London: September 1st 1942

Cosima Scamander felt her heart sink as she took her mother's hand and walked through the wall onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters, her dad following on behind with her trunk. She was due to begin her first term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and, if she was completely honest with herself, she did not actually want to go. She wanted to stay at home with Mum, Dad, her younger brother Cassian and all the dozens of creatures who lived with them in Dorset; the owls, bowtruckles, mooncalfs, Granny's hippogriffs and all the rest. All these horrid German bombings had been going on for years now since the Muggles started fighting their war and though her Dad said the house was well protected, she was terrified that something might happen to her family, human and animal, while she was away at the other end of the country.

She was only allowed to take one creature with her to Hogwarts (what a dreadful rule that was!) and so perched on top of her trunk was a cage carrying her beautiful barn own Asteria. She was very much not planning on mentioning the bowtruckle in her pocket to anyone!

Passing out through the wall to the other side, she was met by the sight of an enormous red steam engine – emblazoned with the words 'Hogwarts Express' – standing huffing at the edge of an absolutely packed platform. Drawing closer to her mother, Cosima scanned the crowd. She could not see anyone she recognised; though she knew that somewhere in the crowd was her older cousin Helios, the son of her uncle Theseus Scamander (celebrated war hero and Order of Merlin, First Class).

Helios, an enormous brawny fellow of eighteen and irrevocably cheerful, was to be head boy this year. Cosima adored her good-humoured cousin but didn't imagine that the Head Boy and star beater of the Gryffindor quidditch team would have much time for first years, even if they were related. As for her brother Cassian, her partner in adventure back home, he was only just coming up for nine and so would not be starting at Hogwarts for another two years.

The thought of being so alone made Cosima's throat want to close up. She wished for the millionth time that summer that Esther, Joshua and Sarah (Uncle Jacob and Aunt Queenie's children) lived in England. Esther was the same age as she was and Sarah and Joshua, twins, just two years older. All three were tremendous fun and Cosima felt that she'd be a little less frightened if they were all getting on the train beside her. Sadly though, they all lived in New York and so would be attending Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry instead of Hogwarts.

Closer to the train now, various witches and wizards came up to chat to Newt and Tina Scamander, and Cosima recognised them as her parents' colleagues from the ministry. Their children nodded to Cosima, acknowledging her politely as a vague acquaintance. However, none of them had ever wanted to get to know that odd little Scamander girl, who spoke to owls and babbled about hippogriffs, well enough to call them friends. What if no one wanted to be her friend at Hogwarts too?

The whistle blew and people scrambled to board.

"Come on," Newt prompted encouragingly. "Let's get your trunk on board. You take Asteria." They found an empty carriage near the back of the train and Newt lifted his daughter's trunk on board while Cosima settled a placid, sleeping Asteria on one of the seats.

"And not a word to Mum about Pip," Newt said smilingly, with a conspiratorial wink. Cosima gave him a watery smile. Mum was a little bit more particular about following the rules than Dad was and, as her Hogwarts letter made no reference at all to Bowtruckles, she might just insist that Pip stayed at home.

Jumping down from the carriage again for a short minute, and vaguely aware of a few other people getting into it behind her, Cosima realised she had to say goodbye to her parents. Her throat tightened again against the onslaught of tears and she fiercely told herself that she was not going to cry, even though she was going to miss them so much!

"Bye honey," Tina hugged her tightly and smoothed down her hair. "You're going to have a wonderful time. Send us a letter with Asteria and tell us how you're settling in. You be brave, ok?" Cosima nodded dumbly, accepting the hug and kiss; too afraid to talk in case she started crying and made a fool of herself.

"It's all right," Newt said gently, hugging her once Tina was done. "The first train journey seems like an awfully big step, but there's nothing to be frightened of. Don't be afraid to ask Helios for help – he'll look after you. Remember to let us know where you've been sorted into. Go on now, darling, give me a smile. There we go. Goodbye."

He kissed her forehead and then helped her back into the carriage, shutting the door in the nick of time. With a colossal hoot and in a rush of steam, the train began to pull away; leaving Mum, Dad and home behind.

