The scarlet steam engine billowed steam that was thick and gray enough to be mistaken for a storm cloud. From somewhere beneath the steam, a sharp, piercing whistle was heard, and the Hogwarts Express thundered out of Platform 9¾, leaving waving witches and wizards behind.
The witches and wizards who had not been left behind were settling themselves comfortably inside the train. They seated themselves inside their compartments, relaxing as they sunk into the mud-colored cushions, talking with friends.
The last compartment of the train was no different.
This compartment was the Marauders' compartment. It had been for the past six train rides to and from Hogwarts; this year was no different.
The compartment contained four boys, all of whom were talking excitedly, waving their hands around as they spoke.
One of the boys had messy black haired and wore round-rimmed spectacles. He was the most excited of the bunch.
Next to him was another black haired boy. His hair was less messy and he didn't have glasses, but had that been the case, he could have been mistaken as the other's twin. He also was waving his hands around as he spoke amiably.
In the far corners were two other boys; they were much more calm about being back on the Hogwarts Express.
One of the two had just rolled his eyes at what the bespectacled boy had said. He was caramel haired and looked slightly amused, despite the fact that he proceeded to lightly scold the other boy.
The last boy in the compartment was slightly wider than the other three. He was struggling to push his trunk into the hold above.
"Well," the bespectacled boy said happily, "It's fourth year!"
"We know, James. You've only told us that ten times," the other dark haired boy snorted.
"It was only twice before, actually," James said.
"Yeah, sure," the boy grinned.
"Oh, come on, you know I only mentioned it twice."
"Well, mate-"
"Remus, Peter, back me up!" He turned to the other two boys.
"You've mentioned it three times now," the caramel haired boy corrected.
"Aha!" James said triumphantly. "You can't argue with Remus!"
"You were still wrong," the dark haired boy said smugly.
"But I was more right than you!"
"No."
"Yeah."
"No."
"Yeah."
"No-"
"He was closer, Sirius," Remus said.
"Let me have my fun, will you?" Sirius said. "Someone please tell Remus that I should have my fun."
"You should probably let him have his fun," the fourth boy said.
"Thank you, Peter. Unlike these two, you have good judgement."
"You're lecturing us about good judgment?" Remus asked.
"Of course, I'm the responsible one-"
"Yes, we all know that," James said jokingly.
"Well, I'm more responsible than you two, at any rate."
"Really? I thought that was Remus' job."
"Mate, you organized a movement to get a teacher fired-"
"You helped too-"
"and Remus decided it would be a good idea to let ashwinders loose in an office-"
"That was a good idea."
"-and my point is, if I'm not the responsible one, it's Peter."
"Peter decided it would be a good idea to fill the Great Hall with sprinkles," James pointed out. "You unleashed Silly String on us all."
"That's a responsible thing to do."
"No, it's not," Remus sighed.
"I didn't hear you object to it-"
The argument was interrupted by the call of, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
James leapt up and hurried to open the compartment door.
Meanwhile, Peter pulled back down the trunk he had struggled to get in the hold. He turned it on its side as James closed the compartment door, now holding a few brightly colored boxes with the label 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.'
"I'll dare first," Sirius declared as James dumped one of the packages onto the trunk. "Remus, try the green one."
Remus popped a pale green bean into his mouth. "Broccoli. James, try the red one."
James grabbed a red bean in the center of the cluster. "Peppermint. Sirius, the one on the edge."
Sirius screwed up his face. "Liver."
"You know what liver tastes like?" Peter asked.
"Of course I do, my mum loves it. Peter, take that one there."
The game lasted until they ran out of beans, after which they resumed talking.
"Bets about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Sirius said.
"How do you know that Melior left?" James asked.
"It was in the Prophet a few weeks into summer," Remus said grimly.
"My parents haven't let me within a ten foot radius of it," James said.
"With good reason," Sirius muttered quietly.
"What do you mean?" James said.
"Remember at the end of last year, with the Minister and the Mark and whatnot?"
"Of course I do-"
"Well, the Mark was claimed."
"It was?"
"Some group called Death Eaters and their leader- he calls himself Lord Voldemort."
"He revealed himself after another murder," Remus said.
"Let me guess," James said darkly. "He killed Melior."
"He killed Melior's brother or something like that," Remus said in the same tone. "The next day when Voldemort claimed the murder, he also spoke out against Dumbledore. Melior didn't want to get involved with Dumbledore after that. He wanted to keep his nose clean. A few weeks after Voldemort revealed himself, the Prophet suddenly stopped reporting on it. There's been no word on him since."
"So now we're up a psycho murderer and down a D.A.D.A teacher," Sirius summed up.
"Well," James said awkwardly, "I'm betting we won't get another Umbridge, and probably not another Melior... Hopefully a decent teacher…. Hey, maybe Dumbledore will teach us!"
"I doubt that," Remus said, "but that would be very interesting-"
"Interesting?" Sirius said. "Mate, he'd give us lemon pops or whatever those candies he likes are-"
"Lemon drops," Peter corrected.
"Same thing."
The train ride continued without any major problems until it pulled into Hogsmeade's station. Robes donned, the boys hurried off the train, headed for the carriages that would take them up to Hogwarts castle.
They were deep in a conversation about the ways they could use dungbombs when the redhead Lily Evans passed them.
"Oi, Evans!" James called. "Have a good summer?"
Lily turned and gave him a sharp look. "The best part was you not being there."
Sirius and Remus both attempted to surprise chuckles, Sirius failing miserably. He laughed loudly, causing James to turn and glare at him.
"You're supposed to be on my side!" James said.
