Sorry it took so long to update! It's the end of the school year and
Algebra is kicking my ass right now. I'll update more once school lets out!
Thank you to my reviewers! I love you so much!
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter, although I really wish I did!
Sorry about the layout last chapter. It was my first time putting anything on the net, so I hope this layout works better!
Another thing: I decided I'm going to do one school year as one story. And obviously they are going to be short for this and the next story.
K, enough of rambles, onto the story!
The Way It Should Have Been
Chapter Two: Hogwarts
Harry ripped his door open and scrambled out. "Come on!" He pleaded. His dad laughed before turning the car off. His mother got out as well, before Harry ran to the back to pull his trunk out. His dad grabbed a trolley and put it on. Harry placed Hedwig's cage on top. His friends had also each gotten an owl on their birthdays. Katarina had been in early July, Adrian's in late June and Sarah had been last week. His dad pushed the trolley and Harry followed with his mum. James led the way to Platform nine.
"Watch closely." Harry nodded as he watched his dad walk straight towards the barrier between nine and ten. Instantly he disappeared when he hit the wall. Harry's eyes almost hit his glasses they popped out so much.
"COOL!" He turned towards his mom who laughed.
"You next." He nodded and walked through casually. He ended up next to his father staring at a huge scarlet engine. There were hundreds of students walking around, talking to their friends, saying good-bye to their parents, etc. There were cats, owls, frogs, rats, all kinds of creatures.
"This is amazing!" Harry whispered. His mom hugged him.
"Welcome to the beginning of your school life. Use it well." He nodded. They moved out of the way so other people could come through.
"HARRY!" He turned to see Kat running towards him. He hugged her as they laughed. "I'm so excited!"
"I know!"
"Come on, Adrian and I already have a compartment." Harry waved to his parents. And they walked over to the train where a conductor took Harry's things and put them on the train. Harry and Kat pulled them into the farthest back compartment where he set down his trunk and Hedwig. "Adrian is with our parents looking for you three." Harry laughed and they returned to the Potters to see the Blacks and Lupins there already.
"Hey Harry!" He and Adrian did their handshake.
"You three look so excited! I'm so happy!" Jennifer said. The others laughed.
"Pettigrew!" James said. They turned to wave. Peter was pushing a trolley with Sarah's things. "How are you Sarah? Excited?" She nodded happily.
"We have a compartment. Come on." They hopped on the train again and took Sarah's things to the compartment. Then they returned to the adults.
"Oh mum! Don't cry!" Harry said. Lily sniffed, but nodded. The others noticed the other moms were crying too. They all hugged their moms.
"Hey it's Molly!" Sirius said. They turned to see a red head woman run through with four sons and a daughter.
"Who?" Harry asked.
"The Weasleys. Known for their red hair and seven kids. The two oldest are graduated." Sirius explained to his godson.
"WHOA." Kat said. They watched as the boys piled their stuff onto the train, the girl hanging onto her mother's hand. Finally the whistle blew.
"OH!" Jennifer said.
"Quick on the train!" Lily said.
"We'll owl everyday." Callista added.
"Be as good as possible!" Diane finished.
"Just remember..." Remus started.
"Have fun!" James and Sirius finished.
"Bye kids!" Peter added. They hopped on the train and ran to the compartment and stuck their heads out the windows and waved to their parents.
"BYE!" They called. The train slowly started to move. They continued to wave until they turned the corner and lost sight of their parents. They sat down and grinned before they jumped up.
"OHMYGOD!!! It's finally happened!" Katarina shouted, holding onto Adrian.
"We're finally going to school! It's finally our turn to renew the names our father's made." He added.
"I've never been so excited!" Harry said. They soon fell into normal discussion of Quidditch. After a few hours the trolley witch appeared and they bought a bunch of candy, which they dug into immediately. As they sat there trading the cards from their chocolate frogs around, a bushy haired girl appeared in their cart. She looked around before sighing.
"Have you seen a toad in here?" She asked. They shook their heads.
"No sorry. If we do we'll tell you." Kat said. The girl smiled, showing large bucked teeth.
"I'm Katarina Lupin. This is Adrian Black, Sarah Pettigrew and Harry Potter." They smiled at her.
"I'm Hermione Granger. The toad is Neville Longbottom's." They gasped.
"The Neville Longbottom?" Sarah gasped, grasping onto Kat's arm.
"Don't worry Sarah. You'll meet him sometime or other." Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"Thanks anyway." Hermione said before she left. Their talk resumed with random outbursts from Sarah about Neville.
"We'd better get dressed." She said, making it the first reasonable thing she had said all day. The guys nodded and left to let the girls get dressed, then the guys went in and the girls left. They sat together in silence, too excited to speak.
They continued to oh and ah over the lake until the train stopped. They followed the rest of the students.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" called a huge man. The four hurried over to him.
"You're really tall!" Sarah said. He laughed, deep and boomy.
"Thank yer! My name's Hagrid. I'm Keeper o' the keys."
"I'm Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter? Son o' Lily an' James?" Harry nodded. "I'm guessin' there might be a Lupin, Pettigrew and a Black in here as well?"
"Katarina Lupin."
"Adrian Black."
"Sarah Pettigrew."
"Guessin' yeh'll be as bad as yer dads?" They nodded and he laughed again.
"All righ' firs' years! No more'n four to a boat!" The Marauders climbed into the boat right behind Hagrid's and the rest of the first years followed. The boats started paddling after Hagrid made sure everyone was settled and yelled "FORWARD!" Everyone continued to stare at the huge castle, with the large windows looking like large eyes. Soon they were at the opposite shore and they climbed out. They followed Hagrid up the huge steps and when everyone was there, he knocked three times on the huge castle doors.
