"Ah! Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" the girl peering into the compartment chirps. "Can I sit? Or wave to my family? Oh, there they are, hi mum! Hi Patrick!" She heads towards the window without waiting for a reply.

"Uh. Sure?"

"Thanks!" She joins Emma at the window to wave. "Bye Mikey! Bye Tommy!"

"Um, I don't think they can hear you?" Emma says, but she can't help smiling.

"That's okay! I can pretend!" She waves some more, then grins at Emma. "I'm Jenny, by the way. I'm new! What's your name?"

"Emma, nice to meet you," Emma says. "I'm new too." She glances over at the group Jenny's waving to. "Are you Muggleborn?"

"Muggles are the ones without magic, right? Yeah! You too?"

"No, both my parents are wizards. I don't know any Muggleborns." Emma looks over Jenny curiously, but Jenny's in her school robes already and looks perfectly normal.

Jenny laughs. "Now you do! I fiiiiiixed it."

The door edges open and a boy about their age peers hesitantly into the compartment.

"Excuse me," he says, "may I sit with you?"

"Hi! Yes, please, come on in!" Jenny scoots over slightly from where she's standing at the window. "I'm Jenny, this is Emma. Want to come wave?"

He comes in. There is a raven on his shoulder.

"No, thank you, that's all right," he says.

Slight hesitation - "I'm Victor."

Emma is focused mostly on her parents on the platform, but she turns to give Victor a shy "hi" before turning back to the window.

"Hi Victor!" Jenny scoots back to her original spot, but stays facing Victor, her eyes caught on his bird. "Ooooooh, is that a crow? I thought we could only have owls! Where'd you get one?"

"He's a raven. His name is Muninn. He was in the owl shop and they said it would be all right."

He sits down, pulling his bag into his lap. It appears to contain several large heavy books.

"Awww, hi Muninn!" She looks surprised by how heavy his bag is, but doesn't ask; the bird is winning. "Does he like to be petted?"

Muninn gives her what can only be described as a suspicious look.

"Sometimes," says Victor.

Jenny giggles. "He looks so cross!" Tilting her head thoughtfully, she holds out her arm. "Maybe if we match?"

After a few seconds, her arm obligingly starts to sprout feathers. They are without exception the same shade as her hair. Jenny pouts. "Rats. I'm terrible at black."

This manages to detach Emma from the window. "You're a Metamorphmagus? Really?"

"Acceptable," croaks Muninn. He hops off Victor's shoulder and lands on his bag instead.

"You can talk!" Jenny exclaims, delighted. She reaches out one feathered hand towards Muninn, stopping just short of Victor's bag. "Where do ravens like petting?" Then, to Emma, "I guess? What's a meta- metam- metathing? I thought we could all do magic."

"You can turn into things! We can't do that. Unless, um." She looks at Victor. "Are you a Metamorphmagus too...?"

She's not expecting a yes, but she wasn't expecting Jenny either, so. Who knows.

"I read that ravens can talk sort of like parrots," says Victor, demonstrating correct Muninn petting technique - gently, on the top of his head and down his back. "I don't think I'm a Metamorphmagus. I've never grown feathers."

"But isn't that magic? How else do people know they're magic?" She sprouts feathers on the rest of her arm and pets Muninn as instructed.

"My parents are wizards, I always knew," Emma shrugs. "Can I-?" she reaches for Jenny's arm in fascination.

"I got a letter," Victor offers. "That's how I found out."

She holds out her other arm for Emma to inspect, but looks at Victor. "Oooh, are you a Muggle too?"

"Uh, Muggles can't do magic," Emma reminds her with a smile, touching a feather gingerly. "If your parents are Muggles, you're, um, Muggleborn." She looks curiously at Victor. "You really didn't know? I thought most wizards did at least a little- make stuff move, or vanish, or, um, light up, I don't know."

"Odd things happened around me, but I didn't know why. And they weren't odd enough to seem like magic."

