"Yeah, I've always thought that magic is really just science that we don't understand yet but know I'm sort of wondering if magic is actually magic or if it's science. If magic is science it wouldn't that only some people can use magic?" Margaret asked, more to herself than to Robert.

"Oh, my parents are business owners," Margaret said, smiling "so I guess that's not too extraordinary, for the wizarding world." She tried to think of other jobs wizards and witches could be. "Well, I guess really the only jobs you can have as a wizard are business owning, teaching, and working for the ministry. There are other job wizards and witches that can have but not many since they never learn much about muggle jobs from the wizarding schools. I mean we never learn anything past 6th grade studies, so we don't really know complex math, science, or history, so we can't be scientist or muggle teachers but I suppose we can be writers or do other lower-level jobs, like having jobs as janitors and maids (which would be easy because we can use magic to do our jobs -Margaret mumbled) or working as waiters or waitresses."

"It's actually pretty rare to even find a witch or wizard running a business since they don't really know math. My family has a business because my mum runs financing." Margaret explained.

"So what sort of scientist are your parents, I mean like do they study physics, the brain, astrology?" Margaret asked listing some of the sciences they could possibly study.

"My parents are business owners, so I guess that's not too extraordinary, for the wizarding world," said Margaret in answer to Robert's question. She went on to confirm what Robert had said earlier, that there really aren't too many jobs a magical adult can have, other than owning a business, or working for the Ministry or Hogwarts. Since Hogwarts doesn't teach muggle subjects like math or english, it's really hard for wizards to get any other kind of higher level job. "It's actually pretty rare to even find a witch or wizard running a business since they don't really know math. My family has a business because my mum runs financing."

Robert couldn't imagine a world in which nobody knew any type of higher level learning you would learn in a muggle high school. How does the wizarding world function if nobody's taught anything above a sixth grade level except for how to do magic? he wondered to himself.

"So what sort of scientist are your parents, I mean like do they study physics, the brain, astrology?" asked Margaret.

Robert laughed. "First of all, astrology isn't a real field of study. Astronomy is probably what you're thinking of. Astrology is people trying to attach made up meanings to celestial bodies that have no real effect on life on earth." He'd heard this lecture way too many times from some of his father's astronomer friends to pass up an opportunity to give it to someone else. "However, to answer your question, my dad is a physicist and my mum is a biologist." He then asked, "What type of business does your parent's own?"

"Did I say astrology?" Margaret laughed "I'm so stupid, I did mean astronomy, sorry." Margaret listened to Robert's answer, eagerly. "Your mum's a biologist?" She asked, rhetorically. "I'd love to be a biologist, never had much interest in physics though." She added.

"My parents own a restaurant, so I guess it's not really a business but I suppose you get the point. It's small and family-owned and we kids- us kids? (she murmured to herself not knowing which one was the proper way to say it) help out. My mum and my sister are waitresses and my brother is sort of like the manager" she laughed, not really knowing how to explain it "and he does some waiting. My mum and dad are cooks. I am the delivery girl and sometimes a side chef if it's a busy day and they need help. It's pretty fun working there, our parents pay us very little for our work, maybe just $5 a month but we go on several vacations every year, like an annual trip to London and Ireland, both for 2 weeks and a trip to America every 5 years or Asia or some other country." She explained happily.

"Do you have any siblings?" Margaret inquired.

Outside the train, Robert could see that they were passing over a bridge. He looked down and saw the large river that they were crossing, lined with greenery. He thought he caught a glimpse of a bird playing in the water, but he wasn't sure. He briefly thought of his mother, both because of the water and because of how much she loved bridges. It would definitely be an experience to be away from his parent's for so long while at Hogwarts, he thought. He wasn't too worried about it, as he was used to being by himself while his parents' were working. However, being in a totally different country felt a bit different to him than when he knew that his parents were only a half-hour drive away if he really needed them for some reason.

Robert snapped back to his conversation at the mention of food. "You guys own a restaurant? What kind of food do you make?" he asked. His stomach rumbled a bit as he realized he hadn't eaten since first thing in the morning. He wondered a bit what the food would be like at Hogwarts. He hoped there'd be vegetarian options, at the very least. "Also, those trips sound really fun! I've always wanted to travel, but we've never really gotten the chance with my parents' jobs. Where was your favorite place that you went?"

In answer to Margaret's question, Robert shook his head. "I've never had a sibling, but I've always wanted one. Honestly, I wouldn't care if they were older or younger, boy or girl, I just think it would be fun to have someone else approximately my age that I'm related to."

"We actually make a surprising amount of money for a family business but we usually take cheap travel to the places we go and get cheap hotels. The hotels are always pretty nice anyway but usually, the trip there is unpleasant and we sit in a lot of grime." Margaret shivered in discussed, remembering some of the grossest rides "our parents don't usually go through because the trips are so expensive. I've really only been to London, Ireland, Italy, and France, which is a lot but I'd say my favorite place was Italy." She listened to the rest of his reply. "We serve pastry's, steak, cheesecake, lamb you know things like that. Mostly really expensive things" Margaret laughed.

She then listened to Robert's reply of her sibling question. "Oh, yeah it's usually pretty nice having siblings, for me at least, but most siblings don't really get along and fight a lot. We used to fight a lot but right now we're doing pretty well- better than ever actually."

"So with muggle parents, you probably haven't experienced any magic besides your own and Hogsmead. Did you ever believe in magic or miracles anything like that before you found out about Hogwarts?" Margaret asked Robert.

