Open New in Town

[Noah Mendes]

Noah was exploring a little village not very far from where he lived. Since his parents were busy taking care of his younger brothers he decided to go outside and explore the place he would be calling home for the next years.
He had just moved in after his parents thought it would be better to live there since his sister Aaliyah was at Hogwarts, he would be attending next year and hopefully his brothers would too. He wondered if the village had any more kids whose parents lived there or had the same idea as his.
He read a little plate saying Brightstone Village, he guessed that it was the village's name. When he read that he remembered that Aaliyah had talked about it in her letters saying that during Brightsone Weekend they could visit that specific village. He remembered that in her letter she mentioned a park there, he was not sure where it was located but he was willing to find out.

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson didn’t have to go to muggle school anymore, with the semester having finished at the end of December and everyone moving on to the upper school, Branson didn’t have to. It was easier to pull him out and say he was being homeschooled rather than to have him go, make friends and then get pulled out. But it did mean he was rather bored a lot of the time. He was having to do more by being just in the magical world. His parents weren’t always entirely around to look after him, so sometimes he went to Ty if the man was free, or Lydia who with her own baby wasn’t yet back at work. But he could admit he was always happiest when he could explore alone - though he did love spending time with his aunt and his uncle. Being a healer was cool, and a quidditch player too! The boy just like wandering around. Eventually he spotted a boy, around his age who seemed a little lost. "Hey, you need some help there?"​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah looked around not sure if the person that he heard was talking to him or not. He saw a boy, probably around his age looking at him "Do I look that lost?" he said chuckling. He probably did seem like an outsider in there considering he was looking at plates with names of locations.
"My sister said there's a park nearby? I'm trying to look for it but I have no idea in what direction I should go" he said to the other boy scratching the back of head in embarrassment, this guy would probably think he was joking or something, maybe pranking him "I'm new here, just arrived yesterday" he explained to clarify that his doubts were actually honest as he had never been there.
Noah stood there looking at the other boy, giving him an awkward smile not sure what to say next. Suddenly his face expression changed, he had just remembered he didn't even introduced himself "I'm Noah by the way"

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson gave a little shrug and nodded, ”A bit, yeah,” he didn’t think that was a bad thing, the boy was about his age and perhaps it was his first time to the area, Bran who’d spent a lot of time here knew where things were. He just gave a smile to the boy, especially as it just seemed like he was looking for a park. There weren’t many so in Branson’s head he knew that filtered down which it could be. ”I know where the park is, I can show you it,” he knew he could offer the boy directions but it would be better to just show him, plus, if he was around his age, could be a new friend. Branson had never had much luck with friends in muggle school, but he was having more of it now. Perhaps he’d be able to go to Hogwarts with a few friends. ”Branson, or maybe just Bran, whichever is easier,” he didn’t often get called Bran, but knowing that he’d be soon at a new school and it was a shorter version of his name, he thought it would be good to maybe start saying it. ”Where have you arrived from?” he asked as he began walking in the right direction, expecting Noah to follow him. ​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah chuckled at the other boy's honesty, it was always refreshing and he couldn't help but also laugh at how lost he might be looking. "That would be awesome! Thank you" he said at his offer to show him the park. Knowing someone who was familiar with the zone was quite helpful. Noah nodded his head and looked directly at the other boys blue eyes, he had never met someone that had their eyes in such a strong blue, and gave him a warm smile "Well it's very nice to meet you Bran". Branson looked around his age so he couldn't help but wonder if he would be going to Hogwarts "Are you going to Hogwarts next year?" he asked following him as the other boy lead him to the park.
"Canada" he answered "My parents decided it would be easier to just move in since my sister is at Hogwarts, I'll be going there too and my brothers probably will too" he explained. They were all born with only one year apart from each other and Noah was the second oldest, he couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts, mostly because he was a terrible babysitter for his brothers "What about you? Are you from around here or you just moved in too?" he asked.

