-Chapter One-

Welcome to Hogwarts

Today was the day. The day he had been waiting for since he before he could remember. If you were to ask any Magical Child what they were looking forward to most in their lives, the answer would always be the same: They couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts.

And that was what eleven-year-old Logan Fairweather was about to do. Pushing his trolley forward, he and his family walked through King's Cross towards the magical gateway to Platform 9 ¾. He had been to the platform several times before to wave his older cousins off and last year he had waved his cousin Neve off knowing that, with a pang of excitement, he would be joining them the following year.

After making sure that no Muggles (Non-Magical People) were watching, Logan pushed against his trolley, breaking out into a full scale run towards the gateway, coming out on the other side on the magically concealed platform, followed swiftly by his mother, father and younger brother, Buzz.

Logan was rather small and skinny for his age, bright blue eyes watching The Hogwarts Express with awe. Any minute now he would be sitting on that train and heading towards one of the greatest Wizarding schools in the world!

The family pushed their way forward to find Logan's Aunts and Uncles and older cousins, all of them girls and Logan's younger cousin, Stefan. Ruby and Summer were sisters yet looked completely opposite from each other.

While Ruby had black hair, dark eyes and always wore a nasty expression on her face, Summer had dark brown hair, hazel brown eyes and a kind face, smiling warmly at her younger cousin. Neve and Stefan were brother and sister and, like Summer and Logan, both had brown hair.

'Are you ready?' asked Summer.

'Very,' replied Logan eagerly, grinning from ear to ear.

Summer was in her third year of Hogwarts, Neve obviously in her second and Ruby was in her fifth year and the new female Prefect for Gryffindor (how she hadn't been sorted into Slytherin was anyone's guess, Logan thought). All of his cousins were in Gryffindor and he was determined to join them.

I will be in Gryffindor! He thought fiercely. I will!

'What are you looking forward to most, Logan?' asked his Aunt Debbie, who, like her daughter and son, had dark hair and brown eyes.

In fact, all of Logan's family on his mum's side had brown eyes. Logan and Buzz who, despite looking completely different from each other (Buzz was rather chunky compared to Logan and had dirty ginger hair), had their father's bright blue eyes. Logan did however inherit his mother and aunts' dark hair.

'Flying a broomstick,' he replied at once, beaming. 'I'd love to join the Quidditch House Team.'

They all smiled encouragingly, although he knew they didn't think he'd make it on the team. First years never made it on the team, except on one occasion. After putting their trunks on the train, Logan carried his Barn Owl, Arcus, with him. His mum and dad both gave him hugs and Buzz smiled enviously before Logan followed his cousins onto the train.

'Write to us!' called Logan's mum, Louise.

'Whenever you want,' added Logan's dad, Marcus.

After her mum and dad, Sue and David, reminded Ruby to pay extra attention this year (She was taking the O. , which stood for Ordinary Wizarding Levels), the eldest cousin left the three to find the Prefects' Compartments.

'She's in her typical good mood,' mused Neve, smiling at Logan. 'Want to sit with me and my friends?' she asked.

He considered this but after deciding he should go out and try to find some first years to befriend, he politely declined. The train started to move and he, Summer and Neve waved to their parents until they were out of sight, the train leaving the station and now travelling past London.

'If you need me, come and find me,' Summer told him and both she and Neve left him, carrying their owls with them to find their friends.

Now that they had left him, he was feeling very alone and nervous. He could do this. He just needed to find people who looked the same age as him. They would be just as excited and nervous as he was.

So he started to walk down the narrow pathway, looking through the compartments for someone to sit with. The majority of them were full and it was only until he came to the end of the train that he found one practically empty, except for one boy.

He was rather lanky, extremely pale with flat black hair and brown eyes with only a Barn Owl for company.

Logan opened the door and the boy looked up at him in surprise.

'Hello,' said Logan, feeling rather stupid. 'First year too?'

The boy nodded. 'Yeah,' was his response. 'Wanna sit down?' he asked as an afterthought.

Logan smiled and sat opposite the boy, putting Arcus down next to him.

'I like your owl,' said the boy. 'Did you just get him?'

