Peter anxiously clung to his mother as he tried not to get lost in the noisy crowd of people and animals. Honestly, his mother knew even less about this than he did, but having her there was comforting. His little sister held tight to his hand, no doubt just as nervous in the crowd as he was.

It felt like only a few days ago that Peter found out he was a wizard. He could hardly believe that magic existed, much less that he was magic. And yet, here he was, standing on Platform and 3/4 (which sounded ridiculous to him), holding a suitcase, his wand safely in his pocket.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Peter's mom asked. Peter shook his head, and his mom sighed. "Great."

Just then, a boy crashed into Peter, knocking him over. "Oh! I'm sorry!" the boy, holding out a hand to help Peter up and picking up his suitcase with the other.

"It's fine," Peter mumbled, brushing off his clothes. The less people noticed him, the better.

"I'm Lucas! Is this your first year too?" The boy grinned and shook Peter's hand.

"Um, yeah," Peter said. Was he that obvious?

"Cool!" Lucas jumped up and down excitedly. "We can sit together on the train! What house do you want to be sorted in? I hope I get Gryffindor! Harry Potter himself was one, you know," he said seriously, nodding his head.

"Uh..." Peter said awkwardly. Houses? Harry Potter?

"Oh! You're a muggleborn!" Peter must have looked confused, because Lucas quickly added "Non-magic people. Ok, Harry Potter is like the coolest person ever. He defeated You-Know-Who when he was just a baby, and then when he got older he defeated him for real! Like, he killed him! I'll explain who You-Know-Who is later. You know, Harry Potter's son is in our year. How cool is that?" Peter didn't understand any of it, but by the way Lucas was talking he assumed it was a really cool thing.

The train horn sounded, and Lucas jumped. "That's our cue! Time to get on the train."

Peter turned to his mom and sister. "Bye, guys," he said, trying not to cry. He'd never really been away from his mother before. She leaned down to kiss him on the forehead.

"Have a great year. And don't forget to write home!" She smiled sadly, while his little sister hopped up and down, waving.

"Come on!" Lucas grabbed Peter's hand and they ran for the train. They made it on in time, but the compartments all seemed to be filled. Lucas pulled him into one and they sat down. "Hi! I'm Lucas Carter," he said to the two other people sitting there.

"Peter Simmonds," Peter mumbled, looking down. He was getting more nervous with all these new people around.

"Jason McConnell," the boy said. Peter looked up at him. Peter had never really thought about boys being beautiful before, but this was the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. He stared at him, and Jason stared right back.

"Nadia," the girl with dark hair spoke up. "We're twins. But I'm older and better," she snorted.

"Older by like eight minutes," Jason said, taking his gaze off of Peter.

"Eight and a half," Nadia corrected.

"So! What houses are you guys hoping to be sorted into? I hope I get Gryffindor!" Lucas grinned. Peter shifted awkwardly. Gryffindor sounded nice, but it was the only house he knew.

"I think my dad will kill me if I don't get into Slytherin," Jason said. Lucas' grin faded. "It goes back generations. You know, gotta keep the McConnell line running," he sounded like he was joking to try to cover it up. Peter didn't understand.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" Peter turned to Lucas and asked.

Lucas made a face. "We should leave. Purebloods like them don't like to consort with muggleborns like you."

Peter's eyes widened. "Being muggleborn is bad? What are you?"

"Half-blood," Lucas explained. "My mom is magic, but my dad isn't. Purebloods-especially Slytherins-look down on people who aren't pureblood."

"Uh, hey, still here," Jason spoke up. "And not all of us are like that, but thanks for stereotyping."

"Yeah, Jason seems nice," Peter said, blushing.

Jason smiled at him. "Thanks," they looked at each other and made eye contact, then quickly looked away.

The door to the compartment opened. A pretty girl with long hair was standing there. "Have you seen a Matt Lloyd? Short, with brown hair? He said he was getting me some candy a while back and I haven't seen him."

"Probably back where you left the rest of your outfit," Nadia sarcastically. Granted, the girl was wearing a short skirt, but Peter thought the comment was unneccesary. Maybe this was part of the wizarding world.

"You're so funny, Nadia," the pretty girl said, but she wasn't laughing. She flashed a winning smile at Jason and waved. "Hi, Jason."

Alright, so they knew each other. Jason awkwardly smiled back. "Hey, Ivy."

"I sure hope we get sorted into Slytherin together," she said, when a short boy walked behind her. This was most likely Matt Lloyd.

"Ivy! I didn't know what kind of candy you liked, so I just got a lot," he held his arms out, full of different types of strange-looking candy.

"You're so sweet, Matt!" Ivy smiled, and turned to wave. "See you later, Jason!" Then they walked away.

"God, I just love seeing her. What a perfect ray of sunshine," Nadia said sarcastically.

"You must be really confused," Lucas turned to Peter. He nodded.

"So there's four houses. Gryffindor, for the brave! Harry Potter was a Gryffindor. And there's Slytherin, where all the dark, evil wizards are from-" Jason interjected with a mild "hey" "-Ravenclaw, for really smart people, and Hufflepuff, which is just for people who aren't particularly good at anything." Knowing his luck, Peter would get sorted in Hufflepuff.

"We're almost at Hogwarts, better get your robes on," an older student opened the door to say.

Peter gulped. Now he was really terrified.