Platform 9¾ was crowded. Witches and wizards filled each corner of the station.
Among them were four boys.
James was anxious to board the scarlet engine that sat on the rails.
Sirius was already halfway to the train; He had left his parents as quickly as he could.
Remus was in the midst of promising his parents that he would write, stay out of trouble, and as always, keep his secret.
Peter was being reminded that he couldn't spend all of savings on sweets.
As all of this was occurring, the Hogwarts Express gave a puff of grey smoke and a piercing whistle.
James, Remus, and Peter gave their parents quick goodbyes and rushed to the train.
At exactly eleven o'clock, the Hogwarts Express began to inch forward, gaining speed until it was barreling out of Platform 9¾ at breakneck speed.
The last compartment on the train was the Marauders' compartment. That was where the four met up. Its muddy brown cushions and hanging lamp were incredibly familiar to them now.
Sirius was the first in the compartment. He threw his trunk on the overhead shelf and began to wait for the others.
It didn't take long.
Remus came in only minutes after Sirius had arrived, followed shortly by James and Peter.
"Hey!" James greeted them. "Third year!"
"Yeah, it's going to be brilliant," Sirius said excitedly.
"Yeah. We can spend the whole year on pranks, no Umbridge to worry about," James said happily.
"We still have to pass our classes," Remus pointed out. "Minnie won't be happy if we fail."
"And it'll be good to see Minnie," Sirius said. "She's had all summer to rethink her denial, she'll definitely say yes."
Remus snorted. "Good luck with that."
"Thanks, mate. Glad you believe in me."
"Anytime."
"Guess what else is this year?" Peter said. "Hogsmeade!"
"Yeah, but we've already been there," Sirius said.
"Not Three Broomsticks," Peter said.
"Good point."
"We'll be able to go without breaking any rules," Remus said.
"You guys will," Sirius said, "My mum didn't sign the permission form, so it's a good thing we know about that statue."
"Why didn't she sign it?" James asked.
"'Filth of the Earth, blood traitor, disgrace to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black,'" Sirius said in a loud, mocking voice. "Honestly, she's terrible. Getting even worse. She's terrified Regulus is going to join me in Gryffindor."
"Regulus?" Peter asked. "I thought you said he was the favorite."
"He is," Sirius said. "But it would be inconceivable if both Black brothers ended up in Slytherin's rival house. My mum wants to keep at least some of our family reputation."
The conversation slowly moved from Hogsmeade and pranking to the new D.A.D.A teacher.
"Who do you think it'll be?" Remus asked.
"I dunno, hopefully not another toad," Sirius said. "I swear, if we get another teacher that uses those quills, I'm going to make them eat those bloody things."
"I don't think Minnie would let Dumbledore hire someone like that again," Remus said.
"Probably not," James agreed.
Their conversation was interrupted by the expected call of "Anything from the trolley, dears?"
The Marauders grinned. This was one of the best parts of the ride.
Inside the compartment, Peter stood his trunk up like a table while James went to get some wizarding sweets.
"Three Bertie Botts, four pumpkin pasties, and a few chocolate frogs," James told the witch, passing over some money.
The witch nodded and gave him the sweets.
James disappeared back into the compartment.
The boys spread the beans over the trunk so they could see all the colors. Then the game began.
"Peter, try the speckled one there," Remus said.
Peter picked it up and took a nibble off of it. "Coffee, I think. James, try that red one on the edge."
James popped the bean in his mouth. "Cinnamon. Sirius, you have that navy purple one."
"Only if you have the green one." Sirius grabbed the navy bean. "This one is blackberry, by the way."
"This one's terrible, it tastes like lime, you know I hate lime."
"Well, you'll be putting up with the taste loads this year," Sirius said casually.
"Yeah, good point. We'll need to replenish our supply, I threw mine away when we left."
"You won't be replenishing anything until you've read through that entire book," Remus insisted. "I don't want to let you take those sorts of risks on my account, but if you're going to anyway, you at least have to know what you're doing."
James gave him a small grin. "Lighten up, we'll do that when we get the book back. Here, try that pink one in the left corner."
The train ride went smoothly. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. The rolling Scottish hills enveloped the Hogwarts Express for most of the ride, until the large looming mountains that surrounded Hogwarts came into view.
"Almost there," Peter noted.
The sky had darkened to a color not unlike the navy purple bean Sirius had eaten when the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station.
The Marauders joined the flood of people that were leaving the train. The first years followed the call of, "Firs' years this way!" while everyone second year and above rushed to get a carriage to themselves.
The carriages were wooden, rickety, and the inside smelled thickly of must. They were not drawn by a horse, but by what appeared to be thin air.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter managed to clamber into a carriage by themselves. It jolted toward and began wheeling its way up the worn, dirt path.