'Yep. Got him last week. His name is Arcus. What's yours called?' Logan asked, looking at the Barn Owl who was contemplating his own Owl with curiosity.

The boy looked embarrassed. 'Barney,' he admitted, reddening. 'I couldn't think of what else to call him.'

Logan laughed. 'I like it. Straight to the point. I'm Logan Fairweather,' he held out his hand.

The boy smiled now. 'Riley Mainwood,' he shook Logan's hand. 'So, what house do you want to be in?'

'Gryffindor,' Logan replied proudly. 'Most of my family have been in Gryffindor. What about you?'

Riley considered this. 'Well my dad was in Ravenclaw but my mum was in Hufflepuff. Out of the two I think I'd rather be in Ravenclaw personally but I'd be fine with any house as long as it's not Slytherin.'

Logan nodded in agreement. Slytherin had a very nasty history about it and he had yet to hear anyone have anything good to say about it, except from the actual Slytherins themselves.

'What Quidditch Team do you support?' asked Riley.

'Puddlemere United,' replied Logan and Riley's face lit up even more.

'Did you see their match against The Chudley Cannons?' asked Riley eagerly. 'We wiped the floor with them!'

Logan laughed. 'Yeah but then again, it was The Chudley Cannons!' he replied. 'They're practically the worst team in the existence of the sport!

The two quickly became engrossed in their conversation, talking about the Quidditch World Cup Final which had taken place two weeks earlier, their favourite players and eventually their desired positions to play for whatever house team they would be sorted in. Riley, it turned out, wanted to be Chaser and took no time at all to talk through his favourite techniques and why each was significantly better and more useful than the last.

Logan admitted that he wanted to be a Seeker, something Riley agreed he would be best suited for ('Although your small arms might be a disadvantage,' Riley told him) and what broom he would want. Logan desperately wanted the Warp Speeder Mk.7 and Riley wanted the Meteor Shower 5, both the best in their respected brands.

After heatedly discussing which broom was better, they were interrupted by an old lady with a trolley full of sweets.

The two wasted no time in buying their favourite sweets; talking with full mouths about the classes they were most looking forward to.

'I can't wait to do Transfiguration,' Riley told him. 'It'll be so awesome to turn someone's bed into a giant spider!'

'Interesting choice of animal,' replied Logan, smiling wryly. 'I'm looking forward to Defence Against the Dark Arts. I wonder what sort of hexes and spells we'll be taught.'

'Nothing too bad in our first year,' Riley held up a funny coloured Every-Flavoured Bean, studying it hesitantly. 'We'll most probably have to wait until our fifth year for any of the interesting hexes,' he took a nibble out of the bean and grimaced. 'OK. I'm pretty sure that was puke flavour.'

Logan burst out laughing, causing the two owls to flap their wings in alarm. The door slid open and Ruby poked her head in, looking annoyed.

'Put your robes on,' she told them sharply. 'We'll be arriving at Hogwarts soon. Leave the Owls in here. They'll be taken to your Dormitory once you've been Sorted,' and she left.

'Moody cow isn't she?' said Riley.

'That's my cousin,' replied Logan and Riley went red at once.

'Oh. Sorry,' he said nervously.

'Yeah. Me too,' Logan smiled, putting Riley at ease and the two quickly put their robes on and grabbed their wands out from their trunks.

'Do you think we need them?' asked Riley, holding up his 11 inch mahogany wand.

Logan studied his 12-¾ inch wand, made from Holly with a Phoenix Feather Core.

'I dunno,' he admitted. 'Can't hurt to take them though, right?'

Riley shrugged and the two put their wands in the back pockets. Eventually the train began to slow down and the two followed the throng of students out onto the platform.

'Firs' years!' a voice called out over the crowd. 'Firs' years this way!'

Logan and Riley pushed their way through the older students, following the voice until they eventually joined the rest of the first years surrounding a very tall man. Logan and Riley's jaws dropped at the sight of him. He was at least double the size of a normal man!

This must be Hagrid, Logan thought. Ruby is always complaining about his Care of Magical Creatures Classes.

