Eric Lee Greene's Story

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eric hopped over the railing separating the port from the main street in Rhiamon Way, a wide grin across his face. It was a beautiful day, just the right temperature, even for an autumn day in New York. He was definitely far away from the farm back in Kansas, but this trip back to Gaol was long overdue. He had had a good time back home with the family but Eric was ready to return for his final year at school. Silently singing a song he had stuck in his head, Eric headed directly to the book shop owned by Liam's family. He had spoken to his best friend a few times over the summer, telling one another about their expectations for the coming year, but Eric had not seen Liam since they had shared a compartment of the same ship Eric had just gotten off, not 4 months ago.

Eric had already gotten all of his supplies earlier in the holidays. For him, because there were no magical communities within a reasonable distance from his home, Eric had to order his supplies via the owl post. It sucked because he'd much rather go and purchase his supplies in person, where he could browse the wide variety of magical stuff, such as what he was seeing behind the dusty windows of the many shops he was passing in Rhiamon Way. Thinking about it for a moment, Eric supposed he could've just waited until now to buy all of his supplies for school, but he reminded himself that he was on a limited time schedule before the ship made its final departure to the Academy.

Passing The Molding Tankard, Rhiamon Way's most popular inn, Eric approached the front of the book store, and to his displeasure, he heard a familiar drawling voice from just within.

"Move out of the effing way sloth."

Eric found himself immediately gritting his teeth. There was only one person he knew of who called anyone a sloth, and it was Chloe Hartzel, a fellow 7th year in Ursus. It was no secret he and this girl weren't exactly the best of friends, given their seemingly opposite personalities. Rounding the doorway, he nearly ran into none other than Liam and his little sister, Eden perched on his shoulders. Instinctively, he made for a "Hey!" to the pair, accompanied by a toothy smile, but he was distracted by another, less friendly face behind the pair. His ears not having deceived him, it was Chloe with that famous scowl plastered on her face. Her disrespect had distracted Eric from even seeing another friend of his, Claudia who was able to sneak past the cluster of people in the doorway. Not greeting Liam, nor giving him an opportunity to respond to Chloe, he pushed past him so that he stood in front of the girl, his eyes narrowed down at her as he spoke.

"Yeah, well why don't you move back to the UK? It's your last year, right? Might as well make it count and enroll into a school where you aren't inflictin' your misery on everyone who comes within 5 feet of you."

---

---

C H L O E

---

---

"Yeah, well why don't you move back to the UK? It's your last year, right? Might as well make it count and enroll into a school where you aren't inflictin' your misery on everyone who comes within 5 feet of you."

It was Eric, a fucking do-gooder in Aquila or something. One of the many people the girl hated, she almost rolled her eyes at the sight of him.

Clenching her fists, Chloe could feel the Lord coursing through her blood, her muscles twitching just like he had intended. The Lord was the puppet master, and Chloe was a thing of rags and wool. He was taking over her body. This hadn’t really happened before as he would usually take up a small part of her, as it was their agreement. It was the agreement, right? Well he apparently was not so good at sticking to agreements.

”Well why don’t you go back to your fucking pig-sty, farmboy? I’d rather go to Hogwarts- there would be no imbeciles like you. ”

Just at that very moment, Chloe Hartzel felt like punching Eric. It was a split-second decision crafted of pure fantasy, but the Lord had heard.

Do it.

The voice was stronger now- more demanding- it was more of an order than a suggestion, she sensed.

”My Lord, I can’t do it in front of everyone”

She whispered quickly and placed her hands over her ears, trying desperately for them to not hear.

Do it!

He roared, and she could feel herself losing control of her body cell by cell as her fist collided with Eric’s jaw. A shock of adrenaline shot through her body as she pushed open the door of the book shop and sprinted away.
She knew she shouldn’t have done it in broad daylight- the teachers could have seen.

Good, Chloe. Good.

Resting her head against a stone wall, she let out a breath. It wasn’t so much the violence that bothered her- the feeling of sheer helplessness, like she really could not control her own body. Pressing her back against the wall, she sighed once more. At least she’d got the sloth to move.

