Trinity

Chapter 2

Sarah

I sat on my hotel room bed, a large bowl of strawberry ice cream sitting on the bedspread before me, twirling my spoon in my right hand. The other occupant of the room, Taylor, sat on the other bed with an acoustic guitar propped up on his knees, picking out chords with one hand and absently pushing strands of damp blonde hair behind his ears with the other. A long plait that I hadn't noticed before lay down his back, reaching almost to his waist.

He was truly an enigma. He had been rather talkative once he had gotten to know me a little, and had hardly shut up during the plane journey to Sydney. But now that we were in Sydney, he'd barely spoken a word to me. We had been in Australia for three days so far, and when we weren't out on shopping expeditions with our chaperone, Marie, he spent his time in the hotel room that the two of us were sharing, either playing his guitar, reading or writing in his journal. I wanted to get to know him a little more - I particularly wanted to know what possessed someone to lie on the bottom of a hotel swimming pool, doing nothing but shooting bolts of lightning up toward the surface.

"Hey," I called softly. He didn't look up. "Taylor," I called, increasing the volume of my voice. Still no answer. "Oy, blondie!"

That got his attention, and he looked over at me. "What?" he asked, sounding irritated. His blue eyes were tinged slightly with red, which I suspected was from the chlorinated water in the hotel swimming pool.

I pointed to the guitar. "Feel like playing me something?"

"Like what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you surprise me?"

"Christ you're demanding," he muttered. But he shrugged. "All right." He shifted himself into a sitting position. "I didn't write this, you understand; it was written by a friend of mine, and he sent me the tablature and the lyrics. It's called When You're Gone." He started to play what I guessed was the intro, and then began to sing.

"Well I just can't seem to pity...'cause my heart's too numb to feel...and the smile is all that's talking...and the pain is all that's real...and the way that you keep screaming...I can hardly hear to think...and I can feel the bridges burning...underneath my feet...

"Where do you go...when you're gone...where do you go...when you're gone...oh how the road feels so long...but where do you go...when you're gone...

"I just want to stay dreaming...no I just don't want to wake...why can't we keep on sailing...across this emerald lake...and my forehead is still bleeding...from the thorns I used to wear...and I'm left alone and beaten...for this cross I choose to bear...

"Where do you go...when you're gone...where do you go...when you're gone...oh how the road feels so long...but where do you go...when you're gone...

"Well I finally found what I'm looking for...though the road's still long and the light is still far...but I finally found what I'm looking for...well I finally found what I'm looking for...though the road's still long and the light is still far...but I finally found what I'm looking for...

"Well the voices fall like timber...and the fear it pours like rain...and my heart is crushed to cinders...underneath this kind of pain...well there is no resolution...when the revolution's dead...so I'm left with no solution...for the voices in my head...

"Where do you go...when you're gone...where do you go...when you're gone...oh how the road feels so long...but where do you go...when you're gone..."

I nodded when the final echoes had faded away. "Impressive," I said, offering him a smile.

He merely scowled at me. "That's all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Oh let me think," he said sarcastically. "You could say something along the lines of you liked it, perhaps?" He propped his guitar up against the side of the bed he was sleeping in and lay down, rolling over onto his side and away from me.

I stared at his black T-shirt-clad back for just a few seconds, before whispering, "I did like it..."

A knock sounded at the door of our hotel room just as I finished my ice cream. I set the empty bowl on my night table and went to answer it; a peek through the peephole showed the visitor to be Marie, and I opened the door. "Hi Marie," I said.

"Hey Sarah. Feel like going for a walk?" She looked over my shoulder, presumably at Taylor. "What's with him?"

"Brooding, I suspect. He hasn't been in the best of moods since we got here."

"Think he could do with some company?"

I shook my head. "He's had to put up with my company for the past few days, and that isn't the best in the world. I think he could do with some time to himself."

"All right then. Come on, let's go - we can go get some ice cream if you like."

"I just had some."

"I bet it's not as good as the double chocolate fudge ripple that they've got where we're going." Marie cocked an eyebrow and grinned. "C'mon, grab your wallet and wand and let's go."

