The last remnants of sunlight sneaked below the horizon as the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station. As the train’s brakes screeched, Lily awoke. Groggily she stared at the dark and empty compartment, a profound sense of confusion settling in. But she only had a moment or two to wonder where her traveling companions were before Sirius poked his shaggy head through the door. “Oh, you’re up,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, when did I fall asleep?” Lily asked.

“Um, I think somewhere around the third round.”

Lily blinked in confusion.

“The Third Round of the Quidditch World Cup�”James and I were trying to predict who’d be in it. You don’t remember this? It was between Ireland and Nigeria, and James said that if Pritchard was in top form and Shaughnessy’s foot healed, Ireland would�””

“OK, OK, I remember!” Lily interjected before she was subject to any more prognosticating. “What a shock that I dozed off,” came her sarcastic reply.

Sirius completely missed the sarcasm. “No kidding! We were going to explain some technical maneuvers to you, but you were out cold, so we went to see some of our other friends. You’ll meet them, soon, I’m sure.”

“Oh, all right,” said Lily, feeling very left out and very hungry. Her stomach gave a slight rumble.

“Right!” Sirius exclaimed upon hearing the noise. “I almost forgot�”we saved you one of these. Come on now, let’s get our stuff; James is already off,” he said gaily as he tossed her a small package. She unwrapped it and jumped as a brown frog wriggled out. It smelled faintly of chocolate, but Lily was far too scared to think about this. “Aw bugger, you let it get away!” shouted Sirius as the frog did indeed hop out of the compartment. “Chocolate Frogs,” he explained. “They’re right good to eat when they’re not all rowdy. At least you still get the card, though.”

If the notion of moving candy wasn’t crazy enough for Lily, the notion of moving pictures definitely was. She stared in shock as the small picture of a dashing young wizard winked and blew kisses. “Orestes the Overt” proclaimed the card, and Lily blushed as Orestes moved into a very suggestive position.

“Who’d you get?” asked Sirius as he leaned over to see. “Oh, that randy bloke. He’s a lively one, isn’t he?”

Lily giggled while Orestes started gyrating wildly, then tucked him in her pocket as she stood and followed Sirius out of the compartment, out of the train, and onto the platform.

Through the twilight she could dimly make out a sign proclaiming “Hogsmeade Station” before she was jostled away by the dozens of children congregating on the station platform. The older children marched off to the right clutching cats and hats and toads while the first years grouped themselves awkwardly to the left. A great, booming voice turned them all around, however, as the largest man Lily had ever seen shouted through the crowd. “Firs’ years! Firs’ years! Over here!” Lily gaped at him. It looked like he could fit her entirely in one of his hands.

The giant man smiled at all the dazed faces and introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, “But yeh can just call me ‘agrid,” he said with a wink. “Keeper of the Keys and Grounds up at the school.”

As the first years continued to mill around the giant man, Lily looked around for James and Sirius and found them off to one side, whispering excitedly to each other. She moved up next to them. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Oh, we’re just sizing up the first years,” Sirius said, though his words were barely audible over the thunderous Hagrid.

“Sizing them up? Sizing us up, I mean?”

“Yeah,” James responded. “We’re trying to peg who the other two Gryffindor boys will be.”

James and Sirius had explained the House system to Lily on the train, so at least she knew what a Gryffindor was (and secretly wanted to be one, though she wouldn’t let that slip to either of the boys). “But you said the Sorting happens when we get to the school, right?”

Sirius let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, technically, yes. But you can sometimes tell who’s going to be in what house miles before the Sorting. For instance, everyone from “The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black” has got their slimy arses plunked in Slytherin. I, of course, plan to change that.”

James grinned and nodded. “And I’ll be a Gryffindor, because it generally runs in the family, and every Potter since… well, since ever has been a Gryffindor.”

“And we were talking to Remus, and he figures he’ll be a Gryffindor, too. His mum was, and he said if his dad had been a wizard, he probably would have been.”

Lily couldn’t find anything to say, but her hopes of being a Gryffindor were fluttering away quickly. How could she compete with people like James and Remus? People whose families had always been in the House? Or people like Sirius, who were absolutely determined to be in the House? She only had a vague notion that she wanted to be in Gryffindor, and that was mainly because Sirius and James hardly talked about the other three houses except to insult them!

Perhaps James noticed her forlorn expression. “Lily, don’t worry about the Sorting. You’ll probably be a Gryffindor, too. And if not, you’ll definitely be a Ravenclaw, and that’s the next best house.” He sent her a sincere grin. It was probably the nicest thing James had said in the few weeks she had known him, and it did reassure her a bit.