Aurora skipped down the crowded streets of Rhiamon Way, Dylan flying slightly behind her as she squeezed past the random witches and wizards that filled the Main Street. It was her final year at Gaol and she was taking her last trip into Rhiamon way for school supplies as well as a few other interesting items that she might uses during the school year that weren't strictly legal.

Glancing down at the sheet of paper which held her list of items she needed to acquire by the end of the day, the main 3 shops that popped up first was a small potion shop hidden down one of Rhiamon Way's many Alley ways; Another was the fact that she needed a knew broom and had been saving up so has he would be able to buy the best in the market right now; her final destination was the book shop owned by Liam and his family. If she remembered correctly, than Eden would be finally going to school this year and it would be nice to see the young girl again before school started.

Placing her fingers to her lips, she let of a shrill whistle that caused a few animals and wizards with unnaturally high hearing to look her way as Dylan came flying in her direction and took a seat upon her shoulder as she made her way to "Prissy Potty's Peculiar Potions." Which lay hidden in one of the many impossible windy backstreets.

The shop was small and almost dark, filled with weird and intoxicating smells which chocked you as you entered. A bell went off it the distance, signalling Auroras arrival as she made her way towards the abandoned counter. She didn't glance at the weird and brightly colored ingredients and potions that covered the walls of the shop as she had been there many times before. Pressing the bell on the counter three times, she slipped round behind it before making her way into a back room covered by a curtain of bead.

"Hay Pot! I'm here for the ingredients for the divination enhancement potions I ordered, and I was also wondering is the crystal tube necklace had come yet?" She yelled into the dark room before waiting patiently for a small, almost fairy like creature to appear before her carrying the necklace in her hands, and a bag of items floating in the air behind her.

"Here you go dear. It's your last year if Gaol, your sending it off with a bang is supposed?" Pot inquired mischievously as she handed over Auroras requested items. "Pretty much. Now I must be off as I have a few more things to get before I head back to Gaol." She laughed to the fairy before waving as she turned to leave back the way she came.

Exiting the shop, the bells jingled again but were lost in the noise of distant crowds. Her next destination was the Broom shop on Main Street which was quite far from here. It would probably be easier to stop by the book shop and invite Eden to come broom shopping with her. No doubt the girl would love that.

Making her mind up, she followed the well walked path that would take her towards the family owned store that she had visited so many times over the years. It would be good to see the family again after the summer seeing as she hadn't really been in contact with any one much due to her parents.

Walking around a corner, she saw the shop come into views as well as the faces of a few familiar class mates. Seems she wasn't the only one who had thought to stop by the Madsen's household. Entering the shop as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb anyone and lose any possible chance at surprise attacking them, she was greeted with the words, "Yeah, well why don't you move back to the UK? It's your last year, right? Might as well make it count and enroll into a school where you aren't inflictin' your misery on everyone who comes within 5 feet of you." which came from Eric aimed at Chloe... Chloe!? Oh today was just getting better and better!

She grinned evilly, and completely ignoring the tense atmosphere she prepared herself to jump into the room and hug the girl to see if she could get a decent reaction before she head the sound of flesh hitting flesh, feeling Chloe suddenly push past her as she ran out the shop. Pausing to glance after the unfriendly girl, she entered the room and sent a frown at Eric who now had a red cheek.

Smiling at the room inhabitants, she walked over to Eric and gave him a quick hug before patting his red cheek slightly and grinning at him, "Want me to kiss it better?" She joked out before he was released and she moved onto Liam and Eden. Seeing as she couldn't really hug the girl as she was perched upon Liam's shoulders, Aurora settled for a happy wave and a look towards them both that said, "When I can hug you both, I will. Be warmed.". Looking over at Claudia she sent her a grin before stopping down and hugging Flavia who she had met a couple of years back and had grown to like quite well.

