There's a boy about her age bouncing on his toes, carrying a stack that's nearly half his height. 

He's with a man who is interrogating the hapless clerk about something or other, and a woman who is surrounded by a circle of eager listeners.

When he wanders in her direction, they don't really notice. 

It doesn't surprise anyone when some of his books falls off the top, landing next to her. He doesn't stop until he reaches his destination: what looks to be a shelf of books on charms and temporary effects.

Thump.

Naomi doesn't jump. She's more observant than that. (She did, and she's not -- she really wasn't paying attention.)

She grabs the books, leafing through them. They don't seem to be the kind of thing she was interested in, but she is going to be learning charms, maybe these ones will be useful.

When she's had about a minute with them she walks over and puts on a great big smile. "Hi! Some of your books fell by me when I was looking at the shelves and here they are back if you want them!"

"Thank you." 

The statement sounds rote, like thanking people is something he's memorized how to do. 

"Done any charms yet?"

"No, I don't even have my wand, right now I'm looking at books! I guess you're interested in charms? Any reason why those kinds of charms in particular?"

"You haven't done anything yet? Not even a little?" 

He inches towards her, his voice dropping to a whisper. 

"We're not supposed to, so no one has an unfair advantage, but nobody listens. You can tell me." 

"How could I do anything without a wand?" 

"For kids they call it accidental magic but for adults it's called wandless magic. They're obviously the same thing, the school just wants you to do it their way." 

Huh. 

"Oh, I didn't know that! Do you know anything else about wandless magic? Do you know how to do it so it's on purpose, I've only ever done things when I haven't been actually thinking about them."

"Hold on, that's super advanced stuff. First you have to make sure that when you have accidental magic, it comes out how you want. If you're scared, don't just push away the scary thing or hurt it, pick one and make that happen. Can you just put those ones back on top please? We can share them later." 

Sharing! Sharing is good! Especially when it's books. Naomi beams.

"Sure! ... so. What isn't advanced stuff? Other than the history and culture things, I guess -- I'll have to make sure I get enough books on those because computers don't work here ..."

"What are computers?" 

"Oh! You're a native! Right, so, computers are like -- hm, I don't know how much technology you have here, I only know some of it doesn't work, I was going to get some books on it, maybe that will help me explain? Or I could just give you a summary and you could ask me lots of questions, that works too."

"Uh, if you're a Muggle kid you should really keep it down. There's bad blood, after the war and all. If you want a native to help you learn the history and culture things, stay close." 

"Oh. Okay. Thanks, wow. I'm lucky I talked to you first." 

(That could have gone unimaginably horribly and Naomi is not thinking about that right now.)

"Okay, so -- point me toward book titles, maybe, if we aren't going to be loud about it. Um. I'm really bad at not being loud, also I don't know what makes it obvious that, um."

"If there's other stuff like computers that you think might not work here, don't mention it. We can talk about it at school. Otherwise I can buy books for you, no one thinks it's weird if I want basic stuff explained. Watch my stack?" 

He places his books on a shelf next to her and goes looking for introductory books on wizarding culture. 

She can examine his books at her leisure, or try to meet new people. 

Meeting new people sounds like a bad idea because her idea of meeting people involves talking at them. So she will look at books!

Josh has lots of books for her to look at!

An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, Blood Brothers: My Time Living Among Vampires, Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst is Coming, Hogwarts: A History...

Naomi starts with Death Omens because it's shortest, then after skimming it moves on to Hogwarts: A History, which is topical, long and detailed but poorly indexed. 

She's still reading it by the time he gets back. "What house do you think you're going to be in?"

"Slytherin, like my dad."

"Cool, I don't know enough about them to know yet; I'm thinking probably Ravenclaw -- oh, and I realized I don't know your name! Mine's Naomi, last name McPherson, nice to meet you!"

"Josh Fawley. Ravenclaw is cool too, my mom was in Ravenclaw. Definitely one of those is good."

"Thanks for letting me borrow your books; you picked some really good ones. Hogwarts: A History is very informative so far, so is Death Omens, I haven't started skimming the others yet ..."

"Death Omens is good. I'm thinking of getting one on dreams and other divination, but my dad says that it doesn't work for everyone."

"Oh really."

Naomi lowers her voice. It's probably a bit more dramatic than she was intending. "What's divination?"

"Predicting the future, understanding omens, interpreting dreams...I don't know everything that counts as divination, that's what the books were supposed to be for."

"True.

Speaking of books! Which ones would be helpful for, um, someone in my, um." She gestures vaguely. 

"I found a few options, but I can't get all these books too. Help me narrow down the pile, and I'll go get the others."

He puts Death Omens and Hogwarts: a History aside, assuming they'll see some use.

Naomi is admittedly less interested in vampires, they don't seem to be too common. She picks a book on magical radios to put with Hogwarts: A History, sets aside a book on jinxes ...

Flesh-Eating Trees of the World, Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, the Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy, Prefects Who Gained Power...and the required textbooks, of course.

"Does this look like a good starting point?"

"Sure! Oh, hey, do you mind if I take one of these books with me so I can read them at home? I'm thinking those two would be best --" she points to Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century and Hogwarts: A History -- "I can pay you back if you want, I don't have much extra pocket-change but I should be able to do that! I really don't want to be," she lowers her voice, "culturally insensitive." 

