Sliding the door of the carriage open, Alexis quickly slipped in as she saw a herd of students ahead of her starting to close in. Inside the seemingly empty carriage was a boy, dressed in robes similar to hers with his back turned to her as he fussed with his platinum blond hair using the window's reflection. He briefly glanced as she appeared in the reflection before he finished positioning his bangs in place and sat back in his seat. There was a moment of silence as he eyed her from head to toe. "May I.. sit here, please?" She asked meekly as she took a quick look over him now that he was facing her properly. His face was slim and his skin was on the paler side. His nose was long and thin, but not too pointy. A playful grin rested on his lips which defined his laugh lines more. She could see now that his robes were slightly different to hers. It was black overall, but the lining of the inner cloak was a burgundy red. Loosely wrapped around his neck was a red and gold tie, and the upper left of the cloak was decorated with a crest of a lion on a shield of the same two colours; whereas her own cloak currently had no house crest and her tie was plain and black with the Hogwarts coat of arms. 

"Why this compartment?" He spoke with a voice deeper than Alexis had expected. Despite how deep the colour of his eyes were, the slight tilt of his head and the upward quirk of his eyebrow suggested that he was merely amused. 

"Well.." She had a quick mental debate, wondering if she should conjure up some excuse or tell him the truth. "I thought this compartment was empty, but I guess not." Another short pause made it's way between the pair of them. "I can go if you have friends on the way." she added.

"If you want to risk being jinxed by some of the sixth year Slytherins then go ahead. " 

Slytherins. She had read that some of those who belong to the house of snakes are known for causing trouble. "I would rather not." Alexis took a seat opposite the boy. "Thank you."

 "No problem, anything to stop those stupid snakes having their fun." He grinned to himself proudly. "The name's Himchan by the way. I was in your shoes just last year."

"Alexis Taylor," she replied with a small smile hoping to cover the fact that she was in fact extremely nervous under her exterior. "How was your first year? Any tips? Any teachers that I should be wary of?" 

This caused Himchan to laugh as he looked out the window, away from her. The faint sound of a whistle could be heard and the train had jolted slightly as it started to move. "First year goes by fast. Make the most of it." He had turned his eyes back to Alexis and leaned forwards a little with his hands clasped together between his knees. "If there's one professor you don't want to piss off, it's Snape. He's teaches potions. Which you're bound to screw up in some time in your first year. Just make sure not to burn anything to the cauldrons or he will have your head."

Alexis blinked, nodding her head as the second year Gryffindor started to ramble on. "Potions sounds.. Hard."  She mentally gulped. What had she gotten herself into? She had only found out she was a witch when her Hogwarts letter came. How far behind is she going to be compared to the other students? "Say... How good at magic are you supposed to be when starting at Hogwarts?"

"You have to be pretty darn good if you managed to get your letter. Either that or they see your potential at becoming good. Why?" He said as a puzzled look formed on the boy's face.

"Well, I'm not exactly that experienced. Actually, I only got my wand a month ago." She admitted, feeling embarrassed about how much she was telling someone she had only met moments ago. 

"...You're muggle-born?" His eyes widen a notch, just enough for her to notice. She had hoped to keep this fact from her fellow students for as long as possible as she didn't want everyone looking down on her before she had a chance to prove herself. 

Her lips curled into a slight frown, "I still managed to teach myself some magic over the summer." Himchan couldn't help but chuckle at how defensive the girl was. "Just watch.." Alexis pulled out her wand^_[1]  with a small huff and cleared . Only to be interrupted with the sound of the compartment door sliding open.

He was usually punctual. But this was out of his hands. The doors slammed shut behind him as he ran onto the train, narrowing his eyes at his twin brother who had his hands on his knees a few steps in front of him. "Thank Merlin. We actually made it." The elder twin spoke with a grin as he caught his breath.
 
"Next time pack the night before like mum tells you to, you fool." The younger boy said over his shoulder before proceeding to head down the train in search for a seat.

Most of the compartments, if not all of them, were filled now that the Hogwarts express had left Kings Cross Station. This wasn't a problem though as he was looking for a particular compartment, more specifically a certain person inside. After peering through about a dozen windows, he spotted his target speaking with an unfamiliar girl. Grabbing the handle of the door, he easily slid it aside and headed in.

The duo inside simultaneously turned their attention towards him. "Bang! You're here." Himchan said with a hint of surprise.
 

A tall boy, dressed in identical robes as Himchan walked in. His black hair was parted on the left, an inch or so from his ear, and his bangs swooped to the right covering the majority of his forehead.  

"Did you think I'd quit Hogwarts?" He said in a deep, monotoned voice as he sat next to the blond.

Not many would think of it as a joke, given the neutral expression on his face that came with it, but Himchan laughed and smacked him on the upper arm. "Good one there. And why exactly were you late?" 

"Yongnam." He muttered and nodded his head towards the girl clutching a wand in her hands, who was almost forgotten, "Did I interrupt something?"

"Oh yeah. Show us what you got then, first year." The blond turned his attention back to Alexis. She felt slightly panicked now that there was an additional pair of eyes watching. It didn't help that the newest member radiated a wave of respectability either. 

Deciding that it was now or never, she lifted her wand up and chanted softly "Lumos." The tip of her wand started to glow brightly but diminished after a couple of seconds. Alexis attempted the spell a second time, speaking the incantation with a firmer voice. "Lumos!" A sigh escaped her lips as it lasted not much longer than her first spell.  

Knowing that his friend's words might discourage the girl, Yongguk choose to speak first "At least you managed to light up your wand. My brother broke his wand trying his first spell." Mainly because he attempted to perform a spell that was higher than his abilities allowed, he thought to himself.  "What type wand core is that?"

"Umm.. It's a Phoenix feather I believe." 

"Even more of a reason you may be struggling. I would not worry too much about your abilities yet." He gave the younger girl a smile. His smile suited him, and perhaps he wasn't as unnerving as she had first expected. 

For the rest of the journey to Hogwarts, Alexis found more and more questions emerging about the school she was about to attend and the wizarding world in general. Luckily, Himchan was more than happy to converse with her and fill in the gaps of her knowledge to the best of his ability. Yongguk, on the other hand, merely sat back and observed the two. 

[1] Alexis' wand is an 11" Aspen, phoenix feather core. Click here and here to read up on wand woods and cores.