He had been anticipating this day for so very long, and when it finally came he got up three hours early and was so excited that he couldn't go back to sleep. His mother gave him a severe lecture after he accidently knocked over a few pans in the kitchen, waking up the rest of the house, but he hardly noticed it because he had been marking the days down on his calendar for this day, and nothing in the world could spoil it for him.
He had been on platform 9 ⅓ before of course, but it was entirely different now that it was him that the attention was directed at. He gave his sister a hug when she started crying, and whispered to her, "next year it will be you, don't worry!"
His mother was also teary, and she made him promise to be good, and to work hard and stay out of trouble, which he only agreed to half heartedly, his attention wandering to the busy platform, full of families who were also waving and crying.
His father had that sad, reminiscent look on his face that was only ever worn very occasionally, but it was replaced immediately by a cheeky smile when he saw his sons face.
"Have fun," he said mischievously, ruffling the mousy brown hair, and looking into the excited face that so much resembled his own. As he boarded the hogwarts express, his saw his father give him a thumbs up, to which he returned happily.
He spent the train ride with his face pressed to the window, staring out at the open fields and woods that flew past. A few older students came into the carriage, and he bombarded them with questions about Hogwarts, positively bouncing in his seat. One of the girls, a tall redheaded girl, laughed kindly at the tiny boy, and told him a story about the whomping willow and a werewolf, and the mousy haired boy held on to every word, as far fetched as it was.
The boat ride across the lake was just as he had imagined it. He glanced over the side of the boat, staring at the dark water, and shivering slightly when he thought about the story that his father liked to tell so often about his first trip here. Could the giant squid still live in the lake? he wondered, how long do they live for?
He could hardly contain himself as he and the other first years shuffled up to the giant castle. He was easily the smallest of the group, and he strained to see over the crowd of black robes and hats that surrounded him.
It was the sorting that did it.
His father had told him it might happen. He had secretly hoped it, that the name that was so well known now, even after so long, would be recognised. As the stern, very old professor Mcgonagall bustled them into the great hall and read out the names of the first years, she hesitated slightly over his, a look of longing flashing over her face for less than a second.
"Creevy, Colin!"
And as Colin walked slowly but excitedly up to the sorting hat, he could see people glance up at the sound of his name, whispering to the people beside them, and a few even smiled when they saw the tiny, mousy haired boy in the too big robes stumble forward and place the hat over his head, which fell below his eyes.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Colin could barely hear the sounds of the cheers as he took off the hat, and grinned widely around him. As he sat down at the gryffindor table, he could swear he heard someone saying, "I knew he would be a gryffindor. He's a Creevy. Even named after his uncle. Fought in the war of hogwarts, he did"
The pale figure of nearly headless nick floated curiously around Colin, looking him up and down, nodding to himself, then looking away sadly. As Colin stared around at the magical great hall, at the floating candles, waiting patiently for the feast to start, he couldn't help but smile to himself. His life had been good so far, but he was almost sure it was only going to get better. He hoped he would do his family proud.
