Outside, the landscape blurs past—a patchwork of fields, a distant village with a church spire, then nothing but wild moorland under a pale grey sky.

The compartment door is shut. A handful of other students are scattered along the corridor, some laughing, others peering out their own windows with wide eyes. A few first-years clutch their pet carriers—a tabby cat mewling softly, a toad croaking from its box.

The train lurches, and a voice crackles over the intercom, tinny and cheerful.