“But if Potter has anything to do with it, you’ll be in Gryffindor!” Sirius said with a wink that caused James to elbow him in the stomach. Sirius doubled over, but Lily wasn’t sure if it was from the hit or from laughter. James just looked uncomfortable and diverted his eyes. Lily tried to pretend she hadn’t heard anything, but she smiled a little nonetheless.

The sun was setting fast, and Hagrid was now calling for the first years to follow him down a steep, sharp path, single file. Lily walked ahead of Sirius and James who were still whispering. Every once in a while Lily would catch a fragment of a name, but she wasn’t really paying attention. She was mainly trying to drink in her surroundings, which even in the darkening night were magnificent. The night was sort of chilly and Lily was wondering how long the walk to the castle was when she heard Hagrid’s voice announce that they would get their first glimpse of the castle in a few seconds. Sure enough, the path widened and all of a sudden the students were standing on the bank of a grand lake. Its glossy black surface sparkled brilliantly in the light of the full moon, the same moon that was now illuminating the awe-inspiring Hogwarts Castle.

Lily could hardly speak. The castle was absolutely breathtaking. It was just as she had imagined. No, it was better than she had imagined. Even Sirius and James seemed to be a bit struck by its elegance, for they stopped their whisperings for a few seconds. The groundskeeper Hagrid seemed lost in the moment as well: it was a full minute before he came to his senses and told the students, albeit a bit teary-eyed, to board the little boats that were tied to the shore.

“Four to a boat, please!” he called. Lily approached one of the boats, having some serious misgivings about whether or not it could carry her and three other people across a lake… But as she was about to step in the boat, the pallid, waxy-haired boy she had seen on the train with Lucius Malfoy jumped in front of her and into the boat. “Sorry,” he said to her, though he didn’t look it. “This boat’s taken.”

“Oh, I see,” Lily said, stepping back and raising her eyebrows in surprise. That was kind of rude, she thought, but was willing to let it go. Unfortunately, her friends were not.

“Slimy git!” Sirius approached the boat. “That was her boat! Get out of it!”

“Sirius, really, it’s OK. We’ll get into another boat.” Lily was backing away from the situation. She did not want to get into trouble on the first day! No, not even the first day�”the first hour that she was at Hogwarts! If only Remus was here!

“No, Lily, it’s not OK. It is, in fact, really rude. So budge up, greaseball!” James had now joined in the fracas.

But neither Lily nor the boy in the boat had an opportunity to respond. Hagrid had gotten wind of the dilemma and called out, “Hey, whas’ goin’ on over there? Four to a boat; hurry up now!”

Lily grabbed James and Sirius by the arms. “Come on, guys. Really, we’ll just get into another boat.”

The boys followed, but reluctantly, and the threesome found themselves safely seated in another vessel. “You didn’t have to call him greasy,” Lily told James in a low whisper as she climbed in the boat.

“Sirius called him slimy!” James cried in indignation, taken aback that Lily was criticizing only him.

“Well, OK, that’s not much better. I mean, thank you for coming to my rescue and all, but it’s not worth getting into an argument over!”

James just grunted in response and joined Sirius in sending nasty glances over to the boy, whose stolen boat was now filled with three additional boys.

The tense silence was soon broken, however, as a pretty blonde girl approached the boat. “Excellent,” murmured Sirius under his breath, and nudged James in the ribs. Lily suddenly got a distinct feeling that she was not going to like this girl.…

“Hi, mind if I join you? All the other boats are full.”

“Sure! No problem. Step aboard.” Sirius said gaily. Lily snorted at his abundance of glee, and smiled when she noticed the blonde girl seemed to think him rather silly as well.

“Thank you so much. My name is Diana, by the way. Diana Denham.” She reached out and shook their hands in turn. Soon Diana and the boys were deep in conversation about the merits of Gryffindor House. Great, thought Lily, more competition.

The boats glided smoothly across the opaline surface of the lake, through a curtain of damp ivy, through a cavernous underground tunnel, and finally came to rest on a murky, rock-strewn shore that must have been somewhere underneath the castle. As they scrambled out of the boats, Lily noticed a girl with frizzy brown hair and glasses next to her, shivering slightly and muttering something about caves. Hagrid shepherded the students up a pathway cut into the stone, his lantern casting odd shadows along the rock surfaces. A flight of slippery stone steps followed the rocky pathway, and then they were at the massive, carved oak front door of the castle.