"You can have them, and give them back at school. I should buy these now. Who are you shopping with?"

"I don't actually know where my parents are! We went to Gringotts first and then I got my robes, and when mine were done they decided they should get robes too, I guess they must have gotten weird looks even though the Headmistress was there with them. And they let me go off to look at books instead of waiting for them! Which is nice because I met you!"

They purchase books. Naomi goes into a corner to read more of the ones that don't make her look suspiciously -- what was the word, oh, muggle. If Josh wants to he can read with her.

Josh should probably go with his parents. They can meet up at the ward shop! 

They do! Josh is there before Naomi is -- she waves enthusiastically when she sees him. 

"New friend?" Her mother asks softly. 

"Yep!" She replies. "I met him at the book shop!"

"Hey. Mom, dad, this is my new Ravenclaw friend. I'm Josh, I'm morbid and a bit of a handful."

"Hello, Josh," Naomi's mother says, smiling a little wearily. "Do you have your wand yet?"

"No."

Josh's dad frowns.

"Josh, we talked about this. You're getting a wand." 

"You don't want a wand?" Naomi says curiously. "Can't you still do other things, even if you have a wand? That's what you said in the bookshop."

Naomi is intrigued by the idea of wandless magic but thinks it makes sense to practice in addition to wanded magic. Not instead of. Hmmm. 

"Every witch or wizard needs a wand," explains his mother.

"This is just a child's fancy," his father adds.

"People don't use wands everywhere, there are other ways of using magic," Josh whines. 

"There are?"

"Of course, like in-"

Josh's mother interrupts by ruffling his hair. He pouts, stopping mid-sentence. 

"There are some countries where wands are less common, but no witch does magic without something to focus her power. Centaurs, merfolk, house elves all use magic without wands, but even those of us capable of wandless magic never turn to it first." 

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'm going to do both wand magic and wandless magic, so I want a wand," Naomi says. She feels very clever for having found a compromise and smiles conspiratorially at Josh.

Josh seems pleased! 

His faher shakes his head.

"Wait to try serious wandless magic until you have more experience. Accidental magic is uncontrolled and dangerous, so it's safer not to practice wandless," he says to Naomi's mother. 

"Thank you," Naomi's mother says dryly.

Meanwhile Naomi is being accosted by floating measuring tapes and trying out wands. She goes through five before Ollivander decides on one -- aspen, dragon heartstring, twelve inches, flexible, good for charms. 

"That's you done," Ollivander says, eyes shining. "And -- Mr. Fawley. I hope you don't think you're too good for my wands."

"Not too good, I just think that maybe everyone doesn't need wands? My mom said, about centaurs and everything, if they can do it, we can too." 

She sighs. "Josh, please. We have more shopping to do." 

"Okay, I'll do it, but under duress." 

That is a satisfactory answer. Measuring tapes fly around, extending themselves across his back, between his eyes, around his waist, under his nose ...

They go through several wands. 

"Perhaps this one," Ollivander mutters. "Black walnut, eleven inches, unicorn hair, slightly swishy, excellent for nonverbal magic ..."

Nope. The wand sits idly in his hand.

Ollivander snatches it away. "That one won't do, no."

Four more wands. Maybe ... this one?

This one flashes, as though struck by lightning, and a burst of water appears over his head.

He's soaked, but laughing.

His parents look ashamed and amused, and apologize to Mr. Ollivander, who has really been quite patient.

Mr. Ollivander is completely unfazed and waves them out of the shop.

"We have wands!" Naomi exclaims. "I can't wait to practice -- I bought a book about radios, mum, I'm going to figure out how they're enchanted and then I'm going to figure out --"

"No," her mother replies.

"Muuum!"

"No, honey. You're not enchanting the home computer. It was expensive, and you'll break it, and your father will throw a fit."

"I won't break it!" 

Naomi's mother steers her away from Josh and his parents. Naomi waves distractedly at her new friend before continuing to argue. 

Josh waves at Naomi, and he and his parents finish their shopping trip in relative peace.

And eventually, there is a train station.

Naomi is one of the first people on the train -- she wanted to get in as much practice as she could, seeing as her parents wouldn't let her use her wand at home. 

Fortunately, it did give her lots of time to read up on wizarding history. She read all about the founders of Hogwarts, skim through a chapter that listed Headmasters and their major accomplishments, skim through an even longer chapter listing notable alumni ... she's not even a tenth of the way done with Hogwarts: A History and it's been a month. 

Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century was more concise -- organized like an encyclopedia, but frustratingly vague in certain places. She's not sure who this "You Know Who" is but she thinks he has something to do with the war Josh was talking about -- which she doesn't understand because didn't it end twenty years ago? Why would people still be mad about it?

That's the kind of thing she can ask someone, though. For now she'll sit in her compartment and get used to her robes and practice charms. Wasn't this wand supposed to be good at charm work, come on ...

Josh has been reading up on his Muggle history. It's important, his mother has always said, to let people know that you're open to their perspective. It shows that your respect them, value them, and want their friendship. So he's done his research, and he thinks he understands what electricity does, though he's still confused about how it works.

It takes a while, but he finds her compartment through the tried-and-true method of knocking on each door.

"Hi! How are you!"

"Hi! Good!

