"I'm going to be an Auror when I grow up," said the eleven-year-old boy brightly to the two other boys in his train compartment. His fair-skinned, round face beamed with anticipation. He wore his immaculate school robes, which combined with his dark hair, hid some of his chubbiness.

The train rattled onwards, occasionally sending a bump through the old, but clean seats. The sun stood high, lighting up the interior, and the last remaining warmth of the summer enhanced the musky smell of the traditional furniture.

"Yeah, sure, you do that," said the brown-haired, burly boy sitting opposite of him.

"A what?" asked the other, small and freckled boy.

"A dark wizard catcher, investigator, and wand of justice, of course. I deduce from your question you must be Muggle-born, Nathan?" said the boy, radiantly.

"Wait... I see, you must've read my name on my suitcase. Just so you know, none of the books we got for the first term had anything about Aurors. It's not my fault," Nathan replied.

"Relax, I didn't say you had to know. We're going to learn loads of stuff. It's so exciting. My name is Temsivar Greengrass, by the way."

"Nathan Miller, nice to meet you," said the freckled boy, nodding his head excitedly. His unruly, medium blond hair shook, and kept getting in front of his eyes.

"Gerald Hoarsley," grunted the burly boy, seemingly uncomfortable.

"So, are you going to be Sherlock Holmes or Inspector Lestrade?" Nathan asked.

"Who? Are these famous Muggles fighting against crime?"

"Well, not really – they’re fictional, but famous, sure. Books were written about them. Might be an interesting read for you."

"I'm going to look it up. Thanks for the suggestion. Did you read them?" Temsivar asked eagerly.

"A couple cases. There are about 60. Some of them might hint at the wizarding world, now that I think about it. This is totally new for me, being a wizard and all. Changes how you see things, I guess," Nathan said, suddenly looking out of the window.

"These characters you mentioned, Holmes and Lestrade, what do they do?" Temsivar asked.

"Well, Holmes is the best private detective in London, master of deduction, but rather hard to interact with. Lestrade is a police inspector and brings in the perpetrators, usually after Holmes solves the case," Nathan said.

"Alright, so I guess an Auror is both master detective and law enforcement," Temsivar said. "I do enjoy the MACUSA stories about Rickard Citadel. They lean more towards action and less towards deep investigations, though. In that respect, the historical collections by Tillard Holsen are riveting. The authentic accounts of Gilderoy Lockhart still fascinate my mum and I have to say these books contain a lot of actionable advice. Did you know he even lectured at Hogwarts? In fact, I'm planning to investigate what really caused his disappearance." Temsivar peered conspiratorially at Nathan.

"Sounds fascinating. Do you think they provide these books at the Hogwarts library?" Nathan asked.

"The latter two, probably. Not sure about Citadel though, might be a bit too fanciful," said Temsivar. "Have you heard of this Holmes fella, Gerald?"

"Nah, don't like reading books. More into sports," Gerald said.

"That's also important. To keep fit and such." Temsivar nodded and added, "Consider running after a villain or having to fight someone off."

"Yeah, exactly," mumbled Gerald, bringing the conversation to a halt.

Temsivar's forehead creased up a little, but he quickly ceased his path of thinking. Probably wouldn't help to antagonise perfectly amiable people from the get-go, even if they were behaving a little suspiciously. His Gran always reminded him not to suspect a case in everything. She was right most of the time, as the reason for missing cookies was more often than not far from nefarious.

"Eh, right. So, are you looking to fill the spot of Watson? I mean, an assistant detective? That's the character helping Holmes with his cases," Nathan said.

"I do hope this character is there for more than allowing Holmes to explain the details to the reader. An assistant needs to provide useful skills, you know? Otherwise, he would be holding back the inspector in his work."

"I'd say he provides his medical knowledge. And he helps loads of times, not only by bringing in a different perspective," said Nathan, adding meekly, "I guess Holmes explains a lot to him, though."

"I usually operate alone, but it would be worth a try. You can apply for the position and we'll see if you're detective material."

"Cool, thanks!" Nathan said. "I wasn't sure how people from wizarding families behaved towards outsiders that got plunged into all this. Diagon Alley, I mean, this place is bonkers!"

"Don't feel bad. I once went into a Muggle mall and the stuff your people come up with seems close to magic sometimes. And with You-Know-Who gone for good now, it should only get better."

"Yeah, what's up with that one, anyway? Professor Sprout only mentioned the school needed some rebuilding. My parents nearly freaked out when they read snippets all over Diagon Alley." Nathan added in a shriller voice imitating his mother, "How can we send him to a battlefield? What if the castle collapses?"

"I'm sure they fixed it up perfectly fine. But the usual dangers remain, I guess," Temsivar said.

"The usual dangers?" said Nathan, eyes wide. "Hogwarts A History doesn't talk about safety precautions!"

"More exciting stuff to explore for us then. That's how others in my family always described it. I can wholeheartedly agree," Temsivar said, with a grin.

"Yeah, the death toll inflicted by the castle isn't high," said Gerald, happy to have found something to add to the conversation.

"The death toll? You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" asked Nathan.

"You just need to know how to bend the rules, not break them. Then you're golden. At least, according to my older brothers," Gerald said.

