Raven was completely surrounded by families of all sizes as she rushed through King's Cross Station with her books, cauldron, wand, snake and much more all in her trolley, she looked around and felt a sting of jealousy that she would never let show. She had been delighted when she had gotten her letter, it had been a stormy night in the orphanage in the outskirts of London, England when the letter had come down the chimney in a flurry of soot, covering her in dirty and cinders as it went. She had been cleaning the chimney when it had knocked her over and flew onto the filthy dinner table where the other orphans were eating their scraps of food, she had been left with none which often happened, she didn't dare use her magic around the others or at all for that matter. Raven had only just managed to get at it before the others, she had seen who it was for which had been her and she quickly ran up to the attic and closed the door to read it without interruptions.

She had wiped her hands on her rags and opened the letter with shaky hands, that night she had packed a small bag with only clean clothes and rations of food and ran away from that horrible place with her letter in one hand and her bag in the other. She had managed to find a magical family of witches and wizards who led her, unknowingly, to Diagon Alley and Gringott's Bank, at the bank she had given the goblin the key that she had kept around her neck since she was first found, it was the only possession Raven had from her parents. The Goblin had taken the key and showed her her vault which she stood at shocked for a moment or two, it was full of wizard money, Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. She had bought everything on the list that had came with her letter and was about to leave when she noticed that she was being followed by a white snake, she stopped and it stopped, she started walking again, it followed her.

They went like this for a while before Raven got annoyed and asked the snake,[color=00aeef]" Why are you following me?"[/color] and it told her what it's name was, that it was a python and that it could tell that she could speak Parseltongue. After being told all of this she just stood there in shock, when she had asked the question she hadn't thought that it would answer back, she had asked in frustration with the creature. After the python had finished all of it's explanations and she had asked all of the questions she could think of she decided to call the snake Albino thanks to it being white.

Raven ran through the station trying to find the correct platform, she was looking for platform 9 3/4 but she already gone past 10 and she hadn't had any luck finding it, she went back to the space in between platforms 9 and 10 but couldn't see a thing. She was just about to give up when she heard a family mention muggles and knew that they must be magical and by the amount of kids, would know where platform 9 3/4 was, she followed them to a wall in between the two platforms. When they got there the kids started going through the wall, she didn't know how but they were. After they had all gone through she decided that she would try it, even if it did seem like a ludicrous idea, she put some distance between her with her trolley and the wall and ran. In a matter of seconds she was through the wall and onto a different platform than the one she had just came off of, she turned the corner and saw the sign saying that it was platform 9 3/4.

Raven saw the magnificent train with the writing [i]Hogwarts Express[/i] on the front.
[hider=Hogwarts Express][img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KM9VMuatPqg/VXX6TWIn97I/AAAAAAAA0Dk/7I0dQKUeFmM/s1600/HogwartsExpress.png[/img][/hider]
She thought it was amazing but she didn't have time to enjoy the view, she got her things on to the train, found an empty compartment and sat down, ready for the long ride to Hogwarts. On the way she would change into her robes but for now she was just going to rest.

[hider=First Year Supply List]
[color=ed1c24]First-year students will require:

Uniform
-Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)
-One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wear
-One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)
-One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags at all times.

Books
-The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk
-A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
-Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
-A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
-One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
-Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
-Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
-The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment
-1 Wand
-1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
-1 set of glass or crystal phials
-1 telescope
-1 set of brass scales
Students may also bring an Owl OR a Cat OR a Toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.[/color][/hider]
[hider=Fourth Year Supply List]
[color=ed1c24]Fourth year students will require:

-Dress Robes (only for special occasions that will occur through the year)
-The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 by Miranda Goshawk
-The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection[/color][/hider]
[hider=Fifth Year Supply List]
[color=ed1c24]Fifth year students will require:

-The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 by Miranda Goshawk
-Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard[/color][/hider]
[hider=Sixth Year Supply List]
[color=ed1c24]Sixth year students will require:

-The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 by Miranda Goshawk
-Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage
-Confronting the Faceless
-A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
-Advanced Rune Translation
-Flesh-Eating Trees of the World[/color][/hider]
[hider=Seventh Year Supply List]
[color=ed1c24]Seventh year students will require:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7 by Miranda Goshawk[/color][/hider]
[hider=What is Parseltongue?]
[color=f26522]Parseltongue is the language of serpents (as well as other magical serpent-based creatures, like the Runespoor) and those who can converse with them. An individual who can speak Parseltongue is known as a Parselmouth. It is a very uncommon skill, and is typically hereditary.[/color][/hider]