Sorry this is a few days late, I was a doing Relay for Life on the weekend and didn't have much time to write but I'm back now.

Note: this chapter goes into the mystery a little more then I expected it to and it'll probably be a little more drawn out over the course of second year.

It was September the 1st and as usual King's Cross station was buzzing with life. People were sprinting to catch trains that had already left them behind and others were waiting for locomotives that wouldn't come for hours. Clary and Simon followed Jocelyn as she marched through the train station in the direction of platform 9, both the soon-to-be second-year students struggled to keep up with the woman as a result of the heavily packed trolleys they both pushed.

There were many families waiting near the entrances to platform 9 and 10. Most of them had trolleys filled to the brim with cages, trunks and other strange items. Every now and then one would break off from the rest and charge at the seemingly normal brick wall that separated the platforms. Jocelyn gestured for Simon and Clary to come stand by a wall while they waited for the number of wizards to lessen.

"Why don't we just go straight through, like last year?" Clary asked her mother when three students – fourth years, most likely – ran at the solid wall before disappearing through it, there was no trace or sound left behind to indicate that the young wizards had once been where Clary was now. They'd disappeared. She resisted the urge to smile. Magic was real. It had been nothing but a story for ten years, fake and only real until it wasn't. She'd assumed the letter had been a joke from Simon but when her mother had sat her down and told Clary that they'd needed to have a talk, she'd been confused because there was no way that magic was actually real but then by some strange miracle Simon had gotten a letter almost a month later and then they were going to Hogwarts.

"We arrived earlier last year." Jocelyn explained. "If a big group of people all disappeared at once the muggles would notice." She gestured to the group of wizards around them and Clary noticed that a few more families had arrived.

"That makes sense." Simon mused. "like, if we all just charged at the wall and disappeared someone would probably film it and we'd go viral, or something."

A witch ran at the wall, the cage her owl was in rattling slightly.

Jocelyn smiled, "basically."

Clary recognised a Ravenclaw boy in her year as he ran after the girl that had disappeared a moment ago. "So, when do we go through?"

"When it's our turn." Her mother responded.

Clary and Simon watched as the number of families that had been standing around the entrances to the platforms before they'd arrived declined every few minutes until her mother informed Clary that it was their time to go. The Gryffindor took a breath and started running towards the wall, the first time she'd done this Clary had been terrified, she hadn't been able to get the image of herself colliding with the brick wall out of her mind, it hadn't mattered that she'd seen others pass through unharmed.

But now she'd performed enough magic to not be afraid of a simple enchantment such as this.

She heard Simon's footsteps echoing off the pavement as he ran after her, as usual, his presence brought her comfort, even though the red-headed girl wasn't in much need of it. The Wizards passed through the wall and emerged on platform 9 ¾. Jocelyn emerged from the wall a few moments after them.

The doors to the huge scarlet steam engine were open and most of the older students had already climbed aboard while the younger ones were still arriving or lingering around the platform, greeting friends and saying goodbye to families.

The girl scanned the crowd with her eyes, searching for a familiar face among the sea of wizards and witches. She recognised older students from her house and even a few of her fellow second years like Lydia Branwell and Matthew Cole but none of her friends.

"Looking for me, biscuit." She heard the familiar voice of Magnus Bane.

The Gryffindor whirled around, Magnus was the same as ever, a smirk was present on his face and his eyes were twinkling with mischief and mirth. Clary wrapped the caramel-skinned boy in a tight hug. She'd missed him. They'd met through Alec and Jace but had become fast friends, he'd even helped her with potions homework when she'd been struggling with it. "Hi, Mags," Clary said after pulling away.

Not a moment later Professor Fell walked over to join the four wizards standing in the middle of the busy platform. She'd expected him to greet herself and Simon, but the man looked at Jocelyn and said: "it's good to see you."

Her mother offered a nod, "it's good to see you as well, Ragnor."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Simon questioned.

"Yes." Jocelyn answered but didn't explain. However, before anyone could inquire further she looked away from the Hufflepuff boy and back towards the professor. "I was hoping to speak with you privately. Regarding the letter she sent.". Clary didn't think she'd ever heard her mother's voice sound so serious.

"Of course." Ragnor responded and Magnus gave his guardian a look of curiosity and suspicion and the red-headed girl wondered what he knew that she didn't.

The three students watched the older wizards walk over to the far back corner of the platform, it was the emptiest part of the area, probably so they couldn't be overheard, Clary surmised. The Gryffindor allowed herself to wonder what was so important that the older wizards couldn't even risk their children overhearing.

