A boy stood in the doorway, slightly out of breath, clutching his trunk with one hand and an owl cage with the other. His dark hair stuck up at odd angles, like he'd been running his fingers through it all morning. Round glasses sat slightly crooked on his nose.

The boy blinked. Then he grinned, wide and unbothered.

For the first time that morning, someone laughed. It came from the corner, where a quiet boy sat pressed against the window, a thick book open on his lap. His dark hair hung limp around a sallow face, and his clothes looked a size too big, but the sound was genuine, almost surprised, as if he hadn't expected to find anything funny today.

James dropped his trunk by the door and slid into the seat across from the red-haired girl, setting the owl cage beside him. The barn owl inside ruffled its feathers and gave him a look that suggested it had already judged him and found him wanting.

The train whistled, long and loud, as the countryside rolled past in a blur of green fields and grey stone walls. Somewhere ahead, through the smoke and the distance, waited a castle that none of them had ever seen.