And go we did. After leaving the Regent Hotel and hopping on a bus to Darling Harbour, the two of us found ourselves sitting in Andersen's Of Denmark Ice Cream, sharing a banana split.

"I promised I'd tell you some more about the houses that we've got at Southern Cross," Marie said. "Well, there's Atitjere, Kalkaringi, Nyapari and Tanami - all named for towns in the Northern Territory, and Aboriginal names to boot. You and Taylor will be in Atitjere."

"How do you know that?" I asked. "I thought there was no way to know beforehand."

"Your star signs. You're both water elementals, right?"

I nodded. "We're both Pisceans, actually."

"There you go. Anyone born under a water sign automatically goes in Atitjere House. Air signs go in Kalkaringi, earth signs in Nyapari, and fire signs in Tanami." She licked the back of her spoon. "You're thinking of how Hogwarts does it. The other Australian magic school uses a similar method, from what I've heard." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Anyway, the houses. Atitjere has the vast majority of the artists and musicians, Kalkaringi House has its fair share of entertainers and pranksters, Nyapari has its intelligent and studious types, and Tanami...well, they're passionate about two things. Powerball and Quidditch. Tanami House has dominated Powerball and Quidditch for well over a decade, and they're well deserving of it too. They always field well-rounded teams. That's not to say that the other houses don't, but Tanami House is always up there."

Later on that evening, after Marie and I had arrived back at the Regent, I went back up to my room. Taylor was sitting on his bed when I entered, and he looked up as I closed the door behind me.

"I'm sorry about...before," he said quietly. "I'm sorry for the past few days, actually."

"It's nothing," I said dismissively. "As long as we're friends again, that's all that matters." He nodded, a hopeful-looking smile on his face, and I grinned. "Good. What's that you've got there?"

"A photograph; my mom said it was with me when I came to them." I sat down cross-legged on my bed, and he showed it to me. It was a faded Muggle photograph of a baby boy, which possibly meant that Taylor was a Muggle-born wizard; either that, or a Muggle camera had been the only thing on hand when he was born. And as I looked at it, something clicked. I found my wallet and pulled out a photograph of my own.

"My mum and dad gave it to me when they told me I was adopted," I said as I handed it to Taylor. He placed them side by side on his bed. And right as he did so, the two photographs joined together, blue sparks dancing along the seam. "What the hell?"

Taylor picked the newly created photograph up and turned it over. "There's writing on this," he said. I grabbed it off of him and read the printing for myself. It was a simple poem of four lines.

Two is always company

And often three's a crowd

But a third in this special case

Will make a broken circle round

As Taylor and I watched, three words appeared under the poem.

FIND THE THIRD

"I...'find the third'? What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"I think it means that we're related," Taylor said slowly. "I think it means that you're my sister." He looked at me. "And 'the third'..."

"Triplets," I whispered. "We're triplets."

* * *

Taylor

Triplets.

That was the sole word on my mind as Sarah and I piled into Marie's car on the morning of January twenty-second. We didn't actually need to be at the train station until one at the earliest, but Marie - or Miss Collins, as we were supposed to call her now - was the House supervisor for Atitjere House, and needed to be at Sydney Central for anyone who decided to show up early. And sure enough, there were four girls kicking a soccer ball around on platform one when we arrived at eleven o'clock on the dot.

"Miss Kennedy, stop that right this moment," Miss Collins said. The tallest of the quartet, a girl with long blonde hair, bent down and scooped up the ball as it was kicked to her. "You're the school vice-captain; you should know the school rules better than anyone else."

"Sorry Miss Collins." She nodded to her companions. "Inanna, Kali and Artemis are all here," she said.

"I guessed as much; one would swear that the four of you are joined at the hip."

The girl laughed. "Yeah. Who're they? New kids?"

"Exchange students. They'll be in Atitjere House with the four of you."

"Oh really?" The girl cocked an eyebrow. "Well come on you two, let's get a look at you."

Sarah and I exchanged glances before heading over to join the four girls. The girl who Miss Collins had called 'Miss Kennedy' made the introductions on behalf of her friends.

