With new books in hand the last few weeks of summer began to pass very quickly for William as he killed time in the Fraser home on Inverness lane. He slowly began to crack open his new books in an attempt to get a jump start on what he would be learning in the coming year. Furthermore he started to studiously go over some of his books from last year in subjects that he hadn't done as well in like History in an attempt to prevent being behind at the start of the year. Slowly but surely the weeks to the new school year became days and William started to become very excited over the coming school year.

The day of the train ride back to campus William had his trunk packed neatly and his mail owl Asimov fast asleep in his cage. The Fraser family got up early as usual to make their way into New York City to see William off. The ride was very peaceful, passing through the college town away from the students moving in that very weekend, and then down interstate highways that were empty at this early hour and then finally into the steel canyons of Manhattan where the sky scrapers glittered in the early morning sun. William could barely contain himself as they neared the train station and found a space in a parking garage near by.

Like last year the family stopped a little bit before the entrance to William's platform to prevent any muggles that were wandering by from noticing him going down to the magically hidden platform. His sister had merely smiled at him and said, "See you soon squirt." She then ruffled his sandy mop of hair.

His father shook his hand and gave him a brief strong hug, "I'm very proud of you William, now be careful this year, don't go looking for trouble."

William locked eyes with his father and then nodded, "I won't Dad."

William's mother then hugged him in a rib-crushing hug, "I should be here to pick you up at the end of the semester." She then smiled, "I love you so much William."

William hugged his mother back and then said, "I love you too Mom." They then parted, and William grabbed a hold of his trunk and Asimov's covered cage before making his way down to Platform 23 ½ .

William immediately looked around, he, Chris, and Nick were supposed to meet up on the platform and find a compartment together. After a few minutes of walking up and down the platform, he heard a booming voice from the train, "Hey William!"

William spun his head about and spotted Chris hanging outside of the train window and said, "I thought we were meeting on the platform."

"Well you took forever to get here so I figured I'd grab a compartment, see Nick yet?" Chris called back.

"No I haven't, you haven't either?" William called back as he walked toward the train window that Chris was leaning out of.

"Not yet, I figured he would've gotten here early since he's coming from a pretty decent way away," Chris replied.

William shrugged and then said, "I'm sure he'll turn up, I'll come and join you." William then clambered up into the train where he stowed his luggage in the front cargo section of the car they were in, and then moved to meet Chris down in the compartment.

Chris was still hanging out of the window calling out to people left and right, asking how their summer had gone and so on. William just settled back into the seat of the train, happy to once more be hearing Chris shout things at the top of his lungs while William could just relax and take in the wizarding world. All of a sudden Chris turned around and said, "I see Nick!"

William came up with a start, not even realizing that he had begun to drift off. He shot up and got to the window. They could see Nick walking down the steps with his luggage, and standing next to him was a middle aged wizard with some wrinkles and graying hair in some sort of uniform. "Who do you think that is?" William asked.

"I don't know, but he looks like a Marshal or something," Chris responded.

The officer turned and spoke to Nick briefly before handing him a bottle of something that Nick then stuck into his robe pocket, and then the officer took a step back. As Nick looked up and down the platform, William watched as the officer removed a long and strangely shimmering cloak that he then tossed over himself, the officer seemed to fade from view as the cloak fell over him, William kept trying to look directly where the officer had been but suddenly found his eyes moving away from the spot. Nick seemed to shrug his shoulders and start walking down toward the end of the train, before William shouted, "Nick, over here!"

Nick suddenly stopped and turned around before waving weakly, he then walked up to their car, jogging past their window and hopping up through the door as the whistle began to blow and someone shouted, "All aboard!"

Nick then arrived at the door. William couldn't help but notice the fact that he looked pale, and very tired, like he was just getting over a cold. Nick's dark hair was a mess and his muddy brown eyes looked somewhat darker than they had just a few months ago, they were also somewhat blood shot. Nick then sighed, "Just made it."

"Yeah, we were wondering what was taking you so long," Chris said with a smile.

Nick shrugged, "You know, just had to take care of some stuff."

