IMPORTANT A/N This is the updated version of my story. There have been a few cosmetic changes to old chapters with the assistance of amazing reviews and feedback from readers like you! For a list of changes please see my profile page, as I don't want to clutter up the story with tedious author's notes. Thanks to my amazing beta, TwilightMoonbeams, you should check out her stories. Any remaining mistakes are mine after I messed around a bit more.


The Hogwarts Express was picking up speed. Lily Luna Potter stuck her head out of a window and watched Platform 9¾ recede into the distance. She waved frantically, laughing as her hair whipped past her face. Finally she was off to Hogwarts!

"Come along now everyone, back inside the train! You, stop hanging out of the window!"

Prefects were marching up and down the train bossing everyone around. Lily waved one last time at the distant image of the Platform and then slide back inside the train. The window rattled closed automatically. A shimmering blue light emanated from the glass and then faded. Fascinated, Lily ran her hand around the metallic frame. She pressed her hand to the window and concentrated, hard, until she felt a tingling sensation spread across her palm. But it was difficult to tell if that was the effect of a spell, or just her imagination.

"What are you doing?" Hugo asked.

"I think its some sort of Shield Charm," Lily said, "Didn't you see?"

Hugo nodded. "Sure I did. Pretty normal. Do you know your hair is a right mess?"

"You're as bad as Mummy," Lily rolled her eyes as she dragged her fingers through her hair. "Better?"

"Not really."

"Great! Let's find a compartment! Oh, I'm so excited!"

"Aren't you going to find your brother?" Hugo asked.

"James? As if! Come on, let's go!"

Lily, Hugo, and Gideon walked down the corridor of the train. Lily loved the increased noise of the engines, a warm hum of speed and power, when they exited one carriage of the train and entered another. Hugo slowed them down. He had to balance Athena's cage against his chest. Most of the forward compartments were already full. An annoyed Prefect told them to get a move on after they stopped to catch their breath halfway down the train. A second later, Hugo was knocked over by three giggling girls who were running up the corridor reminiscing ecstatically about last year's Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match. "Oh, I hope James Potter is this way!"

Hugo tumbled to the deck and Athena started shrieking as her cage toppled over, wings beating against the bars. "Watch it!" Lily called after them angrily as she collected Athena and righted the cage.

"S'okay," Hugo said, winded, as Gideon hauled him to his feet.

Lily snorted, "Prats."

In one compartment was Cormac McLaggen Junior and his friends, all of whom were starting their First Year just like Lily, Hugo, and Gideon. Cormac was the younger brother of James' best friend Tiberius. They were both awful in Lily's opinion, and Lily didn't want to sit with him, so they moved on.

By this point Hugo was breathing hard. "There must be an empty one soon!"

There was, almost two-thirds of the way down the train. Lily slid open a door and pushed inside. "Finally!"

Hugo hung Athena's cage from a hook overhead and they all sat down. Lily curled up in the corner by the window, tucking her feet under her. At Wiz-Speed, the English countryside was a blur of green and yellow fields and the occasional blur of grey and red from buildings before they rushed past and out into the country again.

Lily pressed her nose to the window. "Look at how fast we're going!"

Her flickering reflection was that of a heart-shaped face, creamy skin, a button nose, and wide brown eyes. Lily grinned at the window.

Suddenly, the door to their compartment slid open and another girl appeared. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know this compartment was full."

Lily looked the short girl over. "Come in, you look knackered."

The girl did look tired. She struggled to drag her trunk through the door. The door slapped shut behind her. Gideon and Lily had to lift her trunk into the overhead bin for her.

"I am Grace Li. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Grace Li had a posh accent, straight dark hair that fell just below her ears, a round mouth, and big black eyes. She was sweating a little. She already wore her black wizard robes over her grey Hogwarts uniform. The only thing missing was her house tie and coloured trim.