Clary looked to Simon – something she always did when unsure – who was looking at Ragnor and Jocelyn with narrowed eyes. "In every movie ever, the suspicious parents are always the villains, or they have some connection to the villains, or-"

"Ragnor isn't a bad person," Magnus snapped and there was a defensiveness in his voice that Clary had never heard before.

"Neither's my mum."

"I know, I'm just saying that was suspicious because that was suspicious." The Hufflepuff said gesturing in the direction the older wizards had gone in.

"It was," Magnus agreed to Clary's surprise, "look, I don't know everything, but I'll explain on the train."

The Gryffindor was going to insist that he explain now but a flash of gold behind the Slytherin caught her eye. A blonde head of hair that was weaving its way through the crowd towards them.

Jace.

Her mind faintly recognised that Alec was with him, but she hadn't seen, spoken or written to her fellow Gryffindor for the entire duration of the holidays. Jocelyn hadn't wanted her or Simon to interact with anyone from the Wizarding World. Clary didn't know why and right now it didn't matter because Jace was right there.

It seemed like two eternities passed in the time it took him to get within arm's reach but when he did Clary embraced Jace with a sigh of relief.

The girl didn't really understand why she liked being hugged by him, why being wrapped in his arms felt right but it just did. She couldn't put it into words, it was like staring at a painting for hours but not knowing what it meant or why you liked it, you just knew you wanted it.

After a few moments - she wished it went for longer - Jace pulled away. Out of the corner of her eye, Clary saw Magnus and Alec embracing and Simon looking awkwardly down at the floor. "Guess you missed me." Jace said in that cocky tone of voice that she liked on some days and hated on others.

"I think it was mutual."

"Well. maybe a little." He replied with a smirk that made her stomach do flips.

"I certainly didn't miss you." Simon muttered but everyone had still heard. It annoyed her that her two best friends disliked each other. She wanted to make a comment about it, but Clary knew she probably shouldn't because she and Alec got along about as well as an Auror and a Death Eater.

"Well, that feeling was entirely mutual. For everyone." Jace said in that voice. Alec and Magnus had stopped the conversation they'd started and were looking at Simon with a mix of amusement and pity. Jace with all his arrogance and sarcasm couldn't be beaten in a battle of words and wit.

She saw Simon open his mouth about to launch a retort at the blonde, but an unfamiliar voice cut across the silence that had fallen over the group. "Alec! Jace!" It called and when a black-haired girl emerged from the crowd Clary knew it belonged to her.

She was a young girl that looked about eleven and Clary assumed she was Isabelle Lightwood, Jace's adopted sister. "You both left me!" She accused.

"Sorry, Iz." Alec said sheepishly.

The girl - Izzy - looked at her brother for a moment, considering his apology, Clary thought. She nodded and turned to Jace. He sighed before apologising too. "Sorry, Izzy."

Clary was surprised, Jace Herondale never said sorry. At that moment Clary realised that girl was a force to be reckoned with. Izzy seemingly happy with her brothers turned to the closest person in their little group - Simon. "I'm Isabelle." she offered a hand.

Her confidence seemed to scare the boy because he hesitated before taking her hand "Um, I'm..a I'm Simon."

After she'd finished introducing herself to the rest of them Jocelyn and Ragnor were walking back. Both looked grave and worried. Clary was desperate to learn what Magnus knew, so she announced that the train was going to leave soon and that they'd all needed to board it as soon as possible. She and Simon had said goodbye to Jocelyn and soon the group of young wizards and witches were climbing aboard the scarlet steam engine.

Alec sat down on the somewhat uncomfortable seat, he was next to Magnus and across from Jace. Clary sat between the blonde and Simon. It was exactly how they'd sat last year on the train ride home and Alec thought it would probably be how they sat for the next six years.

As if by some strange use of magic, they'd managed to snag the last free compartment. Izzy had wandered off to go sit with Aline Penhallow and her friends.

For as long as he could remember the Lightwoods and The Penhallows had been strong political allies and thus the children of both had been raised as friends. Alec was glad Izzy was sitting and socializing with people in her own year. Not because he didn't want her around but due to the fact that he wanted her to make friends. He'd met Magnus last year and his world had gotten infinitely better. The Hufflepuff wanted Izzy to meet people who helped her, stood by her and were kind to her, like Magnus was to him.

"So, Mags, what did Ragnor tell you?" Clary asked when the compartment door slid closed with a click. Alec could practically hear the curiosity laced through her voice.