... I completely forgot to look for you on the platform, oh my god, I'm sorry -- I guess I was just really into the books? You can have Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century back, I'm done with it, and also maybe Hogwarts: A History but that one's long and not all of it is useful. Oh! How was the rest of your summer?"

"I learned everything there is to know about Muggles. Electricity, Napoleon, the Beatles...I studied all of last month."

"Probably not everything," she laughs. "Do you know what computers are now, or should I explain?"

"Please explain computers, I got electricity and how it makes radios work. We just use magic."

So she explains! This is what computers do, how they're used, how they work (she talks about transistors and "offs-and-ons"), what kinds of information they work best with ...

"My parents work for a company that makes them," she finishes, "and so they get lots of old ones and I get to play with them, it's fun."

"That sounds fun. Da never brings anything fun home, he takes the joke shop very seriously. Mum doesn't really work, even, just talks to centaurs and things."

"She talks to centaurs? That's so cool! What do they talk about, does she tell you?"

"Mostly just wanting their land back. Pretty boring, if you ask me. I guess you don't have centaurs, though. Muggles probably can't even see them."

"Maybe! Muggles can't see lots of magical creatures apparently, I was reading about how You-Know-Who used dementors. Muggles should really know about them, actually, it was really stupid of people not to tell them they were at risk."

"People don't like to admit they've made mistakes. No one expected him to use them, he never did the first time around."

"First time? There was a second time?"

"I guess those books are old. There was one war against Voldemort that ended ten years ago, and everyone thought he died. He didn't, and then he came back, and there was another one that ended last year."

"Oh, so Voldemort is You-Know-Who. Okay."

"Anyway, Dementors aren't a big problem anymore. There are still parts of his army left, and my mom is really worried about the goblins, but things are back to normal."

"Why is she worried about the goblins?"

"She thinks there might be another rebellion. My dad says there won't be, because the goblins are smarter than that, but she thinks that they care too much about the Sword to let it go." 

"What kind of sword? Why would they start a rebellion over a sword?"

"Goblins say that people who make something own it; you can't buy something permanently, just borrow it. They want it back." 

"So they should just give the sword back, then?"

"Gryffindor had it, it belongs to the school, and anyway, there's magic on it so it will go to any "true Gryffindor" or some tripe. You know how rumors are." 

"That seems silly, but I also don't know much about magic, so I don't know how to tell the difference." She sighs loudly and bounces her knee, burying her head in her hands. "I don't know anything about magic, about what's possible or not, and I'm scared of the war because my parents didn't tell me. The headmistress told them I'd be safe and they believed her, but they didn't tell me, I hate it."

There's a commotion outside the door.

"They don't mean anything by it. They're adults, that's what they do. We just have to take care of each other."

He stands, but doesn't open the door.

He watches the shadows move across it.

"What was that?" 

"Probably nothing, should we check it out?"

"Yup -- oh, sorry, it just startled me. Gosh." she says, getting up from her seat, moving the books that were on her lap closer to her trunk. Right before she would have put her hand on the door handle she remembers to grab her wand from the windowsill.

The door opens...

and yeah, that's a kid their age being shoved in by some older boys.

He lands on the floor and the door shuts.

"See what I mean? Adults are useless, anyone who falls into your life is worth keeping until you can be useful adults instead."

He offers the boy a hand.

He stands up himself, dusting off his robes.

"Hi."

Well, Naomi doesn't think adults aren't completely useless -- her parents usually know more than she does. But sometimes they disagree with each other, which just means she has to learn what both of them think. Somehow. If she asks enough, or correctly.

But -- that's not important right now. "Hi! This is Josh, I'm Naomi, we're going to be first years, what's your name?"

"Christopher. I'll be a first year too."

"That's so cool! Every good group of friends in Hogwarts history has been three people."

"That seems like you just made it up."

"Are you okay?" Naomi says anxiously. "Why were those people shoving you in?"

There's room to sit on Josh's side of the compartment; her's is covered in books.

"They said I talk too much and look funny. I said they wouldn't know smart if it...I probably should have stopped talking."

He sits next to Josh, and deposits his things.

"Okay, so I think I'm Ginny, you're Neville, and she's Luna. Does that sound right?"

"We just met, it's not my job to sort you."

"I don't know who any of those people are! I'm muggleborn, I don't know anything and it's really frustrating. Apparently there was a war! And we're not supposed to talk about it! And also apparently people don't like muggleborns, everyone's been avoiding telling me what happened and what they did, do you know? Either of you," she amends.

"You're Muggleborn? Whoa, you can't just tell everyone you meet, don't they explain this to you?"

"No, why would they? Adults. If you want to hear about the war, I'll bring you some Prophet articles, but you shouldn't be too curious too loudly, you'll draw attention. Everyone's being very tolerant now, but things were bad, before, and some people are just faking to stay out of Azkaban."

"I haven't been telling everyone I meet, I told Josh and he was okay and now I told you, and now I have two whole people who can tell me what I can do to -- to fit in, and I don't know what things I shouldn't be curious about or what 'bad' means or what 'Azkaban' is and I'm not gonna be able to fake it forever."

She sighs. "Sorry," she mutters. "It's not your guys' fault no one will tell me anything."

"Azkaban is prison, punishment for crimes. Everyone goes there if they break wizarding law. The Dementors used to work there. Or they were pets? I don't know how that worked, clearly they weren't under control."

