Harry Potter was more than a little nervous as he sat in his compartment waiting to arrive at Hogwarts. But at least he had been able to make friends with Ron Weasley, an incredible stroke of luck for him, because being hidden away from everyone but Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley hadn't done much to improve his social skills. Harry's aforementioned new friend was currently telling Harry everything he knew about Hogwarts, which Harry thought wasn't much for someone who had been born and raised in a wizarding family.

"-four different houses: Gryffindor for the brave, Ravenclaw for the wise, and Hufflepuff for the loyal. Oh, and Slytherin, for whoever's too dumb to get into the first three houses," Ron said. "I hope I get to be in Gryffindor. All my brothers got in."

"If so many people in your family went to Hogwarts, then shouldn't you know more about the school? Like what they do there?" asked Harry.

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a blond-haired boy bursting in their compartment followed by two fat guys twice his size.

"Ah, Harry Potter," he drawled. Then noticing Ron he said, "Hanging out with the wrong type already-"

Harry was annoyed by this kid - Malfoy, he remembered - interrupting him and Ron, so he decided to take the direct approach.

"Get lost, Malfoy. Can't you see I'm busy."

Malfoy's face reddened, but Harry just turned his back on him. For a second, he seemed to be considering telling the two guys behind him to attack, but then thought the better of it.

"You'll regret this, Potter," he said. And then they finally exited the compartment, slamming the door behind them. Harry told Ron, who had just been looking back and forth between Harry and Malfoy, mouth open, to continue whatever he was going to say.

"Well, it's kind of weird, actually. They say that Hogwarts has changed a lot recently. Now it's pretty mysterious, even more than it used to be." Ron looked around, as if checking if someone had snuck in the compartment with them. There was nobody in sight. "Some even say that it's been taken over by a dark wizard. But they can't shut the school down because- well it's not like everyone is going in normal and coming out a death eater."

Just then, the compartment door slid open, and a round-faced boy stumbled in, a girl with slightly overgrown front teeth trailing behind him. And that effectively ended the conversation for the rest of the train ride.

Which kind of sucked, because Harry didn't really understand half the things Ron said. Like what was a dark wizard?

With a screech, the Hogwarts Express stopped moving. Harry was feeling apprehensive, now more than ever, especially after all the weird stuff Ron was talking about. He followed Ron out their compartment and off the train, where they found themselves lost in a crowd of students. Harry stood at the edge of a lake with Ron, trying and failing to find anything that looked remotely like a school.

Then Harry heard a voice calling, "Firs' years!" He looked to his left to see Hagrid beckoning towards standing at the edge of the lake. Happy to see a familiar face, Harry made his way over to him.

"Holdin' up, Harry?" (It's been a while since I read the books, so I might mess up with the Hagrid speech.)

Behind Hagrid, in the lake, were a bunch of canoes. The majority of them were already full, with the first years having been herded in, three to a canoe, by Hagrid. By the time they got to the edge of the lake, only one boat was vacant. Harry and Ron clambered in the boat.

"Where's Hogwarts?" asked Harry.

"I dunno. Fred and George said that this was a test; we're going to be attacked by a serpent halfway," said Ron looking nervous. Harry scooted further away from the edge of the boat. Suddenly, the boat dipped alarmingly low in the water. At first, Harry panicked, sure that their canoe was being dragged to the bottom of the lake by a monster. Then he realized that it was just Hagrid who had vaulted into the boat. Which didn't exactly reassure him.

The boats started moving forwards of their own accord. As they glided across the lake, Harry noticed how calm the surface of the lake was. It was pretty hard to believe that a serpent lived in it. He relaxed and turned towards Hagrid.

"So do you work here?" Harry asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"The groun' keeper," was Hagrid's short answer. He seemed troubled, almost nervous. Which wasn't a very good sign, because why would someone who worked at Hogwarts be nervous about going there?

"Is everything okay?" Harry ventured.

"I'm fine!" said Hagrid, a little to forcefully. Then he turned towards Harry facing him for the first time. "Thing's are changin' Harry. Yeh don' wan' to be caught up in everythin'."

Hagrid seemed so different than when he had arrived to tell the Dursleys that Harry would be going to Hogwarts that Harry didn't try to break the awkward silence again until the canoe bumped gently against the other shore. Harry turned his gaze from the lake to the ancient looking building that stood in front of him. Hogwarts.

It was like an old castle, and what with it's stone towers and huge gate, it looked almost exactly like he would expect a school of magic to be like. But it wasn't welcoming. This school looked like a school of dark magic. But before Harry could think more about the sinister vibes Hogwarts was giving off, he noticed that everyone had already started to move towards it's gate.

At the entrance of the school, a thin-lipped woman with a stern face was waiting for them. Her eyes, however, looked way out of place on her face - they were unfocused, almost like she was hypnotized.

"I'll take them from here, Hagrid," she said. Then she took off down the hallway at a brisk pace, forcing everyone else to hurry to catch up.

At the end of the hallway, the woman stopped and turned to face the group of soon-to-be Hogwarts students.

"I am Minerva McGonagall, one of the professors at this prestigious school. You are about to be Sorted in what will be the second most important ceremony this year. Mind your manners. He will be sorting you personally."

And with that, McGonagall marched into a large room, where there were 4 tables where all the students that weren't first years were sitting at. Harry guessed that they were the four houses. The first years filed in and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. Then McGonagall, who had stopped by a stool that was set at the dead center of the room, pulled out a piece of parchment and stood looking at it. Then she turned at faced all the students.

"The Master shall now grace us with his presence!" she said.

Then, a band started playing in the background, and two house elves were hurriedly rolling a red carpet down the hallway from the door. From the door came a group of house elves who were straining to carry a golden litter. On top of the litter was a golden throne, on top of which were multiple cushions, on top of which... was a dirty old hat.

As one, all of the students dropped to the ground, bowing to the hat. The first years were a little slow on the uptake, but they seemed to reach the conclusion that something bad would happen if they didn't copy the other's actions. Even harry dropped down after an elbow to the ribs from Ron.

By now, the litter had reached the stool at the middle of the room, and the litter was set down by the frightened house elves, who then immediately scampered away and shut the doors behind them. When Harry looked back at the stool, the hat had somehow managed to get off the litter and onto the stool. The students then stood from their bowing position.

McGonagall then said, "The Sorting Ceremony shall now begin!"