Robert's stomach rumbled a bit louder as Margaret listed off some of the foods they served at her family's restaurant. Maybe it was a mistake to ask about food, he thought to himself as he silently scolded his stomach. With a start, he remembered that he'd packed a few granola bars, just in case. "You've been to Italy?" he asked as he reached under his seat. "I've always wanted to go there. What's it like?"

Robert pulled a bar out of his bag and unwrapped it. As he took a bite, he immediately started to feel better. It tasted like sawdust, but was quite filling. "Do you want one?" he asked Margaret, pointing to the bar in his hand.

Robert laughed in response to Margaret's question. "I mean, I grew up reading stories about magic, but I never really thought that any of it was true." Well, briefly, many years ago he had, although that had quickly come to an end after his father explained to him how scientifically impossible it is for toys to actually come to life. Robert didn't hold this against his dad, in fact, he understood why he'd done this. It's one thing to wish that a fantasy was real, that shows you have imagination. However, it's quite another thing to actively believe in said fantasy, which is something only crazy people do. Of course, this hadn't brought much consolation to a four year old boy.

Robert decided against telling Margaret this anecdote, as it was very unlikely she'd view it the same way he did now, and rather agree with his younger self that his father had acted in rather poor taste. He mentally shrugged and choked down another bite of the granola bar.

"Yeah, Italy was a dream to me too; it was an amazing place to be," Margaret replied. She then shook her head as Robert offered a granola bar "no thank you, though."

"So you never believed in anything like... leprechauns or tooth fairies?" Margaret asked, "actually that makes sense, a lot of those holiday fairy tail mascots are a bit creepy, I mean why is someone taking our teeth during the night? I have some friends who had moms who didn't participate in telling their children about Santa clause and the easter bunny, I get it."

"Have you traveled to anywhere out of England?" Margaret asked, thinking about her trips to London and other places. She was looking forward to her trip to London again, during summer.

Margaret heard a cat meowing from slightly down the hall, either across the hall or the train compartment next to them. Margaret smiled to herself, missing her cat that she left at home. Margaret loved cats and was sad that she had to leave her ca back at home, well she didn't have to but her parents recommended that she didn't bring her cat considering the first year would already be hard and probably hectic and she agreed.

She snapped back into reality to listen to Robert's answer.

Robert shrugged when Margaret turned down a granola bar and took another bite of his own. "So you never believed in anything like... leprechauns or tooth fairies?" She asked him.

"No, I didn't even know about any of those things until I heard people at school talking about them," he replied. "My parents still gave me a pound for any tooth that I lost, but they never had me put it under a pillow or pretend that the tooth fairy had taken it." Margaret raised a good point, about a lot of the fairy tale stories that parents tell their children not making much sense. It would be interesting to know how they started. For example, why is the Easter mascot a bunny? Or why do children get rewarded for losing teeth? Robert wondered if any of these stories had an actual origin in the wizarding world. He made a mental note to look for answers someday in the library he'd heard about while reading Hogwarts: A History.

"Have you traveled to anywhere out of England?" asked Margaret, going back to what they'd been talking about before.

"Unfortunately, I have not," replied Robert. "My parents' jobs make it pretty hard to do big trips, so we never really get around to traveling much. We sometimes do day trips somewhere near London, but I think this is the first time I've actually left England."

Robert heard a cat meow loudly in the hall and noticed that Margaret smiled at the sound. He hadn't had much interaction with cats because of his father's allergies, but they did look cute in pictures. "Are you a big cat fan?" he asked Margaret as he finished his granola bar. He felt much better now hunger-wise, but did have a terrible taste in his mouth after the bar.

Margaret smirked a bit "yeah, I love cats, I have for a while but that's not to say I hate dogs or anything." She added the last part because she had met a lot of people who seemed to think liking cats meant hating dogs when in actuality she loved dogs too and had grown up with her close nabors having dogs and often visiting them. She remembered some of the times that the nabors had gone on vacation and left their daughter or another friend in charge of the dogs and one of the dogs wouldn't eat so she would go over and make the dog feel loved so that she would eat. They were really close with the nabors and had basically become like the dog's second family. "Do you like cats?" Margaret asked "they're not as cruel as people think," she said remembering all those dumb stereotypes she had heard about cats being evil and dogs being lovey-dovey, which she disagreed with, dogs could be just as mean as cats, clearly shown by guard dogs but that always seemed to be overlooked.

After he answered Margaret planned on asking if he liked dogs and if he had any pets at home or had had a friend or nabor that he saw often and played with their pets

“Yeah, I love cats, I have for a while, but that's not to say I hate dogs or anything,” said Margaret. Robert was a bit confused by why she added the second two statements. He wondered what loving cats had to do with hating dogs. They seemed to be totally unrelated, except for the fact that they both were expressing strong feelings for a type of animal. Robert mentally shrugged. Maybe a side effect of the confidence potion is that it removes some of the mental filter between thoughts and speech, giving you less control over what you say, he thought to himself. Do you like cats?" asked Margaret. "They're not as cruel as people think," she added.

"Well, I actually have not had that much experience with cats," Robert replied. "My father has always been allergic, so we never owned one. We did not even really know anyone who had a cat, just because of how much my dad would sneeze when they were around. They do honestly look really cute in pictures though." Robert sat back and watched the scenery for a bit. It looked as though the trees were back, and the tracks were following a little stream on their side. With a start, Robert realized he should probably say something to keep the conversation moving. "Do you have a pet?" he asked, looking back at her.