Amy decided to abandon her still-empty cabin, and try to find one with a few students in it, so hopefully she could make new friends. Most of them were full, or filling up rather quickly. However, one of the cabins was only occupied by a witch, about her age. "Excuse me, do you mind if I sit her also?" Amy asked politely, pointing to an empty seat close to the girl.

Winifred looked up from her reading when the other girl entered her cabin. "No, I don't mind at all," replied Winifred with a polite smile. "I don't suppose we've met before. My name's Winifred Fanel. I'm a fourth year in Slytherin. Are you new to Hogwarts?" She pushed some of her things aside to make room for the new arrival.

Amy took a seat next to Winifred. "I'm a new transfer, from Durmstrang." Amy explained. "I am a fourth year, and I believe I'm in Gryffindor," Amy smiled.

"Durmstrang, eh? I think we have a few other students who transferred from there. Are all the rumours really true? About the, you know, dark arts stuff that goes on there?" Winifred inquired, looking very interested.

Then, suddenly, Amy's pet owl flew through the open window, and landed on her shoulder. "Oh, this is my owl Holly," Amy said, and then laughed.

She smiled at the sudden appearance of Amy's owl. "I have an owl, too. His name is Astenus. He's over there." She pointed to a large cage draped with a dark green cloth.

Peesey searched down the train for someone he knew. He found, again, Winifred. She was talking someone he didn't know. He climbed aboard. "Hi," he said as he entered "I hope I'm not disturbing you!?"

"Hey Peesey. You're not disturbing us at all. We're just talking about school and our owls. This is Amy, she's just transferred from Durmstrang," Winifred said. "Why don't you sit down, there's plenty of room."

"Hi! You're not disturbing us at all!" Amy also said to the boy. "I'm Amy, and I'm a new fourth year transfer," Amy greeted, and smiled nicely, as her owl Holly squawked rather loudly.

"Oooh you transferred from Durmstrang - eh?" Peesey said sitting down. "What was it like there?"

Winifred closed up the book that she was holding. "So Peesey, are you taking any of the new elective classes this year? I'm really excited about the language class."

"Yes," he said reluctantly "my mother made me take one! What about you?"

"I'm taking Magical Languages and Myth, Folk Law, and Magic. I hope the teachers are good, but the books are massive! I need to get better marks this year, or my parents will kill me. I'll probably be spending a lot of time getting to know the library this year," said Winifred, "But not too much. I still have to have fun, right?"

*********

Marvo had left Kat and Anders speaking to each other while he went off and had his encounter with Raphael and Nathaniel. He then returned. Nimue had still not arrived and the train looked ready to depart.

Kat grinned up at Anders. "She'll be here soon enough. She'll make it I'm sure."

She toyed with the idea of not saying anything about the kitten hidden in her pocket, but decided she better say something before Marvo put his foot in it and spoiled the surprise. She giggled to herself as she thought about Anders face when he saw the adorable little alley cat.

Indeed, Marvo was about the ask Kat if she had got the present for Anders, but a look from her reminded him to say nothing. He just smiled, letting Kat have her 'moment'

"I've got a surprise for you. But you are going to have to wait until we get to your new house before you get it." She grinned mischievously.

"I have to wait?" Anders said with a little frown behind which lurked a smile.

"Tomorrow then - Sunday tea perhaps? Though I have some doubt the house is ready to receive visitors. At least you'll have one day to settle in before classes start on Monday."

He looked at the train, which was obviously preparing to leave shortly "Come on - let's get you situated in a comfy carriage. Marvo? I'll then come back and fret over Nimue's lateness."

***********

The Hawkwood car had glided swiftly through the traffic without encountering the kind of problems muggle cars did. Somehow every light was green and their passage never blocked by other traffic.

Arriving at the station the driver assisted with luggage and getting everyone through the barrier. The train was obviously just about to leave. He also helped the others onto the train while Nimue scanned the platform for familiar faces.

