On September the first it was time to leave for Hogwarts. James felt very excited about it and paid little attention to Mrs. Draper warning him to behave while he was at boarding school or the other staff telling him to enjoy his time at school and to do the best he could in his lessons. Once at King's Cross, he changed his hair color so that it was in-between Stella's strawberry blonde and Stuart's vivid red, made the shape of his eyes and nose match theirs, moved his scar to his chest, and created a smattering of freckles. Satisfied that he looked like he was really the Lydell twins' younger brother, he boarded the train with Mari and the two went to find Kyle.

On the way, Stuart stopped them and introduced James as his younger brother and Mari as James's best friend to his friends. The three other fourth-years smiled and said they'd help Stuart keep an eye on them at Hogwarts. James and Mari went on their way, only to be stopped by Stella and her friends. The two girls gushed on how cute James was and how pretty Mari was. James felt embarrassed by this and he and Mari were only allowed to leave when Mari pointed out that they had to find their friend Kyle.

The two finally found Kyle in a compartment at the very end of the train, with a round-faced boy with brown hair and eyes, clutching a toad, and a girl with bushy brown hair, brown eyes, rather large front teeth, and a bossy and somewhat nervous air about her. "Hi, guys!" said Kyle cheerfully. "This is Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. Neville's family are wizards, like your parents, Mari, and Hermione's Muggleborn like me. Neville and Hermione, these are my best friends James Lydell and Mariko Kishi, Mari for short."

James and Mari got settled and that was when the door opened again. A tall, gangly boy with hair as red as Stuart's and an incredibly freckled face stood there. He blinked when he saw the other five. "Oh, I didn't know there were people already in here," he stammered. "Everywhere else was full, too. I can leave."

"No, come join us," said Mari with a friendly smile. "There's an empty seat. I'm Mariko Kishi, Mari for short. What's your name?"

"Ron Weasley," answered the boy. He stowed his trunk and took the empty seat.

"Weasley?" asked James, sounding surprised. "I've heard about your family! I'm James Lydell, and my twin siblings, Stella and Stuart, are fourth years. They said Charlie Weasley, who just graduated, was a very good seeker, the twins Fred and George are pranksters, and that Bill was Head Boy during their first year at Hogwarts."

"They're my brothers," said Ron with a groan. "And there's one more, Percy. He's in fifth year and was just made prefect. And I have a sister named Ginny, who won't be starting Hogwarts until next year."

The remaining three introduced themselves and Ron was surprised to find out that James, Mari, and Kyle were best friends and had grown up together at an orphanage until Kyle had been adopted. Once he'd gotten over his surprise, the six of them began getting to know each other better. Hermione was extremely happy to discover she was a witch, but couldn't help feeling nervous and wondering if she'd fit in. James assured her that there was nothing to worry about, for Muggleborns and those that weren't but had grown up in the Muggle world did well at Hogwarts. He added that it hadn't been necessary to memorize the contents of the textbooks, though it would certainly give you a head start.

"Stuart didn't, though he did look through them, and he did fine once he got to Hogwarts. Stella learned her books by heart, but that's only because she loves reading and remembers everything she reads. Though Mari and I do happen to know everything in our books. That's only because once we found out about magic, we were eager to know more and asked my twin siblings to let us read their books. Of course, we don't know if we can do any of the spells or potions yet, but at least we know all the theoretical stuff."

Hermione relaxed a bit after hearing that and then the conversation turned to Harry Potter. "Did you hear that he was missing?" asked Neville. "He never answered his Hogwarts letter, so Professor Dumbledore had one of the staff look into it. They found out that Harry Potter wasn't with his relatives at all."

Ron nodded. "Turns out his relatives just took him to an orphanage and left him there. His relatives don't even remember the name of the orphanage they left him at, so now people are searching for him. I hope Harry Potter gets found soon."

