Astrid was walking a step faster than her sister, Terra, holding her hand. Astrid's eyes were shining as she soaked in all the sights. The twins had never been to King's Cross before. Terra glanced around taking in the sights as well, but not with as much energy as her sister. 

"Astrid, how are we supposed to get onto this train? I don't see-" Terra was cut of as they watched someone disappear through a solid brick wall. "Did you?" The twins asked each other wide eyed. 

"Where are you supposed to go?" Their father, Jacob, asked. His voice was gruff and he looked agitated glancing around the station as if he expected someone to start shooting. Terra pointed at a solid brick wall dividing two platforms. He snorted. "Yeah that'll work." Astrid glared at him, but didn't say anything. Terra hid a frown, but watched someone else step through the solid barrier. The girls shared a look.

"All right dad, we're going to to go to the station now. We love you." Astrid let go of her sister's hand and hugged Jacob. Terra hugged them both. 

"I'll miss you both." Jacob said as he hugged his daughters. "You'll write to me?" The man knelt down so he was eye level with the twins. "You two stay out of trouble. Terra make sure Astrid doesn't do anything out of line." He gave Astrid a small smile. "You go on and learn how to use magic." 

"Bye dad." The twins said in unison. After one more quick squeeze they pushed their trollies to the barrier. "All right how are we supposed to walk through a solid barrier?" Astrid asked Terra.

"First year?" A tall black man wearing what looked like a military jacket smiled down at them. The girls nodded. "I'm Professor McCarthy, I'll be teaching you this year. Just close your eyes and walk through the barrier." He pointed at the wall the twins had seen people disappearing through. The twins shared a look and nodded.

"Thank you Professor." Astrid said and then walked right through the platform barrier. Terra watched her then took a deep breath then closed her eyes stepping through the barrier. 

Professor McCarthy watched them and nodded. He kept an eye out, watching to make sure all the students made it through okay. He was worried that maybe some protestors would show up. Years of training made him alert and ready for anything

Once on the other side of the barrier the twins stowed their trunks and found seats. The spoke quickly to each other with no intonation in their voice, the words didn't sound like English.