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Eric rubbed his jaw, a slight welp forming, reminding him of what was still fresh in his mind. Chloe. He made his way up into the ship, looking around at the few students straggling around the hall. He found his way to his compartment, giving a friendly nod to a couple people before slipping in the room. Eric's eyes had fallen right to the empty box of Ice Mice sitting on the seat near the window. He sighed in annoyance. Alfred. Shaking his head, Eric plopped down, pulling out his wand and directing it toward the box."Scourgify."
And with that, the empty candy box folded itself several times over to the point that it was no larger than a thumb nail. It levitated for a second before puffing into dust. Eric sighed inwardly, gazing out into the horizon through the porthole, losing himself in his thoughts. His mind raced through many things for the next couple of minutes. Anything from what this school year had in store of this 7th year to whether or not he was finally going to gather up enough courage to speak to the breathtaking Amelia Ellison. He sat there awhile when a familiar ball of grey fur flashed into the compartment and leaped onto his lap. "Alfred!"
Despite Alfred having eaten all of his candy once again, Eric couldn't help but grin down at his cat. He went to pet him when he noticed a long, thin object lodged in his jaws. It was a wand! No sooner had he taken it from Alfred, (who gave it up willingly), had Thomas Erener enter the compartment. The two sat there in silence for a moment, eyeing each other warily. Eric had ran into Thomas in their previous year, and had caught him with a book from the restricted section in the library. He could assume that Thomas didn't have proper permission to have the book, given the hastiness he showed in trying to hide it once Eric saw it. Eric has never told a teacher, nor anybody else, partially because it seemed like such an insignificant rule to be broken, and because he almost waiting for Thomas to slip up again, possibly into something worse this time. Eric was the first to break the silence.
"Oh... Hey, Thomas."
Eric wasn't returned with a greeting, not that he surprised. "Would you please return my wand to me?", Thomas requested, almost in a tone of demand. Eric looked down at the wand in his hand. He hesitated before standing and taking a step toward Thomas, raising the wand to him, handle up. As Thomas took it from him, he tried at being friendly. "Sorry about that... You know how cats can get." He chuckled lightly before adding, "That's a nice wand. What is it, pine?" Thomas gave the older student a cold look as he retorted, "If you don't mind, would you kindly keep that animal away from me this year?" Eric eyed the 5th year curiously before glancing back to Alfred, who was now sitting atop Eric's backpack, flicking his bushy tail to and fro. When Eric looked back to Thomas though, he had already gone. Poking his head out of his compartment, Eric's eyes followed Thomas as he stalked off to his own room. So Chloe and Thomas. Lovely to see they're so eager to make friends.
Eric sighed, sliding the compartment door shut before turning to Alfred, who was looking expectantly at him. He smirked at the cat, falling into a seat next to him. He rested his hand around his neck, gently scruffing it as his eyes wandered back out of the porthole, looking toward the light from the sun reflecting off of the cold ocean waters. "I can't wait to get back to school, Alfred."