"Okay, well, I'm Miriam Kennedy - I'm the school vice-captain in case you're deaf." The other three girls rolled their eyes. "Oh stop that you three. This here is Inanna Watson, or Anna if you're in any way so inclined." One of the two redheads nodded and smiled. "Next we have Kali Miller." The only brunette of the group smiled. "And last, but certainly not least, is Artemis Jackson." The second redhead inclined her head without smiling. "Now it's your turn," Miriam said to Sarah and I.

"I'm Sarah Abernathy, and this is Taylor Chambers," Sarah said, speaking for the two of us.

Kali squinted at Sarah and I. "You two aren't related, are you?" she asked. "You look alike."

"Goddess, I hope not!" Sarah joked; I forced a sharp bark of laughter. "If we are I don't know a thing about it," she continued.

The platform slowly filled over the course of the next three hours, with the most noticeable sign that approximately fifty or so teenage elementals had descended on the city of Sydney being the erratic changes in the weather. At one point snow started to fall, promptly melting into a light drizzle in the hot midsummer sunshine. Bolts of coloured lightning arced over our heads, and small fires were started in mid-air. It was utter madness.

"This is crazy," I muttered to Sarah, after we had managed to break away from Miriam's little group.

"Imagine what it'll be like at the train station in Adelaide, though," she said. "I think I prefer this little gathering."

"Can I get your attention, please?" called a voice, and I looked up from examining the hem of my T-shirt. It was one of the House supervisors - Ms. Deane, if I remembered correctly. All talk miraculously ceased. "Thank you; that's much better. Now, if you have all been paying attention to the time, you will see that it is now twenty-five to three. The train will be here at any moment, so if you could all gather up your belongings and assemble in your year groups..."

Nobody needed telling twice. Before the time on my watch had ticked over to 2:40, six neat lines of around eight students each had assembled on the platform. The line for the Grade Eleven students consisted of seven students from Atitjere House - Artemis had introduced Sarah and I to her twin brother, Ares - and one rather nervous student from Tanami House. The fact that her fingers were smoking profusely, and that her red hair was singed, were the only clues I needed as to the house she was in; Sarah had given me a 'quick and dirty' lesson the previous night about the school houses, and the fact that the pyromaniacs had a home in Tanami House was one of the few things that had stuck with me.

"All right Grade Elevens..." Miss Collins came up to us, a clipboard in hand. "Let's get this over with, and you can all get on the train." She nodded to the shining silver train that had pulled up alongside the platform. "Sarah Abernathy?"

"Here."

"Vanessa Braithwaite?"

"Here," the Tanami girl piped up; even her tone of voice was nervous. Not that I blamed her; if I was surrounded by a bunch of students from other houses, I'd be worried too.

"Taylor Chambers?"

I lazily raised my right hand. "Here," I drawled.

"Ares and Artemis Jackson?"

"Here," the twins said simultaneously.

"Miriam Kennedy?"

"Here."

"Kali Miller?"

"Here."

"And lastly...Inanna Watson?"

"Here!"

Miss Collins finished checking the names off. "Seven from Atitjere, and one from Tanami...excellent. You can all go." She fixed a hard look on Vanessa. "And no starting fires this year, Miss Braithwaite, or you will find yourself on the first train back from Broken Hill. Understood?"

"Yes Miss Collins," Vanessa said meekly. I had a strong feeling that she was the resident Tanamian pyromaniac. "No fires; understood." She scuttled off to find a fellow member of her house. The seven of us watched her go, before gathering up our backpacks and suitcases and filing onto the train.

The Indian-Pacific pulled out of the station at precisely five to three, and Sarah and I exchanged glances. This is it, I thought. I reached for my sister's hand and squeezed tightly.

"Are you nervous?" she whispered as Miriam started talking to her friends.

I nodded. "Of course I am. I haven't been the 'new kid' since I started at Amargosa. And now I have to start all over again."

"Do you think we'll find our brother or sister here?" Sarah asked.

I shrugged. "I honestly couldn't tell you. Besides, isn't that what you're good at? Seeing the future?"

"I already tried." She shook her head. "I didn't see a thing."

