The girl walked along the edge of the platform, her steps echoing in the darkness of the tunnel. She sighed and retrieved her cell phone yet again to check the time. 9:50. she wasn't to terribly earlier like she normally was, and she found herself being thankful she wouldn't have to wait as long as usual, not because of the waiting, waiting never bothered her. It was where she had to wait that was making her unusually anxious. Not only was the tunnel poorly lit, but it was silent. It was the kind of silence that made your ears ring. This is what bothered her, the lonely silence that filled the air. Her mind would wonder and think about all of the awful things that did, could, and would happen when she was amerced in dark silence. It'd been that way since she was a small child, her mother always made sure to keep a fan on for her at night to keep the thoughts away that usually brought dreadful nightmares.

"Mother..." the girl caught herself murmuring involuntarily.

The girl quickly pushed all memories concerning her mother into the deepest part of her mind. She didn't want to remember her. Her once lovely face that had grown older prematurely from fighting illness, twisted in a mixture of grief and disappointment.

For a split second the girl considered calling her mother, but realized that wouldn't be possibly at this point. There was no cell phone service in the tunnel, and doubted she wouldn't be having for the next few years. If she really wanted to make a call she would have to go back into King's Station, which was out of the question. She slipped the phone back into her pocket, deciding to write her mother a letter once she got to Hogwarts. Even if she refused to read, the very presence of a letter would be proof that she was still alive, and there for must be surviving. And that's really all she cared about at this point.

The girl was jolted from her thoughts by the unmistakable sound of a train whistle. She looked towards the sound and saw the red, black, and gold locomotive pulling matching train cars. The train was still moving with too much speed to make a proper stop at the platform, the girl thought. She had never ridden a locomotive pulled train, but she had taken the subway a lot back home to get around, which was a train, just underground. But the train did stop perfectly in place, without slowing down from its current speed. She stood in bewilderment for a moment or two before it registered that she was somewhere that one didn't have to hide their magic abilities in fear of being spotted by muggles. She was not accustomed to this level of freedom. She had lived in New York City since she was eleven. She and her mother had moved when they learned she had been accepted into the American school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The schools founders had built the school on the outskirts of New York, this was to aid in teaching young witches and wizards to blend in and live among muggles, as many American magic users did. Needless to say she was still not use to the idea of all people not keeping a low profile at all times.

As soon as she snapped out of her state of awe, she quickly regained her calm, collected mood and wheeled the cart in front of the first train car. Stenciled old fashion English letters in shining silver on the side was "Hogwarts Express." She took a deep breath and knocked loudly on the car's door. Almost immediately the door swung open, revealing a man of average height who appeared to be in his late twenties. He was wearing a navy blue jump suit with the name 'Earl' poorly embroidered on his breast pocket. Earl scratched his head in confusion. "Are you attending Hogwarts this year?"

"Indeed I am."

"I don't remember you riding before, what year are you in?"

"I'm a 6th year."

"I definitely would have remembered a character like you riding six years in a row."

The girl narrowed her eyes at the word 'character'. The man didn't seem to notice this.

"You do look oddly familiar though, what's your name?" The man asked.

"Scarlet Boragaurd."

The man's eyes went wide. "Are you really?"

"The one and only."

The man stared at her blankly for a few seconds, and Scarlet simply stared back. The man broke their stare and began to rummage around in his pockets obviously looking for something. As he was looking he kept glancing back up at her as if he expected her to commit some malicious act while he wasn't looking. Finally he found what he was looking for, a small crumpled piece of parchment that had become torn and stained while in the man's pocket. Then man raised his head to look at the girl dead on once more.

" , due to the circumstances of your transfer from the American institute of Witchcraft and Sorcery to Hogwarts, You will have some restrictions placed on you on this train." There was a clear hint of nervousness in his voice.

"And what are these restrictions?"

"You will be escorted to a personal sitting area with a small water closet located inside, as soon as you are in you will not be permitted to leave it for any reason unless you are instructed to do so, or in the case of a life threatening emergency, because of these restrictions you are also not permitted to buy candy from the trolley lady."

Scarlet stared at him for a few seconds. "Ok I understand the whole not leaving my compartment thing and all, but that last one about buying candy seems a bit ridiculous? Not to mention it's a bit random. I mean, I'm completely broke so I couldn't really get candy in the first place, but the fact I'm not allowed to buy candy as a punishment of sorts is a bit of an odd punishment."

"Hey I don't make the rules, if it was up to me you'd be locked up in that American Azkaban ." The man responded.

"American Azkaban….Oh, you mean Alcatraz."

"Yes, that one, like I was saying if it was up to me, you'd be locked away there like you deserve."

"Sir, I do believe I redeemed myself enough to warrant some respect."

"You think you've earned respect?"

"Yes, I switched over the white side of the playing field when I realized what they were planning."

"Are you sure you weren't just a spurned lover out for revenge?" The man said in a hushed voice.

Scarlet gave the man before a long hard stare. The man glared back. Neither broke the intense stare off till they both heard other people coming onto the platform. "Well let's get you inside , wouldn't want to expose the younger students and their guardians to a criminal." The man stepped out of the doorway and ushered her in with a sarcastic smile.

She narrowed her eyes and turned to the cart and picked up a small, trendy backpack that some women opted to carry instead of a purse, it looked out of place in her arms. She was wearing cheap worn out black pants and a white sleevless blouse, that had been crisp white when first bought but was now a light tan color, that she had bought for 75 cents at a garage sale. An on looker might come to the conclusion that she had stolen it and was planning to sell it for drug money. But it was hers, he mother had given it to her for Christmas last year. She had hated it at first because of the pastel pink and blue stripes, but now she treasured it, even if she found the colors distasteful. She reached down and retrieved a bigger item, a large leather acustic guitar case that showed years of wear and tear

Scarlet stepped inside the car and caught the man looking at her bag suspiciously. "Don't get your panties in a knot, my school uniforms in this" She motioned to her back pack with her head. "And this stays with me at all times during transit." She added raising the case up a bit.

She could tell he was about to protest. "Ah ah ah" She said quickly. "You read me the rules I have to follow, there were none about bringing personal items on board with me."

The man gave her an angry glare and was about to protest, but he realized arguing was pointless. There were no rules restricting her freedom to bring luggage into the room with her. He irritably led the girl to where she would have to remain for the next few hours.