Amelia Pond stood at the edge of the lake looking down at the wooden rowboat filled with her soon-to-be classmates. The dark night was only lit by flickering torches, and shadows bounced off every corner.
"Get in the boat, missy." the abnormally large, black bearded man said. His voice was gruff and intimidating, but his eyes were kind and gentle.
Amelia didn't know what to make of him so she reverted to sassiness, "Don't tell me what to do." she huffed, stomping her way into the boat and threatening to tip it.
"He wasn't trying to be rude." said the boy sitting next to her. Amelia looked at him and he cowered slightly.
"Whatever." she said. When she looked at the boy more closely, he seemed vaguely familiar. He had ruffled, brownish hair and deep set eyes. Maybe he sat in her car on the train? The boy gave her a sense of déjà vu. They fell silent, but he kept glancing at her. "What're you looking at?" she snarled.
She felt rather bad being so rude to everyone, but her situation made her very uncomfortable, too many new faces and places, and definitely too many new concepts. Never, in her wildest dreams, had she imagined a place such as this, full of magic and mystery.
Hogwarts Castle loomed over them, as the boat glided forward of its own accord. The boat halted on a swampy landing. The children climbed out immediately, anxious to see the interior of their new home. "Slow down there, children!" the man from the boat yelled after them. Amelia was still standing in the boat, along with the strangely familiar boy.
"What's your name then?" Amelia asked the odd boy.
"Rory. And yours?" He said, holding out a hand awkwardly.
"Amelia." She replied, taking the boy's hand.
The tall man looked at them. "Coming, Ponds?" He asked, preparing to pull the boat to shore.
"What?" Amelia asked him, while she climbed out of the boat with Rory. She could've sworn he had said her last name plural. There was only one of her, wasn't there?
The tall man shook his head, looking a bit dazed. "Hmm?" He looked at her questioningly, as if not knowing what he just said.
"Nevermind." Amelia shook her own head, clearing her mind. There seemed to be an awful lot of strange people at this school so far. She looked back towards the castle, following Rory through the great, oak doors. The spacious hallway with a vaulted ceiling was filled with golden light from the magically lit torches. It was a big change from the slightly creepy lake and forest outside.
She saw a large group of kids about her age, and assumed they must be first years like herself. She joined the crowd and waited to be told what to do. It didn't take long. A man in a black robe strode to the front of the group. Amelia figured he must be a teacher. He wasn't very tall and had slightly greying hair, but he seemed to have the air of authority that was expected from teachers.
"Hello, First Years! Welcome to Hogwarts!" he greeted them from the top of the stairs. "My name is Professor Watson and I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher here. Before we can enjoy the feast prepared for you tonight, you will be sorted into one of four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, or Hufflepuff. Your house will be your home and family for the rest of your seven years at the school. Each house has its own standards and history, and we will try to put you where you will go far. Here at Hogwarts, all the students participate in our House Cup. Throughout the year, teachers can award and take away points. Whichever house has the most points at the end of the year, will earn the House Cup. Now, if we can stay as orderly as possible until your name is called for the sorting hat, that would be great. Once the hat has assessed your strengths and weaknesses it will call out your house and you will go sit at said table. Everybody clear?" He asked.
After a general nod of heads and whispered 'I know what house I'm gonna be in's, the Professor led them through the giant doors he had stood in front of. The next room had an even more jovial atmosphere, as it was filled to the brim with excitedly chattering students. Candles floated overhead, and the ceiling was enchanted to look just like the sky outside. The first years all goggled at the magical room. When the group came in, a few of the older students pointed and laughed, but not mockingly with the exception of one table, which Amelia assumed was Slytherin. Even in her fairly magicless life, she knew that she would prefer to be in the other houses rather than Slytherin.
They were led up to the front of the hall, stopping in front of the teachers' table. The sorting hat sat upon a stool. The professor who had led them in stood next to it.
"Welcome, first years, and welcome back, the rest of you. My name is Professor McGonagall. We are excited to be starting this new year, and we hope it just as exciting for you. First years, the Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden," the headmistress began. She went on with the rules and regulations for first years, introduced the new and old teachers, and then continued to the sorting hat.
To Amelia's surprise, the hat began to sing. She tried to pay attention, but the lyrics were something boring about the school and its history.
Instead, Amelia looked around the room, trying to get a grasp on her surroundings. She focused on the teachers' table, where an assorted group of black robed professors sat, obviously all anxious to get this over with. Amelia noticed one strange man with curly, dark hair, sitting slightly aloof from the others, glancing quickly around the room. He seemed to be taking everything in, until his eyes hovered over one spot. Following his line of vision, Amelia found he was looking the teacher who had led them into the hall. What had his name been?, she thought. Professor Wayward?
But 'Professor Wayward' wasn't paying attention at all, he was staring confusedly at a boy in the first year group. The boy had black, ruffled hair and bright blue eyes. He was standing outside of the main group, obviously distressed by the crowd. Amelia was about to walk over and talk to him, but the hat stopped singing and she knew her name would be called soon. Besides, she probably shouldn't get involved with creepy men's staring contests on her first day at Hogwarts.
"I will now call out your names, you will come up, and then I will place the sorting hat on your head. Gregory Lestrade!" 'Wayward' started, reading the name from a long scroll. A scrawny boy stepped up to the hat, Amelia assumed he must be Gregory. When put on his head, the sorting hat started to mutter something about courage, intelligence, ambition, and loyalty.
