Emma trundled along the length of the train car, trying to find an empty compartment. A part of her wished she would have taken up Remus's offer to help her find a place to sit. Even though her trunk wasn't terribly heavy, it was cumbersome to pull along. This was the one thing she felt that she needed to do herself. After all, as she told him, she couldn't bring him along with her.

As she walked further along, she was surprised to find a compartment with the raven-haired girl from the Leaky Cauldron, but she wasn't alone. Taking a curious look into the compartment, she spotted Hermione and a blonde-round-faced boy holding tightly to a toad sitting just inside the door. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to ask if she could join them.

"Erm," Emma popped open the door and peeked in, looking pointedly at Hermione. "Is there any room in here?"

"Emma!" Hermione shouted, a smile on her face. "Hello, hi! Yes, please come in!" Hermione motioned to the empty spot across from her next to Persephone. "This is Persephone Moon, and this is Neville Longbottom."

"We've met," Emma and Persephone said simultaneously, shooting each other matching looks of annoyance.

"Jinx!" Emma shouted out quickly, receiving an odd look from Persephone. "What? Have you never jinxed someone?" Emma turned to Neville and gave him a smile. She could vaguely recall Remus telling her an old story from when she was small. Was this the boy Remus told her about that she was once friends with? "Nice to meet you, Neville," she said kindly.

"We're not allowed to use magic outside of school," Neville piped up nervously.

"No, no, Neville, it's all right. It's just a game," Hermione said, trying to calm Neville down. "You say the word 'jinx' whenever someone says the same thing that you do. It's meant to be silly."

Emma tried her best to read the situation but was at a loss. She forgot that not everyone grew up the same way she and Hermione did. Emma thought that a simple game like that would have been universal, but it appeared not based on the looks she received. Clearing her throat, Emma finally stepped into the compartment. She looked down at her trunk and then up at the luggage rack with a frown.

"I think I might need help lifting this," Emma said awkwardly.

"Oh, don't be silly!" Hermione said, looking almost relieved that she didn't have to continue trying to reassure Neville. "There's a charm on the train, and everything has been touched with a featherlight spell. Go on, try and lift it!"

Emma eyed Hermione suspiciously but decided to give it a try. She placed a hand on the handle of her trunk and pulled lightly. Emma gave a squeak of alarm when she realized that it felt like there was nothing in her trunk at all.

"This is absolutely wicked," Emma said with glee as she lifted her trunk up and over her head and onto the rack. With a smile, she took the empty seat next to Persephone. "Magic is amazing."

Neville and Persephone looked at Emma as if she had sprouted two heads.

"Are you Muggle-born?" Persephone asked, her eyes wide and eyebrows raised in alarm.

"No," Emma answered quickly. Remus had taught her about this and mentioned it would probably come up repeatedly. "I'm not, but I didn't know any of this existed until a month and a half ago. What about you?" Emma was glad that Remus had told her that some families had issues with Muggle-borns. She found it rather silly, but since she had two magical parents, it would never be an issue for her.

"I'm not," Persephone said with an almost smug look. She turned and looked at Hermione and Neville, sitting across from them. "What about you two?"

"I am," Hermione said proudly. "Mum and dad were very pleased when I received my letter to Hogwarts."

"I'm not," Neville said quietly. "Although my Gran was surprised that I had any magical powers at all. She thought I was going to be a Squib."

Persephone turned back to Emma, with her eyes narrowed slightly. "You're not a Muggle-born, but you didn't know that magic existed? What does that even mean? It sounds like you're lying."

"Magic," Emma said, hoping that someone would find it funny. When no one laughed, she felt her face heat up. "Erm, I'm adopted." At least I think I am, Emma thought to herself. She realized that she wasn't exactly sure what she was to Remus. Did he adopt her? She wasn't even sure, and the conversation never came up. Emma was almost afraid to mention it.

"You're adopted?" Persephone scoffed, giving Emma another once-over. "So, you mean to tell me that you're not a Muggle-born, you're a witch, and you're adopted? How does that even make sense?"

Emma looked at Persephone incredulously. She officially found someone that she liked even less than Hermione. As annoying as Hermione was, she didn't talk to Emma as though she was stupid.

"I don't know," Emma huffed. "But I received a letter like everyone else."

"Interesting," Persephone said slowly.

An awkward silence filled the compartment. Persephone was still staring at Emma strangely. Neville looked as nervous as ever, and Hermione seemed frantic, trying to fill the awkward silence.

"Have any of you read Hogwarts, A History?" Hermione blurted out. "It's really very fascinating," she added, launching into an explanation of everything she learned from the book.