William nodded and then asked, "Who was that with you?"

Chris then interjected, "Was that a Marshal?"

Nick shook his head as he yawned and sat down across from William, "Nah, it wasn't a Marshal, it was an Officer from the Magical Beasts Department. He comes by every so often to make sure that every thing is going smoothly."

"Oh," Chris answered.

William nodded, "What was that thing he put on?"

"Disillusionment Cloak I think," Nick said with a shrug, "I don't know, I try not to pay a lot of attention to him." He then paused, sinking back into his chair and closing his eyes for a brief moment, then he opened them and asked, "So how were your summers?"

William shrugged, "Eh, nothing too exciting. The only thing that really happened was that I ran into Theodore when I went to get my school supplies."

"What happened?" Chris asked excitedly.

"Nothing really, we almost got into a fight," William answered, then he paused and added, "It was stopped when the Quidditch Captain showed up, then he called me a mudblood."

"Whoa," Chris answered.

Nick's eyes shot open, "What'd you do?"

"I almost cursed him right then and there," William said, then shook his head, "But I mean, I figure he'll probably try something soon and we can do something then, right?"

Chris nodded vigorously, "Definitely man, we won't let him get away with that."

"Yeah," Nick added though it seemed somehow half-hearted.

After the lull in conversation Chris launched into the story of his own summer. He had gone to several quodpot games and had apparently found some places back home where he could fly his broom around even though he lived near plenty of muggles. "This one time," Chris regaled, "I actually almost ran into these Boy Scouts. I had been flying up in these old woods, and they were on this nature hike or whatever. So there I was zooming around, laughing my head off as I'm ducking through these branches, then all of a sudden I hear these kids talking. I slow down and move through the branches, and all of a sudden I see like ten or twelve muggles walking through the woods. I just yanked right up then and there without even looking where I was going. I hit a couple of branches but I'm pretty sure they didn't see me. Then of course I had to duck back into the trees as quickly as possible just in case someone else saw me. I mean seriously, who thought flying a broom would be so difficult."

Nick just shook his head, "You have to be more careful, you could've violated the statute of secrecy."

Chris shrugged, "Whatever, it's not that big of a deal."

Nick sighed, and then just leaned back and closed his eyes.

William shook his head as well, "Yeah, flying through muggle towns might not be the best idea in the summer Chris."

Chris shrugged, "Oh come on what's the worst that could happen?"

Nick laughed and then said, "Whatever."

They all became a little quiet after that, and William began to fade in and out. William came to when there was a knock at the door. William turned his head as the door opened and standing there was Sarah and standing behind her was her roommate Alexandria. "Here you guys are," Sarah said as she entered into the compartment.

Alexandria smiled at each of the boys and then sat down right next to William and gently smoothed out her robes as she folded her legs. Sarah meanwhile sat down between Chris and Nick, rousing the both of them awake, "Why are you guys all the way back here?"

Chris spoke with a start, "Because it's a good spot to be."

Sarah laughed, "Sure."

There was a quick recap of how everyone's summer had been, Sarah announced that the American team had apparently had a decent qualifying match for the Quidditch world cup, and might have a chance next year to make it into one of the big matches. She smiled broadly, "Fingers crossed but we might even be able to make it into the final match."

Chris snorted, "Who cares, it's just Quidditch."

"It's the world cup!" Sarah shouted, "It's one of the most important sporting events in the wizarding world."

"Pfft," Chris retorted, "I believe you are mistaken."

With that began the traditional shouting match of quidditch versus quodpot. Nick rolled over on to his side and closed his eyes. Alexandria merely turned her head to William, "I sometimes wonder if they enjoy arguing about this."

William laughed softly, "It happens too much for them not to on some level."

Alexandria's eyes kept drifting over to Nick opposite her in the compartment, "How is he?"

William shrugged, "I don't know, I think he's had a rough summer."

Alexandria's eyes rolled, "Well I meant if the Beast was obviously changing him or not."

"What?" William asked, trying not to raise his voice.

"Well, he's a werewolf, they are considered dangerous for a reason," Alexandria replied.

