Well... here goes nothing (open)

Alessa groaned. "What did the Ministry do this time? Or is it the Muggles again? Or..." she furrowed her brows, trying to remember anything she read from summer. Nope, nothing. "Whatever - everything in the paper's rubbish nowadays. But at least it's somehow a break for us."

She turned to the boy named Arsen. "Yeah, I am. It's my 2nd year. I haven't seen you around before." She examined Arsen for a couple of seconds and she'd bet anything that he'd be sorted into Slytherin.

Karma smiled. Of course Alessa didn't remember. "It's both, this time, but mostly Muggles." She eyed the distance between them on the seat. "Um, Lessa? You don't think I'm really gonna rip off your arm, do you? At least, not with you expecting it." She smiled a semi evil grin. "Relax."

Alessa raised a brow then narrowed her eyes. Well, you could always do the spells Karma taught you last Christmas Break, she thought. And with that, she threw the distance away with a smug. "The world is such a complicated place to live in, really."

Karma gave Arsen a knowing look and pointed her wand at Alessa. "Practice, then, just in case some rogue Muggles come up?" She smiled. "You know how quick you've got to be when they've guns and what ever other barbaric things they think of next. Let's get to it, shall we?"

He nodded. Just as he thought. "Do all the houses stick to their own?" He asked it was a lot different at Durmstrang. At Durmstrang everyone stuck together or went at it alone. The houses meant nothing there, they were just somewhere to sleep.

"I'm a transfer, this will be my first year at Hogwarts." He explained shoving his hands into his pockets. "The worlds only as complicated as you make it." He shrugged saying his uncles words. He'd said them many times around Arsen, so many that now Arsen found himself believing them.

"Don't forget that apparating or traveling by portkey is a useless escape around them now. They have anti apparations and portkey wards. They are a lot smarter than they look." He said thinking back to that day when he and his uncle became cornered.

Karma glanced at Arsen. "Are you any good with a wand, Arsen?" She looked back at Alessa and pulled back her wand hand, twirling the wand between her fingers.

He sniggered. "Good with a wand? What do you think i've been learning these past few years? Of course i am." He said but he was just as good without one.

"Why?" He asked wondering whether she was just curious or whether there was something to her question.

Karma smiled. "Wanna duel?" She knew the rules of Hogwarts semi-well, rules which stated no dueling in the corridors. Well, they weren't in a corridor, were they?

He laughed. "You asking me for a duel? We duel for fun in Durmstrang. It's our quidditch, we were taught to fight." He smiled pulling out his wand.

"But if you are sure? I could wipe you both out with one spell. The dart arts are my speciality." He smiled, only a few wizards could use this spell without losing control, he being one of them thanks to his blood line. But the spell would kill them both so right now it wasn't an option.

"Maybe we should wait for a bigger arena. Being in a space this small limits the things you can do." He said his hand going to the amulet around his neck to make sure it was still there.

Karma shrugged. "I guess we could duel in the common room..." she sighed, eyeing the space and ignoring the rest of Arsen's tirade. She hid her face in her hands and groaned. "Crap, I'm suppose to stop fighting every person I meet." She pulled back her fist and slammed it into the window. It cracked drastically. "Shit. Repario." The window became perfect again. "Uh..." she glanced at Arsen then down to the floor, falling silent.

Georgie knocked on the door really embarressed, she didn't especially want to go back in but she had left her ring, that was a family heirloom, but it didn't fit properly. "Um hi, have you seen a ring with a lion on it and it is all encrusted with rubies?" I asked them. "I think I dropped it when I was sat in here" I explained.

Karma looked up at the Gryffindor, sighed, and reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring. "Here." She tossed it in the girl's general direction. "Trust next time that you don't notice when someone takes something, they won't give it back."

Georgie raised her eyebrows. She wanted to throw a jinx or two at the girl, who obviously didn't understand how much the ring meant to her. "Typical Slytherin!" Georgie said loudly slamming the compartment door shut. She hardly ever got angry like that, but some of the people in Slytherin were so rude.

"I gave it back." Karma muttered. "I could have kept the bloody thing."

Once Karma pointed her wand at Alessa, she stepped back and took her wand with great precision. "Don't you bloody dare! Not here, not yet. Common room." She said the last two words as if it was an order, but she knew inside that it was pleading.

