Standing in the doorway of the compartment were two blond haired boys with a slight aura of menace standing behind a tall, slender, redheaded girl with icy blue eyes. Her arms were crossed and she was sneereing at Kate and Conrad. The slightly taller boy spoke. “Oooh, it’s a couple!!” He said in a mocking voice. Conrad stared at him. "Uh, don't know what world /you're/ living in. I just met her and don't even know her /name/!" he said calmly. He had to deal with bullies like this back home, and he found the trick was to patiently shut it down with a precise sentence. Kate stood up. She was only 11, like Conrad, but she was fierce in this moment. "What do you want?" She snapped viciously. "We never did anything to you, then you just come barging in for no reason." The ginger girl snorted. "oooooOOOOOOOooooO!" She said in a mocking baby voice. "I'm so /scared/!" Conrad reached out with one arm and pulled Kate down back onto her seat, giving her a quick warning. /They're not worth it. Don't provoke./ Before looking at the ginger girl, narrowing his eyes and studying her. "Actually, you should be scared. See the teacher there? He's coming pretty quickly. I believe he saw you." there really was no teacher, but the group took the bait and quickly went into the compartment opposite them. Conrad watched them. "I didn't think that would work. But hey." he said. Kate laughed. “I almost forgot that I didn’t introduce myself,” she smiled. “I’m Kate- Kate Starweather. But everyone calls me ‘Star’.” she told him. Conrad shrugged. "Starweather...Be glad they didn't call you Weather. Stars are preferable." he told her, grinning. He glanced out the hall. "Well /now/ there's a teacher. That will be interesting." suddenly, the bullies barged out of their compartment and into theirs. "You stvpid, awfvl,-" ginger girl was cut off by the teacher. "He-llo. This isn't very good, now, is it? Eh. Yousers get back to your compartment and change, you too, yall." the teacher said in American accent, flipping her hair. "Okay...?" Said Kate slowly, staring at the strange-accented teacher. "I guess I'll have to change somewhere else then" She said to Conrad, shrugging. Conrad found the hard way his robes were too long because his parents wouldn't let him see them, and found scissors in his trunk, cutting off a few inches. Conrad heard Kate knock at the door. "Are you done?" She called out softly. Conrad nodded before remembering she couldn't see it. Chuckling quietly to himself for a second, he called; "Yep! Come in!" to Kate. Kate opened the compartment door. She slumped down on one of the seats, flexing her arm. "I wonder what house I'll be in." She wondered out loud. Conrad nodded. "Yeah. I honestly have no idea what to expect. What's your guess?" he asked Kate, stormy grey eyes curious. Kate shrugged. "Probably Ravenclaw," She said. "My whole family are. What do you think?" she asked. Conrad shrugged. "I don't know, just probably not Hufflepuff." he decided. Kate chuckled. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you really seem like one." She said quietly, smiling. Conrad grinned, not offended at all. "Ya never know." he shrugged. Suddenly, the train started to slow, and finally, it stopped with a thud. /Toot toot!/ went the engine. Kate looked up. "We've arrived!" She shouted exitedly. she sprang up from her seat. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" She slid open the compartment door, shaking with excitement, she waited for Conrad so they wouldn't get seperated in the fast flow of students in the train corridor. Conrad jumped up, laughing at her eagerness but not in a rude way. They made their way through the packed train and finally outside, the rushing wind swishing around playfully with Conrad's hair. He glanced back at Kate to make sure she was still there, and her hair was also whipping around her face. "Come on!" he called, waving his hand towards the boats. They both ran towards the lake, where each boat was tethered to a short pole on the ground. Kate grabbed a rope and pulled it towards her and Conrad so they wouldn't have to wade in the water and climbed on. Conrad tried to steady himself as the boat wobbled. Eventually they took off, lake rippling calmly. he decided he didn't like boats as his stomach turned queasy. "This is making me feel sick." he sighed. "I believe I have motion-sickness." he decided. "Try holding it until we get there..." Said Kate anxiously, also feeling a little nauseous. As the boat rocked harder still, the huge towering structure of the school came into view. "There it-" began Kate, but she hastily stopped, looking slightly green. Conrad gave her a weak but understanding smile, taking out a weathered notebook with a leather cover with a mark where juice had spilled. He flipped through the pages. It seemed to be someone called Marcus and Conrad communicating using notes, from when he was young as 6 to around 10, where the notes...Stopped. He switched to a blank page,