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson nodded as Noah agreed to follow him to the park he was looking for. ”You too Noah!” He was pleased to met a boy his own possible age. He’d met a lot of girls, and though this wasn’t really a bad thing, meeting a boy was also pretty cool. ”I am!” he said, in response. ”Are you?” he thought the boy was either his age or maybe fractionally younger. If he was older he’d likely already be at the school. ”Wow, Canada,” before he could ask why, the boy had already responded, giving him a little information on why they were in New Zealand. ”How many siblings do you have?” he asked. He always thought he had a lot of siblings with two sisters, but there were likely others with way more than he had. He nodded at the question, ”Yeah, I’m from around here. My dad works at Hogwarts, so we stay, relatively close by,” they came to town with side along apparition or the floo network but it was still relatively close. ”Lived in New Zealand my whole life,” he felt perhaps that maybe the boy would find him a a little boring for that..but hopefully he wouldn’t. ​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah nodded his head in response "Look at me, just arrived and I am already making friends that I'll see at Hogwarts." he said with a small chuckle. For some reason he was feeling a little embarrassed, like his whole future depender on wether this boy would like him or not, he wasn't usually like this.
"Three" he quickly said "An older sister and two younger brothers". He wondered if he should give out more information but then he thought that if Branson would hang with him at Hogwarts he would eventually end up meeting his siblings "What about you? Any siblings?" he asked trying to get to know the boy.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard that Branson's dad worked at Hogwarts "Really? What does he do?" he asked, maybe he would be the headmaster or something, that would be pretty badass. "Well, most of my family still lives in Canada so i'll invite you when we go there again" he said laughing. It was unlikely that the boy's parents would let him travel with a total stranger but one day who knew?

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson laughed lightly, ”I’m sure you’ll make lots of friends, but I’m happy to be the first,” He did hope they would be friends, he didn’t know much about him, but it would just be nice to have another one. He nodded as the boy explained how many siblings he had before retuning the question, ”I have two sisters, they’re twins,’ he said. He loved his sisters dearly, and knew he would miss them when he was at school without them but he also knew they’d be okay, they had each other. He nodded again as Noah asked about his dad, ”He’s the head librarian.” he it wasn’t the fanciest job at the school, but Bran thought it would be weird to get taught by his dad, and he did love all the books that this position equalled. He also knew it was a job his dad really liked and he wouldn’t want anyone to be unhappy in a position that was higher when they were happy where they were. ”Canada must be pretty nice, how does it compare?”​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah smiled at him, he was right, he would make a lot of friends. He didn't know why but he was always the kind of person that attracted lots of people and a lot of people like to hang with him. In his last school he was almost friends with everyone, upperclassmen and all, hopefully Hogwarts wouldn't be that different.
He sighed "I always felt jealous of twins you know? Must be nice to have that special connection with someone, besides, how cool is to have someone that looks just like you?!" he said with some excitement. One thing he never understood was why twins were always dressed the same, it's like the parents were raising clones and wanted them to be as much alike as humanly possible.
The brown eyed boy couldn't help but let out a little laugh "Tell your dad sorry in advance. I might actually spend my whole seven years without meeting him, don't intend to get lost on the library. At least not on purpose" he told him laughing a bit harder now. Noah never really liked studying or all of those things, he was a student that could easily get passing grades without studying and he was okay with that. Besides, the smell of libraries gave him headaches.
"Well...it's different. I don't think you can compare a cold and snowy country like Canada to a hot and sunny country like New Zealand. To be honest I like New Zealand more because I like the summer more, and here it's like an eternal summer but there are thing that I miss from Canada" he said, his face getting a more nostalgic expression "Hot chocolates on a freezing day, hockey practice with my friends, snowball fights, my family..."

