Lie To Me

The Train Ride

I look around the train, taking in the new environment as I try to follow my brother into one of the compartments.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" He asks me, eyeing me suspiciously while blocking the entrance.
"Eh, I thought I was going to sit with you."
"Oh, absolutely not! The train has always been a great opportunity to make your first few friends in Hogwarts. So go find your own". He motions with his hands, shooing me away. Like a mother bird encouraging their baby to finally leave the nest.
"What?"
"Go! Did you not just tell mother that you're capable of taking care of yourself?" He grins mischievously.
"Fine." I huff once more today as I walk away, trying my best to go and make new friends.

After a while of dragging my belongings through the train, I finally find a compartment with an empty seat. In fact, there is only one person already inside. I assume he's been a first-year too. He is quite pale; his dark blonde hair is neatly slicked back, while his pale blue eyes stare seemingly out the window.
I knock at the door, and his face turns to me, yet his eyes seem to be unfocused.
"H... Hi. Do you mind if I take a seat? I haven't found another empty compartment so far."
"I don't mind," he says with a delicate and friendly voice.
He seems rather shy and not very talkative.
"Thank you." I stash my trunk and sit down across from him by the window. "I'm Y/n, by the way."
"Ominis," he nods shortly.
Before I can assure him that it's nice to meet him, I hear the door slide open. I turn my head and see a girl with black hair standing in the doorframe and a taller boy with flaming red hair behind her.
They both smile kindly as they ask if they can sit with us.

We're all sitting comfortably when the train finally starts moving. I can still see some other students relatives on the platform waving their goodbyes. Some are crying, others are just smiling.
The girl, who introduced herself as Nellie earlier, and I start chatting after a moment of awkwardness.
We talk about our families and what houses we hope to get sorted into. The red-headed boy by the name of Garreth chimes in once in a while.
They are very nice, and I immediately take a liking to both of them.
Ominis, on the other hand, seems to be very shy and just barely says a word. I try to include him in our conversation because I don't want him to feel left out.
"What house do you think you'll get sorted in, Ominis?"
"Slytherin"
"You seem quite sure." I am curious... His calm demeanour intrigues me.
"Everyone in my family has been in Slytherin. It would be a disaster if I didn't get sorted into it." His voice is soft, and I imagine hearing a little bit of fear in it, but I brush it off. It's probably just nervousness.
"I am probably going to be a Hufflepuff. My brother, Levian, is a Hufflepuff in his 5th year now.
The train ride goes on for a while with pleasant chatter, and I feel like I have already found friends.
The door to our compartment slides open once more, and I can see a little, smiling woman pushing a trolley full of snacks and sweets in front of her.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?"
I can't contain my excitement and quickly make my way to get a chocolate frog.
"You guys want anything? I ask, looking back, but they politely decline.

As I am munching down my chocolate frog, I look out the window. The landscape seems to fly by quickly, and I keep wondering what Hogwarts will look like. What will it be like to go to classes and learn magic?
The hours of the train ride go by quickly, and as the sun is about to settle down, a knock on the compartment door is making us all look up.
Another student, significantly older and taller than us and already dressed in his uniform, pokes his head into our compartment.
On his uniform, he has a blue badge with a superimposed P on the Ravenclaw eagle.
He tells us to start changing into our uniforms as well, since we will be arriving soon.
When we meet back in the compartment, having changed, the air is tense with nervousness and excitement.
I start fidgeting with my fingers, looking out the window again, but since the sun is now almost completely gone, it is difficult to make out any surroundings.
I feel the train slowing down, making slight screeching noises until it comes to a halt.

Fuck. This is it.