A/N: Don't own Harry Potter or Doctor Who. Sadly. :-(

The remaining time of summer seemed to fly by in a haze of books. My mind soaked up the knowledge of spell books, history books, and the studies of herbology, potions, and beasts. So engrossed was I in my studying, I began to forget the oddities of being able to speak to and understand my cat.

Merlin was convinced that my dad was a Muggle. "There are no men from space. That's a story your mother made up to satisfy a girl's desire for her father to be great. You've read nearly every book in the library."

"So?" I responded with irritation. The cat seemed to judge everything I did. First, I didn't know enough, now I was learning too much. I was pronouncing that spell wrong, etc. His list of dissatisfactions must have been incredibly long.

"Soo," he stated with emphasis. "You haven't found anything that mentions men from outer space."

If I were to be entirely honest, I was terribly disappointed by that fact. Any clue has to who or what my dad was would have been welcome. My curiosity concerning him piqued, likely due to the fact I had now lost my mother. Though I knew it wasn't likely, part of me was holding out hope that he was still around. Trapped in a vortex somewhere, perhaps?

"Not yet." I responded through gritted teeth. Merlin was so annoying sometimes. The cat had grown on me, despite his tireless teasing and reproaches. He had quickly become my best friend, which I realized didn't help me with people in any way. Once I did get to Hogwarts, I would probably be labeled as that weird girl who didn't need friends because she talked to her cat. Oh well, there was nothing to be done for it.

"Besides, if that were really true, you would be half alien. I'm pleased to say that you don't look the slightest bit green to me."

"How do you know aliens are green?" Merlin harumphed in response. "Besides, my mom said he looked human. The only way you could tell he wasn't was if you had a stethoscope on hand. He had two hearts, you see."

"Of all the ridiculous..." My cat trailed off, muttering to himself. And so it was anytime my father was brought up, the conversation followed a similar format. Eventually, September the first rolled around and I found myself leaving Arkerton manor that morning.

"Do you know anything about Hogwarts?" I whispered to Merlin as my trolley was loaded with my single trunk (a birthday gift from Arkie).)

"I was under the impression you had read 'Hogwarts: A History' at least one hundred times by now."

"Oh, ha-ha. I know the history of it but I know absolutely nothing about the students. Merlin, let's think about this. I'm an American going into a British school. I somehow doubt I'll be welcomed with open arms. I'm a foreigner."

"You think too much. A Ravenclaw if I ever saw one."

Despite his protests, I knew Merlin thought I was rather intelligent. I suppose I was. Once I read something, I could remember it forever. I never had any academic difficulties in school at home, it was always social. My mother was rather concerned, most of the time, because my IQ was off the charts. She used to fret about my becoming bored, especially since the local school district thought I should be kept with my age group.

We didn't have much at home, but I devoured all the information I could. The mind was the best weapon, in my opinion, and books were the way to keep it sharp. Mr. Alderton's home library had been a dream come true for me. The volume of knowledge in that room was tremendous. My goal was to be on par with my peers at this new school, so I consumed as much as I could. If there was one thing they couldn't call me, it would be academically unprepared.

"So we just push it through between platforms nine and ten." I noticed the catch in voice. I couldn't help it, I was looking at a brick wall. I knew how magic worked; it wasn't that I didn't trust it was there. It was more of a fact that I was concerned with being seen.

"Will you go already? We've got a quarter of an hour before the train leaves. I want to find a nice place at the back before it fills up!"

Sighing, I gripped the handle of my trolley firmly. With one sharp exhale, I took off at full speed, hoping no one noticed. We made it through to the other side, the scarlet smokestack whistling. "Happy now?"

"Very. Now get on with it, girl." I scooped Merlin from out of his crate and warily approached the train. I had desperately wished Mr. Arkerton was here but he had pressing matters to attend to in the shop. The best he could do was write down all the directions for me of where to go and what to do. I sighed and boarded, looking fearfully down the aisle.

Unfamiliar voices surrounded me from every direction, laughs echoing down the aisle. Despairing, I finally managed my way to the back of the train. There was one compartment with a single boy in it. I peered at him through the opening and noticed he was staring blankly out the window. "Um, excuse me?" I squeaked.

His head turned towards me. He was rather bony framed, with short black hair and slightly bushy brows. I noted his piercing brown eyes and shifted my stance slightly. "Would you mind if I-"

He shrugged and motioned for me to sit on the seat opposite him. I closed the door to the compartment and sat down awkwardly. Merlin jumped out of my grasp and padded to the end closest to the window. Sun worshipper, I mused. I was always awful at conversations. It wasn't that I didn't try, but I truthfully just didn't know when to start. I had the terrible habit of just rambling off whatever came to mind. But this time, I was determined to avoid doing that. I didn't know anyone, at least I had a fresh start.

We sat in silence for sometime before the whistle blew, indicating we were beginning our journey. The train lurched to a start and I flinched in my seat. I wasn't overly fond of trains. Mom and I had been on our way home from my school one day when we witnessed a car get plowed over. True, the driver shouldn't have parked on the tracks, but I still couldn't get over my fear of them since then.

"Not fond of trains?" I was taken aback by the boy's sudden inquiry.

"Not overly."

"Hmm." He glanced me over and I couldn't help but squirm in my seat. He held me with an intense gaze and I averted my eyes. I shoved the thought from my mind that he was peering into my soul.

I suppose he found whatever he was looking for as he finally extended a pale hand forward. "Kendrick Smythe." His tone was flat.

"Scarlett Flannigan." I replied, taking his hand.