Cosima stared fixedly out of the window for a few moments until she was certain that she had mastered her emotions. After that, she had a glance round the carriage at the five people – three girls and two boys - who had joined her there. One girl looked excited, another bored and all the others looked as vaguely terrified as Cosima was herself.

"Are you all new first years too?" asked the excited looking girl. The rest of the carriage nodded. "I'm Marjorie. Marjorie McKinnon. What are your names?"

"I'm Harriet Brooks," replied one of the other girls; a pretty redhead with lots of freckles. "You know, this is one of the strangest days of my life. No one in my family has ever had magic before and I'm still half convinced I'm dreaming! I don't know anything about Hogwarts besides what's in the textbooks!"

"Nothing to worry about there," said a blond-haired boy with a strong, lilting Welsh accent. "My Mam was a muggle-born too and she said they soon settle in the same as everyone else. By time a few weeks pass, you can scarce tell the difference. I'm Gwion Pritchard. What about you?"

"Walburga Black," said the dark-haired girl who had looked bored before. Her voice had an unpleasant, sneering tone and she seemed to have slid away from Harriet and Gwion the minute she found they were related to muggles. "And I am a descendent of purebloods! I would have sat with my family immediately if we hadn't been late. Now I am going to find my cousins." And with that, she rose imperiously and left the carriage, leaving the other children gawping after her.

"What got up her nose?" asked Harriet bewilderedly. "And what's a pureblood?"

"Ah, rif raf like us won't be good enough for the Black family!" said Gwion wryly. "They're one of a few really snotty wizard families who pride themselves on never having anything to do with muggles and only marry other witches and wizards. Load of tosh really; doesn't make any difference to your magic ability! But they think it makes them special."

"They've got a talent for dark magic, too, the Blacks!" said a thin dark haired boy, who was sat beside Cosima. "I'm Merlin Pendragon. Most of my family are Aurors – dark wizard catchers – so they've had a few run ins with some of the Black family."

"Wow, you're a Pendragon?" Gwion's eyebrows shot up. "They're possibly the oldest wizarding family in Britain, Harriet. They say they're descended from the Merlin!"

"Which is why I have this daft name!" Merlin laughed. "But my family have never believed any of that pureblood garbage. My granny is a muggle with no magic at all and she's the best person in the world!"

What about you?" chatty Gwion asked Cosima. "You're the only one we haven't heard from yet."

"I'm Cosima Scamander," she replied shyly.

"Oh! Is your dad Theseus Scamander?" Merlin asked interestedly. "My uncle Percival is head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and he works with him!"

"No, that's my uncle," Cosima replied. "Newt Scamander is my dad. He's a magizoologist. My mum is an auror though so your uncle will probably know her – Tina Scamander."

"I'll ask him when I write to him – he asked me to send him a letter once I was sorted," Merlin replied.

"Anyone know what houses they'll be in?" asked Gwion, before proceeding to explain the four houses and their traits to Harriet. "My Mam and Dad were both Hufflepuffs so were joking about wanting me to carry on the family tradition."

"Gryffindor for me, I hope!" said Marjorie. "Like my brothers!"

"Most of my family have been Gryffindors," Merlin said with a languid smile. "But to be honest, I don't think I mind where!"

"My Uncle Theseus was Gryffindor as well and so is my cousin Helios – he's head boy," Cosima said. "But my Dad was a Hufflepuff and I think I'd like to be too. My mum's American though, so she went to Ilvermorny school instead."

This naturally started a discussion on the American school and before they knew it, it was lunchtime. A plump, kindly lady with a trolley full of goodies came by and they all had great fun introducing Harriet to every kind of wizarding treat under the sun.

Pleasantly excitable on all the sugar they had consumed, they spent the afternoon playing exploding snap and talking a little bit more about their families. Cosima learned that Marjorie had two older brothers, Jack and Roger, who were both mad on quidditch. Gwion, meanwhile was an only child who wanted to be a healer when he left Hogwarts. Harriet's dad and uncle were off fighting in the Muggle's war in France and she had three sisters back home with her mum in Edinburgh. Merlin lived with his uncle Percival Pendragon as both his parents had been killed fighting Gellert Grindelwald a few years before. The carriage had grown very quiet for a moment after that, no one quite knowing what to say.

