Morticia was up early and came to breakfast wearing batches of her three favourite Quidditch teams on her robes. She moaned as the timetables were passed out and looked at hers.

"Hmmm... Monday.... Charms, Divination and DADA. Oh, I'd love to do Hidden Talents too! That's unfair!"

She bit into her toast angrily. "Tuesday...Herbology, Alchemy, Creatures. Okay. Wednesday... History... Runes are boring... Duelling could be fun... Thursday... Potions.... oh! Magical languages! That sounds interesting! Friday... WHAT? I can't take both Sport and Magic AND Muggle Studies? Why can't they EVER plan a timetable that fits my interests?" She growled.

Sarah seated at the Ravenclaw table was close enough to hear Morticia's growl. "Morning Tish." she waved and grinned, "It's Muggle Studies and Myth and Folklore that are on at the same time. We all get to do Sport."

She grinned waving her own timetable, "I know Runes aren't the most interesting but good ole Kacirk loves 'em else he wouldn't make it that you have to take them along with Magical Languages! Anyway you did very well in Runes last year."

"Ah, yeah, being able to read should help." Morticia grimaced and started to scribble, making up her timetable.

Drake eagerly went to breakfast. It had been strange to sleep in a room all by himself. It reminded him of being at home with his parents - during all his school years, he's always shared rooms. Sharing rooms meant good things. Sleeping alone meant that you could hear your parents quarrelling and discussing your unnaturalness through the walls...

But of course a teacher, even an assistant teacher, couldn't sleep in the dorms. Maybe things would be better once he'd decorated the small study with the bed in it to which McGonagall had shown him the last evening.

He looked around, hoping to see Nathan, but he didn't seem to be there yet. Ninny Lagrand was busily chatting at the Hufflepuff table.

Then he spotted Morticia at the Slytherin table, who sat there frowning over something which appeared to be the timetables.

He decided to have a short chat with her before approaching the teachers' table and sat down beside her. "B-bad timing?" he asked.

She grimaced and went into a detail description of how Hogwarts was determined to always play games with her and her timetable...

************

Nathaniel had woken to the sound of Tchaikovsky. Hogwarts wasn't all bad.

He gently dislodged the mostly black kitten from its sprawling position on the pillow, curled up at the back of his neck, and stretched slowly with a small smile.

Half an hour later, when Nathaniel arrived in the Great Hall to receive his timetable, he wasn't smiling. It seemed from the other students wandering around that Sunday you didn't have to wear school robes. Which was a good thing, because he'd automatically dressed in his black jeans and a white shirt.

When the - incident - was over, he'd shrugged on his indigo over robe that contained a kitten in the pocket. He found Sarah quite quickly and strode over to her, a discernible air of worry about him. "Raph's in the infirmary." he said without preamble.

"Infirmary!" Sarah looked very upset. "What's wrong with him?"

"Concussion." Nathaniel said flatly. "Found him curled under the bed half an hour ago and couldn't wake him."

"He did hit his head a few times yesterday starting in the Leaky Caldron. I guess that must have been it. Nathaniel, did you have a chance to talk with Madame Pomfrey the School Nurse? He will be OK won't he?" She didn't know much about concussions but expected that Kat would.

"Talk?" Nathaniel snorted a humourless laugh. "If you call being shouted at to get out of the infirmary unless I wanted a concussion of my own talk, then yeah, we talked. Otherwise, no. Quite frankly, I don't have a clue what's happening."

Sarah placed her hand gently on Nathaniel's arm. "I am sure he'll be OK. You mustn't worry too much. Madame Pomfrey can be a little over-protective of patients." said Sarah, "She wouldn't want us all trying to visit if he needs rest. Maybe Kat could find out from her after breakfast just to make sure how he is?"

She looked imploringly at Kat Black.

***********

Taytum shot up her eyes widening as music filled her dorm. She moaned pulling herself out of the bed, her feet dragging slowly towards the bathroom. "Is this how they're gonna wake us up every morning?" she said to herself as she brushed the tangles from her hair. She turned looking at the clock, noticing that breakfast was about to begin.." Yea I’m gett'n real good at this late thing.." she mumbled, looking herself over in the mirror.

She nodded her approval turning to see if the other girls in her dorm were awake yet... She saw that at least two beds are empty - those occupied by Kat Black and Sarah Taverner.

Taytum sighed seeing she was one of the last up. Looking herself over one last time, she turned to head down towards the Great Hall..

Sarah saw Taytum enter and waved her to come over to where they were seated at the Ravenclaw table.

Taytum peered down at her timetable as she walked over toward the Ravenclaw table taking a seat near Sarah. "Good morning.." she said smiling slightly, her eyes still heavy with sleep.

"G'day cobber!" said Sarah trying to make Taytum feel more at home in a foreign culture.