I sighed, reached back over my shoulder for my rat tail and started fiddling with it; it was something I did whenever I was nervous. My hair had once reached down to just above my waist - I'd cut it when I'd received my acceptance letter from Amargosa Valley College, but had asked my mother to braid a few locks of my hair before I did so. When I graduated from Amargosa, I planned to cut my hair short and lose the rat tail - that was the plan, anyway. Whether I ended up going through with it was a different matter entirely.

"How long is it going to take us to get to Adelaide, anyway?" I asked about an hour after our journey had started, during a rather lengthy break in conversation.

"A day," Ares replied. The girls had moved off down the carriage, leaving the two of us to mind their things. "As long as the train doesn't break down, like it did last year, we should get to Adelaide at around a quarter past three tomorrow afternoon."

I let out a whistle of awe. "Damn..."

"Yeah." Ares nodded. "And to make the whole thing even more unbearable, our first stop isn't until a quarter to seven tomorrow morning."

"Oh Merlin," I groaned. "How long a break do we get?"

"Hour and five minutes. Most of us head off to McDonald's for breakfast as soon as we're allowed."

I let out another groan and slid down in my seat. "Kill me now," I muttered.

Ares laughed. "Exactly what I thought at the beginning of Grade Seven. But I'm more than used to it now; we all are." He shrugged. "We have to be. There isn't any other way of getting to school." I pulled a face, and Ares laughed again. "So, do you play Quidditch?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I play Powerball. I tried playing Quidditch but I can't stay up on a broom for longer than a few minutes at a time."

"Just as well." He shrugged. "International students are barred from Quidditch at the Academy; I think it's because Customs has confiscated students' brooms in the past. But they're allowed to try out for the Powerball team," he added. "How long have you been playing Powerball?"

"Almost all my life, but I've only been on the youth squad of the San Diego Strikers for the past two years. Hopefully when I finish school I can try out for a position on the team itself."

"Which position?"

"Centre-forward, but I also play left-wing if I'm needed to."

Sarah came wandering back up the aisle and sat down next to me. "They're talking to some of the Grade Twelve girls," she said; I figured she was referring to Miriam, Inanna, Artemis and Kali. "I don't think they like me very much," she said quietly.

"They just need to get used to you," I said. "Did you try again?" I asked in a lower tone of voice.

"No, but I got a few vibes from Miriam," Sarah answered. "Though I can't tell what they're supposed to mean."

"You don't think..."

Sarah shrugged. "It's entirely possible. She's a water elemental, the same age as the two of us..." She caught Ares' attention. "What's Miriam's birthday?" she asked him.

"March 14 1983," he answered without looking up from his Potions textbook.

Sarah and I looked at each other. "It fits," she whispered. She sighed and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "If I was a Retrocognitionist, I'd be able to find out for sure," she said softly. "We'll just have to wait until we know her a little better - I don't like the idea of asking someone flat out if they're adopted when I barely even know them."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Didn't bother you when you asked me."

"Oh shush you," she said laughingly.

* * *

I stepped off of the train onto the platform at the train station in Broken Hill the next morning, rubbing sleep from my eyes as I did so. My neck and shoulders ached from sleeping sitting up; the unbelievable weight of my backpack wasn't exactly helping either. It hadn't been this heavy when I'd packed it, I was certain.

"Into your house groups, students," Ms. Deane called when we had all filed off the train. "Quickly, please. I know you are all hungry, but this needs to be done before breakfast. We'll start with the Grade Sevens and work up."

"Oh hurry up," I heard Kali mutter, impatience clear in her tone. "I am so hungry that I could eat a horse and spare the jockey." A ripple of quiet laughter reverberated through the cluster of Atitjere students.

When the roll call was completed, and we had been dismissed, Ares led the way from the train station. "McDonald's isn't far," he called over his shoulder. "At least, I don't think it is..."

"Don't think, you might hurt yourself," Artemis quipped.

"If you want to duel, just give the word," Ares shot back.

"That's illegal and you damn well know it, Ares," Artemis said angrily.

"You really need to learn not to take the bait, dear sister," Ares said, a chuckle in his voice. "I was only teasing you."