"Thank you," she says, relieved. "What should I do to pretend not being muggleborn?"

"If you're confused, turn up your nose at them and say something about how everyone should act their age. Then ask one of us."

"Yeah, classic pureblood move."

"That is really helpful!" She beams. "Anything else? I can't say that all the time."

"Purebloods will think everything is from charms. Locked doors, appearing food, and temperature in the classrooms. You should know how paintings work, ghosts, a little about centaurs, there's a centaur teacher I think."

"How do paintings work?"

"When a witch or a wizard has a painting made of them, it can say what they're thinking and feeling. It's a good way to get to know people who died, especially if they didn't leave any books or anything." 

"That is a weird way of storing information," she giggles.

"Muggles don't have paintings?"

"They can't say what they're thinking and feeling! Movies can do that, I guess, and so can computers, but you need more space."

"That's awful! Paintings are so useful, I can't wait to be around so many of them!"

"Paintings are pretty boring, we have tons at home and all they do is insult you." 

"Maybe you should try to be less sketchy! 

...Get it?" 

"Well, that's still not very nice of them," Naomi says archly. 

"Wait. Are paintings alive?"

"Yeah!"

"Nope!"

"Have you ever talked to a painting? They can't shut up about the same three things. A painting is like a book, not a person, it can't come up with new stuff." 

"Paintings react to new people and fit them into how they see things. They couldn't do that if they weren't alive."  

"Can paintings learn things permanently? How good are their memories?"

"I guesssss they learn, but they forget things really fast. Maybe we need better magic to make paintings, so they can remember better." 

"If they did, would you think one was alive?"

"No, they still don't do things properly. They're like wands, not like owls."

"What things don't they do properly?"

"Ignore him, you can talk to some at school and do your own research." 

"Do you want to help? Maybe I'll find out something no one else knows!"

"We'll be research buddies!"

"Yep!"

There's a knock on the door.

"Come in," Naomi chirps. The door slides open to reveal a giant cart stuffed with candies, savory treats, and other food items. "Want anything, dears?" The woman's voice is slightly muffled by the compartment wall. 

Naomi brought lots of pocket change; she'll have one of everything. 

Chris will have some chocolate frogs, please.

Josh goes in for savory treats. What's the selection like?

The pumpkin pasties are pretty savory. There's also something called Hag's Hair -- Naomi tried it; it tastes a bit like beef jerky. 

He's never been a fan of Hag's Hair, so he buys a few frogs to go with his pasties.

Naomi eats a pumpkin pasty and a cauldron cake and investigates the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. She's sure that wizards have had them before and know how to recognize them, and is debating whether it's worth the effort to do the same. She tries grass, coffee, ginger, liver, cabbage, cotton, and blood.

"There's so much to do," she says when they're done eating. "I dunno if I want to read all my textbooks first, or explore the castle, or check out a bunch of books from the library, I bet no one does that the first day, it'll be empty."

"You check out books, and I'll do the studying. You'll know what books Muggleborns need to learn from, but the basic stuff for our classes should be the same if we had wizard parents or not."

"Do I get to explore the castle?"

"No way, we can't split up! That's rule number one."

"Can't we get more done that way?"

"Don't get cocky, that's rule number two."

"How many rules are there? That sounds pretty boring, just having all those rules. Can we stick to two rules, and no more?"

"Rule number three is that I can always add more rules when I'm smart enough to think of them."

"What happens if the rules contradict each other?"

"Rule four, I'm always right, even if I contradict myself."

"I think we should all get a say in these rules, since we're friends now."

"Rule five: always have each others' backs, but not literally because that would be gross. Rule six: make sure everyone's on the same page."

"Rules are boring, let's talk about something else. See if you got any good cards."

"Merwyn and Summerbee, nothing too exciting."

"Albus Dumbledore and Urg the Unclean!"

"Dumbledore, huh? Those used to be pretty common, but they stopped making them two years back."

"I'll trade this Gryffindor for Urg."

"Sure!"

Naomi's almost done with her food, and the train looks like it's almost arrived.

"Cool, we're almost there. We should get changed into our robes." 

"Okay, Naomi can go first. We'll wait outside." 

Naomi shoos the boys out and changes. "Alright, now I'll go out," she calls when she's done.

"Uh, why don't we take turns?" 

"Sure, I'll change first."

And Chris and Naomi have to wait outside.

"He's really...something. Did you want us to be the next Golden Trio?"

"Why not? We'd have to come up with a different name though."

"We'll come up with something. Copper, Iron, Quicksilver..."

"Your turn."

Josh is wearing what should probably be described as non-standard robes.

In a shocking shade of blue, they don't quite fit the dress code.

"Okay. My turn."

He heads into their compartment.

And when they are done the train will be almost at a stop!

There is a rather large man directing first years to the lake.

Yes, that means you!

Naomi gets in a boat, trying very hard not to look too wide-eyed at the castle and failing. 

Her fellow boatmate looks more nauseous than impressed.

The boats move fairly slowly; it seems giving an expansive view of the grounds is their main function. 

Naomi is too distracted by the castle to notice her boatmate being nauseous!

They reach the castle and are shuffled inside.

Her new friend falls in step with her.