"You look as though you'd have preferred to have had a bit of a lie-in. Have you received your time table? Decided on your optional classes?"

Taytum grinned.. "Is it that obvious?" she asked yawning. "Yea.. I've have my timetable.." she looked down reading it over it again quickly.. " But uhm.. I’m afraid that I'm still sort of at a loss on what to take.."

"Well, I am sure that Kat and myself and the others can help you. What classes do you think you'd like to take?" asked Sarah.

Taytum sat for a moment in thought.. " Well I'd rather not have Arithmancy or Ancient Runes.. but I know I want Myth Folk law.." Her eyes scanned over the list again.. "Do we get 4 free periods?"

"Three" replied Sarah, "There are the 6 core subjects and 5 options but then everyone has to do Sports Afternoon even though there is no exam or testing in it. The Free Periods aren't for just hanging-out - we are supposed to spend them in the library or doing something similar like study groups. There are a few extra-curricular activities as well that are organised. The Noticeboard will tell you about them."

She sighed, "Let's face it though - this is our last day of freedom for a while - they give *so* much homework and with no trips to Hogsmeade well... it can be quite gruelling a schedule. Still we're Ravenclaws we say 'bring it on - we're the brains, we laugh in the face of tons of homework'!"

She helped herself to some breakfast. "So what aspects of magic interests you - not the math and language part eh? Divination? For Alchemy you *have* to have done well at Potions which I did not."

The reality of it all began to sink in quickly as Taytum listened to Sarah.. *Last day of freedom..* she thought to herself, dropping her head to the table.

Sarah smiled at Taytum's dropping her head onto the table. "Hey it's not that bad - I'm being pessimistic. There are the weekends even if we are shut up here - we'll make our own fun I am sure."

"I like anything that’s interactive.. so I think I'll like transfiguration and care of magical creatures pretty well..." Taytum sighed tapping her finger lightly against the table.. " So what do we do in sports anyway?"

Sarah pondered the question the other girl had. "Oh we do jumping and running and sporty stuff and of course Quidditch. I guess another interactive option will be Hidden Talents as I guess that will be practical in some parts. Divination as well but the Professor is a little strange. Duelling is very interactive but Alchemy is all theory."

Taytum smiled slightly, "Well that settles it then.. I'll drop Arithmancy, Myth Folklore, and Astronomy.. then at least I can be up doing something at some point.. Sports sounds fun.. I don’t know about Quidditch though.. I'm not exactly the best on a broom..."she grinned lightly, " But I try.."

She sighed, as her thoughts drifted back towards tomorrow and the beginning of classes... "I guess it'll be alright" she began," This castle is rather large.. there's bound to be tons of places to go.."

Kat was busy contemplating the Quidditch trials as Sarah and Taytum were talking. She had agreed to go and check up with Madame Pomfrey after breakfast on her way to the Quidditch field for practice.

She absently nibbled her toast as she sat at the table. Lessons were another thing she had not decided on yet too.

She sat quietly watching the conversation.

**********

Slightly later than usual Marvo enters the hall and takes a seat at the Gryffindor table.

He looks slightly 'wide eyed' and dishevelled. Like he did not sleep well. He also looks like he is blushing slightly.

He glances up to the Ravenclaw table and blushes deeper, His hand instinctively going for the bacon

"OW!" He flinches as a slight sizzling can be heard from his fingertips. He blows on them and reaches for an orange, looking slightly annoyed.

Kat smiled at Marvo as he came into the Great hall. It was quite strange for him to be blushing. She wondered what trouble he had been getting himself into this time. She was sure she would find out

though.

***********

To my honoured uncle,

I have arrived safely at Hogwarts School last night. After the Qiao-yuan transported me to Diagon Alley of London, I was met by students from the school and they have been kind to assist me in getting all my implements.

We journeyed to Hogwarts by train. There was an incident involving foreign wizards, ninjas. They belonged to a Japanese clan called Kossawa. Is the name not familiar to you? I am certain Mian-Ju-Tao may have encountered them in the past.

My Sorting was uneventful. The Hat placed me in Gryffindor. I hope to do well in the House of the Warrior Wizard in my time at Hogwarts School.

I remain,
Jian

Jian Hupi finished writing the letter and rolled it, then took it over to a large tawny owl. He tied it to the owl's leg, assessing the animal's strength. The owl seemed to be strong enough to complete a journey to China.

"May Buddha watch over your journey, my friend," he murmured as he watched the owl fly away from one of the Owlery's round windows. He had already fulfilled his promise to write to his uncle that he had safely made it to Hogwarts.

He had wisely omitted mentioning that the Qiao-yuan had been confiscated by Professor Snape. No one else would be able to use it, anyway. Not with another person who was not aware of the proper ways to activate it. It was old Mian-Ju-Tao magic.

Jian brushed some dust off his black robes and gathered up his quill, pen and parchment. Judging by the location of the sun it was breakfast time already.