They all introduced themselves as Grace sat down next to Gideon and smoothed her skirt over her knees. "I have heard of you, of course," she said to Lily, "You are the daughter of the great Harry Potter."

Lily smothered a grin and said in a serious tone, "Daddy is kind of famous."

Grace nodded. "We had wizards in Hong Kong that agreed with the Dark Lord. My father always spoke highly of Harry Potter."

"The Dark Lord?" Lily frowned, "You mean Voldemort?"

Grace winced.

"He's dead you know," Gideon said.

Grace shuddered, "Well, names have power even when those that had them are dead."

Lily laughed. "I don't think Voldemort is coming back. And if he did, Daddy would stop him again."

Grace frowned. "I don't know if that is the point."

Lily scowled. There was a sudden chill in the conversation. Gideon coughed.

"Uh, what House do you think you're going to be in, Grace?" Hugo said to defuse the tension.

"I don't know. I don't know much about the houses," Grace said stiffly.

"It's simple enough," Hugo said, "There's Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. Ravenclaw is for those who like learning and are really smart—"

Lily snorted. "Except for Aunt Hermione. Aunt Hermione is the smartest witch ever, and she's a Gryffindor."

"Yeah," Hugo said, "Mind you, Mum always said that it doesn't matter what House you're sorted into. What you do is important."

"Well, it doesn't really matter," Lily said, "I'm a Gryffindor."

Grace frowned. "And what is special about Gryffindor?"

"Gryffindor's are about courage and honor and bravery and loyalty," Lily said breathlessly, "Gryffindor is the best."

Gideon and Hugo were looking at her. Lily went pink.

Grace nodded slowly. "And what about Hufflepuff?"

"The loyal and hardworking." Gideon said.

"Then that leaves Slytherin?"

"Slytherin is where all the Dark Wizards come from, who wants to be in a House like that?" Lily said dismissively.

The compartment went quiet.

"My mother was in Slytherin," Gideon said.

Lily scowled, "Well...I..."

Gideon looked a little angry. "Slytherin has a bad reputation, but it's not all bad, Lily!"

"I don't understand," Grace frowned, "What's so bad about Slytherin?"

Gideon looked pointedly at Lily. "Yeah, what's so bad about it, Lily?"

Lily blushed. "Well, it's the House for people who are ambitious. And that seems to mean they use the Dark Arts. Like, a lot."

"My Dad says every wizard that ever went over to the Dark Arts was in Slytherin," Hugo said tremulously.

Grace gave a tiny laugh. "That can't be right. In Hong Kong there were warlocks who never even heard of Hogwarts."

Gideon laughed, "See?"

Lily shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, yeah, maybe."

The Potter family had argued extensively over Slytherin. Lily wasn't supposed to know but she wasn't stupid and she had ears. While Lily's father had defended Slytherin's reputation and rehabilitation, Lily's mother had been more reluctant, and Uncle Ron was absolutely convinced that Draco Malfoy and all his "Slytherin friends" were liars and snakes. But Lily didn't want to fight with Gideon, he was her cousin. So Lily bit her lip and said, "I'm sure there are some decent people in Slytherin. Like your mother."

Gideon rolled his eyes, "Thanks a lot."

Lily tossed her head, "Look it doesn't really matter! We're all going to be Gryffindor anyways."

Before anyone could say anything else the door slid open with a clatter. "Luggages for the childrens, Misses Potter and Li, Misters Weasley?"

A House-elf porter squeaked and looked up from a scrap of parchment, "That be yous, sirs and misses?"

"That's us, thanks," Lily said.

The House Elf was a diminutive grey-green creature with enormous yellow eyes set in a wrinkled, shriveled face. White hair emerged in two explosions from his bat-like ears, each of which had several strands of white hair at the tips. He wore a smart red and black uniform, white gloves, polished black shoes, and a small golden pillbox hat. The House Elf smiled, revealing a lot of missing teeth, and snapped his fingers. Their luggage appeared in their compartment with a crack. "This is just for yours uniforms, sirs and misses, just leaves it in in the binses and we's will bring it up to the castle, yes we wills."

