It seemed half of them were Professors and Ministry employees. Just two were around her age and even they seemed more formidable. There was no way any of them would freeze at the sight of a troll. It was difficult not to feel like she was fourteen years old again, out of Hogwarts, forbidden from magic and surrounded by experienced witches and wizards. She had mostly kept to herself on the train, trying to still the butterflies in her stomach and hoping the others didn’t write her off as useless right away.

When the caretaker spoke she drew her shawl a little closer around her and shifted the bag on her back. That didn’t sound good at all. She tried to smile but it came out like a grimace. She was with Professor Darrow on this, more information would be nice, but perhaps the caretaker had as little idea as they did.

She had to do something partially to avoid being labelled as the useless kid, partially because anything was better than drowning in this tension. Taking a deep breath she walked over to the door and gave it the softest of knocks.