Dsclaimer: I own Harry Potter. Yeah, right. Only in my wildest dreams.

Harry Potter stepped through Platform 9 ¾ with his two best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. The familiar sight of the scarlet Hogwarts Express belching steam above the crowd of students and parents comforted him as he was greeted by his friends.

"Hello, Harry," Luna Lovegood said as she floated by. "How was your summer?"

"Fine, Luna, thank you," Harry said with a half-hearted smile. "And yours?"

"My father and I went on an expedition to look for Blue-Bellied Nargles," she said.

Ron had difficulty suppressing a snort. Hermione thumped the back of his head and asked, "Did you find any?"

"Oh, no," Luna said dreamily, "but they often disguise themselves as Blibbering Nudders, so I'm not surprised."

At that point Hermione hastily pulled a shaking Ron away from the group, saying, "Well, we've got to get the prefect's compartment, isn't that right, Ronald?"

"I had better get going, Luna," Harry said. "See you later!"

"Bye, Harry," Luna said absently, drifting away.

Harry pulled his trunk onto the train, looking for an empty compartment while students ogled at him. 'Well, at least people now believe me about Voldemort,' he thought. He came to the end of the train, where he reached a compartment that was nearly empty. There was only one girl inside. Harry was pretty sure he had never seen her before. She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, with pretty reddish-brown hair. She was sitting facing towards the window, away from him. Harry entered the compartment.

"Er, hi," he said nervously flattening his hair. She turned towards him and Harry found himself staring at one of the most gorgeous girls he had ever seen. She had the most amazing pair of blue-green eyes. They were a stunning color and were framed by thick, long lashes. She had a slender body that was curvy in all the right places and Harry couldn't help but stare at her long, exposed legs covered by tan, smooth skin. He momentarily lost track of what he was about to say and stared at her until she furrowed her brow in confusion and cleared her throat.

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

Harry shook his head and remembered why he came in here. "Er, everywhere else is full. Is it alright if I sit in here with you?"

"Of course," the girl said, her face breaking into a smile, exposing perfectly straight, even white teeth. She stood up and held at her hand. "Hi, I'm Adele."

"Harry," he said, shaking her hand. Her hand was soft and smooth, but Harry glimpsed ugly reddish scars extending down her forearm and ending on the back of her hand before she shook down her sleeve.

"Uh, is this your first year at Hogwarts?" Harry asked. He had noticed an American accent when Adele had introduced herself.

"Oh, yes!" Adele said. "I transferred from a school in the United States. I'm going into my sixth year."

"Me too," Harry said. There was a slightly uncomfortable silence until Harry asked, "So why did you transfer?"

"My parents moved here for their jobs. They work at the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects," Adele said, laughing at the mouthful.

"Really?" Harry said, "Do you know an Arthur Weasley? He's the head of the division."

"Yeah, he's my mom and dad's boss. He seems like a nice guy. I love his hair!" Adele laughed.

Harry laughed as well before telling her about his relationship with the Weasleys. He told her about Ron as well as Hermione, mentioning that they would be coming in soon. From there, the talk somehow turned to Quidditch, when Harry was floored to learn that Adele was a Chaser for her school team in America. They discussed all ranges of things, from differences between England and the States to classes at Hogwarts. Adele was very easy to talk to and Harry felt that they could become friends, given the chance. He was, however, mystified about her life back home. She had changed the subject when he had brought it up, and Harry didn't want to push, having just met her. Adele was just asking about the library at Hogwarts (Harry suspected her and Hermione would get along just fine) when Ron and Hermione herself walked into the compartment.

"There you are, Harry!" Hermione said exasperatedly, "You had to pick the very end of the train, didn't you?"

"Hey mate, has the lunch trolley come — bloody hell!" Ron said suddenly, his eyes falling on Adele. She blushed but didn't look away from Ron.

"Hello, you must be Ron," she said, holding out her hand. When Ron didn't do anything except stare at her she turned to Hermione. "And you must be Hermione, right?"

