It never bothered Bel to stow her own trunk. A bit of heavy lifting never hurt anyone and besides, she wanted to make sure she could get at it once they were underway, since her uniform was still in there. If you waited to get your trunk in, then it'd go in last, and that meant you could get at it any time you wanted instead of it being buried away under all the rest of them. So she was dragging hers into place and nudging and pushing it to line up on the outside of the existing rows.

The other good thing about waiting until last was that all the pets were in here already and you could go say hello to them and figure out who they belonged to and if their owners were people that you could make friends with. Because pets said a lot about who their owners were after all.

She sat on top of her trunk for a bit of a rest once she was done and fingered the new badge in her pocket. It would be weird to put it on when she wasn't in uniform yet wouldn't it? Also weird in her mind would be putting it on before getting a chance to talk to Isa. Bel had written the former captain in the holidays, but not had a reply from her. It was hard not to be a bit worried if the older girl was okay. Still, she was excited for the term ahead and determined to do a good job.... but also to have as much fun as possible.

But for now.... time to greet all the pets. Bel went over to the cages.

Harriet did have to admit that it felt weird. This was her last train journey to Hogwarts. She didn't feel like she was ready to be a seventh year. Though, she knew after seven years she probably was ready to graduate. This year was going to be hard, but she knew that it would be worth it. She'd spend as long as she could on the Platform, saying bye to her parents before boarding the train. It would be different this year. She was a prefect. She couldn't just sit back and enjoy the train journey. That would be new. But first she needed to go and sort her luggage out. Being off age was pretty useful, and she was levitating her trunk behind her, carefully of course. She didn't want to hit anyone in the face.

She wasn't in uniform yet, not wanting to travel the entire way there dressed liked that. So her prefect badge was safely tucked away in her pocket. But she wanted to make sure her uniform was easy accessible. Hence why she was trying to delay getting here. The blonde, did eventually head into the luggage trolley. As she was able to stow her trunk away she noticed a familiar face. "Oh. Hey Bel!" She murmured with a smile, glad that she hadn't tried to stow her trunk where the girl was sitting. "Did you have a nice summer?" She asked, as she pointed her wand at her trunk, moving it so it sat nicely on the rack. Perfect. That was done for now.

She had stood up and gone over to stroke the chin of a little cat through its cage bars when Hattie had spoke to her. Bel smiled genuinely and straightened up.

"Hattie! G'day!" Bel greeted the older girl, quite chuffed that she was speaking to her AND opening a conversation. They had been teammates the previous year, and house mates for a couple of years now, but it was flattering, really, that the poised and pretty seventh year thought Bel to be someone worth a chat with.

"Yeah it was great! Spent most of it surfing and riding my dirtbike at the tracks. What about you, a good one?" She had to be pretty excited about being back for her seventh year, Bel thought. It felt like a long way off for her.

Kimi made his way to a quiet spot in the luggage car and placed his trunk on one of the higher shelves and placed his owl next to the rest of the pets and sighed he was so not ready for his sixth year at school

Maddie had already stowed away her luggage and her owl. The pet bird was making its third trip to the castle, but it was still a bit on edge and moody about the whole ride there. Maddie had tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible, but the usually-free bird wasn't having any of it. She'd made up her mind that the journey would be a miserable one, and that was that. "Sorry, girl," she said, and with a shrug, she rounded a row of luggage and came upon three other students.

Three Hufflepuffs at that. Maddie of course knew them from being around the school and the common room. She had to admit, though, that she didn't know them well. All three were older, and she was usually with the twelve and under crowd. Not this year, though. This year, she was MADDIE KEMP, THIRTEEN YEAR OLD! She was a TEENAGER! As such, she was trying to mature a little. Trying to. There was only so much energy she could hold in until, like a balloon, she just had to burst.

"Hey, everyone!" she said, giving all three a smile. Was she the only one in uniform? Maybe that was an older kid thing to do and she should try it on the way home. Bel had just asked Hattie how her summer was, so the third year looked expectantly toward Hattie, waiting for an answer.

"G'day Kimi, G'day Maddie!" Bel greeted as more of her housemates appeared in the luggage car. She knew Kimi from Quidditch already, given he'd been a beater opposite Derfael last term, but she didn't know Maddie all that well. But maybe the younger girl would try out for Quidditch this term?

"I hope you're all going out for Quidditch this term!" Bel said, included Hattie in that too. She didn't reveal that she was the newly minted captain though, because she'd still hope they were even if she hadn't been. Also that was awkward wasn't it? To just announce something like that? That was probably an upside to wearing a badge, you didn't have to, it spoke for itself as proof. But again, putting it on when she wasn't wearing her uniform yet would be weird, wouldn't it?