"So we seem to have two first years in our midst guys, let's not give them a bad impression by fighting it out." She commented jokingly, sending a pointed look at Eric though she doubted he was the main cause of the problem and was simply teasing him, "Don't mind Chloe you hear, she's just a little misunderstood." She commented with a straigh face to the two young girls though there was an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"So, I'm heading over to the broom shop on Main Street if any of you two lovely ladies would do me the greatest pleasure of your company!" She grinned at the two girls, waiting for their response as Dylan began to try and crawl up her face which distracted her for a few moments as she tried to disentangle his claws from her face. "Oh and Liam I was wondering if you store had the latest release of Cassandra Vablatsky book, "Unfogging the Future", which is a release in England that has only recently been published here. Surprise as it's quite a few years old but apparently it's pretty good." She commented off hand, pulling at the small bats body which refused to let go of her hair now that it had managed to pull itself onto her head.

Standing outside the cauldron shop of Rhiamon Way, Vivian bit her lip and fidgeted. She tried to focus on the list in her hand, but her eyes flitted upward on occasion, peering at the people strolling by. The area near this particular shop was less crowded than most, though, more than a few witches and wizards had gotten a bit closer to her than she would have liked. They would not approach her for no reason, she reminded herself. If she stayed quiet, she would be left alone. Despite her rationalization, however, nervousness still crawled about in her chest like an especially energetic slug.

Even after three years of coming to Rhiamon for supplies, the place still felt more than a little choked to her. Too many people, too many colliding scents and sounds, too little air for everyone to breathe. Especially without friends to temper her anxiety, Vivian found the entire scene overwhelming. She had not panicked in public yet, though, and she had no intentions of doing so ever if she could help it. Her father had offered to come to see her off, as he did every year, but Vivian had felt that it was best to turn his offer down this year. Looking even more weak and helpless than she already did was not something she needed. Sometimes Vivian wondered how she had been put in Aquila house with her lack of nerve.

After checking her list of supplies for the third time, Vivian folded her list and pressed it into into the front pocket of her messenger bag. She definitely had everything. Really, she had only needed to buy a few things. Some quills, some ink, her books, of course, but most of her other supplies had been taken care of earlier in the summer.

Once she had taken a moment to take in several slow, deep breaths, she stepped away from the storefront, and started down the path. Vivian realized that she should probably get down to the ship early, just in case, but she also figured that if she had forgotten to write anything down, it might come to her while milling about Rhiamon.

As she neared the bookstore that she had been shopping at earlier in the day, Vivian spotted a girl not much older than herself bolting off. One of her peers maybe. Had she been frightened off by something? Vivian glanced at the storefront itself and into the slowly closing door. She recognized a few of the people inside. Liam and Eric, both other Aquilas, were present, along with a younger girl who Vivian did not think she had seen before. Shaking her head, Vivian told herself that the matter really was not her business anyway, and continued towards the nearby inn.

Jim Malloy

"Standin' on a corner, watchin' all the girls go byyy~" Jim sang, accompanying his three elder cousins, Jerry, Jack and Sarah. It was mostly as practice for Jerry and Jack, they were going to be taking part a play as a favour for Aunt Kelly, and it involved them singing that and doing a little dance. As such, all four of them were wearing baseball caps as stand ins for the newsboy hats in the play. However, there was also the fun of getting a little louder and trying to sound a little better whenever some girls passed by. As a pair of especially pretty girls approached the bench the Malloys had claimed, the four of them each took their hats off in turn, holding them to their chests. Jim's voice was pretty much toneless when it came to singing, but hiding it amongst the much nicer voices of his cousins meant that the Malloys earned some blushes and giggles from the passing ladies.