Neville was listening to Hermione with rapt attention. At the same time, Persephone and Emma stared at each other for a few moments longer. Eventually, Persephone turned her attention out the window, and Emma turned to look at Hermione. She was only half-listening, confused by her interaction with the girl sitting next to her. Her thoughts began to wander, and she wondered when the train would finally pull away from the station. She almost wanted to run off the train and tell Remus she didn't want to go to Hogwarts anymore if this was what she would deal with.

An echoing horn rang out as the thought crossed Emma's mind, and the train lurched forward. Hermione trailed off mid-sentence, and the four companions looked at each other. Even though they came from all different walks of life, nothing could change the fact they were all nervous. Each face had an equal mix of fear and excitement, and for a moment, they were united.

Persephone quickly scrambled onto the seat and pulled the upper windows open. The other three followed suit, standing as close as possible to each other to lean out the window. They stood watching and waving at their loved ones as the train left the station. Emma even included a wave to Hermione's parents as they went past. Persephone, Hermione, and Neville all stayed at the window for a few moments before settling down into their seats. Emma stayed for as long as she could.

Emma remained standing where she stood, taking the spot that Persephone vacated. She watched as the crowd, the platform, and Remus disappeared as they turned around the corner. A sinking feeling made her stomach plummet with nerves. Emma found that she already missed the cottage and Remus, and she suddenly realized she had a lot to think about.

Did Remus adopt her? Or was she just living with him as if it were a foster situation? Emma wasn't entirely sure anymore, and she was too afraid to ask. In truth, Emma was afraid to ask him a lot of things. She realized with embarrassment that she had never once called him by his name or called him anything at all. Maybe she would finally ask him what she was to him besides his niece when she was brave enough.

Emma sat back down and looked at her compartment mates with a heavy sigh. She noticed that Hermione was fidgeting nervously, Neville held back his tears while holding tightly to his toad, and Persephone seemed lost in thought. None of them seemed willing to break the silence that filled the compartment except for their quiet sniffles. However, it didn't take long for things to descend into chaos. As Neville tried to keep himself from crying, his toad managed to wriggle its way out of his grip and hopped out the open compartment door.

"Trevor!" Neville yelled, immediately scrambling up from his seat to try and follow the toad.

"Wait! Let me help! Hermione shouted, running after Neville.

Emma and Persephone looked at each other, Emma in horror, Persephone with mild disgust. Emma only shrugged. "I guess it's just us two now," she said.

"Guess so," Persephone said, standing up to take the seat directly across from Emma. "I think they'll be awhile. That toad has been trying to escape the entire time. Tell me about yourself."

"Oh," Emma said in surprise. "There really isn't much to say about myself." Emma wasn't sure what it was about Persephone that made her nervous, but she didn't want to talk about herself. You might even meet your best friends on the train, Remus had told her multiple times. Emma had tried to believe him, but staring at the icy-eyed girl across from her made her doubt it. Persephone blinked slowly at Emma, almost impatient for her to speak, and Emma sighed. They were alone, and it didn't appear Persephone planned to talk, so Emma began to tell Persephone about her life.

"Even though I've known that this world existed for the past month and a half, I feel as if I know nothing," Emma admitted, looking out the window. "I mean, I know that I had to have known about all of this before, but it just seems new. I feel like my entire life has been a lie, you know? I had a family, er…a family member, rather, this entire time and had no idea he existed."

"Well, that's messed up, isn't it?" Persephone said, her lips curling slightly. "I mean, if he was around this entire time, he could have tried harder looking for you, couldn't he?"

"The impression I was given is that it's like I came back from the dead," Emma said with a shrug. "I can't blame the man for not finding me if he thought I was dead. Although, the entire thing is a right mess. I don't even know what happened to my parents. I've never asked. I'm guessing that they're not actually alive, but I don't know. I'm too afraid to ask, honestly."

Persephone pulled a face at Emma's words. "That's odd," she muttered.

"Uhm, what about you?" Emma asked curiously.

Persephone settled into her seat, turning sideways so that she could lean against the window and kick her feet up on the seats. "There's not much to know about me," she said. "Mum was a Slytherin, dad was a Ravenclaw…they somehow fell in love and then had me. I would have been pure-blood, but my grandmother married a Muggle on my dad's side. What about you? Do you know what you are?"

"Half-blood?" Emma asked curiously.

"Yeah," Persephone said slowly. "Did your uncle not tell you about any of this? Merlin…right, so there's pure-blood, half-blood, and the Muggle-born. Some people call Muggle-borns Mudbloods, but I don't really know what to think of that, honestly."

"Mudblood?"

"It means 'dirty blood.'"

"Oh." It was Emma's turn to give Persephone a look. "I don't think that sounds very nice."

