"Why mint tea exactly?" Was it because the lady liked that type? Or did it have special heath benefits? Or was it especially good for divination? "I'll keep that in mind."
Well, that was an weird high five thing. "It's nice to meet you Miss Lainey. So, what are you doing on the Hogwarts Express." she asked, before adding. "IF you don't mind me asking. Its just we don't usually get adults on the train."

Err, okay, this lady was weird. Sniffing kids and being all sage and stuff. Why would that kid be on her floor?

As the little firstie began arguing with the possible professor lady, Em poked her. Not a good idea kid.

This girl was just as bad as Oakey when it came to candies. He could at least eat chocolates. Those weren't ruined for him. Maybe this next one would be chocolate in fact. He flicked the next bean into his mouth. He nibbled on it some came to the conclusion that this one was candle wax.

he also couldn't place how she keep looking at him. Either her stares became colder at her mention of him being Hydes boyfriend or she was now burning hot. It was either side of the spectrum of stares measured in temperatures, any of course made Oakey feel uncomfortable. He thought being away from the compartment with her in it, would help his mind ease up some. Hot/Cold Queen had to bring her up didn't she. she Did mean Laura right? There was an older sister too wasn't there? "Laura's?" Oakey said just to make sure. "Though I'm not sure for much longer?"
After his girlfriends little confession of kissing another boy while they were dating, he wasn't sure they're dating was for the best. Plus he'd dodge the whole Who's Felicity question outright.
WAIT, why was he telling this girl that! Oakey still had not gotten a name from her yet!

"W-who are you you then?" It was only fair, if Oakey was going to accidently spill his guts to her, he'd need a name.

Elliot didn't take her intense, icy blue eyes from his, watching her carefully. Assessing him. Taking in his body language.

It was a wise choice to become buds with him, she decided. There were many reason...firstly: IT would bug Laura a great deal. Secondly: She would learn many things from Oakey about her mortal enemy. Her arch nemesis. Thirdly, he was a fairly popular guy...she had heard his name thrown around a lot...

SO there. HEr mind was made up. When he spoke, she could have shouted for joy. A smirk even appeared on her face, but a second later it disappeared. Gone so quickly that he would think it was a trick of light. Heehee. BUt she was doing a little dance inside of her...Laura was having trouble with her boyfriend hahahahaaaaa!

"Oh, really?" she asked, trying her best to sound casual, to sound expressionless. Something Elliot was excellent at. She smirked. Not too charming, he'll know. Just play it cool, Ell. "Bit unfortunate, I'm sorry," she said. Se jingled her pocket. "Want a nice hot tea? IT's calming..." she offered...

*smirk*

Oh, the niceties had arrived. How nice. "Elliot Morganzo." Sip tea. Be casual. "Fourth year 'claw." she added, still trying her best...to appear COOOOL.

Yep. Take Down Hyde had begun.

Dylan just watched as Alexa was high fived.. so maybe this Lainey woman wasnt so bad, she could be cool when she wanted to be.

He smiled as Alexa told this woman that she was the one that would be needing the gravy since Alexa would win this bet, he and Alexa would end up in the same house he could just feel it. So if she was in Ravenclaw then so was he, he just couldnt wait for this woman to be proved wrong and that too by an 11year old girl. He wondered how she would feel after she gets beaten and he would make sure that he was there to see her face when she realises that she had lost this deal that had been made.

He then listened as both girls questioned about mint tea which was a good question what was so special about it? He listened as Emmaleigh asked her what she was doing there on the train, that was a good question from Emmaleigh.. it was curious as to what she was doing on the train.. was she one of this government people?

Even though the place was quite crowded, the fifth year was determined to stay in line and not give up the chocolate frogs. Besides, she had someone to keep her company while waiting at the queue. She listened to the young Slytherin talk, eventually looking a bit puzzled at the girl. ‘I wish I could say the same…’, she mused, referring to the fact that she wasn’t really looking forward to meeting the firsties. Hmm. But it looked like Cassia already knew some of them. Gwen could only remember that kid… Bae who was going to be a firstie, and that rude girl, but maybe she wasn’t even coming to Hogwarts? She met those people on Diagon Alley, and none of the new students on the platform or on the train. Well… since last year’s firsties made an exception and were actually quite promising… most of them were alright. Some of them, like Cassia here, exceeding expectations. So, since the students who were now second years had been great....still were, there was no chance that the new ones could be better.

