Gryffindors
The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station and a voice sounded above, instructing the students to exit the train and leave their belongings behind. The four boys joined the throng of students filing into the corridor. They jumped out onto the platform and immediately heard a booming voice shouting over the crowd.
“Firs’ years! Firs’ years, this way!”
Sirius looked around to find the source of the voice, and did not have to wait long to discover it. Remus tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a large man with a bushy beard and beetle black eyes. He was holding a lantern above his head, illuminating a pathway for the first years to take. The boys looked at each other excitedly; it seemed as if they were headed in a different direction from the older students. James, Sirius and Peter knew several things about Hogwarts, but one thing each of their parents had refused to tell them was how they got to the castle.
The large man led the way up a path and they soon found themselves standing in front of a number of boats docked at the shore of a lake. It looked as if they would be sailing to Hogwarts.
The man turned to them and smiled. “No mor’n four to a boat,” he instructed, stepping into a boat of his own.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter hopped into the boat closest to them. Once the boats were full, the man raised a pink umbrella in the air and pointed it forward. Instantly the boats set sail into the moonlit water. The students were whispering eagerly, heads turning and craning in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the castle. One student shrieked when a tentacle surfaced in the water right near her boat. A few of the boys sniggered rudely.
“That’s just the Giant Squid,” Peter said, thinking that this was no reason for a girl to be laughed at.
The Giant Squid did not reappear for the remainder of the boat ride. As they were rounding a bend the large man raised his pink umbrella in the air once more and the students saw he was pointing to the Hogwarts Castle. The sight was more than anyone could have imagined. The castle stood tall with its cavernous passageways and high towers. Flickering lights could be seen through some of the windows, no doubt lit by torches. From all that the boys had heard about the castle from their parents, they saw that nothing could compare to the actual sight.
The boats docked on the shore and the students disembarked with a new feeling in their stomachs. The moment they stepped foot on the shore they became as nervous as they had ever been. What magic did they know? Very little, and certainly not enough to get by. Then again, that was precisely the reason they were there “ to learn. This fact still did not empty their stomachs of butterflies. They trailed behind the large man and soon enough they found themselves standing in an entry way made of marble. There was a grand staircase and at the very top was a strict looking woman wearing emerald green robes.
“Professor McGonagall,” the man said when they reached the top landing. “I have the firs’ years for yeh.” He swept an arm across the first years, causing the students directly behind him to duck.
Professor McGonagall looked around the man and surveyed the first years through her square spectacles. “Thank you, Hagrid,” she said to the large man. “I will take them now.”
“O’ course, Professor,” Hagrid said, smiling and making his way down the staircase (the students parting to make room).
Once Hagrid had disappeared, Professor McGonagall returned her gaze to the new students before them. “Welcome to Hogwarts,” she said. “In a few moments you will head into the Great Hall where you will join your classmates for the Sorting Ceremony. You will be Sorted into one of the four houses “ Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts your house will be your family. Your achievements will gain you points, while any rule breaking will lose you points. I will return when they are ready for you, I suggest you prepare yourselves before I get back.” Professor McGonagall swept by and disappeared in the same direction Hagrid had gone in.
“All we do is try on a hat, right?” Remus asked apprehensively as he looked about and discovered several students muttering spells under their breath and otherwise appearing quite frightened.
“That’s what my dad told me,” James said, suddenly sounding unsure if the information had been correct.
“Well, my parents told me the same thing,” Peter said, Sirius nodding in agreement.
“I hope I don’t end up in Slytherin,” James said. “I would jump back onto the train and go home.”
Sirius grimaced. “I’d be treated like a king if that happened.”
“What d’you mean?” Peter asked curiously.
“My whole family is Slytherins, except for my cousin Andromeda. She was a Ravenclaw.”
“But you don’t want to be in that house, do you?”
“No! Merlin, no!”
“My dad’s side has always been in Ravenclaw,” Remus said, trying to divert the attention off Sirius, who looked slightly uncomfortable. “So it wouldn’t be bad being in that house.”
“Ravenclaw’s a great house,” James agreed, nodding.
“Follow me,” said the sharp voice of Professor McGonagall as she reappeared behind the first years. “They are ready for you now.”
An eerie quiet settled over the first years. They trailed behind Professor McGonagall, a feeling of dreading falling upon them. Professor McGonagall led them through enormous double doors and into the dining hall where the rest of the school had assembled. The ceiling above did not appear to be a ceiling at all; it looked as if the room simply opened up to the skies. The clear, starry night was reflected in the ceiling which, as a girl behind the boys mentioned, was enchanted to look like the sky.