"Thanks," Lily beamed, "You're the best!"

Hugo had turned pink, "My, uh, my mum gave this...for me to give to you..."

Hugo rummaged in his pocket and emerged with a silver sickle that he handed to the elf, who beamed toothlessly and tipped his hat, "Thankses very muchs, sir."

"It's nothing..." Hugo flushed. "Thanks."

Lily goggled at Hugo as the House Elf continued down the train. "What was that all about?"

"It's my mum," Hugo sighed.

"They're paid, aren't they?" Lily wrinkled her nose.

"Little extra can't hurt, Lily," Gideon smiled. "That was nice of your mum, Hugo."

Grace sniffed. "It is so strange seeing House Elfs in clothes."

"I know," Lily nodded, "Kreacher only wears towels and pillow cases!"

The door clattered open once again, and this time it was a young witch in a bright red and blue Honeydulkes uniform pushing a cart piled with goodies and sweets. "Something from the cart?" she said cheerily.

Gideon and Hugo were staring and seemed struck dumb by the spread of sweets; Lily tossed her hair and grinned. "Yes, please."

Lily ended up with one of everything: cauldron cakes, ginger newts, jelly slugs, licorice wands, and even ice mice. Lily avoided the Peppermint Potters. "Those seem a bit cannibalistic," Lily said, then she bit the head off of a squirming ginger newt before it could escape.

Hugo examined the cart longingly for a minute and then bought a Cornish pastie and a pumpkin fizz with a sigh. Gideon doled out a few knuts for a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans.

He inspected a brown bean and then popped it in his mouth and chewed. "Great," he said thickly, "Salted Slug."

Lily giggled and then choked a bit on a cauldron cake.

Grace had purchased a small pumpkin pastie and was still inspecting it dubiously.

"They're good," Hugo reassured her, "I missed them terribly when I was in the Colonies."

"The Col'nies!" Lily said through a mouthful of sticky jelly, "Wha's ee' 'ike?"

"They don't call it that over there, you know, it's called the Union," Hugo said nervously as everyone looked at him, "They'r a bit different. A lot of different food. I didn't go out much to tell you the truth. Dad even took Rose back to Britain for Quidditch Camp and I couldn't go out on my own."

"But you were there all summer, Hugo!" Lily pouted, "You didn't even come for my birthday!"

"Sorry, my mum was really busy." Hugo hung his head, "It's quite a trip, you know. But we just stayed at home. I couldn't even go to the day school."

"What is day school?" Grace asked.

"Some American wizards do it," Hugo said. "Where you go to classes during the day, right, and then go home straight after."

Everyone stared at Hugo, flabbergasted at the thought of 'day school.'

"So you learned school magic already? That's not fair!" Lily demanded.

Hugo's ears were burning and his neck was flushed, "No, Mum pulled me out of school," he said shortly.

"But what about your Father and Mother? Didn't they teach you?" Grace shuddered.

"Mum was working all the time and Dad was always in London." Hugo looked away.

Lily bit down her next question. Hugo looked sad; Lily accepted that he, like her, had been taught only the most rudimentary control over her impulsive magical outbursts. That was all that was expected of Wizarding parents. Anything more was frowned upon—as well as being quite difficult. Kreacher had taught her some Maths and Grammar and cooking and things, but that was all. Lily wished there were day schools in Britain, then she could have learnt even more! Of course, Lily had already snuck a few looks at her brother's books, but that wasn't the same, you couldn't do the fun stuff with wands. Lily wanted to ask Hugo about all that he had learnt in his short time in "day school." But she decided to talk to him later. It looked like he needed a moment to collect himself. Lily changed the subject.

"Well then." Lily said, "What about you, Grace? There's no day school in Hong Kong, either?"