"I'm on the winning side," Sirius said. "Nice to see you, by the way, Evans."
"Stay on his side, Black," Lily told him. Then she turned to Remus. "I hope that you had a good summer," she said.
"Yeah, it was good. Yours?" Remus said.
"Really nice- I'll tell you about it later, I told Sev I'd catch up with him…." With that, Lily headed off.
James started at Remus open mouthed. "How'd you do that?"
"I just talked to her," Remus shrugged. "Come on, we've got to get a carriage."
The carriages still looked rickety and smelled of must.
"These things are going to break at some point," Sirius said as he clambered into one.
"Hopefully not while we're in it," James said.
Once all four boys had taken seats, the carriage gave a jerk, then pulled forward as though by invisible steeds.
They peered out the window, looking towards the star-filled sky for the spires of Hogwarts. It took a minute before the castle could be seen.
The castle rose above the surrounding terrain, windows glowing with a golden, welcoming light. Towers reached toward the sky as though they could actually touch- for all anyone knew, they did touch.
"Welcome home, mates," Sirius grinned.
At long last the carriages pulled to the gate before the castle and came to a slow halt.
Peter was the first out of the carriage, followed by Sirius, Remus, then James.
They were ushered into the Great Hall by Filch, the caretaker, who scowled at them, cursing under his breath.
"He hasn't changed," James noted.
"He's always been a ray of sunshine," Sirius nodded.
"Yes, for sure," Remus said.
As though it had been a day and not months since they had last sat at the Gryffindor table, they took their seats, waiting for the Sorting.
"Bloody hell," Sirius said, looking toward the staff table. "Look at him!"
James, Remus, and Peter turned.
"Ouch," James said. "Wonder what happened to him?"
The man was scarred horribly, with a chunk of his nose missing. Below the table, he appeared to have what looked like a wooden leg. The most startling thing about his appearance, however, was his eyes. One was small and beady. The other was large and a bright blue, whirring about in its socket.
"I don't know…."
The man took a swig of something from a flask he held in his hand, then turned to say something to Dumbledore, who nodded agreeably.
"He'll be Defense Against the Dark Arts," Remus said.
At this point, a hush had gone over the hall.
Through the large oaken doors at the front of the room was a line of small first year students. They filed in nervously, glancing around and taking in the details of the hall.
One first year pointed to the floating candles in awe. The other first year next to him whispered something back with a smirk.
Leading the first years and carrying the Sorting Hat was McGonagall. She had her hair pulled back in a tight bun beneath her emerald hat, which matched her robes.
As she passed, Sirius winked at her, as was custom.
McGonagall gave him an almost inaudible sigh rather than a wink. At the front of the hall, she placed the Hat upon a three legged stool.
Waiting quietly, the school started at it.
Without further ado, the Sorting Hat opened its brim like a mouth and began to sing.
Hundreds of years past
I was newly sewn,
Made for the purpose of putting you
Where you ought to go.
Should you go with Gryffindor,
Where the brave and bold are prized?
To Ravenclaw,
Home of the witty and the wise?
Perhaps Slytherin would be the place for you,
With ambitions foretold?
Or Hufflepuff,
Where loyalty is valued tenfold?
In four houses I shall split you,
As I have been made to do,
So whether you join cunning Slytherin,
Knowing Ravenclaw,
Daring Gryffindor,
Or hardworking Hufflepuff,
Know that you've been placed well
By me, the Sorting Hat.
There was a chorus of applause, which was quieted quickly by McGonagall, who gave a sharp look about the hall. "Alcott, Kennithe," she said once it was silent.
A pale, sickly girl made her way to the stool.
McGonagall placed the Hat atop her head….
"RAVENCLAW!" the Hat called.
Cheering erupted from the Ravenclaw table on the far side of the hall.
"Astine, Louis."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Berkeley, Jennifer."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
This time it was the Gryffindor table that erupted with cheers.
"Donner, Harvey."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Imig, Jonathan."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"There's a lot of Ravenclaws this year," Peter said.
"Yeah," James said.
"Bet this next one is Ravenclaw," Sirius said.
Remus hissed, "You shouldn't be betting on the Sorting, honestly-"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Nice try, mate. Pay up," James said.
"I didn't actually bet anything," Sirius said.
The Sorting continued for another few minutes before 'Zethes, Hannah' was sorted into Hufflepuff.
McGonagall carried the Hat and stool away, then Dumbledore rose to make his start-of-term speech.
"Welcome," he said, "Welcome back, to many of you. There are a few things I want to say before we begin our excellent feast. The first is a reminder from Mr. Filch that fanged frisbees are not allowed in the corridors, nor is magic. The second is another reminder. Please note that the Forbidden Forest is exactly that- forbidden. The last thing I would like to do is welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alastor Moody." He gestured to the scarred man.
There was some scattered applause.
"Now," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling, "I recommend that you all enjoy the feast as for a good night of sleep for classes tomorrow."
The once empty plates that lined the four house tables suddenly filled with all sorts of food.
"Pass the chicken," Sirius said.
The hall filled with chatter and the clanking of knives and forks as people began to eat.
The meal was enjoyable, and all too soon the last crumbs had vanished from the plates and the students were standing, headed for their dormitories.
"The password is 'doxycide,'" the frizzy haired Gryffindor Prefect informed the group as they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
The portrait swung inward, and the Gryffindors slipped inside.
Rather than lingering in the Common Room like a good fraction of their house, the Marauders went straight to their dormitory.
"Well," Sirius said, looking around the dorm happily, "Let's get this year started."