The Beginning (Addilyn- 1st Year)

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Edmund was sitting on his own in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Inside, he was bubbling with excitement, though he wasn't showing it at all. Since his dad's death, he'd become a professional at hiding his emotions. Except for anger. That one seemed to spill out of him in all that he did. Especially when Will was around. Edmund wasn't sure exactly what it was, but his older brother bothered him to no end. Maybe it was the nagging, the constant pushing and telling him to be what others expected. Guess what? Edmund wasn't what others wanted, especially at home among all the royalty. Edmund didn't fit in there, never had. The only reason he ever enjoyed it there was because of his dad. Dad was gone now, though. Something that Edmund remembered constantly. Other than his dad, no one really understood him in his family. Lucy did, to an extent, but she didn't understand his anger. Susan and Will, well the both of them were constantly telling him what to do.

But now, now he was free. He pulled his thoughts back from more depressing ones and focused on where he was. He looked out the window at the platform where hundreds of students and parents were gathered, saying their goodbyes. The platform in and of itself was a miracle to him. Magic! He was so excited to learn about it and for the first time in a long time, he felt the bitterness of his dad's death leave him as he stared at the people on the other side of the glass. 

It was too much to take in! Most of the people were wearing robes and almost all of them showed signs of magic. He could see brooms- surely they couldn't fly, right? He saw parents using their wands to straighten up their child's appearance before getting onto the train. He knew it wasn't polite to stare, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He sat on the train- far away from Susan and Will, on purpose- and watched all the wonders happening outside his window. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away.

@jill2

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@edmund
7 Years Old by Lukas Graham
<3

Addilyn Joy could not hide her excitement. Finally! She had finally received her letter to go to Hogwarts, with Grey and Claire. Of course, Grey was in his second year, and Claire in her fifth, but hey! She knew she'd make friends. Addilyn had woken up extremely early that morning out of happiness, and she got ready as soon as she jumped out of bed. Grey on the other hand, was a bit excited, but dragged along. All Addilyn could think of was she hoped she wouldn't act that way when she turned twelve. He had given her such attitude that morning for being so happy, but she didn't care. She just smiled at him and kept on being herself.

When the Slater family arrived to platform for all of the students to board the train, Addilyn quickly said goodbye to her parents. Claire brought her on the train and gave her a bit of information before letting her go find a compartment to sit in, and Grey just wandered off without saying anything to the girls. Addilyn grimaced at her brother, goodness he was such a boy. Shaking her head delightfully, she nodded to her sister and made her way down the middle of the train, trying to find a place to sit. Having found tons of full ones, she found one, with only a boy sitting in it. This was a great time to make a new friend!

Addilyn Joy Slater opened up the door and knocked on the wall. She smiled brightly. "Hello! I'm Addilyn. Addilyn Slater. You can call me Addilyn or you can call me Addi, it doesn't matter to me. May I sit here?" Her words came out fast, and before the boy could even answer, she sat down across from him. Hopefully he wouldn't get angry and kick her out. That wouldn't be good.

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Edmund jumped and spun around when he heard the compartment door open and someone knocked. He stared for a second as an enthusiastic blonde girl with short hair joined him, asking if she could but sitting down before he got the chance to answer her. Edmund didn't know what to say. Of course, she was already sitting, so he couldn't very well tell her to leave, but he did want to be alone. He had a hard time understanding people and getting them to understand him and he had a tendency to offend people right off. That's not how he wanted to start his experience at Hogwarts, though. 

He stared at her for a little longer. He wasn't used to being close to girls that weren't his sisters. Sure, there were the servants at home, but they knew how moody he was and had a tendency to avoid him. Actually, most people avoided him in general. He didn't realize when he left home, he'd meet lots of people that didn't know how much he liked solitude. Apparently he was going to learn fast. 

