Jerry reached his arm out as far as it could go out of the cage. He and Tom had decided that they had both had enough of being stuck inside and that if they were going to live with their new owner for the rest of their lives they should at least get to know him better. As it is they didn't even know his name. Right now, Jerry was reaching for his owner's trunk, or rather, the key to the cage that was dangling just outside of it. Right now it was just inches away from him. If only he could reach it.

"Is this gonna take much longer?" asked Tom, lying on his back and staring into space. Jerry turned and gave him a dirty look.

"It might do if you don't get your fat cat ass over here and help me."

"Don't you use that sort of language with me" said Tom patronisingly. "Ass is bad enough, but 'help me'?

"Ok then" said Jerry as he stormed over to Tom. "Then why don't you help yourself to this?" He stamped down on Tom's tail. Tom yowled and pulled his tail out from under Jerry's foot.

"Why you-" And he lunged. Jerry leapt vertically into the air, Tom crashed into the side of the cage, sending it sliding the last few inches. The key slipped neatly between the bars. Jerry coolly leapt down from Tom's head and bit through the string that was around it. A few minutes of turning later and the cage door swung open. Jerry tucked the key under his arm and smiled smugly at Tom, who was raising his head from the cage floor.

"Adios, Tom" said Jerry in a tone that Tom found infuriatingly cocky. He made a grab for Jerry but the mouse leapt off the overhead baggage compartment. As he disappeared from sight there came an unpleasant squelching sound. Tom peeked out of the cage and looked down. Right below him was a trolly loaded with various sweets, pastries and pies. Jerry had apparently landed in one such pie, as was evidenced by the large hole in its crust. There was no sign of the mouse underneath all the yellow, pasty filling. Had Jerry been killed in the fall? Tom was doubtful of it. That mouse seemed to have the luck of the devil.

Just then the doors to one of the compartments opened next to the trolley. The short, dumpy woman who was pushing it peered in.

"Anything off the trolley?" she asked in a kindly voice.

"No thanks" came a voice that Tom had never heard before. "I'm all set. She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"We'll take the lot" came a voice that Tom recognised as the voice of his owner. Moments later his hand was held out for the woman, filled with coins. She took them before handing them various things off the cart. The last thing she handed them before moving on was the pie that Jerry had landed in. She did not appear to have noticed the hole he had made in it as he landed.

Tom groaned. Not only did the mouse make his life miserable on regular ocassions, but now he was also about to gross his new owner out. Tom's new owner.

'I'd better get down there and get him out' thought Tom as he lowered himself down from the baggage compartment. Peering through the window of the compartment, he could see his owner-the thin, black haired boy with the glasses and scar- sitting with one of the red haired boys Tom had seen at King's Cross, namely the one the mother had reffered to as Ron. Both boys were stuffing their faces with the sweets they had just been given. Tom scanned the confectionaries for the pie that Jerry had fallen into. He saw a weary looking rat knibbling at a yellow jelly bean, but no sign of Jerry.

Suddenly there came a shriek from one of the boys. Looking up Tom saw that his owner was holding the pie that Jerry had fallen into with one hand, and was holding a paste covered Jerry by the tail in the other.

"Oh, I bet that's one of Fred and George's jokes" said Ron. "They're my older brothers. Don't worry, you're not the first one who's been pranked by them."

"I'm terribly sorry" said Tom as he entered the compartment. His owner looked at him with surprise.

"How did you get out of your cage?" he asked. "Did you use magic?"

"Magic?" said Tom incredulously. "Why would I use that. There's no such thing as magic anyways."

"Then...how come I can understand you?" said his owner. Tom looked at him. Come to think of it, why could he and Jerry even understand human language at all? No other animals seemed to able to. As illogical as it sounded, magic seemed to be the only logical explanation.

"So...you're saying that since you can understand me and I can understand you...that makes me and the mouse magical?

"I don't know, does it?"

"It certainly does" came a new voice from behind Tom. He turned to see a newcomer, a girl dressed in dark robes he assumed to be Hogwarts ones. She had long, bushy hair and largish front teeth.

"Animals that can speak and understand human languages are by definition, familiars" continued the girl. "They're not quite the same as ordinary owls or animals like that. They're magical. I read about it in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

"Well, you certainly know your way around magic, missy" said Jerry, speaking up for the first time as he wiped off as much Pumpkin Pasty filling as he could. "So this Hogwarts place we're going, is that some kind of magic place?"

"Is it?" said Ron in disbelief. "I can't believe you don't know about Hogwarts, it's the best wizarding school in Britain. You learn all sorts of magic there."

"We're kind of new to the whole magic thing" said Tom. "We only learnt about it just now."

"Well, I'm sure you'll learn more when we get to Hogwarts" said the girl. "Mind you, I'm not sure if they do classes for familiars so you probably won't after all. Well anyway, I just thought you should know we'll be arriving at Hogwarts in about half an hour, you two should probably change into your robes." She pointed at the boys then made to leave.

"Wait, I didn't catch your name" said Jerry. The girl poked her head around the door of the compartment.

"Hermione Grainger" she said bluntly before leaving.

"Well" said Tom as Hermione made her way down the corridor, "Now we know her name, I think we should tell you ours." He cleared his throat and pointed to himself. "I'm Tom, and the mouse is Jerry."

"That's about all he really knows" said Jerry as he clambered out of the pumpklin pasty. Tom resisted the urge to pummel him, he was trying to put on a good image in front of his new owner.

"Ron Weasley" said Ron. He pointed at the rat sleeping on the table. "And he's Scabbers." Jerry nodded politely in Scabbers' direction then turned to his new owner, who he was now sitting next to.

"And what's your name?"

"Harry" said the boy. "Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter" repeated Tom. "That's a nice name."