"It's just a phrase some people use," Persephone said with a shrug. "Not everyone uses it or agrees with it. Mum does, but dad doesn't because we're only half-bloods ourselves."

"Well," Emma said slowly. "I don't think I'm pure-blood, and I'm certainly not Muggle-born. Guess that makes me half, then."

"Most are," Persephone said with a nod. "I don't really care too much. I'm just curious to see if my mum is full of it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, she has it in her mind that pure-bloods are superior to everyone else. I just find it funny that she's anti-everything else, and yet…."

"And yet she married someone who was's only half?"

Persephone nodded, glad that Emma understood. "I don't understand it. Never have, never will."

"I'm sorry," Emma responded honestly. "That sounds rather confusing. Do you not get along with your mum?"

"Some days I do, some days I don't. At least my life isn't as confusing as yours."

Emma hummed quietly in response. Unfortunately, Persephone had a point. She was grateful when Hermione and a distraught Neville returned. Hermione convinced Neville to take a break from looking for Trevor as they still had a long ride to Hogwarts. As long as the train was moving, the toad wasn't going anywhere.

The four settled into easy conversation, discussing what houses they wanted to be in. Persephone said that she refused anything other than Slytherin. Neville wasn't sure and felt the Sorting Hat would turn him away, and Hermione felt she wouldn't mind Ravenclaw. When they turned to Emma, she felt almost the same as Neville. However, just like she'd told Remus, she answered Gryffindor or Hufflepuff would be fine. As the trolley witch passed by, they made their purchases and had a lunch full of sweets.

By mid-afternoon, Hermione suggested that they all start to get dressed. As nervous as they were, they all agreed. They allowed Neville to get changed first, waiting in the hallway quietly. Once dressed, Hermione sent Neville back on his way with the promise that she would help him find Trevor. This left Emma and Persephone alone again, but they remained quiet, watching the world outside their window.

"No luck on finding your frog?" Persephone asked as Hermione and Neville returned toad-less.

Neville shook his head sadly. "No. My Gran will kill me if I can't find him."

Hermione wore a slightly panicked look on her face. "He'll show up, Neville. Honestly!" Hermione looked over at Emma and Persephone, practically bubbling over with excitement. "We just met Harry Potter a few cars down!"

"You met the Boy Who Lived?" Persephone asked, sitting up straighter. "Is he in our year?"

"He is," Neville responded. "Gran told me we should be friends before we got to the station this morning."

Emma looked between Hermione, Persephone, and Neville in confusion. The name was vaguely familiar from another one of Remus's stories, but she couldn't make the association. "Who is Harry Potter?" she asked curiously.

The trio turned and looked at Emma, wearing matching looks of surprise.

"You don't know who Harry Potter is?" Persephone asked incredulously.

"No," Emma said slowly. "Should I? I think I might have heard the name, but I don't know who he is…."

"He's the one who destroyed You-Know-Who," Neville said, his eyes wide.

"I don't know who," Emma said, scratching her head. "He destroyed who? What are you talking about?"

"I read about him in a few of the extra books I picked up. He's the youngest wizard alive to ever survive You-Know-Who," Hermione said, turning to Emma with a frown. "You really should take some time to read some more, Emma," she added.

"I read enough, thanks," Emma said, shooting Hermione a look. "I still don't know who You-Know-Who is. Who is that?"

Neville and Persephone looked over at Hermione, clearly not wanting to say.

"Don't look at me!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I don't want to say it," Neville whined.

Persephone let out an annoyed breath. "Fine," she said, leaning towards Emma and fixing her with a stare. "You-Know-Who is Lord Voldemort."

Neville shuddered, and Hermione let out a quiet squeak, covering her face.

"Who's Lord Voldemort?" Emma asked in confusion.

"Don't say his name!" Hermione and Neville shouted at the same time.

"S-sorry," Emma said, her face heating up. "Er, who is You-Know-Who? Why doesn't anyone say his name?"

"He was the darkest wizard of our time. He's known for killing a ton of people, especially Muggles, because he wanted to maintain blood purity in the magical community," Persephone answered. "Unfortunately, that's a mindset a lot of witches and wizards still agree with. They won't outright say it, most of them, but it's how they feel. He had a ton of followers, but they all disappeared when he was destroyed."

"And Harry Potter was the one who did this?"

"Yes, but no one knows how as he was only a baby," Neville added. "He's famous in our world. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to kill Harry with the killing curse, but he survived with only a scar on his head."

Emma scrunched up her face in confusion as she tried to understand what she was being told. Every time she thought the weirdness ended, there would be something else strange she would learn. Killing curses, babies becoming famous, and a man whose name was so feared that no one said it just seemed awful.