Realizing that he was probably being rude, Edmund looked away from her, glancing around the compartment. "Sure," he said, though his consent was obviously not necessary. She was already sitting. "I'm Edmund Windsor." He nodded his head at her and then turned to look out the window. Maybe if he ignored her, she'd leave him alone. Then again, maybe not. She seemed like the friendly type. Friend. His thoughts latched onto the word enviously. He'd never really had a good friend before. Maybe he'd be able to find one here. Still, it'd be better to not get his hopes up. He needed to be prepared to be alone, so he didn't give anyone the chance to hurt him. 

@jill2

[Deleted]

@edmund
<3

The boy continuously stared at her. Addilyn wasn't sure if this was what all of the eleven year old boys would do, but either way, she was too excited to care. He could stare at her as long as he wanted, as long as he spoke too! Addilyn kept smiling at him, but she noticed he still hadn't approved of her sitting in the compartment with her. Either way, she probably would stay unless he threatened her. Mostly all of the other compartments were taken, and Addilyn knew if she tried to sit with her twelve year old brother he might throw a fit and freak out at her.

The boy finally spoke. Edmund. That was a nice name. Addilyn smiled brightly. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Edmund! Are you excited for the year to start? I am. I hope I get sorted into Gryffindor. My brother and sister are both in Gryffindor. Claire, she's a fifth year, and then Grey, he's a second year. I'm not so close to Grey anymore, but I'm really close to my sister. Do you have any siblings?"

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The girl was uncommonly cheerful and, though Edmund wouldn't admit it to anyone, he liked that. She looked around cheerfully, her happy voice filling the compartment and for the first time since his dad passed away, Edmund was glad not to be alone. Not that he was going to tell her that, of course. As she continued to speak, he realized how different they were. She wanted to be in Gryffindor and he would rather leave the school than be in the same group as his brother. He wouldn't do it. It would be ten times worse than being at home. He shrugged when he finally answered her. "Nice to meet you too." Wow. That sounded sincere ... not. Then he couldn't hold back his interest. "I'm excited to learn more about magic," the edge of his lips curled, but it wasn't a smile. No, he hadn't smiled since his dad died, though he almost had when he received his letter for Hogwarts this summer. Then she asked about his family. Ugh. "Yeah, I have an older brother in Gryffindor and an older sister in Ravenclaw. I hope I'm not with either of them. Aren't there other ... groups?" he asked hesitantly. He was sure there were, but he didn't know what to call them. Witches and Wizards seemed to have a language all their own and it was completely foreign to him.

@jill2

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@edmund
<3

Addilyn smiled. Edmund seemed like a shy boy, at least that was the impression Addilyn was getting from him. "Oh I can't wait to learn more about magic too! I studied a lot at home the past few years so I know quite a bit but there's so much more we don't know about" He spoke of his siblings, as well. Oh! The same as her, an older brother and an older sister. He mentioned their houses and Addilyn nodded excitedly. "Yes! There is also Hufflepuff and Slytherin house."

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Edmund's attention went back to the girl when she said she studied at home. "What kinds of things do you know?" He asked nervously. He knew that children who grew up in magical families probably knew way more than him, but he didn't want it to be too obvious. He knew Susan and Will caught up to the kids their age, but he was different than them. He didn't expect to do as well as they did. He never could before, so why start now? "So what do they mean?" This girl didn't seem to mind asking his questions and Edmund was so curious. Will and Susan didn't tell him anything about Hogwarts ... not that he asked. "The ... houses, you said? Why are there four different ones? How do you know which one you go to? Do they all learn different stuff?" He was done holding his questions in. As long as he wasn't asking Susan and Will he didn't care. And this girl seemed nice enough.

@jill2

[Deleted]

@edmund
<3

The boy began asking questions and Addilyn was more than happy to answer them for him. "Well I really only know basics about the houses... Gryffindor is red and that means you're brave, Ravenclaws is blue and that means you're intelligent, Hufflepuff is yellow and that means you're loyal, and Slytherin is green and that means you're clever I think. They all have different animals too! And you get put in them by a hat, but I think you can choose... I'm not sure. Also, I've learned about stuff in the history books and some simple spells and about all the different courses were take!" Addilyn grinned brightly at Edmund. She hoped she wasn't talking too much.