Sarah looked over at the watch Jim was wearing, and nudged him. Puzzled, Jim checked it himself.
"Crud." He muttered, as he passed his hat to Jack. He wasn't even in the right part of New York yet, though he didn't have a doubt that he'd make it. It was a short trip to grab his stuff from home, say his see-you-Thanksgiving-breaks to his ma, da and every Malloy he passed, and hail himself a cab to take him within walking distance of Rhiamon Way.
"You taking a vacation, kid?" The cabdriver asked as Jim climbed in with Mallory's cage and his guitar beside him, after he'd hefted his suitcases into the trunk. He had all the stuff he needed, either by borrowing his ma's old stuff or going out with her and his da to get it from Rhiamon way. They were New Yorkers, it was hardly a journey to Mordor.
"Goin' back to school." He replied with a grin. The cabdriver made a non-committal sound, and soon enough, Jim was walking down Rhiamon Way. Personally, he liked touching base there before he reentered the Wizarding World for the next school year, same as he liked to head to the nearest fast food place when he returned to the Muggle World. It was around then that he noticed the backs of some familiar heads through a store window.

"Aurora! Eric!" He called, as he picked up his pace. However, as he drew closer, he recognised a few other familiar faces, and two strange. One was Liam Madsen, with presumably his little sister on his shoulders, since he didn't seem the type to pick up random children and carry them around. The next was Claudia Gardner, with a kid that could only have been her sister. The last was all too familiar.
"...Hartzel." He greeted in an almost-growl. He walked into the shop himself, and caught Aurora talking to the first years. He decided against talking to Hartzel, and instead focused his attention on Aurora and the first years, trying to completely ignore Hartzel.
"Need a hand there, Aurora?" He chuckled with a grin, popping out from behind her.

Gemma Jackson

Gemma cleared her throat at the table. Her parents were both sitting ramrod straight, faces pinched in annoyance. They knew what today was. They knew what it had been since Gemma was eleven.
"M-may I be excused? I need to pack a couple of last things..." She'd been fully packed and ready to go for the past week, but the breakfast before she finally got back to Gaol was always awkward and scented with resentment and disappointment. Too much so for Gemma to stomach. She'd been careful not to mention what she was packing for, as her parents were less likely to comment if she didn't mention magic at all. Her mother gave a curt nod, and Gemma stood up and carefully didn't hurry towards her room. She sighed as she collected up everything, stood in front of her door and counted to thirty. On twenty eight, she opened the door and quickly crossed the open-plan penthouse, until she was beside her exit out. She didn't call out a goodbye, and she was thankful her parents didn't acknowledge her as she walked out with her suitcases. She gave a sigh of relief as the doors to the apartment building clicked shut behind her, and she was out into the September air.

It wasn't too long until Gemma was finally stepping onto Rhiamon Way, and she let a secretive smile cross her face. She was in the clear until next summer, now, and she eased a little. She could see other Gaol students milling around, excited for the new school year, whether because of learning or seeing friends again. She smiled as she heard a familiar accent rise above the general chatter, shouting two familiar names. Gemma decided against heading toward them, she'd see them on the boat soon enough. Instead, she found herself a bench to rest on, with her potted tulips on her lap and her suitcases at her feet.

Max Avarus:

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" Max yelled as he walked down the street, casting some attention to himself. His father had been called ton emergency meeting, so he had to finish shopping on his own. He hated shopping. However, most of his shopping was done at least. Phear walked into the Wand store, quickly got his wand, and got out, a feeling of accomplishment running through him.

"Hey Maxy" a familiar voice called to him.

"I told you not to call me that!"

It was his brother, Daniel, who graduated last year. He messed his brother's hair up, and then checked his stuff. "Did he at least say goodby? Or was this like the time he completely forgot about you on the playground because of an important meeting?"

"He did say goodby...he sounded panicked".

"He always sounds panicked about a meeting...oh, I think I see some people I know. Hey, Liam!" He shouted. Max just felt embarrassed now. However, as Max and Daniel walked closer, Max saw a girl bunch this other guy in the face.

Daniel looked at them, wondering what had happened. "Max, this is Liam and Eden Madsen. Guys, this is my brother. He is starting this year. Liam, I forgot Eden had also started this year. Guess they will have company then..."

Max said hello, attempting to jump in after his brother's icebreaker. He was...wary, about making friends. It was the fame and the money, mostly, but also he was smarter then most his age. He couldn't help but worry if the woman was going to punch him next or something. Not afraid, but he would rather not get punched. It was a personal objective not to get punched.

