Chapter Six

Another month later, and it was August 31st. On the very next day, Anastase and Decebal would both be leaving for Hogwarts. None of them had been able to catch any more information than what they'd already had and Camil had left the Atarescu house the day previously to great silent applause from the twins.

Irinel walked into Anastase's room that night as he was sorting through his stuff, trying to decide what to pack.

'Are you looking forward to leaving?'

Anastase jumped, 'Mamă, you scared me. I didn't hear you come in.'

'I'm sorry', Irinel's tone was carefully detached, 'Are you though? Looking forward to going? Because to quote yourself, "I am not blind". I know that you and the twins listened in on the argument Camil and I had with Lăcrămioara.'

Anastase went stiff, 'I don't know what you're on about. The twins and I are perfectly aware that there was an argument but that was because you literally threw them out the house! It wasn't like you bothered to try and hide it, did you?'

How did she know that they'd eavesdropped? They'd been as careful as possible…

'Just because I can't prove it, I know my sons', Irinel said, 'You would never have rested without finding out what we wanted to keep from you. Will you be relieved, I wonder, to be able to get out from under my watchful eye? Do you hate it here now?'

'Yes', Anastase replied instantly, without even thinking, 'I do hate it here. This place, it's not a home, it's a cage. Camil is a rabid animal that deserves to be put down, and you are protecting him', his mouth twisted with disgust, 'I will be glad to be out of here, my only regret is that Kronid and Liniște cannot come with me. You can be very sure, Mamă, that the first thing I do when I turn seventeen, will be to leave this house and never come back.'

'I thought, that, that would be your answer', Irinel's breath caught in her throat, 'I agree with you. When you can, run. Run and do not look back. Flee from this family, and its name as far as you can. It brings only horror in its wake.'

Anastase stared, as with these ominous words of warning, Irinel swept from his room.

He blocked the conversation out of his head, storing it for a later discussion with the twins, before turning back to the truly spectacular mess on his bed.

Right, all of his course books, into the trunk, except…Fantastic Beasts was still in the living room.

He ran downstairs, taking the steps two at a time, before dashing into the lounge to grab the book, and shooting back up as fast as he could to avoid running back into Irinel.

Clothes next, school robes and new everyday wear, potions ingredients, both those needed in class and his own extracurricular ones, cauldron, vials, hat, scales, and everything else all got packed away.

He tucked his wand up his sleeve and looked around again. That seemed to be everything school related at least.

He ran a finger along the spins of his books, before grabbing a handful of them and shoving them into his trunk, he did get bored easily, after all, he told himself, it didn't have to be because he was considering running away and didn't want to leave them behind.

Deliberately ignoring the nagging feelings of fear and doubt that swam around his mind, Anastase wandered over to the twins' room. Kronid sat on his bed, head tucked inside a book, Liniște was standing on a chair in the middle of the room, apparently trying to catch a spider.

Anastase blinked, 'What are you doing to the poor thing?'

'Nothing', Liniște huffed, 'I just want to see what it feels like, to hold I mean.'

'Right, I see', Anastase didn't, 'Mamă came into my room a minute ago. She asked me if I wanted to get out of here.'

Kronid lifted his head up, 'What did you say? Did you tell her the truth?'

'Funny you should mention the truth', Anastase said wryly, 'I did tell her that I wanted nothing more than to leave and never come back, I was very frank about my opinion, but then she said that she knew that we'd heard everything in her and Camil's fight with Lăcrămioara. She said that she knew us.'

'She is our mother', Kronid pointed out, 'She raised us. If anyone could tell we were hiding something it would be her.'

'Hmm, you're right', Liniște said, 'But that raises the question of why didn't she tell Camil? I'm fairly sure that if he knew we'd been listening we wouldn't be sitting here to take about it afterwards.'

Anastase shrugged, 'I don't know whether I'm right of course, but I feel as though Mamă is playing all of us in a far more complex way than we realise yet. Maybe she's trying to keep us safe. After all, it was her daughter that was most affected after Camil's last attempt at his ritual.'

'Perhaps, but why wouldn't she tell us?' Kronid asked.

'Because she's afraid', Anastase reached out to grasp Kronid's wrist, 'Most people when they're frightened become more irrational. In Mamă's mind we're still little children who can't protect themselves, and in some respects she right, but in this case, we could help ourselves a lot more if we knew what we were up against.'

