Land of Confusion

Ev stood in the doorway to the Great Hall, brown eyes wide. That was precisely what it was: a great BIG hall, and it was just full of people. And most of them she couldn't even understand. Her crash-course in Russian had succeeded in nothing but making her feel even more confused.

People were whispering about the new girl. She didn't need to understand them to know that - she could see them looking at her and pointing. Thank, Merlin, the fact the Minister was her birth mother hadn't made the Prophet. Then, they'd really be gossiping about her.

Taking in a rather shaky breath, Ev stepped forward - and promptly ran into someone.

Lora was glad to have finally got some sleep the previous night, seeing as she had a busy schedule of classes and just a single free period. Even though things were beginning to get stressful once again, at least her sleeping pattern was getting better.

The Slushatel finished off her glass of pumpkin juice and took the last bite of bread, before getting up and making her way out of the hall. She hadn't seen Dyl all morning and figured she'd run into him at class.

Not really focussing on where she was headed, she suddenly bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Lora quickly apologized with a sheepish smile and stepped back.

Ev gave a startled cry at the collision. She stepped back, looking up at the other girl. Her expression crumpled a bit at her words.

"I can't understand ye!" the girl protested in Irish-accented English. "I can't understand anythin'. Everyone is speakin' Russian o-or some other language I don't know. Why can't anyone speak English or Finnish?"

She started to cry quietly, all the changes of being in a strange place with so many strange people proving to be too much in combination with all the other upheaval in her young life. "I don't even wanna be here. I jus' wanna go home. I miss me mum an' dad an-an' I don't like it here at all."

The German girl's eyes widened in surprise and quickly spoke in English, "I am sorry, I was not aware that you did not know Russian." Her face fell as the younger girl started crying and she felt guilty, wondering if it was because she bumped into her.

Lora gathered the girl into a hug before kneeling down and gently wiping away the tears. "Hey, do not cry, nothing is going to happen to you. I'm sure you'll meet people who speak English here."

"Why don't you tell me about your home? Where are you from?"

For a moment, Ev blinked at the older girl in surprise and it seemed that she would, in fact, stop crying. But that's not what inevitably happened. Instead, her crying became even worse. She would be mortified in hindsight, but at the time, she couldn't stop herself.

"B-but I don't 'ave a home, anymore!" she wept. "M-me parents are dead! An-an' me guardian sent me here an' there's people everywhere an' everything is just strange." The blonde sucked in a deep lungful of air, briefly stopping before her expression crumbled again. "An' I don't even know why I can't stop cryin' like a big baby!"

"Y-You what?!" Lora exclaimed in shock, barely aware that people were looking oddly in their direction. "B-But how..?" She shook her head, as though willing herself not to speak, in fear of saying the wrong thing. The girl had no one to look after her? Sure, she mentioned a guardian, but that did not really sound reassuring.

"You'll be alright, I'll make sure of it," she told, her voice more firm than before. "You do not need to fear these people, no one is going to hurt you." She felt sad that the young girl would not stop crying, and even a little guilty. "You're not a big baby, you're just scared and that is fine."

She wanted to hug the Uchitel once more, but was worried she might make the crying worse.

Ev gave a defiant sniffle, suppressing further tears through sheer stubborn willpower. "I am not scared!" she contradicted. She lifted her chin, which started to tremble a little before she sucked in a deep, fortifying breath. "I'm just... overwhelmed, is all."

The little blonde gave a decisive nod. Then, gave a surprised squeak when the end of the nearest table erupted into loud boisterous conversation, quickly ducking behind the older girl. Ev looked up a bit sheepishly.

"Everyone is bigger than me," she offered as justification.

The Slushatel stiffled a smile as she listened to the younger girl. She was simply taken in by the girl's stubborness, and knew then and there that it would indeed serve as a useful trait later on. "Alright, you're not scared," she corrected, offering a genuine smile. "My apologies for saying that."

This time however, Lora couldn't help but grin lightly at the blonde's reaction. "Indeed they are, but like I said, they would not bother to hurt you," she said and placed an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Mind telling me your name?" She asked softly.

Wondering something else, she also questioned, "Did you have breakfast already?"

A more skittish child would have pulled away from the unfamiliar arm on her shoulder. Ev, for all that she was incredibly sad and lost in her new surroundings, had never been a skittish child.

"Evelina Moffett," the girl answered. "Who're you?"

Ev shook her head. "I got lost just trying to get here. This place is huge." She pressed lightly into the older girl's side as someone else hurried past.