Most of my family had already dispersed throughout the train, but James, Fred and Molly had promised to save us a compartment before they went to go sit with their friends (Okay, so, really it was just Molly, the other two just didn't want to get on her bad side).

Once they had helped us lift our trunks onto the bag racks, they disappeared pretty quickly, Molly telling us before she left that if we got into any trouble at all, we were to go straight to the nearest teacher. Fred and James had exchanged a look at that, and then made a face behind her back.

Finally, though, the two of us were left alone to discuss what we thought it would be like at Hogwarts. Almost all of our family members had talked about it for as long as we could remember, and although it probably wasn't likely that either of us would be saving a magic rock from Voldemort this year, (Being dead would probably put a bit of a damper on any of his plans) our parents' stories were rivalled only by Uncle George's.

We were halfway though a discussion about whether or not the Chamber of Secrets was still there, and whether we could fake enough parseltounge to get in, when a boy, already in uniform, slid open our door and then closed it frantically, before ducking out of view of the window. Moments later, a group of what looked like 3rd years ran past, wands drawn.

The boy let out a sigh of relief and then seemed to only just realise that there were other people in the compartment. He pushed himself up onto the seat and smiled breezily. "Hey."

He ran a hand through his blonde hair, deliberately messing up the slicked back hairstyle, leaving his hair to hang haphazardly over his eyes, and then looked closely at me.

"You'll be one of Potter's kids, then." I scowled at him, but he continued, seemingly oblivious to the danger he was putting himself in. We had grown up with Fred and James, after all. "And you must be one of his seemingly infinite cousins."

There was a moment of silence as she glared at him, and then Rose grabbed one of the thickest books from next to her and promptly whacked the kid's arm. "Jerk!"

He narrowly avoided further abuse as James appeared. He poked his head inside to talk to me. "Hey, Al, you haven't seen some snooty-looking blonde kid anywhere, have you? He let off a dung bomb in one of the third year's carriages and they're offering 5 galleons to whoever finds him."

Rose and I shared a look and then glanced at the stranger, who had grabbed Rose's makeshift weapon and was pretending to be thoroughly engrossed in the upside-down potions book. He sent us a pleading look over the top of the pages, and we grudgingly relented.

"Nah, sorry James. Haven't seen anyone here other than us three."

He swore, then retracted his head and closed the door, heading further down the train to investigate.

The boy let out the breath he was holding and tossed the book back to Rose, who kept it in her lap in case she needed to hit him again. "Why on earth would you let off a dung bomb in a compartment full of third years?"

The blonde grinned sheepishly and held out part of his cloak, where the pocket was. There was a hole there, just big enough to let something through. "I didn't even realise until, you know, the smell. And by then I had about 6 Slytherins gunning for me."

Both of us laughed, before I gave him a grudging smile. "I'm Albus. That's Rose, my cousin."

"Call me Rio."

Rio shook my hand, and then Rose reluctantly shook his. "Don't think this means I'm letting you off for that Weasley comment, buddy. Any one of us could kick your pale butt from one side of a Quiditch pitch to another, and don't you forget it."

Rio smirked. "Bring it on, Rosie."

I cringed, knowing what was going to happen. James had made the mistake of calling her Rosie once a few years back, and he swears he still has the scars to prove it. (For the record; I know that those scars are really from when he snuck dad's broom out of the shed and tried to ride it, but he made me promise not to tell.)

I tactfully ignored what was going to happen next, turning to talk to my owl, Caesar. As I pushed a few treats into his cage I was also forced to ignore the resounding 'crack' as Rose's book collided with Rio's face, although I couldn't stop a snort of laughter from escaping as Rose brightly informed him that "at least the third years wouldn't recognise him; the giant red mark hid his face nicely."

After that, we sat and talked for over an hour, when Molly came to inform us that we had almost arrived, and that we should change into our robes. (Although this was slightly redundant, seeing as I was the only one still in muggle clothing)

I pulled out a set of slightly rumpled robes from my bag, Mum says I'm worse than Dad at packing, and pulled them on just as the train began to slow down. A voice echoed throughout the train, informing us to leave our luggage on the train as we depart; they'd be brought up to our rooms separately.

The three of us opened the door and joined the mass of students leaving the train. When we stepped onto the platform, there was a refreshingly cool breeze, and I stood there for a moment, enjoying it, before I heard Hagrid's gruff voice over the throng of students.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" He paused in his shouting to give a brief hello to James, ruffling his hair with a giant hand and almost causing his knees to buckle in the process.

"C'mon! Any more firs' years? No? All right, follow me. Watch yer step down here, we don't want any accidents."

We followed him down a steep path through the trees, which eventually widened out to reveal a lake, complete with several boats. It was too foggy to see Hogwarts properly; just a dim outline, but even that sent a jolt of thrill through me. Despite my last-minute worries about houses; (No matter what my dad says, I will not be in Slytherin), I'd been waiting for this for practically my whole life.

The other kids were looking with equal interest at the silhouette, but Hagrid called our attention again. "All righ'. No more than 4 to a boat, an' get in carefully. Don't want ter getting eaten by the giant squid, do yeh?" He laughed, but his joke was lost among most of the other students, who now looked downright terrified.

I whispered to a nearby boy who looked set to refuse to get into the boats. "Don't worry, my dad told me all about the squid. He's really friendly, honest"

That didn't seem to help, I think maybe he had been close to convincing himself that Hagrid had been kidding about the actually existence of the creature, and he took a step back from the edge of the lake.

Most of the boats were full by now, there were only one or two left, and I could tell that this was probably not going to get resolved without making a scene. I was about to go and just push the kid into a boat, when Rio stepped closer to him and made an offhand comment.

"You know, I heard that these boats are enchanted to protect us from the squid. Word is, if you even stand near the lake without some protection, he'll suck you under. I don't know about you, but I won't feel safe until I'm off this bank and into that boat, know what I mean?"

The boy gave a small squeak and leapt into a nearby boat, white as a sheet. Rio grinned and the Rose and I, and together we got into the boy's boat. The rest of the journey passed without incident, although I could swear that Rio was trying to rock the boat when no one was looking.

It wasn't until we were close to passing underneath it that we got our first proper look at the castle; it was huge! I could make out several towers, although I couldn't tell which one was Gryffindor Tower, and then we were travelling in an underground passage, right under the school. We docked in some type of underground harbour and got out to crunch our feet on pebbles and gravel. After Hagrid was satisfied that we had left nothing behind, he led us up a flight of large stone steps to the door of the entrance hall, where he knocked three times on the massive wooden doors.

Deputy Headmaster Flitwick opened the door with a flick of his wand, and as we entered a burst of warmth settled over us. Flitwick was holding the sorting hat in his other hand, a ragged black thing with tears along the front for a mouth, and several burnt patches along the top and the brim. He gestured for us to follow him, and, together with the rest of my year, I took my first steps into the great hall, and the next seven years of my life.

I hope you like it so far. Reviews would be much appreciated. ^_^