"We're getting a train?"

Suffice to say, Isabelle did not sound impressed.

Having been catapulted to the other side of the world in mere moments, the portal had left Jace more winded than he had expected. He had barely stopped to take a look at their surroundings, keeling over with his hands on his knees, too busy catching his breath and gulping down the nausea building in his throat. He was vaguely aware of a rather pungent, smoky scent, and the prick of cool wind against his skin, but it took him more than a few moments of recovery before he straightened, glanced up, and was met with exactly the opposite of what he had anticipated upon their arrival.

Ahead of him, a sprawling platform awaited, interrupted midway by a single wall of brick. Around him, Clary, Isabelle, Alec and the others were gaping at a sight that he had to turn his head to get a glimpse of.

And when he did, he was met with an unobstructed sight of what even he could admit was perhaps the most magnificent train he had ever laid eyes upon in his life.

By the Angel.

You wouldn't find something like this in New York.

It was a hulking beast of a thing, painted a rich scarlet, and emblazoned across it in gold lettering were the words, The Hogwarts Express. The windows were darkened, but beyond them Jace caught shadowy flashes of movement; it looked as if the train was already sporting passengers.

And it was quite definitely just about to leave.

At the other end of the platform, at the front of the train, a whistle shrieked and smoke billowed up suddenly into the air. The platform vibrated underneath them as the wheels reared into life, and Jace shot Alec an alarmed look.

"Well, come on then!" Magnus snapped from somewhere behind him.

Before he could protest, the doors in front of him leading into the last cabin had slid open, and Jace was being shoved inside. In the frenzy of all of them swarming onto the train at once, he had to glance back three times to check Clary was on safely with them – there, a flash of red hair, and then the hissing sound of the doors closing behind them once again –

"Hey! Stop!"

The voice came from the platform.

A momentary sense of panic surged through him, and it took him a moment to realise that the male voice yelling like a madman just beyond the doors that were seconds from closing, but of the teenage boy sprinting down the platform with an enormous suitcase floating in the air behind him.

Jace acted before he could think, shoving his hands in the sliver of space between the closing doors. They screeched in protest as he used all his strength to wrench them apart, just long enough for the boy to leap up and collapse inside, his floating bag zipping through a second before Jace lost his grip and the doors slammed with a resounding rattle.

And then the train was off.

The boy dropped to his knees and raked his hands through his rather sweaty mop of wild, curling black hair. His glasses were askew on his face, his chest heaving, and Jace didn't fail to notice the long, slender stick protruding from his back pocket.

So, that was what a wand looked like. Unimpressive.

"Shit, that was close." The boy panted, "Shit."

Bellemark and the Whittower siblings had helped themselves to a seat in the seemingly empty carriage that they had found themselves on, but the rest of them; Clary, Isabelle, Alex and Magnus, were standing around the boy looking vaguely alarmed. Alec had his hand poised at his back, where his quiver of arrows was slung as usual.

By the Angel.

"You guys, find somewhere to sit, I'll be over in a minute." He said, and watched as they drifted back towards the plush compartments. Clary looked back at him over her shoulder, and he nodded at her.

He hoped she thought he was being a good citizen, offering to make sure a young boy who had near enough fainted into a departing train was alright.

Really, he was just mildly intrigued by the wizard – a real wizard – kneeling before him.

Okay, a little more than mildly.

"That was the most graceful display of agility I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing."

To his surprise, the boy snorted, and pushed himself to his feet. He looked a little bedraggled – his clothes were baggy on his slim frame, and his suitcase was still floating rather ominously in the air behind his head, but he smiled wearily when he caught Jace's eye.

They were startlingly green.

"That agility would have had me stuck on that platform if it weren't for you." He answered, and though he sounded genuine he also sounded jarringly exhausted. "Thanks."

"No problem."

The boy looked him up and down, a quizzical look on his face. Jace was at once glad for the fact that they'd all chosen to dress normally for the journey – he was in jeans and a t-shirt, instead of full Shadowhunter garb.

"Are you new here, or…?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

Jace didn't know how he was supposed to answer that question, and he certainly didn't think Shadowhunter was in this boy's vocabulary, so he nodded and said, "I guess you could say that."

The boy frowned. Jace stuck his hand out.

"I'm Jace."

"Harry." His handshake was firm and unwavering. "I'm going to grab a seat down at the other end of the carriage – you can come sit with me and my friends, if you'd like."

It appeared that in his haste, Harry hadn't noticed Jace's companions.

"Thanks, I'll catch up with you." He lied.

The boy nodded, a little awkwardly, then strolled away in the opposite direction, his bag following dutifully behind him.

Well. That was underwhelming.

When he turned around again to find somewhere to sit, it was Magnus who he almost collided with, leaning against the wall of the compartment with a curious frown on his face.

"You're Glamoured, aren't you, Jace?" The warlock mused.

Jace nodded. "What does that have anything to do with this?"

"A Glamour works on wizards in exactly the same manner as it does on mundanes, you know?"

"And?" Jace had absolutely no idea where Magnus was going with this.

"That boy should not have been able to see you. And I'm rather concerned about the fact that he quite definitely could."