Anyway- back to their conversation.

‘And?’, she inquired, referring to the firsties Cassia said she had met during the summer. Gwen was really wondering how they would turn out to be. She was looking forward to the sorting ceremony…hopefully there will be some amazing new Ravenclaws. ‘Right’, Gwendolyn said, after having heard the young Slytherin talk about the new Professors. Hmm. Nice? ‘Mehh’,Gwen just raised her shoulders. She was hoping that the new Professors were interesting. She wasn’t really thinking about whether they were going to be nice or not… since she was one of those students who liked Lafay… So no. She didn’t really care about the nice or not part. Gwen turned her head and was surprised to see that the queue diminished a lot, making her the first person in line. ‘Two chocolate frogs, please’, she told the lady behind the food trolley.

After she managed to buy the sweets, the fifth year waited for her friend. Glimpsing at the chocolate frogs she was holding, the fifth year remembered the time Cassia helped her pick the sweets for her friend’s birthday. Hmm. It was very nice of the Slytherin to have helped.

Anyway… ‘I hope Jinx hasn’t gone for a walk again’, she mused, eyeing the compartment that could be spotted at a considerable distance from the place where they were standing. Right. Her cat liked to walk around the train. But he was being taken care of. Her friend was in the compartment. And besides, Jinx was probably playing with Pluto.

Apparently she kept doing and saying all the wrong things today. But still, doesn't it seem incredible that someone you've just met offers you sweets for free? Maybe he was a Hufflepuff. Or maybe just nice. Don't comment on that, Ari thought.

'It is, actually. Sorry we started off on the wrong foot.' Ariadne never knew what to do with herself during introductions. Her mum had taught her to shake hands but she found that weird. But she couldn't do nothing either. In the end, she touched the boy's shoulder awakwardly. Much better. She should just hide in her compartment for the rest of the journey.

That actually made sense. Plus, it was rather cute. Terry Turtle and Tilly Tiger. Heh. 'It must be wonderful to have siblings.' Finally something she said didn't sound completely silly. 'Is your sister at Hogwarts too?' Ariadne asked the boy.

She tried her best not to display any form of disgust when she heard the rat squeak. At least the thing was out of sight for now. 'It might take a while for me to get used to these animals. But yours does look white and clean, so it's a good start.' Ariadne admitted. She didn't know anyone in the castle who owned a rat, though she was aware they were on the school list.

The Gryffindor girl nodded at the next question. 'Good guess. Yes, I have a cat. He's huge and gray, my Pluto.' she described him affectionately. 'I'll try to keep him far away from your rat.' And that was a genuine promise. Ari wasn't a fan of Brie's, but she didn't want her harmed.

Startled by the sudden voice Michael springs to his feet,his wand dropping into his hand from his sleeve " Holy Merlin in polka dot PJ's EM " Giving her a quick smile ,And Giving Bubba a cross look as he. Watched his Owl rub his beak on her finger to say thanks for the grub, and hopping for a head scratch " Oh this ....It just something I am working on." Replacing his wand into its holster and moving his hand up to his face then quickly snapping his fingers "Hey wait I thught you were going to take the floo network to the Hog's Head and meet us at the train station.,Every thing ok You didnt say much in your Owl just that we would have to grab a couch in the common room and catch up" cutting his eyes to what he thought looked like a first yr standing behind her

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." the seventeen year old said, wondering what Michael was so jumpy about. She hadn't missed that wand movement. Giving the owl a little head scratch, she leaned over to get a closer look at the book. "Potions?" she asked scrunching up her nose. Oh how she disliked potions. Not because it was difficult, and not even because Lafay, but because it was tedious.
Shaking her head, "I couldn't miss my last train ride to Hogwarts." She would have really hated herself if she had. "Yeah, every things fine. Its just been way to long since we've had the chance to actually hang out and talk."