"Hey. Do you think we'll all be in the same house?"

"Even if we aren't we'll stay friends."

He looks less sure of that, but he doesn't voice his thoughts before the Headmistress arrives.

A stern woman, she turns her intense gaze on them each in turn, before smiling at them all.

"Today, we show the world what Hogwarts represents. We stand firm, despite the challenges we're facing. All of you will learn, in time, what Hogwarts means to you, but I hope every one of you feels at home here. This castle has a grand history, far into the past, before recent tragedies. Together, we will walk into its future. Prepare to be Sorted."

She turns and leads them into the Great Hall.

The Great Hall is huge, made larger both by the charmed night sky decorating the ceiling and the empty spaces on the benches in the front table. 

Naomi eyes them as she walks with her friends. She steals careful glances at the ceiling.

Huge is the relevant word, yes.

Their target becomes clear as the Headmistress makes her way across the room.

"There it is. The Sorting Hat," says one of her new classmates.

"I wonder if I'll scare it the most." 

"The Hat doesn't get scared," Naomi chides. "I bet your mind isn't any grosser than mine."

"I think I'm crazier, but maybe you're right. I guess I'll have to make it laugh instead." 

"We should focus on the Sorting. Who here is first?" 

"I don't know, I don't know everyone! Yet. Speaking of which! What's your name?"

"My name is Derek. Yours?"

"Josh, Chris, Naomi. We're the Copper Trio."

"We settled on copper?"

"I thought we should use iron, it's cooler."

"Two against one, Josh. Sorry. Iron Trio."

"Shh. I think it's starting."

He stands on his toes, taking a peek.

The sorting hat's song is a story about the founding of Hogwarts. "... through trials and tribulations they had suffered and oft ailed/ but by bravery, knowledge, cunning, dedication -- they prevailed". There's some whispering when it's done. 

"Wow. I always wanted to hear one of its songs."

The hall falls silent, mostly. A few older students carry on quietly, but not under the gaze of their Headmistress, who stands behind the stool carrying the Hat.

And she begins, rattling names off her scroll.

A lot of students look nervous, and others look excited.

Josh looks determined, more than anything else.

"Fawley, Joshua!" Calls the headmistress.

Hat-wards he goes!

Hat goes on head.

So how do I make us the Copper Trio?

The hat chuckles. I wish I had an answer for that. Now, let's see ... there's some dedication. Almost frightening amounts of loyalty ... and cunning. You'd probably be happy in either. But Hufflepuff's not what you want, is it, Joshua Fawley?

I don't think I like people enough for that- and I can't do hard work if my life depends on it, I need to be inspired. 

If you say so. The hat cries out: "SLYTHERIN!"

"Oh no..."

His protests are feeble compared to the applause that erupts from the Slytherin table- and the boos that come from the other tables.

When Naomi's name is called she bounds towards the stool excitedly. Hello!

Oh dear. I'm afraid I can't send you there. 

What -- no -- but Ravenclaw is the obvious --

When you found out you had magic, your first questions weren't about how it worked. They were about why it was secret. And it shouldn't be, should it?

Well -- no --

Wonderful. Now, the Statute is quite a thorny problem. It sounds like a job for a -- "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheers. Naomi sets the hat down and joins them, with a thoughtful expression.

"Oh no..."

He's not able to do much besides complain, really. He's stuck at the back of the line.

Derek, on the other hand, has an appointment with the hat. 

Quick to trust. Desperate to make friends. Fiercly loyal.

Not a hard choice.  

The hat shouts "HUFFLEPUFF!" almost as soon as it touches his brow. 

Eventually, he sits under the hat. 

Hi. Are you listening to just these thoughts, or can you see my memories, too? Why did you put my friends in other houses? They're good enough for Ravenclaw? Do you use the songs as metaphors a lot, or just sometimes? 

I don't see your memories, as such. You are known to me as you are sorted but not otherwise. I can sometimes be more direct with my songs, but the current political climate requires a touch more subtlety, no? And I put your friends where they fit, just as I'm sure you'll fit best in "RAVENCLAW!"

So he joins his Housemates.

The Headmistress places the Sorting Hat back on the stool, and returns to her seat.

"Houses, welcome your new members. And all of you, enjoy your first meal at Hogwarts."

She claps, and the tables fill with food.

The Ravenclaw table spins off into various independent conversations, and Chris is soon distracted from his worrying by the details of wizarding law. 

Derek is making tons of new friends! Lots of people to talk to. 

The Slytherins are more subdued, and not as accomodating of a first year as he'd hoped. 

The Gryffindors are fairly animate. There's a grinning second year nearby who tells candid, almost certainly exaggerated horror stories about the previous year. Naomi watches the reactions of the other older students to see which ones are actually true, but even if most of them were false she'd be horrified at the ones remaining. The second year is shushed after a first year boy starts crying. The conversation promptly turns to Quidditch. 

Josh, bored by hushed whispering about old hostilities, saunters over to the Gryffindor table. 

"So I was thinking we can meet up at the library." 

His housemates snicker and glare by turns.

"Sure!" She grins. "When? Oh, and we have to bring Chris too."

"I'll talk to him next. You seemed easier, he's getting all worried about how we can't be friends anymore. And maybe we should meet up tomorrow, I have to get to know all my fellow snakes!"

