First Year, Boat ride, Open Closed

The train gently pulled to a halt as Charlotte stood up, smiling to her compartment buddy, a sort of goodbye. She stepped off, not really knowing which way to go but followed the crowd towards the very edge of the lake, where numerous boats waited on the motionless, dark lake. In the distance she could distinguish the castle despite the heavy fog surrounding it. It looked almost fairytale-like, and Charlotte couldn't help but feel exited to actually walk through it's doors.

As they arrived in front of the boats, Charlotte saw all the students stepping onto them, without actually caring who they were partnered with. She looked around, standing on her toes, and luckily spotted a boat on the far left, seemingly empty. Thrilled, she walk rapidly towards it, biting her lip.

Yes, weirdly enough, it was empty... She hurried onto it cautiously as the boat swayed slightly sideways. She held on tight, trying as hard as she could to regain her balance. Once she was sat down, her hands hover an instant, ready to hang on the boat at the slightest movement. She sighed, slowly putting her hands on her knees, waiting for the moment they could actually cross the lake.

'Excuse me may I join your boat?' asked a quiet voice, behind her.

Charlotte turned around, surprised to see someone actually asked her, since all the students beside her seemed to just climb in the boats, wether or not you agreed. The girl seemed pretty lost amidst this crowd of students and Charlotte's face was immediately illuminated by a shy, but friendly smile.

'Oh. Ye- Yes, of course! Climb in, I think we're about to leave soon...' she said as she gestured towards the girl.

Tatiana woke in a daze as the train began to slow, pulling into the station. Her ride had been quiet, uneventful. After boarding, she had managed to find a compartment toward the back of the train, just one girl sitting alone with her nose already in a book. Tatiana had opened the door, greeted and introduced herself, all the while the girl never looking up from the page, either uninterested or too distracted to care or reply. No matter, she thought. Now I won't feel bad for keeping my headphones in. She shrugged, placed her bag beneath the bench, and took a seat opposite the girl. She leaned out the window, admiring the open landscape as the train pulled away from the platform, and that was the last thing she remembered before dozing off.

She gathered her things and joined the line of students exiting the corridor. Some had managed to make friends and were already giddy and chatting by the time they arrived at the school. But Tatiana wasn't big on small talk, in fact, she was rather relieved to have gotten a little peace before the night's ceremonies. But now we were here, Hogwarts, the new home where she would be spending the next seven years. You'll need to make friends eventually, jeered the voice in her head. Go on, just talk to someone! Anyone!

But all the students in her immediate vicinity were already preoccupied with their own discussions, continuing from their time on the train, or eager and rushing off in a new direction. Her socializing could wait, she was about to be herded into the crowd and sorted off into one of the four houses soon anyway. By the time we're at the castle, i'll find someone I can muster up the courage to talk to, she promised herself.

The crowd was thinning and she decided she better follow along before she got left behind, or lost, too busy being caught up in her own head. It wasn't far, they turned a corner past a wooded area and arrived at a large, glassy lake. Hogwarts was a spectacle at night. The castle sat high above them on a cliff at the opposite side of the lake. The night was dark, but the windows were glowing with warm light. Looking around, she noticed students separating into groups of two or three and proceeding to cross the lake in small boats. She walked along the shore for a moment looking for an vacancy. I guess there's no way I'm lucky enough to find one of these empty, she joked to herself. But after a moment, she noticed a boat with just a single girl in it, another shyly asking to join as she approached. She quickly paused, took a breath, tossed her bag over her shoulder and ambled across the rocky shore to the other girls.

"Wait!" she called after them. "Is there room for one more?"

Just as she thought they were about to leave another girl, seemingly her age, ran up to them.
'Wait!' she called after them. 'Is there room for one more?'

She was quite tall for her age, much taller than Charlotte, and her unruly brown hair framed her face. Charlotte's eyes darted between the boat and the girl, wondering if the girl was going to be able to make it in time. She had to, there was no other way of getting to the castle rapidly and without any trouble.

Charlotte looked at her boat and at the boats surrounding her. All of them were leaving and she felt her boat shifting as well, heading towards the castle. If the girl didn't jump in right now, it was going to get hard for her to get on the boat, but Charlotte wasn't intending on leaving her behind.

'Yes, of course but hurry !' she said, holding out her hand. The boat was getting further and further away from the girl and Charlotte hurried to the end to try and help the girl up.

As the girl looked back at her, Tatiana noticed her eyes darting between their boat and the others. They had all started to move away from the shore and onto the lake. It was now or never, and if she didn't manage to get in now she had no idea how she'd get to the castle otherwise. She couldn't miss the boat now, she had traveled all this way. And besides, how would it look if she were the only student to show up late? The brown haired girl shouted at her to hurry and extended her hand back towards her. I have to make it, she thought to herself. Go!

