A/N: This is the first Harry Potter story I wrote, but I posted it after my other two stories (True Bliss and The Flight of a Feather). I hope you like it!
Laurie walked along her usual route to a deserted castle.
The castle was made out of stone and it had a little swamp next to it which must have once been a lake.
She never entered the castle because it was dark and scary enough to creep anyone out, there was a sign that read "DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE" hanging over the big wooden door, and because there was a large gate blocking her way in.
She carefully stepped over an old tree root and walked along the dirt path that lead to the eerie castle. After about ten minutes, she reached the clearing at the end of the path and saw the shadowy castle.
Laurie strolled over to the familiar gate and held onto the rusted iron bars. She peered between the bars and looked at the the very large castle with a closer veiw then before. She could see that the castle had towers built on top that were big enough to hold a small room.
"If only I could explore inside..." Laurie thought.
Most people would have run away at the sight of the ghostly castle, but Laurie was particularly brave.
She bent down and picked up a stick. She walked beside the gate letting the stick gently bang across the iron bars. The stick then hit a padlock that locked the gates together.
Now Laurie was more determined then ever to get past the gates.
She impaciently shook the gate but it would not move. She gave one last impacient tug and gave up.
"It's no use," she said to herself.
She threw the stick at the gate as hard as she could.
Then she put her hands in her pockets and headed home.
Right when she turned her back, she heard the hinges slowly giving way.
She looked over her shoulder and saw the gate slowly creaking open behind her.
Laurie pushed her straight, brown, elbow-length hair behind her ears and slipped between the gate doors.
Now that she was excited, she broke into a run and ran up to the big wooden doors that lead inside the castle.
She opened the huge wooden doors with difficulty, since they were so heavy. Clearly a giant must have had to open the doors before the castle was deserted.
But then again, before the castle was deserted, the magnificent castle doors must have been easier to open.
Laurie peered inside the castle to see a long, dark hallway.
At the end of the hallway, she saw two large doors almost as big as the front doors. The only thing was, the room behind the door was lit by lamps or candles, because Laurie could see light coming through little cracks in the doors.
Laurie stepped inside, and to her surprise, the castle was even larger inside then it looked outside.
Laurie curiously felt her way to the end of the hallway using the stone wall for support.
She stopped abruptly when she heard a man speaking from the room at the end of the hallway.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts, where new adventures await you. We will be beginning the sorting ceremony shortly after I share a few announcments. To the first years who don't know, the forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Only third years are allowed to go to Hogsmeade on a date set by the Proffesors. They will notify you the date using the house notice boards. Arbus Filch has kindly reminded me to tell you that no magic is to be used in the corridors. He has also added to his list of 'What objects are not allowed', so I suggest you look at it before dropping dungbombs. The list is located in his office. " The voice said.
Laurie continued down the hallway a little quicker then before, wanting to find out what was in the room.
Then, the man stopped speaking and a women took over, saying a name and pausing while another man said something like "Huftlepuft!" and "Ravenclause!".
When Laurie got to the doorway, she paused.
"If I open the doors, the people in the room will notice me, and god knows what will happen to me then. But if I don't open the doors, perhaps I will never know what 'Hogwarts, Huftlepuft, or Ravenclause' mean. Perhaps it is some sort of spy code. Or perhaps they are smuggling something and breaking the law! Well, there's only one way to find out what is in the room."
Laurie slowly opened the door so as not to attract to much attention.
She tried to do it quietly but knew she failed miserably when all noise ceased. She pushed the doors completely and stared at the large room in awe.
What she saw amazed her.
A/N: That's all for now, look forward to more chapters soon!