Zeke Barrow:

"C'mon Zane, I don't want to be late!" Zeke impatiently tapped his foot. "Your walking too slow!"

Zeke had this aura about him that you got the feeling he doesn't like to sit still. That was Zeke being Zeke. He hated waiting, standing still, or not doing anything. Zeke simply said he was "a man of action".

Of course, most of his actions usually got him into trouble.

"Come on Zane! We need to get all of our equipment..." He meant the firecrackers and other jokes they had got from some stores. "...loaded before the ship leaves!"

He saw a few others on the street, but he was so centered on not being late to notice anything unless it happened right in front if him or it called to his or Zane's attention.

If there was one thing his father had taught Thomas Decius, it was to be prepared. Thus, he had purchased his school supplies a month earlier and at half price too. It helped that his family owned a quarter of the shops on Rhiamon Way and loaned money to money to many of the ones they did not own. Today, he had decided to visit the broom shop. True, he had never shown any inclination towards joining the Quadpot team. This was for various reasons, two of which amount to the practice times infringing on his already limited supply of free time and the fact that he found it easier to slip into the old school ruins while professors and students alike were distracted by the game. However, he loved the feeling of the wind rushing by him as he flew in the air and he felt that there might come a day where he would be grateful to have a quick broom available to get him away from somewhere quickly.

"Oh, you are very fortunate to come at the time you did, Master Decius," the middle-aged shopkeeper simpered as he brought out an elegant-looking broom, "This is the very last Aether V we have in stock."

"Hmm... I hope Auora managed to get one beforehand," Thomas mused before paying the shopkeeper, wandering if he was being truthful. He had found a couple documents in the old school ruins his father had been keen on getting his hands on. He was so happy, he had agreed to give Thomas the money for this purchase.

Next, Thomas decided to head towards the book store for some recreational reading. He paused, however, when he saw the commotion before him and lo and behold, Aurora was in the midst of it along with several of his classmates and what looked like a couple first years. He smiled politely at Eric, though he could not help but scrutinize Chloe. It wouldn't surprise him that she was the one to give him that bruise on his cheek.

"So, I'm heading over to the broom shop on Main Street if any of you two lovely ladies would do me the greatest pleasure of your company!"

"You should have stopped by there first, Aurora. Someone purchased the last Aether V, though he might be willing to sell or loan it for a price. Or maybe the shopkeeper was lying when he said it was the last one. It's a common marketing trick," Thomas announced with a slight grin on his face as he held the broom in his arms, unwrapped of course. There was no point in wrapping a broom. Everyone knew what kind of item it was.

Odessa found herself walking around the Rhiamon Way, trying to think of any last minute things she needed before going to the ship. She made a mental check list, ‘ ‘Supplies? Yep. Quills? Yep. Books? Yep.’ She honestly couldn’t think of much she had forgotten. She usually had someone with her to help remind her, but she hadn’t really run into any of her friends on the street so far, so she was left alone.

If one was looking at her, they would think she was unprepared. She had a yellow sun dress on, and with her carts already loaded into the ship, she was left with a semi-large red bag. The bag had a ton of things in it, mainly due to the fact she was now legal age to perform magic outside of school, so she had an expansion charm on her bag. It was a hard charm, but she loved it, no longer having to worry about space. She had a crossword book she was going to work on later, but right now she was just wondering.

She did a quick ran into the book store owned by Liam’s family, who she was on friendly terms with, and wanted to see his adorable little sister, but they were out. Finding she couldn’t really find anyone, she began to walk towards the ship, taking the odd ways around. New York magic strips were fine, but she preferred New Orleans’, way more plant life and in her opinion, friendliness. She did see the Barrow twins, and even gave a friendly “ Heya!” To Zane.