Further down she spied Marvo, Kat ... and Anders. Her heart - as one's heart does at times - gave a leap at seeing him and she realised how much she would miss him being at school even though she knew he wouldn't be that far away.

"Do find yourselves seats - people sort of mill about on the train once we're off so I'll see you in a while." she said to the others.

Thanking the driver for his assistance, she took up the covered owl cage and moved to join her friends. "Hey!" she said with a smile, "I had a few doubts there we'd make it on time. You'll never guess who turned up in Diagon Alley."

She would have loved to give Anders a goodbye hug but propriety and all that prevailed. He couldn't even hug his own sister as the knowledge that they were related wasn't widely known and any number of students were hanging out the windows saying goodbye to relatives and looking out for late arriving friends.

Marvo and Kat had entered the train and were having a final word with Anders. Marvo was stating to get a little concerned as to where Nimue was, especially as it started to pull away. But after a juddering halt a few yards off he was pleased to see her and a few other students arrive.

"Look. There she is! "LIZZY! OVER HERE" He shouted, a little too loudly.

Marvo's calling for her reminded Nimue of the journey on the train the previous September and her dismay to find that her childhood playmate Malcolm Ward (aka Marvo) was also to attend Hogwarts. A great deal had happened in that year and yet he still continued to call her 'Lizzy' at every opportunity.

Moving quickly though along the platform she reached the carriage they were in.

She smiled at Anders as he took the owl cage from her and handed it up to Marvo. Then giving her hand a quick squeeze he helped her board the train and closed the carriage door after her.

"I'll see you all in Hogsmeade. Safe journey." Anders said moving back as the train began to slowly move off again. He waved to them.

"Thanks for the tip, Marvo." he called his face alight with a cheeky grin very like his father's. The words were somewhat lost in the general tumult as many students waved to their families and loved ones as the train slowly pulled out of the station.

Nimue continued to wave, then turning to Marvo she said, "What tip?"

A sudden shimmer and 'pop' in the air of the carriage answered her question as half a dozen bouquets of flowers materialised on her seat followed by some more 'pops' on the seat where Kat was intending to sit which brought further bouquets for her. Cards also materialised wishing his sister and his love a wonderful Fourth Year. A large basket of fruit and a one containing an assortment of sweets also materialised with more well wishes to all of them attached.

"Please don't tell me you've been giving him tips on being a considerate boyfriend?" asked Nimue of Marvo with a smile.

Marvo blushed, "Well... we had a.... discussion"

He smiled and picked out an apple "I guess the sweets are all for you two. I'm still on 'the diet'."

"A discussion? Should I be worried Kat?"

She eyed the fruit and the sweets - "Well I prefer fresh fruit to tons of sugar anyway. I didn't think the diet prohibited all candy or does it?"

Most of her things had been placed in the baggage carriage by the driver apart from the owl, which she had been carrying whose cage she placed near her.

"So, Kat did you tell him about the kitty? Is it still sleeping in your pocket?"

Kat grinned. "Well unless Anders is easily led then I can't see it having gone to far the wrong way."

"I mean, Marvo can get over enthusiastic occasionally but I don't think he has done that much wrong, except that time when he never wrote to me..." She winked at Marvo.

She opened her pocket and peering in at the still sleeping kitten. "I can't believe this little fella is being so quiet. I did tell Anders I had a surprise for him, but I'm not going to let him know until we go round for tea on Sunday."

She grinned and there was a twinkle in her eye that seemed to appear when she was planning something.

*********

Nathan was growing impatient, he frowns. "Hey, isn't this train ever going? I want to get to school, I really need the library!"

"It's just starting," Niki said, peeking out the window as Platform 9 and 3/4 began to creep away. Hmmph. Now Nathan was bored. Already. After not even five minutes. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. What with all the excitement, she hadn't been able to sleep well the previous night, and now it was beginning to catch up with her.

