Sadie's POV:
The others' letters had arrived and Mrs. Weasley had gotten their books and stuff yesterday. Ron and Hermione had been made prefects. They could give other students detentions, would lead the first years to the house tower on the first day, and had some other responsibilities. Mrs. Weasley had gotten Ron a broom on becoming prefect, which he wouldn't keep quiet about. He kept talking about it to anyone who would listen. Mrs Weasley arranged a party in honour of the ocassion.
We were ready downstairs for going to Kings Cross Station. It was a twenty-minute walk. Harry went first with Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, Moody went next with the luggage, followed by Mr. Weasley with Ron, Hermione, Annabeth, Percy and Magnus, lastly, Fred, George, Ginny, Carter, Jason and I went with Remus. Sirius was also present on the platform as a black dog, his amimagus form.
We crossed the wall between platforms 9 and 10, thereby reaching platform nine and three-quarters. The Hogwarts Express stood on the platform. Ron and Hermione went to the prefects' carriage. Ginny and Harry left together, so did the twins. The rest of us took our things and started looking for a place to sit. We found an empty compartment towards the end of the train. We kept our trunks in the luggage rack and sat discussing our situation.
"We should mix-in well with the students here, but we also need a believable tale explaining why we weren't here for the first four years." said Carter.
"Let's just tell them we're from America, and our families shifted here for 'certain reasons' ", suggested Magnus.
"What if they ask about our schooling there?" asked Percy. Everyone started thinking.
I then spoke, "Why must we tell them details? Let's just tell them that we're not allowed to say anything about the school, not even the name."
Carter muttered, "When have rules stopped you?" I decided to ignore him and added, "But we'll need a way to justify such secrecy."
Then Annabeth spoke, "We can tell them the magical community in America is particular about security and secrecy, also, being a new school, they are taking all possible measures to avoid any kind of trouble."
"Seems fine," commented Carter. Everyone else agreed.
A shimmering rainbow appeared against the door of the compartment. Standing before us were Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood, and Chiron from Camp Half Blood. "Hey everyone!" yelled Leo, "How's it been without the Supreme Commander, everyone's favourite Repair Boy?" he asked. After greetings had been exchanged, Chiron asked us how things were. Percy told him, about our progress with magic, our visit to Diagon Alley, about Ron and Hermione becoming prefects, our earlier-than-usual sorting, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from the Ministry of Magic. Others provided inputs in between. Chiron then said that since the Ministry of Magic had refused to acknowledge Voldemort's return, the appointment of one of their people at Hogwarts may not have been just a coincidence. He warned us to be very cautious around the new teacher, Dolores Umbridge, and to not let anyone suspect us of being beings other than wizards or witches. The conversation ended with "So, no mentions of Gandalf?" from Jason, and hearty laughter from all of us.
Carter then mentioned that it had been a long time since we had sent messages to the Per Ankh. Magnus added that we should also update Valhalla on our situation.
Annabeth brought forth some water from her wand using Aguamenti, and Percy created a mist, and hence a rainbow out of it. Carter spoke, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Zia Rashid at the twenty-first Nome, Brooklyn." We then saw Zia and Amos talking in the balcony. "Hey Zia, uncle Amos!" Carter and I spoke at the same time. After greetings were exchanged, Amos asked how we were doing. Carter told them the details - our visit to the wizarding shops, how we all got sorted into Gryffindor, about Umbridge, and our progress with their magic. He too warned us against Umbridge and told us to be careful.
Next, Magnus had to contact Valhalla. Percy and Annabeth again made a rainbow. Magnus asked to be shown Alex Fierro, the only person in his world who knew about this adventure of ours. She was roaming the corridors of Valhalla. She was walking past the rainbow when Magnus called out, "Hey Alex!" She turned towards us and waved. Magnus and Annabeth repeated the information. She told us that things were well in Valhalla and the Norse world. She didn't comment on Umbridge, just asked us to be careful about whom we placed our trust in.
We sat discussing our previous adventures, and remembering those that we had had together when Hermione and Ron entered the compartment. They told us that we would reach Hogwarts soon, so we should get ready. Just then, a blonde boy arrived with two others. He looked like a bully. He introduced himself as the Slytherin prefect and asked us our names. We told him our names and gave him the cover story we had thought of. He warned us to stay out of his way and left. Ron and Hermione told us that this was Draco Malfoy, the others being Crabbe and Goyle. She and Ron left soon. When the train stopped, we got down at Hogsmeade station.
We followed the others to carriages which were pulled by horse-like creatures. Annabeth told us that these were called threstals. Jason added that only those who'd seen someone die could see them. No surprise they were visible to all of us.
We sat in the carriages and off to Hogwarts we went.