CHAPTER I – The Train

Liam felt very out of place standing in King's Cross Station. His parents had taken him this far, but as he looked back, he could see them walking away. He caught the eye of his mother, who was turning back to look at him as well. She smiled and disappeared into the crowd.

It didn't help that Liam had never even ridden a train before and now needed to find a magical one. There didn't seem to be anyone around to help him either. His nonmagical parents were not only no help, but very strict about not even trying to help. They hadn't been terribly supportive so far of their son's strange talents.

Liam stood staring back and forth from one platform to the next, trying to discern with an 11-year-old's logic how there could be a platform nine-and-three-quarters. After a minute of drawing a blank, he sat down on the trunk behind him and propped his chin on his hands.

Immediately, a young woman stopped in front of him. "Are you lost, kid?"

"Something like that," Liam replied. "I'm looking for platform nine-and-three-quarters."

The woman smiled. "I see. You're one of us."

"Am I?"

"You must be new. Follow me." She gave him a reassuring look, then grabbed the handle on her trunk and headed straight for the wall Liam had been sitting in front of. Instead of crashing, as Liam only half-expected, she passed right through and disappeared.

"I should have known."

With a sigh, he stood up and followed suit. The woman was waiting for him on the other side. "Not as bad as it looks, eh?"

Liam smiled. "I've been through worse."

He only paid her half a mind though, a fact she was well aware of. What consumed his attention now was the scarlet train in front of him, puffing smoke. The train was frightening, in a way. It was large and oddly painted. Before he really had time to think on it, someone bumped into him from behind.

"I'm terribly sorry," said a child roughly Liam's age.

"No, no. It's my fault. Not a good idea to stand in the entranceway."

The kid had already tuned him out, staring in wonder at the train. Apparently he was new as well. "We should move," Liam said, making sure to catch the boy's attention for at least long enough to get the message across.

After the kid nodded absently and began walking off, Liam looked over at the young woman who'd helped him through, only to find her gone. With a shrug, he set off to go find a seat on the train.

It didn't take long to find an empty compartment. Without delay, he put up his trunk and sat down, leaning back and closing his eyes. It had been a weird day so far, and it wasn't likely to get any better. Perhaps it would be easier on him if he could get a little rest now.

After perhaps a half an hour, the train began to move. Soon afterwards, his compartment was invaded by two boys about his age. "Dude," the first boy said to the second, "there's only one guy in here. Let's do it." After the second boy nodded, the first walked up to Liam and offered a hand. "What's up? I'm Jack."

Liam opened his eyes and saw the hand in front of him, so he shook it. "Liam. Pleased to meet you."

"Liam?" Jack said. "Rock. Me and my brother, Kyle, here are lookin' for a place to crash. Mind if we share your pad?'

"I'm not really sure what that means, but sure."

"Awesome. Kyle, thank the man."

"You rock, dude."

Liam just nodded and closed his eyes again. He couldn't help but hope that no one else would be as crazy and wild as Jack already seemed to be. After Kyle and Jack had put up their trunks and settled in, Liam began to hear the strumming of a guitar. His eyes popped open.

"Dude, I'm sorry," Kyle said immediately, ceasing his playing. "No guitar?"

"By all means, keep playing. I just wasn't expecting a musician."

As Kyle started strumming again, Jack turned to Liam. "Are you into the whole music thing, man?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I was taking drumming lessons before I ended up here."

"Dude, that's awesome. What kind of music were you learning?"

"Mostly rock."

"No offense, man, but rock and roll is bogus. Right K.G.?"

"Right."

"What do you guys play?"

"Rock, which we know to be bogus. But we're classically trained."

"Classically trained?"

Jack laughed. "Give him a taste, K.G."

Kyle looked at him for a second, then shrugged. "Okay." His fingers moved along the fretboard and he began to pluck, playing a hot block of Bach.

Liam grinned. "That's cool."

"Dude, Liam, man, you're a drummer," Jack laughed. "D'you bring any sticks with you?"

"Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"Let's rock, dude." Jack started digging around for his own guitar, and Liam followed suit by opening his trunk and searching through it for the drumsticks he vaguely remembered packing. Finally, they found what they were looking for, and began a free form jam session on the train.

It wasn't until a few hours later that they were interrupted by the lady with the trolley. "You kids seem to be enjoying yourself," she said. "Would you like anything off the trolley?"

The three of them looked at each other, then simultaneously shook their heads. The trolley lady just smiled and moved on.

"Not bad, Liam, buddy," Jack crooned. "You gots skills."

"Thanks, Jack. You guys are pretty awesome yourselves. There's just one thing that's bothering me though?"

"What's that?" Kyle asked.

"You guys said you were brothers, but you don't really look anything alike."

"Well," Jack said, "we're not brothers like 'brothers' brothers. We're more like 'brothers' if you know what I mean." He turned to Kyle. "Right, bro?"

"Right."

Liam gave them a slightly confused look. "I think I get it. You guys are just really good friends."

"Something like that."

"That's cool. I mean, friendship is rare."

They both nodded sagely. "I know what you're saying," Kyle agreed.

"Hey guys," came a voice from the doorway, "you should probably change into your robes soon."

Liam looked up to see the young woman he'd spoken to earlier. "Yes, ma'am," Liam said.

After she left, Liam, Jack, and Kyle changed. "Wow," Kyle exclaimed after sitting down in his new robes, "these robes blow. It's gonna suck trying to play in these."

"Roll up the sleeves," Liam offered.

"Oh, right."

Soon they were jamming again, despite the hardship of rocking in robes. Hours later, the music died down and they looked up to see a group of robed adolescents standing in their doorway and beyond.

Jack and Kyle shared a look, then turned their grin on Liam. "Dude, Lee – you mind if I call you Lee? – I think we need to start a band."