The steam from the scarlet engine filled the air. The moment I saw it, my heart gave a leap. Finally! After all the arguing and negotiating an, let's face it, a lot of help from Dumbledore, I had finally made it. Platform 9 ¾ was so crowded that it was hard to move for fear of being trampled. I must have looked nervous because my dad was guiding me through the throng of people and over to the train. While he loaded my trunk, my mom pulled me into a big hug. "Alright sweetie, make sure you write to us and do what the teachers tell you. You have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore tomorrow evening so don't be late." She said with a sad smile.
"Yes mum." I said as I smiled back
The train whistle blew and people started rushing toward the train. "You better get going Son. You don't want to be late now do you?" said a voice from behind me. My dad had finished loading my trunk and had returned without me noticing. I gave him a big hug and then turned around to give another to my mom. She held on so tight that if it had been any normal day, I would have complained that I couldn't breathe. Today, however, I held on just as tight.
"I love you." I whispered in her ear.
She grudgingly let go and turned around to wipe the tears out of her eyes. My dad began pushing me towards the train. I clambered up the steps and stood by the door. It rolled shut and there was a violent jerk of the floor. We had started moving. I looked out the window. Everybody on the platform was waving, but I was only looking at two of them. My parents were standing side-by-side with their arms around each other and they were waving up at me. I started to wave back but the train was picking up speed. We turned a corner and they were gone.
I turned around and suddenly felt very alone. Some of the other kids were still standing and talking in tight groups. I was tempted to just stay where I was for the rest of the trip but I had a feeling that it was going to be a long journey and that I probably wouldn't be able to stand for that long. I began to make my way down the corridor in search of an open compartment. I looked into each one that I passed and saw that they were all full, mostly with older kids, and I was defiantly not going to ask if I could sit with them.
I stopped at one compartment and looked in. There were four boys in this one who all looked at me with disgust when I had stopped; all but one of them. There was a smaller boy who was probably the same age as me sitting in the corner looking thoroughly as though he did not want to be there. His shaggy black hair fell into his eyes as he stared out the window. One of the older boys with long blonde hair was shooting daggers at me so I quickly carried on my way. It wasn't until I reached the end of the carriage that I found an empty compartment, or so I thought. I was so relieved that I rushed in and sat in a seat. When I looked up I realised that this compartment wasn't as empty as I thought it was. A boy about the same age as myself was staring back at me. He had a mop of untidy black hair and his hazel eyes were full of laughter. "Hello, I'm James. James Potter!" he smiled at me and held out his hand.
I smiled back. "I'm Remus Lupin. Are you a first year too then?" I asked as he shook my hand.
"Yup!" He replied. Cue awkward silence. We sat quiet for long time. I started to wish that I had sat closer to the window, so that I could at least look out at the countryside, when he finally spoke again.
"So what house do you think you'll be in?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"I'm hoping for Gryffindor," I replied, happy to be speaking again, "Both my parents were there!"
"So was my father! I don't really care just as long as I'm not in Slytherin. I don't think I'd be able to handle that.
I nodded my head in agreement. Everyone knows that Slytherin House is strongly associated with the Dark Arts. To be put there would mean that most of the other student would expect dark things from you.
"Although, if I'm in one of the other houses, I wouldn't really care." He continued even though it looked like he wasn't completely telling the truth.
The rest of the journey went by quite fast. As the countryside whirred by the window, James and I started talking about Quidditch. This topic carried us until it started to get dark outside. We noticed some of the other students walking between compartments wearing their robes and decided that we would probably be arriving soon and should change into our own.
The view outside the window began to change as we pulled into a small village station. It had gotten dark quickly and, from where we were, we couldn't see the castle. When the train rolled to a stop, James and I got our trunks and James also grabbed a handsome eagle owl in its cage that had been behind his trunk and was sleeping so deeply that I hadn't noticed it before.
"This is Altus," he said when he saw my eyes widen. "My parents bought him for me as a way of congratulating me on getting my letter."
"He's beautiful!" I said in awe as James just grinned.
As we made our way into the corridor, we were pushed and pulled in every direction. I nearly fell down the steps and onto the platform because I hadn't noticed that we were at the door. I was completely disoriented and had absolutely no idea where to go as I was pulled by the crowd to a large pile of luggage.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" roared a loud booming voice. Relief washed over me as I made my way towards the voice. As I pushed my way out of the sea of people, I landed right at his side.
"All right there?" I nodded as he helped me up. I looked up at him to thank him and that's when I actually saw him. He had to be about twelve feet tall with thick black hair that fell around his face. His black eyes were full of warmth but I couldn't help being intimidated. As I looked around me, I saw that that I was not the only one who was slightly scared of this giant man. Anxiously staring up at him was a group of people about the same age as me.
"Everyone here then? Alright you lot, follow me!" he said as he turned around. He was leading us down a dark and narrow path towards a large lake that looked almost black. The stars above reflected off the serene water and I could have sworn that I saw something pierce the surface towards the middle.
As we came close to the shore, I could see a number of little boats waiting for us. The Big Man climbed into a boat of his own, as it would only be able to fit him, and the rest of us surged forward. I climbed into a boat with a small, round boy who was looking quite scared. As soon as I sat down, the boat began to carry us forward.
It finally sunk in when I saw it for the first time. The castle loomed out of the darkness. After so much fighting and persuading, I was here at last. The towers looked as though they were about to touch the sky and the lights in each of the tiny windows made it look like the castle was sparkling. Whoever came up with the idea to have the first years travel to the school across the lake was an absolute genius. I can't imagine there being a better view of the school and for this to be our first look at it was utter perfection.
As the army of boats approached the steep cliff, it looked like we were going to crash into the rock. At the last moment, the boat began to slow and we passed right through a curtain of ivy. The boat carried us down a dark tunnel where we reached a type of underground harbour. As I jumped out of the boat, the Big Man started walking towards what looked to be a passageway in the rock. We came out of the passageway onto some damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowed around the huge, oak front door. The Big Man raised one of his massive fists and knocked three times on the heavy door.
The door opened and a tall, thin witch in emerald robes stood there. She had black hair which was tied back into a bun. Her emerald eyes, matching her robes, scanned over us. I made a mental note that this was probably someone that I would not want to cross. "Thank you Hagrid," she said, addressing the Big Man, "I will take them from here."
She motioned us past her and into the entrance hall. I felt my jaw drop the moment I stepped foot in the castle. The entrance hall was so massive that we probably would have been able to hold a Quidditch match and the ceiling was so high that it almost did not exist. It would have been dark and cold if it wasn't for the flaming torches that lined the walls. This was like nothing I had ever seen before.
We followed the tall witch in her green robes across the flagged stone floor. I could hear the hum of voices coming from a doorway to the right that had to have meant that the rest of the students were already here. The witch took us past the doorway on the right and into a small empty chamber off the hall. It was fairly crowded but we all managed to fit.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" said the witch. "My name is professor McGonagall. The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-room.
'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you." And with that Professor McGonagall left.