"Like what? Anything neat?"

He shakes his head.

"Things that - upset my family, sometimes. I don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry! Never mind." It is Jenny's expert opinion that anyone making the face Victor is making needs a hug, but she's only just met him (and she doesn't really want to get that much of her near Muninn's very large beak without permission). So she turns her arms back to normal and abandons scratching Muninn to pat Victor's shoulder instead. "Weeee could talk about school?"

Emma mumbles an apologetic, "Sorry" to Victor that may or may not be audible.

Hesitant smile.

"I'm really not sure what to expect from a magic school," he says. "I hope it's nice there."

"It's really pretty?" Emma offers. "I, um, obviously I haven't been, but Mummy and Daddy have lots of photos." She perks up suddenly. "Oh, I think I have one of Mummy's graduation! Want to see?"

"Yes, all right."

Emma digs around on her bag until she comes up with a slightly battered photo. Two teenagers in wizard's robes are waving at the camera from in front of a legitimately spectacular view of the countryside. The castle is cut off, but even still takes up most of the left side of the background. Every so often another wizard, also clearly in graduation robes, will accidentally wander into the frame, jump, and then scurry out of the way. Emma smiles somewhat wistfully at the image of her parents before holding it out so the others can see.

"You're right, that is pretty."

"Awww, hi tiny people!" Jenny waves back at the photograph. "Do all pictures move? I thought it was just the ones in the shops!"

"All of them! Muggle pictures are still? That must be, um," weeeeird, "less, uh, alive?" She runs a finger along a mountain in the background. "Scotland's pretty but Hogwarts is extra pretty."

"If you say so! I've never been, mum and dad have work and traveling with five kids is a right mess."

"You have five siblings? What's that like?" Emma asks wistfully.

"Busyyyyy", Jenny laughs. "But I love them all! Even when they drive me crazy! What're yours like?"

"Oh. Um, there's just me."

"What, really? Aww, I'm sorry." That sounds horribly lonely and dull to Jenny, but she doesn't say so; Emma already looks sad enough. Instead, she may have a shoulder pat as well. "Victor, what about you?"

"I live with my aunt and uncle and cousin. I don't have any siblings."

Well, Jenny will definitely not be asking what happened to his parents, because that has no good answers. But. Poor Victor. He gets another shoulder pat. "Cousins are good too! I have lots."

Emma does not think quite quickly enough. "Your aunt and uncle? So-" then she stops. And looks at him. And shrinks back into her seat. "Um. areyoumaybevictorevans."

He sighs.

"Yes," he admits.

Muninn hops up onto Victor's shoulder and gently runs his beak through Victor's hair. Reverse petting!

She's something at a loss for words because her brain is exploding on THIS IS A FAMOUS PERSON, I HAVE NEVER MET A FAMOUS PERSON BEFORE. And also this one in particular kind of saved England.

"...what did I miss?"

"He's. Um. Famous?" Emma manages to squeak.

"Oh." She blinks at Victor. "Neat. Congrats." She pokes Emma gently in the side. "Be less squeaky! It's not his fault."

Victor looks quietly sad.

He looks like a sad puppy when he does that, why does he do that, nooo.

"I met the Archbishop of Westminster once!" Jenny tells Victor cheerfully. "Sorry, his hat was way better."

Victor is not wearing a hat at all. He decides not to point that out. She has probably noticed.

"...Why did you meet the Archbishop of Westminster?"

Jenny shrugs. "We went to see Westminster, he happened to be there? He was nice in a priesty sort of way, said hi to everyone, but we didn't chat or anything. Just admired his hat!"

"...was it a very admirable hat? I've never met an archbishop."

"Very admirable! All gold and pointy." She grins. "My friends at school were so jealous until they realized he's not at Westminster Abbey. But the cathedral is really pretty too!"

"What's it like there?"

"Haha it's red and white striped! It's mostly brick. Still lots of towers and arches and things, but soooo definitely not Westminster Abbey."