"I wouldn't call it teasing," Artemis said darkly.

"I hope the two of you aren't going to be like this all the way to Adelaide," Kali said. She pulled her summer cloak a little closer around her shoulders. Even though the sun was up, it was still rather cool; I figured it wouldn't start to warm up for another few hours at least. "If I have to put up with the two of you sniping at each other for the next nine-and-a-half hours, I'll go well and truly 'round the twist."

"I could have sworn you already were," Inanna joked. Kali frowned, but didn't say anything further.

After breakfast, we walked back to the station, making it back just in time for roll call. "That was close," Sarah breathed as we joined the cluster of our housemates. She let out a snicker.

"Yeah," I agreed.

As soon as roll call was concluded, we all reboarded the train and found our previous seats; I settled down into mine with a long sigh of relief, propping my feet up on my backpack. "Adelaide, here we come," I murmured as the train pulled out of the station. I watched the scenery flash past for a little while, before deciding to try and get a few hours sleep before the end of the journey. I slouched down in my seat and allowed my eyes to fall closed, and was asleep within moments.

* * *

Miriam

"We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn!"

"Oh Circe, not again," I heard Kali mutter from behind me. "The Tanamians are at it again. Why they're allowed to have that song as their house song, I will never know."

"At least it shuts them up at assembly," I heard Inanna reply.

"Point taken," Kali conceded.

"Are the two of you still going on about that?" I asked irritably as I studied my reflection in the mirror. Fluorescent light did nothing for my complexion - it only served to make me look washed out. I sighed and poked at a loose lock of hair with the tip of my wand, in an attempt to make the lock curl. It merely gave one half-hearted twist and then straightened back out again. I let out a groan of frustration - this was one bad hair day that even magic couldn't salvage. I undid the plait I'd twisted my hair into and ran my brush through it again.

"Bad hair day again?" Kali asked as she stepped up to the sink next to mine and started washing her hands. She was dressed in the regulation summer girls' uniform of a light yellow blouse, green knee-length skirt, green knee-high socks and black leather lace-up shoes, her long brown hair pulled back into a neat, utilitarian ponytail and finished off with a blue scrunchie.

"Uh-huh. Magic can't even fix this one."

"Hmm." She studied my reflection in the mirror. "Let me try. What did you want done?"

"Anything that'll keep it out of my face and still be within school regulations."

"I could cut it short." She fingered her wand, which had been fashioned from Cootamundra wattle.

"And you know damn well that my mother would kill both of us if you did."

"Oh yeah." She grinned. "How about I give you two plaited pigtails, and you can borrow a couple of my ribbons."

"And what colour would these ribbons be?"

"Blue, Miz; what do you take me for?"

I studied my green-eyed, blonde-haired reflection in the mirror. "They'll have to do, I suppose."

"Have you had any luck with finding your parents?" Inanna asked me as she came up on my right side.

"No," I said irritably, right as Kali yanked a little too hard on my hair. "Ow!"

"Sorry Miz."

"My records aren't available until I'm eighteen," I continued. "But I've heard a rumour of sorts."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Not that I'm taking it seriously, but the rumour is that the Minister of Magic himself had a hand in it."

"Minister West?" Kali asked.

"Well, I doubt he was Minister back in 1983. But yes."

"You shittin' me?" Inanna asked dubiously.

"I said it was a rumour, Anna," I said evenly. "And you know damn well that I don't hold stock in rumours."

Kali yanked on the two neat plaited pigtails that she had twisted my hair into. "All done," she said cheerfully.

"Thank Merlin for that," I muttered as I rubbed my scalp; Kali handed me two ribbons and I quickly tied them around the ends of my plaits.

We left the toilets and emerged into the bustling interior of Keswick railway station, the meeting point for each and every student who attended Southern Cross Academy, save for the students who lived in the Northern Territory. We had all descended on Adelaide over the past few days, having arrived by train from Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. And today we were all leaving for the Northern Territory - the school was rumoured to be located about twenty kilometres north of Alice Springs, though nobody knew for sure what the exact distance was.

