I grip the handle of my trolley and watch as witches and wizards run toward the piller that leads to platform 9¾. One witch runs straight for it and I glance around to see if any muggles had saw what was happening, but none of them seemed to be paying any attention. I look to my sister and she nods with encouragment.

With a final goodbye to my parents I turn back to the piller and steady my breath. Closing my eyes, I run toward the wall. The change in atmosphere is almost instant and I open my eyes. The thing that catches my eye is the train. My eyes widen as I catch sight of it. This is what I will have to travel on to Hogwarts! I smile to myself and turn to see Leah appearing out of the wall.

"Wow!"
Her eyes dart around, taking everything in. She is practically jumping up and down. Pushing our trolleys, we head to the back of the train where our trunks and owls are taken away. As I watch the man load our trunks onto the train, reality sets in. Me and Leah are going to Hogwarts. Hogwarts School of Wichcraft and Wizardy!

I grab Leah by the arms and squeal, "We're going to Hogwarts!"
She looks at me staight in the face and replies with a sarcastic, "No, really?"
She tries to keep up her serious face, but she can't and we dissolve into laughter. Once our laughter has died down to small giggles, we board the train and search for a compartment to sit in.

Who would have thought that a train can have so many compartments! After looking in about 6 of them, we find one that is just occupied by a girl with red hair. Leah mouths to me 'ask her' so I knock on the door and slide it open.
"Excuse me, do you mind if we sit here?"
She looks up from her book and smiles. "Sure, I was getting bored of sitting here alone."

I smile at her, and take the opposite seat. Leah nudges my foot and glances at the red head. I look at her with confusion and she rolls her eyes at me.
"So, what's your name?"
The red head looks at Leah and replies, "I'm Lily. What are your names?"
"I'm Leah, and this is my sister Aria."

The red head- Lily- looks at us both with confusion. "You don't look like sisters."
I smile and say, "Leah got mums hair, I got dads."
People often mistake us for cousins or friends because of the fact that Leah is blonde and I have black hair. I mentally curse my dad; I wish I got mums hair.

Lilys mouth forms an 'o' shape and looks down at her book. A silence falls over us, and I stare at the floor. I don't think anyone has hoovered in here for a while.
"What house are you in?" Leah asks suddenly.
Lily places her book next to her and says, "Gryffindor. What are you guys in?"
Me and Leah share a glance and say, "We don't know."

Lilys eyebrows knit together. "But your sixth years, right?"
I open my mouth to answer, but Leah beats me to it. "Yeah, we are but we didn't recieve our letters until last week. We don't know why."
"Well, hopefully you're in Gryffindor. At least you'll know one person."
We smile at each other, and the sound of the door sliding open draws my attention.

A boy around the same age as us with black hair that hangs limply around the side of his face steps into the compartment. Lily looks over and her eyes widen. "Get out." The boy looks down at the ground and says, "Lily, please. I just want to talk."

Lily turns towards the window and ignores him. The boy has a desperate look in his eye. I almost feel sorry for him, but there is something off about him. I know it's not right to make an opinion about someone before you get to know them, but I can't help it. And it's obvious that Lily wants him gone.

Leah clears her throat. "Hi..I'm Leah. This is Aria."
He barely glances in our direction and in a quiet voice says, "Severus."
With that he turns and stalks out of the compartment.

Leah glances at me and raises her eyebrows. I shrug, and turn to look at Lily who is still making a point of looking out of the window.
"So...what was that about?"
Lily shakes her head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"So, how long does it take to get to Hogwarts?"
Lily looks relieved for the change of subject and smiles at me. "About an hour. Do you have your robes?"

I shake my head. "We will be given them when we arrive. In the letter it says to go to the Headmasters office where we will be placed into our houses."
"Oh. Well, you'll like Dumbledore. I think you'll find him interesting."
Leah looks skeptical. "A headmaster who is interesting? I'll believe it when I see it."
-x-

Stretching my arms, I step onto the platform. My heart starts pounding once I realize that soon Leah and I will be arriving at Hogwarts. I remember that our trunks are still on the train, and I ask Lily where to get them from. She tells us that they will already be at Hogwarts with everyone elses. Including our owls.

Lily leads us down the platform, and we stop at a lake with little boats floating idly on the surface. Across the lake, a building that looks like a castle stands proud above the trees. Lily spots me looking and tells me that it is Hogwarts.
I am forced to look away when Leah impatiently tells me to 'get in the boat or I will leave you here'.

I take the time travelling across the lake to observe the others around me. It's hard to tell them apart since the uniform is practically the same. The only thing that seperates them is the colours. Lily told us on the train that the different houses have different colours.

Gryffindor is red and gold, Ravenclaw is dark blue and bronze, Hufflepuff is yellow and black and Slytherin is emerald and silver. Lily told us about the feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin, apparently it goes way back to the founders of the houses.

Stepping out of the boat, Lily, Leah and I make our way to the entrance of Hogwarts. A tall man- oh who am I kidding? He's huge!- with a big bushy beard, who Lily tells us is Hagrid the groundskeeper, leads the first years to the Great Hall.

Leah reminds us that we have to go to the Headmasters office, and Lily agrees to take us there. Walking down the many corridoors which all look the same to me, I think I'll be getting lost quite alot during my time at Hogwarts. We pass a courtyard and a few paintings- that move!- but nothing else really sticks out to me.

Lily stops infront of a door. "This is the office. I have to get to the Great Hall. I guess I'll see you in Gryffindor house. If you're not placed in Gryffindor, I guess I'll see you around."
She gives us one last smile before heading off. Leah knocks on the door, and it opens.

When we see that no one is behind the door, we enter the office. There are many bookcases, glass cabinets and various different objects I have never seen before. At the desk, a man who I presume to be the Headmaster rises from his seat.

"Um..." Leah looks nervous, something I've never really seen before. "I'm Leah. This is Aria."
Dumbledore laughs. "I know who you are. Welcome to Hogwarts."
He disappears into a room at the back of his office and re-enters the room with an old-looking hat.
"This is the sorting hat. It will decide which house you belong in."

"A hat?" Leah doesn't look convinced.
I poke her in the side. "Just go with it, Leah."
Dumbledore tells me to take a seat on the stool that is placed in the middle of the office. I take the seat and he places the sorting hat on my head.

_

Hello everyone! So, this is my first story, so I hope you like it! I haven't read any of the books, so if I get any details wrong, please tell me. Reviews would be appreciated! :)