"He didn't tell me anything, I broke into his study in the middle of the night and searched until I found something." The boy replied nonchalantly, as if he did that every day.

"Wait, does this have something to do with the note you sent me yesterday?" Alec questioned. Those words written in Magnus's now familiar handwriting had wormed their way into his mind, they'd haunted him with possibilities of what the Slytherin had found. God knows what Magnus had gotten himself into.

Magnus nodded. "From what I know, Ragnor was guarding an artefact of some sort but he gave it to someone and now they entrusted it to Professor McGonagall."

"So, it'll be at Hogwarts now?" Jace questioned.

"Most likely."

"But how does my mum fit into it?" Clary asked. Alec could see the cogs turning in her mind. She was still new to the Wizarding World, she still didn't understand that Wizards were more inclined to keep secrets than the muggles. The girl wasn't aware that some knowledge was best left untold.

Her question had been directed at Magnus, but Simon chose to answer it with another question. "Didn't Jocelyn say something about receiving 'her' letter?" He said using air quotes for the pronoun.

"So that means Clary's mother got the exact same letter Ragnor did." Magnus surmised.

"Meaning this mystery person is a she, what else do we know about them." Alec wondered. He didn't like this. Digging into Hogwarts business wasn't a good idea, but Magnus would keep investigating with or without him, he'd rather the former.

"She left during the war and only recently just came back to the Wizarding World, apparently."

"Did Ragnor only get the one letter?" Jace asked and Alec could tell the blonde was fitting facts together in his mind, trying to solve the witch's identity as if it were a puzzle that hadn't lost all its pieces.

"Um, there was another, but it was sent by Professor McGonagall. I believe it was plans for some sort of spell."

"It's simple then." Jace informed the group.

"Oh, please enlighten us then, Sherlock." Simon said only to have everyone in the compartment except for Clary look at him in confusion. "You know, Sherlock Holmes, the detective…" he tried to explain but Alec had no clue what the hell he was on about.

"Look," Jace continued, ignoring Simon. "it's obvious that Jocelyn was the one originally charged with guarding whatever's now at Hogwarts."

"Sorry, what?" Clary asked shocked.

"I said, it's obvious that Jocelyn wa-"

"I heard what you said I just meant, why?" Clary cut him off, she sounded annoyed at Jace's accusation.

"it's well known that the Fairchilds disappeared during the war." He informed. "She also recently just came back."

It made sense. Alec thought. Clary's mother might still be living amongst the muggles, but she could still be considered a part of their world again because her daughter was going to Hogwarts now, he'd heard his parents speaking in quiet voices about the potential consequences and ramifications of having one of the oldest and most powerful wizarding families suddenly back.

"That doesn't make any sense." Simon's voice echoed around the compartment, everyone had been shocked into silence. Their minds trying to make the leaps and bounds to catch up to where Jaces' had ended up. "We established that Jocelyn got the same letter as Professor Fell, why would she send a letter to herself?"

His fellow Hufflepuff looked smug at the action of contradicting Jace, Alec took a little too much joy in putting the boy in his place, "She didn't, Professor McGonagall was the one who sent a letter to both of them."

There was a long pause. Then, "Ok, say it was my mum." Clary said sceptically, "What was she protecting? Why would they give it to her?"

"I have no idea what it was, but I can guess why." Magnus said, and Alec felt his curiosity prick. He didn't care much for the red-headed girl, he found her annoying but this weird situation her mother and Magnus's guardian were in however potentially dangerous was intriguing. "The war was around twelve years ago. She was probably pregnant and Ragnor most likely gave it to her because no one would think a pregnant witch fleeing the war would have whatever she had."

"Ok, so my mum was most likely involved." Clary said but Alec got the feeling she still didn't completely believe Magnus. "what was it then, the thing Ragnor gave her to hide."

"No clue, both letters were vague." Magnus said while shrugging. He looked in his element, his eyes were bright, and Alec could see his mind whirling. Many of the best Aurors were Slytherins, their cunning minds and ambition and ability to see patens was unrivalled.

"Look, guys I'm all for playing Scooby-Doo but Ragnor and Jocelyn were being very secretive, that's gotta be for a reason, I think we should leave it alone." Simon said. Alec thought it was the first time the two of them agreed on something, though he had no idea what a 'Scooby-Doo' was.

"You scared?" Jace taunted with a smirk.

"Terrified actually." The boy corrected, "Why do we even want to figure out what they're guarding. What's the point?"