Hermione looked at Adele with a confused expression. "Yes, and you are…?" she asked pointedly.

"Oh! I'm Adele. I just transferred from a wizarding school in the United States." Hermione regained her composure and shook Adele's offered hand.

"Nice to meet you," Hermione said politely. They both turned to Ron and saw he was still standing there, staring at Adele.

"Oh, honestly, Ronald!" Hermione said, shaking his arm.

Ron recovered with a start and puffed out his chest. "I am most pleased to make your acquaintance, Adele," he said in a deeper voice than usual.

Adele and Harry barely contained their laughter while Hermione rolled her eyes. "Likewise," Adele said with a poorly concealed grin.

They all sat down and Hermione began questioning Adele about her old school in the States. Ron turned to Harry with wide eyes and mouthed, "Whoa!" Harry grinned at him and nodded. They turned to the girls' conversation.

"What was the curriculum like?" Hermione asked.

"It was much the same as the one at Hogwarts," Adele replied. "We had Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Potions, Astronomy, Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, History of Magic, and Flying."

Harry noticed that one class in particular was missing. "What about Defense Against the Dark Arts?" he asked.

"No, we didn't have any class like that," she responded.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all exchanged glances. They couldn't imagine a school without D.A.D.A. Harry supposed they didn't need it in America; the war against Voldemort had not affected them. 'Yet,' he thought.

"Wait," Ron said, "One of your courses is Flying?"

"Oh, yes, that one's my favorite," Adele said happily.

"What kind of broom do you have?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Well," she said slowly, "I'm not sure if you have it in England yet. It's called a Windracer."

Neither Harry nor Ron recognized the name. But to their utter shock, Hermione gasped, "But that's not even released in America yet! It's just a prototype!"

Harry and Ron stared at Hermione, flabbergasted.

"What?" Hermione snapped. "I read international newspapers. The Windracer is supposed to be the fastest broom in the world. But it's not coming out for another eight months!"

All three shifted their gazes to Adele, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"My brother designed it," she said, shrugging. "And you might want to close your mouth before you catch something in it," she advised Harry and Ron.

Then, a new voice laughed derisively. "Yes, Potty and Weaselbee. Close your mouth before you look stupid. Oh wait, what am I saying? You don't even have enough brains to know they're open!"

Adele was not surprised to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione turn to the newcomers and start glowering at them. The new arrivals, one slim, blonde boy and two huge brutes behind him, did not seem like nice people. In fact, she could feel hackles rise inside her and she felt like growling at them menacingly. 'Calm down, Adele!' she warned herself. 'You don't need that happening again!'

The blonde boy turned to Adele. "I'm Draco Malfoy, and this is Crabbe and Goyle," he said, nodding his head to the mountains behind him. "You don't need to be sitting with these losers. Come join us in our compartment."

Adele looked at him warily before saying, "Thank you, but I'm fine right here."

Draco snorted in disbelief. "You would rather sit with the Chosen One, his flunky, and Miss Know-It-All?"

"Um, yeah," she said bluntly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry and Ron stand up and take out their wands.

"She said she wanted to stay, Malfoy," Harry spit at him. Adele didn't think this was going to end well. She surreptitiously pulled out her wand and whispered a few spells. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle found themselves being shunted into the hallway as the compartment door slammed shut and locked in their faces. Crabbe and Goyle looked around perplexedly while Draco stared at Adele before slinking off.

All four in the compartment burst into laughter. "That was brilliant, 'Mione!" Ron said.

"That wasn't me, Ronald. That was Adele," Hermione said.

"Well, you've certainly cottoned on quickly, then," Harry said to Adele. "Those are some of the worst blokes in the castle. Don't let them ruin Hogwarts for you."

"Bloody Slytherins," Ron muttered.

"Slytherins?" Adele asked.

"There are four Houses at Hogwarts: Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor," Hermione began, getting into her teaching mode.

Harry and Ron tuned her out as she began lecturing. Adele listened attentively, hoping fervently that she was sorted into the same House as Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

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