she took the midnight train going anywhere [rosie/juliet]

[Deleted]

september 01, 2016

Jamie was nervous. She and her mother had learned that she was a witch not that long ago, but since her mother was a Muggle - what a strange word for someone who didn't use magic! - she couldn't tell Jamie anything about what going to a special school for witches and wizards was going to be like. Jamie had had to lie to all of the other kids who had gone to her primary school, because she couldn't well tell them that she wasn't going to secondary school with them because she was magic! Even if it wasn't against the wizard rules to talk about magic, Jamie wouldn't have wanted to explain that to everyone. Now that she was on the train to her magical boarding school, Jamie was finally allowing all of the questions she had to bubble up in her head. Why had her mother asked her to change her name from Jamie Bowen to Jamie Greyback? Why couldn't her mother come with Jamie to school? Why was she magical? Did it have something to do with her father, who her mother never mentioned? What would happen on the full moons, when she changed into a wolf? Jamie began chewing on her lip nervously, and glanced out of the window of the train as she waited in her empty compartment.

rose harriet granger-weasley
@juliet

[Deleted]

She was finally here. The Hogwarts Express.

Julie had known she was a witch for a few years, but it had always seemed like a joke when her father mentioned it. Now, after walking through a solid wall into a previously invisible train station, magic finally seemed real to her, and she could not have been more excited to be going to Hogwarts at last.

After wishing her father and siblings goodbye for what felt like the hundredth time, she boarded the train, carrying a heavy suitcase full of magical schoolbooks and supplies. Unfortunately, she had trouble finding a place to sit, since every compartment in the train seemed to be full of intimidating teenagers. Finally, she noticed a compartment with just one girl, who looked about Juliet's age. The girl seemed to be lost in thought, and Juliet was hesitant to bother her.

"Um, would you mind if I sat here?" Juliet asked after a moment.

@jamie
rose harriet granger-weasley

[Deleted]

Rosie had been waiting for this day for all of her life. For the past week her mother had been telling her all about the train and the platform and what to expect when they arrived at Hogwarts. Cho told her daughter all about the sorting ceremony and ensured the young girl that her parents would love her no matter what house she would be placed in. However, Cho had been a Ravenclaw and took extreme pride in her placement. She still had her scarf and her Quidditch badge on display in her bedroom. Rosie's father, a muggle, had no alignment, though her mother sweared that he possessed Gryffindor traits. Rosie didn't necessarily know exactly what that meant, but she had done her reading. She had never been very studious, but she was curious.

Rosie kissed her mother goodbye and boarded the train. It was already full of kids of all ages, shapes and sizes running around and shouting to each other. Rosie wasn't a fan of shouting. Rosie held the straps of her floral backpack as she walked down the train corridor. Her mother had told her to find a carriage full of people she felt like she would get along with, however, Rosie found those instructions fairly vague. And while she was a social girl, it was always hard making new friends.

Rosie stopped when she saw a car with two girls that she assumed were about her age. One was already sitting in the car and one was standing at the door after having asked if she could join the first girl. At least the girl at the door seemed in a similar situation to Rosie and was looking for somewhere to sit. "Could I join also?" Rosie asked, joining the standing girl.

@juliet
@jamie

[Deleted]

Jamie had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed that someone else had approached her compartment. She blinked a little when she heard someone’s voice, and then turned to the other girl with a smile. “Yes, of course.” She said happily. Jamie was hopeful that maybe having someone else to talk to would make this entire train ride a little less scary. Jamie was searching for something to say when yet another girl appeared in the doorway. “Yes, yes!” Jamie said happily when the second girl asked if she could join, too. It hardly seemed fair for Jamie to have an entire compartment to herself, of course, and the more people she had to talk to, the more distracted that Jamie would be. And the more distracted she was, the less nervous she was. Jamie scooted over so that she was sitting next to the wall, in case one of the other two girls wanted to sit on the same side of the compartment as her. “My name’s Jamie.” That was a good place to start, right? “Do either of you have magical parents?” Jamie asked. “My mum’s a Muggle, so she didn’t really know what to tell me about what to expect coming to Hogwarts…” Jamie said sheepishly. Maybe one of the other girls could tell her more about the school that didn’t have to do with how safe it would be, which had been the focus of her mother’s talk with the magical delegate. Of course, there was also Uncle Bernard and Aunt Liza, but they weren’t her real family, and they hadn’t mentioned they were magic until after the Hogwarts person had already came. There was something strange about that, and about how they helped control the wolf, but Jamie already had enough on her mind without trying to puzzle more out.

