It had come at last; it had come at last! The time that they all feared would come, had come. At last. Summer was officially over, well, not exactly officially, as they still had three and a half weeks of summer weather left, but it was time for Evergreen to head out to catch the Pacific Boxcar of the Ilvermorny Express! So, it was no later than 8:30 in the morning by the time Evergreen had showered, changed, got some breakfast, and loaded up Dad's truck bed with his trunk. Evergreen was wearing a pair of black jeans with a button up shirt that was blue with some red, faded geometric shapes printed therein. At his hip was his wand holster, a gift from Seta that previous year. His wand was stored snugly within.

"Got everything you need?" Dad asked, jingling his keys.

"Yep. I double checked last night." Evergreen replied with a grin.

"Okay. Are you ready?"

"Let me see. Seta, are we ready?" Evergreen turned his head to the bunny standing on his shoulder which had begun to broaden that summer.

"Speak for yourself, Evergreen." Seta laughed, "I'm always ready."

Then their trip began. Dad pulled the truck out on I-205 and they flew up the freeway at a freakish speed. Dad was an excellent driver, but driving with him was usually quite frightening, the way he tore down the road and passed everyone he could. Pretty soon, however, they took the exit to jump on to I-84 West which led them onto I-5 and one of the many entrances to downtown Portland. The tall, orange-bricked tower of Union Station stood across the river, like a beacon, calling Evergreen to his second year at school.

They parked in the lot across the street and looked up to see it was about 9:15. It was rush hour, after all. Dad paid for an hour of parking and pulled Evergreen's trunk down from his truck bed and the trio started on their way to the large orange and brown structure that was Union Station. They entered the building and filed through the busy thoroughfare of weekend travelers to get to the little store found in the central area of the station advertising newspapers and cigars.

Off to the right, Evergreen saw the large board showing the arrivals and departures of various trains. The Ilvermorny train obviously wasn't there as only a small number of people were aware of it in general and an even smaller number of individuals were permitted to ride it. They weaved through the crowd and found themselves in a little alcove behind the central store. They looked and found the familiar gordian knot symbol. With only a brief look shared between father and son, they walked right through the seemingly solid wall.

At the other end, they came out to find the green Pacific Boxcar of the Ilvermorny Express. Witches and wizards were rushing about every which way. Evergreen saw people he recognized like Maggie and Victoria Snow, but others he didn't. Sixth graders, probably. There were also some pukwudgies helping load luggage. He didn't remember seeing pukwudgies last year, but he was so focused on trying to find this hidden platform that he didn't really notice a lot of things last year.

"Stand back!" came a small, grumbly voice from down below.

It was one of the pukwudgies that Evergreen recognized from Waldon's group. Waldon had, with Seta's help, saved Evergreen from falling to his death out of a hot air balloon at the start of the previous year. He also directed Evergreen and his friends to find Beatrice before something truly terrible happened to her. Evergreen didn't know the name of the pukwudgie that was before him, hefting a trunk that was easily 10 times his own body weight.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me." He replied to the two-foot tall, spiky humanoid.

The trunk stopped moving right beside Evergreen. The pukwudgie below it lifted it just a little higher to make eye contact with the young wizard.

"Quandary?" he asked.

"Yes sir." Evergreen responded.

"Thought so." Came the response before the pukwudgie and trunk disappeared in the crowd.

Another pukwudgie appeared and grabbed Evergreen's trunk, putting it into the below train storage compartment. Dad and Evergreen stopped just within spitting distance of the tracks.

"Remember, E.E. if you need me –"

"Just call you on the pocket watch."

"And don't—"

"—go looking for trouble if I can help it?"

Dad laughed a deep belly laugh which made Evergreen follow suit and Seta shortly after. They made a little bit of a scene, but they didn't care.

"See you at Thanksgiving." Dad said, "I love you, son."

"Love you too, Dad. See you soon!"

They embraced and shared another laugh thereafter. Evergreen turned away from Dad to look at the forest green boxcar. It was time to board the train.

It didn't take long to find Link along the train's corridor. He was seated with their mutual friend Andie who was No-Maj born, but decent at potions and a skilled artist. She was wearing her signature outfit. A flattering graphic t-shirt and a plaid skirt that went halfway down her thighs. She had black hair, olive skin, and massive glasses covering most of her pretty face. She was reading The Art of Defense Vol 2 when Evergreen walked in.

"Hey there." She said, "Your mom sure knew how to write a proper textbook."

They shared a laugh while Evergreen and Seta took a seat by Link who playfully shoved Evergreen the moment, they were seated alongside him. This elicited a shove from Evergreen as well. Everyone was laughing at that point. The friends then started catching up, telling Andie about the Unification Festival and about all the time they spent with one another that summer. When it came to Andie, she told them all about all the time she spent with their mutual friend Glade's family that summer. Glade's family was as magical as they come and when Andie and Glade were children, they had to pretend to be a No-Maj family whenever Andie came over. It was for the first time that Glade's family didn't need to hide their magic from her as she was a witch then as well.

The time soon came for the meeting of the boxcars, after stopping in Los Angeles and Las Vegas briefly. Evergreen was ready for it this time, so he just held on to the seat as the cranberry red Mountain boxcar came up behind them and connected. Evergreen thought the ride was even more thrilling than the last time. Looking out the window, he saw birds flying by, but the train was moving so fast that it looked like they were flying backward and whenever they saw No-Maj cars, it looked like they were all standing still.

