[Collab between Apoalo and myself]
Chandler mostly just stared at the other boy as he listed the houses, this was where people called him weird and shunned him. His mind while very sharp had a interesting trait that has to filter all the information that he receives. The filter breaks it down and once it finishes Chandler can always remember the conversation, including the details around him. It just made him look slightly crazy simply staring with a little glaze on his eyes. He nodded as Nolan finished and shrugged. He watched closely to see any reaction to the stare. "I would say either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor since as you can see I can get pretty air headed as well. But I have a weird reflex to protect people." He shrugged again and patted Castiel a few times.
Nolan nodded. "It's cool that you have an idea. And Gryffindor's always respectable. That was Harry Potter's house, you know?" The idea that the boy, muggle-born or not, would not know who Harry Potter was did not even occur to Nolan. He probably more famous than Merlin, and most muggles had heard of him.
"Erm, sorry who is Harry Potter?" He was already excited by the small amount of talking and learning he had done. And besides Nolan wasn't looking at him like he was a crazy person which was helping Chandler's self-confidence. "Also what is a mudblood? Someone called me and my family that when we went to that awesome place called diagon. Is it a sort of curse?"
If Nolan looked surprised when Chandler asked who Harry Potter was, he looked absolutely appalled when he heard Chandler had been referred to as a Mudblood. "What? Are you serious? Out just shopping in Diagon Alley?" He shook his head. "Well... a mudblood is a terrible thing to call someone who comes from a Muggle family, you know from no magic. People who use the word like to think they're better because they come from a magical family. Anyone ever calls you that again, you give em a good beating. It's a filthy thing to say." Despite never having experienced such discrimination due to his half-blood status, and his mother's full blooded witch status, he had been raised by a family that refused to tolerate such things. "I really didn't even think people said that anymore...
"As for Harry Potter," Nolan continued, his serious tone falling away and being replaced with excitement once more, "He's probably the most famous living wizard. The Boy Who Lived, he defeated probably the most evil wizard ever. That was about thirty years ago. Here, let me see..." Nolan reached over for his backpack and dug through it. He found his book of chocolate frog cards and opened it, removing the Harry Potter card. "That's him," he said handing it to Chandler.
"Really? Wow, no wonder they were laughing. But why make fun of someone just because they don't come from a pure family? Isn't that a good thing? Shows that magic is growing and that it will always be around, I mean i'm sure blood won't have anything to do with it when it really comes down to fighting each other heh." He sat back and patted his kitten who was purring affectionately and nuzzling his kneecap. "Oh cool, and he was in Gryffindor?" He was about to say more when he heard a commotion outside the compartment, sounded like just a few rows up, perhaps near the front of the train. "What is that?"
"What was what?" Nolan asked. He stopped to listen and heard compartment doors sliding open, people crowding into the corridor. "Huh.... You think someone's having a duel? Roy says there's a duel at least once a week, maybe someone got started early." He jumped out out of his seat and slid open their own door. He saw a few other heads peaking out from the other compartments. Towards the front of their train car he could see a group of older students standing just in the doorway of the compartment. "I can't tell what's going on," with a bit of disappointment he added, "it doesn't look like there're any wands drawn."
"Huh, weird. Something must be going down but doesn't really look like we could get any closer anyway. Oh well." Castiel shifted on his leg and did a sort of half-turn into a yawn curling up onto Chandler's lap and taking a nap. "So! Have you managed to do any spells yet? I memorized one, the Repairing charm seemed pretty useful. Haven't got to use it yet though." He was proud of his accomplishment, sure it had taken about 3 days to even manage to cast it halfway right but in the end he had it down. He smiled and closed his eyes his photographic memory bringing up the very moment he managed to get the spell down.
Nolan gave a nod as he took one last look at the gathering group. The other boy was right, and it didn't seem to exciting whatever it was. He'd still ask around to later to see what had happened. He sat down again across from Chandler, and at his words, he uncomfortably gripped his wand looking down in embarrassment. "Actually, I've tried a few, but couldn't quite get anything to work before my dad made me stop. We're not supposed to be doing magic outside of school, see?" He didn't mention that even after being reminded of this fact he had stayed up three nights trying unsuccessfully to unlock his own bedroom door.
"Oh, that's good to know. But how would they find out haha, it's not like th--... Oh, magic." He busted out laughing at his own thinking and was probably a shade redder than before. Now that both boys had decided that the ruckus couldn't be reached Chandler decided to just set back and relax. It was a great day outside for a train ride and Chandler loved watching the scenery pass by. Castiel had decided that she wanted to explore the other boy and jumped across the compartment to paw and sniff at Nolan.
Nolan chuckled with a nod. "Yep, and if they catch you, you can get in some real trouble. Even expelled if you do it too much. But they go easy on us before we actually start school. All the holidays though... don't think about it." He was caught off guard by the sudden interest the kitten showed in him. He gently pet Castiel, following Chandler's gaze out the window. I wonder how long it 'll be until we can see the castle grounds."
Castile purred at the pets and figured she liked this other little human. She rubbed into his hand and would then turn and playfully attack it nibbling gently which turned into licks. Chandler smiled, "I think she likes you." He to was wondering when he would first see the place he would call home for the next seven years. It was a interesting thought, but his mind was currently taking in the scenery, analyzing and storing it. He smirked a bit more recalling his mum calling his brain a computer. "Nolan, thanks for talking with me and not ignoring me. If we're not in the same house, can we still be friends?" Chandler obviously knew nothing about the fact that they would undoubtably share classes at some point.
Nolan couldn't help but smile at the kitten, even if he found its behavior weird. "Yeah she really does seem to..." He just wasn't used to cats. He then laughed at Chandler's question. "Of course! You're gonna need me to tell you about wizard culture. And I'm gonna need you to have someone around who won't just stare blankly when I talk about football. Yeah, we can still be friends."
Smiling, Chandler pumped his head up and down, he did love football. It was one of the things he thought he was going to end up pursuing until he found out about his being magical. Castiel finished her exploration of Nolan and vaulted back across the compartment the begin cleaning herself ignoring the two humans. Chandler was excited he had made his first friend, and wondered if Harry Potter had felt this way when he was heading to school.