He was hungry and a little off-balance. He had not been able to sleep properly the night before, with the new surroundings and the series of events that had taken place earlier. He began to have doubts if he could really cope with the new culture and all the students who seemed to have been raised in an entirely different world compared to his own.

//Patience,// he told himself, //patience. Everything will be well with time. Your uncle survived it. There is no reason you could not.//

He shook his head to try to clear away the cobwebs of sleepiness and stress, then began to walk back downstairs to the Great Hall.

*************

Jacob was looking particularly serious as he joined his fellow Ravenclaws. His glasses were just as scratched up as ever, and looked as though they had been battered quite thoroughly over the summer. His eyes, almost hidden by the foggy quality of the glasses, were unusually perceptive.

"Good morning." He said to the table in such a melancholy voice, he could have been at a funeral. "I hope we are all well."

His hands, such pale ones with the think blue veins that spread in all directions, were neatly folded in his lap. His tattered robes were fraying at the edges, but he never noticed that anymore. The saddening, serious mood about him tended to quiet the other Ravenclaws, and several of the First Years had already learned to dread sitting near him.

The orphan boy had his moments, of course. Over the summer he had experienced something rather like a growth spurt, and was nearly over six feet tall. He seemed to have stretched out rather than grown, for instead of gaining weight, he appeared to have lost even more. He was nearly a walking skeleton, and made no move to touch his breakfast.

Kat looked up at Jacob as he joined them. "Morning. I am well, thank-you. How are you? Holiday's not too bad I hope."

Jacob gravely pushed his glasses back up his nose. They were so large for his thin face, they looked extremely out of place.

"They were much more pleasant than what I am accustomed to. I spent most of the time with David, at his residence."

Kat look pleasantly surprised. "That's good. I didn't realise you two were good friends. I always thought you the quiet type. Still more fun to have time with friends."

Out of politeness, he inclined his head slightly. "How were your holidays?"

"I had quite a nice holiday. Spent quite a lot of time with my brother and with Marvo. Even met up with Nimue at one point. It's nice to be back with all my friends now though."

"Yes, and back to school work." A sigh that was somewhat happy brought him stares from the Second Years seated across the table. A vague half-smile toyed around his lips. Ah, work. He did like work...so refreshing, it really was...

"I never thought I would miss it this much. Funny, hmm?" He turned away from Kat without waiting for a reply, and sipped gingerly at a glass of water.

Taytum picked silently at her food, listening quietly to the conversations going on around her. A look of thoughtful concentratoin fell upon her face as she thought about what she was going to do today...

Her eyes scanned over the table slowly, stopping on Jacob. She looked at him curiously,a friendly smile falling upon her face.. "Hi, I'm Taytum."

Jacob looks up very seriously from his water, and puts it down soundlessly. He blinks from behind his scratched-up glasses, and silently muses to himself for a moment before answering.

"Hello, Taytum." He says solemnly, in a low voice that sounds as though his mother's just died. Well, to him she might as well be dead, but that's besides the point. "My name is Jacob."

He holds out a pale hand to shake with her, not joking in the least with this formality.

"Hello Jacob." she replied, shaking his hand lightly from across the table. "Its a pleasure.."

She sat back for a moment, her chin resting lightly on her hands as she studied him thoughtfully. "Are you from around here?" she asked trying to make friendly conversation..

************

Randal had finished his report early this morning. He carefully tied it to Shadow's leg and began a note to Dumbledore, watching the little Merlin fly away as he picked up the quill.

He had decided that he had to report to the Ministry the information that he had found out in relation to Shinrei. She had been quite busy yesterday really, Randal reflected. First the train and then the meeting that he had with her. However he also felt that Dumbledore needed to be aware of Shinrei's behaviour.

Randal looked thoughtfully at what he had written so far, and then continued.

... so I believed that I should inform you of my discussion with the young lady last night. She has confessed to using the secret chamber in the dungeons on a regular basis to escape Hogwarts. She has also admitted that she makes her own remedies and potions.

I feel the main thing to tell you is that evidence would tend to suggest that she has been using her remedies on other students. I am not sure of the nature of the remedies she has used, but she did mention some names of people that she had given them to.

I did caution her in her use of some of the ingredient remains that I found on the floor of the chamber at the end of last term. I have included a list of the herbs and other ingredients that I have been able to identify below...

He continued the note with a few observations that he had made on some of the newer students that he thought the headmaster might find of interest. He signed the letter and sealed it. Then he performed a translocation spell on it. It was a high level spell that normally 4^th years would not know, but of course the training had covered it. The letter would appear in the air in front of Dumbledore.

All he could do now was trust Dumbledore, and probably Madame Pomfrey to deal with Shinrei.

He stood up and stretched. Then he headed down to breakfast, glancing at the Ravenclaw table as he sat down at the Slytherin table.