Eleven year old Hermione Granger, in preparation for her upcoming term at Hogwarts, had read all three books on the school that she'd managed to convince her parents to buy her. Her favorite had been Hogwarts: A History, since it had given the best in depth description of each house, beyond their name. In fact, she'd read Hogwarts: A History twice, once over summer break, and once on the train to school. Unlike most of her fellow first year students, she hadn't known anyone when she got on to the train, so she took the time to enjoy her book, even though it was the second time through.

She loved the descriptions of each of the houses, clever, witty, kind and brave. Ravenclaw seemed like a good match, with her love of books and learning, but Gryffindor sounded the best to her. The home of the brave, and loyal, it'd sounded so romantic when she'd read through the chapter on Godric Gryffindor. She was so wrapped up in her imaginings of Gryffindor dorms, she didn't notice anyone enter her compartment.

"Mind if we sit here?" one of the two boys who'd suddenly appeared asked, making Hermione jump a bit. She looked up from her book, and tried to smile, even though she was thoroughly startled.

"Sure," she said, as she got a good look at them. They appeared to be first years, like herself. One was pale, had slicked back white-blond hair and wore a haughty smirk. The other one had sandy brown hair, a more olive complexion, and smiled a bit more earnestly. "I'm Hermione Granger," she offered.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," the blond one said, as though she should recognize his name. She didn't exactly, but it did sound familiar. "And this is Theodore Nott." He vaguely reference the boy beside him.

"Hello," she'd said brightly, and prepared to return to her book.

"You must have been raised in the muggle world," Draco noted, studying her face carefully.

"Well spotted. I'm muggle-born," she'd told him, remembering the term from some of her research over the summer. "I must be way behind everyone else, so I practiced a bit over the summer." Theodore raised an eyebrow at her.

"You did magic over the summer? Under-aged wizards aren't allowed to use magic," he said.

"I remember reading that, but I didn't do it in front of any muggles. The Ministry doesn't care as long as it's not big magic, and it's not seen by muggles," she told them. "Your parents would punish you if they found out, because they know you're not supposed to. My parents don't know anything about the Wizarding world." Draco nodded, looking a little impressed.

"You'd be good in Slytherin. Too bad the Hat never sorts in muggle-borns," Draco said. "It's generally for their own safety. No one likes a-" A boy pulled open the door to the compartment.

"Has anyone seen a toad?" the boy asked.

The two boys she'd been talking to volunteered her to help the poor boy, named Neville, find his toad. Though she had gotten something good out of her efforts; she got to meet Harry Potter. He'd come up in Notable Wizards of the Twentieth Century. She was glad she'd changed into her robes before the boys had joined her in her compartment, as by the time Neville had his toad back, the train was starting to slow down and stop. She'd gotten in a boat with Harry and Neville, as well as Ron, the red haired boy who'd sat in Harry's compartment on the train. The ride across the lake had been breathtaking, especially with her first view of Hogwarts castle.