Violently scribbling iffy penguins eases boredom

[Alice Barrett]

Never mind it. Never mind it all.

The placid scenery was disgusting,so was the furious caress of the wind against the window, but most of all the noise was the worst. It seemed like Alice had chosen to sit in the wrong place of the train because even as she sat in her own seemingly private compartment, there was a symphony of cacophony echoing through the walls. Was this her remuneration after trying her best to fit the facade of the "daughter" role during her expedition to Kings Cross? Yes it was most certainly an expedition, and maybe even an abrasive trek from the countryside all the way to the city. As her parents constantly nagged and poked at her "enthusiasm" for Hogwarts, Alice did her best to covert her apathy. After all it was rare that they all got together for anything, she was half expecting (in all seriousness) to be sent by floo powder to her Aunt Tillie's place to board the train with her cousins. It was the old blue Volkswagen that came to be a harbinger that instead of travelling to Kings Cross by magic, her parents had decided to kick it muggle style.

Alice expected that the switch off between the "weeping of the parents" onto the "graceless hunt for a compartment" would result into a better situation than she was in now. Instead she sat silently by herself witnessing the abasement of the wusses and whimps that was already being celebrated amongst her peers. At least wait until we get Hogsmeade or dinner starts, she thought out loud simultaneously rolling her eyes unconsciously. Alice shook her head while continually doodling penguins all over her jeans. She had started drawing right when her family embarked upon the first five minutes of the road trip and had continued to do so since. Alice very particular on the way her clothes were treated but the ones she was wearing at the moment were the cheapest and oldest once she had, so she couldn't have cared less. Alice had reached an impressive count of 130 or so peguins dispersed on the wide surface of her legs. It all seemed like a hulking cancer of penguins that had originated at the knee caps. Alice wanted to aim for 350 penguins but she just could not see that happening. The kids around her had succeeded in rendering her concentration blighted and improving the temper she had kept inside since the very early morning.

For the record, Alice wasn't a misanthrope. It was really just the fact that everyone around her was loud because they had some else to talk to, someone they knew, or someone they were getting to know. She on the other hand had penguins. Alice knew that the simple solution would be to get up and go walk to someone's compartment and sit down with them. That was nearly impossible because it went against Alice's social rules. She was always assessed the situation before entering, always had prior knowledge of her target for conversation unless she felt throwing the rules away. The unsettling "family" road trip had off set her and she was not in the mood to flash around smiles to strangers willingly. No, Alice preferred to keep to her odd tenacious social skills that often left in an abstruse state of mind. It was weird all of it, just like the random 5 millimeter long penguin she had drawn near the seam line of her right pant leg. Whatever, the mass majority of the people on the train had their own blithe and haughtiness to guide through school life. Alice had her penguins.