The spires of Hogwarts rose in the distance, the lights from the castle gave a warm, welcoming glow. Despite the fact that the boys had seen Hogwarts many times before, its magnificence gave them a second of pause.
"It's good to be back," James said after a moment of silence.
"It's good to be home," Sirius said.
The students that had come in the carriages were ushered into the Great Hall, where like clockwork, they settled into their house tables.
"Right there," Remus said, pointing towards the staff table. "That'll be out new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
"Him? Dunno, looks like a good hex could finish him off," James said doubtfully.
"Well, all the other teachers are the same," Peter said.
"Yeah, he'll be D.A.D.A," Sirius said.
The hall quieted as its doors reopened.
Minerva McGonagall led the new students through the center of the room to where a small, three legged stool sat. Upon the stool was a pointed wizards hat, that was practically ancient.
Sirius winked at her as she passed the Marauders.
To his dismay, she did not wink back.
When the first years had made their way to the front of the room, the hat opened at its brim like a mouth and began to sing.
"You will never find
A smarter hat than me.
I will look inside your head
And place you where you ought to be.
Perhaps you shall be Gryffindor,
With the chivalrous and brave.
Perhaps you'll be in Ravenclaw,
Where the witty and wise lay.
If you don't fit, worry not, Hufflepuff might be the place for you.
With loyalty at it's finest, you will never go askew.
Or you could be in Slytherin,
Where cunning and ambition are prized.
Whatever House you happen to be
I'll put you where you fit.
Just put me on and you'll be sure
You've found the Sorting Hat."
The Hall filled with polite applause until McGonagall shot a stern look around the room; The actual sorting had yet to begin.
"When I call your name," McGonagall said, holding up the tattered leather hat, "I will place the Sorting Hat upon your head and it will sort you into your houses. Adams, David."
A small, thin boy stumbled up to the stool.
The Hat gave a minute of consideration before shouting, "RAVENCLAW!"
'Adams, David' made his way to the applauding Ravenclaw Table.
"Allenbach, Simone."
A girl with flaming red hair took her place on the stool.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat called.
The Hufflepuff Table cheered as 'Allenbach, Simone' sat down.
"Black, Regulus."
The Marauders shared a look.
The Great Hall began to whisper. This boy's older brother had broken the tradition of Slytherin- would this boy do the same?
McGonagall silenced the room with her piercing gaze.
Regulus slowly walked towards the stool. He sat and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on him.
The Great Hall grew silent with anticipation.
The Hat took a minute and a half to decide. "SLYTHERIN!"
Regulus made his way to the cheering Slytherins, glancing back over his shoulder.
Sirius gave him a small smile.
Regulus nodded and took a seat.
"Sorry he's not here, mate," James said.
"It's alright," Sirius said. "This way he won't have to deal with anything at home, and anyway, the Hat hesitated. He's not too far gone."
The Sorting Ceremony continued without any problems. At last, Dumbledore stood to make his start-of-term speech.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said. "Welcome back, many of you. There are just a few start of term reminders and announcements I'd like to make. First off, the Dark Forest, or, as some of you call it, the Forbidden Forest is, hence the name, forbidden. Secondly, a new rule has been put in place regarding the use of magical creatures at Hogwarts. I trust many of you remember April Fools Day last year, when our former Professor Umbridge was bombarded by nifflers, which later got loose in Hogwarts. Along with this, a number of Ashwinders set fire to her office. Due to these incidents, the use magical creatures will be confined to our Care of Magical Creatures class."
The Marauders glanced at each other and simultaneously grinned and huffed. Those had been some of their more elaborate pranks, all part of their plan to get Umbridge out of Hogwarts. However, the fact that they couldn't use magical creatures in their pranks took out a number of options.
"I was also asked by our caretaker, Mr. Filch, to remind you that the use of magic, dungbombs, fanged frisbees, along with a number of other things, are not to be used in the corridors. The full list can be found on his office door," Dumbledore said, "Finally, I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor August Melior."
The Great Hall politely applauded.
"And now, the feast."
The platters in the center of the tables filled with food and the hall erupted in chatter.
"Good, I'm starving," Peter said.
"You're usually starving," Sirius said. "But so am I, so I don't blame you. Pass the chicken."
"Here." James gave Sirius the plate of chicken.
"It's been way too long since I've had this chicken," Sirius said.
"It's only been a few months," Remus said.
"Yeah. Way too long to go without this chicken."
The Feast lasted for another hour before the food disappeared from their plates and Dumbledore requested that the Prefects lead students to their dormitories.
The walk to Gryffindor Tower did seem as long as it usually did. They were there within ten minutes, hurrying up the stairs to their dormitory.
The four poster beds were almost exactly as they had left them. The maroon quilts and matching curtains had had the wrinkles ironed out, but other than that, it was the same.
"Well," Remus said, grinning, "We're back."