I glanced up at the ornate clock that hung suspended from the ceiling, and compared the time on it to the time on my own watch. It was ten to five in the afternoon on the thirtieth of January - we were scheduled to arrive in Alice Springs at 11:55 tomorrow morning. It was a long journey, but it was going to be worth it to be back at school. Since I had departed Sydney with my classmates, I'd been feeling much more positive about returning to school for my final two years. The work was going to be slightly more difficult, but I knew I was up to it.

The three of us headed out onto platform one, and I sat down on the cool concrete next to Taylor. He had his hands cupped around a ball of golden lightning, and was studying it unblinkingly. "Hi," I said quietly.

"Hey," he replied without looking up. He shook his head a little and his hair moved down across his face, forming a curtain of sorts.

He was ignoring me. Blatantly and flat-out ignoring me. "Jeez, what crawled up your arse and died?" I muttered. "I only wanted to talk."

"So talk," he said, still staring at his ball of lightning.

"I'd like to look at you, if you don't mind," I said. "It's rude to not look at people when you talk to them."

"I know that." He uncupped his hands and the lightning ball dispersed. Tucking his long blonde hair behind his ear, he looked at me. "There. I'm looking at you. Happy?"

"Yep." I studied his face for a little while, noting that he had strikingly blue eyes. "You know, you and Sarah Abernathy look a lot alike," I said, deciding to come right out with it.

"So I've been told," he muttered. He dropped his gaze. "And no, we are not related, so get that idea out of your head right now."

"I- what?" I blinked. "How did you-"

"I'm a telepath and an empath," he said, still not looking at me. "Which makes me very good at reading people and their intentions." He finally raised his head and looked at me again. "So I'd be very careful around me if I were you," he finished, his tone dangerous.

"I'll be careful," I said, my voice unintentionally coming out as a squeak.

He studied me a little while, before letting out a chuckle. "You Australians are scared far too easily. I was screwing around with you."

"Funny," I said dryly. I glanced at my watch again; it showed 5:00. "I think roll call will be starting soon."

And sure enough, right as I finished talking, the Head of Nyapari House, Mrs. Reid, came up to where Taylor and I were sitting. "Southern Cross Academy students, may I have your attention please?" The low hum of chatter faded away within seconds, and I smiled; the teachers had us well trained. "Thank you. Now, the train is scheduled to leave in approximately fifteen minutes. Please assemble in your House groups, Grade Sevens at the front and Grade Twelves at the back, and we'll do one last roll call. Quickly, please."

Surprisingly, it didn't take us long to line up, and the four Heads of House read off the students' names, starting with the Grade Sevens from Atitjere and concluding with the Grade Twelves from Tanami. Just like every year, it was a quick and efficient process, completed just moments before the time on my watch ticked over to 5:10. "Please move onto the train, everyone; make sure you have everything before you leave the platform, and don't leave anything behind," Mrs. Reid called out as we all did one final check of the area around us.

"Excited?" I asked Taylor and Sarah as they joined me in the last carriage on the train. They both nodded, and I smiled. "That's good to hear."

"Where is the Academy, anyway?" Sarah asked.

"A bit north of Alice Springs," I answered. The train gave a jolt and began moving along the track. "I'm not sure of the exact distance. Nobody is."

"How long is this going to take?" Sarah asked; by this time, Taylor had buried his nose in a textbook, so I didn't see much point in including him in the conversation. If he wanted to talk, he'd talk.

I frowned and counted under my breath. "A bit over eighteen-and-a-half hours," I said finally.

"Merlin," Sarah breathed. "Are you kidding?"

I shook my head. "I timed it one year. It took eighteen hours and forty minutes from the time the train left Keswick, until the time the train pulled into the station in Alice Springs. And then there's the half-hour journey to the Academy. It's pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. The desert, actually."

"Good place to be playing Quidditch," Sarah commented.

"You play?"

She shrugged. "I play it occasionally, but I never managed to make it onto the Ravenclaw team. Too caught up with powers training."

"Well, maybe you can try out for the House Powerball team," I suggested.

"Maybe."

"Hey Taylor." He looked up from his book. "Are you going to try out for the House Powerball team?" I asked.

