Harry Potter looked at the boy sitting across from him with the lightning bolt shaped scar. Harry had grown up knowing this boy because Harry's parents were friends with the boy's parents, before they died. Harry had expected most of the kids on the train to recognize the boy. The boy was, after all, Neville Longbottom. Neville was famous for something he couldn't even remember. He was famous for something that happened when he was only one year old, something tragic. Nobody knew why, but on Halloween night, eleven years before, the most powerfully evil wizard of the century, possibly ever, showed up to Neville's parents' house, killing Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, before turning his wand on Neville. For reasons unknown to everyone, the killing curse did not work and instead, killed the Dark Lord.

"Hey, Harry," said Neville. "Did your parents and you find the station alright, then?"

"Yeah, my mom grew up making trips to London a lot with her parents, so she knew where it was. What about you and your Gran? Did you make it alright?"

"Yeah, Gran has a friend who lives a few blocks from the station. So we found it alright."

The boys sat in silence for a while, with the exception of Harry's owl and Neville's frog occasionally hooting and croaking. After about half an hour of near silence, a redheaded boy that Harry vaguely recognized asked to join them in the compartment.

"My older brothers are getting carried away with their pranks, I decided it would be best for me to leave their compartment and find a new one. Do you mind if I join you two in he-" he started to ask, before his eyes fell on Neville's scar and immediately, he turned red in the face and started stuttering and apology. "I- you- I mean- l can find somewhere else…"

"No, it's fine," Neville said, turning red himself, "Please, stay. I don't mind."

The redheaded boy sat down next to Harry. "I'm Ronald Weasley. Everyone calls me Ron, though."

"I'm Harry Potter, and I'm sure you know this is Neville Longbottom."

"Do I know you from somewhere, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I thought you look familiar. I know there is a Weasley that works in my mum's department at the Ministry."

"Oh! Mrs. Lilly! Yeah! My dad talks about her a lot! He's a bit obsessive about Muggles, so he was pretty excited when a Muggle-born started working with him."

The boys talked about what their parents, and in Neville's case, his Gran did for a living. After they extinguished that subject, they moved on to Sorting and what house they hoped to be in.

"I'd like to be a Gryffindor, but my Gran says they'll Sort me into Hufflepuff, for sure."

"That's nonsense, Neville," said Harry. "There's no way you could be put into Hufflepuff. You're much too brave and chivalrous for that lot." Neville turned red, but smiled at Harry's attempt to cheer him up.

"All my family has been in Gryffindor, so I hope that's where I'll be. My older brother, Percy, is a prefect for Gryffindor, so he would disown me if I didn't live up to the family tradition. What about you, Harry?"

"Well, my mum was in Gryffindor and so was my dad. In fact, all of my dad's family was, so I guess that's where I'll be. I just better not be in Slytherin. I think I would rather spend the night in the Forbidden Forest then spend one hour as a Slytherin."

Just as he was finishing his sentence, a good looking, blond haired boy with sharp features opened the door to the compartment and said, "Oh, don't worry, Potter. Slytherin would never accept you. Not when you have a Mudblood for a mother."

"Malfoy, no one asked you, so you can just sod off!" shouted Neville.

"Manners, Longbottom. We wouldn't want you making an enemy of me quite yet. I'll forgive you for shouting, just this once, and I can help you make real friends. You don't have to be friends with a mutt and a…I'm guessing he's a Weasley? Judging by his red hair, and hand-me-down robes."

"I said 'sod off.' Now."

Just as Malfoy opened his mouth to speak again, a plump witch, pushing a trolley of sweets came up behind him. "Excuse me, dears, would you like anything sweet?"

"No, I was just leaving," Malfoy replied with a sneer before shoving past her.

"Well, what about you boys? Would you like anything sweet?"

Ron shook his head and mumbled something about bringing his own lunch and Neville mumbled about his Gran not giving him spending money.

Harry, however, reached into his robe pocket and pulled out enough gold to buy one of everything. Ron looked impressed when Harry handed him some candy.

Just as they were each opening a chocolate frog, a bushy haired girl came in. "Oh, you all must be hungry. But don't ruin your appetite. We must be getting to Hogwarts soon; you'll want to save room for the feast."

"Did you come in here just to badger us about eating too many sweets?" Ron asked, spraying chocolate everywhere.

"No, I came in here to see if you three would mind if I sat with you for the remainder of the ride. Apparently, my blood status got me kicked out of a compartment. The boys were absolutely fine with me until they found out I'm a Muggle-born."

"Let me guess, the boy was a first year, blond hair and pointy chin. And a pointy nose that's so stuck up in the air, he'll drown if it rains?" Ron asked.

"Yes. It was Malfoy," the bushy haired girl replied, trying not to smile. "I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger"

"I'm Harry Potter."

"Ron Weasley."

"Neville Longbottom."

"Oh, my gosh!" Hermione screamed, but so fast it sounded like one word. "I've read about you! You're the one who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Hermione-" Harry cut in, trying to spare Neville's feelings. Harry knew how much his past embarrassed Neville. He didn't like fame.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…bring up something you don't want to talk about. I…I'm just surprised is all!"

About this time, the train started slowing down and the village lights could be seen. The boys all gathered up their trash and stuffed any remaining candy in their pockets.

The train conductor's voice boomed all around them. It wasn't coming from a speaker, but from all around, magically. "You will please leave all trash, animals, trunks and cages on the train. All first years will exit the train first. In ten minutes second threw seventh years will exit the train and find a carriage. First years, please follow directions from the adults once you get off the train."

There was a moment of slight panic where all of the first years tried to surge to the doors of the train. Eventually, however, they all made it off. There was only one adult so Harry figured that was the person he was supposed to be listening to. It was Rubeus Hagrid. Harry's parents were rather close to him and he was easy to spot in the crowd. All of the first years' heads only came up to Hagrid's elbow.

Hagrid instructed them to all get into boats. "No more 'en four ter a boat! No oars, 'cause they're run by magic. All right. All set? FORWARD!" All at once, all of the boats left the shore and glided cleanly over the lake, towards Hogwarts castle.