"Hmm, alright. I'm assuming there is no book for that, right?"

"Wouldn't know of one." Gerald shrugged. "With all that ruckus last year, they'll probably babysit us the whole time."

"We missed all the excitement. Imagine fighting against an evil army of wicked wizards and witches! It pleased my parents that we will have a regular year at Hogwarts. I can’t imagine it will be boring though. Everything I heard was astonishing," Temsivar said, forgetting to breathe between his sentences.

"And all the spells we're going to learn. Professor Sprout said I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school, so all I could do was read up on them. You two can surely cast loads of charms and jinxes already, right?" asked Nathan, pulling out his wand and holding it up.

"Uhm, yes, of course, a few," Temsivar said, his voice strained. "Have any of you got any sweets? Mine are all gone from the trip to the train station."

"Yeah, it's the best!" Gerald drew his wand, fully focused on Nathan, who shook his head towards Temsivar in answer.

Gerald continued, "They can't know if kids use magic at wizard family homes. I’ve been badgering my brothers for the last two weeks to show me spells, after I got my wand. It's difficult though."

"What spells did you learn? Can you cast a light? It seems to be a beginner's charm in one book, but I didn't dare try it out right away. What if I had burned down the house or singed someone? Who knows what could’ve happened?" Nathan cried out.

"You can't burn anything with Lumos. It's not a flame," Gerald said. "Here, I'll show you." The boy held up his wand, which looked enormous and gnarly. All three of them stared at it with anticipation. The young wizard said, "Lumos!" A tiny speck of light, barely bigger than the flame of a tea light, shone from the tip of his wand.

"Wait!" Nathan shouted, jumped up, and pulled the curtains closed in front of the windows. The tiny light illuminated the compartment deep into its darkest corners.

"Wow! This is so cool!"

"I know, right? Go ahead, you try. I don't think you can do any harm with this spell. Just say LOO-mos," Gerald said the last word slower, with a clear emphasis on the first syllable.

Nathan pulled out his wand, which was light in colour, straight and slender, with a thin line curling down its entire length. The boy took in a deep breath, looked hopefully at the others and said, "Lumos!", way too quickly, making it sound more like, "Lums". The compartment stayed dim. Nothing happened at the tip of his wand. The low rattle of the train and noise from other pupils rose into focus again.

"Nobody gets it the first time," Temsivar said, breaking the silence. He leaned back in his seat, just now realising how tense he had been.

"Come on, try again. You were too nervous and spurted out the incantation. Take your time. Lumos," Gerald said.

"Alright, alright. I'll try. My excitement about doing magic got the better of me," Nathan said. He raised his wand again, gazing at its tip, and said, with as much enunciation as possible, "Lumos." With only a sliver of hesitation, a tiny blip of light appeared, barely illuminating its surroundings. Nevertheless, Nathan jumped up in jubilation and shouted, "I did it! I can do magic! On purpose!"

Gerald grinned at him. Temsivar slouched in his seat, his arms crossed. Good thing it was so dark in the compartment, so nobody could see his bitter face. He sighed quietly, picked himself up, and said, "Outstanding job. That's really cool. You're a natural."

"You probably know this one already, too. Got another?" Nathan asked, still running high on excitement.

"Presumably, we aren't supposed to sling around spells before arriving at Hogwarts. So, perhaps, we should ..." started Temsivar.

At this moment, the compartment door opened and an elderly witch poked her head in.

"Oh dears, are you lot sleeping?" she said.

Nathan turned back and pulled the curtains open again. The bright light made the boys flinch for a second. Just a moment later, a large eagle flew by and cawed.

"Look! An eagle! That's awesome!" squeaked Nathan.

Its flight remained steady next to the train, before it dived behind a ridge, probably going after its prey.

"Wait 'til you see a Thunderbird," said Temsivar.

"Ah, that's better. Anything off the cart, dears?" asked the witch.

"Finally, I'm starving. Yes, please," Temsivar jumped up and inspected the assortment. Unable to decide, he moved his hand over one section of the trolley and said, "One of each from that sweets row. Oh, and two more chocolate frogs."

The lady assembled a bag of treats and passed it to him.

"That’d be 7 sickles, my dear." Another student squeezed by the cart, nearly bumping into her, as Temsivar paid. With a satisfied thump, he got back to his seat. He munched his first Jelly Slug right away.

"Oh, I don't know any of these. Tem, you seem to be an expert. Any recommendations?" Nathan asked, looking back at him. In the meantime, Gerald ordered a considerable selection.

"It's all superb. Take whatever you fancy. You can also peruse my stuff," Temsivar said.

"Ok, if you say so." Nathan grinned and pointed at various sweets from the selection, seemingly at random. "I can't eat anything with nuts," he added towards the trolley witch, who obliged by shaking her head at inappropriate sweets.

Coming back with his bag of treats, he plopped down next to Temsivar and pulled out one package.

"I hope it's alright if I call you Tem?" asked Nathan.

"Sure. Oh, take care. These are Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. And by every flavour they mean not just candy tastes," Temsivar warned when suddenly the boys were interrupted in their feast by a loud yell.