James felt very uncomfortable with this turn in the conversation, and hoped that nobody would go to Sunnybrook Orphanage and find out about him. Mrs. Draper could certainly tell about how he had shown up on the step almost ten years ago, without a note, and the description of him would lead searchers right to him.

"Well, if his relatives didn't want Harry Potter, then maybe it's a good thing that they left him at an orphanage," said Mari. "If they had kept him, they probably would have been mean to him. This way Harry Potter gets a better life, unless the orphanage he was sent to turns out to be unpleasant."

"Which isn't that likely," said Kyle. "Orphanages today aren't like ones a hundred years ago. Such as the one described in Oliver Twist."

"Actually, that was a workhouse and not a proper orphanage," corrected Mari, having also read Oliver Twist. "It's a Muggle book, written about a hundred and fifty years ago," she explained for Ron and Neville, who looked confused. "It details the life of an orphan boy named Oliver Twist. A workhouse was a place where really poor people got sent. It wasn't nice at all. The book's more advanced reading, but I read it because I was bored and had run out of children's books to read at the library."

"Well, orphanages back then were just as bad as the workhouses," said Hermione, who was as well read as Mari, being a bookworm.

"Okay, can we talk about something else and not about how bad orphanages and workhouses were back in the 1800's?" asked James. He sincerely wished that Mari and Kyle had never read Oliver Twist, or talked him into reading the book as well. Okay, the book had a happy ending for Oliver, but the rest hadn't been all that pleasant.

Ron was quite eager to oblige, since he had never read any Muggle books, and didn't care much for reading unless the book was interesting or it was required for lessons. He mentioned that there had been a break-in at Gringotts, though nothing had been taken. A discussion on why someone would break into Gringotts and try to steal gold or something equally valuable ensued until a smiling witch with a food trolley came by. Ron turned pink and muttered he had sandwiches. James still had three Galleons, ten Sickles, and thirteen Knuts left from his trip to Diagon Alley, so went out to the corridor to see what food was available.

Mari and Kyle, however, told James to save his money and insisted on paying for everything. Since he was used to sharing things with his best friends, regardless of who paid for it, this didn't bother him at all. Between Mari, Kyle, Neville, and Hermione, they ended up buying a little of everything and brought the lot of food into the compartment. They insisted on sharing with Ron when he pulled apart a sandwich and found it to be corned beef, which he didn't like. After a moment of hesitation, he gave in and joined in eating the snacks. Hermione didn't eat too many of the sweets, as her parents were dentists, but did sample everything and let the others explain them to her.

After awhile, Neville noticed that his toad, Trevor, was missing. "Oh no! Gran's going to be mad at me if I don't find Trevor! He was a present from my Great-Uncle Algie for getting into Hogwarts." The others joined him in searching to the toad.

James was not very enthusiastic at searching for a toad, especially since having one for a pet had gone out of fashion years ago, according to Stella. However, Neville saying that it was a present from his great-uncle explained why he had one. No doubt toads had been the popular pet back when the uncle had gone to Hogwarts. Since Neville looked distraught and was a nice person, James went along with the search despite his personal feelings.

People said that they hadn't seen a toad, and in one compartment, a haughty-looking boy with blond hair and a pale pointed face sneered and said, "Who'd be stupid enough to have a toad for a pet? They were out of fashion by the time my father went to school."

Mari snapped, "It's not Neville's fault that he has a toad! It was a present from his Great-Uncle, who no doubt went to Hogwarts at a time when toads were popular."

"Who are you?" demanded the boy, while the two thickset and mean looking boys next to him cracked their knuckles.

"Mariko Kishi. You're a Malfoy, aren't you? I read a book on wizarding genealogy and it said that Malfoys tend to have blond hair and pale faces. "

The boy looked surprised. "I am. My name is Draco Malfoy."

"Well, don't expect me to associate with you," sniffed Mari. "The Kishis are an old pureblood family from Japan, and have been around much longer than your family. Several Kishis have been the Japanese equivalent of the Minister of Magic. They're much too proud to ever be friends with someone who would bow and scrape to a wizard claiming to be lord."