As she walked, she noticed someone’s back, who she could honestly tell from any angle; Eric Greene. She honestly considered him to be one of her closest friends, and he had spent the summer with her family, up until he left a couple of weeks ago. Her family saw what a mess she was after, her mom started to tell her to ask him out, and if they got married, to not take his last name. Her sister was a major player in that, having drawn up several pictures, which made Odessa sigh at her family. She actually did have a picture form his stay to give him; It was him and her standing beside each other, laughing in front of an old theater she loved. She walked close to him, and once she was close enough, she went “ Guess who?” while covering his eyes. Not waiting for a proper response, she got in front of him, still walking forward. ”Eric! ‘ow ya been? W’at has it been; now and a half weeks? I got some food in my bag, if ya wanna share on t’e ride over.” She said in her rapid fire style. She was glad to see him again, made a little part of her extra happy.



Zane was walking with his twin, his very hasty twin, his twin who this morning had tried to slip an itching cream into his bag, but was caught and busted by Zane. That stuff spilled too often for his liking, and not in the beginning of the year was he going to risk that.

“You are being melodramatic again, Zeke!” Zane said, while rolling his eyes. He was walking slower than his brother, and only for around 28% because of the itching thing, the rest because he was calmer, however slightly, more than Zeke. He saw a group of students near where they were, both older and younger. He was planning a prank when that Odessa girl had said hello.

Zane looked at his brother. “You know we have some time, and most of the stuff is already loaded, right? You see that group up there?” He pointed at the group, and then noticing the girl running away, he saw it was Chloe, the only girl who shared him slightly. She hated them, mainly because she couldn’t appreciate a good joke. “It’s little miss joke killer. You know it’s her last year? Maybe she should start it out with a bang, you have any mini dung bombs?” A completely stinky Chloe is something that mad Zane smile, plus the small size of a dungbomb would be harder to tie to them, all they needed was to light the fuse and throw.

Zeke Barrow:

"Am not! We don't have any other form of transportation to get there! Besides, we can't risk missing it!"

Zeke said hello. And when Zane mentioned Chloe, his head started spinning with ideas. "Yeah they are next to the..." He started, when a large firecracker dropped out of his bag. The kind of firecracker that explodes spectacularly when it hits the ground. "Shit....LOOK OUT!"

Awkward turned away as the Firecracker went off, a large portion of the blast going everywhere. Not so much an explosion as a magical light show, but it knocked Zeke backwards, distracted everyone, and sent this one kid (Max) flying backward. A large portion of the firecracker also went in the way of Chloe and Eric.

Zeke, of course, broke out into laughter. "That was awesome! Zane, did you see that? Those firecrackers are going to be a blast! We should have gotten more!" He stood up, and looked at Zane. "Those are going to be great".

He then looked at everyone else, and his mind immediately realized something. "Uhh...sorry....accidental firecracker use". He was still smiling though, clearly enjoying what the firecracker caused.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[font="century gothic"]

"Need a hand there, Aurora?, Auroa jumped and turned around to see Jim behind her as she still struggled with the annoying little bat. "If you would I will totally love you forever!" She cried in desperation as she gave the small bat another tug, struggling to work if free and staring up at Jim with big puppy dog eyes while the minutiae creature glared daggers at his hands, seemingly unaffected by Aurora attempts to remove him.

"Come on Dyl, let go of me..." She had resorted to begging with the damn bat who continued to ignore her, and Jim as they tried to distantly the thing from her hair. Giving a final sigh, she removed her hands in resignation as she realised the bag wasn't moving as time soon and she was doing more damage to herself than the small creature. "Thanks for that Jim, but I don't think he will be moving anytime soon no matter how hard we try.", however she was soon distracted from the nuciance when she saw Thomas walk through the door holding the brand new Aether V.

"You should have stopped by there first, Aurora. Someone purchased the last Aether V, though he might be willing to sell or loan it for a price. Or maybe the shopkeeper was lying when he said it was the last one. It's a common marketing trick," , Her eyes widened in horror as they lay upon the gorgeous piece of art that would allow her to fly at 200 miles and hour at prim conditions; The way the handle had been carved and polished; the perfect arrangement of bristles; And the perfectly, calligraphy carving of "Aether V" at the end of the handle. She could not lose it, not even to Thomas.

