Hogwarts Age

Astra~
Another start of September, another Year at Hogwarts. I was excited, summer was a nice break but I was ready to actually be able to use magic again. I had gotten a fair amount of quidditch training done though so that was good. The platform was still relitively empty, at least on the Kings Cross side.

(Um, Hermy, sorry to be a bother, but if it's the year following the Battle of Hogwarts, shouldn't it be 1998, not 2000?

-Scrubbed-)

(Oh, I forgot to announce Some have agreed that three years would be better than one, because it's more calmed down at Hogwarts -- it'd be a little less hectic, per say.)

~Aithne~

I stood on the platform, bouncing on the heels of my feet as I waited to board the train. I still had so much excitement about being here, even after 2 years. My bag stood next to me, a basket resting on top with a blanket covering its passenger. I really hoped she would sleep the whole time on the train, she was a restless traveller.

- Rosie -

"Students, please make your way onto the train as quickly as possible!" the conductor announced over the riled noises of enthused wizards and witches. "Departure time is drawing closer!"

The train whistle blew a few times as a warning. Student began to say their last goodbyes to their parents, and as I watched, I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. My mother and Avery had said their goodbyes prior to my arrival at King's Cross of course, but the fact that they would never be able to see me board the scarlet train often haunted me.

I shook off the thought abruptly and climbed into the Hogwarts Express. As soon as I found the nearest empty compartment, I slid my belongings overhead and scooted closest to the window.

Hermione wrote:

(Oh, I forgot to announce Some have agreed that three years would be better than one, because it's more calmed down at Hogwarts -- it'd be a little less hectic, per say.)

(Ah. I'll have to do some fairly significant backstory edits before I proceed, then since the original was fairly lockstep with the timeline. For now I'm gonna scrub my first post here, since I have to figure out what I'm going to do to adjust things.)

~Adrian~

I waved good-bye to my parents as my siblings and I boarded the train. Mum had done this six times now but she still gets misty eyes. Probably because 13-year-old Marcus wasn't as much of a baby in her eyes.

The instant we stepped onto the train, Marcus and Hazel went off to find their friends. Not that I minded - my siblings were rather bothersome at times. But now I was all alone - six years of going to this school, and few friends to my name.

I hoped it would get better this time. I only had two years left here.

~Cass~

I passed through the barrier for the first time. Last in line behind my mother, brothers, and sisters respectively. Of course I went through last, when didn't I. I looked around in awe, the foreign happy feeling filling me as I watched everyone on the platform. I wasn't used to seeing magic since most of my siblings weren't allowed the use of it out of school yet, and my mother didn't like to use it when not necessary. A hand gently tapped my shoulder as a man tried to get past me and smiled as he did so. I gave a tiny one in return and my mother grabbed my hand roughly, pulling me onto the train. She said warm goodbyes to my siblings, only giving a nod to me, and then I was on my own. Where would I sit? Anywhere my siblings were wasn't an option so that took away 5 cars. I sighed, standing awkwardly as people shuffled past me, hoping that someone would be kind enough to let me sit with them.

~Aithne~

I grinned as everyone started heading toward the train, spotting Rossie getting on. I grabbed my things and quickly headed to the train, squeezing between people saying their goodbyes. Both my parents had been busy at the ministry, upset that they would miss my departure but we had said our goodbyes the night before. I walked down the aisle of train cars and spotted my team mate.
"Hey, mind if I join you?" I asked Rosie as I popped my head into the compartment.

Astra-
I hug my mother goodbye before turning to my dad. "Now be safe this year Astra" he says strictly. I frown looking at him "Dad, relax. I won't do anything stupid." I say.

He raises an eyebrow obviously not believeing a word of what I just said. "Okay I won't do anything to get myself killed or (worse) expelled." I rephrase my statement "And we'll win the quidditch cup this year" I add and finally I manage to get him to smile. I hear the train whistle blow and he hugs me as well. "I'll be okay, I promise" I say reassuring myself as much as him."I'll see you for the holidays" I say before heading in the train a bit releaved to finally get away from my parents.

-Katherine-

She'd had the dream again last night.

In the dream, she stood in Ravenclaw Tower, staring out the window. Outside, far below, sprawled London. For some reason, this never seemed particularly strange to her, in the dream. Rain spattered against the window and thunder tore at the air outside, but none of it touched her. She was at Hogwarts, and safe. Outside, the streets of London began to run with water. A flood, she always thought. She could see people below. She opened the window. Wind howled into the room, and a hand closed on Katherine's arm.