At the head of the hall was the Staff Table. Sitting at the very centre of the table was a man with a long silver bead and silver half-moon spectacles. He was wearing a set of purple robes and was busy surveying the hall, his eyes falling on the first years. Situated in front of the Staff Table was a three-legged stool with a patched and frayed old hat.
Professor McGonagall led them to the hat and she pulled out a long scroll and unfurled it.
“When I call your name, you will come and try on the Sorting Hat,” she explained. “Once you have been Sorted you will take your seat with your new house mates.” She looked at the scroll. “Abbot, Allison!”
A girl with blonde plaited hair jumped in her spot and scurried up to the stool. Hat on head, she waited rather impatiently and nervously for it to shout out her new house.
“HUFFLEPUFF!” the Sorting Hat proclaimed. The table at the far right of the room began cheering loudly and Allison joined them, grinning broadly.
“Black, Sirius!” Professor McGonagall called.
Sirius groaned in his place, muttering that he hated having a surname that started with a B. Nevertheless, he walked confidently to the stool and sat down. Once the Sorting Hat was placed on his head, he was shocked to hear a voice speaking in his ear.
“Hmm,” the Hat was saying curiously. “You’re not like the many other Blacks that I’ve Sorted. Don’t you want to join them in Slytherin?”
“No,” Sirius thought furiously. “Anywhere but there.”
“Well, you are different, aren’t you? If you don’t want to be in Slytherin then surely you want to be somewhere your family won’t approve of. If that’s how you want it, I know the only house for you. GRYFFINDOR!”
Sirius sighed in relief. He almost considered thanking the Sorting Hat out loud, but thought better of it. He turned and hurried to the middle table that was cheering for him, though it was a stunned cheer. Obviously several of them had heard that Blacks almost always ended up in Slytherin. Sirius was determined to prove that theory wrong. Seated comfortably amongst the Gryffindors, Sirius returned his gaze to the Sorting Ceremony. There were several Ravenclaws; maybe Remus would end up there like his father had. There were also a number of Hufflepuffs, but very few Slytherins. He had been lucky not to end up there.
“Evans, Lily!” Professor McGonagall called.
A girl with auburn hair and bright green eyes walked timidly up to the Sorting Hat and sat down. She was sitting for a few minutes before she was declared a Gryffindor. She appeared to be very pleased about this and chose a seat a few places down from Sirius. He caught her eye and smiled. They were the only two Gryffindor first years at the moment.
Some time later, after Professor McGonagall consulted the list, she called out, “Lupin, Remus!” Unless Sirius’s eyes were cheating him, Professor Dumbledore seemed to sit up straighter in his chair.
Remus swallowed hard and walked forward, trying to ignore the fact that some of the staff members were eyeing him as if he was something they had never seen before. They all knew the nature of his condition; it had been part of the agreement his parents had made with Professor Dumbledore when he had admitted Remus into Hogwarts. Did this fact mean that they had to stare at him like he was a time bomb about to explode? Remus was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely registered the small voice in his ear.
“Well, well, well,” the Sorting Hat was saying in a mildly impressed voice. “They always said Dumbledore was the living example of genius being one step away from insanity.” Remus raised his eyebrow, even the Sorting Hat thought this idea was pure ludicrous. “I’m not suggesting that. I was simply saying that I have never had to Sort one of your kind before.”
Remus gritted his teeth, the Hat really should have quit while it was ahead. “Can you please just Sort me?” he thought, trying to remain patient.
“Very well. I see you wouldn’t mind being in Ravenclaw, your father would be extremely proud of you. But I also see that you want friends, and one of the boys you hope to become friends with is in Gryffindor. Certainly you would want to go there? This is indeed difficult. Well, the one place I’m sure you’ll be happy in is GRYFFINDOR!”
Remus hadn’t realised how long he had been sitting in that stool; the students seemed surprised when the Sorting Hat finally placed him. He took the seat beside Sirius, who clapped him on the back and said that that was probably record timing for a Sorting. Remus didn’t know whether to be pleased or scared by this statement, so he just smiled and nodded.
“Pettigrew, Peter!” Professor McGonagall said.
Peter squeaked from his spot in the line, and dashed up to the stool. The Sorting Hat fell over his eyes, obscuring his view of the rest of the hall. The voice appeared in his mind as the Sorting Hat began making its decision.
