1992, September 1, London.
King's Cross Station sprawled beneath the gray British sky like a giant, ancient reptile made of glass and steel, breathing slowly as it took in the crush of people.
Like last year, Yulian carried the custom backpack his grandfather had made for him as he squeezed into the bustling crowd of Muggles, as though stepping into a river of many colors.
Yulian already knew the way around this year. Even his parents hadn't come to see him off.
"Yulian! Over here!"
He followed the voice and spotted a sea of red hair surging between Platforms 9 and 10.
The Weasley family stood out like a blazing fire in the gray station. Yulian smiled and walked over, and the twins, George and Fred, immediately hooked an arm around each of his.
"Well, look who it is!" George cried theatrically. "If it isn't Ravenclaw's 'Shadow Master'!"
"How was your summer in Bordeaux?" Fred asked with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows. "I hear French witches are really into kissing, and—"
"—very particular about it?" they chorused, then burst into laughter.
Yulian shook his head helplessly. Ever since the Forbidden Forest incident at the end of last year, the twins had somehow heard the details of his use of the Shadow Deflection Charm. They'd given him the nickname and spent the entire summer teasing him by owl post.
"Hey, ignore them." Percy pushed through the crowd, his Prefect badge gleaming on his chest.
With solemn dignity, he held out his hand. "Did you have a good summer, Black?"
"Very good, Prefect Weasley." Yulian deliberately used the formal address, watching Percy try to suppress his smug expression. "Except for the seventeen letters I received from your two brothers."
"Eighteen!" George corrected him.
"There was supposed to be a nineteenth, but