Naomi giggles. "Sure."

"I'll go tell him. Have fun in the lion's den."

He scampers off to the Ravenclaw table.

She does!

She meets a boy who teaches her how to play Exploding Snap and Gobstones and does a little more of her reading before she goes to bed. She has mixed feelings about not getting into Ravenclaw, because on the one hand she's worried that Chris will be lonely and on the other she's pretty sure Gryffindor is one of the better houses to be in if you're a clueless -- what did he call them -- Muggleborn. At least she doesn't get the impression she has to hide. She wonders why Josh thought she'd have to. 

They go to bed. The following morning they have classes! 

The next morning, the Gryffindors have Transfiguration. 

One of the seats at the head table was empty. Turns out that's because the Headmistress is teaching Transfiguration. Huh.

Naomi goes to class!

Chris is already there when she arrives, near his fellow Ravenclaws, but he seems to be sitting alone.

He waves at her.

No teacher is in evidence.

She sits next to him!

"Did Josh tell you we were planning to go to the library today?"

"He said, yeah. Did you know the Ravenclaw common room uses riddles to get in? What do you have?"

"We have a painting called the Fat Lady and a password, ours is 'valor'. A riddle, huh? That's cool. What kind of riddle?"

"The less of me you have, the more I am worth.

They change every time." 

"Oooh, what was the answer? I'd guess 'time' or 'life', time's a better general answer. Oh! 'Blood' works too! I wonder whether it ever asks the same riddle twice, you could test using different answers, it probably doesn't have just one or else no one would ever get in."

"It asks different questions to different people. For the first years, the prefects sent us all in one by one, to see what we would try. One of them did blood, the other did time. I said friends. We all got in." 

The other students have mostly filed in, but still no teacher to be found.

There are some spare textbooks in the front, which a blushing student grabs sheepishly, not making eye contact with the cat watching from the desk.

"Oh wow! What's the inside of the common room like? Gryffindor's is very red and velvet."

"It's blue, I guess, but probably not as blue, we're not all about House spirit like you guys. Lots of light, lots of books." 

"Books! Oh, maybe we can go there in addition to the library."

"Sure, I can probably let you in. Have you seen the teacher anywhere? On the way here, maybe? I didn't think they would be late, but it's the first day." 

"No, I haven't, huh. Wow, it's only a minute until class starts, I hope she's okay."

"She's a professor."

"Right, right, you're right." 

Right on time, the cat that was sitting on the professor's desk jumps off the table and turns into a human. Several students gasp.

McGonagall is -- strict. She spends the first few minutes discussing discipline, and the next few lecturing on safety. "I expect excellence from my students," she says, strolling around the room, "and if you happen to not perform as well, it will simply be because your talent do not happen to rest in my field -- and not for lack of trying."

After theory work they get to spend the last fifteen minutes of class trying to turn matchsticks into needles. 

Well, it's not for lack of trying. 

His matchsticks get sharper and pointer but the material doesn't change 

Naomi's managed to get hers to turn a vague dull grey color.

"Ugh. There must be something we're missing, but I don't know what it is."

"I think you just have to know how matchsticks are and how needles are? And then figure out the differences? That's what the book says."

"When I'm older I'm going to write a textbook that gives specific directions so no one else has to put up with this."

"When I'm older, I'm going to invent something for Transfiguration, so not everyone has to learn if they don't want."

"And you're smart, so I bet you could do it."

"Your write the books, I'll change the field, and Josh can...uh, what can Josh do?" 

"He can sell them! Slytherins are good at business, right?"

"I don't know if Josh is, he seems kind of goofy."

Chris prods at his matchsticks some more, but they remain stabby and not steely.

Naomi is not having better luck.

Chris gets increasingly anxious as they reach the end of their second period. 

This does not improve his spellwork. 

Naomi ... doesn't notice. She's focused on her own spellwork. 

At the end of class she has a very metallic but still stubbornly squarish matchstick. 

"Ugh," she huffs. "That was harder than I expected. What do you have next?"

"Charms. See you at the library." 

"Yep!" 

And Naomi is headed to Defense. She's one of the first people there and grabs a seat in one of the middle rows. 

Her boatmate enters a bit later, in a gaggle of other first years.

When he sees her, he excuses himself and makes his way to her.

"Hey. I'm Derek. We rode the boat together."

"Really? Oh, no, I didn't notice! Gosh, I'm sorry. My name's Naomi, nice to meet you."

"Derek. Derek Rowle. I'm a Hufflepuff."

"Cool! I'm a Gryffindor. Wow, does everyone have two double periods the first day?"

"I don't know if we're supposed to, but there are less students this year."

"There are? Is it because of the, uh. The thing. Last year."

"The war. People are probably going to talk a lot, about it. I mean, no one will say anything about it, they'll just argue about other stuff. If you hear anything about my family...talk to me first."

Is it time to pay attention to the professor? Hopefully it's that time.

The professor ... is late. Charming. 

Right. Naomi managed to blow her cover to a stranger. Again. Good thing he seems to be nice about it too. Or maybe he doesn't think she's a muggleborn? There are lots of reasons someone could not know about the war.

... better not to bring it up.

"Okay," she says.

"How did your family deal with it? Did you move away?"

"I, uh, no. I was, we were, uh, hiding. How about yours?"