Seeing a strained look on Harriet's face at the mention of parents being killed in battle, Cosima hurriedly changed the subject and told them the story of how her parents met in New York when some of her Dad's creatures escaped from his magical suitcase. Even better, no one looked at her like she was strange when she told them about all the creatures they had back home and how she loved helping look after them. Gwion asked lots of questions and Harriet declared they all sounded like something wonderful out of a fairytale.

It almost felt like she had made some friends!

By the time the train came to a halt later on that evening, the five first years had fallen into a stupor, talked out and exhausted. They wearily made their way off the train with all the other throngs of students and looked around, wondering what to do next. Most of the students were heading over to a fleet of carriages which stood nearby. Cosima stared hard at them – Dad had told her about Thestrals, and she thought they sounded frightfully interesting. She couldn't see them at all though and, bearing Merlin's earlier tale of the loss of his parents in mind, decided she was actually quite happy with that!

"First years over here, please! First years over here!"

The small group followed the sound of a booming Scottish voice and found it belonged to a cheery-faced middle aged wizard with a thick brown beard. He was soon surrounded by a crowd of curious faced eleven year olds as all the other new first years joined them.

"Welcome all," he said, smiling round at them. "I'm Angus Ogg, the school gamekeeper. You'll be joining your schoolmates shortly, but on your first term we go by a slightly more unconventional route. We'll be going by boat over the Black Lake and you'll get your first glimpse of Hogwarts in a minute or two. It's certainly something to see in the dark! Yes, lad? No, no, don't worry about your trunks and your owls, they'll all be brought along. Down this way please, and no more than four to a boat."

Slipping and sliding in their haste, the first years followed Ogg down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path, surrounded by thick trees. Though no one quite knew why, they spoke to each other in hushed whispers.

"Here we are," Ogg called back to them as they went round a bend. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly. Best in the world!"

There was a general gasp of awe. The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake and right across it, perched atop a high mountain on the other side, was an enormous, many turreted castle, its dozens of windows gleaming in the dark.

"It's like Camelot!" breathed Harriet, wonderstruck.

"It's an eye opener all right!" Merlin said fervently and Cosima nodded at his side. She thought she'd never seen a more beautiful building in all her life and almost forgot to be nervous!

She got into a boat with Merlin, Gwion and Harriet. Majorie climbed into the one next to them, looking more excited than ever. Privately Cosima thought that she definitely deserved to be in Gryffindor. Her own legs felt like jelly! Pip the bowtruckle seemed to sense her unease and squeaked comfortingly in her breast pocket. Thankfully no one heard.

The boats moved off soundlessly and glided smoothly over the lake. No one could look away from the castle, which grew larger and larger as they approached the other shore.

"Mind your heads everyone!" Ogg called back from the lead boat. "Don't want any injuries on your first night!"

Everyone obediently bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a small inlet where the boats touched the shore and they climbed out onto a carpet of pebbles. The excitement was palpable now.

"Right then," said Ogg heartily, smiling round at them. "I'm sure you're all dying for your supper! Let's get you up to the castle so you can be sorted!"

They scurried excitedly after Ogg through a passageway in the rock until they came to a simply enormous door. Cosima thought even a dragon could fit through it. Ogg knocked and it at once swung open to reveal a tall wizard with long auburn hair and an equally long beard. Cosima knew at once who he was – her father had told her all about him.

This was Albus Dumbledore. According to her dad (and in Cosima's opinion her dad was never wrong) he was one of the wisest men alive and she knew that he was one of the only teachers to speak up for the young Newt Scamander when he was expelled. He was, therefore, the reason her father still had a wand. All of this meant Cosima was already disposed to think well of him, but looking at Professor Dumbledore now, her good opinion was further enhanced by the fact that he had a very kind face.

He smiled warmly round at the excited and nervous children before him, his eyes twinkling over half-moon glasses. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said and beckoned them inside.

AN: I've meddled a little with Sirius's mum's age to allow her to be in first year too, and created a new pureblood family, but other than that this story will stick to canon as much as possible.

Reading this back, Cosima seems a bit younger than Harry but I always imagine being sent away from home for a year at a time must have been quite scary for the kids with happy home lives!