rose harriet granger-weasley
@juliet

[Deleted]

Juliet smiled at the second girl who walked up to the compartment; it looked like someone else had the same idea as she did. Juliet's grin widened as the girl sitting in the compartment, whose name was Jamie, accepted their request.

"I'm Juliet," she told the other two as she sat down across from Jamie. She frowned when the other asked if they had magical parents.

"No, my mum's a Muggle too. My dad comes from a wizard family, but he can't do magic, so he couldn't tell me much about Hogwarts either," Juliet replied. "He could tell me a little that he heard from other people, though. He said there's five -- no, wait, four -- things called houses that all the students get sorted into. Not actual houses, like buildings, but groups of people. I don't really see the point of all that, though…"

"What about you? Are your parents magical?" Juliet asked the young witch standing in the doorway.

rose harriet granger-weasley
@jamie

[Deleted]

Rosie was glad to have found a seat as the rocking motion of the train was nearly too much for the young girl to continue standing. She sat down on the bench across from the girl who had introduced herself as Jamie and she set her backpack down on the floor at her feet. "I'm Rosie." she introduced herself also, making a mental note of the names of the two girls.

She listened as the girl called Juliet told Jamie what her father had told her about Hogwarts. "Yeah there are 4 houses." Rosie told them. "There's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." she explained. "My dad's a muggle, but, my mum's a witch." she added. "And she was in Ravenclaw house. And you get sorted into a house based on your personality and stuff." she attempted, however, she really only had her mothers stories to go on. She tried to recall more, "let's see, mum said that Ravenclaws are smart, and Gryffindors are brave and Hufflepuffs are nice... and... she didn't say a lot about Slytherin, she didn't know many of them when she was in school." Rosie said with a shrug. "And the way you find out which group you get into is by an enchanted hat that talks to you." she added casually.

@juliet & @jamie

[Deleted]

Juliet. What a pretty name! And so was Rosie. Jamie was about to say her name, but then she realized she had already said it, and shut her mouth, blushing a little. So much for not being as nervous! Juliet explained that her mother was a Muggle and her father was from a wizarding family, but couldn’t do magic. Jamie tried not to look too shocked – she hadn’t known that could happen! Though, now that she thought about it, if wizards could come from non-wizarding families, then it would make sense that the reverse was true, also.

It seemed that the other girls knew more about the school they were going to than Jamie did, which meant that the blonde girl was left drinking in the others’ words. Four houses, and all with strange names. Jamie furrowed her brow a bit when Rosie said that they were sorted based on their personalities. What if she ended up in the wrong house and she was miserable for the next seven years? None of the houses sounded bad, not even the one that Rosie couldn’t remember a description for, but it sounded like the other girl already had a preference. Jamie made a soft sputtering noise when Rosie announced that they’d discover which house they were in by a hat being placed on their head. “A what?” Jamie asked, somewhat convinced that she had just misheard Rosie somehow. “How does it know?” It wasn’t like hats could read minds, right? “Do you know which house you want to be in?” Jamie tacked on to the end, since Rosie had a better idea of what each house entailed than the rest of them.

rose harriet granger-weasley
@juliet

[Deleted]

Juliet felt a little embarrassed at the hint of surprise on Jamie's face when Juliet explained that her father was not magical even though he came from a family of wizards. Was that something she should not have said? She knew that her father's family disliked him because of it, but she had never thought any less of him and she didn't think others should either. She only hoped Jamie would not judge her now...

However, Juliet was distracted by her thoughts when she learned the name of the third girl to enter the compartment: Rosie. Juliet listened intently as Rosie explained that each house represented a certain personality trait, although Juliet still did not understand the use of separating students by their personalities. Perhaps it was so the students would get along better?