Hagrid knocked three times on the door, which was immediately thrown open. A tall woman stood on the threshold. She had a slightly pinched face and looked rather severe, but when Hagrid said, “Here are the firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” she managed a thin-lipped smile.

“Thank you, Hagrid. Follow me, students. And welcome to Hogwarts. As you heard, I am Professor McGonagall. All of you have been receiving correspondence from me all summer long, and I do hope you have followed my instructions explicitly.” She sent them another smile, though it was not quite as reassuring. Lily began to doubt that she had followed all the instructions correctly. Professor McGonagall continued as she ushered the students through the great oaken door. “I am Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts under Professor Albus Dumbledore, your Headmaster. I am also the Transfiguration Master and Head of Gryffindor House.”

Lily saw James and Sirius exchange glances wide-eyed with fright. She smiled. Surely this stern woman would not be as yielding to their mischievous ways as they had hoped. Lily was more concerned about what a “Transfiguration Master” was. It sounded to her more like an action figure than a teacher.

The students got a brief glimpse of the grandiose entrance hall before being led into a small antechamber off to one side. They could hear the low din of hundreds of voices in a room off to their right, but in the dark room filled with first years there was no talking. The students all dutifully listened to Professor McGonagall as she explained the Sorting and the House Championship, then watched as she turned from them and walked out of the chamber.

The silence was punctuated by a few short-lived whispers, but the first years all seemed to be feeling the same nausea-inducing mixture of nervousness and anticipation. Lily felt like she had a hundred Chocolate Frogs hopping around in her stomach. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Professor McGonagall returned, a stool, a hat, and a scroll in her arms. “Follow me, please,” she said curtly, and led the students back through the entrance hall and through a large set of double doors.

If Lily thought the entrance hall was splendid, it was a broom cupboard compared to the room that the students now stood in. The Great Hall was absolutely radiant. Lily wanted to freeze time just so she could adequately take in the sight. She couldn’t decide what she liked more: the huge, crowded tables, the thousands of candles floating in the air, or the resplendent table at the front of the hall and the smiling faces of the teachers that sat there. But then she saw the ceiling. It seemed to be bewitched to mimic the night sky, because Lily saw the same round moon that had just guided their journey across the lake.

She was still staring up at the ceiling when the line started to move. The students marched along the back wall of the room, then up the middle between two of the tables filled with students. Lily’s anxiety kicked into overdrive at the thought of so many hundreds of eyes staring at her, but she kept her head straight and soldiered on. Professor McGonagall lined them up in front of the staff table, and Lily caught a glimpse of a beaming man with the most incredible beard before she turned around to face the other students.

Professor McGonagall next placed the old raggedy hat on a small stool and stepped back. There was a deafening silence in the hall, and Lily wondered if something had gone wrong. But before she could give voice to her concerns, the hat’s brim burst open and, like the hats in Madam Malkin’s shop, began to speak. No, began to sing:

Before she had time to compose her thoughts, though, and actually decide which house sounded best for her, Professor McGonagall had unrolled her parchment, a raven-haired girl had put the hat on, and “Aldeberan, Selene,” became the first Slytherin. Lily watched her prance over to the Slytherin table where she spotted the all-too familiar faces of Bellatrix Black and the rest of the gang. Sirius and James were hissing so loudly they sounded like steaming teakettles.

A corpulent blond boy, “Aubrey, Bertram,” became the first Hufflepuff. Then came “Avery, Deimon,” another shrewd-looking Slytherin. A girl and a boy were then sorted into Ravenclaw, and Professor McGonagall called “Black, Narcissa” to the stool. Over her shoulder Lily could see Sirius gagging himself. Lily giggled, despite the fact that many eyes were still trained upon her. Narcissa�”of course�”became a Slytherin. Then it was time for Sirius.

The hat seemed to take a longer time for him than it had for the other students. At one point, Lily was sure she saw Sirius’s body shaking, as if he was having a good laugh with the hat. Sure enough, after a moment or two more the hat yelled “GRYFFINDOR!” and Sirius emerged, positively beaming. The Gryffindor table looked confused for a moment, but upon registering the looks of abhorrence plastered all over the Slytherins, the whole table broke into applause. As Sirius strode over to join the Gryffindors, he shot one backwards glance at the Slytherins, as if to signify that that part of his life was now over.

A few more students were called up to the stool, and for a while it seemed that Sirius would be the only Gryffindor. But then “Denham, Diana,” the pretty blonde girl from the boat, put on the hat and within moments was pronounced a Gryffindor. Lily couldn’t help but feel her spirits sink just a fraction of an inch, especially when she saw the look James shot Sirius, and how the latter scooted over on the bench to make room for Diana.