She faced Arsen. "I see. Well, yes, we do. Take the rivalry of Gryffindor and Slytherin for example," nodding her head towards Karma and the ring inside her pocket. "We just have to stick together - I don't really get it, but I reckon we just have to." She faced Karma. "And don't think I didn't see that. The Gryffindor will be back any minute now."

And she was right. The Gryffindor entered, asking for the ring and Karma eventually gave it back. They exchanged a few words and Alessa snickered towards the two.

She sat down, keeping her wand inside her sweatshirt's sleeve and looked out the window. She gasped. "Hey! Look! I think we're close to Hogsmeade now! Look!" she said giddily, pointing out the window. "Dueling, here we come!"

Not cool. Alessa and her bloody intuition. Karma glanced out the window at Hogmeade and shrrugged. It was nothing she hadn't seen before. She started to gather her things around her before pulling her knapsack onto her back. She didn't have a trunk. She didn't really trust the Hogwarts House Elves with anything but food.

"It's about bloody time we got here." Karma grumbled. "I'm so hungry, I could eat you, Alessa." She glared challengingly at her friend before breaking into a wide smile. "Don't worry, I know you wouldn't taste that good..." she glanced at Arsen. Now, wouldn't he make a nice meal? The thought made her smile wider as she sat back down.

He nodded. "Gyffindor and Slytherin? Got it." He said adding it to the rest of the things he had to learn and that list seemed to grow. Russia was a much simpler country.

He raised an eyebrow. "So Slytherins are known as thieves too?" He asked taking note of the typical Slytherin from the Gryffindor girl. There was still a lot for him to get to know. He glanced out the window taking note of the scenery. So this was the famous Hogsmeade he'd heard so much about. "Shouldn't we be getting into our robes?" He asked reaching into his trunk to find his school uniform. Once he found them he took off his leather jacket and shirt then slide his robes over his head.

"Would you like me to leave whilst you get changed?" He smirked.

Karma shrugged before just slipping a robe over what she'd already been wearing. "Unnessisary to get completely changed when all we're gonna do is eat and watch first years get sorted. It's easier to just not get fully dressed til the beginning of term." Karma yawned and stretched.

"As for being theives, Slytherin is known for being the worst house, the one for the bad and evil." Karma rolled her eyes. "It's not always like that but mostly, yeah, we're pretty bad."

Alessa smirked at Karma's remark. "Yes, I'm pretty sure you could get poisoned if ever you'd eat me," she said as she collected her trunk and satchel. She faced Arsen, who already was dressed in his school robes. She took hers and wore it over her clothes unevenly as a response to his suggestion. "And besides," she said, "I'm too excited. So you don't have to leave - let's all get a ride together."

Karma rolled her eyes at Alessa's comment. "Oh please, if I could be poisoned, I'd be dead already, Lyss, you know that." She went through her bag and pulled out a chocolate frog and began unwrapping it. "It'll take more than a human to take me down." She held the wiggling chocolate creature while she talked and took a huge semi-vicious bite of it's head. The creature stopped moving, and Karma continued to eat it, glancing at the chocolate frog card. "Huh. Harry Potter." She stowed the card into her pocket and stood. "Let's head for the carriages. You wanna come along, Arsen?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't be too sure of yourself. I know a lot of people that could easily take you down. Human beings are fragile little creatures. It's like they are just waiting to be broken and torn to pieces." He said zipping up his leather jacket. Not because he was cold because that was impossible for him, it was just a habit he had to make him fit in with everyone else.

He nodded. "Sure it's not like i know anyone else is it?"

Karma headed for the door to the compartment as the train slid to a stop. She looked both ways down the corridor before glancing back over her shoulder at Arsen. "I never said anything about being a hundred percent human." She shrugged and started down the hallway. "I'll find us a carriage!"

He laughed. "Well if you're not one hundred percent human what else are you? You part snake?" He asked, he'd love to see that it would be very useless if she was. He was a good cross, at least his powers were useful no matter how annoying they were.

After a few seconds he followed her out of the carriage waiting for her reply.

She found an empty carriage, sat in it, and waited for Arsen and Alessa.

"And why would I tell you?" Karma asked with a scoff. "Part snake. How would that help me, exactly?"

He smiled now that was the kind of thing he was looking for, someone that didn't just give in all the time because it was nice too. "Well if you've noticed i'm not exactly all human either. I'll trade you answers." He said entering the carriage and sitting down.

"You tell me what you are and ill let you know what i am." He smiled. "Do we have a deal?"