William sighed, "I think he's doing fine, and I think all that is just a bunch of old legends. He hasn't changed at all."
Alexandria nodded, "Maybe they are, you never know though, I know I've never met a werewolf."

William shook his head, "Well neither have I, but I'd bet that it's just a bunch of silly superstition he's the same old Nick."

Alexandria nodded again but kept a wary eye on him as she then changed the topic of conversation, "Is it true that you and Theodore Stinson almost dueled in Dragon's Plaza last month?"

"How'd you hear about that?" William asked eyes wide.

"Mr. Perry of Philadelphia wrote an editorial in the Intelligencer about how certain families seemed to be raising children who do inappropriate things. He made mention of how his son had to stop two seventh grade students from Salem from fighting in the streets. So I asked around and some people said it was Theodore Stinson and you," Alexandria explained quickly.

"Wait, Franklin Perry writes for a newspaper?" William asked.

"Not Franklin, his father, and he doesn't write for it, he owns it," Alexandria replied. She then asked again, "So is it true?"

William nodded, "Yes it is. I bumped into him and we almost hexed each other then he insulted me, Franklin, and my sister. As he left I pulled out my wand and Franklin stopped me from doing anything," William replied.

Alexandria laughed her soft laugh before saying, "Well, the insults people throw at Franklin rarely bother him, but I can't imagine what he'd say to you. Unless he...oh my..." Alexandria frowned as William watched realization dawn across her face.

"Yes," William answered, "He said that sort of stuff."

"That's terrible," Alexandria said as she shook her head.

Suddenly they could hear the train beginning to slow down and then Sarah shot up and Alexandria slowly stood. "Well we got to get our stuff," Sarah said, "We'll see you guys later."

"Bye," Alexandria said with a smile as she followed her roommate out.

As the train rolled to a stop in front of the school, Nick rustled awake and then patted his robe pockets before nodding to no one in particular, "I'll see you guys later, I have to take care of some things after I move in." He then left the compartment quickly.

Chris shook his head, "That was weird."
William shrugged, "He probably does have stuff to do after he moves in."

Chris nodded, "Yeah I guess."

The roommates grabbed their luggage and then much like last year wrestled it up the hill as older students began to surf their luggage up the hills and some people flew up with their brooms and luggage. "God I can't wait till we know some more spells," Chris said as he stared enviously at the upperclassmen zooming over the campus walls.

"I think we'll learn a couple of useful things this year, but we could probably just look up some of that stuff," William answered.

"Maybe," Chris responded as they walked toward Corey Hall.

Like last year older students were shouting directions to underclassmen, the sixth graders in particular. As they came into Corey Hall, Chris and William moved to the right while the sixth graders who were moving into the old senior dorms moved to the left so they could get their keys and schedules. Once more, William got his schedule from a wide-eyed house elf who magic-ed away his luggage to his room.

When he arrived back at Corey Hall 131 he unlocked the door, Chris right behind him. William took a deep breath of the fresh air coming in from the courtyard windows, and smiled. "It's good to be back," William announced to no one in particular.

He then slowly began to unpack and redecorate the room as Chris did the same. Even though it was never necessary for unpacking, he started levitating random objects about the room just because he could. Slowly the dorm room began to look like it had at the end of last year. Pictures hung up above William's desk, his quodpot horn rested in the corner, Asimov was resting in his cage. On Chris' side of the room there were several New York Sharks' posters, a few photographs from the games he had gone to over the summer, his Salem Quodpot accessories such as his horn, his foam finger, and the giant cat head he would wear every game. Settled in with all of the Quodpot stuff was his own broom and Quodpot pads as he was going to try out for the team this year. Finally William and Chris both pinned their schedules above their desks.

As William headed out to the dining hall that night he couldn't help but smile. The school year was finally about to start again and he couldn't help but be excited as he walked over the neatly maintained brick paths beneath the ancient trees of the campus toward the large main brick building with the ivy growing along side of it. His smile grew wide as he watched the sun gleam off the open blue shutters that stood beside every window, and he passed in through the dark black doors that rested open at this time of year.