"Of course not. And I lived in London half of the time, anyways."

"Why do you move around?" Hugo wondered.

"My father is Special Representative for Hong Kong," Grace said proudly.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"He is in charge of all the wizarding business going in and out of Hong Kong," Grace said, "He runs the British Ministry there."

Lily was a little impressed. "That's cool, I guess."

"I grew up all over the place too," Gideon said. "Mainly Romania, though. Mum works for the Confederation there and Dad works at the dragon sanctuary."

"That's so cool!" Lily gasped.

Gideon grinned. "Dad lets us come to work sometimes. But the Romanian wizards just don't understand teatime, and they have the worst biscuits."

Everyone laughed.

Lily, Grace, Hugo, and Gideon traded sweets and stories as the Hogwarts Express sped north. The new Wiz-Speed line stopped in York to pick up more students. The whole train shook and poorly secured luggage fell from the overhead bins. Athena woke up and screeched in annoyance, flapping her wings against the sides of her cage, and Hugo had to settle her down. The Prefects marched up and down the train, getting the new arrivals settled. Lily was really annoyed at all the students sticking their heads in and then slamming the door. Lily eventually cracked and threw a half-eaten ice mouse at one unfortunate girl that opened the door, who shrieked as the powdery mouse bounced off her forehead. An hour and a half later the train stopped again in Edinburgh to pick up the last batch of students. There were fewer students in the north and no one approached their compartment, The train started up again with a shrill whistle.

"We're so close now!" Lily squealed. "Oh, I can't—"

The door banged open as someone released the latch. A thin girl wearing a threadbare grey jumper with patches on the elbows and a pleated brown skirt stood in the doorway, holding a small brass cage in both hands. Inside was a sleek white rat, nose twitching, paws on the bars as it peered up at them curiously. The girl's dirty blonde hair cut quite short. It hung in untidy clumps around her ears, exposing a long, thin neck. Her eyes were hidden.

Lily jumped out of her seat, "We're full!" she said loudly, "Keep going!"

A thin girl flinched and hung her head, "Sorry," she said in a barely audible whisper, "I'll leave."

"Wait, come on Lily," Hugo interjected, "We've got room for one more, don't we?"

"We have room," Gideon nodded.

Lily threw herself back down in her seat, "Fine."

The girl hesitated for a moment and then looked up at Lily. Lily's lips parted as she saw the girl's brilliant emerald eyes, flecked with gold. Then the girl looked down again and shuffled into the compartment. The door banged shut behind her and Athena hooted, looking up. The rat in the girl's cage squeaked nervously.

"Don't worry, Athena won't bite," Hugo said with a smile, "I'm Hugo Weasley."

"I'm Sabine," the girl whispered as she sat down next to Lily.

Lily crossed her arms and pouted as everyone introduced themselves. When it came to her, she shrugged one shoulder. "I'm Lily Potter."

The girl looked up, revealing brilliant emerald eyes, and Lily noted the look of shock and confusion on the girl's face.

"Yeah, Harry Potter's my father," Lily said.

"Oh."

"What's your rat's name?" Hugo asked.

"Snowdrop," Sabine said softly, putting a finger through the bars of the cage. The rat nuzzled her finger.

"She needs a bigger cage," Hugo said, "But I guess it's easier to transport her like this."

Sabine nodded.

Lily uncrossed her arms and peered at the rat. She hadn't really considered getting a rat. "Is she a good pet?" Lily asked doubtfully.

"Yeah," Sabine ducked her head. "I just got her a few weeks ago."

"Right," Lily said dryly.

They started talking about the merits of cats, rats, and owls. No one seemed willing to defend the companionship of toads. Lily warmed up to Sabine slowly. She was quiet, and didn't take up a lot of space. She supposed it was okay that Sabine had joined them. A few minutes later, a House-elf Porter appeared and delivered Sabine's battered old trunk.

