Myrrdin knew reviewing every law in the wizarding world would take time, and that she would be handling it over her time at Hogwarts, but she underestimated the size of the stack of parchment on her desk the Monday morning following her announcement to the Wizengamot.

It was helpfully sorted by department, and then further organized according to what each department head deemed order of priority.

Of course, each wizard believed their department was the most essential to running the country, but that is what the Advisory Council was created to do.

The wizarding equivalent to a post-it was placed on top of the first stack, stating that these were the items that required her attention first.

It was the paperwork for the Aurors and school systems.

Today was going to be long.

The remaining time before school was quickly filled with meetings and paperwork like no other. Myrrdin had been relieved by the competence of her advisors.

Euphemia Potter spoke of the school system with the eyes of a mother, while Orion Black brought the fervor to keep up traditions, to remember where they had come from, and Lord Aaron MacDougal reminded him of the inclusion needed to make the society seem welcoming.

For what Muggle-born wants to follow the ideas of one who insults them and their upbringing?

It helped that Myrrdin would attend school with their children, she thought. Made them more likely to explain their reasoning, if only to explain away any problematic behavior from eleven-year-olds.

The day finally came to board the Hogwarts Express. Myrrdin was accompanied by two guards, Calver Shacklebolt, and Tuarie Sparks.

Sparks stayed just behind her while Shacklebolt loaded her luggage. The pair would be patrolling the train under Disillusionment charms, then meet up with two more guards at Hogsmeade Station.

Myrrdin had dressed in a simple dress shirt and slacks, her wand strapped to her wrist. She carefully climbed the steps so as not to trip, pulling open the door to the first compartment she came across. A pause for Sparks to verify its safety, and she sat down in the corner. While she could spend the ride continuing to slog through paperwork, Myrrdin wanted friends.

She knew that Euphemia, Orion, and Aaron would have told their children to seek her out. But Myrrdin was not sure what house she would find herself in, and children could be fickle in their loyalty. Best to welcome any who came to her compartment.

No photos have been published, so her appearance was a secret for now. She could feel people out before their opinions were shaped by her status or the opinions of their parents.

Sure enough, the was a knock at the door soon after she got settled. The door opened to reveal two small faces peering in curiously.

"May we join you?" The taller of the two boys asked, shaking his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes.

"Certainly." Myrrdin watched as the second boy timidly inched his way into the room.

"I'm Remus, and this is Peter." Once again the taller of the two did the talking.

"A pleasure to meet you, Remus, Peter. I am Myrrdin." I heard a creak as Sparks shifted under the Disillusionment charm in the hall.

Remus's eye twitched to the door, but seeing nothing, plopped onto the bench across from her.

Another knock on the door silenced any further conversation, as a fourth-year Ravenclaw poked her head in the door. "Myrrdin?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Annie MacDougal. Dad said to find you and let you know, anything you need this year, you can ask me. I'll be three cars up."

"Thank you, Annie." The girl nodded, brown pigtails swinging in her face as she bowed slightly and left. Myrrdin could see the boy's confusion in the corner of her eyes but kept her silence.

A few moments later, there was a third knock at the door, and a pair of mischievous grins met her glance. James Potter and Sirius Black. If the grins and James' messy hair hadn't given them away, the similarity to their parents was astounding. Clearly, the Potter genes only carried the hair. He was a spitting image of his mother.

"Welcome, boys. This is Remus and Peter, and I am Myrrdin." She kept her tone even and hid her giggle as their eyes widened.

"Your Maj-"

"My Lady-"

"A great honor-"

"Immense pleasure to-"

They spoke over each other in a jumble, too many words to keep track of who was speaking.

"Sit." Her voice cut through their babbling.

They scrambled so fast to sit that they didn't notice Remus and Peter. Sirius ended up in Remus's lap, and James was crushing poor Peter into the window.

"Sirius, come sit here by me, James, you are crushing Peter." She gestured to the bench beside her as they adjusted themselves.

"How'd'ya know our names?" Sirius gave her what she guessed was meant to be a suspicious look, but it came out more like a disgruntled puppy.

"I know your parents. Duh."

James seemed taken aback by her bluntness. "You are the Queen. Should you not be utilizing your speech lessons more?" He enunciated slowly, clearly trying for a good impression.

"Never had any. All the training you guys had as purebloods, I'm going to be getting as a crash course this year."

Both boys winced.

"Back up." Remus interrupted before they could get any further. "The Queen?"

"Oh, yeah." Myrrdin wiggled her fingers on her left hand sheepishly. "Hello, Myrrdin Lyrica Burke Emrys, Queen of the Wizarding Kingdom."

She stood and gave an exaggerated curtsy. "But at Hogwarts, I'm just another student. I want to make friends and have the same experience as you. Just after school when you all are Aurors and Potions Masters and whatever you end up doing, I'll be reestablishing a country that is used to being run by votes." She ended her little speech with a sigh. Just because she agreed to help Kronos out, doesn't mean it would be easy.

Peter looked ready to faint, but luckily the trolley came by, and Myrrdin bought everyone something. It seems that food was the best way to get boys to like you, because he warmed up by his third chocolate frog.

"So what house will you be in, Myrrdin? Or will they even let you be sorted since you'll have to be impartial?" He twitched his nose as James launched a Bertie Botts at him.

"Try this one. It's chartreuse, and I wanna know what that could possibly taste like."

"Oh, I'll be sorted, just like everyone else. I was very firm on that, I want to be treated like a student, see my country's school system from the inside."

Remus nodded as Peter bit into the bean, taking about half of it into his mouth. He paused, then his eyes lit up.

"Here, it's chocolate mint!" he handed the remainder back to James, who tossed it into his face without hesitation.

The joy drained as he spat it aggressively onto the floor.

"Yeeagh! That tastes like a dog vomited moldy underwear! You liar!" He started to launch himself across the compartment when the door was flung open. No one was there, then the disillusionment dissolved and Shacklebolt was brandishing his wand.

"We are fine, Shacklebolt. Merely an argument over Bertie Botts." Myrrdin held up her hands calmly.

"You're certain?"

"Yes." Her voice hit a rather deadpan note, but the smile on her face proved she wasn't really angry.

"Your Majesty." He bowed and backed out of the compartment, disillusioning himself as he went.

"Who was that?" Remus wanted to know.

Myrrdin shrugged. "You didn't expect them to just let the Queen wander around completely on her own, did you? I'm to be treated like another student in most respects, but I have to have guards at all times."

The conversation then shifted to the boys imagining being watched all the time and then drifted into lighter topics. It wasn't long before the idea of pranks came up, sparked by Peter's trick with the bean, and the scheming began.