"Is it your first year too?" He asked with disinterest.

"Yes." Well, at least we were in the same age bracket. His body gave the impression that he was the same age as me but there was something in his bearing that made me question my initial summary. Not to mention those hypnotic, penetrating eyes that seemed so full of age. Who was this kid?

"You sound American."

I began to grow tired of his indifferent tone and accusatory stare. "You sound English." I retorted.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned with that same monotonous pitch.

I told you this would happen! I hissed to Merlin mentally. The cat didn't seem to notice and I crossed my arms. If that was how it was going to be, fine. "It's a long story. I'd rather be at Salem Institute." I added this last part rather hurriedly.

"It's a five hour ride."

I hadn't had a whole lot of interaction with boys my age, other than having paper stuck in my hair and mud slung at me. Again, I had a problem with people. Still, I was fairly certain his behavior wasn't normal.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Fair enough." He returned his gaze out the window and relief filled me. It was only for a moment, however, as a woman with a cart full of sweets arrived at our compartment.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" Kendrick Smythe shook his head and I looked between him and the cart. It may have sounded a bit odd, but I could have sworn he was repulsed by the items.

"Do you have any chocolate?" My voice was squeaky again.

"Frogs, eggs, or bars?"

"Just a bar, please." I handed over the according money from the small pouch Mr. Alderton had left with my instructions that morning. She closed the door again as she turned around and left me alone with my rather odd companion.

"Typical girl..." He mumbled to himself.

"Okay, what is your problem?" It flew off my tongue before I could stop it. I main problems with other humans stemmed from two root causes: one was that I didn't understand how their tiny minds worked, the other was that I didn't seem to have to much of a filter when provoked.

"I don't understand-"

"You've been sitting there this entire time seeming entirely disinterested and disgusted by me. Why did you invite me in in the first place?"

Those brown eyes were upon me again and I fidgeted in my seat. "I'm not disgusted by you." Flat response. Again.

"But you're still disinterested."

"On the contrary, I'm rather interested." How that was discernible from his tone was beyond me. True, he was asking questions, but the manner in which he delivered them seemed half-hearted. Then again, who was I was to say anything? He probably annoyed me because he was a lot like me; I'd read that somewhere. After all, I had been accused many times of seeming disinterested.

The truth was that I just wanted the facts. I didn't want someone opening up to me because they thought we were going to be friends. I didn't have friends. What was the point when humanity was generally so flaky?

My mother was frequently irritated with my outlook of the world as a whole. She frequently stated that my view was far too cynical for my age. I was supposed to be enthusiastic about life. She had misunderstood me. I was enthusiastic about life and adventures, it was my peers I didn't understand. I supposed this was from a lack of decent exposure to other people. She said I read too much.

Still, I was at least trying this time. I had lost my entire family this summer. Maybe, if I at least tried, I could gain a few friends. Perhaps not everyone was so transitional. I needed the companionship, to be certain and I would make an effort my mom.

"Well then, how about I ask you some questions?" The boy shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "What? You can dish it out but you can't take it?"

I felt his eyes probing me but my competitive streak had kicked in. I didn't so much as flinch this time. "Aunt Georgina says I need to make friends."

"Aunt Georgina?"

"She raised me. When my parents died..." He trailed off.

"Oh." I chewed my lip for a moment before responding. "My mom died this summer." I couldn't figure out why I was telling this strange boy anything. Maybe it was because he was without a mom too.

"I'm sorry." Kendrick's voice was barely audible.

"America isn't a good place to be if you're a wizard right now. She was killed in a raid on our neighborhood." Why did I tell him that?

He nodded solemnly before his eyes landed on the book atop my apparated trunk. "Is that a book on quantum chromodynamics?" For the first time, his voice held expression.

I should probably state that because I was always hungry for knowledge, I was rather fond of reading stuff I shouldn't understand. I couldn't explain why I could. But I did. Not only that, I enjoyed it. "Yeah. Why?"

"Would you mind if I?" He sounded in awe. I nodded my assent and he gingerly grabbed it from atop the shelf, careful to climb down.

I watched as he lovingly stroked the spine, slowly moving his hand across the front cover. "You know that if the spin of a particle has a positive projection it's-"

"Considered right-handed." I finished. At that moment, whatever strangeness was between us evaporated. The hours sped by as we enthusiastically discussed subjects varying from thermonuclear astrophysics and string theory to our favorite works of literature. The realization dawned on me that we were more than likely going to be the freaks of our year.

At that moment, the compartment door slid open and our discussion of the gauge invariant was cut short. "Excuse me, have you seen a toad?" A girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth asked in a bossy tone.

I noticed Kendrick's displeasure. "Bufonidae, Bombinatoridae, Discoglossidae, Pelobatidae, Rhinophrynidae, Scaphiopodidae, or Microhylidae?"

The girl's eyes opened wide. "I'm not sure. His name is Trevor, he belongs to a boy named Neville."

"No." Kendrick responded curtly.

I'm trying to make friends. I reminded myself. "If see him, we'll let you know?"

"Hermione. Hermione Granger." She sniffed. "Come on, Neville. Time to start over." Kendrick and I watched as the boy lumbered after her.

"That was showing off a bit." I stated bemusedly.

"Maybe. Still, it's rude to interrupt conversation."

The train began to slow and I gripped the seat for security. Kendrick smirked across from me and rolled his eyes. "I take it we're here."

"Come on, Yank. We've got a sorting ceremony to get to." He left the compartment with a smirk on his face. I stood for a brief moment before following after my mysterious new friend.