A/N: hey! So this is a new-ish character I've been working on, she used to be one of those really cringe worthy Harry Potter OC's but I decided to flesh her out a bit and write some short stories with her! I hope you enjoy reading! Oh another thing, when I write stories like this, I hate using cannon characters so in this, their headmaster is a younger man named Phoenix Halflight, instead of Dumbledore, just telling you now.  

The loud whistle of the 'Hogwarts Express' hollered as the train started rumbling down the tracks. Opal looked out the window of her cabin as the old train left the station. This wasn't her first year, but she still felt a strange sense of excitement tingling in her stomach.

"Hey, Opal." The voice of Russell, her best friend said from behind her, interrupting her thoughts. His short, wild black hair complemented his pale skin and bright green eyes. He smiled as Opal turned on her bench seat to look at him. Russell glanced at the empty seat across from her and without asking, walked in and sat down.

"Still quiet? I know I haven't been around lately but I hope you haven't gone fully mute again." Russell said, leaning on his knees. Opal pulled her legs up on the bench and turned to look out the window again. Despite Russell being a year older than Opal, he was a few inches shorter than her, well, most people were shorter than her.

The full right side of Opal's face seemed to glow in the light from the window. Her blue and green eyes couldn't meet Russell's emerald green gaze. The atmosphere of the small cabin weighed heavy with awkward energy as Opal stayed quiet.

The creaky wheels of the sweats trolly rolled down the main row in between cabins, if that wasn't all, the old lady pushing it was calling out "Anything from the trolly?!" Every few seconds. Opal took the opportunity, and stood up to catch the old lady's attention.

"Uh, I'll get some of the jelly beans." She said, quietly. The old woman grabbed a small pack of Bertie Botts every flavour jelly beans. She handed it to Opal who just quietly took them and sat back down.

"Why haven't you come to the farm lately?" Russell asked. Opal stopped opening her pack of jelly beans, and thought about it. "I thought you loved it there." He said, breaking his gaze and looking down at the ground and tapping his feet.

Opal didn't respond, she just looked back out the window as the train shook occasionally. "The Occamys miss you, one even bit me this morning since you weren't the one feeding him. The Demiguise had to watch the babies for a while without you there." He said, catching Opal's attention for a few seconds. "Hey, talk to me, what's on your mind?" Russell asked, putting on a softer tone.

"I don't know." Opal finally said, sighing and deflating. "I guess I just feel weird about this year, like something bad will happen." She said, not bothering to meet Russell's curiosity. "Have you ever had a feeling like something will go wrong, and it does, but it seems like it went wrong in all the ways you predicted?" Opal asked, finally leaning back on the bench and looking up at Russell. Her question was only met by a confused head shake. "Never mind." She said, sighing again.

The rest of the train ride was fairly quiet, Opal ate her jelly beans, Russell read the newspaper, and they didn't really talk much. The boat ride was quick and uneventful, so was the first unpacking.

Finally, it was time for the welcome back feast, the tables were set but there was still something they needed to do, the sorting of new students. Their headmaster, Phoenix Halflight, did his whole speech and such. The first while of sorting was boring, like normal. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, another Gryffindor. It was all normal for the most part.

Until a girl stepped up to the sorting hat, she was tiny compared to the others, she looked impossibly short for a first year student. She sat down on the chair and the hat was placed on her head. "Hm, Yes, Hufflepuff!" It declared. The girl's face lit up as she got up off the chair and ran over to the rest of the Hufflepuffs.

Opal didn't really pay attention to the rest of the sorting, even when twin sisters joined Ravenclaw. She found herself thinking about that girl, she looked to be twelve, but she was tiny. Opal was zoned out until the boy next to her elbowed her, she snapped out of it to find that the feast had started.

Opal wasn't really hungry so she just took some of the buns and beans and put them on her plate. She quietly ate while thinking about what was happening between her and Russell, was their friendship breaking?

Opal found herself back in her house dorm room where she unpacked her things and settled into bed. Her barn owl Willow was cooing quietly while watching her with large, deep blue eyes. Opal sighed and smiled before taking Willow out of her cage and onto her arm. She sat down on her bed and started stroking Willow's feathers, who sat down on Opal.

Opal glanced out one of the small windows in the stone wall, the pale moonlight shining through the glass. "Soon, Willow." She said scratching Willow's head. Opal put her back in her cage before settling back into bed.