So this is a chapter for a new story. I'm not sure how it will go yet. But I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

From the day I met him on the train, I had always been jealous of Harry Potter. I had been looking for Trevor, my toad. I walked into his compartment and was immediately overcome with envy. There he was, sitting with someone and sharing sweets, and hooting above him was an owl. I had always wanted an owl, but Gran said I could never have one because I'd forget to take care of him. I won't say she wasn't well justified in this answer, but still, this boy had an owl.

He also had a compartment mate that didn't seem to be annoying him at all. Meanwhile I was stuck with some girl named Hermione Granger who was already wearing her robes and wouldn't shut up about all the books she'd read. Come on, how much could you learn from books anyway? I really hoped she wasn't in my house at Hogwarts. I finally managed to work in that I needed to look for Trevor, just so I could leave. Then what does she say?

"Oh, I'll come with you. I read all about toads in primary school. I know exactly the places they like to hide, such as cool…" I tuned her out after this. So now I was stuck with her again. I was almost in tears by the time I'd stowed off into Harry's compartment. He and his friend seemed nice enough, but they weren't very helpful in helping me find my toad. So I went back to my compartment, hoping that the bushy-haired, buck-toothed know-it-all would keep searching. But she caught up with me and dragged me back. So I had to go in there with her and she started talking to them about magic. The red-haired boy tried some sort of spell that sounded made up to me. It didn't work. Hermione just had to point out how she'd been practicing all these spells. The boys introduced themselves and that was when I officially met Ron and Harry.

They seemed just as annoyed by her as I was. I shared a look with Ron when she started talking about how Harry had defeated You-Know-Who. We knew all of this. I mean were wizards after all. I was rather surprised to learn that he didn't know he was in all these books. She quickly switched to talking about houses, and, again, all I could think was how I was hoping she wouldn't be in my house. We left and I went back to my compartment. Hermione decided to check with the conductor on how close we were. I didn't care. I was just happy she wasn't in the compartment anymore.

I changed into my robes and then we finally got to Hogwarts. Somehow Hermione ended up in a boat with Harry and Ron and me. As we crossed the lake, I couldn't help noticing all the wonderful greenery surrounding the lake and castle. Plants had always fascinated me and I couldn't wait to learn more about them. We passed under a curtain of Hedera as we entered an underground cave. We got out of the boats and the giant man looked right at me.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" he said, holding out

"Trevor!" I was delighted as I held out my hands. The giant knocked three times on the castle door, and we walked in. Once we got in the castle, we were greeted by a stern looking woman named Professor McGonagall. Once I heard the name, I realized why she looked familiar: she was one of Gran's friends. She led us to a smaller room off the main entrance hall and talked to us as a whole group.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "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. The Sorting is a very
important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like 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." I was getting nervous. I had been trying to forget we still had to be sorted. She talked about the different houses and how if we performed well we'd earn points and by breaking rules we'd lose points. I'd have to be careful. I wasn't really a rule breaker by choice, but I did have a tendency to forget what the rules were.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," she looked right at me when she said this and then shifted her gaze to Ron. I quickly looked down to see why she had scrutinized my appearance. In my annoyance at Hermione, I had managed to fasten my cloak under my ear. I fixed it quickly as everyone around me talked about how the Sorting Ceremony would work. Ron's theory was that we'd have to take a magic test in front of everyone. I almost laughed. Uncle Algie had told me that a hat decided where we went. I was about to point this out, but then all these ghosts popped through the wall and scared everyone.

Professor McGonagall came in and we entered the hall. The Hat sang a song and then Professor McGonagall called us up front by name. I watched as my classmates were called up and sorted into different houses. A pretty blonde girl named Hannah went first and was sorted into Hufflepuff. The line continued to get shorter. Hermione sat there for a while, but ended up being sorted into Gryffindor. I was pleased because there was no way I'd be in Gryffindor. Finally Professor McGonagall called out, "Longbottom, Neville." I walked up to the stool (falling on my way up) and sat down. She put the hat on my head and I heard a voice in my ear.

"Ah…Neville Longbottom," he said, "An easy choice. How does Gryffindor sound?"

"Not Gryffindor," I pleaded thinking of Hermione, "How about Hufflepuff?" I asked thinking of Hannah. The Hat laughed.

"Hufflepuff? You're far too brave to be in Hufflepuff!" Brave? Me?

"I think you've got it wrong," I thought, "I barely had enough magic to get into Hogwarts. And I'm not brave. I'm scared all the time."

"You're braver than you know, Neville Longbottom," he said, "Even braver than Harry Potter, I think. You'll prove that to yourself someday."

"What do you mean? I belong in Hufflepuff," I thought, "Nothing about me is brave."

"You are wrong about that," the Hat said, sounding exasperated, "Think of all the things you've been through. Losing your parents when you were young and having to help around the house with your Grandmother. You've got all of your parents' bravery and more."

"But-,"

"No more arguing with me. GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shouted to the Hall. I was so distraught thinking about my parents that I forgot to take the Hat off. I ran back to hand it to Morag MacDougal. As I went back to the Gryffindor table I looked around. Hannah Abbott gave me a sad smile from the Hufflepuff table. I smiled back.

Then I took a seat next to Hermione.

I groaned. Why was it always me?

So what did you think? Let me know :)