was also some blah blahing about potential and what not - only heard half of that anyway - and as Derf padded his pockets to search for some chocolate frogs - because chocolate helped with all that negative energy - he realized he had packed them all in his trunk and was now chocolate frog less for the journey.

He could use this to his advantage, yes.

"Why don't you show me this potential and join me on a patrol of the train corridors then?" Derf asked the "intruder" nonchalantly. "Part of our duties as prefects and stuff, you know."

He would later regret not seeing the change in Abey's badge or acknowledge all the new prefects and captains...but the hairs were quite literally standing on the back of his neck with the atmosphere in the compartment and it wasn't even OFFICIALLY the first day of school yet.

When Jessa mentioned her "plans", Daisy gave the older Ravenclaw and then the false Slytherin Prefect a grin. "Ooh, that does sound tempting but I think Patrick and Derf are right. Let's get his name and remove points and let him and Derf patrol the corridors."

Daisy just wanted to be rid of the First Year for the time being. "Please don't be a Hufflepuff," she thought to herself.

It wasn’t any real reason why Stasya felt like she very well might be the last person to arrive at the prefect compartment. For the most part, she hadn’t still felt like she wasn’t worthy of her position. At least, enough people had tried to convince her otherwise, even though most of those weren’t going to be at school. Not anymore, and she still felt oddly like she knew a secret. It just was a secret that would be revealed soon enough, once they got to school, and it wasn’t anything that she had to reveal. Maybe it wasn’t really a secret. It was just something she was still thinking about, especially once she’d stepped onto the train.

As usual, she hadn’t left Dobby or Albus in the luggage compartment, either. The squirrel had his usual perch on her shoulder as she’d taken her time walking the length of the train toward the front and the meeting that she knew was supposed to happen, while the puffskein had a nest in her bag. It wasn’t her first term in the position, and if anything she was curious who’d been named her fellow Gryffindor prefect and who was going to replace the Slytherin leaders who’d all graduated last term.

It was for that reason she’d been startled when she’d arrived in the compartment finally to find that she was one of the last to arrive. Sort of. She saw Jessa and Derf, who she’d found herself following into the compartment in the first place, and Abra. Familiar faces, and they’d each gotten a smile from the tall blonde, although the latter had gotten a bit of a double take at the badge on his jacket. At least it was someone she knew and liked. Even if she still felt like it was mostly just because of Derf that she knew him. She was fairly sure she could work with him.

That and, as she’d been able to look closer at the others in the compartment, she realized she knew the other Lion leader too. In nearly as roundabout a way as she knew Abra, anyway, since she knew Anna’s brother more than she knew Anna because of Team Animagus. It still counted.

And why was Derf talking about waivers and suturing kits? She hadn’t actually noticed the first year sprawled out before then, although she did as she’d dropped into a seat across from Jessa’s cats. Mostly just as a precaution against any reaction from them to her own pets. “Congratulations to everyone, by the way,” she’d said finally with a grin to each, before turning her attention to the boy who obviously was the other’s main focus. She was ninety-nine percent sure Slytherin wasn’t so desperate for possible student leaders as to name a first year prefect, even if last term she’d been a fourth year prefect and she was pretty sure Anna and Patrick were fourth years this term.

“Okay, what is your name?” This was directed at the first year, after Daisy had concluded they needed to hear it. She knew the others’ names and that wasn’t the topic of discussion. Plus, she also agreed with Derf’s plan of getting him out of the compartment without permanently scarring him.

Abra was getting more and more anxious, which wasn't a fun time. He, too, wanted the kid to leave so they could get on with what they were supposed to be doing. He didn't agree with Anna, who wanted to let him stay, partly for the reason that they had all earned a seat in this rather nicer compartment, and that if everyone heard they were just letting whoever wanted to sit in there stay, it kind of took away one of the perks that came with a role that was otherwise laden with responsibility. But he'd wanted the chance to sit and talk to the kid, ask his name, where he got the badge, maybe explain why it wasn't fair of him to do what he was trying to do... but everyone else had their own ideas.

Abra also didn't agree with threatening to experiment in whatever unknown ways on the possible first year, or even just pretending that that was the plan in order to frighten him away, which was why he'd tried to persuade him to just get up and leave before that went too far. In retrospect he had probably just made the threat seem all the more serious. He could have kicked himself.