"I suppose other than to settle our curiosities, there isn't one." Magnus sighed. Alec could tell he was intrigued, he could tell the Slytherin wanted to figure it out but even Magnus Bane knew that trying to discover some magical artefact that needed to be protected probably wasn't a good idea.

"Then we leave it alone." Alec said, and Magnus looked at him with something like disappointment mixed with understanding and it made Alec's insides twist.

"Oh, come on guys, what's the harm of poking around a bit when we get to the castle?" Jace asked and Alec found himself grateful that the blonde and Magnus weren't closer, he wouldn't survive if they ever teamed up on him.

"You're not Harry Potter, Jace." Alec said. "The Headmistress and Professor Fell are putting in a lot of effort to keep whatever it is a secret, let's just leave it alone." He'd once promised his mother that he wouldn't let Jace get himself or Alec into too much trouble and while he and the woman weren't particularly close anymore, he wouldn't break a promise. He'd keep Jace safe and out of trouble.

"I think they're right Jace." Clary said, and the boy looked at his fellow Gryffindor with a look of betrayal. "I think it's probably best if we leave it alone, I don't want to get in trouble."

The boy opened his mouth about to make a rebuttal, but the door suddenly opened, and the five young wizards jumped in surprise when the grey-haired witch poked her head into the compartment and asked, "Anything from the trolley, children?"

They ended up getting a mix of magical themed treats to snack on while the scarlet steam engine travelled through the rolling green hills towards the huge stone castle that hadn't yet come into view. the group's conversation didn't diverge to the artefact again. It seemed the group – most of them anyway – had silently agreed to just leave the topic of the artefact alone. They talked about normal things, the upcoming school year, Professors they liked and ones they didn't and the opening feast. Magnus made sure to mention how thrilled he was to not be forced to learn flying anymore and Simon agreed, much to Jace and Alec's annoyance.

Alec sat at the table decorated with black and yellow. The Great Hall as always was occupied by the thousands of candles lighting the room and the fake stars in the sky enchantment twinkled down at them. the room was decorated with all the house colours and all four of the tables had dozens of spare seats, all waiting for newly sorted wizards to sit in them.

Simon sat across from him, his head was propped against his left hand and the other boy was tracing meaningless patterns into the tablecloth with his right. At first, the other Hufflepuff had tried to make conversation but eventually had given up when Alec ignored him. they both knew the only reason they had any association with each other was because of Jace and Clary.

Alec glanced over to the table decorated with gold and red to see Clary laughing at something Maia had said, Jace had a barely suppressed smile on his face and even from across the room Alec could see the laughter in his eyes. Alec knew it was wrong, but he felt jealousy well up inside of him at the realisation that Jace had managed to make friends with the people in his house while he was stuck at the Hufflepuff table with Simon.

Trying to get his mind off subjects that had done nothing but cause him pain in the past, Alec looked towards the Slytherin table and felt his heart contract. Magnus looked even more miserable than Alec felt. There was tension in the boy's shoulders and Magnus seemed to shrink back in his chair, an action the raven-haired boy didn't understand, Magnus was usually very confident and outgoing.

Alec didn't know what, or possibly whom, had made Magnus look so defeated and vulnerable but before the Hufflepuff could consider doing anything the huge wooden doors that connected the Great Hall to the rest of the school opened and the headmistress marched in, the new first-year students following after her. Alec spotted Izzy among them.

Clearly, the younger Lightwood had been looking for him as well because when Alec met her eyes the girl gave him a smile and a little wave. If he wasn't her big brother, if he hadn't known her for the eleven years she'd been alive, he wouldn't have noticed she was nervous. His attention was stolen away from Izzy when Professor McGonagall's sharp voice rang out through the Hall. The woman gave a speech to the new first years about what it meant to be in a house. She explained to her students that being in a house was like being in a family, "Your triumphs will be theirs, your losses will be felt by them and while you may fight with your housemates you should always reconcile with them, just as you should always reconcile with family."

Alec had resisted the urge to let out a bitter laugh when the headmistress had spoken those words, you should always reconcile with family. What if your family didn't want to reconcile with you? What then?

When the headmistress finished her speech, applause rang through the hall and soon she was standing next to the Sorting Hat and the old, wooden stool it was balanced atop. The woman unrolled the sheet of parchment and began to read out names.

"Jack Ashman." She called and a boy with sandy blonde hair climbed the few stairs and sat on the stool, the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.

A few moments passed before the hat, in a booming voice, called out; "Ravenclaw!"