'Righ' then. Follow me and remember, three ter a boat!' he told them and the nervous first years followed the half-giant to the boats where Logan and Riley joined a boy with blonde curly hair.

'My name's Jake MacDonald,' he introduced himself. 'And no, I don't actually own McDonalds,' he told them but Logan and Riley both stared at him, confused. 'Oh! Are you two not Muggle Born?' he asked and they shook their heads. 'Sorry. I just get asked that question a lot by Muggles.'

'What's a McDonalds?' asked Riley. 'It sounds contagious.'

Jake smiled, apparently amused and the three set out, following Hagrid in his boat towards the black lake. There was an anticipating silence as they waited for their first sight of the castle and the sight did not disappoint them, resulted in collective gasps of wonder and amazement.

'That is so cool!' Jake beamed up at the castle.

Logan and Riley nodded in agreement, both just as excited and nervous as Jake. The boats drifted across the lake smoothly towards the lake house. Once inside, the students climbed out of their boats clumsily, one skinny boy with glasses fell out of his boat and Hagrid and to pull him out and throw his large coat over him.

'Yeh'll be all righ',' Hagrid said to the boy, slapping him on the back and caused the boy's glasses to go askew. 'Everyone follow me,' Hagrid then led them up into the castle where a very pretty witch met them with silk like black hair and dark brown eyes.

She didn't look older than twenty-five.

This must be Professor Adams, Logan thought, thinking back to what Summer and Neve had said about the Head of Gryffindor House and the Transfiguration Teacher.

'There yeh are, Professor Adams,' said Hagrid, confirming Logan's assumption. 'Firs' years safe and sound.'

'Thank you, Professor Hagrid,' Professor Adams said pleasantly and Hagrid left them to go into the next room. Professor Adams smiled at the students comfortingly.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' she began. 'The Sorting Ceremony will be beginning shortly. In a few moments you will go into the Great Hall to be sorted one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Whilst here you will compete for the house cup by earning House Points although be warned,' she looked stern now. 'Any rule breaking will result in losing points.'

Her expression softened again and she smiled. Logan understood why she was apparently the students' favourite teacher.

'I will come and collect you shortly,' she said. 'Try not to get yourselves too worked up, you'll be fine,' she walked into the Great Hall, leaving the First Years by themselves.

Jake turned to Logan and Riley, looking worried. 'How do they sort us?' he asked them and they shrugged.

'My family never said,' replied Logan. 'Wanted to keep it a secret.'

By the look of it, none of the First Years knew exactly how the Sorting took place, some even looked frightened despite Professor Adams' supportive words. It didn't take long for Professor Adams to come and collect them. They then followed her in lines of pairs into the Great Hall, where they were free to gasp and stare in awe at the magical ceiling before realising that all the students on the four House Tables were watching them.

They followed Professor Adams to the front of the Great Hall where a three-legged stool stood with a frayed hat sitting on top. Everyone was now watching the hat expectantly and then, much to the First Years' surprise, a frayed mouth opened from the hat and it began to sing:

'Be you short or tall,

Large or small;

I am the hat

That is here to sort you all.

I am here to choose the table

Where you will be sat,

I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat!

If you are academically able,

Hardworking, wise and smart,

Ravenclaw is where you fit the part.

If you are crafty or sly;

Always willing to reach for the sky:

Slytherin is where your loyalties lie.

If you are friendly, loyal and true;

Hufflepuff is the place for you.

If you are brave

And adventure is what you crave:

Gryffindor is the home of such a knave.

So put me on and meet your fate.

Make haste; don't be late.

Take care

And begin this adventure if you dare…'

The students and teachers broke out into applause and the first years let out a sigh of relief. Professor Adams pulled out a scroll and pulled it open.

'When I call out your name come forward and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your house,' she said and looked at the list. 'Allpress, John,' she said and a blonde boy stepped forward and sat on the stool.

Professor Adams placed the hat on his head and after a few moments of silence the hat opened it's mouth and called out 'Hufflepuff!'