Though he had been dead now for more than three years, Albus Dumbledore was always alive in the dream. "Students must not go into the Forbidden Forest," he said. Katherine shook him off and stepped out the window. She didn't fall, but rather hovered in the midst of the storm.

From the outside, she could see the tower more clearly. The rest of Hogwarts was gone. Only the single tower remained, but stretch high enough to dwarf the city around it. It rose, majestic and ivory white, from the center of Parliament Square. Somewhere below her, Big Ben chimed the eleventh hour. The waters kept rising, and Katherine, for the first time, noticed that the tower behind her was made of human bones.

In the streets, the water transformed into a tide of blood. It broke against the base of the tower, washing away the bones, and the tower fell, and Katherine fell with it, and drowned.

That was the dream. It was always the same, and Katherine always remembered it. She wished that she didn't.

Now, Katherine moved through the Hogwarts Express, looking for a friendly face. It would be better once the train was underway and the excitement of a fresh year at Hogwarts took over, but for the present she wanted a distraction. Peeking into a compartment, she saw Rosie, another muggleborn girl she knew. They had both started at Hogwarts six years ago, but between one thing and another Katherine had fallen two years behind. After the war, a lot of the other muggleborns who had missed a year had been quietly bumped ahead to make up for it, with a few remedial classes. Not so Katherine, though, and between that and repeating her first year, she was now two years behind everyone she'd entered school with.

She could still graduate at the same time if she left after getting her OWLs; realistically, that's what she probably ought to do. She knew she could get NEWTs in all of her theoretical classes, but practical magic... Still, she wanted to try, partly for herself, and partly because she wanted to show up the bullies and those last, lagging blood purists, and partly because of the tower of bones and the river of blood. She wanted to be ready. She wanted to no longer have to fear sleep, and what it might show her.

But no more of that. She cleared her throat. "Um, hey, Rosie. D'you mind if I sit here?"

I smiled as I boarded the train, waving to those who greeted me, but never truly stopping to talk to anyone. That's how it usually was, though, the train ride. My friends were typically off gossiping while I would sit in a seat and read. Eventually someone would toddle into where I was an sit across from me; or that's how it had been for the last 5 years.

~Aldrich~
My black cat, Salem, nuzzled his nose into my ear as he rested on my shoulders. His claws kept him in place as I walked down the narrow halls of the Hogwarts Express. My head moved slightly as I scanned the various compartments for my friends and classmates.

~Cass~

Still standing in the aisles of the train someone bumped into me and knocked my cat's box out of my arms. I squeaked and ran after it, my bags trailing along behind me. When I finally caught her I had found myself in someone else's compartment.
"Oh I'm so sorry," I said to the girl who had been reading, "My cat go away from me."
"

- Rosie -

I glanced towards the door, eyes meeting Katherine and Aithne's. A grin grew on my face as I nodded at them both. "Yeah, go ahead!"

Astra~
As I make my way onto the train I begin to look for a compartment with some of my friends

Kane wrote:

~Aldrich~
My black cat, Salem, nuzzled his nose into my ear as he rested on my shoulders. His claws kept him in place as I walked down the narrow halls of the Hogwarts Express. My head moved slightly as I scanned the various compartments for my friends and classmates.

(You wanna say Aldrich and Adrian were acquaintances for a bit up to this point?)

~Teagan

I peer up from my book, giggling at the girl who had stumbled into my compartment. She had to be a first or second year, as she looked a bit bewildered. "What's your cat's name?" I asked.

(Sure fam)

~Aldrich~
I walked down the halls, holding my wand close.

~Aithne~

I grinned and pushed my things above our heads. I sat down across from Rosie, setting Cocoa down next to me gently as to not wake her.
"So how were your guys' summers?" I asked as I finally settled in.

~Cass~

I blushed in embarrassment as the girl laughed, smiling slightly as I realized she wasn't teasing me.
"Oh her name is Misty," I said, sitting down across from the girl. I petted the black cat in my lap to try and calm her.

(K fam)

~Adrian~

I smiled, spotting Aldrich. We had talked for a while last year, but I wanted the chance to know him better. Out of everyone, he was the most inviting to me.

"Hullo, Aldrich!"

~Teagan

"She's precious," I said, petting my sleeping, snow white cat next to me. "I don't think I've ever met you or Misty before," I smiled, "is this your first year?"

~Aldrich~

"Hi there, Adrian!" I said with a smile.