"We weren't here for most of it." 

A woman strolls through the door and down the center aisle. The windows, once open, are now shut, with huge conjured curtains blocking the light. By the time she arrives at the front of the classroom the students can barely see the blackboard.

"Hello. My name is Professor Rivers. I regret that I was unable to introduce myself at the feast. Today is going to be a practical lesson, so we're going to get these tables out of the way. Everyone, move towards the walls. Quickly!"

Derek moves, and surprisingly quickly. 

"What do you think she has planned?" 

"Maybe we get to try dueling!"

Professor Rivers, meanwhile, is Vanishing the desks in the room, one by one. When she's done she orders everyone to spread out and find spots on the floor.

"Do you want to be partners, if it's that? I'll stand opposite you." 

"Sure!"

"Alright. Thank you for being cooperative, everyone, and welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Traditionally in magic Defense courses you learn defenses against simple hexes and jinxes in your first year, then defenses against certain malicious magical creatures, and at the OWL level, more comprehensive defenses against your fellow witches and wizards, including how to recognize curses.

I will be teaching those subjects since they are the ones on which you will inevitably be tested. But they will not be the core of my Defense classes. It is useless," she says, eyes blazing, "to have all this information and be caught off-guard before you can even use it. Therefore, this first lesson will be in basic awareness. You will learn to pay attention to your environment in a way that will allow you to react appropriately."

The rest of class is spent on various meditation and observation exercises, which they'll be "repeating throughout the term".

Derek proves good at paying attention. It seems to come naturally. 

Naomi is less good. She especially struggles with the illusion charm that gives sensation to the five senses at once -- she has trouble paying attention to every source of stimulus instead of one, at most two.

For the last portion of class the professor puts the chairs back and encourages students to get out their parchment. She conjures an odd, misshapen metal object. "I will Vanish this object in ten seconds. Write down as much detail as you can about it and turn your paper in to me before you leave. Don't forget your name!"

Naomi tries a drawing, mucks it up, scowls, and starts listing features.

Derek notes down a detailed description of what it looks and smells like. He has no guesses about function, but he didn't miss anything sensory. 

And class is over! Professor Rivers collects their papers and waves them towards the Hall to eat lunch. 

"That was haard. How did you do, Derek?" Naomi is collecting her things. She could see him writing a lot from where she was sitting but didn't pay attention to the content. 

"I think I did well, if it was about paying attention. I'm good at that. Better than most other things, so maybe I'll be good at Defense." 

"She said it was about paying attention. So probably. Ugh, how do you do it?"

"My senses are better than most people's. I hear well, see well. My whole family is like that. Focusing is just something you have to learn, if you want to be good at it." 

"Learn how?"

"I can try teaching. I don't know if I'm good at that, but I'm good at watching."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. I'm not stellar at anything yet -- only been to Transfiguration and Defense -- but when I find out what I'm good at I can return the favor."

"You'll find something. Everyone has something that they're best at. Practice Transfiguration, you'll be the best in our year in no time." 

"Wow, I really appreciate that! Thanks!"

They've gotten to the Grand Hall by now. 

Who's ready to eat?

Everyone, looks like. Students gather, laughing and making merry. 

"Do you mind if I sit with my house?" 

"Ha, you don't have to ask me for permission," she giggles. "Go ahead! And you're really nice, thanks for helping me."

Naomi goes to sit with her housemates.

Meanwhile, at the Slytherin table, someone is getting into a heated argument. "But wands are essential for our culture! You wouldn't be a proper wizard or witch without a wand, you wouldn't be able to do the same kind of magic ..."

Josh really didn't mean to start a fight.

(He did, just a little. No need to admit that, very unsubtle, no cunning at all.) 

He was just explaining why he doesn't like to carry his wand, and another student had some sort of allergic reaction to sense.

"Of course not! Goblins and house elves use completely different kinds of magic, and they don't need wands. Think of what true wizard magic is, without the accessories." 

"They use their magic and we use ours. What's the big deal if they don't need wands? Goblins are always trying to get wizard wands, anyway."

"Of course they are, because wands are everywhere! You need a wand for identification, to get this and that- a goblin with a wand has the same rights as a wizard, if no one catches on!" 

"See, this is why we need to bring back blood identification, that way we can keep out the goblins and, you know. Those people."

"Peter! Merlin, are you an idiot, don't say that where the other houses can hear --"

"Are you saying they don't need wands, either?" 

"I'm saying that if you don't think a wand makes a wizard then we need some way to identify real wizards."

"We can just do who has the strongest magic! Or who has the best sense of style! Or who won their house the most points!" 

"No, I meant in general, and there are plenty of decent wizards who don't go to Hogwarts --"

"So," said the boy who had spoken up earlier. "What kind of magic can you do without a wand, anyway?"

"Plenty of stuff. Charms are kind of hard without a wand, too fiddly. But Transfiguration doesn't really need a wand to work right, and a lot of Defense is easier without a wand. If you don't use a wand, I guess you can't make potions, but who needs that anyway?"

"A lot of Defense spells are Charms. Are you never going to learn the stunning spell? Or the Disarming Charm, or the Patronus Charm ..."

"Do all of those need wands? Have you tried? Maybe not the Patronus Charm, then, but most people don't learn that."