It turned grey and misty outside as they journeyed north. After a half hour had passed they started comparing spells that they had heard of or knew from their siblings or parents.

"Well, I know a spell to turn things yellow!" Lily said excitedly, "Uncle Ron told me!"

Lily pulled out her wand.

"You can do it?" Hugo whispered

"I have two older brothers, I got my wand at the beginning of the summer, and I had one of Uncle George's training wands before that!" Lily sneered. "Sabine, can I use your rat?"

Sabine shook her head vigorously and Lily shrugged. "Fine, be that way. Give me that ice mouse, Gideon."

Lily took the ice mouse and concentrated. "Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow. Colovarius."

The ice mouse shivered.

Lily turned pink. "Co-LOV-arius."

"I think the frosting's a bit yellow?" Gideon snickered.

Lily scowled, "Col-O-various!"

The mouse turned yellow in a flash.

Everyone gasped, including Lily. "It worked!"

"You sound surprised," Gideon laughed.

Grace sniffed. "Are we even allowed to use magic on the train?"

"I think so," Hugo said slowly, "I mean, why not? It's like Hogwarts, right?"

Grace frowned but didn't say anything else.

Lily felt very proud of herself. She tossed her straight, black wand in the air and caught it—if barely. "Hawthorn, eleven inches, with a dragon heartstring core," Lily grinned, "One of Ollivander's last wands."

Hugo and Gideon eagerly drew their wands. Hugo had a Finsterholtz, an American wandmaker, and Gideon had a European wand with a veela hair core. Grace still kept her wand in its box and showed it to the others only reluctantly, while Sabine didn't take hers out at all. Lily, Gideon and Hugo practiced small spells, producing mainly sparks and puffs of smoke. Gideon managed to turn the ice mouse yellow after trying a few times. Grace and Sabine just watched, and Grace looked quite satisfied when a prefect banged on the door and told them to stop using spells or get detention.

The shadows lengthened steadily as the afternoon wore on. The landscape outside changed, growing wilder and darker. The train hurtled over bridges and into shadowed tunnels, following a winding route through the mountains. Lily was stuffed with sweets. She felt very fat and lazy and she curled up, half-asleep. They were all content to loll around in their candy wrappers and talk. Gideon told them about all the different types of dragons. Hugo told them about his trip to Egypt, with much more enthusiasm then his time in America. Apparently, Ron had locked Rose in a pyramid and Hermione had to get her out. Lily though it was hilarious; Grace looked appalled. Hugo and Lily shared their knowledge of the Hogwarts professors, gleaned from their older brothers and sisters. Gideon, Sabine Grace were the first children in their families to attend Hogwarts and there was a lot that they still didn't know.

As the train began a winding descent into a valley, the door opened once again. "Lily! There you are!"

James Sirius Potter looked angry. He pulled his shaggy black hair away from his face. James stood in the doorway, arms planted on the frame, and glared at her. "Bloody hell, Lily. I've been waiting ages for you."

Everyone gasped and Sabine shrunk back into her seat, looking frightened.

James rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Firsties. Look, we're about to arrive Lily. Join us."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't need you to look after me, James, I'm eleven now!"

"Well that's not what Mum thinks," James smirked, "Besides, you missed out. Slughorn had a whole compartment decked out for us."

Lily hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"The Slug Club," James said exasperatedly, "I told you. Slughorn had a nice spread waiting for us, a better compartment."

"So?" Lily scowled, "We have our own. I couldn't care less if your compartment had dancing faeries."

James scowled, "What's wrong with you, Lily? I bet Slug's gonna invite you to the Club."

Lily rose to her feet, "Go away, James. You can tell Mummy you checked in on me."

"Fine!" James said, "See if I care, Princess."

James stormed off. Lily stuck out her tongue at the clattering door. Everyone was looking at her. Lily went red. "That was my brother, James Sirius," Lily said quite loudly, "Sorry."

"Right-o," Gideon said quickly, "Got it.

