"I say there are spots that don't come off...Spots that never come off, know what I mean?" (Mad-Eye Moody, GoF)

Anne and Gilbert stood at platform nine and three-quarters. Anne was determinedly not looking at Gilbert, who seemed to have given up on trying to get her attention and was instead staring at the clock. Suddenly Anne looked up.

"Hermione!" she shouted, and dashed off with her cart. Gilbert looked after her for a while, then returned to his clock-staring.

Eventually, he muttered something quietly along the lines of "may as well get on now" and got on the train, lugging his large suitcase through the door.

Meanwhile, Anne was talking excitedly with Hermione as they walked down the train looking for a compartment. Hermione laughed, smiled, and nodded at appropriate moments as Anne told her all about Avonlea.

"So - " Hermione finally interjected. "What have you been doing since we met in Diagon Alley?"

"Well, first, I left Diagon Alley," said Anne with a grin. Hermione smacked her lightly on the shoulder. "Then, we went back to the Leaky Cauldron, and I spent the next few days in my room reading all of my new books!"

"I did exactly the same thing!" squealed Hermione. "Except I went to my house instead of the Leaky Cauldron."

They continued on in this vein for some time.

"Winnie, give me your ticket - "

"- one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet - "

"- Shut up Matt!"

"- SHEELA! Put that down-"

Despite the loud chatter, Gilbert was almost dozing off as he sat in the last compartment on the train. Unexpectedly, a skinny-looking boy with black hair and green eyes peeked his head in.

"Er... Can I sit here? There's no other space..."

"Sure," said Gilbert. "I'm Gilbert Blythe."

"Harry Potter." mumbled the other boy as he shoved his trunk into the shelf above.

Soon after, a very tall boy with red hair walked in and asked, "Anyone sitting there? Everywhere else is full."

Harry and Gilbert both nodded, and the red-haired boy sat down. "Er... I'm Ron Weasley."

"Gilbert Blythe." Gilbert repeated immediately.

Ron turned towards Harry. "Are Fred and George telling the truth? Are you really Harry Potter?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes?" said Harry nervously.

"Oh," said Gilbert. "Do you two know each other already?"

Ron stared at him disbelievingly. "You've never heard of Harry Potter?"

"Well..." began Gilbert. He sighed inwardly. It seemed that this would take a lot of explanation.

"Sorry... have you seen a toad? Anywhere?"

Anne looked at Hermione, who shrugged. "Sorry, but we can help you look." Anne said kindly.

She and Hermione stood up and walked with Neville down the train. No one in any of the compartments had seen a toad. Eventually, they came to the last compartment.

Anne immediately began to talk. "Have any of you seen - " She stopped abruptly as she saw Gilbert and glared, then turned slightly away as if nothing had happened. " - a toad?"

"Neville's lost one," added Hermione.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron irritably.

Hermione ignored this and, noticing the wand he was holding, said "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

"Magic? Really?" asked Anne, leaning in a little closer.

Ron looked rather surprised. He coughed, waved his wand, and recited "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

Nothing happened. Anne looked vaguely disappointed. Gilbert looked as if he was about to laugh, but he caught Anne's eye and his expression immediately changed.

"That doesn't seem like a real spell to me," said Anne. "It just doesn't sound right, somehow. Not at all like I imagined a spell would be."

"I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, and this is Anne Shirley. Who are you? " Hermione rattled off very quickly.

"Ron Weasley." Ron said in a very disgruntled way.

"Harry Potter." Harry seemed in awe of Hermione.

"I'm Gilbert Blythe." said Gilbert. At this, Hermione's eyes widened, and she turned to Anne questioningly, who nodded curtly without looking at Gilbert at all. Gilbert was quite confused.

Hermione suddenly seemed to remember Harry. "Are you really Harry Potter? I know all about you, of course - "

"Hermione knows all about everything," interrupted Anne with a wry smile. "Actually, you are in a lot of books, you know."

"I am?" asked Harry somewhat dazedly. Gilbert chuckled quietly. Anne turned away even more and lifted her head up a little haughtily.

"Goodness, didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me. Do you either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it." Hermione rattled off again.

"Ravenclaw might be alright too..." mused Anne dreamily. She appeared to be staring at the ceiling, though nothing was there. "Just imagine - "

"We'll be there soon, Anne, let's go. Come on, Neville." Hermione grabbed Anne by the arm and dragged her out of the compartment, Neville following meekly.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," muttered Ron. "Anyway, Gilbert, why did she seem to hate you so much?"

"Who?" said Gilbert confusedly.

"Um... Anna?"

"I think her name was Anne," said Harry.

Gilbert sighed out loud this time. More explanations. How wonderful.

Anne and Hermione returned to their compartment.

"Those boys..." Hermione began, but she trailed off seeing the expression on Anne's face.

They sat silently for some time. Hermione pulled a book out of her trunk, and Anne gazed out the window, imagining Hogwarts. What would magic be like? Which house would she be in?

"What's that noise?" said Hermione abruptly.

Anne looked away from her reverie and finally heard loud stomping noises, that sounded like many people running as quickly as they could.

"Let's go out and check," suggested Anne. They left the compartment and headed for the source of the noises, which turned out to be the last compartment.

"What has been going on?" asked Hermione once she saw the scene of mass chaos.

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron announced, holding a rat by the tail.

Anne looked revolted. "Is - that - a rat?" she managed to sputter.

"His name is Scabbers," said Ron, sounding mildly irritated. "No - I don't believe it - he's gone back to sleep."

"You've met Malfoy before?" Gilbert asked Harry.

Harry briefly explained that they had met in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family," Ron said venemously. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. Can we help you with something?" he asked Hermione, who had been whispering loudly to Anne.

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron said angrily.

"Please, could you stop waving your rat in my face?" said Anne, who looked slightly green. Gilbert looked up at her, but she continued to ignore him.

Ron shoved Scabbers back into his cage. "Would you mind leaving while we change?" Ron asked irritably.

"We only came in here because of all of the noise," snapped Anne. "Certainly, we'll oblige."

"You've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Hermione sniffed. They both left as quickly as they could.