********

"Friends," Nathaniel said, completing the oath, and with that a slow smile lit up his face.

Nathaniel smiled at his new friends, and for a moment there wasn't an ingrained sullen line on his face. "Friends." he said again simply, this time for no sake other than his own his voice low.

The mostly black kitten dive bombed Nathaniel's back, landing spread-eagled on his shoulder, clutching with claws and its tail lashing mischievously, and broke what could otherwise have been an awkward moment.

Whistles on the platform, a sudden increased banging of doors. The train must be nearly ready to leave... Nathaniel pulled a book from his backpack, made himself comfortable in his seat again and made room for the cat as it demanded to sit on his knee looking out of the window. His right hand patted his pockets absently. Where was the little silver filigree set.... damn... he'd packed them in the trunk.... He sighed a little, in that moment wanting his favourite set with a pang so deep it almost stung.

"Want... silver set..." he muttered to himself without realising it.

The kitten mewled abruptly and pushed a paw at a pocket he'd just inspected and found empty. The little silver filigree ball set was in a far recess of the pocket... must have missed it.. He subtracted one of them from the pocket and set it to flipping across his knuckles as he looked out of the window. There was still plenty of room left in their compartment, and he wondered if anyone else would join them for the journey.

Then with a small jerk, the train pulled away.

Sarah gave out a whoop of delight at the train's movement. Then the train stopped having only moved a yard or two.

Sarah groaned and moved over to the window and peered out, "Please not leaves on the line. You'd think a magical train wouldn't be bothered." she said to the two boys.

However, then she saw that the guard was helping a few stragglers onto the train and she turned back inside. The whistle was blown again and Sarah came and sat back down with a satisfied sigh.

"Hogwarts here we come!"

********

Arcadia sat with just Pantalaimon in a compartment. There was plenty of room for others of course, and plenty of people came past, smiling at last finding a seat.

But Arcadia didn't have to resort to magic to keep people out. A harsh stare and a growl from pan and they soon left her alone.

Pantalaimon had grown a lot over the summer, some suspected not completely of his own choosing, but Arcadia denied 'helping' him of course.

He was now virtually a fully-grown wolf. His fur white a pure snow, his teeth very sharp and his amber eyes matching Arcadia's perfectly.

The then platform started moving and Arcadia looked at Pantalaimon a worried expression on her face.

"Why are they taking the platform away Pan?"

Pantalaimon whimpered and looked up to the ceiling. Giving the best 'Your not THAT stupid are you?' look a wolf could give.

"Oh. yah" Said Arcadia, feeling just a little embarrassed.

"Well, here we go then Pan, another year at Hogwarts. But this time I don't think I'll bother being nice. Nat seems to think he can just ignore me and I'll go away. Poor boy. He and that dwarf are on the top of my list. And with the help of my 'new friend' I'm sure we will have a very interesting year"

She patted Pan's head. "Now that daddy had that tutor give me lesions with my wand I shouldn't have too much trouble. Still. Not much a wand can do a good potion can't anyway" She patted her robe. "And I've got all the supplies I need".

She sat back, smiling. "A very interesting year in deed"

*********

Breana hadn't meant to join a compartment with others, but Tyris, as usual, had her own mind. To Breana's slight dismay, Tyris had jumped off her shoulder once she had boarded the train and scampered off. At first, Breana had tried to catch the squirrel, but somehow Tyris managed to find a small nook in which Breana couldn't identify, even with a few spells that she had promised Mr. White she wouldn't use. In the end, Breana gave up, and tried to find an empty compartment.

But, they were all full and the train was starting to move. Some adult told her to find a seat quickly, and Breana bit back the reply she wanted to yell. She randomly chose a compartment, after a glare from the same adult, and opening the door, found that Sarah and two boys she had noticed in Diagon Alley inside.