Malfoy glared at her, then spotted Ron. "Well, what about him? He's clearly a Weasley. They're blood traitors and poor, yet you're associating with him."

"First, the Weasleys are about as old a family as mine is. Second, they never served Lord Moldy-dork, or any other wizard that was trying to take power. So it doesn't matter to me if they're poor or if some people consider them blood traitors. The only pureblood wizards that I will not be associating with are those whose that served Moldy-dork or are prejudiced against Muggleborns. Well, since you haven't seen a toad, we'll be leaving now."

Ron and Neville stared at Mari in shock. "I thought you were orphan and grew up in the wizarding world," said Neville.

"Yes, but at Gringotts, I was informed that my parents had left me money," responded Mari. "I realized that my parents were wizards then, so I got a book on wizarding genealogy. It listed all the pureblood families in Europe and Asia. None for North America, since there really aren't any pureblood families now. They happily married with Muggles and Muggleborns and so most wizarding people in North America, particularly the States, are halfbloods."

"Well, I'm glad you put that Malfoy in his place," said Ron. "He deserved it. And I love the nickname you came up for You-Know-Who."

"Oh, I didn't come up with it, James's brother Stuart was the one who did. He said someone that was defeated by a baby deserved a stupid nickname like that."

"You were right about the Malfoy family serving You-Know-Who," said Neville. "The only reason Draco's father isn't in Azkaban is because after You-Know-Who's defeat, Mr. Malfoy claimed that he'd been bewitched. And I heard that he gave the Ministry some gold as well."

"Bribery," said Hermione in disgust. "Though maybe Mr. Malfoy had been bewitched."

"Maybe, maybe not," said James shrugging. "People will say or do anything to get out of trouble. Like when I made puppy-dog eyes to get out being punished for a prank I played."

"Well, our pranks were always harmless and just for a laugh," said Kyle. "So there's a difference. If it had been something serious, we'd have accepted punishment."

"Point taken. We're at the compartment Stuart and his friends are in. Let's ask them if they'd seen Trevor."

Stuart and his friends hadn't seen the toad, but with a wicked grin, Stuart said that he would be happy to find Trevor with a Summoning Spell. "Accio Trevor!" Several seconds later, a toad came whizzing towards them, while there were shrieks and people popping out of their compartments to complain of being smacked with a toad.

"Sorry!" shouted Stuart, not sounding sorry at all. "Someone was looking for his toad and I thought I'd help him find it by Summoning it."

Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, and a boy with dreadlocks that was apparently their friend were the only ones that weren't annoyed or disgusted. In fact, they found it quite funny, and said the incident was along the lines of a prank. "I know," said Stuart, grinning. "That's why I did it." He handed Trevor to Neville, who thanked him.

Stella and her friends did not find it amusing, but weren't annoyed once they found out why Stuart had done it. However, Stella did say, "You could warned the other students before you did the spell. Nobody wants to be hit by a toad or be surprised by having one fly right past them."

Back in the compartment, James and his friends resumed their conversation. They were wondering what house they would get in and how the Sorting took place. James and Mari only knew what Stella had told them, that the Sorting wasn't dangerous or anything, just that they'd be sent to a house based on their qualities. She didn't say how their qualities would be determined or anything, as she wanted it to be a surprise. Stuart, on the other hand, said a bunch of stuff that they were sure he'd just made up to scare them. Honestly, first-years wouldn't be expected to wrestle a troll or fight a werewolf.

Ron couldn't help chuckling at that, saying, "That's what Fred told me, that we'd have to wrestle a troll."

"Oh, Stuart went into more detail than that," said James. "He said that if you went blindly in to fight the troll, that meant you were brave and rash enough for Gryffindor. If you looked up information on how to deal with it, that meant you were in Ravenclaw. If you ran away like a wimp, you were in Hufflepuff, and if you tried to get the troll to work for you, you were in Slytherin. Then Stuart backtracked and said that Hufflepuff wasn't for wimps, it's just what Slytherins said, and he couldn't really figure out how to apply being loyal and hard-working to fighting a troll, unless it was working hard to defeat the troll or not running away but staying to help a friend if he or she was there with you."