Juliet's eyebrows raised when Rosie mentioned an enchanted talking hat would choose what house every student was in. The things she learned about Hogwarts just kept getting stranger. From the look on Jamie's face, Juliet assumed that she had a similar feeling. When Jamie asked what house they would prefer to be in, Juliet had to think for a moment. She was not especially brave, and she did not know anything about Slytherin yet. "I guess Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff," Juliet replied finally. "I don't really know, though... Do the smart ones take harder classes?" That would definitely be something to consider, but then she remembered the magical hat was going to decide for her anyway, so it didn't matter much.

rose harriet granger-weasley
@jamie

[Deleted]

Rosie understood Jamie's confusion about the hat, she wasn't quite sure either. "I think it reads your mind? And it can like... look into your soul..." saying it out loud sounded a little creepy and she wasn't even entirely sure that she was telling the truth. She hadn't asked her mom the logic behind the Sorting Hat. She hadn't questioned it. She had just accepted it. But, to people who maybe didn't grow up with magical parents, she could understand that it was strange. She was very entertained and interested by the conversation around which house everyone thought they would be put into. She listened as Juliet went through her thinking behind wondering about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. "I think after a certain point you can pick your classes, but until then we all take the same ones." Rosie said, sounding super vague. The more she tried to tell the other two girls, the less she really felt like she knew, or, at least the less she felt confident in what she knew. She had never really asked these questions, she always sort of accepted the general ideas. "Probably a Hufflepuff. My mom was in Ravenclaw, but I don't really like doing school work and was a top student." she admitted.

@jamie
@juliet

[Deleted]

Jamie shifted uncomfortably in her seat when Rosie said that the hat could read her mind, and look into her soul. She didn’t like the idea of an inanimate object being able to peer into the deepest parts of her. It wasn’t even like she had anything to hide… Oh, except for the wolf bit. It was a good thing that they had all only introduced themselves with their first names, Jamie thought, since though her mother had asked her to change her surname to Greyback, she had also warned that it wasn’t a popular one. That was still confusing, but whatever. “I think I could be in the smart house, maybe.” Jamie said, biting on her lip. Honestly, the idea of being in a school for wizards and witches made the prospect of studying so much more attractive than it had been when she was just studying boring things like maths. And she did love to learn – it was just the tedium of homework that dragged her down. “I’m not sure if I’m brave, though.” She said, ruminating. Maybe it was good to have an idea of which house she belonged in before she had that had look into her mind. Jamie shrugged a little. “I don’t think it really matters where we get put though, right? You can still be friends with anyone.” Jamie didn’t want it to turn out she was in a different house from other people and then couldn’t talk to them or something. That sounded boring, and a bit mean, too.

rose harriet granger-weasley
@juliet

[Deleted]

Juliet tried to ignore her feeling of fear when Rosie explained that the magical sorting hat could look into your soul. Was everything in the Wizarding World that creepy? Juliet was glad when Rosie and Jamie steered the conversation away from the hat, but she frowned when Jamie said that you could be friends with anyone, no matter your house. "Yeah, I hope so..." Juliet said. She would have hated to be separated from her new friends just because she was placed in a different house than them.

Juliet watched the buildings and trees fly by through a window in the compartment and wondered what else she would learn about her life as a witch in the days to come. Would she still be able to visit Muggles like her mom? Would her mom even want to see her? Would Juliet have a magical job when she grew up, instead of becoming a Muggle doctor like she had always planned? Where would she do grocery shopping?

This last thought reminded Juliet of Diagon Alley, where she got her school books, and a shop entirely dedicated to selling broomsticks. Everyone in the shop seemed to be talking about something called "squid-itch," or at least that was what Juliet heard. "Do either of you two know what wizards use broomsticks for? Can you enchant them to sweep for you or something?" Juliet asked randomly, turning her attention back to the other two girls.

@jamie
rose harriet granger-weasley

[Deleted]

"Of course you can be friends with everyone." Rosie insisted, trying to reassure her new friends. She was beginning to understand how stressful this could be to someone who didn't know much, if anything about magic. Rosie liked that she was a half blood with a muggle father, she had the best of both worlds. However, there were times when one side of her bloodline proved more valuable, and today, the wizard side of her was more helpful. "Yeah, I'm not completely sure why they separate everyone into the houses... maybe just to create smaller communities within the thousands of students." she shrugged. "Not every wizarding school has houses like Hogwarts." She didn't know much about any of the other schools, but her mom told her that they had come to visit for a tournament when she was still in school and every school was very different.