Harriet glanced down at her watch. She didn't want to be late to the prefects meeting. That would not be a good way to start the term off. Though it was her last, so it hardly mattered. She'd already decided she was going to enjoy every moment of it, including the train. So she decided, that stopping to talk to her house mate was totally worth the potential of being late to the prefects meeting. And considering who some of the other prefects were. She knew it wouldn't be a problem.

The blonde smiled at Bel. She quite adored her younger house mate, and had been pretty glad to get to know her during quidditch last term. "Ooh. That sounds fun!" She mused with a smile. "I spent a lot of time travelling actually. Hawaii and some European cities" It had been pretty amazing. She was going to miss just roaming around. But she planned to do some more travelling once she had graduated, so she knew it would be fine.

And then they were joined by two more of their house mates. Oh wow. It was like a mini hufflepuff reunion in here. The blonde smiled at her younger house mates. She really did hope she did them proud as their prefect. She only had one term to get it right! "Hey guys" She mused with a smile. She loved how nice all her hufflepuffs were. "Of course I am!" She mused, nodding at Bel's question about quidditch. "I was gonna....cause of my NEWTS, but then I thought. Last chance to play. So gotta go for it"

Kimi smiled at his fellow housemates and turned to Bel and said "Of course i will be trying out for qudditch this year, gotta have the best chance of doing things well" Kimi smiled at Hattie and Maddie and said "Hey Maddie have a nice summer" "Hey Hattie how was your summer as well"

"Wow. Travelling. That's bonza!" Bel responded to Hattie. And Hawaii would be great especially because of the beach. Bel was obviously biased towards anything that was beach.

She smiled at Kimi and Hattie in relief knowing that they were trying out again. For real, she had definitely had that nightmare, the one where nobody showed up. She KNEW that wasn't the case, and knew it wouldn't happen, but still, the brain did weird things when you were dreaming.

"I'm especially glad you're still coming even with NEWTs, Hattie, and anyway I think it probably would be good stress relief. I know I'd go nuts without it as an outlet. Would you tryout for chaser again, Hattie? And beater again, Kimi?" Bel was curious about that. They definitely were going to need a new keeper because Scarlett had graduated. She looked at Maddie, curious to hear if the younger girl had Quidditch plans too.

Kimi smiled at Bel and said "Yeah probably would be beater again but i may go for keeper depending on who else decides to try out for keeper"

Maddie was pretty proud of herself for standing still and waiting for a reply from someone. Usually, she was like a ping pong ball in a phone booth, bouncing from one place to the next. She was like such a cool and awesome teenager! She was really trying hard! "Hawaii sounds really cool!" she said, still giving Hattie her attention. She didn't really know which European places the older girl had been to, though, to comment on them. "My summer was awesome, too! I went to Disney World!" It was such a muggle place, but Maddie had loved it!

They had said it was the most magical place on Earth, but Maddie never did see anybody with their wand out. Weird...

"Quidditch?" she asked, with a little hesitation in her voice. "I don't know..." Would she even be any good at it? "We've only ever played backyard Quidditch at my house, and even then, we couldn't fly while we were playing. Maybe. I don't know..." Playing Quidditch on the house team had never even crossed her mind until now...

It horrified Annaliese to learn that she was expected to move her own luggage. Really? They didn’t have PEOPLE for that? She’d not once in her life lifted a thing which weighed so much as one of her trunks— and that was disregarding the fact that the incoming first year had brought along multiple.

Obviously, manual labor was not an option.

Once Bast had settled her onto the train, in the watchful eye of her favorite cousin, Leecey faced her first challenge. Hmm. How, pray, could she get an eager-to-act-macho twelve year old boy to do her bidding?

“Al, this is sooo heavy.” Weakly, Leecey’s well-manicured fingers gave a lame attempt at dragging one of her bags. “I wish you could help me, but you can barely handle your own, can’t you?”

That had to do the trick.

Alessandro had never in his twelve years of life ever seen his cousin Leecey carry her own things. The Toussaint-Botts has servants for just about everything and his eleven year old cousin was, admittedly, precious cargo all on her own. He did not expect his most darling cousin to carry her luggage all on her lonesome once they climbed aboard the train, so he was not surprised that the moment her brother was gone Leecey was putting on a show to get him to act as her pack mule.

Without any more prompting, Al took up her luggage and began to drag it along, “None of the girls in your dorm are going to help you unpack any of this.” They did not love her like he did. And the elves were not servants here, either. She would be completely on her own.

No surprises, of course. Leecey was all peachy smiles and doe eyes at the Hufflepuff as he took up her items. Boys were so useful.

“Why would I want them touching my things anyway?” There were elves at Hogwarts, and Katy had mentioned their willingness to help with a spectrum of activities if asked kindly enough. She’d be just fine if she found them.