"Helen Blackthorn." Professor McGonagall called and a girl with blonde hair and pointed ears stepped forward. Alec watched the girl approach the stairs, despite some of the odd looks she was getting for the pointed ears that marked her as a half-blooded witch with fairy heritage, she looked confident. Alec knew the Blackthorns were one of the pure-blooded families, although many considered them to be no better than Muggle-borns because Andrew Blackthorn had had an affair with one of the fay, resulting in Helen and her younger brother Mark.

The hat was placed on her head and after a few moments the hat proclaimed "Hufflepuff!"

The blonde girl bounded down the stairs, a smile clear on her face and took a seat at the table next to Alec. The boy felt a twinge of sympathy for Helen, not only was she considered a second-class citizen by the families, but she was also in Hufflepuff. "You think I'll get a howler, too?" she joked.

He'd met Helen once before when they'd both been very young, he'd liked her, but his mother had told him in a deadly voice not to associate with people like Helen. Back then he'd assumed her family were criminals that they were bad people but as he'd gotten older he'd realised the only bad people were those who considered themselves above someone like the half-witch. "Probably not," he responded while watching a young girl run over to the Slytherin table.

The sorting continued, name after name being read out and student after student running off to their respective tables. He was brought back to reality when his housemates started clapping because Jordan Kyle had just been sorted into Hufflepuff.

Izzy would be soon.

"Cassady Larkin." The headmistress called and a boy with dark hair bounded up the stairs.

"Ravenclaw!" the Hat called a moment after touching his head.

"Isabelle Lightwood."

Alec watched as she walked up the few stairs, to the untrained eye she didn't look worried at all. There was a small smile on her face and she seemed to radiate that natural confidence that Alec had never been in possession of, but his eyes weren't untrained. He could see the tension in her shoulders and the rigidness in her posture as she sat on the stool and the hat was placed on her head.

For the half-a-minute or so she was up there, time went agonizingly slow. Alec knew there was nothing he could do to impact the outcome of her house, but he knew it would be better for her to end up in Gryffindor. Still, there was a part of him, a selfish, terrible part that wanted her to be sorted into one of the other houses, mainly Hufflepuff. It was awful, and he'd never admit it out loud, but he didn't want to be the only black sheep of the Lightwood family. He didn't want to be the only screw-up.

Without warning the hat burst to life and yelled "Gryffindor!"

Alec felt his heart sink as Izzy descended the stairs and took a seat next to Jace who hugged her. After a few moments, Isabelle turned from her new housemates and sent him an apologetic smile. He gave her a thumbs-up and smiled back, he just hoped she wouldn't notice that it didn't reach his eyes.

the rest of the Sorting passed in a daze. Names he didn't care to recognise.

"Marcus Nightshade."

"Slytherin!"

"Maddy Ruby."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Raphael Santiago"

"Slytherin!"

The only time he paid attention was when Aline was sorted in Gryffindor. The Sorting Ceremony was feeling a lot like the last one. Disappointment was again clawing at his heart and familiar feelings of self-hatred were bubbling in his chest. He felt numb. Alec looked to Magnus because over the last year that's what he'd learned to do. Whenever he'd felt wrong or not-acceptable Magnus had always managed to find a way to distract him.

Before he could locate the other boy with his eyes he felt a tap on the shoulder and he looked at Helen. The girl pointed to the headmistress who was standing behind the eagle-shaped lectern, clearly waiting to give another speech. Once the hall had quieted down she began to speak. "Let me start out by wishing you all a great year, to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back. Another year full of magical education awaits you." She said in a voice that held such warm Alec couldn't stop it from melting some of the cold that had spread within him.

"Now, I Know most of you are aware of our rules but if you need a refresher please go see Mr Finch and first years I advise you not to break any of them because punishments will be handed out accordingly." Alec looked over at Jace and sure enough, the other boy was smirking at him. "A reminder to all that the Forbidden Forest has earned its name for a reason. The centaurs and the Fairies have informed us that if any student enters their lands they have a right to hurt you. So please stay away."

That news had shocked the students – and seemingly the teachers too – into silence. The first years looked mortified that the school was so close to a forest that housed such brutal creatures that would harm children, but the older ones knew that in years previous, McGonagall had never made that warning. What's changed? Alec wondered but he suspected it had something to do with an artefact that hadn't been at Hogwarts before.

He had to make sure Jace and Magnus stayed the hell away from whatever this thing was.

Question: how invested are you in the mystery?