James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stumbled out of their train car, following the crowd to the carriages. "I thought we were taking the boats again," Sirius stared at the horseless carriages in surprise. "They don't expect us to get anywhere without horses, do they?" he asked as an afterthought.
"They're probably magic. And anyway, the boats are for the 1st years only," Remus explained, climbing into the musty wooden carriage. Reluctantly, the rest of the group followed.
To the surprise of everyone but Remus, the carriages shuddered and rolled forward along the worn dirt path up the side of the mountain on which Hogwarts School rested. The talk as the carriage trudged up the mountain turned to Defense Against The Dark Arts. "Think we'll have a new teacher? I heard a rumor at the end of the year that the job is cursed," James asked casually.
"Maybe. I liked Professor Müller, though. He never gave homework," Peter said, shrugging.
"Wait! What if Dumbledore teaches it?" Sirius asked excitedly.
"Dumbledore is the headmaster. I don't think he's allowed to do that," James reasoned.
"That would be cool," Remus nodded, ignoring James, "He could teach us a bunch of defensive spells. I think that would come in handy."
"You want him to be the teacher so you can learn defensive spells? Are you serious?" James asked Remus.
"No, I'm Sirius. That's Remus," Sirius said, gesturing to himself and then pointing to Remus.
"Are you ok, James? You shouldn't be mixing Sirius and me up," Remus grinned, playing along.
"You know what I mean." At this point, James was trying to contain a smile. Shortly after Remus, Sirius, and Peter were sure that James knew who was who, the carriage clanked to a stop, the door opening of its own accord. The group clambered out of the cart, following the crowd yet again, only this time they were in front of a castle. The castle had spires high as skyscrapers, statues frozen in stone, and lights that gleaned from each window like a jackolantern.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts," Peter said, smiling broadly at the looming towers. "Welcome back."