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson nodded in agreement, though he knew his sisters weren’t identical, he certainly felt at times jealous of their connection. He didn’t have that, couldn’t have that in the same way they did. He wouldn’t want to take it away from them, but he couldn’t help but be a little jealous. ”Yeah, my sisters aren’t identical, but they’ve got a bond that I couldn’t ever have,” he said. He gave a little shrug, ”I’m jealous sometimes,” he admitted. He gave a little laugh as Noah said he wouldn’t be found in the library. ”You don’t like reading?” he asked. He’d met people who didn’t like reading. Bran was just the sort of person who loved it. He was scarcely without a book, he was always reading something. He was sure that having his father be a librarian had nothing to do with it and that he’d have always liked books, but it certainly helped their be an endless supply. He listened to him compare them. ”Do you play or did you play ice hockey?” he asked. Branson had only ever really seen field hockey games, never ice hockey, that had to be so cool. ”Are you interested in Quidditch then?” perhaps it was sports in general that might interest Noah. But he couldn’t help but hear in the boy’s tone some nostalgia about being so far from where he was from. Branson couldn’t imagine going so far from home, like moving and going to a new school so far from it. ​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah looked at the other boy, it took some guts to admit that he was jealous of his sisters bond so he felt the need to say something since it looked like Bran was opening up "And that's okay." he said trying to comfort him. It was not like Noah knew his sisters to tell them anything and even if he knew he probably wouldn't tell them anything. Bran was his first friend and he wasn't about to break his trust like that.
Noah chuckled "Not really. Never really found it particularly pleasant or anything. I like things that are more dynamic" he said. Sports were dynamic enough for him, a way to release energy and stress and that worked for him, he could never release stress by reading a book.
"Yeah I used to play, like every other canadian guy" he joked well aware of the stereotype that every canadian person at some point of their lives played ice hockey. "Well I don't know what Quidditch is, my mom kept the whole magic world thing under wraps so...." he said "But if that's a sport or some kind of food I can tell you that I am" he added with a smile from ear to ear.

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson nodded, he knew it was okay, it didn’t really make him feel any better about the jealousy but it also didn’t affect his life too much that his thoughts lingered on it. He thought it was interesting that Noah didn’t like reading, he thought it was fair, but it was still odd. Perhaps it was just because he was always surrounded by books, that he enjoyed them and couldn’t figure out why someone wouldn’t like them. He gave a little smile, but was a little surprised when he said that he hadn’t known anything about magic, that was an odd choice. ”Is she muggle…?” he asked with a little nervousness. He didn’t want to assume or anything or want the boy to think that he thought less of him because of it. ”it’s a sport, it’s played on brooms. I can tell you more about it?” he said with a little shrug, he knew a lot about it, he could tell the boy about it, but really only if he was interested in hearing about it. ​

 

[Noah Mendes]

"Nah..." Noah said with a small pause "She just tried to live a muggle life. She only told us about her being a witch because my sister got a letter from Hogwarts and it was impossible to hide any longer" he added "I wonder why she decided to try and be a muggle. My theory was that something really traumatic happened and she just wanted to forget it, maybe her best friend got eaten by a dragon, or killed by a dark creature" he said, he would love that a mystery like that would be the cause why his mom wanted to forget about Hogwarts, it would be interesting to attend Hogwarts while trying to figure out a mystery like that but Noah assumed that those were just dreams and that there was nothing out of the ordinary that made her stop doing magic, maybe she just disliked it.
Noah wasn't sure if Bran wanted to talk about Quidditch or not so he tried to give him a well thought answer "Well, I'd love to know more. And since you are my tour guide you probably are the person I should ask questions to but if you don't feel like talking about it you don't really have to" he said giving him a smile, the last thing he wanted was for his first friend to feel uncomfortable.

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson listened as Noah explained what had happened. ”Have you ever...asked?” he had to assume that perhaps he hadn’t given that he had no idea. But he couldn’t help but identify a little with it as he had in recent years noted some elements of his parent’s lives or teen lives that seemed just a little off. Or perhaps it was the stuff with the wider family, but he had never asked, he didn’t want to ask. He didn’t really want to know in case it was something bad. But he couldn’t deny he was curious about it. He kept moving forward as he lead the other boy towards the park. ”I think it’s funny that our parents have these whole lives before us, and we don’t always get to find out what they are,” he was sure some parents were more open than others but he just thought it was a little funny that he would soon go to a school where his parents had had so much of their lives. ”Quidditch is played on brooms, there are seven players, there are four different balls in play. The important position is seeker, they catch a little ball which ends the game and wins them 150 points,” he shrugged, somewhat indifferent to talking, he knew more, could help out and could allow him to learn about this world he knew so little. ”Do you know about the school houses yet? “​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah looked at the other boy "That would make my theories disappear. It's way more fun to imagine what possibly could have happened" he said, pausing a little before adding "Besides I don't really think that my mom wants to talk about it".
The boy nodded at Branson, it was indeed weird to think about their parents as kids. It was a bit weird to imagine your dad, who you connect to safety and protection, crying as a baby and then the tough guy image would go down the drain. He listened as Branson talked about Quidditch, it was seemed extremely confusing since it had four balls, football was hard enough and it only had one ball.
Noah nodded at his question "Yeah I do. Hufflepuffs the nice ones, Gryffindors the brave ones, Ravenclaws the smart ones and Slytherin the mean ones" he said quickly remembering what his mom had told him "I think that those are all the houses right?" he asked, just in case, following Branson.

