"'Ello, mate, would you like a biscuit?"
"Blimey, I'd fancy a biscuit or two!"
"Bloody hell!" the two girls laughed, pulling their trunks down the long corridor of the train. A high-pitched whistle sounded, and they continued to search for an empty compartment.
"And they refer to a radio as a 'wireless'!" Zita exclaimed to a giggling Raye. "Man, I never realized how much different this place was from the states!"
"Yeah, well, hurry up, Connor, I think there's an empty one up ahead." The smile had slid quickly off of Raye West's face, seeing all the weird looks that they were getting from the other witches and wizards.
"Okay, okay, in here," said Zita, gesturing towards Raye. "Raye? What are you looking at?"
"Oh, nothing," said Raye, "Just...did you see that redhead back there? He was hot."
"Really? I saw a hot redhead back when we were getting on. Maybe he has a twin or something. They were older, though, I don't think either of them would date an eleven-year-old..." Zita shrugged. They walked into the compartment, stowed their trunks overhead, and sat down.
"I started reading a book called Hogwarts, A History," Raye began, "and it was giving background information on all the different houses. What do you think you'll get sorted into?"
"I don't know..." said Zita, "as long as they've got a tv."
"You do know that electronics don't work at Hogwarts, do you?" said a voice, causing both Raye and Zita to jump. They looked to the door to find a girl with bushy brown hair looking back at them. She was around their age, and was simply leaning against the doorway. "Erm—everywhere else is full. Can I sit with you two?"
"Yeah...sure," Zita said, throwing a long, brown pigtail over her shoulder. The girl took a seat. "Y'know, Raye, if electronics don't work at the school," Zita began thoughtfully, "Then we should get the most out of this while we still can."
She reached into her pocket, and pulled out what looked like a small box. There was a tiny blue button in the shape of an arrow, but before Zita could press it, the compartment door slid open again.
There were two boys standing in the doorway now. The first had flaming red hair, and was very freckly. Behind him was a dark-haired boy with glasses.
"You don't mind if we share a compartment with you guys, do you?" the dark-haired boy asked.
"Okay," Raye said, closing the door behind them. "Anyway, you were saying, Zi?"
Zita took her eyes off the two boys stowing their trunks.
"Wha—? Oh. Right..." she pushed the blue button, and the small box began to unfold and expand. By the time it had finished growing, a full scale Dance Dance Revolution game resided on the floor of the compartment. Raye's face glowed with excitement.
"You're awesome, Zita!" she cried.
"I know," Zita said, grinning. "But I believe you also have something for us?"
"Straight from Kyoto—the anagram lover's Tokyo," Raye winked, pulling out a CD. "Only the latest mix."
This whole time, the three others were standing, open-mouthed, staring at the muggle game.
"What exactly is that?" the redhead asked. Raye and Zita turned to face him, gaping.
"What is—?"
"He doesn't know—?"
"It's DDR!" they cried in unison. The bushy-haired girl raised her eyebrows, completely nonplussed.
"C'mon, Zi, let's show 'em," Raye said, turning the game on.
"Yes," Zita said slowly, a somewhat frightening grin spreading across her face. "Let's."
They began to dance, hitting all of the beats and even throwing in their own freestyle moves. Raye and Zita looked like clones, moving quickly yet smoothly. By the end of the song, they were each in a different yet flamboyant pose, slightly out of breath.
"That," Raye said, "Is Dance Dance Revolution."
The three others were still standing, even as the train began to move. The bushy-haired girl opened her mouth to speak.
"That was...very—"
"Awesome!" the redhead interrupted. The girl glared at him, but he plowed on. "What a cool game. Are all muggles that good? I want to try!"
"Um, okay," said Zita, blinking. She and Raye stepped off the dance stage, and the boy climbed on. The music began and he started to dance, a bit out of control but rhythmically, quite accurate. People from other compartments were now pressing their nose against the glass, watching him dance as the beat pulsated throughout the train, the background on the screen flashing. The beat throbbed, the screen flashed, and the boy danced wildly, faster and faster, until he flew way out of control and collapsed in a heap on the dance stage. The heap began to twitch and jerk.
The people outside were now staring at the boy on the floor, whose pupils had dilated to the size of marbles, clearly having a seizure.
"What've you done to him!?" the girl cried. "What's happened?" she watched him twitching on the floor.
"This can't be good..." said the dark-haired boy.
"Oh, he'll be alright," Zita assured them. "It happens to all of the noobs."
"Yeah, he'll be up and about in a couple of hours," said Raye, nodding.
Raye and Zita rolled the boy's convulsing body off of the dance stage, and stepped back on. They continued to dance, now in front of a cheering crowd.