Terry opened his packet of 'Every Flavour Beans' and shoved one in his mouth. He chewed for a few seconds before pausing, swallowing and pulling a face. Well that wasn't a very pleasant tasting sweet, was it? He took out another one and decided that, that one was much nicer. Strawberry he thought and maybe a hint of cream. Delicious. "If you didn't want a chocolate frog, would you want one of these?" he held out the packet and offered it to her. Though of course, she would be taking her chances.

"That's okay" he grinned. "Not many people like rats anyway, I think I'll have to get used to it" he pondered. Girls screaming at the sight of a perfectly clean and healthy rat. Well look on the bright side, at least they weren't screaming at him, right? The girl seemed nice enough anyway and it wasn't that she was scared of him so he would automatically forgive her.

Terry gave Ari and unimpressed expression. Good to have siblings? Terry was spoilt rotten and rotten she could be. "Well she bosses me around a lot and mum prefers her to me I think sometimes but I guess its nice not to be lonely." When he was younger, he always had someone to play with. "No. She didn't want to come here she's going to Beauxbatons," But Terry wanted to follow in his mothers footsteps and come here. He didn't want to be following around in his sisters shadow.

"You'll have to get used to it because there might be lots of people with rats at the school" seeing as they were one of the three creatures you have to bring. "Or toads. Do you not like them either?" They were slimy and warty and wasn't that exactly what girls tended to despise. "And she refuses to get dirty, it irritates her" She was like a princess, the Princess of the rat world.

See? He was right! She just didn't look like the type of girl to own a toad, in fact he doubted there were very few people at all who owned a toad, there seemed to be loads left in the shop. "It's okay, Brie won't go anywhere near your cat. She thinks she's far superior to them" And in some ways she was, the rat was intelligent and quick, she could easily outsmart a cat if she wanted to.

Ariella walked back into the candy trolly compartment and walked back over to her friends, who seemed to be having a lively conversation with some older women...

"Sorry I popped out for a moment to go check on Archer," She stoon next to Alexa and Dylan and asked loudly, "Who's this?"

And what was she talking about...mint tea??

She looked up at the woman, adamant that she wasn't going to end up anywhere but Ravenclaw. See, she had it all figured out; every time she boldly jumped into danger and tried daring things she had always put some calculation into it which clearly meant that she was smart. Clearly.

But then the determined look turned into one more so oh curiosity as Emm asked what she was doing on the train...she might have asked too if she thought it was important but something like this just wasn't registering to her on the major scale, meh. Just then she felt a finger poke at her. She jumped out of pure reflexes then glanced over at Emm. "What did I do?" She muttered in complaint. "She's the one who wants me to eat a hat." Which wouldn't happen anyway.

The good thing in all this was that Dylan was also silently agreeing with her. She would be sure to celebrate with him and Ari later when the woman ate the elf food.

Her eyes fell on Ari when she walked over to them again. She had been wondering where she had gone off to but she guessed little Archer needed some checking on. "Is he alright or still rattled?" she wouldn't blame him if he was shivering in his cage after what had happened earlier. "Oh and this woman is Anjelica Lainey...that's all we know about her though--oh and she's kinda cool too." The high five and sniffing was enough to have her convinced.

"What did you do?" Em repeated the girl's question. "You happen to be arguing about where you're going to be sorted with someone that is probably one of your professors. Not smart." She said, touching the girl's nose with her finger. She had only know the first year for a few minutes, but she had to agree with Miss Lainey, this kid was not a Claw. IF she had been, she would have asked someone older for help before risking life and limb by climbing on a train.

"Actually, he seems to be doing quite well, I think he'll get over it..." She said smiling at Alexa, she was thankful for her concern about her owl. She looked over at the woman, "Hello Anjelica...I here your kinda cool."

Standing in the queue their turn seemed to get nearer as she and Gwen took a step forward whenever someone was done buying and left. While Cassia was excited like always, Gwen o the other hand seemed to be indifferent about getting back to school and meeting all the other new students. Cassia couldn't guess what? Could it be that older students didn't feel the excitement much. Or Ravenclaw students only get excited when it came to studying and learning new things. Eh..probably that last option was most likely to be. Well, they're missing a lot, those eagle bookworms, Cassia thought.