"You and me, we are going back to that broom shop which I will raid until I find another, amazing, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect, Aether V. If the shopkeeper wasn't lying, then I will pay your double, no triple! The original price!" She all but begged him, as she moved to stand it front of him, eyes fixed on the broom that had to be hers. "Come on Tommy, I'm begging over here!" She said while looking up at him with her best puppy dog eyes.

"That is NO WAY an Aether V," exclaimed a young girl's voice. Thomas blinked, having missed the girl as he focused on teasing his friend. He smiled sliglhtly at her excitement. Judging from her similar appearance to Claudia's as well as the older girl's cringing, this had to be her sister.

"Oh my gosh. How did you manage to afford it? It's, like, the newest in the Series! Can I touch it?" the girl asked excitably.

"I come from a family with too much gold on their hands. Of course you can touch it," he told her, allowing the girl to touch it. He wasn't one of those Quadpot-obsessed types who cringed at the thought of a child touching their broomstick. It wasn't like the child would break it. He grinned over at Aurora as she took it in. Soon enough, she sprang into action.

"You and me, we are going back to that broom shop which I will raid until I find another, amazing, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect, Aether V. If the shopkeeper wasn't lying, then I will pay your double, no triple! The original price!"

Thomas shook his head. He wouldn't exhort his friend in such a way. He may come from a family famous for pursuing wealth, but that didn't mean he was greedy.

"Come on Tommy, I'm begging over here!" She finished while looking up at him with her best puppy dog eyes. Thomas couldn't help but gaze into those eyes. It was one of her favorite tricks, but it still got to him. He did his best to regain his composure.

"Alright. I will go with you to the broom shop. I'll even sell it to you at three quarters of the price if you accompany me to the school ruins. I have an idea on how to open the chamber we couldn't open last year," he told her with a grin as he offered her his hand. He knew she didn't like his manners, but at times, he couldn't resist teasing her with a little chivalry.

For the first time in his entire magical schooling career at Gaol Academy, Benjamin "Benji" Fox did not board the ship to school at the Georgia port, the closest stop to his home state of Tennessee. That was bizarre in of itself given that for the past four years, Benji's presence in the eleventh compartment from the end of the ship had been an undeniable truth like how two plus two always equals four or that owls were wonderful for package deliveries if you remembered to tip them with their rodent of choice. However, the oddest thing about it was where Benji actually was; Baltimore, Maryland, standing in the middle of the Alvar family rare book shop next to a port key in the shape of a bookmark, and listening to the Alvar children squabble tirelessly as he had for the past four days.

When Sophie Alvar had let it slip to her parents about the nice boy a few years ahead of her that had helped her with class, she had clearly underestimated how enthusiastic her parents would be to meet said nice boy. In a whirl of excitement(for her parents) and dread(for Sophie), an invitation had promptly been sent via owl to the Fox household with an invitation to have them stay in Baltimore for the last few days of Summer vacation. To say that those days had been difficult would be an understatement; the parents, once the Alvars had realized that they didn't need to tiptoe around the issue of squibs and muggles, and grandparents(because there was no way Randall or Miriam were missing a chance to be around other members of the magical community) had gotten along famously, and the children, well, less so. At first, the amount of sibling discourse had been a little disorienting for Benji given that he was an only child, but, unfortunately, he'd gotten used to it, letting the brothers' endless teases and their sister's cutting retorts become the soundtrack for his little visit. At least, he decided, she was talking to him again- Sophie had refused to even make eye contact for the first two days of his visit when Allan, the only Alvar boy still living at home, had jokingly insisted that Benji was his sister's boyfriend.

"You both have everything?" Gregory Alvar asked one last time, eying the two as they shifted on their feet, luggage topped with owl cages, the birds blessedly silent, gripped tightly. They'd already said their goodbyes and, honestly, they'd made sure that they'd had everything at least five times now, but parents do have a tendency to worry about these things.

"Yes, daddy," Sophie huffed, looking more than anxious to go.

"Alright then. It's about time, go ahead and put your hands on the port key-" The instruction was cut off in a short manner by Allan who apparently couldn't risk a parting shot at his baby sister.

