"Know what house you'll be in yet? Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" (Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Audrey fought through the fog in her brain to stay awake, but despite her best intentions, the rushing and rocking and lilting of the train threatened to pull her under. She closed her eyes against the brightness of fluorescent lights filling the subway car, her head leaning against the glass of the window. In her mind's eye she could see the flickering of peeling posters and closed stations and tile and cement. And she could imagine the scuttling rats on the empty local tracks as she sped by. Soon she was dreaming of rats and flickering movie screens and of dipping a photo into the bin of chemicals, and coming out into the bright light outside her father's dark room, blinking from shock at the light.

And then she was jerked awake by the seizing stop of the train. Eyes open, Audrey greeted a mellow natural light and brown carpeted floors. Out the window she saw what seemed to be a weigh station of some sort, although it wasn't clear that it was an actual train stop, or if it had been, it looked like it had long ago fallen into disuse. Beyond the somewhat decrepit cement structure she could see green trees and grey skies rather than the vast and invisible underground she expected. Her stomach flipped as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings and remembered where she was.

The train compartment smelled of tobacco and grease. She was alone in the car other than a boy with messy brown hair, who sat in the far corner with his nose in what seemed to be a comic book, although it didn't look like any comic book Audrey was familiar with. Either he was absolutely engrossed in his comic book or was purposefully ignoring her.

Audrey started digging in her bag for her Walkman. Her hands closed around its comforting smooth yellow plastic and she slipped the earphones on. She toggled the little plastic play button and settled back in her seat to the familiar tones of "I've just seen a face," releasing a sigh. At least she'd always have The Beatles.

Audrey heard a clacking of doors and then another, and the door to the compartment banged open. A dark haired girl poked her head in with a shy smile. "Can I sit in here? All the seats in the earlier cars are taken." Audrey thought the girl looked just lovely. Long, wavy raven black hair like Audrey had always wished for herself, instead of her unruly red curls chopped unceremoniously off into a bob.

Audrey pressed pause and slipped her earphones off. She offered a small welcoming smile. Maybe this girl would become her dear friend. Maybe she was as unfamiliar with all of this as Audrey was. Having a kindred spirit would make all of this so much easier. And at least this girl had already spoken to her

, unlike the brown haired boy, who still refused to look up from his comic book. Rude!

"I'm Audrey," Audrey introduced herself. "Audrey Cadence." She made a point to sound as polite and friendly as possible. Take that, comic book boy.

The black haired girl sat down with relief on her face. "I'm Sybil Snow. Good to meet you! Are you new here too?"

Audrey nodded. She didn't know if she should say that this was all so completely unfamiliar to her, that she didn't even know where to begin. She opted for honesty. "Yes, very. Completely, in fact."

Sybil's eyes widened at Audrey's accent. "Oh, are you American?" The brown haired boy rustled his comic book. He seemed to be listening now too. Whatever, Audrey thought.

"Yes..." She said uncertainly.

"We hardly ever have American students at Hogwarts. That is to say, I've never heard of it! That's so exciting!"

Audrey's stomach did another funny little flip. "Is it?" She said uncertainly.

"Well, yes! I mean..." Sybil looked somewhat uncomfortable. "At any rate it's nice to meet you! I'm so thrilled to finally be on my way to Hogwarts. I've envied my older brothers and sister every year come this time. Now finally it's my turn."

Oh. So not as new to all this as Audrey then. Audrey swallowed her disappointment. Maybe it was good that Sybil knew things. "Do you know how long this ride will be?" Suddenly, embarrassingly, her stomach grumbled loudly. Sybil giggled. It could have been mean spirited but there was something about her giggle that was infectious and Audrey found herself giggling too. She broke into a grin. "I hope there will be food at the end!"

Sybil giggled again and then nodded wisely. "Oh yes, there's a big feast waiting for us, after the sorting. But I think we've got a while to go till then! Want to get food from the cart? I'll go grab us some!" And before Audrey could reply, she'd slipped out the door, leaving Audrey and comic book boy alone again in the compartment.

An uncomfortable silence took over the compartment, broken only by the train's consistent click clacking and occasional lurching. Finally the boy said "It's quite strange, you know. That they admitted you to Hogwarts, and not Ilvermony."

"What's Ilvermony?" Audrey asked, feeling foolish, her face heating.

"The American wizarding school, of course," the boy replied, as if everyone and their great aunt knew this.

"Maybe it's because I'm half British. I mean, my mom grew up in London," Audrey suggested lamely. Her stomach twisted at the thought that this was yet another way in which it seemed she had to justify her presence. But worse, when she said the word "mom" she felt her throat tighten.

He seemed to contemplate this, a calculation in his eye that Audrey didn't understand. Finally annoyed at this boy who seemed to judge without sharing of himself, Audrey blurted out, hostility in her tone, "what's your name anyway?"