The young girls face lit up when Juliet asked about broomsticks. Rosie loved sports, all kinds of sports, and her mother had once played professional Quidditch. Now, she was a commentator for professional games, but Rosie and her dad still went to watch them all, as well as watched muggle sports games but mostly just on TV. "We use broomsticks for flying." Rosie told them. "And they're use for both transportation and to play this sports game called Quidditch, which is like a mixture of basketball and American football and Rugby but with flying." she tried to explain. It was hard to explain Quidditch.

@jamie
@juliet

[Deleted]

Jamie relaxed a little when Rosie said that she could be friends with everyone. Considering how much Jamie liked to make friends, that was a good thing. She was glad that the other girls didn’t make fun of her for her question, because Jamie could only imagine how angry – or sad – she’d be if she got ridiculed for wanting to have as many friends as possible. If anything, their responses just made her want to be friends with them more – they both seemed really kind. Kindness and niceness were different, and Jamie didn’t want to be friends with people who weren’t both. Rosie then said that she wasn’t sure why there were houses, but not every magical school had them. Jamie gaped. “You mean there’s more than just Hogwarts?” Now that she thought about it, of course there were going to be wizards and witches in more than just Britain, so she felt a little silly, but… Jamie was still trying to wrap her head around the entire magic thing.

“Flying?” Jamie asked. It seemed that emphatically repeating one of Rosie’s words was going to be a theme of this conversation, because Jamie still couldn’t believe that wizards could fly! That sounded like so much fun! Since there was so much about wizardkind that Jamie didn’t know, she decided to bring up the one thing she did know about. “What about werewolves and vampires and stuff?” She asked innocently, not wanting to reveal her secret just yet but interested to see what wizards thought about people like her.

rose harriet granger-weasley
@juliet

[Deleted]

When Rosie mentioned that there were thousands of students at Hogwarts, and there were even more magical schools, Juliet started to wonder just how many witches and wizards there were out there. How was it even possible to keep so many people a secret from Muggles? And why did magical people have to remain in secret, anyway? She thought, a little sadly, of how her life would have been different if her father had never hidden his magical heritage.

Juliet visibly mirrored Jamie's surprise when Rosie explained how brooms were used for flying and how there was even a sport played on broomsticks. That sounded like something Juliet's little brother would be interested in, if he ever ended up coming to Hogwarts. However, Juliet's expression faded into one of fear when Jamie asked about werewolves and vampires. "You mean they're real? Are they dangerous?" Juliet worried.

@jamie
rose harriet granger-weasley

[Deleted]

Rosie didn't know much about any other magical schools, but she didn't mind sharing what she did know, "Yeah, there's one in France I think that starts with a B... and there's one somewhere in Northern Europe, too. And I think there's one in America, but my mum didn't know about that one, since only the French one and the Northern one came to Hogwarts when she was there." Rosie tried to explain, wondering if she had said too much about honestly not a lot. Rosie had a tendency to babble when she was nervous or anxious, which, even though she was really starting to feel comfortable with these girls, she was still incredibly nervous and anxious about arriving at Hogwarts. "But it makes sense that there would be lots of schools because wizards in America wouldn't want to travel to go to school would they? Or in, I don't know, Russia or somewhere. There are probably like a dozen." she shrugged, she had never heard that there were a dozen schools anywhere, the number was purely an assumption.

Rosie was curious when Jamie brought up supernatural creatures like werewolves and vampires, honestly, the idea of such creatures scared little 11 year old Rosie, but mostly because she didn't know about them. She didn't really have a lot of experience with any sort of supernatural beings except for wizards, but, "My mum said she had a teacher who was a werewolf once." she said. "And she said he was a really great teacher but the board of governors made him resign because parents didn't like the idea of a werewolf teaching their kids. But he was a member of the order of the Phoenix and fought in the war and at the Battle of Hogwarts with my mum." she said. That was the only werewolf she had really every heard about. 


@jamie & @juliet