She was still looking at the Gryffindor table as “Elphick, Erwin” became a Hufflepuff. And then Professor McGonagall called her name. She heard the “Evans, Lily” as if she was miles underwater and McGonagall was calling to her from on shore. The world seemed to shift in and out of focus, and Lily had the most bizarre feeling that time was slowing down as she walked to the hat. Her insecurities sprang up again, and this time she was sure the hat would tell her what no one else had: that she didn’t belong at Hogwarts, and she should get back on the train and go home.

But the hat, in fact, had other plans for Lily: “Ahh yes, Miss Evans,” a soft voice said in her ear as soon as she was enclosed in the darkness of the hat. “We have a few choices for you, don’t we? You would do all right in Ravenclaw, I suppose, but that’s not what you want, is it now?” Lily didn’t know if she should say something or not, but she thought ‘no,’ and apparently that was enough. “Yes, I thought not,” the hat continued. “It seems that you are somewhat determined to get into old Gryffindor’s house! Great students have come out of that house. Very great indeed. And I think you could be one of them. You’ve got quite a bit of anxiety, that’s true�”perhaps the friendly Hufflepuffs could help you out with that.” ‘No,’ thought Lily again. “Ah ha, I thought you would think that. Just a test, just a test. Yes, I suspected this from the first instant I plopped down on your head. You’ve got all the qualities of a GRYFFINDOR!”

Lily managed a weak smile as she whipped the hat off her head. She looked over to the table and saw Sirius giving her a thumbs-up. No, she saw Sirius giving James a thumbs-up, but as soon as he saw Lily, he hastily put his thumb down, smiled, and beckoned her over to the Gryffindors. All down the length of the table she was greeted and patted and shaken, so by the time she reached Sirius at the end of the table she was grinning quite broadly. He gave her another reassuring smile and Diana Denham congratulated her. Lily inhaled a deep breath and turned her attention back to the Sorting. It wasn’t a mistake! she finally let herself think. And this time, she believed it.

The girl right after Lily, “Goldsmith, Artemia,” had also become a Gryffindor, but Lily didn’t notice until Artemia appeared at her side. Startled, she moved over and Artemia sat down. She was a short black girl with braided hair and a wide smile. “Which of the boys do you want in Gryffindor?” she whispered in Lily’s ear. Lily giggled and answered truthfully that she hadn’t really surveyed them. Artemia grinned and pointed to James. “I’m hoping for him. Although that blond boy isn’t too bad, either!” She had indicated a tall blond boy standing next to the “greasy” boy that had stolen her boat. Lily just gave Artemia a noncommittal grunt and turned her eyes back to the stool, where “Killeffer, Janus” was taking off the hat and walking toward the Gryffindor table. It looked like Sirius and James did not know this boy, as they both just shrugged at each other.

Lily was one of the few in the Great Hall who noticed the gap between “Lovegood, Basil” (“RAVENCLAW!”) and “Lycans, Fiona” (“RAVENCLAW!”). But she looked sideways at Sirius and over to James, both of whom gave her knowing stares. “Lupin, Remus,” should have filled that gap, but none of them knew where he was.

Her thoughts strayed to Remus for a while, and she zoned out of the Sorting. Where on earth was he? It seemed so strange that something would be so important that he would miss his own Sorting! Lily wondered if another boy would take his “place” as a Gryffindor�”at least, take the place that Sirius and James had arbitrarily awarded him. Her fears increased as “Pettigrew, Peter,” the small, mousy boy that had been with the Slytherin gang on the train became a Gryffindor. James and Sirius exchanged a brief look of confusion, but then James was called up to the hat.

While the hat was deliberating with James (which didn’t take very long at all), Lily welcomed Peter. He looked out of place here, too, and nervously took his seat next to Artemia. He was fidgeting with his hands in his lap and every once in a while stealing a glance at the Slytherin table. But nobody over there was paying him any attention, either.

Artemia let out a small cheer when the hat shouted “GRYFFINDOR!” for James. He seemed to be pretty familiar with a few of the older students at the table�”probably friends of the family, Lily surmised. But he reserved his biggest smiles for her and Sirius, and took the spot between them. “Excellent!” Sirius exclaimed. “I don’t think any of the rest of those boys could be a Gryffindor, which means the last place will go to Remus!” Sirius had a point. Lily looked back at the line-up in time to see “Shingleton, Gaspard,” become a Ravenclaw, and only two boys remained to be Sorted. One was a great, burly boy with a distinctively evil air about him (astonishing, as he was only eleven years old and many yards away!), and the other was the boy who had stolen her boat. The boat-boy moved up to the stool next as Professor McGonagall called his name: “Snape, Severus.”