“You’re also an interesting candidate,” the Hat mused. “Too many of you today. I like many easy placers. Well, you have a will to prove yourself to others, that’s some Slytherin in you.” Peter’s insides froze; he did not want to be in Slytherin. “But you don’t want to be in Slytherin, I see. That narrows down the choices, doesn’t it? You do have a strong sense of loyalty. You must be in GRYFFINDOR!”
Peter grinned, relieved that he had not ended up in the house he most dreaded. He took the seat across from Remus and Sirius, who both congratulated him. They turned their attention back to the Sorting, as right after Peter came,
“Potter, James!”
James walked up to the Sorting Hat with a bit of a swagger; he knew where he wanted to be.
“Ah!” the Sorting Hat exclaimed. “You’re just what I’ve been waiting for, someone easy to Sort. GRYFFINDOR!”
Once again the Gryffindor table erupted into applause as James took the seat beside Peter. The Sorting Ceremony began to round off as the remainders of the students were Sorted. They noticed in particular a boy with greasy shoulder length hair, his name was Severus Snape and he became a Slytherin.
The Sorting ended with “Zabini, Abrac,” becoming a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat and the stool away. The students fixed their attention now upon Headmaster Dumbledore, who had stood in his place.
“To all those new, welcome!” he said, his eyes falling on some of the first years. “To all those old, welcome back! I ask you now to please enjoy the feast!”
The golden platters on the tables suddenly filled with food and the students, ravenous from the long train ride, began eating.
“Remus, I thought you were never going to be Sorted,” Sirius said as he piled roast potatoes onto his place.
Remus grinned nervously, and kept his eyes on his plate. “Well… I dunno, I guess I was just a hard person to place.”
“Same thing happened to me,” Peter said sympathetically, choosing to not divulge the bit of information that included him being a good Slytherin.
“Professor Dumbledore seemed a bit interested in it too,” Sirius added unthinkingly.
“Interested in what?” Remus asked, guarded.
“Your Sorting.”
“Oh… well… isn’t he interested in everybody’s?”
“He looked particularly interested in yours.”
Remus said nothing. Instead he continued to eat his food, not enjoying it but needing something to do that would make Sirius realise the subject was closed. Sirius did seem to notice that Remus had become uneasy and therefore changed the subject to Quidditch. He and James agreed that Quidditch was the best invention out there (besides the Dungbomb) and they couldn’t wait to see the first match of the season. James really wanted to play on the Gryffindor team, but Sirius made a point to mention that first years never made the team, no matter how good they were.
“Then next year,” James said confidently.
“Why! First years!” came an unexpected voice from below. James, Remus and Sirius turned to see that Peter had frozen over his plate. A pearly, translucent head was coming out of it. The figure came fully out of the table and surveyed the students around him. Some of the older students waved merrily at the ghost, while others continued eating, as if this was an every day happening, which, in their case, it probably was. “Welcome to Gryffindor!” the ghost said cheerfully, holding out a hand to Remus, presumably for him to shake.
“Um…” Remus said slowly, did the ghost expect him to shake his hand?
“Oh, I’m sorry!” the ghost said apologetically.
“Hullo, Sir Nicholas!” said an older student.
“Wait,” James muttered, realisation dawning. “You’re Nearly Headless Nick?”
Sir Nicholas scoffed irritably and pulled at the scruff of his collar.
“Nearly headless?” Lily Evans asked curiously.
“I don’t pride myself on being nearly headless, thank you very much,” he told her tetchily. “My full name is Sir Nicholas De Mimsy Porpington and that is how I wish to be addressed.”
“That’s a long name, isn’t it?” Sirius said, a grin playing at his lips.
Sir Nicholas rolled his eyes and floated away, muttering something that sound distinctly liked “blunt ax.” Remus looked around and saw several other ghosts floating around the hall. There was one he noticed in particular, the ghost was seated at the Slytherin table and appeared to be covered in silver blood. He turned to Peter and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hmm?” Peter asked, looking up from his dish of chicken.
“Who’s that ghost over there?” Remus asked, pointing a finger over his shoulder.
Peter twisted around in his chair to get a better look and spotted what Remus was referring to.
“Oh, I’ve heard of him. That’s the Bloody Barron,” Peter said. “He’s the Slytherin ghost.”
“Why’s he covered in blood?”
Peter shrugged. “I don’t think anyone knows except him.”
