John Martin walked into Union station in Los Angeles, California. He is eleven years old and had recently been accepted into a school for witches and wizards outside of Salem, Massachusetts. He and his mother, Mary Martin, walked up to the barrier separating platforms 7 and 8 and they walked through the wall. When they reached the other side they saw a large silver train and hundreds if not thousands of students and parents.

"Mom, are these kids from all across the country?" asked John

"Yes, but they've all come from different cities and towns," said Mary.

"But how...?" asked John

"Magic," said Mary, "Now go or you will be late."

John Martin hurried onto the train and quickly sat with his two best friends.

Ryan Gianni was a pure -blooded wizard as was John, but Ryan's family members were all considered blood traitors because they were among the first to rebel against the oppressive pure-blooded regime which had lasted up until seven years ago. Brian Maggio was half blooded. His mother was muggle-born and his father was wizard, but his parents had died when Brian was around a year old. They were tortured to death by dark wizards who had worked for the old government. Brian now lived with his elderly grandmother. John had lived with his mother since he was around four years old. His father and his uncle were the leaders of a group of wizards who had attacked the old government's headquarters. That attack finally brought down the oppressive regime, but his father and his uncle had died in the process. It was rumored that they had killed about a dozen dark wizards before they were killed. John's father and uncle were now remembered as heroes.

John sat down and asked, "What's up?"

Ryan replied, "Nothing much, my mom told me not to piss off the teachers cuz I could mess up my family's reputation."

"Ha-ha, the only reputation I've heard about is your family being called a bunch of blood traitors." said Brian.

Ryan turned his head and shot Brian an evil look. Brian saw this and hastily apologized.

John tried to break the unnerving silence and turned to Brian, "What about you? What did you do this summer?"

"I tried to teach myself some easy spells," replied Brian

Ryan laughed, "Why the hell are you such a nerd."

Suddenly, the compartment door opened and small slender boy with brown hair and brown eyes stepped in.

"Hello! My name is Daniel Gold. Can I please sit in here, I have no where else to stay."

Brian turned his head to look at him and said, "Of course you can sit with us, Danny."

As Danny sat down, John asked, "What's your story, Danny."

Daniel turned to John, "I'm a muggle-born. A teacher came to my house over the summer to explain all about magic. I was really excited to meet other wizards, but as soon as I got here I started getting chased by a couple of boys who called themselves pure- bloods."

When Danny had finished speaking the door to the compartment flew open and there stood a rather brutish looking boy, He had long black hair and pale skin.

John stood up and said, "Mason, get the hell out of my compartment."

"Are you blood traitors helping the mudblood?' asked Mason.

Ryan stood up, "Don't call him a mudblood."

Mason laughed and started walking toward Danny. Brian saw this and stood up. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Mason's chest.

Expelliarmus

Mason flew out of the compartment. John walked to the compartment door and closed it.

"Who is that guy," asked Danny.

"He's a pure-blood," replied John, " His family, the Black family, supported the old government. My family and his family hate each other."

"You will be meeting many more people like him as soon as we reach the school," said Ryan.

The boys spent the rest of journey sharing stories of what they had done over the summer. When the train stopped they got of the bus and were met by an elderly looking witch named Professor Rose Green. She directed the first years to follow her. The school looked like a huge manor. It was bigger than any house John had ever seen and the grounds extended for acres. There was a lake and a river and hundreds of trees. It was probably one of the most beautiful sights John had ever seen.

John and his fellow first years followed Professor Green through the large front doors and into the entrance hall. She explained to them that students are divided into groups of four. she explained that students are allowed to pick who is in there group of four because they would be spending seven years together as roommates. After she had explained this to them Professor Green asked the first years to follow her into the great hall. The great hall was a huge room with seven tables for all seven years and the staff table. John sat with the rest of his fellow first years.