Then it screamed out loudly, "Hufflepuff!" Amelia was surprised by how human it sounded, but a lot of things had surprised her since she joined the wizarding world. A few more names were called out.
"Amelia Pond!" the hat shouted. She felt butterflies in her stomach. It was a mix of excitement and nervousness. She was extremely excited to find out her house, but at the same time she wasn't too eager to have that scary, living hat thing go on her head. It looked too big anyway.
Despite her unease, Amelia hopped up the steps with her head held high. She plopped onto the stool when the Professor picked the hat up. She felt the hat envelop her head, and the muttering she heard with Gregory filled her ears.
"Amelia Pond, clever girl are ye. Slytherin might be a good choice for you. But there is some courage inside." It whispered.
"Not Slytherin, you- you- hat!" She bit her lip, realizing how bad of a comeback that was.
"All right," The sorting hat muttered with finality. It then screamed, "Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. Amelia smiled, and set the hat back on the stool, half running to her new house. Gryffindor was known for accepting the brave, and she was proud that the hat had thought of her that way.
Rory Williams anxiously stood in line with the rest of the first years. The ginger girl from the boat sprinted over to the Gryffindor table, a grin of relief spread across her face. The house's older students welcomed her warmly, patting her on the back and offering her their friendship.
Rory found himself smiling too. He was happy for her, especially since he thought he heard the hat considering Slytherin. She was interesting, the Amy girl. He felt like he should know her really well, but she didn't know him. The problem was that neither of them had ever met before Hogwarts, and they would probably never be friends, since there was no way he would get in Gryffindor. First years kept getting called up to the sorting hat, and Rory waited as patiently as possible. The enchanted candles and ceiling had even gotten boring when he looked back at Amy. She was frowning deeply at the boy who had just been called. Rory hadn't been paying much attention to Professor Watson, but he was pretty sure the boy's name was Hamish.
Amy's eyes flashed from Hamish to a professor sitting at the end of the teachers table and then back to Professor Watson. Rory looked at the strange dark haired teacher with an angular face.
"Ravenclaw!" the hat's voice burst throught the man's eyes were locked on Watson, and his lips had curled up in what appeared to be his version of a smile. Professor Watson seemed to be smiling at him too. Creeeeeeeepy, Rory thought. Watson then called out Rory's name, breaking his gaze with the other man and making Rory jump a little.
Rory slowly made his way up to Professor Watson. Of all the things Rory wanted on his head, the sorting hat was not one. When Rory down on the stool, Watson put the hat on his head.
"Eh." the hat said, dissmissively. Rory tried to look at it as it sat upon his head, but he ended up just ended up making a scrunched up, confused face. In the midst of his confusion, the hat yelled "Hufflepuff!" Rory yelped at the tremendous noise, but it was drowned out by cheers from the table lined with gold. Rory could've sworn that the hat said more to the others, but he shrugged it off and raced towards his house table.
Gregory Lestrade, the only other first year boy who had been picked for Hufflepuff so far, patted the spot next to him. "Over here, Rory!" he said. Rory took the seat gladly, Gregory seemed like a nice boy.
He glanced over at Amy at the Gryffindor table, and saw how happy she was. He knew she wasn't happy for him, but it didn't matter. He was content to be in Hufflepuff, the children seemed kind. They were known for being loyal friends, and he was happy that the hat picked him for this without question.
Professor Watson finished with the rest of the first years, sending the last student, something Anderson, walking up to the Slytherin table, smirking. He then stepped up to the podium with a giant gold owl on the front and proceeded with introducing the headmistress, Professor McGonogal. She began a speech introducing Rory and the other first years to the school and then went on to talk about topics that Rory didn't understand, being a first year.
"Now, you may feast!" McGonogal said, finishing her speech.
A plate overflowing with delicacies appeared in front of Rory. Greg, as he had told Rory to call him, stuffed his face with as much food as he could. Rory gladly did the same, although a bit more elegantly. When everyone had polished off the dessert platters, most of the students got up and wandered around the hall, talking to their friends.
Rory surveyed the area, looking for Amy's bright ginger hair. He found her in the corner, talking to the strange black haired boy, Hamish. Rory went over to her. He wanted to redeem himself from the boat ride. He mustered up the courage to walk over and quietly said, "Hi."
Amy looked at him. Her eyes softened. Rory thought he saw a gleam of affection in her eyes, but then dismissed the thought, knowing it was probably just his imagination. "Hey. Rory, right?" she asked.
Rory nodded bit too vigorously. He was excited. Maybe they could become friends or something. The Hamish boy studied hm carefully. Rory was about to ask for a proper introduction, when four different voices rang out through the Great Hall. Rory turned and noticed the Hufflepuff prefect herding the Hufflepuffs back towards the house common room. Rory sighed. His one chance to talk to Amy and the prefect ruins it.
"Um, I should probably, er, be going now, but see you guys around." Rory said as he reluctantly started to walk away.
"Uh, okay. See you around!" Amy said sounding rather reluctant as well.
Rory heard Amy bid Hamish goodbye too and rush back to the Gryffindors. Rory followed the other first year Hufflepuffs out of the Great Hall. He was suddenly aware of how tired he was after the long day. He allowed himself to be led through the stone hallways of Hogwarts and barely acknowledging the way to get into the common room. The second he reached his new room he collapsed on the four post bed. Rory hoped tomorrow would be better.