1st September, 1971

"Goodbye Mom! Goodbye Dad!" yelled James Potter, as the Hogwarts express pulled out from the station.

"Be good! Don't break any rules," called his mother, Anne Potter.

Harold Potter grinned and waved at his son as the train bended past view.

Inside the train, James dragged his trunk and the cage containing his tawny owl, Melly, along the corridor. He found an empty carriage and opened the door.

A boy around his age with black hair and dark gray eyes was the only occupant of the carriage.

"Mind if I come in?" asked James with a friendly smile.

The boy grinned back. "Not at all."

James held out his hand. "James Potter," he said.

The stranger shook his hand. "I'm Sirius."

Just then, the door opened and a girl came in. She had a long dark red hair and startling green eyes but her face was crumpled as if she had been crying. She sat down in a corner without a word, sniffing slightly.

After barely a minute, a greasy haired boy entered. The girl glanced at him and looked back out of the window.

"I don't want to talk to you," she sniffed.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?" asked the boy.

"So she's my sister!" said Lily, annoyed.

"She's only a—" He stopped himself quickly. "But we're going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" said the boy with a suppressed triumph in his voice.

Lily gave him a small smile.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said the boy encouragingly.

"Slytherin?" asked Lily.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" James asked Sirius.

Sirius did not smile. "My whole family has been in Slytherin."

"Blimey!" cried James. "And I thought you seemed all right."

Now Sirius grinned. "Maybe I'll change the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

"Gryffindor," said James. "Where dwell the brave at heart. Like my dad," he said proudly.

The unknown boy made a scornful sound.

"Got a problem with that?" asked James.

"No," said the boy, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—"

"Where do you intend to go, seeing that you are neither?" asked Sirius swiftly.

The boy flushed with anger as James and Sirius roared with laughter.

Lily looked at the boys with dislike. "Come on Severus, let's find another compartment."

James and Sirius imitated Lily's high-and-mighty voice and James tried to trip Severus as they left.

"See ya, Snivellus!" called Sirius, as the door closed behind them.

James and Sirius, now alone, both realized that they had found an able like-minded partner.

"He was a greasy git, that one," said James. "And he was misguiding the poor girl."

Sirius laughed. "The poor girl? She seemed quite able to stand up for herself and her friend."

The door opened and the trolley witch looked in. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

James' eyes lit up. "My father told me about you! He said you have got the best collection of goodies in the world after Honeydukes!"

The witch laughed. "Yes, I have. What do you want?"

James and Sirius bought a whole lot of Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes.

"Do you collect Chocolate Frog cards?" asked James.

"No," said Sirius scornfully. "They are for babies, aren't they? My little brother collects them."

"Well, I collect them too. Do you really think they are for babies?"

"Of course," said Sirius with conviction.

James immediately made up his mind to stop collecting them.

"How old is your brother?" asked James.

"He's a year younger than I am."

"Are you pureblood?"

"Yes."

"So am I. What did you say your last name is? There are so few pureblood families left now."

Sirius hesitated. "It's Black, actually."

James frowned. "I am sure I heard my dad mention it."

"He probably said that the Black family is the most conservative pureblood family left and that we want to remove all Muggleborns off the face of the earth," said Sirius grimly.

"Something like that, yes," said James, recalling. Then he stared at Sirius in wonder.

"I don't like them—my family, I mean," said Sirius uncomfortably. "I don't agree with their ideas."

"Of course you don't," said James, because he couldn't imagine his new cheerful good-natured friend having such awful notions. "Don't you get along with your family, then?" he asked tentatively.

"No," said Sirius bitterly. "They all think I'm abnormal because I don't think Muggleborns are scum. It's only my brother and my cousin sister I get along with. My brother is a good kid. I don't think he will become like the rest of our family." Sirius stared out of window, deeply thinking about something.

James felt sorry for his friend. It seemed awful to have such a bad family.

"What about your family, James? Have you got any siblings?" asked Sirius.

"No, but I am really close to my cousin sister on my dad's side. She passed out from Hogwarts last year."

"Gryffindor?"

"Yeah, of course. Every person of my family has been Gryffindor," said James with a hint of pride.

"Everyone of my family has been Slytherin, except Andromeda—she is a Ravenclaw Prefect..."

There was a bustle heard outside. James peered out of the door.

"We're nearly there, I think. We'd better change into our robes," he said.

Twenty minutes later, they got off the train.

"Firs' years!" came a deep voice.

A tall, broad, bearded man was beckoning over to them, holding a lantern.

"That's Hagrid!" cried James in delight. "He's the gatekeeper of Hogwarts, and an awfully nice person, my dad said."

"I bet my father hated him then," muttered Sirius as he followed James into the boats Hagrid was standing beside.

A short plump boy came up to their boat. "Can I get in?" he asked shyly.

"Sure, come on," said James, smiling. "Who are you?"

"I am Peter Pettigrew. Who are you?" he asked, still a little shyly.

"I'm James Potter, and he's Sirius Black," said James in his friendly manner.

"Say, is that a Cannon's badge?" asked Sirius, looking at a badge on Peter's shirt.

Peter turned red. "Yes. I support them, you know."

"What for? Don't they always lose?" said Sirius.

"Whom do you support, then?"

"Tornadoes," said Sirius, grinning broadly.

"So do I!" said James, punching Sirius on the arm.

"Look! There's Hogwarts!" cried someone.

Looming in front was a large, dark, imposing building—Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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