taking out a pen he always kept on him and writing. /Yes, that would be wise./ "What's that?" Asked Kate curiously, motioning to the weather beaten notebook. Conrad shrugged. He would have answered but his food was feeling much too close to his throat. Instead, he wrote; /communication device!/ with a smiley face. Kate nooded in understanding. She never would have thought of that before. With shaking hands (Due to her nausea), she took the pen from Conrad, and wrote, 'Great!'. Within moments, the boat bumped onto the shore, and when Kate jumped off she looked much better. Conrad, on the other hand, had to wait a bit to speak again. "I'm never going on a boat again if I can help it." he sighs, stretching, as the woman leading the boats called everyone over. "Me neither," Said Kate quietly. "Come on," She said, for the whole group of first years was moving forward. Kate shivered with excitement or the cold, hard to tell. Conrad looked around in wonder at the fancy castle. They entered a fairly large hall that was warmly lit with torches and floating candles. The teacher leading the group motioned for them to stop. Another teacher, a man this time was standing, waiting for them. He nodded a quick thank you to the teacher who had brought them to him, and she went through the door at the other side. They caught a glimpse of an enourmous room with many pupils inside, before it closed with a slam. He turned back to the students. The man clapped to catch everyone's attention. "Alrighty, first years, we will be getting sorted in a couple minutes. Don't be nervous, it's super relaxed." he promised. "I'm /famished/," Kate whispered to Conrad. "Why can't we just get it over with?" Conrad nodded in understanding, stomach feeling hollow. "Yeah..." he agreed. The cheery male put his hands on his hips cheerfully. "Time for the sorting!" he said loudly, throwing open the doors with no warning. Kate started forward excitedly, Conrad trailing casually behind her. The great hall was enourmous, with four very long tables on which hundreds of students were seated. Many candles were floating in the air, and torch brackets on the wall lit up the hall. Meanwhile, the man strolled over to a corner and took a small stool and a tattered old hat, patched and frayed. He placed both at the center of the room, and unrolled a long scroll of parchment he had been clutching. “When I call your name,” Hesaid, loudly and clearly, “You will step forward to be sorted.” Then he called the first name. “Abbot, Selna!” (Enter) the long line of students snaked along slowly, but surely. Then, after a while, the man came to the S’s. “Starweather, Kate!” Kate had butterflies in her stomach as she walked slowly to the stool. All eyes were upon her, Conrad curious to see where she would go. Kate sat down on the stool, and the man placed the tattered hat on her head. It fell over her eyes. Then, the Hat's voice spoke. “Verry interesting… there’s wit and imagination… ambiciousness and leadership too… kindness, loyalty… and a fair amount of courage. Now, which house should I place /this/ blighter…? You don’t care, eh? You have a fair amount of Ravenclaw blood in you. Though you also seem worthy of Gryffindor… or maybe Huffle- No? Then you’d better be… GRYFFINDOR!” Screamed the hat, and an explosion of cheering erupted. Shaking, Kate got of the stool and joined the Gryffindor table, careful to sit somewhere with an empty spot for Conrad in case he was in Gryffindor too. She sta down and gave a thumbs up to Conrad.Conrad gave Kate a wave and excited smile, waiting patiently for the Ws. Eventually, after the ginger girl who was bullying them on the train -Felicia Veltrola, apparently- was sorted into Slytherin, (unsurprisingly) it was Conrad's go. ("Walker, Conrad!") Conrad stepped up confidently and took his place. The hat chuckled. "Hm, a confident one here...Perhaps Slytherin-" he began, but Conrad cut it off, to many gasps. "No thanks. Hard pass." he stated casually. The hat laughed, unoffended. "Well. Clearly Gryffindor." it decided. Conrad smiled, pleased, as the clapping began, much less certain as he filed in next to Kate. END
