Chapter Two-

The near-silent whirring sound of the AWI Express could barely be heard in the background as all the soon-to-be AWI students began speaking at the same time. Meg had been persuaded to sit on a long, scarlet-upholstered bench between Ginny and Hermione, while Matt, after banishing the defeated Draco, joined Harry and Ron in guy talk.

However, after a few moments, Ron stopped awkwardly, visibly confused.
"So you're getting into this AWI thing too, huh? But... you don't look anything like, umm, real witches and wizards-"

"Ah, I see," chuckled Matt, with a wry grin and a wink at Meg. "We look like we walked out of a Muggle fairy-tale, is that it, Mr. Weasley?"

"Well," Ron sputtered, "you just aren't regular!"

"We're not Modern Euro-Roman wizards, if that qualifies as regular, I suppose."

"Whatever that means," said a baffled Ron.

"What he means, silly," giggled Hermione, "is that they don't do things the same way as we did at Hogwarts, or Beauxbatons, or even Durmstrang. Young witches and wizards get different training in different places.

"Bingo, you've got it!" Matt smiled. Almost unnoticeably, he paused and his expression changed. "You said you are Hogwarts students?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I suppose you've heard of it."

"Yes." Matt paused again. "Yes, of course."

Unbeknownst to Harry or Ron, he flashed Meg an enigmatic look before resuming his previous manner.

"Meg and I," he resumed, "are Eklegenic Mages of the Gamma Clan."

"Sounds impressive," volunteered Ginny.

"It's just a name- a long name," Ron said sagely.

"What exactly does that mean?" broke in a soft female voice.

All of the students turned, looking to see who the speaker had been.

Harry, with a look of surprise, whispered (almost inaudibly) to Ron, "It's Cho!"
Indeed it was, without a doubt, Cho Chang, Ravenclaw Seeker and former "Mrs. Harry Potter Candidate" (as Seamus had put it). She was standing quietly at the door to the train compartment, listening to the conversation.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Chang," Matt said kindly.

Everyone, including Cho, was shocked.

"W-Why, thank you!" she stammered.

Regaining composure, Cho asked frankly, "But how did you know my name?"

Matt grinned, his eyes twinkling, but said nothing. Meg, however, was giggling uncontrollably.

"Matthew Cornelius D'Estrella," she finally managed to say between spasms of laughter, "you promised me you would stop doing that to people!"

"Ah, well," Harry quipped, "it seems to have been one of the ol' 'piecrust promises'!"

"But how did you do it?" Cho persisted.

The subject of this interrogation made a dismissive gesture.
"It's just a simple mentally cast spell, somewhat similar in effect to your canon's Legilimens. It allows me to instantly know certain information about a person, depending on how strong of a soul-bond exists between us. For example, I can ascertain far more detailed and/or private information about a close friend or someone with whom I have a latent soul-bond than I can with most mere acquaintances."

"Wow," Ginny breathed.

Cho nodded. "How fascinating." She immediately blushed.

Meg looked at her knowingly.
"It's always the same. Everyone is always wondering how much he knows."

"I guess that Harry doesn't have that problem," teased Ginny.

"Don't be so sure, Ginevra!" was Harry's playful riposte.
"Well, we'll see about that, Mr. Harry James Boy-Who-Lived Potter!"
"Bring it on, my love…"

Meanwhile, Cho, after being introduced to Meg and Matt via somewhat more ordinary circumstances, still seemed to have something on her mind.

"Excuse me, Matt, but could I get an answer to my original question?" she broke in
(a simultanio of a developing Harry & Ginny snog) with a hint of a tease.

"Sure thing…" he said obligingly, resting back in his seat.

Meg proceeded to finish his sentence for him.