She drew back, not really wanting to be seen, but the adult seemed to decide that she had to sit somewhere, and pushed her in, closing the door behind her. Breana stumbled in, blushing red as she dropped her bags to stop herself from falling. Breana tried to hide her head, as she said softly, feeling like a complete idiot, 'Sorry. Do you mind if I stay here?'

Nathaniel looked up from his seat by the window, automatically pocketing the small silver filigreed ball that he'd been playing across his knuckles, and smiled at her in a friendly way.

"Plenty of room, Breana, for you and the squirrel both." he grinned. "Make yourself comfy. I'm Nathaniel. The weird kid who looks just like me is no relation at all so feel free to shout at him all you like, his name's Raphael. And I think you already know Sarah?"

"'The weird kid?" said Raphael in response to Nathaniel. "Look, just because of the leek -" he added, and only then thought... "Wait a sec... You might be right. Hi, Breana...? I'm the weird kid, yeah. Sorry about that. It's a habit." He quickly shook her hand, though he had a weird feeling he'd already done it once, and grinned.

Resuming his place below the ledge of the window, the view away from his eyes, Raphael grabbed his huge rucksack from the compartment above Sarah and started sorting out what he had bought. The first thing that was presented was a short piece of paper, covered in grubby marks and scrawling handwriting.

"That's all the instruction I got. I never saw the letter from Hogwarts," he said in explanation, "my uncle didn't show me one. 'Spose coz I would have guessed where I was goin'."

He started producing books, lots of books, and a small set of bags, with ingredients in them. A dress robe was next to join the pile, and Raphael detached the shredded school robe from where he had attached it to the bag.

He looked at the pile, and checked in his bag. "I wish I'd brought my staff," he said, matter of factly, although he added a sigh at the end. "It took me ages to varnish it - I had to do it one coat a week so my uncle wouldn't get suspicious..." he told the three of them.

"Hey, Breana. Great to see you again." said Sarah.

She made room for Breana's things and helped her put her bags away. "Your squirrel off on one of its jaunts then huh?" she said looking around for Tyris.

"Did I mention that Nathaniel will be in Ravenclaw House with us - Raphael still has to be sorted into his House but I have my fingers crossed." She gave Raphael a little wink.

Raphael grinned at her, though a tic of worry still remained in his mind. He hadn't got all of his worries out of his mind, although they were at rest, and the simple schoolyard fear of wondering if he was gonna be the last to be 'picked for the team' was still there.

Ravenclaw would be good. Ravenclaw would be fantastic. He'd have Nathaniel and Sarah then. But... he didn't decide, did he? The hat did. The hat would cast his final judgement. That wasn't good. That really wasn't good. He couldn't even think of a way to bribe a hat: I mean, like, promise to give it tassels or something?

The confused grin on his face could have been mistaken for something other then pure stupidity. But it would have been quite difficult.

He looked up to the wink that Sarah was giving him, and relaxed, giving her a satirical roll of the eyes back. How could he worry? It'd be pointless... like using a leek as a weapon... leek... "Oh gods."

He stood up, and looked at the three of them. "I forgot something. Nathaniel, Sarah, - and Breana, course - would you excuse me for a sec?"

He stood up, and looked at the three of them. "I forgot something. Nathaniel, Sarah, - and Breana, course - would you excuse me for a sec?"

Kings Cross station was slipping away behind them. Nathaniel looked evenly at Raphael.

"If you're thinking of hopping off the train at a slow bit, I'll have to track you down to kill you, kid, but don't think I won't."

He looked at the book in his lap and didn't want to read it, so he went back to looking out the window.

"Yes, of course we will Raphael," said Sarah. "Though like Nathaniel says no bailing on us - right?"

She glanced over to where Nathaniel was looking out the window. She thought he looked pensive.

"What book are you reading?" she asked quietly wondering if he'd hear her or whether he was too deep in his own thoughts.

Nathaniel might have been a world away, but he heard Sarah. He tilted the battered cover her way. Firebird - Peter Morwood. "An old favourite." he commented quietly.