"How did you know I played it?" he asked, surprised.

"A good guess?" I hedged, and he raised one eyebrow at me. "Okay, I saw you reading a book about Powerball strategies."

"That's more like it." He shrugged. "I might. Depends on what positions they have open."

"Centre-forward and left wing, if I recall correctly," I said, and I grinned as Taylor's eyes lit right up. "Just keep in mind that you're going to have some fierce competition, not to mention that some people won't like a 'foreigner' on one of the house teams."

"It'll be good practice for when I try out for the Strikers after graduation."

"The Strikers?"

"That's the team I play for back home - the San Diego Strikers. I'm going to try out for the first-grade team when I finish school. I'm on the youth squad at the moment. I thought about becoming an Auror, but I like playing Powerball too much to really consider it." He smiled at me and returned to his book.

* * *

Late the next morning, all two hundred or so students that had assembled at Keswick spilled out onto the platform at Alice Springs railway station, clad in dark green ankle-length robes and carrying backpacks of various sizes and states of wear and tear. The robes I wore were trimmed with blue along the hem and cuffs and marked with the House emblem of a platypus, as were those worn by my housemates.

I listened as roll call was taken, and the final instructions before leaving for the Academy were read out; we were to stay in our House groups, no magic - elemental or otherwise - was to be used during the journey to the Academy, and the older students were to keep a general eye on the younger students. It was the same as every year, and around me I could hear my fellow Grade Elevens muttering to themselves and shifting in place.

"All right everyone, that will be all," Mrs. Reid said. "You may all go."

"Finally!" I heard Kali say in relief. She led the way out to the front of the station, where the usual line of four wheel drives sat. I counted them - there were twenty-four, one for every ten students. Ordinarily this would be a problem, but they had been magically modified to accommodate more than the usual number of passengers. I heard Ares call to Valerian, Seth and Alexei, and the ten of us headed for the nearest four wheel drive - a blue Landrover, to match our House colour. We climbed in and settled ourselves.

"Val, Seth and Alex, this is Sarah Abernathy and Taylor Chambers," Ares said when the ten of us had buckled our seatbelts. "Sarah and Taylor, meet Valerian Underwood, Seth Milford and Alexei Clarkson." Sarah and Taylor nodded, looking slightly nervous. I really didn't blame the two of them - I had been just as nervous on my first day.

The convoy of vehicles moved off down the street, the city landscape soon giving way to red desert and sparse scrubland. It was utterly desolate and lonely, but at the same time rather beautiful.

"So what are we supposed to look out for?" Taylor asked. He nervously picked at the sleeve of his robes, warily eyeing Alexei, Valerian and Seth as if they were going to attack him at any second.

"You'll see," I said cryptically.

"Oh yeah, that helps," he muttered.

I looked out of the window, keeping watch for the first sign that we were near the Academy. After about ten minutes of staring, I saw it. "There it is," I said, pointing out of the open window at the tumbledown old homestead that stood in the near distance.

"That's the Academy?" Sarah asked in obvious dismay. "I thought it'd be a lot more impressive."

"Appearances can be deceiving, Sarah," I replied. "You'll see what I mean in a minute or so." I settled back in my seat and grinned to myself. It was going to be worth the long journey to see the looks on her and Taylor's faces - I just knew it.

Sure enough, I was right. As the convoy passed through the invisible barrier that separated the Academy grounds from the outside world, the landscape changed. Gone was the seemingly endless desert landscape, replaced with immaculate green lawns and gardens filled with native Australian plants. Here and there were dotted gum and wattle trees, Moreton Bay fig trees and weeping willows.

"Wow," I heard Sarah whisper in awe. "It's beautiful..."

The convoy wound through the grounds, passing by the freshwater lake and the Powerball pitch; the Quidditch pitch was off in the distance, its six golden hoops shining in the midsummer sunshine. Finally, after what felt an eternity, the imposing school homestead came into view, and our journey came to an end.

I turned to look at Taylor and Sarah as the others climbed out of the Landrover, and I smiled. "Welcome to Southern Cross Academy," I said.