Professor Adams lifted the hat off Joe's head and he ran over to the applauding table. "Ash, Ava" was the next one to be Sorted, following Joe to the Hufflepuff table. "Gabby Barraclough" became a Ravenclaw, "Casey, Patrick" became the first new Slytherin and "Cable, Amelia" and "Chabert, Jason" joined Gabby in Ravenclaw. "Chalke, Sophie", "Darwin, Susan" both became Gryffindors and "Fields, Alfie" became a Hufflepuff.

'Fairweather, Logan,' Professor Adams said finally and Logan stepped forward, swallowing the hard lump in his throat. He sat down on the stool and Professor Adams placed the hat on his head, but the hat was too big and it dropped over his eyes.

'Mmm,' a sly voice said into his ear. 'Another Fairweather, eh? I remember your Father and Grandfather very well. I've sorted a rather large number of your family in recent years. They've been sorted into every house,' the voice laughed in his ear. 'They're a rather interesting bunch aren't they? But what about you? Where do I put you?'

Logan didn't reply, grabbing hold onto the sides of the stool anxiously. The Great Hall was completely silent, waiting for the Sorting Hat to make its decision. It had been a full minute until the Hat finally made its decision, shouting out 'Gryffindor!' and Logan sighed with relief.

The hat was removed from his head and he made his way to the clapping and cheering Gryffindor table. He plunked himself next to Sophie and they watched the rest of the Sorting. Glenn Fossey became a Ravenclaw, Crystal Gale, a very pretty blonde haired girl with blue eyes, became a fellow Gryffindor and Craig Hall joined Ravenclaw with Emma Hill, and Kelsey and Stacey Matheson.

Riley, Jake, Crystal Lai, Jasper Lake and Tim Yates become Gryffindors and Matt Jonas became a Hufflepuff, the remaining students were sorted either into Hufflepuff or Slytherin. With the Sorting complete, Professor McGonagall stood up and the Hall gave her their complete attention.

'Welcome to the First Years and welcome back everyone else,' she said, flashing them a short-lived smile. 'Before we indulge ourselves with the Feast, I would like to quickly go over the rules. The Forbidden Forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden. There is to be no magic used inside the corridors. We do not want any accidents or injuries, thank you very much.

'All Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Products are banned. Do not think you can get around it,' she eyed them all suspiciously. 'If anyone wishes to join their Quidditch Team, please inform your Head of House. Thank you.'

She sat down and the empty plates on all four tables were suddenly full of food. The Great Hall came to life at once, the students reaching over to grab food and eagerly talking to the fellow Housemates.

'So what do your parents do, Logan?' asked Tim as he grabbed some chicken wings.

Tim was very scrawny with deathly pale skin and pepper-coloured hair. He wore a pair of glasses that magnified his blue eyes to such a ridiculous level that he almost looked bug-eyed.

'My dad works at the International Confederation of Wizard's Quidditch Committee. He knows all the Ministers of Magic across the world,' he added.

'Bloody hell,' said Sophie, her almost heart-shaped face flooded with awe. She also had shoulder length brown hair and hazel coloured eyes. 'Have you met any of them?'

'Except Kingsley Shacklebolt, no. We do get good seats to all the Quidditch games though,' he reached over and poured a few potatoes onto his plate.

'Is your dad called Marcus?' asked Crystal and Logan nodded. 'My dad knows yours,' she said. 'My dad creates Broomsticks so your dad has them all tested to make sure they're safe.'

'He does?' Logan was surprised.

'Yep. Apparently your dad has never found a fault with my dad's broomsticks. He even said he wouldn't bother testing them if it wasn't law. Needless to say, my dad likes yours,' she smiled.

'Who does your dad work for then?' asked Riley.

'He creates Warp Speeders,' she answered and laughed at Logan's expression. 'Like them, do you?'

'They're my favourite broom! Your dad is awesome!' he said and poured some gravy on his food.

'What about you, Tim?' asked Riley. 'What do your parents do?'

'Oh. I'm a Muggle Born. My dad works with trains and my mum works at a post office,' replied Tim feebly.

'Like… without owls?' asked Riley and Jake laughed. 'What?'

'Owls in the Muggle world are pretty boring,' said Jake. 'Sleep all day and you only ever see them on a TV or at a animal park.'