Watching Gwen buy her stuff which Cassia had to pivot to see it. Cassia was now the first person on the line. She pointed at what she wanted without thinking. "Four chocolate frogs and a bottle of water please." She said. After paying she pocketed the frogs leaving one in her hand while the other hand clutched the bottle of water. Cassia joined Gwen after leaving the line of people."So what do you think about the important people joining the trip," Cassia asked Gwen. Cassia's mother that it had been mentioned in the Daily Prophet that some important people from the ministry probably, Cassia wasn't sure, were accompanying the kids on their trip to Hogwarts. Though, Cassia hadn't spotted anyone so far.

Hearing what Gwen said, "Who's Jinx?" Cassia asked curiously. It didn't seem to be someone. Because honestly who would name his son Jinx! Then what did Gwen mean? Cassia wondered. Could it be a pet? It’s weird that Cassia never knew if Gwen had any pet. She surely had but Cassia just didn't know whether it was a cat, toad or an owl?

looking over to first yr Em was talking to and slightly nodding hie head in agreemene with Em " You might want to write that down as one of the rules to live by. Adults dont just pop in to the school just because the house Elves make a mean 3 bean salad " looking back to Em "Who is your new friend any way Em ....And yes Holding up his book and tapping it against his forhead "Potions .... Well sort of it is potions that I am inventing now .I was going over them befor I present them to Lefay"

Lex felt so confused. When had she started arguing...? "But I...I wasn't arguing with her...I was just telling her that she's wrong because her nose isn't bewitched or anything so she can't possibly know where I'm going just by smelling me..." She felt the girl tap her on her nose; something her father often did when he was trying to make her seeing that she was doing or was about to do something stupid. She looked over at the lady for a second when Emm suggested that she might have been a Professor. She looked back at Emm with furrowed brows. "But she doesn't look like a Professor and she doesn't act like one either...for all we know she could be one of those creeper ladies who come on for the free ride." She wouldn't rule out that option unless it was proven otherwise.

She looked over at the boy who spoke to her. Hmmm...he had a point there but she still wasn't entirely convinced that she needed to start being on her best manners just yet. "I suppose you could be right...but you could also be wrong too." She didn't like wasting manners so she would wait and see before kicking into polite mode...unless of course too much damage was done by then in which case...well...she wouldn't think about that.

Dylan watched as Ariella came back into the carriage saying that she had gone to check on Archer, he wondered how the poor owl must be and he was about to ask when Alexa asked her already as well as introduced the woman that was in front of them. He looked at Emmaleigh as Alexa asked her what she had done, yeah what had she done. He listened as Alexa talked about her having to eat the hat as Emmaleigh explained what she had done, he now wondered if the woman was in fact their professor. He wondered what would happen now if she was indeed their professor.. he hadnt thought of that when talking and now that he thought about it.. that could be problematic and less fun. He listened as Ariella talked about her owl Archer that he would be fine "Its good that he will be, afterall these three have to be friends now. That would have been tougher" if he was not fine he finished in his head. Dylan listened as Alexa explained why she said what she said and that she wasnt arguing with her. Alexa didnt think she was a professor? well that was true she certainly didnt behave like a professor, didnt talk like a professor or anything. Well now until this woman answered who she was they would never know who she was and what she was doing here, he listened as Alexa talked to the boy that was there with them.

Max was sad. Just... really, really sad. Of course, he began the day feeling fine. He felt even better after conversing with newly appointed Head Girl Louisa Carter. She boosted his ego quite a bit, though he humbly dispelled all encouraging statements. And that positive mood lasted just until Max and Louisa parted ways upon boarding the train. Louisa took off in the direction of the prefects' compartment, and Max... realized he didn't need to follow her to find Ellie.

Ellie.

Ellie wasn't there.