The dinner cleared and was soon replaced by a large round of pudding. James and Sirius, who had eaten nearly everything in reach, still managed to find room for seconds on pudding. Peter and Remus shook their heads in wonder; there was no possible way that they could handle more food than they already had. Still, they managed to scrape down a few biscuits. Once the food had cleared away and Professor Dumbledore stood up, the hall fell silent.
“Now that we have all been befuddled in this delicious feast, I have some start of the term notices to hand out,” Dumbledore said pleasantly, his silver beard glittering. “As many of you may or may not have noticed, a new plant has been planted on the grounds. It is a Whomping Willow and I must warn you that it is an ill-tempered tree. It will not hesitate in the slightest to harm any who go too near.” There was a wave of curious whispers from the older students, who couldn’t imagine why such a tree had been planted on the school grounds. But Dumbledore, however, did not elaborate on this. “Please be reminded that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students, hence the appropriate title.
“Any student wishing to play on their house’s Quidditch team may speak with Madam Sparks about tryouts. We are also in dire need of a commentator, so anyone wanting to commentate may also speak with her. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, wants me to remind you all that magic in the corridors is forbidden. I think that is all you will need to know for now. Prefects, please escort your house to their common room. Good night.”
The benches scrapped against the floor as the students stood up to follow their prefects. Remus, Sirius, James and Peter looked around and saw a girl with blonde hair calling for the first years to follow her. She led them through the Entrance Hall and up the flight of stairs they had gone up with Hagrid. They were led to the staircases, which moved from floor to floor, quickly changing their paths when they saw fit. The people in the portraits moved from frame to frame, watching in fascination at the new first years.
“Please mind the staircases,” the prefect said bossily. “They change from time to time, so you want to watch them.” She led them down a corridor once they got off the stairs and at the very end was a life-size portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress.
“Here is the portrait of the Fat Lady,” the prefect explained, gesturing to the woman in the painting. “This is the entrance to Gryffindor Tower and the common room. The password to get in is Fairy Lights.” The portrait swung aside, revealing an opening that they climbed through. When they came to the other side, the first years discovered they were in a warm room lit by a crackling fire. The room was furnished with scarlet, squashy armchairs and tables for them to do their work on. “First years, your dormitories are up these stairs, boys on the left and girls on the right. Good night, then.”
The first years broke up, the girls going to their room and the boys going to theirs. The boys approached a door labeled “First Years” and when James pushed the door open they found a circular room complete with five four-poster beds. Their trunks were already next to their designated beds, waiting to be unpacked.
“There’s my bed, I think,” James said, pointing to the one closest to the door. He knelt down beside the trunk and pushed it on its back. “Yeah, this is my trunk,” he confirmed upon seeing the gold inscription of “J.P.” on the top.
“There’s mine,” Remus said, moving over and sitting down on the bed next to James’s. He unclasped his trunk and pushed it open. On the very top of his robes and other clothing he saw the lunar chart his parents had gotten him. He turned to the month of September and saw, with shock, that the full moon was on the fifth, he hadn’t realised it was so soon. He groaned inwardly, that tree Professor Dumbledore had been talking about, the Whomping Willow, was there for his use. When the time came for the full moons he would be smuggled out of the castle and through the Whomping Willow. So many precautions had to be taken; a building and a tunnel had been built in Hogsmeade just for his use. He didn’t like the idea of it, but if he wanted to go to school, he had to deal with it.
“You okay there, Remus?” Sirius asked from his bed on Remus’s right.
Remus’s head jerked up and he saw that Sirius was watching him. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’m fine. So, who do you reckon the fifth bed is for?”
At the precise moment that these words came out of Remus’s mouth the dormitory door burst open and a fifth boy came in. He had a mass of black hair on his head and a pair of gold framed glasses. He smiled at his new roommates and immediately located his four-poster bed.
He sat down on it and turned his attention to the four boys. “Hi,” he said cheerfully. “I’m Frank Longbottom.”
“Sirius Black,” Sirius said. Then, gesturing to the others in the room, he introduced them before they could even try. “That there’s James Potter. That’s Peter Pettigrew, and he’s Remus Lupin.”
Frank smiled at each of his roommates and began to pull the hangings around his bed, announcing that he was going to sleep early, as he would need a lot of time to discover where all of his classes were the next morning. James, Remus, Sirius and Peter thought this was a good idea, they were guaranteed to get lost at least once; they needed all the time they could get. So, each boy pulling the curtains around their beds, they got ready for bed and their first day at Hogwarts.