'What's a TV?' asked Riley and both Tim and Jake laughed.

'It's a thing you can watch moving pictures on,' said Susan. 'And the pictures can talk.'

Susan, like Tim, was very pale and wore glasses. She was also very tall, towering over Riley, with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes.

Riley looked amazed. 'Wow! Like our portraits?' he asked and Jake and Tim looked at each other, confused. 'So even Muggles have some kind of magic.'

The corner of Susan's mouth twitched and she smiled gently. 'You could say that.'

'How do you know this stuff, Susan?' asked Jasper. 'Muggle born too?'

'No but my mum is though,' she replied. 'Anyway, I spend a lot of time at my Muggle grandparents house so I see a lot of TV.'

'Do you think the Ministry of Magic knows Muggles have that kind of power?' asked Riley, looking at them all. 'What else are they keeping from us? I mean- we know about those aerobirds the Muggles have flying about- what else do they have?'

'Err- it's not magic, dude. It's science,' said Jake, looking amused. 'We won't be using it against you any time soon- or should I say they won't be using it against us?'

'Even the aerobirds?' asked Riley, shocked. 'I know cars are all gears and stuff but how do the aerobirds stay in the air?'

Tim looked confused. 'Are you talking about aeroplanes?' he asked.

'Yeah. The metal birds that are flying about making the weird loud noise. What's the point of them anyway?'

'People use them to travel…' said Jake and Riley looked confused. 'There are people inside them,' he added and Riley's jaw dropped.

Logan smirked. 'I know someone will be taking Muggle Studies in Third Year.'

The dessert appeared and all thought of continuing their conversations stopped and they all reached out for the cakes, pudding and jelly.

'First Years follow us,' said Ruby once the feast was over, waving her arm at them. She was standing next to a boy who looked rather miserable, leaning back to avoid Ruby's waving arm.

'Is she always this demanding?' muttered Riley.

Logan shrugged. 'Pretty much.'

Ruby and the other Gryffindor Prefect, Mario, led the First Years up the Grand staircase when Tim suddenly screamed, jumping back from a moving portrait.

'Whoa whoa!' said Mario. 'What's up?' he asked and Tim pointed at the portrait of a girl in the middle of a field with her sheep. She looked more alarmed than Tim!

'It moved!' said Tim, still pointing. He then saw the other portraits had begun whispering to each other. 'They all move!'

'Yeah? It's magic,' said Mario, smiling. 'You're at a school of magic, Timmy! Anything weird happens here, just shrug it off. It'll be the norm for you by next week.'

Tim swallowed, nodding and hurried close to Mario. Logan looked at Jake, frowning.

'You're not freaking out,' he said and Jake shrugged.

'Riley said downstairs that the portraits move and talk. Wasn't much of a surprise when I saw them moving,' he replied and they continued following Ruby and Mario all the way to Gryffindor tower, stopping at a portrait of a Fat Lady.

'Password?' she said (Tim gave a whimper).

'Peach Pop,' answered Ruby and the Portrait door swung open. Ruby led the first years into the Gryffindor Common Room with Mario at the back. The other years were already inside and were happily sitting down on the many seats or on the rug, chatting amongst themselves.

'Girls, please follow me,' said Ruby briskly and took them to the Girl's dormitory.

Mario cleared his throat nervously. 'Err- yeah. Follow me,' he told the boys and took them up a spiral staircase and to the door that said FIRST YEARS. Their belongings were already inside, their beds seemingly chosen for them. This caused an argument, both Riley and Jake wanted the bed by the door but Jasper, who had it, was willing to swap but looked torn between whom to give it to.

'How about you decide over a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors?' suggested Tim only for Riley and Jasper to give him blank looks. Jake explained the rules and won the bed, much to Riley's annoyance.

'Night, everyone,' said Mario once they were all sorted. 'Hope you have a good first day tomorrow,' and he closed the door behind him.

They all got changed into their pyjamas and got into bed but were too excited and nervous to actually fall asleep and ended up talking through most of the night about what they were most looking forward to until they all eventually fell asleep and began to snore.