"Now I find I'm wondering if any of it - Baba Yaga, Ivan Ivanovich, the sorceress Marya Morevna, the Firebird - is more that just a story. Once I start believing, where does it stop.... does this thing have any limits?"

A small dark-haired girl stuck her head into the compartment. "Have any of you seen Ronnie?" she asked. She was short, with curly hair and freckles across her nose, and had the slightly nervous look of a first-year. . Sarah and Raphael recognised her as the girl who had been talking to Marvo earlier but they didn't recall her name.

"If it's a bedraggled leek, then it's in the litter bin." Nathaniel commented brightly, but the smile didn't quite reach the sadness in his eyes. "Otherwise no... does it bite?"

"Oh, I hope not!" the little girl said, grinning despite herself. "And he's not a leek at all, he's my uncle. I guess you call him David. And what in the world were you all doing with leeks?"

She paused, decided it was wisest not to meddle in the affairs of upperclassmen, and added brightly, "I'm looking forward to school! It sounds brilliant!"

"The leek was Raphael's." Nathaniel quickly distanced himself from that subject. "So you're looking for a man named Ronnie except his name is actually David... I haven't been introduced to any David's or Ronnie's yet; it's going to be my first day at Hogwarts as well. So maybe you're asking the wrong person."

"Well, his name is actually..." she glanced around and lowered her voice conspiratorially, "Heironymus, but don't say anything, all right? And you're a first-year, too? You're tall."

"Ronnie, who's actually David, who is really Heironymus? Your uncle must be a busy man, young lady." Nathaniel grinned. "Tall...."

He stood up suddenly from his slouching seat and straightened to his full, almost six feet worth of height and pretended to glower at the younger girl. "Too tall for first years. Fourth year, but I'll bet you know more about this magicing lark than I do."

He collapsed again in a seemingly boneless slouch, and the kitten dive-bombed him from the overhead rack. Nathaniel didn't bother trying to catch it, though he knew he could have, just let it thud down on his lap. The mostly-black kitten smirked around at its audience and then settled down to delicately washing one paw.

"If I meet a man with more names than legs, I'll let him know you're looking for him." Nathaniel told Ruth seriously.

"I don't know, R--David, I mean--is almost as tall as you. So he might have more legs than names. I'm lucky my gran didn't name me, or I'd have something absolutely ridiculous like...like...Ambrosia." She grinned. "I'm Ruth Friedman."

"What's in a name..." he shrugged. "A rose by any other name still smells as sweet. A leek is a leek is a leek, in less elegant words."

He looked sideways at Ruth, and winked. "So now you don't know how many legs he's got either.... you're looking for a millipede with multiple names, aren't you?"

Sarah smiled at this exchange between Ruth and Nathaniel. The mystery of the 'H' had finally been revealed!

"Hi Ruthie, I'm Sarah and your uncle is a Housemate of mine. Breana's and Nathaniel's as well though Nathaniel is new to the school and has not met David yet.

I saw David earlier in Diagon Alley with his friend Jake and I would expect that he and Jake are still together somewhere on the train. Shall I come and look for him with you?"

*********

Jacob had gotten separated from David Ollivander somewhere along the throngs of people on Platform 3/4. It was easy for him to slide unnoticed into a traincar, as tall and skinny as he was. He only carried with him a single battered suitcase, and that also fit nicely inside. He found a seat that looked a bit tattered but otherwise comfortable, and sat down.

His hands folded in his lap, and a serious and dark expression settled on his face. The fourth year Ravenclaw hardly ever smiled- and when he did, it was like a dying candle flickering for a moment before vanishing into darkness.

He looked the same as always. Untamed white-blonde hair that flew in all directions, tall, lanky figure so skinny every bone poked through his much-patched robes. His lint-green eyes were hidden as usual by foggy, scratched glasses so big they nearly fell off his thin face every time he tilted his head.