"Remember to hold hands, Fi-Fi!" He cooed, despite his mother's prompt glare. Sophie, as she always did, colored a violent scarlet color and was about to round on her brother with a verbal assault to violent that it might have left a bruise or two. However Benji, who'd had more than enough of this by now, was too quick, grabbing her hand and tugging it down with his just as the hour struck and, quite suddenly, the middle of the rare book shop in Baltimore, Maryland, was missing two people leaving behind a guffawing older brother, a scolding mother, and several proud relatives.

---

They were unceremoniously dropped off in an out of the way part of Rhiamon Way, closer to the docks than to the shops. Sophie landed uneasily before smoothing down her uniform skirt, grumbling something about the perfect use of a bat-bogey hex, while Benji simply straightened back up- he would never get used to port keys- and started off towards the ship. Hopefully his usual compartment wouldn't be occupied- well, at least by someone he didn't know. If it was someone like Thomas then he'd-

"Benji." He stopped in his tracks and turned around to see Sophie looking just as red-faced as before.

"What is it?"

"I forgot my charms book." Before he could even reply, she charged on quickly, "But it's not my fault- Allan was talking when I was packing and he distracted me, so…" She huffed. "I need to get a new one."

"It's fine, Sophie," Benji said, cutting off any further rants. "We'll just drop our stuff off and I'll go with you, okay? We still have a little bit of time." When handling Sophie, especially when she was upset, it was best to use kid gloves, a lesson Benji had quickly learned last year after his first disastrous tutoring attempt.

Sophie nodded and quick as could be they dropped off their luggage and still sleeping owls before heading towards the shops.

---

It was lucky that Benji knew his way around Rhiamon Way because Sophie was completely out of her element. She was used to her parents buying everything for her and just staying put in the ship every time it stopped. The crowds buffeting her on all sides, most of them children around her own age, were frustrating and she couldn't help but press in a little closer to Benji just to make sure she didn't get lost- not that she'd ever admit it because she was just fine on her own, thanks very much.

They managed to fight their way through the crowds and into the Madsen family bookstore where Sophie vanished, presumably to find her charms book, and Benji was left to idly look around, fidgeting slightly with the shiny new Exemplar badge adorning his shirt. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't disproportionately proud of it and it would be a complete fib to say that he'd maybe cheered quite loudly the moment the badge and letter had arrived at his home.

It was only after Sophie had returned, dragging him resolutely to the counter so that she could pay for what was most certainly not a charms book(not that he could tell since she was hiding the cover resolutely from him) that Benji recognized the fact that, oh, hey, his classmates were here. And were also leaving. The bad thing, he supposed, about having friends was that, inevitably with him, they had other friends they were closer to, usually being people you didn't know all that well. That was the case with Aurora and her menagerie of friends that had swept out the door, excited about some broom or another, or Claudia, his own housemate who still lingered inside with Liam and some first years he was sure he'd never met before. He liked them sure enough, but he couldn't possibly just push himself into their group.

Sophie, whose self-esteem issues revealed themselves in a much different way than the doubt that constantly washed over Benji's mind, had no such issue. As exasperated as she may have gotten with Claudia, a familiar face was still a familiar face, and she was one of the closest things Sophie had to a friend, which was a bit sad, really.

"Hey, Claudia," She said, waving towards the girl and, given the general social obligation, Benji was about to call out a similar greeting when instead an explosion resounded within the shop. Well, not so much an explosion as an entirely too powerful light show. Sophie let out a shriek of surprise, stumbling backwards, and Benji had to shield his eyes before something more concerning than a firework gone wrong caught his sight. A boy- he didn't know him, so possibly a first year- has been propelled backwards in the explosion.

With all of the responsibility granted to him by the Exemplar badge and the general morality that he quite hoped most people had but knew from experience that they didn't, Benji hurried over to the toppled over boy, even as Zeke called out a not so sheepish apology.

"Are you okay?" He asked, almost immediately kneeling down next to him. If he was a first year, well, his life at Gaol had just gotten off to a rocky start.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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."