As the conversation trailed off to quite pondering, Anastase left the room, heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Lying awake in bed, he couldn't help but compare it to his restlessness the night his Hogwarts letter had come, only now there was no letter he could write to calm down, no way to tell himself that they were overreacting. Not anymore.

It was with this dark thought that he fell into a disturbed sleep.

Clawing the sheets off of him, Anastase woke covered in sweat and gasping. Twisting and confused dreams still spinning in front of his eyes. He grunted as he wiped the sleep from crusted lids, he felt more exhausted than he had before he'd even gone to sleep the night before.

As he stumbled out of bed, he clumsily pulled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, wizard he might be, but wandering into the middle of King's Cross Station, the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters from which the Hogwarts Express left, wearing robes still wasn't the best idea even if the Muggles had stopped burning witches centuries ago, and not very effectively at that.

Wandering down to the kitchen, Anastase found Kronid and Liniște already sitting at the table.

'What are you two doing down here so early? It's not like you're the ones going!' he exclaimed in surprise at seeing them awake and functioning before 10 o'clock.

'Oh, so we can't get up early to especially see our beloved big brother off to Hogwarts, then?' Liniște muttered sarcastically.

Anastase grinned him, 'Just amazed to see the ghouls up before me! You didn't have to do this you know? I would have come in and said goodbye anyway.'

'We know', Kronid said firmly, 'But all things considered, we felt it would be nicer if we were up to see you go.'

Anastase nodded, if Anastase really did decide to follow through on his thoughts of running away, then this could be the last time they saw each other for quite a while, and even if he didn't he was still going to be at Hogwarts until Christmas at the earliest.

Irinel walked into the room and paused at the threshold, 'Good morning Anastase, are you ready to go after you've eaten?'

She didn't show any sign of remembering Anastase's comments of the previous day.

'Yes, I am, 'Anastase said, 'We can go as soon as I've had breakfast.'

He hastily shovelled down some toast and eggs before running to get his trunk down the stairs and into the hallway.

Irinel waited for him in utter silence as he hugged Liniște and Kronid tightly.

'Stay safe both of you, if Camil comes back, tell me immediately. If Decebal and I find out anything at Hogwarts I'll tell you, okay?' Anastase stepped back to look at them, 'Be careful, don't get hurt, and if you need to get out…then don't hesitate and don't think. Just do it!'

'We will', Liniște reassured him, 'We're not stupid, remember? We know what we're doing, and if we get any solid, undeniable proof, we'll go straight to the Ministry.'

'See that you do', Anastase whispered, 'Oh I'll miss you both so much!' he gasped, 'I love you, and stay smart frați mai mici. Te iubesc atât de mult.' He then walked over to Irinel and stiffy took her hand, 'I'm ready to go now.'

She gave a sharp nod in response, he bent to tighten his grip on his trunk, and then Irinel dragged them both into the suffocating tunnel of Apparition.

They arrived in a narrow alleyway just around the corner from King's Cross Station. Anastase pulled away from Irinel as soon as he could and picked up his trunk. It was in stony silence that they made their way into the station.

The building was packed and bustling with hundreds of Muggles as they rushed to and fro catching different trains. Anastase pulled ahead of Irinel as he made his way through the crowd to platform nine. He stood by the barrier to wait for her and looked at the large plastic signs that proclaimed which number it was. It was funny he thought, that the Muggles liked to label everything so ostentatiously when the Wizarding community was built on secrecy.

'Make sure no one sees us going through', Irinel warned as she stepped up beside him.

Anastase jerked his head in acknowledgement, before leaning slightly on the barrier, he smiled as he felt it give way, effortlessly sliding through the gateway under the cover of a large group of chattering women.

The other side of the barrier was a wrought-iron archway, rather than a ticket box, upon which the words "platform nine and three-quarters," were written. Hanging from the ceiling was a sign that said, 'Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock'.

Anastase hummed approvingly, he had plenty of time to find Decebal and get settled into a compartment, after Irinel had left.

As this thought crossed his mind, she passed through the gateway with a graceful flowing motion.

'Muggles, they're always there, and it's so hard to work out when they'll be gone', she sighed.

Turning to Anastase she took a hold of his shoulders, 'Anastase, I know you're angry with me, if I were you, I would be angry with myself, but please be good, don't get in trouble, and for Moşul's sake, be careful! Don't accidentally blow yourself up performing some mad Potions experiment or get expelled for testing an old spell on one of your classmates, alright?'

