A hard shove aimed at Rory's right arm disturbed her from her reading. She reluctantly lifted her head from page 250 to stare into the sharp face of a long-haired student dressed in another yellow poncho and sporting a twig behind her ear. Rory was instantly wary; she did not want to be put into another compartment of overly friendly crazy people dressed in yellow.

"Excuse me. I'm Laura, one of the Hufflepuff prefects," she chimed, pointing to a badge on her poncho that read Prefect in boldface. While Rory did not understand the term, she associated the badge with authority. Additionally, she was relieved to see that this girl was not bouncing with a smile plastered on her face as were the yellow-clad students in the last compartment. "Just so you are aware, we should reach Hogwarts in 15 minutes," Laura said. "It's time to change into your robes." Laura gestured to her poncho, and instantly, the expression poncho=robes flashed through Rory's head. She grew so immersed into searching for a connection between a twig obsession, robes, magic, and a train to a school that she momentarily forgot to craft a response to Laura's greeting until the girl cleared her throat expectantly. "Is everything alright?" she asked, arching her left eyebrow.

Rory's mind raced. How should she respond? Several options bounced through her head.

Option 1: Honesty

She would explain that she did not know where she was or where she was going. She had gotten on the train by accident. This option had the most integrity, but it would make her seem like an outsider, and people would be less comfortable asking her questions about the platform entryway. However, they would probably help her find her way back to London.

Option 2: Nonchalance

She would say that everything is fine, thanks for asking. She might add in a fib about motion sickness. This option would definitely get Laura to leave her alone, but if everyone else was changing into their robes, it would still have the unfortunate consequence of highlighting her lack of belonging. Again, people would not readily answer her questions. Unlike option 1, people would not help her find a way back to London because she would not ask.

Option 3: Going Undercover

She would claim that she forgot her robe at home. This way, she would not automatically seem an outsider. She would have her questions answered, and then she could find her way home. She could probably even ask where to find the train schedule with this option unlike in option 2.

She decided to go with option 3. Shaking her head and pouting slightly, she said. "I'm sorry. I just realized that I forgot my robes at home."

The girl tisked. "Come on. We'll see if anyone in your house has spares." She offered a hand to help Rory stand. Rory took it and rose to her feet. Then, the two proceeded to that green-clad compartment in the first car that she had stumbled into. Great, Rory thought, what I really need is more humiliation in front of this compartment! She bowed her head and tried to cover her face such that a curtain of hair fell forward and concealed her face as Laura knocked on the door and asked to speak to Nate. To Rory's horror, the sandy-haired boy exited the compartment.

"Hi Nate. I hope you had a pleasant summer," Laura greeted.

Nate flashed her a brilliant smile and responded, "Likewise."

"This is…" she paused as she gestured to Rory before she apologized, "Sorry, but I didn't catch your name."

Rory lifted her head slightly, blood once again rushing into her cheeks, and croaked, "Rory."

"Right! Rory!" Laura cheered. "Rory here says she forgot her robes at home, and I was wondering if you could find an extra one for her, since you're both in Slytherin."

Nate peered at Rory through the corner of his eye as if he was calculating his next move. Rory hoped he accepted the story. A moment later, he said to Laura, "I think I can find one."

Laura smiled. "Thank you, Nate!" She waved goodbye and walked toward the back of the train, disappearing as she entered the second car. Nate now turned to face Rory. Rory noticed that he was taller than her, which was not that surprising since she was vertically challenged, but suddenly, it made her feel very small. "So, you don't have a robe?" His calculating expression returned to his face.

"No," Rory said.

"Uh-huh," he affirmed, clearly not believing her. He walked into the compartment and pulled a green robe out of a trunk on the luggage rack above his seat. When he returned to the walkway, he held out the robe, but when Rory tried to grab it, he held it away from her, asking "Wait, aren't you the girl who fell into the wall earlier?"

"Yep." Rory laughed nervously. "What can I say? I'm a klutz."

He laughed. "That's a bit of a rookie mistake isn't it?"

Rory shrugged.

"As is forgetting a robe," he continued.

Rory shrugged again.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen you around school. Are you even a student?"

Oh no. Rory froze. Nate had found her out, not that her plan was great to begin with. Her undercover mission was crumbling before her eyes, and she needed to do something to save it. Rory tried to think of any lie she could tell him to keep her plan in motion. As the silence continued, Nate's smile faded. He was obviously wondering if she was mentally competent. And then the right line hit her.

"I'm a transfer," she blurted. "I just moved, so I needed to switch schools." It wasn't entirely a lie. After all, she did attend a different school.

"Oh, what school? Where did you move from?" he asked.

