[Hogwarts Between] Kadyn, Cyrus, and Amber on the train

[Patrick McCartney]

>
>While they were discussing money, there came a loud clattering noise
in the corridor outside. The door of their compartment slid open and a
plump, kindly-looking witch peeked in.
>
>"Anything off the trolley, ducks?" she asked the three children.
>
>"uhm... can you give me costs for "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans",
and chocolate frogs?" Kadyn had a fairly large collection of Chocolate
frog cards at home, but was still missing quite a few. He turned back
to Amber and Cyrus. "Do either of you need anything?"
>
>"Yes." said Amber. She got up from her seat and looked at the trolley.
Colorful wrappers overloaded the cart. Packages marked 'Cauldron Cakes'
and 'Peppermint Patties', 'Birdie Bots Every Flavoured Beans" and small
cases of 'Chocolate Frogs'. Amber ordered all mentioned, getting an
extra frog for Kayden, a small payment for the lost tips.
>
>"Anything for you, love?" the witch asked Cyrus.
>
>"Um, sure," said Cyrus. He purchased several Cauldron Cakes and
Chocolate frogs, and put down his book to eat.
>
>The treats were priced so as not to break the budgets of
schoolchildren, so they didn't deplete the children's spending money
too alarmingly. Most of Kadyn's Chocolate Frog cards turned out to be
ones he had already, as usual, but there were a couple of new ones. One
of these was a witch with a mane of black hair, wearing a blue velvet
gown that matched her eyes.
>
>"Winifred of West-Mere-Land," the text read, "also called the Witch of
the West-Mere-Land, was a well-known healer and Animagus of the 13th
Century. Her animal form was a black mare. The venerable wizarding
family of Windermere claims her as an ancestress."
>
>"Blimey, I've never even heard of her before..." He turned the card
over, seeing that the witch had disapeared. "I'll look her up in a
'History of Magic' book, see if it says anything more." He opened a box
of "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans" and dug in his bags for his
"History of Magic" book, and then swallowed what he thought was a
cherry bean.
>
>Amber looked at the card. Nothing. All there was was a dark black
background. "So, what's so special about this? It's just...blank."
>
>"Well of course its blank, you can't expect her to wait around all
day? she's got places to go, just like any portrait." Kadyn popped
another bean in his mouth, then spit it out. "ugh...jalapeno..."
>
>Her eyes widened. She grabbed her suitcase and rummaged through it,
scattering clothes and nick-nacks all around the compartment, until she
reached a glossy piece of paper. Amber stared at her young face and the
faces of two adults. One had long red hair and green eyes, the other
blond hair and glasses. They were still. Amber sighed. She knew in the
back of her mind they wouldn't move, they're a muggle picture. She put
them back and started to clean up her stuff.
>
>Just then the witch on the card popped into view again, as if coming
to look out a window. She waved and smiled...but she didn't seem to be
looking at Amber or Kadyn. She seemed to be waving in Cyrus' direction.
>
>Cyrus happened to glance up at that moment. His face flushed scarlet
when he saw the Chocolate Frog card, and he reached for his book again.
>
>"Do you know her, Cyrus? She certainly seems to know you..." Kadyn bit
into another Berties Bott's Bean, and gagged.
>
>"Umm... yeah. She's a distant ancestor of mine." said Cyrus.
>
>"Ancestor?" Kadyn exclaimed. "Wow, all my family i Muggles." Kadyn
knew that this was only mostly true, but he thought it was close
enough.
>
>"My family is Muggles also. Well, my grandparents are." said Amber.
>
>"My mum's a muggle," said Cyrus. "All my dad's family are purebloods
though. They were kind of angry with him for marrying a muggle." Kadyn
shook his head. "My parents are both wizards. They are just both muggle
born wizards."
>
>"Purebloods are...?" asked Amber.
>
>"They're wizards with no muggle blood," Cyrus replied. "A lot of the
older wizarding families pride themselves on being pureblooded."
>
>Kadyn nodded "Almost all purebloods are related though, due to their
being fewer of them then their were years ago."
>
>
>The cabin door suddenly slid open with a slap and was replaced by a 14
year old girl. She was wearing her school robes and holding a blue
balloon by a string. The balloon kept floating in and out of the
 doorway.
>
>"Oh, excuse me. I am looking for my friend Dagobert, have you seen
him?"
>
>"No, I don't think anyones been in here, besides the trolley lady..."
Kadyn shook his head. "Sorry."
>
>"What's he look like?" asked Amber, "Maybe if he shows up we can tell
him your looking for him."
>
>She looked up trying to envision him in her mind. One foot went up
onto its toes.
>
>"He has very dark straight hair, parted on the side. His eyes are a
deep brown, and he has the cutest little bump on his right ear." She
paused and then looked down at them. "Perhaps you have seen
his younger brother, Childeric? He's about your age."
>
>Amber thought. She could have sworn she had seen him before. He was
the boy she had fought with at the station. When she remembered her
face went bright scarlet, "No, I don't think I've seen him before."
>
>Kadyn thought too. "hmm..." He thought that was who Amber had been
fighting with, but he couldn't remember. He assumed Amber would have
remebere if so, so he said nothing.
>
>"Thank you." She slid the door shut catching a part of the balloon,
making it look as if she had caught it on a nose. She slid the door
open and pulled the balloon free. As she re-closed the door
they could hear out in the hallway, "Sorry about that."
>
>Amber was so embarrassed that she had just met, what could have been,
the boy's girlfriend that she stole the book Cyrus had been reading and
turned to a random page hiding her face behind it.
>
>Cyrus noticed this, but chose not to comment. He had been silently
watching the interplay, eating his Cauldron Cakes. Having not seen
Amber at the station, he was unsure why she was suddenly so
embarressed.
>
>Kadyn saw Amber blush, and tried to figure out why. After a sudden
revelation, he exclaimed "I was right! The boy she was looking for was
that boy you were fighting with, back on the platform!" Kadyn smiled,
then began to think of why she was blushing over this.
>
>Amber shot Kadyn a dark glance then started to actually read the book
Cyrus had been reading both to distract her mind and also to lose some
redness of her face.
>
>"What?" Kadyn frowned. "What did I say?" Kadyn shook his head. "Girls"
he thought silently to himself. He looked at the book. " What are you
reading? "Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them". Where did you pick
that up, Cyrus?"
>
>[OOC: What's in the book?]
>
> "Flourish and Blott's, in Diagon Alley." Cyrus replied.
>
>"Oh, I didn't actually get my books there. I got mine back from a
local shop back in Hogsmeade." Kadyn peeked over Amber's shoulder.
>

>"This is brilliant!" said Amber "It's called a 'Thestral'. It says,
'you can only see them when you've looked into the face of death. From
those who've see this strange but terrible beast have said that it
resembles a bony horse with black bat wings.' Also there's a rectangle
that looks like a picture should be there. Is this one of those strange
pictures where they walk in?"
>
>"No, you probably just can't see it because you haven't seen death."
Kadyn
shrugged and looked over where the thestral should have been.
>
>[OOC: It is there but Amber can't see it. She hasn't seen death.]
>

[OOC:  This train even happens in all the threads simultaneously.  All
threads sync with this event.]

They felt a thump followed by a sharp jolt in the floor of the train. 
There was an unnatural silence – no train engine sounds were heard.

A crack sounded as the train came to a sudden and complete stop. 
Luggage, books, personal items, and students filled the air.  Those
students who did not fly out of their bench seats bounced off of the
cushions behind them and landed on the floor.

Outside the windows the landscape was motionless.