'Yes, Mamă. I'll be careful', Anastase snapped, 'You don't need to worry about me.' The question Anastase thought was, do I need to worry about you?!

'Good', Irinel tried to smile at him, 'I do love you Anastase. I want you safe, no matter what you might think.'

'I know that', Anastase cried, 'The problem is that you hold physical safety above all else, but the twins and I don't. We need peace of mind, we need to know. And if you won't tell us, then we'll find out for ourselves. You can't stop that, we won't let you', he stated bitterly.

Irinel lowered her head in shame, 'I know, but I must do my best. That is all anyone can do.'

'Some people are just better than other', Anastase agreed. He turned away from her, 'Goodbye Mămica. I hope things will change. Look after the twins for me?'

'Of course, I will, I'm their mother! I know you know them best, but they are still mine!' Irinel shook her head, 'Is this really how little you think of me as a mother?'

Anastase didn't reply, instead walking away towards the train. He stopped at the door and turned back to look at Irinel, she was a dark shadow, hidden and obscured by the smoke pouring from the red, steam engine. A pang cut through his heart, for all she had done, she was still his Mamă. Up until two months ago, he had loved her more than anyone except for his brothers, now, she was nothing more than an oppressor, someone that keep them hidden away and trapped, unable to do anything, much less help themselves. It hurt, that feeling of betrayal. The one person he should have been able to trust to care for him, instead, making him a virtual prisoner.

Shaking away the pain, he refocused on the present. He was going away. He was going to experience true freedom for the first time ever. He could do whatever he wanted to, within reason. Nothing could stop him from having friends, or from helping poor Decebal from making some.

Grinning to himself he stooped down to pick up his trunk and almost fell over as he abruptly realised just how much Irinel had lighted it for him.

'Umpf!' he gasped as he heaved at the now extremely heavy trunk.

'Are you alright?' a rather timid sounding voice inquired from behind him.

Anastase winced 'No!' he huffed as he almost dropped his trunk on his toes.

He turned to look at the speaker, it was a skinny looking boy, about his own age. He was shorter than Anastase and hunched up as if trying to become even small. Pale ice blue eyes peeped up him through a fringe of pure white hair.

The other boy smiled at him sympathetically before his gaze flickered away, 'Here, let me help you.', he turned around and called out softly, 'Locryn, could you please lend a hand over here?'

Anastase blinked at him, 'Did you say Loc-?'

'-Well, hello there mystery boy!', the silver-haired Locryn, whom Anastase had met at St Mungo's appeared over the boy's shoulder, grinning like a cat.

The blond boy spluttered, 'You're mystery boy?!'

'You gave me a nickname?' Anastase asked, half shocked that Locryn, a perfectly normal person with no concerns over crazed relatives had even bothered to remember him much less tell others about him, and half annoyed at the name.

'Got a problem with that?' Locryn asked, mock offended, 'I actually started calling you that as a joke as I ran off, if you can recall, it was only after I'd got back home and started to tell Tregi over there-'

'Do not call me that', the white hair boy squawked, 'Locy!'

Locryn winced, 'As you may have realised, both of our's parents went a bit mad in the creative names department, they're bad enough when you say them properly but shortened…' He shuddered dramatically.

Anastase laughed, 'They're not that bad', he observed, 'My name is Anastase, Anastase Atarescu. I also have two younger brothers, twins, Kronid and Liniște.'

'Not British then I gather?' Locryn said, 'We are, from Cornwall to be exact.'

He stopped and looked around the station, 'Anyway, we'd do better to finish this conversation on the train rather than stand here blocking the door!'

The trio hauled their trunks onto the carriage. Anastase peered into one the compartments.

'This one's empty, let go in,' he called. Pushing the door open and stepping inside.

Locryn and "Tregi" followed after him. Settling down, Locryn leaned across the seat towards him with a broad smile.

'So, Mr Mystery', he began with a serious look on his face, 'What's the verdict over your new name? Are we to be the best of friends for life or are you contemplating eternal revenge on me?'

Anastase rolled his eyes at his overly dramatic posturing, it was like the twins at their very worst, 'Call me Mr Mystery again and I will have revenge on you, but aside from that, we're good', he paused then, 'Or I think we are, as a carry on from my word vomit at St Mungo's, my family is…strange, shall we say. I've never had a proper friend before, the only people my age that I know are my brothers and cousins!'

