Firstly, Ariadne had been met at the train station by both of her parents. Her father would usually come alone to collect her, while her mother tidied the house. This was something of a family joke, as Helena's housekeeping was flawless, with never so much as a single speck of dust out of place.
Secondly, the three of them were travelling home in a taxi. Ariadne's father had a very good car - well ok, not wonderful, but it was at least roadworthy. And when he was travelling around muggle towns, he always used it, so as not to seem out of place.
However, the Fortuna family could not have looked more out of place in the train station if they had tried. Ariadne had met her parents pushing a large trolley, upon which was an oversized trunk bearing the initials AF in gold, and an enormous cage, containing a large, slightly ruffled snowy owl by the name of Nivosus.
Her parents didn't fit in much either. Her father had at least tried to dress in muggle clothes, but hadn't got it exactly right. He had teamed a lilac coloured shirt with a pair of pinstriped trousers, underneath his large black cloak. At least he had tried however. His wife had simply refused to don muggle clothing, claiming that she was very proud of what she was, thank you very much, and didn't care how many people stared at her. Due to this, she had arrived dressed in floor length royal blue robes, and a fir trimmed white cloak.
There was a simple reason for the abnormalities within the family. Ariadne was a witch. Her mother and father were a witch and wizard, and Ariadne had just returned from Durmstrang School of Magic for the summer holidays.
Ariadne had been born in England, and had only moved to Norway when she was seven and her father had been appointed British Ambassador to the Norwegian Ministry of Magic. When she was eleven, Ariadne had begun her magical education at Durmstrang, and lived at school for most of the year, returning only for the holidays.
Ariadne was fourteen now, and loved school. She had known she was a witch ever since she was born and had looked forward to attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ever since her cousin had started there. She had been upset when they had moved, but then started to read up about Durmstrang and decided she didn't mind too much after all.
The tense silence in the back of the taxi eventually became too much for Ariadne, who was not a quiet girl. She decided to voice some of her confusion.
'Dad, what's happened to your car?' Ariadne asked.
'Erm.... well, it's.... erm...' Alexander tailed off. 'Erm, it's gone.'
'Gone? Gone where? You haven't crashed it again have you?' Alexander's driving was far from perfect, as shown by the number of dents and scratches in his car.
'No I haven't crashed it,' he replied. 'I just don't have it anymore. I'll be getting a new one when...' he tailed off again.
'When what?' Ariadne persisted.
'Never mind,' her father muttered.
Feeling even more confused than she had done before, Ariadne turned to her mother.
'Mum, how come you're not at home, dusting and hoovering Smudge up off the carpet?' Smudge was the family's overweight black and white cat. His fur was very long and had a nasty habit of falling out in large clumps exactly where Helena had just finished vacuuming.
'Oh, I just wanted to get out of the way, you know, let them get on with it. I put an anti-theft spell on our things and left them to it.'
But Ariadne didn't know. 'Let who get on with what?' she questioned, now getting desperate to find out what was going on.
Her question was soon answered. As the taxi pulled into their road, she saw an large lorry sitting in front of their house - a removal lorry. Printed on the side of the bright blue vehicle in big gold letters were the words 'The Magical Moving Company - anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes.'
Climbing out of the car, Ariadne turned to face her parents, a look of complete shock on her face. 'Does anyone want to explain what's going on?' she asked.
'Well,' her mother began, 'your father's got a new job!'
'Oh,' said Ariadne. 'Where, what as?'
'I've been asked to take over the position of Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation, as the last guy... disappeared at the end of last year.'
Ariadne could relate to this. Her headteacher at Durmstrang, Professor Karkaroff, had gone to Hogwarts with a group of 6th and 7th year students this year, but had not returned. All of the students had been informed that 'due to unforeseen circumstances, Professor Karkaroff would not be returning to Durmstrang next year, and a new replacement would be arriving shortly.' No one seemed to know where he had gone.
'So where are we moving to?' Ariadne asked. This was just one of thousands of questions that had been pounding through her head.
'We're going back to England, probably just outside London,' her father told her. We wanted to get the move over with as soon as possible, because they need me over at the Ministry urgently. And also it'll give you plenty of time to settle in before going back to school.'
'But I'll still be going to Durmstrang, won't I?' Ariadne was sure some of the worry that was rapidly forming in the pit of her stomach had shown through in her voice.
'Well...' her mother's voice faltered.
Ariadne's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. 'You mean to say, that I'm going to have to leave Durmstrang? You can't do this to me!' she cried. 'Where am I going to go, what about all my friends?'
'Calm down Ariadne,' said Alexander soothingly. 'We've spoken to Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts, and he's agreed to let you start there in the fourth year in September.' Seeing her face, he realised she would need some convincing. 'Don't you remember sweetheart, how you always wanted to go to Hogwarts? Ever since Linzi went there when you were little?' Linzi was Ariadne's cousin.
'I was five when Linzi started at Hogwarts!' Ariadne yelled. 'A lot's changed since then! I don't want to go to Hogwarts, I don't want to move back to England, and you can't make me!
With a bang, the wand Ariadne was clutching in her hand went off like a firework. It sent sparks flying into the air, all of the taxi's windows smashed and the car alarm started wailing. Ariadne ran full pelt into the house, her long blonde hair flying out behind her, tears filling her deep blue eyes.