"I told you, I know nothing about any of this," Emma said, feeling embarrassed. Maybe she should have asked Remus more questions about the magical world.

"You'll pick it up fast, I'm sure," Persephone said. "Now that we know Harry Potter is in our year, what house do you think he'll be in?"

With the conversation changed, Emma found herself sitting back in her seat and watching as the sky outside grew darker and darker. She added to the conversation when she was supposed to, but she mostly remained quiet. There was far more Emma didn't know than she thought, and she was finding herself even more confused. She knew that as soon as she could, she would write to Remus right away.

It seemed like only moments later that the train began to slow down, letting out another loud echoing horn. They appeared to have passed a small village on their way to the station, and Emma was even more curious. There were houses near the school? Emma looked up at the ceiling as a voice echoed through the train, telling them they would arrive in just five minutes and that they should leave their luggage on board. As the train slowed to a stop, the four occupants of the compartment looked at each other.

"I guess we're here," Emma said, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat.

The train suddenly came alive as loud cheers, and excited voices left their compartments. At the noise, the four stood up, popped their heads out the door, and slowly followed the growing crowd.

"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" called a booming voice over the crowd as they exited the train.

Emma looked around for the source of the voice and was surprised to see the large man from Diagon Alley again. He held a lantern high over everyone's heads and beckoned the smallest students over to join him. "C'mon over here!"

Persephone and Emma locked eyes, and they smiled at each other. It was the friendliest they had been to each other all day, and they made their way toward the giant man. As the crowd of first years grew, Emma looked around at everyone. There was a very tall red-head boy, the dark-haired boy she had seen with the giant man, a pale boy with very blonde hair flanked by two stocky and ugly-looking boys. Emma noticed an almost pug-faced girl, Neville, Hermione, and a blonde girl with pigtails. She couldn't get a good look at many others as they were in front of her with their backs to her. A breeze passed through the dark platform, and Emma shivered. It was much colder here than back in London.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years?" the man asked, looking at the crowd and checking that there weren't any stragglers. When he didn't see anyone else, he nodded and started to walk. "Mind yer step, now! Firs' years, follow me!"

The crowd of first years followed the large man down a narrow path. They tripped, slid, and stumbled along the path, unsure of where they were being led. They all remained silent as they followed the man down the trail. There was abundant nervous energy that surrounded the lot.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man said excitedly. "Jus' round this bend here."

There was a collective gasp and noises of awe as they rounded the corner, and the pathway opened to a lake. Up high above them, across the lake, was a massive castle. Emma was amazed at the vast size of the castle in front of her. The windows sparkled and gleamed with light, and the castle with its high turrets and towers looked brilliant against the starry sky. Emma couldn't begin to fathom how she would be able to know where to go in the castle – it was huge!

"No mor'n four to a boat," the large man shouted, gesturing to the boats sitting in the water.

Emma watched as Neville and Hermione got into a boat with the dark-haired boy and the red-head. Emma looked over at Persephone, and they got into a boat together, followed by a tall, dark-haired boy and a boy with mousy brown hair.

The man got into a boat all by himself and turned to look at the group. "Everyone in? Right then – FORWARD!"

At his words, the small boats began to move by themselves. The group was once again silent, watching as the castle started to get closer and loom overhead.

"Head down!" the man yelled as the first few boats reached the cliff. Everyone ducked as they were pulled through a curtain of ivy that covered the wide opening of the cliff face. They were shuttled along a dark tunnel until they reached what appeared to be an underground harbor. As the boats approached the docks, they would begin to climb out, nervously grouping up again.

As each boat emptied, the man checked the boats to double-check that no one and nothing was left behind. "Oy, you there," he said, looking over at Neville. "Is this your toad?"

"Trevor!" Neville shouted, taking the toad back from the man. He looked both elated and relieved at the same time to have the frog back in his hands. Persephone and Emma looked at each other and began to giggle.

With the final first years out of the boat, the man seemed to take a quick count of everyone there. With another nod, he began to lead them through a passageway, through dark and wet grass, and he walked up to the enormous oak doors.

"Everyone here? You there – still got yer toad?" The man asked with a quick look at the crowd surrounding him. Satisfied, he raised a giant fist and knocked three times on the castle door. As the final knock rang out, the massive doors opened and revealed an enormous stone entryway. Professor McGonagall stood just inside the doors, and Emma had to keep herself from waving.

"Thank you, Hagrid," Professor McGonagall said politely. "First years, follow me."

With a hushed whisper, the crowd of first years walked into Hogwarts for the first time. They were starting a new adventure in their life that they would remember forever.