'That is so weird', "Tregi" said, 'I'm Tregereth by the way, dreadful name, isn't it? But Mum's always been a bit batty, and with a name like Sybill, what can you expect?!'

'My aunt's name is Lăcrămioara, so I think my family can still top yours if this is a competition', Anastase mused.

'It's not really', Locryn smirked, 'But it is interesting and also nice to know that we're not going to be the only people at Hogwarts with odd names, though yours is pretty normal for your family whereas ours, is somewhat less so.'

'So, are you two twins or something?' Anastase asked, trying to work out the relationship between the boys.

'What? Oh, no', Locryn shook his head, 'We're cousins, I mentioned him when we were at St Mungo's because he has to go there sometimes. I live with him and his Mum because my parents were both killed in 1980, just before You-Know-Who was defeated.'

'I'm going into first year this year', Tregereth informed him, 'Locryn is in second. He's a Slytherin.'

Anastase nodded thoughtfully, 'I'm going into first too, but my cousin, Decebal, is in third year, he's a Gryffindor though so you probably wouldn't know him, even if he did socialise more.'

'Nope never heard of him', Locryn confirmed, 'Slytherin and Gryffindor are notorious for their strong rivalry, not to mention I'm pretty unsociable most of the time. Two loners from opposing Houses taking notice of each other, that's the kind of thing that only happens in trashy romance novels, where the "loners" are a handsome boy and beautiful girl who are tragically misunderstood by the rest of the world. If it weren't for your "word vomit" as you put it, I would never have bothered remembering you, but after that particular spiel, you were pretty memorable.'

'I was right too', Anastase added, his voice had fallen to a whisper.

'What do you mean? You were right about your Uncle being up to something illegal?' Locryn asked he looked concerned, 'Did you go and tell anyone? Your mother?'

'It's a very long story', Anastase started, 'I think that I should wait until Decebal arrives, he needs to know some stuff. It's much worse than we thought it was.'

They lapsed into a quite tranquillity as they waited for more people to arrive and start entering the train. Anastase pulled out a book and buried himself in it, while Locryn and Tregereth started playing a game of wizard's chess.

After a while, Anastase looked up from the book, a truly fascinating case study on the effects of potion overdoses, and glanced out of the compartment window. The platform now bustled frantically in counterpoint with its Muggle twin, adults and children alike running around. The combined noise of hundreds of chattering people and the disconsolate hooting of owls formed a cacophony.

'It's almost 11 o'clock now', Tregereth told him, 'We'll be leaving anytime now. I wonder where your cousin is.'

No sooner had he spoken than the compartment door slid open.

Decebal stood at the threshold and started in surprise at the sight of Locryn and Tregereth.

'Hello, Anastase, who's this?' he smiled.

'Locryn and Tregereth…', he frowned, 'I don't actually know your surnames, but Tregereth is a first year like me, while Locryn is a second year Slytherin.'

'Nice to meet you both', Decebal replied crisply as he sat down next to his cousin, 'Anastase, don't we need to talk about, well, what happened over the summer?'

'Yes, we do', Anastase confirmed, 'Locryn already knows some of what I'm going to say because he was the one I had a bit of a breakdown with at St Mungo's', he explained.

'Do you want to tell them everything?' Decebal asked, 'It seems a bit dangerous, not to mention if Camil ever found out!'

'It's our choice', Tregereth spoke up, 'If you're okay with us hearing this, then we can decide if we want to hear it. I, personally, do want to. If you need help, if you are in danger, having just one more person in the know could save your lives. If you vanished one day and nobody knew, then the teachers would be puzzled, but if you vanished and we knew you might be in trouble and told them that, then they would probably call the Aurors.'

'He's right Decebal', Anastase said calmly, 'I wasn't a factor for me, but it is relevant.'

'It's not us I'm worried about', Decebal countered, 'We're in danger no matter what we do now, but it's not Locryn or Tregereth's family, is it? Right now, they can both walk away and forget about us, if we tell them everything, do you really, truly think, that Camil or Irinel would ever let them do that? You told me what Mum did to Dad, and he was totally zoned out for weeks afterwards. What do you think that would do to an eleven-year-old? If Camil didn't just kill them on the spot, anyway?'

'I don't want to die horribly', Tregereth stated, 'But I still want to know, besides you could argue that us knowing about this danger of yours, will let us prepare and defend against it better.'