"Well I'm going to learn it, and anyway they'll all be easier with a wand."

Josh feels a tap on his shoulder. Wonder who that could be. 

"Heya! When were were going to go to the library?"

"Was there a plan? I'm bad at those. Maybe Chris is already there, did I tell him a time?"

He glances at the Ravenclaw table.

Chris is sitting quietly, playing with his food.

"Chris! Get over here, we're going to the library."

He excuses himself, somewhat apologetically.

"Hey! Does anyone actually know how to get there?"

"We'll ask the paintings on the way, come on already."

He runs off.

Chris follows.

Naomi didn't even think of how they were getting there! Thanks for having a plan, Josh. 

Time to interrogate paintings!

Here's a bunch of men sitting at a dinner table, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Naomi, you're from the good with people house, you do it." 

Naomi approaches a painting of several witches sipping tea at a table. "Um. Do you know where the library is from here?"

"Oh!" Exclaims one of the witches. "Oh, dear, yes, well -- what day is it today, that's important. And do you know the last time Venus was in Retrograde --"

"Marcellia, Hogwarts doesn't care about Venus, stop making fun of the poor child --"

"Well, I do need to know the day, and the season, ideally how far it is into the term -- I suppose I could go with them, I haven't seen Janine in ages --"

"But Antonia was going to finish her story!"

"If it helps, it's the first day of classes, just after lunch."

"Quite. Well, the library's not on this floor then, you're going to want to go up to the second floor, then take, let's see, a right past the statue of Herpo the Foul, then a left past that awful tapestry about goblins ..."

The directions continue for some time. 

Naomi writes them down. Then --

"Done! Phew. We have only a half hour, we better hurry."

Josh leads the way!

They make their way down. 

And so they arrive at the library.

The librarian peers at them suspiciously.

Josh pokes Chris.

"We're here to learn, from books."

Further peering.

"Do you have any books on technology?" Naomi inquires helpfully.

"I'm not sure what you mean. We have the greatest assortment of books in the world."

"Sure! So, where is your section of books on magical technology."

She glares.

"If you want books about the train and the wireless, they're over there, behind the section on jinxes."

"Thanks! Oh, hey, you guys can get your own books; we'll meet at that table over there --" she points to one near the windows.

The boys scour the stacks for books, and return after ten minutes with the spoils. 

Chris mostly has history and a few on transfiguration.

Josh has a book on famous pranks. 

Neat!

They have about ten minutes to look through them before they have to head to class.

"We should prank the school poltergeist," he says as they head back. 

"How?"

"Well, obviously, we trick him into playing a prank on someone else, but instead of finding anyone, he finds our trap!"

"And that trap would be ... a spell? Would we keep him down somehow? Anything I can think of other than that would just pass through him ..."

"We can charm him so he always gives off really bright lights in pretty colors! Or so he smells like lavender so he can't prank anyone!"

"Ooooh, let's do garlic instead, it smells stronger."

"We could add sound, smell doesn't seem good enough." 

"Garlic and giggling, everyone hates giggling." 

"That sounds good. Garlic and giggling and blinking lights."

"How do we catch him? Isn't he kind of dangerous?" 

"No, see, I do the sneaky part and set the trap, but you come up with the plan and she's the one who gets him there. Why else would we be in different houses? We have to specialize."

"What kind of pranks does he pull? I should be prepared. I could bring a shield -- maybe learn a cleaning charm? Oh, but that means we'd have to wait a few weeks while I do it."

"We can wait, better to do it near Halloween, come up with something really good. Not the week of, they'll be expecting it. Two weeks before."

Naomi checks out her books before class and talks animatedly about the wizard perspective on muggle artifacts. Where are Chris and Josh headed?

Josh is going to experience the joy of Potions; Chris has Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. 

Looks like Naomi has Potions too! Fun.

Josh knows where the dungeons are, right?

He can totally get them there!

He only gets a little lost. 

Which means they only get there a little late! There's a space open by that Slytherin Josh was talking to earlier -- Peter -- and another one open by a gigantic, nervous-looking Gryffindor boy. 

Josh decides to join the Gryffindor. 

Sorry, Naomi. 

That leaves Naomi with Peter. She's sure she'll be fine! Well. Pretty sure. 

The Gryffindor turns out to be really good at following directions and really terrible at cutting ingredients. 

They make a good team, since Josh is bad with instructions but great at cutting things. 

Naomi handles herself well until she idly asks what a flobberworm is. She realizes her mistake seconds after she makes it and spends the rest of the class in tight-lipped silence. 

Josh hates silence!

Aren't goblins great, we should let them into Hogwarts!

Maybe if we tried to charm food so it would float and ate it, we could achieve flight! 

Why don't more wizards write talking books? 

Naomi tentatively says things like "yes" and "of course", especially at the parts she thinks are most confusing. Meanwhile, Peter starts to look incredulously at both of them.

"She just thinks I'm funny. You should try it, makes life better."

Potions continues to be reasonably exciting to a Muggleborn.

Naomi continues to be distractedly amused!

And soon, class is over.

"So what do you think so far?"

"Uh. Potions was fun? I liked that it had clear steps." 

"Yeah, Potions is cool. Are you stressed about something?"

"My partner was looking at me really funny all class and it was weird and uncomfortable, and it was because I didn't know what a flobberworm was."