A Latino-looking wizard likely in his 40's made his way down the train's corridor at some point with a trolley of various snacks. The members of Evergreen's compartment bought a few things apiece. Evergreen got a few different flavors of cauldron cakes, a closed sandwich that was related to the meat pie or the empanada and something called Fizzy Whizbeer. It tasted kind of like cream soda with a fruity aftertaste, only it made him levitate off his seat for a few seconds every time he took a swig. It was hilarious. Both Andie and Link just had to get in on that action and get some themselves. They spent a few moments levitating in their compartment while Seta just looked generally annoyed.

"Hey guys." Evergreen began, standing up. "I'm gonna go f-find Maggie to check in on her. Be right back."

"Don't be too long," Andie replied, "If Link does something dumb, I don't know if I could save him."

"'If' is a shaky word, Andie. He probably will do something." Evergreen laughed.

"Ahhh, come on guys. Give a man more credit!" Link replied with a laugh as he returned to his seat after another swig of the Whizbeer.

"I'll give it when it's deserved!"

With Andie's jest, Evergreen left the compartment and started down toward the back of the boxcar with Seta obviously on his shoulder. Most of the shades on each compartment were open, letting the sunlight spill into the corridor and allowing Evergreen to look inside. He saw Victoria Snow, who he briefly made eye contact with, and he looked at a group of first years. He could tell that they were first years because they were all looking super nervous, they were already wearing their uniforms and the golden crests over their hearts were blank, signifying they didn't yet have an Ilvermorny house. Been there, thought Evergreen.

It was at that moment that his eye was caught by an image he thought he saw between the windows that separated the Pacific and Mountain boxcars. It was just a single image for a single moment, but it made his mind go blank and he momentarily forgot what he was doing. The only word that was on his mind was "pretty".

"Evergreen. What do you think you're doing!?" came a harsh, yet feminine voice.

"Whaaa?" he asked, turning to see the statuesque figure of Sandy Blackbird.

Physically speaking, she was quite lovely. She was probably the prettiest girl in their grade level. He thought of a young Jessica Alba every time he looked at her. She had blonde hair, tanned skin, and super long legs. She was almost taller than he was and was dressed in a pretty, baby blue sundress that fell to her knees while standing before him. The thing was that she thought she was better than most people, including Evergreen as he overheard her making fun of his stutter behind his back during that previous year. So, he never really considered her a friend, she was just an acquaintance by association at best, considering she was one of Maggie's best friends. Who knows why someone so cool ended up friends with someone so… wicked? That probably wasn't a fair word for Evergreen to use, but it made the most sense. Even Beatrice in their sixth-grade year gave him a hard time just because he kept running into her or dropping things on her. He never did a thing to Sandy, but there they were.

"I think you heard me." She replied.

"I'm looking for Maggie." he said, shaking his head of his stupor caused by whatever it was earlier.

"What makes you think she wants to see you?" she inquired, doing her best to stand in an intimidating way. It was working.

"Really, girl, there is no need to be obstinate!" Seta growled, his paw on his sheathed sword.

She was taken aback by the sudden talking bunny but quickly recovered.

"Oh, I don't care what you think." She stated. "I asked you a question." She said to Evergreen. "What? Did I stutter?" The last word was spoken with some legitimate malice.

"I d-dunno. I j-just –"

"You j-just what?"

"Sandy. It's fine. He's not our enemy." Came Maggie's voice from an open compartment up ahead.

Evergreen slipped past Sandy, keeping his head low and then breathed out a sigh of relief. His heart was hammering, and his mouth was suddenly dry. He never understood Sandy and he stopped trying a long time ago. She had issues and he knew that she would work them out eventually, he just needed to avoid her as much as possible until then. When he saw Maggie in a blue tracksuit with the more reserved and pleasant Chastity Greenhorn, he relaxed.

"Hey Maggie, I w-was just che-checking up on y-you." Evergreen said, silently cursing himself. The theater in the previous year was helpful in helping him with his stutter, but whenever he felt stupid or scared, it would come out again with a vengeance.

"Thanks Evergreen, that's cool of you." she replied, touching his hand lightly with hers. "Sorry Sandy gave you the third degree. She's been trying to keep me safe, given the circumstances."

"If you could get her to lay off a bit, I'd appreciate it." He responded, gathering himself. "She scares my pants off, to be honest. It would be hard to be friends if one of us had a friend with ill will toward the other."

"She's a menace, if she's anything." Seta mumbled.

"She can be intense." She agreed. "I'll talk with her. Thanks Evergreen. You're the best." She replied, touching his hand for the second time in the setting.

This elicited a smile from Evergreen and he and Seta quickly left the compartment and passed by Sandy before she could get another word in edgewise. When they returned to the compartment, Andie verbally noted that Evergreen looked a little shaken, so she offered the last sip of her Whizbeer, which he accepted. Normally, he would feel weird about sharing a drink with someone, but in the past few months, every time a pretty girl offered to share her drink with him, he never turned it down.

They spent the next while just chatting away, Evergreen letting the stress of his encounter fade away in the presence of two of his best friends and Seta, who was more like family than anything else at that point. They watched as the sun got gradually lower in the sky and how the terrain outside of the window changed from green, to brown, to green again. More boxcars came and eventually, they entered a thick forest and Evergreen knew that Ilvermorny was close by.