'Won't lie', Locryn snapped, 'I don't like any of this, but I would rather know the danger and work out a way to solve the problem before it affects me than wait and constantly be cowering and looking over my shoulder in fear.'

Anastase stared out of the carriage window blankly, as he watched a small dark-haired boy dropped his trunk as he tried to push it into an end compartment, and a tubby boy clutching a toad rushed past the window.

He turned to Decebal, they met each other's eyes, and then they began to talk.

It was strange having to explain all of their family's turbulent history as background to the whole sorry tale, once they'd given a short explanation Anastase started talking about Luminița, what had happened to her, what she was like now, and the showdown in the Janus Thickly Ward.

'She was the one you were visiting', Locryn said, 'I can't believe your Mum didn't see her for seven years!'

Decebal sighed wearily as he continued to mention the twins and their, at the time, disbelieve able theories.

'They sound very clever', Tregereth observed softly.

'They are', Anastase said grimly, 'Too clever for their own good.'

He went on to explain Camil's horrible visit, the fight between Irinel and Lăcrămioara, and Mircea's memory modification.

Locryn gaped in horror, 'So, your crazy uncle wants to redo a ritual, A RITUAL! One that went wrong the first time, because he thinks You-Know-Who is still alive. Your Mum is going along with this, even though he drove her daughter mad, and your Dad died trying to reverse its effects. Your Mum', he turned to look at Decebal, 'Has basically promised to give them free rein as long as they leave her and your Dad alone but forgot to include you and your little brother in this. And all of you spent your summer panicking over this!'

'Yes', Anastase looked at him calmly, 'We did, what else could we do?'

'I don't know', Locryn hissed, 'Maybe do as I said at St Mungo's and tell someone! Tell the Ministry at this point it's that bad!'

'You need to listen better', Anastase said coldly, 'If you'd paid the slightest bit of attention, you would realise that we did seriously consider it. Until we realised that we had no proof what so ever. I believe that in order for a crime to be punished, there must be evidence, after all in the system we live in, you are innocent until proven guilty.'

Locryn opened his mouth to respond when the train started to move. They all watched as the parents and sibling of students stood on the platform and waved as they rushed by.

Outside the compartment, in the corridor, footsteps passed by as people wandered about meeting friends and finding compartments.

'We're going now', Anastase spoke, 'For the first time…I am free. No Mamă, no Camil, no one watching me, no one to stop me from being…normal.'

'It's terrible what your family have done', Locryn sounded angry, 'It's worse that you can't bring them to justice for it. I'm not hesitant anymore. I will help you.'

Decebal snorted, 'Can you imagine the looks on Snape and McGonagall's faces if they saw a Slytherin and Gryffindor agreeing to help each other? They'd both die of heart failure!'

'Gryffindors are brave', Locryn said, 'But we Slytherins are cunning. I'll come up with the mad plans and you can carry them out!'

'Excuse me!' Anastase butted in, 'Seeing as I'm the one that already acts like the penultimate Ravenclaw shouldn't I be coming up the plans, or even the twins, they're smarter than most random five adults out there combined!'

'I said mad plans', Locryn pointed out, 'You can make sure that they work!'

Tregereth smiled, 'And as I'm the only one that cares, I'll be the one making sure that your crazy schemes don't hurt anyone else. We have to remember that almost nobody knows that we exist much less that this is even happening.'

'Sometimes you can't care', Anastase argued, 'If I had to choose between my life, or my bothers lives and that of a stranger, I would choose for the stranger to die every time. I don't think that's wrong.'

'Not always', Tregereth accepted, 'But what if it was many strangers, what if it was a baby, what if it was the Minister of Magic. What if it was an entire city? Is it so clearly cut then? Because I don't it is.'

'No', Anastase said, 'But I would still choose my life or the life of someone I cared for over that of someone I didn't. No matter who they were, how important they, what age they were, even a city…people have kids, give birth. It's not like a country could never recover from that. Does that make me a bad person?'

'No', Locryn stated firmly, 'It just makes you ruthless, and determined to protect those you love. You're what a parent should be like.'

That, Anastase thought was horrifying, and very sobering. This realisation of what a parent should be like was a far cry from the reality of Irinel, and even Mircea and Lăcrămioara were hardly innocent in this.

He stared unseeing out of the window, blind to the sight of lush green fields passing by, lost in his own memories. Decebal retreated into a book, shrinking away from Locryn and Tregereth's attempts to talk. Seeing that their company wasn't wanted by their companions, the two restarted their chess game, Locryn smirking at his cousin as he won.

