Hogwarts

We were currently standing in a dimly lit dark station with no roof that made the train's red colour stand out even more. The moon silvery glow and the yellow light coming off of the lanterns hung on the walls gave it a warm yet creepy vibe. All the First years were grouped up and waited, until a giant man holding a lantern came walking towards us.

He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least three times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, with wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hiding most of his face, He had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. As he walked a low thud could be heard, it was simply shocking.

"Rubeus Hagrid" I murmured, which seemed to catch Hermione's attention.

I was shocked, one thing was to read about Hagrid and another was to see him in person. Not to mention the movies, they aren't even worth mentioning. "Hello Harry!" said Hagrid as he lifted his lantern to light up the faces of the first years. "Hello Hagrid!" said Harry as he waved at Hagrid.

"How did you know his name?" Hermione asked inquisitively.

"Nothing escapes you does it, Hermione?" I asked rhetorically while looking at her briefly before continuing. "Simple, I saw him at Diagon alley, and with him was the same boy," I said while pointing at Harry. " I naturally overheard his name in passing." I lied. Not that it mattered since she believed me.

With a nod, she looked back towards Hagrid. I did the same as his voice echoed through the station. "cam'on then, first years follow me." He yelled before turning around and walking towards the pier.

"Hop into em boats there in groups of four," he said pointing towards the boats with the hand holding the lantern. Hermione, me and two others got into a small boat and it began to magically move without needing to row.

As we peered at the castle I couldn't help but be stunned. Something about castles on a mountain with the moon positioned perfectly behind it gave off an awe-inspiring presence. The old stone rocks that made up the walls of the castle still stood tall even after so many years.

"Tom, is this really where we will be studying?" she asked me without taking her eyes off of the castle. she was transfixed on it, I could almost see stars in her eyes. I chuckled softly before nodding.

"it seems to be the case, but we better make the most of these next seven years. There will be few opportunities presented to us that will allow us to obtain so much knowledge so easily." I advised seriously.

She seemed to agree as she nodded silently while still observing the castle. We soon made it to the Hogwarts pier and disembarked before making our way up the winding grey stone steps and into the Hogwarts courtyard. Under the guidance of Hagrid, we came to the steps that led to massive double doors where we met Professor McGonagall that seemed to be waiting for us.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," said Professor McGonagall.

She then turned towards us and spoke succinctly, " Follow me please".

She waved, signalling to follow her as she soon led us up a flight of marble stairs that led to the upper floors. The ceiling was so high up that it was hard to make out and the torches on the wall gave off a medieval feeling. We soon came upon another set of doors, through which a drone of hundreds of voices could be heard. Probably the rest of the school, I thought silently.

Professor McGonagall turned around sharply before starting her small speech.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses.

They are, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin," she said while looking at all the students, her gaze lingering on me a few moments longer. Is she still salty about the cat thing? I wondered.

Hermione leaned in and whispered, "Do you know her? she seemed to look at you a bit longer than others," she said observantly.

I nodded "yeah, she was the one that took me to Diagon alley to get my school stuff." I said, avoiding the fact that I probably offended her.

"The Sorting of house is very important, while you are here, your house will be akin to your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room," she said before continuing to explain about the point system and rambling on about each house producing extraordinary wizards blah-blah-blah. I zoned out for a while before coming to my senses for the final bit.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes, I will be back shortly," she said before leaving through the big doors in front of us. As soon as she left the voices of the other students broke out into a whisper as they talked about what they were thinking to the person next to them.

But that didn't last long because of the little loser Draco Malfoy. The same scene that happened in the movie occurred, he walked up to harry and you know the rest. I yawned extra loudly which drew the attention of the two parties.

"What a boring show, can you two leave it alone, I did not come here to listen to two stupid kids bicker," I said in annoyance. This angered both parties and of course, the hot-headed Idiot Ron Weasley just had to step in. but as soon as his mouth opened to say something Professor McGonagall walked back and silenced us.

"The time has come, follow me quietly," she said looking at us sternly before pushing the doors open effortlessly. The discordant sound of hundreds of kids talking died down almost instantly when we walked in.