There was some dirt under his fingernails, and a most unpleasant expression on his face. David had been most kind over the summer, allowing him to stay at his home. In fact, Jacob had only needed to spend a week at the orphanage, a week in which he returned with a black eye and three broken fingers.

The boys at the Muggle orphanage didn't like Jacob. He was different, even different than the other wizarding children...though he had the ability to manage to nearly disappear in almost every situation, there was an odd sort of feeling about him that made many uncomfortable.

Old wounds had healed, with the help of some (secretly done) magic. He idly wondered where David had gone off to...somewhere, for sure. That was fine, of course...he liked being alone.

Being alone, you couldn't hurt anyone. Being alone, you were able to hurt on the inside without letting anyone see.

*********

Nathan looked at Niki and saw her seemingly dozing off. He thought to himself that she must be very tired after all that had happened in these dreadful holidays and decided to let her sleep.

He shuffled the deck of cards and began to play solitaire for a while until someone quietly entered the compartment - Drake.

"H-hi," he said with a low voice, looking at Niki. "Am I d-disturbing you?"

"No," Nathan replied quietly, "sit down, she's just sleeping. How about Poker?"

Drake sat down opposite to Niki and Nathan and began to play cards with Nathan.

Niki wasn't totally asleep, but it was deliciously comfortable to lean against the soft seat and let the movement of the train lull her into a sort of waking-dream... Dreams. She didn't like dreams. Nightmares, rather. She opened her eyes again, vowing not to fall asleep again until she was in her bed in the dormitory.

She watched Nathan and Drake. She had heard of poker, but didn't really know how to play--cards that didn't explode were new territory, and interesting. "Who's winning?"

"I am," Drake replied smugly, "as u-usual, that idiot th-there j-j-just can't bluff..." He smiled at Niki. "H-how are you? D-do you want t-to join our game?"

"We could play something else, too. Exploding Snap or so if you prefer that," Nathan said quickly with a smile. "Whatever you do, don't play for money with that old cheater."

He searched his pockets and handed a Sickle and two Knuts to Drake.

Drake took the money with a grin. "I'd n-never take money f-from Niki. M-may I say Niki or i-is it Nicola?"

"Only my family call me Nicola, I'd rather Niki," she explained. "Don't stop on account of me--I'm going to see if I can figure out the rules." She grinned. "Or, if you really insist, we could play something else."

"Y-you don't know h-how to play Poker?" Drake gasped.

"That's wizard education for you, Drake," Nathan replied with a grin. "Come on, mylady, we'll teach you, it's a fun game. We could play for... how about Every Flavour Beans?"

He searched his pockets and found a bag, then began to sort them. "Okay, the blue ones are worth one, the green ones five and the red ones ten, that way we'll be able to raise bets quite high... Drake, stop eating my money!"

Drake looked up as innocently as possible and winked at Niki. Then he and Nathan began to explain the basic concept of Poker.

Niki listened attentively, but it was confusing, even for someone who hadn't been raised on a totally different variety of card games. Niki watched the piles of Every Flavour Beans with distrust. Some of the red ones might well be something good, like cinnamon, but they might also be cherry- or (euch) blood-flavored.

"All right," she said after a while, "I'll try. Am I allowed to eat my *own* money?" She grinned at Drake.

"Eat your money if you want to, but then you won't have anything to bet." Nathan grinned. "Let's just try to play, you can eat your money afterwards, okay?"

They started to play with Drake obviously trying not to cheat...

Niki eventually lost, which was not a surprise, although she took longer to do so that she had expected, and was quite pleased with herself. "Beginners' luck," she told the two boys, then sneaked a few beans from each of their piles--to be fair about it--and popped them into her mouth.

The most extraordinary series of expressions crossed her face, ending in a rather twisted smile. "Never try to eat grass, peppermint, sour apple, kiwi, and...something else...couldn't tell what that was...at the same time," she advised.