Grace was confused. "You don't like your elder brother?"

Lily shook her head in exasperation. "Of course not. He's my brother."

The train was slowing down. The public address system crackled and a nasal voice said, "Attention students. The Hogwarts Express will arrive at Hogsmeade Station in five minutes, five minutes. Your luggage will be taken up to the Castle separately."

"We're almost at Hogwarts!" Hugo gasped.

Lily threw up her hands, "Fine! We should get changed."

"What about Athena?" Hugo asked worriedly.

"You heard the address," Lily said, "I'm sure she'll be brought to the Owlery. You can't take her to the Sorting Ceremony!"

Hugo bit his lip. "I guess she'll be taken to the Owlry, right?"

Athena rotated her head and hooted in what could have been a reassuring manner. Hugo smiled nervously. The Great Horned Owl, looking supremely unconcerned, blinked huge golden eyes.

"She'll be fine, Hugo!" Lily rolled her eyes, "Now, get out!"

Lily kicked the boys out into the hall. Gideon and Hugo tumbled out, piles of loose robes in their arms, and Lily slammed the door with a rattle. Sabine, Lily and Grace all stared at each other for a moment. Then Sabine turned her back to them and opened her trunk and Lily flushed and rummaged in her own trunk for her robes. They got changed quickly and awkwardly. Lily shimmied into a pleated grey skirt, white knee socks, white blouse, and grey jumper. Lily did up the buttons and wondered why they had to wear such uncomfortable shirts. Finally, Lily pulled on her black robes with silver fastenings and the Hogwarts crest over her heart. She admired herself in the window for a second, before Grace said dryly, "Are you finished?"

Lily brushed at her wild mane of copper hair and adjusted her robes. "I'm done," Lily huffed. She raised her voice, "Come back in!"

Gideon and Hugo opened the door cautiously. They had changed into their own school robes.

As everyone compared robes, tugging at their jumpers and collars, the train began to slow down. They had arrived at Hogsmeade Station.

Sabine removed Snowdrop from her cage and slipped the white rat into a pocket of her robes.

"Come on!" Lily squealed.

The brakes shrieked and the train jerked back and forth. Gideon, Hugo, and Grace spilled out into the corridor. Before Lily could follow them Sabine seized her arm and said, "Wait..."

"What? We have to go, we're here!" Lily beamed.

"I just...thanks."

"Thanks?"

"For letting me sit with you," Sabine said.

"Sure," Lily shrugged, feeling a little guilty that she had yelled at Sabine at first, "Sorry for yelling at you. Let's go!"

Sabine's lips twitched. "Okay."

Lily's heart was fluttering as they all walked down the corridor. Prefects were trying to organize the disembarkation to little effect. The upper years in the corridor were pushing and talking loudly, but none of Lily's companions said anything. Talking seemed dangerous, like they were all teetering on the edge of a steep drop and had to be very slow and careful. Words kept sticking in Lily's mouth. She kept quiet. It was a very strange experience.

At the nearest exit Lily ran into Lucy Weasley, the Fifth Year Gryffindor Prefect, who smiled at them. "Hi Lily! Hi Hugo! I'll see you at the Feast, keep moving!"

Lily beamed and leapt off the train. Hogsmeade Station was bathed in golden light. Three or four tall adults were standing around the edge of the platform in hooded cloaks and Lily knew they were Aurors providing security. On the platform itself low-lying sunbeams caught on the silver fastenings and glossy hair of milling students, turning the crowd into a sea of shadowed waves crested with foaming sparkles.

"Firs' Years, come with me! Firs' Years over 'ere!" came a loud, booming voice.

It was Professor Hagrid, the enormous Care of Magical Creatures teacher. His tangled mass of dark hair was threaded with grey and he had a huge silver mustache that disappeared into his big black beard; it flickered like faerie fire in the waning light. It made him look like some fearsome creature out of his favourite Monster Book of Monsters. He wore voluminous wizard robes, personalized with a cluster of dangling weasel tails across the front on a leather bandolier.