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson was getting a better read on this boy, it was obvious that while perhaps not necessarily curious for truth he seemed creative. But he could agree that most parents probably didn’t want to talk about it. He knew his father didn’t exactly want to talk about it. He got that from how little had been said before on the subject. He thought that eventually he could ask about it and be told a little about it, but he’d have to just deal with knowing next to nothing currently. The boy just laughed lightly, ”It’s a bit simplistic but yeah,” he replied. He didn’t think that all slytherins were mean especially. He was sure there were good ones, his dad had been one. ”I think Slytherins are more cunning, which makes them seem meaner,” he replied, he didn’t think he’d be a good slytherin but he also didn’t think that he would make a bad slytherin if he ended up there. It just in his mind wasn’t really the house for him. ”Do you know where you want to end up or will it be a bit of a toss up?” ​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah heard as Branson talked, clearly he knew a lot about Hogwarts, must be one of the perks of growing in a family whose dad works at Hogwarts and doesn't keep the whole 'i am a witch' thing under wraps.
The boy shrugged, he didn't exactly knew how the whole selection went the only thing he knew was that it was up to some hat to tell him. "I honestly don't know" he said "I know I probably won't end up in Ravenclaw, not near as bookish as any of them probably is. Slytherin doesn't seem the fit for me either as I wouldn't consider myself a cunning person" he said making sure to use the word cunning to let Branson know that he was paying attention to him. "Maybe Hufflepuff or Gryffindor? I have no idea" he said with an expression of almost exhaustion from thinking about it "What about you?" he asked him.
From all that he was learning from Branson he didn't seem to fit neither in Slytherin or Gryffindor but he could be mistaken. "I think you'd give a nice Ravenclaw you know? You know a bunch of stuff and you strike me as a really smart person" he added with a smile hoping that Branson would see that as a compliment.

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson had to imagine that someone who didn’t know much about the houses didn’t really know where they might end up in the houses. There was less to know and less to base it upon. But he just nodded, he could agree from even this little interaction and Noah wasn’t much of a bookworm and so unless he had a lot of the other traits of a ravenclaw he was unlikely to end up in it. He could see him fitting in Gryffindor and in Hufflepuff, time would show if it was either but it just seemed like it could be a good fit for him. ”I’m not sure, I think I’d manage in any of them, my family’s a mixed bag of houses so I think I’d figure it out,” he wasn’t sure he had a preference when it came to them. Being any of the houses would suit him well enough probably, he wouldn’t have to worry too much about letting anyone down, but he also wasn’t sure which he’d be. ”I think just given how much I like reading I’ll be a ravenclaw, but books don’t always equal being ravenclaw,” he agreed with him that Ravenclaw would be a good fit but he didn’t want to box himself into that either. ”I mostly just read though, I don’t know if I’m actually smart…” he trailed off a little before shrugging. ​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah listened to Bran as he talked, he wondered if his grandparents were also able to cast spells and all of that it seemed like magic was a family thing, he took a mental note to ask his mom if his grandparents were wizards too and what houses they were into but even with the few information he had he commented about his family houses, "Well, my mom was a Hufflepuff and my sister is a Ravenclaw so I think I can also be whatever" he said with a shrug, it was good to live in a family that wasn't putting pressure for him to fall under a certain house.
At the other boys comment he couldn't help but nod "Yeah I know, my sister likes books but I'm pretty sure she spends 80% of her time in video games and the 20% annoying me and she is a Ravenclaw..." he said, he couldn't help but wonder what made Aaliyah a Ravenclaw. He gave the other boy a playful bump with his elbow "Hey don't say that about you. You are smart" he told Branson with a laugh "You think I'm the most handsome guy in the world? Well me neither but I tell myself that I am everyday at the mirror" he added "A little self confidence never hurt anyone" he finished saying with a playful smile on his lips