“Did she say Snivellus?” James asked with a grin. Artemia let out a laugh that was perhaps a bit too hearty, but James apparently didn’t notice. Sirius called out, “I knew it!” as Snape was made a Slytherin. Two girls became Ravenclaws, followed by a girl for Hufflepuff, and then the burly boy (“Wilkes, Orcus”) moved over to join Severus Snape at the Slytherin table.

With that, the Sorting was over. Professor McGonagall put away her scroll and carried off the stool and Sorting Hat. There was another silence in the Hall before the Headmaster stood. “Hello, dear friends, old and new. I am your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and all I can say is welcome to a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!”

The “hurrahs” were deafening. All around the Hall, students stood up and clapped. Many began to bang their golden goblets on the tables. A few hopped up on the benches and stamped their feet. Dumbledore smiled broadly as he surveyed the scene. He wore a purple hat and half-moon spectacles, and his eyes were joyful behind them. He raised his hands to quiet the Hall, and the commotion eventually died down.

“Well,” Dumbledore continued, his eyes still twinkling. “Before our excellent feast, I would like to say a few words to you all. As you all know, a school is only as good as its staff and its students, and I know we have the finest of both assembled right here before me, as evidenced by that amazing display of affection for our fair institution. Now for the start-of-term announcements. Due to an unprecedented number of thestral births, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds even for classes until our gamekeeper Hagrid can sort out the situation.” Dumbledore glanced down at Hagrid who gave him a little salute. The Headmaster smiled and turned back to the students: “And after that, I’m afraid the Forest is still very much Forbidden. But you should see the thestrals!” When this remark was met with silence, Dumbledore merely cleared his throat and continued. “Also, our caretaker Mr. Pringle has recently told me that if he finds another Dungbomb anywhere in the school, he will have no choice but to resign. Take that as you will,” Dumbledore concluded mysteriously, though the corners of his mouth were twitching as if he was trying to conceal a smile. Lily noticed that many of the other teachers were disregarding Dumbledore’s discretion and smirking broadly.

“Finally, dear students, I have a few teaching announcements. Professor Alexander Datum has been hired to fill the Arithmancy post vacated by dear Professor Parks. And the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Master will be filled by Professor Vindictus Viridian. Please give all the teachers a round of applause, if you will.”

The students respectfully obeyed. Lily saw Sirius lean over to James and heard him say, “Viridian for Dark Arts! Excellent! He’s written some amazing books about jinxes!”

“And now, dear friends,” Dumbledore spoke again with a chuckle. “It is time to eat. To celebrate the superb talents of the Hogwarts kitchen, I have had the staff prepare a bevy of extra desserts for you. A little welcome gift from me to you. I hope that this year, while your teeth may rot, your brains will not! Tuck in!”

Another thunderous round of applause�”or maybe just the sound of hundreds of stomachs rumbling. Lily gaped for about the six-hundredth time that evening as food appeared miraculously on the serving platters and plates in front of her. In the time it took her to marvel at all the food Sirius and James had snatched up most of it, but she managed to salvage a couple of chicken drumsticks, some mashed potatoes and gravy, a piece of lasagna, a goblet of pumpkin juice, and�”of course�”some of the dozens of desserts. If she got to eat like this every day all year long, perhaps she really did belong at Hogwarts!

All too soon the Feast was over, and though Lily felt as if she would need a crane to hoist her upstairs, she got up and followed the Gryffindor prefects through what seemed like miles and miles of staircases and corridors. Finally they arrived in front of a painting of a very fat lady in a pink dress. One of the Gryffindor prefects greeted the fat lady and said to her, “Mundi sapientum!” At the sound of this password the entire portrait swung forward, revealing a hole through which all the Gryffindors crawled.

There was no time to admire the plush common room, though it was very tempting with its warm, crackling fire and careworn sofas and armchairs... The prefects ushered the students to their respective dormitories and soon the common room was empty, its fire dwindling. Lily had barely enough energy to shake hands with the remaining Gryffindor girls�”Marlene McKinnon and Gwendolyn Hightower�”before she collapsed in her bed. She had only been at Hogwarts for a few hours, and yet she knew they were some of the best hours of her life. With this happiness still radiating in her head, Lily fell soundly asleep.