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Edmund liked this girl. She was nice and didn't seem to mind answering his questions. He hoped he wasn't annoying her, but he was too interested in her answers to stop asking them. Well, he definitely wasn't as brave or smart as Will and Susan so he figured it wouldn't be hard to stay out of their houses. Loyal ... That wasn't really his thing. But clever? He could see himself in that house. "I think I want the Slytherin one," he mused out loud. "So what kinds of classes are there?" Edmund was glad he didn't have as many questions to ask this time.

@jill2

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@edmund
<3

Addilyn grinned. She had heard rumors from her siblings about Slytherin, that it was bad and it was for mean wizards. But Addi didn't have a preference too much of where she was out, but she would still like to be with her brother and sister. "Well, there's one called Potions, where you brew things. Then there's also one called Charms, and you learn all these cool spells!" Addi smiled at Edmund. He seemed sweet, just extremely shy.

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Edmund finally gave a small smile. It was hard not to while with this cheerful, energetic girl. It was a shame she wanted to be in Will's house because Edmund thought he might like to get to know her. It was not worth being close to Will though. "So do you ever spend time with people from different houses? What is the point of houses?" He asked curiously.

An excited light entered his eyes, "I can't wait to learn magic," he admitted. He felt more excited about this year than he'd felt about anything in a long time. "What are you most excited about?" Edmund asked his first personal question of her. As long as he was spending the train ride with her, he might as well try to get to know her, right?

@jill2

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@edmund
<3

"Well houses are for this game called Quidditch, and to earn house points to win the cup. Quidditch is hard to explain but it's really fun! I'm going to try out to be on the team, too." Even though she was only eleven, Addilyn was fantastic on a broom. She didn't know which position she wanted to try out for, but she was leaning towards a beater.

Addi thought for a moment. This was definitely a hard question. "I love learning, so I think I'm just most excited for everything! What about you?"

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Edmund listened with interest. He never heard of that game before but just judging from the smile on the girl's face, he was sure it would be fun. "Could you tell me a little about it?" He asked hopefully. She said the game was hard to explain so he didn't know if she'd try, but he wanted her to. He shrugged, playing down his interest, "I mean, if you don't mind."

This was an easy question. What was he most excited for? Everything! Not that he would be so open with his feelings. Edmund learned long ago to hide his emotions from those around him. If they didn't know how you were feeling, they couldn't use it to their advantage. "All of it. I didn't know magic was real until my brother and sister got their letters last year. I want to learn all about everything."

@jill2

[Deleted]

@edmund
<3

Addilyn nodded her head at Edmund, glad to attempt to explain. "You fly around on a broom, and there's about three different balls involved in the game I think. And you have to get the ball through the goal to get a score. I have a book about it if you'd like to borrow it?" It was one of Addilyn's favorite things to do, make friends. Hopefully this would help.

Oh! "So you're a Muggleborn then? So is my mum! So I'm a half blood so I knew about magic but there were some muggle things I was introduced to as well." Addi grinned. She hoped she hadn't offended him.

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Listening with rapt attention, Edmund couldn't stop a look of wonder from crossing his face. What was it about this girl that was breaking down his barriers? All he wanted was to learn so he could be prepared and then go off on his own, like usual. She was making that very difficult. "You mean brooms can actually fly? And there's a game with it?" This was definitely something that Edmund was going to have to try. It sounded exciting. He thought about her offer, but only for a second. His decision was already made "Can I?" Edmund's voice was undeniably excited.

Edmund nodded his head to answer her question. Susan explained to him what Muggles were over the summer. Non-magical people. "What's a half-blood? And what things did your mom show you?" Maybe she knew something he did ...

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