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. Kate raised her eyebrows while 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, with an aura of calmness. Kate stood up. She was only 11, but she could be fierce when she wanted to. "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/!" Kate felt Conrad pull her back down onto her seat. "They're not worth it. Don't provoke," He muttered to her, before looking at the ginger girl, narrowing his eyes and taking her in. "Actually, you should be scared. See the teacher there? He's coming pretty quickly. I believe he saw you." Even Kate fell for his trick and craned her neck to see the teacher, before realizing it was a joke. The bullies didn't, however. They quickly backed away into the empty compartment opposite her and Conrad's. Conrad watched them smugly. "I didn't think that would work. But hey," he grinned. Kate laughed. “I almost forgot that I didn’t introduce myself,” she smiled. “I’m Kate- Kate Starweather. But everyone calls me ‘Star’.” 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 Kate and Conrad's. "You stupid, awful-" Began the ginger girl, but she 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." "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. She dragged her heavy trunk out and thankfully found an empty compartment that was fortunately not too far from her and Conrad's. She went inside, pulled down the blinds and held the doors closed; she had some difficulty changing. One she had, she went back to her and Conrad's compartment and knocked. "Are you done?" She called out softly. There was a moment's silence. she was about to knock, when she finally heard a muffled "Yep! Come in!" from Conrad. Kate opened the compartment door. She slumped down on one of the seats, flexing her arm. That was the one she had used to hold the door closed when she was changing. "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 (Not unlike hers) curious. Kate shrugged. "Probably Ravenclaw," She said. "My whole family are. What do you think?" Conrad shrugged. "I don't know, just probably not Hufflepuff." he decided. Kate chuckled lightly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you really seem like one." She said quietly, smiling. Conrad grinned. "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 unkindly. They made their way through the packed train and finally outside. The refreshing breeze played around with Kate's hair. "Come on!" called Conrad from in front of her, 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. "This is making me feel sick." sighed Conrad after a while. "I believe I have motion-sickness." "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, for talking only made her queasier. 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, took out a pen and started writing. "What's that?" asked Kate curiously, motioning to the weather-beaten notebook. Conrad shrugged. He wrote something and showed it to her. 'Communication device :)' it said. Kate nodded 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. The moment she set foot on the solid ground, she instantly felt 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 sighed, 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... and the cold. She was eager to get into the 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 and clapped his hands. "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/," she whispered to Conrad. "Why can't we just get it over with?" Conrad nodded in understanding. "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. 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,” He said, loudly and clearly, “You will step forward to be sorted.” Then he called the first name. “Abbot, Selna!” 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. She felt a little dizzy. She sat down on the stool, and the man placed the tattered hat on her head. It fell over her eyes. Then, she heard a little voice. v“Mmmmm…” said the voice. “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 sat 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 -Fellicia Veltrola, apparently- was sorted into Slytherin, (unsurprisingly) it was Conrad's go. "Walker, Conrad!" Conrad walked up and confidently sat on the stool. This time, Kate couldn't hear what it said. After a short while, the hout shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Conrad smiled, pleased, as the clapping began, much less certain as he filed in next to Kate.