All in all it wasn't the peaceful train ride to school that he had hoped for, and he thought now that he should have remembered that anything to do with Hogwarts was seldom peaceful.

Then Derf showed up, and honestly? All that anxiety suddenly skyrocketed. There was little reason for it to have done so, but skyrocket it did, and at that point, it was a bit too much to bear. The kid, Jessa, Derf, having to deal with a situation like this without any sort of preparation or training, the reminder of the general mayhem they were all speeding north towards; he couldn't do it. He needed to go somewhere quiet and breathe. Just for a moment. Everyone else was trying to handle the situation now, so it was probably best to leave them to it anyway; too many potioneers spoil the brew, and he was terrible at Potions anyway.

Abra was already on his feet, so it didn't take long for him to move to the door. Muttering something about changing into his robes, he nodded a sort-of-greeting to Stas, slid past Derf, to whom he offered a strained smile, and left the compartment, swiftly and suddenly.

Max was late.

He wasn’t normally late. In fact, he didn’t like being late because that usually meant unwanted attention and he much preferred to go unnoticed. He’d kind of been putting off this moment though and had spent waaaay too long faffing about at the food trolley. Food was good for the nerves, you know.

It seemed he had gone and chosen precisely the wrong time to pluck up the courage and step inside the Prefect’s Compartment though. He shifted aside to let Abra squeeze out and then stood frozen in the doorway himself, scanning the scene in front of him.

No wonder Abra was doing a runner. It was mayhem.

He zeroed in on the one kid everyone else seemed to be looking at felt his stomach twist uncomfortably. He didn’t notice that the boy was maybe a tad too young to be sporting a badge, he was too busy noticing that it was EXACTLY the same as the one an owl had delivered him a couple of weeks ago.

UHHHHHHHH.

“I….. ummmmmm..… Wrong compartment, sorry!” And with that, Max slid the compartment door closed and shuffled back down the corridor….. super confused and super embarrassed.

Were she not somewhat focused on the situation at hand, Jessa may have been concerned by the ease with which Derf and Stasya entered the locked compartment. Perhaps they'd both been brushing up on their spells over the summer, she would never know--mostly because she didn't think she cared enough to ask and certainly not when there was suddenly a full blown discussion.

So, no moment of silence then. Fine.

The Ravenclaw found herself growing less and less interested with the situation with each student to give their input.

"He's not allowed is what's wrong." Jessa pointed out to Anna, her voice riding along the monotone line it tended to stick with. "It's our job to enforce rules--it's apparently yours to find quaffle chasers. Understand this is a black and white case. He's not meant to be in here, we won't condone it because you find it amusing." As proven by the laughter earlier. The 7th Year bared no ill will toward the kid, she just happened to know he wasn't meant to be here and she didn't want to deal.

Was she ignoring Derf's counter to her words? Absolutely. Her eyes remained fixed forward, not sparing even the shortest of glances in his direction, or giving any physical indication that she'd heard his words. It was clear the kid had signed no waivers, it was equally clear she wouldn't kill anyone. Thank you, Derfael.

Patrick and Daisy agreeing to take points was laughable (because would a troublemaker care?), but her expression neither rose nor sunk from its current impassive state. Stasya asking for his name was no more convincing to her. This was quickly growing to be tiring and she had things to do. Abra was already gone, and they hadn't gotten anywhere with the meeting. How many more would leave before she could say her piece?

With a sigh of disinterest, Jessa's gaze moved to each of them. "This isn't up for debate, he's leaving by his own accord or with varying degrees of force. I've decided I won't deal with this, so we're not going to sit through this and pretend it's fine or negotiable. I suspect you'll have a problem with that." She said, now glancing over to Derf and fixing her gaze there in the silent pause that followed. "So if you'd really like to see him remain off my experiment table, I suggest you get him out, now--not asking, not suggesting, not providing him alternatives that he may or may not refuse," Even now, her tone neither rose nor sank. It cruised along that line of monotonous indifference. It was too early in the term to be feeling this tired. She wasn't here for it and would rather get this thing over with. "but actually get him out." Not meant to scare anyone or scar them, she was simply letting them know this was how she was proceeding.

"I'd like to begin this meeting before we lose anyone else so let's make this quick." By her means or theirs, the kid was leaving in the next minute or two.