"If what Stuart said was true, he should have been in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw," added Mari. "He's more likely to jump in and fight the troll and not look up information on how to deal with it first. Stella's the one that would look up information unless there was no time to do so. Then she'd use what she already knew to deal with the situation."

Everyone chuckled and then discussed the houses. Ron wanted to be in Gryffindor as his entire family (except Ginny, who hadn't started yet) had been Sorted there, though he wouldn't mind Ravenclaw. He didn't want to be in Slytherin, adding that he'd probably leave Hogwarts if he got Sorted there. Hermione wanted to be in Gryffindor, since it sounded by far the best, but she had no objections to Ravenclaw and thought that she had the qualities of one. Neville said his grandmother would like him to be in Gryffindor like his parents, but concluded dismally that he'd probably be in Hufflepuff instead.

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff, and you should tell your grandmother that," said James. "Being there shows that you're a very loyal person and not afraid of hard work. It doesn't mean that you're not brave, just that it's not the foremost of your qualities. I have no problem if I got in Hufflepuff. Though I would prefer Ravenclaw since my siblings are there, or Gryffindor because, er, Professor Dumbledore was in that house." He could hardly say the real reason, that his parents had been in that house.

"I don't care what house I'm in," said Kyle. "Any of them would be fine with me. Though I suppose Slytherin wouldn't really work, since I'm Muggleborn as far as I know."

"Well, I want to be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin," announced Mari. Everyone stared at her in shock and she sighed and explained, "I'm not evil, nor think that purebloods are superior. I simply have ambition and a little bit of cunning, and want to prove that not all Slytherins live up to their nasty reputation. I want to become one of the very few decent Slytherins and work to change Slytherin around. One of you should join me there and help me. Ron and Neville, you'd be the best choices since you're both purebloods and would be accepted."

Ron looked horrified, then thoughtful as what Mari said sunk in. "You have a point," he finally admitted. "I guess I could do that, though I don't know what my parents will think. Fred and George will probably take the mickey out of me for the rest of my life if I was in Slytherin. And I know Percy definitely won't like it. Bill would support me, and maybe Charlie also."

"I have an idea," said Kyle. "Why don't we all try to get Sorted into different houses? We'll still be friends regardless of where we are, and it'll be a sign of inter-house unity. And we can try to get the other first-years to become friends with those outside their house. I think the Founders of Hogwarts would be happy to have inter-house unity."

"That's a great idea," said James enthusiastically. The others agreed and it was decided that Mari and Ron would try to get into Slytherin, James and Hermione in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, Kyle in Hufflepuff, and Neville in either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Since Stella did say that the Sorting was conducted alphabetically, that meant Hermione would be first of the group to be Sorted. If she got into Gryffindor, then James would try to get Ravenclaw, and if she were in Ravenclaw, then he would try Gryffindor.

With that decided, they turned the conversation to the different houses at Hogwarts until the Hogwarts Express arrived at the station. Everyone got off the train and the older students headed for carriages, which would take them to the castle. The first-years went to a giant of a man calling them over, whom James recognized as Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper, from Stuart's description of him. He led everyone to a small fleet of boats at the edge of the lake, for that was how they were going to get to the castle. Four people were to a boat and James, Mari, and Kyle got into one with a girl with blonde hair done in a pigtail. Hermione, Ron, and Neville got into another boat and were joined by a girl with auburn hair.

Hagrid got into the lead boat and with that, they were off. Everyone gasped in wonder when they saw the castle that was Hogwarts. After reaching the other side, Hagrid led the way up a dark path to the entrance. Neville tripped and lost hold of Trevor, but Hagrid caught the toad and returned it. Finally they reached the large front doors and Hagrid knocked loudly.