But at that moment the door to the compartment swung open yet again, this time bringing Sybil with her arms full of packages of what looked like candy and something that smelled absolutely delicious and fried, stuck in little wax paper pockets. She forgot her annoyance about the unnamed comic book boy in favor of helping Sybil unload the goodies into one of the empty seats.

The three ate together in a silence that hovered between comfortable and uncomfortable. At first the brown haired boy didn't seem inclined to partake but eventually he gave a small smile that Audrey couldn't quite decipher and, muttering thanks to Sybil, he dug into a pasty. Eventually they made it to the chocolate frogs, and Audrey couldn't hide her shock at the painted yet moving image of a young woman named "Beatrix Bloxom," depicted on the card inside the little foil wrapper. Audrey stared as the young woman occasionally flipped the pages of the book she was reading with a smug expression flickering across her her face. It was like nothing Audrey had ever seen. Photos and paintings she understood; she'd roamed the floors of the Met with her parents as long as she could remember, and her father had explained the basics of photography to her a few years back, but this... well this, she supposed, was magic, and she shouldn't be so taken aback by it. But it just seemed unreal and completely mesmerizing. So mesmerizing in fact that she missed the fact that her chocolate frog, cast to the side in favor of the collecting card, started hopping away furiously, as if on the run for its chocolatey life. Sybil and the boy both dashed after it, and the boy caught it just as it was about to hop out of the train window. This time they all laughed, giddily, till Audrey felt almost light headed.

The silence that settled after they'd finished their chocolate frogs was decidedly comfortable. Her stomach filled with warm pumpkin and fried dough and then chocolate, Audrey couldn't even bring herself to feel particularly annoyed at the boy who still hadn't introduced himself. Instead, Audrey asked something of Sybil that had been niggling at her brain. "You said something about sorting, earlier, I think. What does that mean? What kind of sorting?"

Sybil frowned. "You don't know much, do you? I know you're from the United States but I sort of assumed... Are there no wizards in your family at all?"

Audrey shook her head. "No, I'm the first. This whole thing threw my parents for a complete loop."

The brown haired boy looked like he was about to say something, but held back.

Sybil explained about the four Hogwarts houses that they'd soon be sorted into, each with their own emphases and characteristics. "My family has always been Hufflepuff, except for my Aunt Celia, who was in Ravenclaw. But then she always did have her nose in a book. But Hufflepuffs pride themselves on loyalty and kindness, and I so hope I will get in. Not just because my family always has been, and my older brother and sister are. I just already feel like one, you know?"

Audrey really didn't know. She had no idea what house she would best belong in. She couldn't imagine that she'd feel she belonged anywhere or with anyone in this new world. Except maybe with Sybil, though that the more Sybil talked about the magical world she had clearly been born and bred into, the more Audrey felt like there was a huge gulf between them. Maybe Ravenclaw then, because Audrey always had loved to read, and she had a feeling that she was going to be buried in books for much of her time at Hogwarts in order to not go crazy with loneliness. Books had always been good friends to Audrey.

As if reading her mind, the brown haired boy said, "I'm sure I'll be in Ravenclaw. I can't imagine being in any of the others."

Sybil nodded, "I suppose there are some surprises, but my sister Beatrice told me not to worry, usually it works out fine. I hope she's right!" Sybil's smile seemed both commiserating and comforting. Audrey returned it even though she felt neither commiseration nor comfort. The brown haired boy lapsed into silence again. Audrey assumed he was lost in thoughts of his secure and stimulating future as a Ravenclaw.

A moment later the compartment door burst open once again, this time admitting two tall, chattering girls with matching long shiny black hair. "Oh, there you are, Sybil!" One of them said. "Beatrice and Bertram have been looking for you! They wanted you to know we'll be getting in soon. You ready to finally officially be a Hufflepuff?"

Sybil grinned, wide and easy. "Yes, yes I am! Izzy and Lucy, this is Audrey...Cadence, right? She's American! And... I don't think I got your name," she said to the brown-haired boy.

"Dashiell," he said quietly, not really returning the smile. He didn't offer his last name.

The two girls—Izzy and Lucy, Audrey didn't know which was which-barely seemed to register comic book boy-Dashiell, Audrey corrected herself. But they oohed at Audrey. "American? Where in America are you from? Why are you coming to Hogwarts? How long have you been here? I've always wanted to visit America!" It was all the same sorts of questions that Sybil had asked but said with a sort of frantic enthusiasm that made Audrey feel they really couldn't care less about the answers. Indeed, without waiting for her to reply, one of them said, "Well, Sybil we promised we'd bring you back to Beatrice right away!" And she promptly dragged Sybil by the arm out of the train compartment. The other one (Lucy?) said "Bye Anne! By Darryl! Good luck!"

And not-Anne and not-Darryl were left alone in the carriage, this time to don their robes and wait for the Hogwarts express to arrive at its destination.