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson smiled a little, ”My mum was also a hufflepuff, my dad was a slytherin,” he said with a small smile, he liked his his family from being from a scattered amount of houses. It meant that there was no pressure to be in any of the houses. But he wanted to a degree to be ravenclaw since he did truly believe that house above all others would suit him best but he knew that it might not be there, it might e a bit of a toss up. He smiled at Noah as he began assuring him about his own feelings with a house. Noah was nice, he was quite friendly in a manner that Bran hadn’t often experienced before he’d spent more time in the magical world. The boy gave a tight smile at the end. ”I think i’d be fine in any house, so it’s like putting all my eggs in one basket and hoping for that and then like that doesn’t happen. But a little self confidence might help,” he said. ”I still want friends in every house though, and not just other ravenclaws, so we’ll be friends no matter what right?”​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Now it made sense. With Branson's dad as a Slytherin of course that the boy wouldn't say anything bad about his dad's house and used the word cunning but at same time Noah knew that Branson was probably still right. His dad couldn't be that bad since Branson was a really cool guy and if his dad was mean a part of that would also be in Branson and Noah didn't detect any badness in the other boy.
Noah couldn't help but look stupidly at the other boy "Of course we will be friends dude!" he said to the other boy "I'm not about to ditch you and pretend you don't exist" he added hoping that somehow he was making Branson more sure of that. "Besides, you are a really good tour guide" he said pointing at some nearby trees, a signal that they were arriving at the park "You help me not getting lost and I help building up your self confidence" he teased him with a laugh.
He was hoping that his last comment wasn't coming too forward, he didn't want Bran to think that he just wanted to be friends with him because he could get something from the other boy. He wanted to be friends because Branson was really chill and easy to talk to and they both actually ended up balancing each other. Branson with his books and information on everything and Noah with his extremely outgoing personality and confidence.

 

[Branson Archer]

Branson gave a little smile, he was pleased that Noah would still want to be his friend, he had a few friends dotted about the place but he was concerns about the friendships when they all got sorted, he didn’t want to end up having to remake a whole bunch of friends so knowing that he had at least one. ”True, I guess,” Branson replied, he didn’t think it would need to be such an exchange but Branson was willing to accept it. He was happy to have another friend, a friend who was his age and though seemed a little different from him, he didn’t think that was the worse thing when making friends, it would be good to have a number of friends from a number of different areas. It would make things more balanced. ”Speaking of which the park is just up ahead, you might be able to make it out now,” he said pointing directly in front of himself. To where in the distance the park was. ”I can walk you over to it, and then I’ll need to head probably. Do you wanna try to meet on the train?” he asked, they didn’t have to set anything in stone, but having a friend on the train could be quite cool. He wasn’t sure if Lily would be about. Though he did really hope that she was. GOing to hogwarts was going to be so exciting. He could barely believe it was already almost here. ​

 

[Noah Mendes]

Noah hated that Branson was right, the park was indeed a few steps away and his time with the boy was coming to an end. "Yeah sure, save me a seat beside you" he said to him. That was one of the few things he knew, you need to take a train to reach Hogwarts.
Noah kept walking with Branuntil they reached the park. Aaliyah was right, the park was indeed something, it was different than the muggle parks he was used to or at least it seemed different just because he knew that it was a wizard park, part of him thought that the transition from the muggle to the wizard world would be like learning everything from scratch but not all things were like that.
"Well, thanks." he said coming to a stop "It was really nice to meet you Bran." he added holding up his fist for a fist bump "We'll see each other in the train buddy" he said giving his farewells to the other boy.