And she wouldn't be there ALL TERM. Max was ALONE. What was he supposed to do without his best friend? Of course, he was friends with more than just Ellie. There was... Spike, of course... and Louisa, but they would both be in the prefects' compartment right now. He didn't feel the need to steal either of them away like he did Ellie. Indy was probably around, but he wasn't always up for dealing with her cheery demeanor. Not-so-baby Ella was a good friend and an absolute sweetheart, but it would probably be deemed strange for a seventh year to hang out with a third year all the time. It wouldn't bother Max - a friend was a friend - but he knew others wouldn't feel the same way.

Hm. Well. He just wanted Ellie right now, so Max had no other choice but to let himself get the moping out of his system now. The train ride was a good time to be sad. The feast wasn't, and neither was common room nor dormitory time when he was surrounded by people. Here, at least, everyone was distracted by their own groups of friends in their own compartments. After Max dropped off his luggage in a vacant compartment, he had left to wander the corridor. He was sure that, as soon as he exited, the compartment was infiltrated by crowds of first years, so he had no intention of returning until the end of the trip.

His shoulders slumped and his face droopy, Max made his way down the corridor, occasionally stealing a glance inside compartments for a friendly face. The only friend he found was at the far end of the corridor, surrounded by a crowd of people - the food trolley.

If anything could cure Max's current state of depression, it would be cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs. He stood toward the back of the crowd, surprisingly patient despite how many people were ahead of him, and leaned against the wall of the corridor. He dug his hands deep in his pockets, jingling the coins with which he would be paying.

He focused on the ground for a few long moments, wondering how much different his last term at Hogwarts would be if Ellie was in his year, but he drew his gaze upward to peer at those crowded around the trolley. Not many familiar faces, but a few - Emmaleigh, in his year(but hadn't she mysteriously disappeared last term?), and... someone he had only seen in a book and Prophet articles. He hadn't heard her name directly in relation to Hogwarts since he was a young boy and his parents explained a bit of the history of Hogwarts and THEIR Hogwarts experiences. This woman had taught his parents. Though Max would never make such an accusation aloud and he was not one to judge, that made Anjelica Lainey old. But his parents had always said good things about her, other than their dislike for her Ravenclaw favoritism - which Max thought to be amusing now, although he was still a bit unnerved that she had once been a ghost - so she was all right in his book.

Still, Max kept his place at the back of the crowd, curiously observing everyone's antics - particularly those of the familiar faces, Emmaleigh and Lainey - and fascinated by the former's return and the latter's general presence.

In the middle of his search for a seat, Jake was distracted by something too good to pass up. The food trolley.

Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a few coins. He didn't have much with him at the moment, but he could probably buy a few different candies. Like... sugar quills and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. He hadn't had those in a while.

So he got in line to wait for his turn.

"Yeah," she said grinning at her best friend. "Like Mr. Ikea." That guy from the ministry that had invaded the school during their second year. Though, she still didn't really know what he had been there for. Pointing to each of the kids, Em named them one by one. "Alexa, Ari, Dylan, and this is Miss Lainey." she said pointing the the adult lady standing there. "Inventing a potion?" That was pretty impressive. "Whats it do?" And why did he have to suck up to Lafay?

"Uh-huh." The puff said crossing her arms. "Maybe Miss Lainey is the new divination teacher. She could know who what house you will be in from your aura or something. Or, she could be good at observing." Because some that usually worked pretty well. "And what do professors look like? Because some of them are pretty cool. I once had one that let us carve into the schools tables. " Sure they were carving runes to help them study and concentrate and all. "And I doubt she is on the train for a joy ride."

The little girl's comment to Michael made her smile. "Thats true, hes either right or wrong. But its probably best to assume he is right. If hes wrong, it just means you were accidently polite to someone.' It would turn out bad if she was a teacher and the girl argued with her.

Dylan looked round at an older kid that had just entered the area, instead of the happy faces that he was used to seeing around here. He wondered what could be bugging the guy, why was he so sad? He was just looking at them and not making any conversation, he would just rather stand around and watch people talking and having fun? Well that was no fun at all! Dylan decided to go over and see what was up with this guy that looked like he was holding the world on his shoulders and was barely standing up.

