Dumbledore led me outside the old wand shop, a thick, sturdy wand now in my hand. His eyes sparkled and he raised an eyebrow.
"Ready?" He said.
I nodded, preparing myself for the spinning sensation. Soon the world spun around me again and we landed just outside he schools gates.

My feet hit the floor hard, and I looked up, expected to see Dumbledore by my side. But he had vanished, and instead I saw Darley sitting on the nearby steps, Nick and Caslon huddling around her. I walked over and nudged Darley, sitting down next to her.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked.
"Trying to turn this empty wrapper into a Mars bar. It's really tricky to create something when there's nothing there, since the energy just simply doesn't exist. But I'm trying to use the energy in the air." She said, then looking up at me.
"I'm boring you all, aren't I?" She said, grinning.
"Not really. I want a Mars bar though." Caslon said grinning and then turning to me.
"So, where were you this morning?" Caslon asked, turning his attention to me.

"I was talking to Dumbledore," I said. It's wasn't a lie, but it wasn't really the truth either. I decided to change the subject.
"Has first period started yet?" I asked, leaning against the column.
"No, we have charms in 10 minutes. Should we start walking over? It's across the courtyard." Nick said.
I nodded. "Sure."
Suddenly a bunch unruly older boys approached us, bumping into Nick and laughing to them selves.
"Hey it's Nick! How's your first day going?" The tallest one said. He looked at me and squinted, tilting his head. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so," I responded, confused.
"Oh. Well hello little first years!" He said. "I'm Kaleb, Nicks favorite older brother. This," he said, elbowing the guy closest to him, "is Ralen, his next favorite older brother, and the rest of this gang are our friends." Kaleb said in a shrill fake Scottish accent, laughing.

Nick looked embarrassed as his brothers' gang of friends bumped around the room, singing crude songs.

Caslon and Darley looked uncomfortable with the loud boys bumping around but to me it was compliantly normal and I felt right at home. Nick glanced at me and understood. He grew up in Coventry, which was another.... dangerous city. Well, it wasn't dangerous to us, it was dangerous to people who grew up in fairly posh areas. Like Darley and Caslon. Darley grew up in Chelsea, and Caslon grew up in Soho. We laughed at their stiff positions as Nick's brothers made their way out of the room.

****************

"Jamison, we really need to leave!" Darley said after I had spent the last five minuets frantically grabbing my cloak and books.
"We're going to be late." Darley tapped her toes against the ground.
"Ok, ok, lets go!" I said, rushing though the door behind her. "First day of classes, here we come!"