Rpry ignored the second question. "I was home-schooled before."

"Okay." Nate nodded. Rory wasn't sure if he believed her story, but he dropped the subject nonetheless. "So you haven't been sorted yet." It was not a question.

"No."

"Well you can wear this until you get sorted, but I'll want it back once you get your own robes. Do you even know what the houses are?

Rory smiled sheepishly, secretly extolling herself for prolonging her mission. "Not really. I think the yellow one is Hufflepuff. And the green one is Slytherin."

Nate smiled back. "Correct. Also, blue is Ravenclaw, and red is Gryffindor."

"Red is mean," said Rory.

"You're wearing the wrong color."

"Why should that matter?"

"You'll see soon enough." Nate sighed. There was a pause before Rory realized that this was the perfect time to ask questions.

"So what is with the hologram over the entrance to platform 9 ¾?"

"What?

Had he not heard her or did he not know about holograms? Rory rephrased her question. "How does the platform entrance work?"

"You don't know?"

Rory shook her head.

"Must not have been very good home-schooling."

Rory shrugged.

"The entrance is magically concealed."

"Oh," Rory muttered. There was that term again. Magic. The idea didn't sound quite as crazy from a person who hadn't ridden the yellow-clad bus in from creepy town.

The train whistled. "You should get changed," Nate said, before turning around and heading back into his compartment.

Rory retreated to her corner between cars 1 and 2 and threw the robes over her. Within a minute, the train had decelerated to a stop, and people were leaving the train. She stood still, watching people exit until she heard a shout from behind her.

"Rory!" squealed a high-pitched voice.

Rory jumped and glanced behind her. It was Debbi. She was skipping down the walkway with Isla and Tyler at her sides. They were all waving frantically with smiles plastered to their faces.

Rory exited through the door directly in front of her, and jogged through the crowd of students along the dark road.

She heard another shout from her right. "Rory!" The voice was deeper this time. She looked to her right. It was Nate. Rory veered toward him and slowed to a walk. "Why were you running?" he asked.

"Have you met Debbi, Isla, and Tyler?" Rory asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nate looked toward the sky and nodded slowly. "People are not supposed to be that happy."

Rory shook her head, eyes wide in mock terror. "I don't think those are people," she said. Nate laughed.

As the two continued down the dim road with the rest of the crowd, coaches came into view. Rory now saw a group of teens in robes waving them over to get on a carriage. The two boarded the carriage, which proceeded to roll away from the train. After the students had all introduced themselves, Nate gestured around the coach. "These are the horseless coaches that take us to the school entrance," he explained.

Rory tilted her head to the side. "They're not horseless," she asserted. There were creatures standing between the carriage shafts. They were like horses, but slightly more reptilian. Their flesh was replaced with scales, and their back coats were clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their white eyes had no pupils. Leathery wings sprouted from each side, gleaming in the dim light from the train behind them.

Nate nodded, as if this meant something to him, but all he responded to Rory was, "they should be." Rory remained quite for a few minutes as Nate began discussing something called "quiditch" with his friends with the same zeal Odi had when he discussed a new project.

As the carriage inched farther and farther away from the train, a knot formed in Rory's stomach. She wasn't sure how she would return to the train station, and she didn't even know when trains were running. She tapped Nate on the shoulder. "How often do the trains to London run?"

"Every weekend, the days school starts and ends, and around major holidays. Why?"

Rory shrugged. She hoped a train was running to London tonight. She was about to ask how to find the train schedule, but just then, the group reached the entrance of a castle, and they all exited the carriage. It was made out of cold, gray stone. Rory thought that the architecture must be Gothic as she stared up at the tall and pointed archway that housed two iron double-doors.

As the group entered the castle, and walked across the flagstone floor and into the great hall, Rory's mouth was agape. The Great Hall was lit by thousands of candles strewn midair over four long tables glittering with golden plates and goblets. As far as she could see, nothing was holding the candles afloat. The word Magic raced through her mind. The rest of the students sat at the four long tables, each of which was adorned in a table cloth with the respective house colors. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Rory followed Nate and his friends to the green table and sat down. The golden plates on the tables were already stacked with food. The plate directly in front of her was covered in chocolate chip cookies. A plate on her left, in front of Nate, displayed peppermint patties. On a plate to her right, there was a pyramid of pudding cups. As soon as the students were settled, Nate leaned over to Rory and said "I'll help you find Professor McGonagall after the ceremony so that you can be sorted. But until then, enjoy the food."

Rory smiled. A full table's worth of free food. This was turning into an excellent day trip. She grabbed a chocolate chip cookie from the plate in front of her and popped it into her mouth.

"By the way," Nate said, "welcome to Hogwarts."