They’d reached the luggage compartment, and any sane individual in her shoes would have rushed to open the door for their trunk-carrying counterpart. Leecey, however, opened as many doors as she lifted bags.

“I think I want to be a Ravenclaw. Like Aunt Tuney.” And live in a TOWER fit for a PRINCESS.

Alessandro did not wait for his cousin to open the door. Instead, he angled his body so his shoulder could jimmy open the door. And then, he propped it open with his elbow so she could pass through first because she was a lady.

”Because,” he heaved, holding the door and the luggage with all of might of his twelve year old noodle arms, “I doubt you’ll want to put anything away yourself.” Hogwarts was not suddenly going to make his cousin keen on chores.

Al wrinkled his nose at his cousin’s choice of house. It was beyond him why anyone would want to be anywhere other than Slytherin. So he said as much, “Slytherin is the better house. It’s the best house.” The twelve year old was still unreasonably upset about the fact that he had been barred from his father’s colours.

"You are a really good beater, Kimi." Bel said with a smile. "But if you want to try out for keeper that would be okay too." Keeper was definitely not her idea of a good time. You'd have to WATCH too much of the action, plus it was a huge responsibility. In Bel's eyes it was just as big of a responsibility as seeker, even if her own position was the one that a lot of people thought was the biggest deal. It wasn't though. All the positions were important. Without Beaters for instance, everyone would be spending all their time trying to flee bludgers.


Maddie got encouraging smiles from Bel. "Yeah, Quidditch! And that doesn't matter. Before last year I hadn't played at all except with my friends, and now I'm captain!"

Oh, oops. Yeah. By the way guys, she was captain now. Bel smiled sheepishly and hoped nobody would think that was a bad thing.

She responded to Al’s assumption with an indifferent shrug, keeping her idea of seeking out elves to herself. His Winters side made her cousin prone to the occasional bout of cynicism, and Annaliese felt no need to attract more judgment. Instead, she passed through the door with a light thanks.

“Is it, though? Their commons are in the dungeons.” The blonde dusted off someone’s trunk and perched atop it, little shoulders shuddering at the thought of residing in prison cells. “The towers seem like the nicest. And I’m no powder keg Gryffindor.”

Not to mention the fact that she certainly wasn’t joining him in the servants’ quarters. Ick.

Alessandro placed Leecey’s trunk aside and grabbed the handles of his own to stack it on top of a pre-existing pile. Then, he went back for his cousin’s luggage and hoisted it in top of his trunk. He did not want anyone scratching up her trunk, but she was welcome to scuff his up a little. It has already seen better days at combat camp this summer.

“My friend Nerissa—” the same friend he had brought to their family’s Christmas party this past year, ”—is in Slytherin. And she says the dorms are very nice.” He trusted her judgement more than anyone else’s here. She had taste that his peers severely lacked.

Sure, she liked Al’s friends (to the extent one could do so and still maintain a solid level of possessiveness), but that wasn’t to say she trusted their opinions. It was all well and fine that Nerissa enjoyed living in the dungeons, but she was no Annaliese Toussaint. They certainly did not have the same standards.

“I suppose I’ll see for myself if I’m sorted there.” But she wouldn’t be. Leecey, not one to take chances, was asking for a house tonight. ”Are we going to find a compartment now?”

Alessandro took one final peak over at their luggage and decided it seemed high enough that no one would dare add their own cases to the existing pile. He wanted Leecey’s to be the top one. If it endured any scratches it would be his fault because he had carried their luggage.

There was a small part of Alessandro that hoped his cousin did not make Slytherin. It would make his own failure a little more bearable. Leecey was as likely as he had been to be sorted there. If the two of them did not make the cut, it would maybe be proof that Slytherin’s standards had shifted in recent years. And it was Slytherin that was not worthy of them. Not the other way around.

“Of course.” Alessandro offered her his hand to help her down.

Leecey took his hand, experiencing her first sense of relief since she’d released Bast’s fingers at the platform. As her toes touched the ground again, a rare tone of gratefulness managed to snake its way into her voice.

“Thank you. For helping with my trunks.” And for making her feel like school was less scary. And for not forgetting about her after all, even though they’d been apart for months. “Missed you.”

Bel's smile only somewhat comforted Maddie. She was surprised at how uneasy she felt playing Quidditch for the house team. She seemed so confident playing backyard Quidditch, but the kids at school played hard. Could Maddie and her tiny frame keep up with them? "Thanks. I'll think about," she said, and she would. She really would.

Wait a minute...

"Did you say captain? That's awesome!" she said, with a smile. "Congrats, Bel!" In all the excitement with the start of the new school year, Maddie had forgotten to pay attention to any new badges. Guess Bel would be sitting in the prefect's compartment now... Speaking of which... "I should go find a compartment. I'll see you guys around!"

They were welcome to come along if they wanted.