In a quick and clumsy movement, Tatiana took a few long strides across the rocks. At the last second, she leaped toward them, rather haphazardly, and grabbed the extended hand. And while her first foot came down with a splash into the water, she managed to get her second in the boat.

"Woah," she said, the boat wobbling for a moment as she pulled her last leg in, gripping either side to steady herself. The boat rocked uneasily back and forth or a moment before settling down and moving steadily across the glassy lake. "Thank you," she smiled sheepishly, a little embarrassed. "I'm Tatiana." She extended her hand out to meet the girls who had just helped her. She was grateful that they'd waited for her and would have to return the favor some day.

Charlotte grabbed the girl, pulling her onto the boat just in time. She sighed in relief as the girl sat down in the dangerously shifting boat. A few seconds passed and the boat went still once more, gliding on the glass-like surface of the lake.

'Thank you. I'm Tatiana' said the girl, seeming a little embarrassed.
Charlotte smiled at her with a warm and friendly smile. She didn't want the girl to feel bad, it wasn't her fault.

'I'm Charlotte Cadunt' she said sweetly, holding out her hand.

She watched as the castle got closer and closer. Charlotte bent over slightly to look at the depths of the lake but instantly regretted doing so. A mermaid swam passed them, holding what looked like a sceptre, a mean and evil look on her face. Charlotte had never seen something as scary and ugly as this in her whole life and turned back towards the girls, a shocked expression on her face. Suddenly, she didn't feel as safe on this small wooden boat anymore and waited impatiently for the moment they would get to the end of the Lake.

The sky got darker by the second and soon all they could see was the small lit up windows in the distance.
Charlotte felt her stomach hurt as she was both frightened and excited to finally get into the castle. What was it like? What house would she be sorted in?

'What house do you think you're gonna get sorted in?'she asked gently to the girls in front of her.

Tatiana let out a sigh of relief. Whew. She was grateful that the boat had quickly settled itself and was finally moving steadily across the lake. She wasn't afraid of the water, but she never would have survived the embarrassment she would have felt if her last second efforts had sent these two girls tumbling into the water. When she looked up, the brown haired girl was smiling warmly back at her. Returning her original introduction, she extended her hand toward her once more. "I'm Charlotte Cadunt."

Tatiana returned the gesture, Charlotte's demeanor putting her at ease. The boat was silent a few moments, each girl seemingly taking in their surroundings. Tatiana was facing forward to the front of the boat, opposite Charlotte, and had vaguely noticed her look over the side. But when she sat back up rather quickly, she had a stunned expression on her face- it was a stark contrast the bright smile from seconds ago. What did she see? she thought to herself. She hadn't really thought about it before, but why wouldn't a lake at a magical school be filled with all kinds of interesting and maybe even dangerous creatures? Probably better not to find out for herself. At least, not at this very moment, already nervous and full of anticipation for the night's soon to unfold events. And besides, Charlotte had quickly composed herself and before Tatiana could think about it again, the girl asked, "What house do you think you're gonna get sorted in?"

Hmmm. She didn't really know, now that she mentioned it. Her mother had gone to school for her magic, but not to Hogwarts. What was that place called again? she thought. Something French, I think. Regardless, she hadn't really spoken to her about houses. And Tatiana's father was a muggle, so he certainly didn't know. But from what she read in the weeks after getting her letter, she would probably be happy in any house. "I'm not sure, but I think every house has it's own redeeming qualities." Bravery, loyalty, cunning, intelligence. "But if I could choose, I guess I would say Ravenclaw? Maybe... Gryffindor?"

Reducio

OOC note:
I'm so sorry for the late response !

Charlotte listened as the girl answered the most frequent question everyone must be asked. It was a simple question, but not much of a simple answer, to be quite honest. The girl did not seem very preoccupied, nor worried about the sorting that would occur in a few minutes time. Charlotte agreed when she stated all houses had their own qualities, although not all of them would fit everyone and now that she thought about it more, she wasn't so sure of the house she would be sorted into.

'Gryffindor seems like a nice house, but I have to say Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are surely the houses I wish to be sorted into the most.' Yes, that was actually quite right. She did not really take the time to think of what she was going to say but, as odd as it may seem, she agreed with her non-thought out statement.

The other girl that sat alongside both of them had been extraordinarily quite this whole time, and Charlotte wondered if she perhaps, felt most anxious about everything that was going right now. After all, they were on boats that seemed to move by themselves, reaching an enchanted castle in which they would spend the next seven years in. It was, indeed, very overwhelming.

'My dad was sorted into Ravenclaw, and my mom went to Beauxbatons, in the south of France for her School years! I actually hesitated quite a bit before choosing Hogwarts…' she said, a gentle smile spreading across her face. 'How about your parents?'