In the next second, she'd lost another that was meant to be there for the meeting. Great start to the year this was. Someone would have to fill Maxton in later. It wouldn't be that much. Just routine stuff.

Jessa lifted her wrist and looked to her watch. Time was ticking, they would all need to move quickly, if they didn't want her to.

Daisy thought that Jessa was making perfect sense especially with what she was saying to a certain Gryffindor Quidditch captain. "Look, I want this troublemaker dealt with. Would detention work? I'm not sure. He seems the type of person that wouldn't change his ways, no matter how severe the punishment."

She then looked at Jessa with an expression of being ready for the meeting.

Jackson had arrived a little later than he had originally intended, but what could you do? Honestly... yea, he was feeling pretty good right now. He walked through the platform between nine and 10, got his things situated, and finally, attached his shiny new Prefect badge to his front. Why would he put it on in front of Muggles? Feeling more comfortable and situated, Jackson headed over to the Prefect Compartment where he knew he would be having a meeting. What about? He couldn't really tell you... he wasn't sure what he was in for to be honest.

Approaching the compartment, he noticed that there were quite a few people already here. And this much younger looking kid… Was he a sibling of one of these other leaders here? It was one of those funny/cute moments he was sure the boy would enjoy telling for years, but once the meeting got going… That was cut off time for sure. He hoped that someone had offered to let the young ‘Slytherin Prefect’ wear that badge, and that he hadn’t taken it from someone. Jackson listened to the boy as he attempted to defend himself. His eyes followed as those already in the compartment joked (or didn’t).

He had presented no expression on his face thus far, but he couldn’t help but crack a smile at the Ravenclaw's way of asking. Then the Jessa came in. Jackson scoot himself over so that she could do her thing. He smiled at the group in front of him, greeting them with a “Good morning all.” Aaaand with the tension growing between some of the others, Jackson left it at that for now.

'Is this kid lost?' Were these people paying NO attention? Did he need to ENLARGE the badge? Jó was frustrated because he didn’t know HOW to do that, and he figured that it would probably just annoy the other occupants even more, but he was trying not to let that show.

Trying being the operative word.

At least he’d gotten a name out of one of them. Jessa - she seemed to be the one everyone else was looking to for guidance, but he didn’t know WHY. She was being rude and boring and not respecting the badge, when she wasn’t even wearing her own! When she started talking about being a test subject, though, he turned to focus back on her and his eyes widened, something they could probably see even if they weren’t directly visible.

He looked between her and the others currently present. “Whilst I’m not against science, ye, or….. stutcherers? …. Something tells me not everyone in here will be cool with murder, ye?” Józef was desperately trying to keep his voice level, and not let his eyes stray to the locked door too often, summoning the courage to stutter out his next words. “I’m not totally opposed to a few scars though, you know?” After all, he still needed to seem cool and tough and not completely weirded out by the turn this had taken.

And scars were cool.

At some point, although he wasn’t aware of when - sometime between the locking of the compartment and the speaking of the Gryffindor Prefect, Jó had gotten to his feet. It was clearly a mistake, though, as only now was he realising just how much BIGGER all of these prefects were.

Was it a relief when more people entered the compartment? Bloody Merlin it definitely was, because it meant that they’d unlocked the doors, but he was fighting the urge to show it, fixing his posture in order to try and seem taller. Which obviously wasn’t working much. But he LIKED the Gryffindor Captain, he realised, going so far as to shoot her a grin. “You make a great point!” he added, trying to edge his way back to the door, around the older kids. After all, he had his own badge, and had he noticed that she wasn’t wearing one?

OH YES HE HAD.

Dodging around the crazy lady, he was met with the blonde newcomer, who wanted him to do actual work?! NAH NAH NAH NAH. That was NOT what he had signed up for! “Uhhhhhhhhh.” How did he politely say no thank you whilst also remaining cool and maintaining some sort of status? He was racking his brains to try and find out, when people were asking him his name and someone was leaving and then someone was coming in and not staying and and and and.

There was so much going on. And so, when he was close enough to the door, Jó cleared his throat. “My name is….. John Doe,” he said proudly, inching out of the door. “And I’m perfectly capable of doing a patrol on my own so….. BYE.”

And he ran, squeezing past people milling in the corridor, one hand clutched around the badge pinned to his chest.

No way was anyone taking it from him.

Flynn would kill him.