Tregereth huffed and began building a tower of Exploding Snap cards. Locryn settled back

watch and to wait and see Tregereth singe his eyebrows off.

Anastase and Decebal both stirred as a loud clatter filled the corridor, followed by an elderly woman opening the compartment door.

'Anything off the trolley dears?' she enquired with a dimpled smile.

'Yes, please', Locryn said, he looked at the other three, 'I don't know about you lot, but I get starving long before we get to Hogwarts.'

'That sounds like a good idea then', Anastase replied crisply, 'I don't know what's on there so just choose for me.'

'Me too please', Tregereth added.

'I'll have some Pumpkin Pasties', Decebal finished.

'Okay then', Locryn turned back to the woman, 'We'll have eight Pumpkin Pasties, as many Cauldron Cakes, a dozen Chocolate Frogs, and some Liquorish wands.'

He handed over seven Sickles in payment, before tipping the food onto the seat.

He ripped open one of the Cauldron Cakes and started to eat, 'Go on everyone! Take whatever you want. We're not at home anymore.'

Anastase blinked before taking a Liquorish Wand, 'This is quite nice isn't it?' he commented as he bit into it.

'Yeah, but it doesn't fill you up the same as proper food', Locryn sighed. 'That's why I got so much. I guaranty that your stomach will be digesting itself by the time we get to the school.'

'Ugh!' Tregereth exclaimed, 'Do you have to be so revolting? I'm trying to eat!'

As they tore through their pile, Anastase started drilling Decebal on what kinds of things he would be learning in first year.

'So, are we stuck doing the basics? That seems a bit unfair considering that many children from Wizarding families, like me, may already know all the theory! Everything that was in those textbooks I had learned ages ago.'

Decebal grinned, 'Might be unfair to you, but most people don't bother learning that stuff. I certainly didn't!'

Anastase sniffed if some people hadn't bothered to read a single textbook before stepping on the train that wasn't his problem! Why should a school like Hogwarts, with a world-class reputation, cater to the lazy? It was understandable for Muggle-borns of course, they couldn't help not being brought up around magic, but those with magical parents…well, maybe that was his own unconventional upbringing speaking, but not knowing the theory of magic seemed so incredibly stupid to Anastase that it was almost inconceivable.

'I wouldn't worry about not learning anything though', Decebal reassured him, 'The practical aspect is the hardest part. You can read the book until you're blue in the face, but it won't make you any better at turning a beetle into a button.'

Tregereth let out a muffled wail, 'You don't need to worry about anything, Anastase! You already know it all, you just need practice. But me! I don't know anything, I'll be the worst in the whole year!'

'No, you won't', Locryn sighed, 'I was scared too but really you'll be fine. Trust me.'

Their conversation was interrupted when the compartment door slid open. A bushy haired girl wearing Hogwarts robes, and a plump tearful looking boy stood in the doorway.

'Have any of you seen a toad? Neville's lost one', the girl had a posh, bossy voice and over large front teeth that put Anastase in mind of a hamster.

'No, we haven't', Decebal replied politely, 'Perhaps try the prefects' compartment? They might be able to help you.'

The girl blinked, 'Oh, thank you. I hadn't thought of that.'

She dashed off, dragging the boy with her.

No sooner had they left, than the door opened again. This time it was a pair of giggling older students.

'Have you guys heard?' one of the girls gushed.

'No', Anastase barked irritated, 'We haven't, and we don't want to!'

'Alright keep your hair on!' the second girl rolled her eye, 'You do realise that Harry Potter, is just down the corridor?'

'No, we didn't Flora', Locryn said, 'But as Anastase said, we're not particularly interested in knowing. We'll soon know all about him when we're at Hogwarts.'

Still laughing the girls moved on.

Tregereth's stomach rumbled making him jump.

Decebal glanced out of the window, Anastase followed his gaze. Dusk was falling over mountains and forests outside the train.

'We should change into our robes now', Decebal said, 'We're almost there.'

'Told you that you'd be hungry when we got here', Locryn lightly poked his cousin in the ribs.

They all took off their Muggle clothing and pulled the long black robes on over their heads. As they were putting the Muggle ware back into their trunks a voice echoed through the train: 'We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.'

Anastase met Tregereth's eye and smiled. They were almost there.