"Hi.. couldn't help but notice that you look like you have been banned from eating candy. I guess I just wasn't expecting to see a sad face as yours. Any reason for that? don't tell me you have been banned from eating candy?" cause that would be just horrible! Well maybe Dylan could sneak him some candy.. his parents werent here to check on him so he could have as much candy as he wanted.

He saw the guy was holding his money, Dylan wondered what he was going to get from the trolley. Dylan had yet to buy some candy even though he had been standing here for a while now.



Dylan looked at Emmaleigh as she formally introduced them to the woman and the woman to each of them. Ok so now she knew their names.. he just hoped that she wouldnt say anything to any professors or anything about what they had said to her here now. Hopefully there would be no more punishments now.. he didnt want to be in trouble all the time.. so he would have to behave for a little while so that they wouldnt get punished at all. "So if she were the new professor then she could already know if she is about to win the bet or not?" he did not like the sound of that, that sounded like cheating.. she had trapped Alexa into a bet that she knew Alexa would lose.. and that was not fair! He smiled at the fact that some of the professors were cool! "Oh I want to carve into some desks! Leave my name there for all to see.. could make me famous!" yeah all future students would know his name and that he studied at Hogwarts

"What an aura?" Ari asked. Her grandmother had metioned that everyone in a while, saying that Ari aura was to sad, or to dark. She had always though her grandmother was talking about something that Ariella was wearing, but she didn't think that was it.

Then Ariella heard something about a bet. She leaned over to Dylan and whispered, "Alexa's made a bet? With this Lainey lady?" Although Ari hadn't known Lex for long, it seemed like something she would do, and perhaps regret...

Dylan looked at Ariella as she questioned him about what he had just said, he nodded "Yeah she has.. well more of a deal actually. That if Alexa doesn't end up in Ravenclaw then Alexa will have to eat the sorting hat, if she does then the Lainey woman has to eat the elf-made food." yup something she didnt like.. and probably wasn't looking forward to if Alexa won. "I think Alexa will make Ravenclaw she is smart enough to be a claw" he whispered back. He couldnt wait to get to the school and get the sorting done just to see this woman lose her deal and have to eat the elf food.

Ari giggled, something she was known to do by now, and thought that was quite an odd bet, but from what she heard this Lainey woman was quite odd also...

"Well then Alexa be sorted after the two of us, because if by chanse she isn't sorted into Ravenclaw I want to know which house I'll be in!" How unfortunate would it be for Ari to travel all the way to Hogwarts and have Lex eat the sorting hat before Ariella was to even be sorted! "She could be a Ravenclaw, but I wouldn't put my money down on it, I'm saving it for some sweets if I should want any more!"

Lex took what Emm had said into some serious consideration. Again she wasn't very much convinced but now she wasn't exactly all that sure either. What if, as Emm said, the woman was really the new Divination Professor and she had read her Aura?! That would sooo have been cheating!!! If she ever found that to be the case then she wasn't going to eat anything but she would give her a piece of her little innocent mind for tricking her into making a bet with her. Emm really shouldn't have suggested that because now she wouldn't be able to look at the woman in quite the same way again. "Well yeah I suppose you have some cool Professors but...she just doesn't seem anything like one." She shrugged in the end, not knowing how to answer the question all that well. She just didn't strike her as one.

Then the girl said something else that made sense. "So you think it's better to be polite for no reason then?" She had to be sure this was what she meant so she wouldn't misinterpret or anything like that. "So I should....treat her like one of those important adults that are somewhere on the train....?"

She giggled when Dylan said he wanted to carve his name somewhere. "Yeah that's a great idea! We should care our names on everything that way no matter where future students go thy'll know our names!!" Such a brilliant idea.

She turned to Ari to answer her question. "Yup, I sure did." She said, grinning widely at her. "The lady bets I won't be a claw but I happen to know that I will so she says if I win she'll eat elf food but if she wins I have to eat the sorting hat. She giggled a bit when Ari hinted that she wanted to be sorted before Lex lost. As if. " Pfft. As if I'll be wrong and have to eat it." Yup, she was that confident!