"Hagrid!" Lily jumped up and down waving her arms, "Hagrid!"

"Lo, Lily! Over 'ere! Firs' Years, 'is way to the Castle!"

Lily and the others wormed their way through the milling crowd of larger students. While the Upper Years streamed off the platform and towards a long line of black horseless carriages, Hagrid collected the First Years in a huddle. "All 'ere then? Oh, wait, I gotta do this now..." Hagrid pulled a large scroll out from his coat unfurled it, "Ah, yes...Whoops!" Hagrid ripped the scroll in half. "Ah, no matt'r..."

Hagrid held the two pieces together and did a quick roll call. Lily practically screamed when her name was called.

"E'ryone's 'ere then?" Hagrid said when he finished, "Good, off we go!"

They followed Hagrid off the platform and onto a pebbled path. The half-giant shepherded the First Years on a switch-backed trail that led to the shore of the lake. As Lily turned around a bend, a sudden flare of light blinded her—the water was dazzlingly bright in the afternoon sun. As her eyes cleared there was a moment when the towering castle floated above the loch like a mirage, rising out of a nothing but white light. There were a lot of gasps and a few squeals. Lily stared in awe. Hogwarts Castle was bigger than she had ever imagined. The stone bastion perched atop the cliffs had a thousand windows and flying buttresses, a hundred turrets, a dozen towers.

There was a small fleet of wooden boats drawn up to a set of stained stone steps that disappeared into the black water. "Get in the boats, now, don' be afraid!" Hagrid bellowed, "No mor' then four to a boat!"

Lily leapt into a small boat, disturbing the water with a splash. She went to the front and stared up at the castle. Lily had grown up on stories of amazing adventures at Hogwarts. Lily's favorite stories were about battling the Dark Arts: the race to the Philosopher's Stone, slaying the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, or fighting Death Eaters all across the school! Of course, that wasn't all she had heard. Lily had spent her childhood eavesdropping on her father and her godbrother, Teddy Lupin, who were always having private talks. It was the worst. But Lily had listened to them despite being told she was too young. Harry had told his godson all about the brave members of their family and friends in the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army. Lily hadn't understood all of it, at the time, but she knew one thing: it had all started at Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts ahoy!" Hagrid roared happily. He stood up in his own boat, one colossal boot on the prow. The boat dipped dangerously low in the water, and Lily suspected only magic could support Hagrid's bulk, especially since Hagrid didn't seem to slow the boat down. Their fleet set off across the smooth lake at an even, brisk clip. Some of the new students around her looked downright terrified, clutching at the gunwales, but Lily's heart was pounding with anticipation.

As they picked up speed a cool breeze tugged at their robes and hair. Lily stared resolutely into the wind, her attention riveted on the castle. As they approached the tall cliffs the castle seemed to be sliding away from them, towers leaping into the sky. Then they slipped into the shadow of the rocky bluff and there was a wave of cold as the temperature dropped abruptly. Lily shivered and clutched at her robes. The fleet sailed straight towards the solid stone and someone let out a scream. Then a thick curtain of ivy materialized out of the gloom and Lily ducked her head, the ivy hissing across her hands, hair, and shoulders. Dark leaves tickled her face, and then the boats passed into an echoing underground harbor. The green water gleamed in the light from gas lamps set into the rough-hewn walls. There was a hissing sound, and then a splash, and Lily saw that a cold iron portcullis, coverd in green scum, had sealed them in. Someone screamed. A few people whimpered. The boats continued forward towards a stony beach and a long flight of stone steps that led up to a huge set of oak doors.

As the boats bobbed up to the foot of the steps, Lily leapt out, heart pounding. Her heels clattered on pebbles. She was the first one out.

There was a sudden shriek of metal hinges and the doors above them boomed open. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"