The doors opened and they saw a tall, dark haired witch in dark emerald green robes standing there. Her hair was in a tight bun and she wore square glasses. She looked very stern.
"Thank you Hagrid." He nodded and waved to the Marauders who waved back. They looked towards the witch. She raised her eyebrows before walking away. They followed quickly, hurrying silently across the large stone floors, past tapestries, suits of armor and tons of huge torches. She led them past a huge marble staircase to an empty chamber that had nothing in it. They stood close together, peering around the dark room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," the witch started. "I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and head of Gryffindor house. The start of the term banquet will be begin shortly. You will be sorted into your houses before you take your seats however. Your house will be like your family during your stay at Hogwarts, so the sorting ceremony is very important. Your classes will be with your house, you will sleep in your house dormitory, and your free time will be spent in your house commons room.
"The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. They each have their own history that is noble and an outstanding wizard and witch have come out of each. Your triumphs will earn you house points and rule breaking will lose them." With this she looked at the four Marauders right in front of her as if she knew just who they were and just what they would do. "At the end of the year feast, the house with the most points will win the House Cup. This is a great honor. Hopefully each one of you will be of value to your fellow house.
"The sorting ceremony will begin shortly. You will wait here until I come and get you. Smarten yourselves up while you wait." She looked around the crowd. "I will fetch you shortly." With a swish of her cloak she turned and walked away. Everyone looked around nervously.
"What do we have to do?" Sarah asked them. Kat shrugged.
"My older brothers said something about having to wrestle a troll." Said a tall, gangly, red-headed boy with a ton of freckles over his cheeks and nose. Kat recognized him as one of the Weasleys.
"What?" Sarah squeaked, grabbing Adrian's arm.
"That is so stupid! I can not believe you fell for that!" Hermione snorted. The boy shot her a look of contempt.
"It's advanced magic. They really wouldn't make us do that would they?" a girl with blonde pigtails asked.
"We could take it! We're the marauders!" Harry said. The other three laughed, but stopped when McGonagall reappeared in the room. She threw a hard look across the new first years.
"Follow me." They quickly walked to keep up with the witch who led them into a pair of tall wooden doors. As she reached them, they opened by themselves. The students gasped as they filed in.
"Look at the ceiling!" Kat whispered to the others. They oohd and ahhd over the ceiling that looked the outside sky.
"It's enchanted to do that. I read it in Hogwarts, A History." Hermione informed them.
"Wonderful book isn't it?" Kat asked her. They stopped in the front of the hall and McGonagall placed a three legged stool in front of the first years that held an old and torn up looking hat on it.
"What do we have to do? Answer a riddle?" Adrian joked. Kat elbowed him and he grunted softly.
"When I call your name, please sit on the stool and I will place the hat on your head." McGonagall said, holding the hat in one hand and a scroll in the other. She waited a few seconds before calling the first name.
"Abbott, Hannah!" became the first Hufflepuff.
"Black, Adrian!" Adrian smiled and walked up to the stool before sitting down. They held their breaths as he was proclaimed "GRYFFINDOR!" The table cheered as Adrian sat at the table, grinning from ear to ear. Another girl was named a Hufflepuff.
"Boot, Terry!" became a Ravenclaw as did another girl and "Bulstrode, Millicent!" became the first Slytherin.
A boy named Finch-Fletchley, Justin became a Hufflepuff.
"Granger, Hermione!" became a Gryffindor. The red-haired boy gave a soft groan of protest.
"Longbottom, Neville!" Sarah gave a squeal of delight as the round faced boy walked awkwardly to the stool. He sat down as everyone held their breaths. Finally he became a Gryffindor and the entire table cheered.
"Lupin, Katarina." Kat took a deep breath before she walked to the stool. She sat down and was immediately proclaimed a Gryffindor. She bounced over to sit next to Adrian and they hugged.
"Malfoy, Draco." He swaggered to the chair and sat. Before the hat even touched his head, he became a Slytherin. Several more were said before it was Sarah's turn. She walked slowly to the table and sat.
"GRYFFINDOR!" She ran over to sit next to Adrian and Kat. Harry went next. He sat in the chair and was soon proclaimed a Gryffindor. The Marauders screamed with laughter as Harry ran over to them.
"Yes! We will be the Marauders!" Harry laughed. They hugged before watching the rest of the ceremony. The red-head boy (named Ron Weasley) also became a Gryffindor and he sat next to three other red-heads. Finally "Zabini, Blaise" became a Slytherin and Albus Dumbledore stood to greet the students. He raised his hands and everyone fell silent.
"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before we begin to eat I have some notices. I wish first years to know that the on grounds forest is forbidden. Some of our older students should remember this as well.
"And our caretaker, Mr. Filch, wishes to remind you that no magic between classes in the halls.
"Quidditch trials are to be held in the second week of the term. Anyone who wishes to try, please see Madam Hooch.
"Last, but not least, the third-floor corridor is off limits. The right side one. And now that's over, may the feast begin!"
Instantly all the plates filled with delicious food. The Marauders (the four will now be referred to as the Marauders) grabbed all kinds of food and piled them onto their plates. They joined in on many conversations with the other members of the house.
They learned the rest of the Weasley children's names, and the rest of their year. The feast ended too soon and Percy Weasley led the first years to the common room, meeting a horrible poltergeist names Peeves; there was a portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress and she promptly asked for the password.
"Caput Dranconis." And the huge portrait opened and they all piled into the common room. Percy told them which side their dorms were on and everyone retired for the night.
Or well tried to.
"It sucks that the girls can't come in here." Adrian commented. Only he and Harry were awake. They got the beds next to the window.
"I know. Oh well. We'll see them in the morning." He yawned and Adrian laughed. "It's late, let's as least try to sleep."
"Right. Night Harry."
"Night Adrian."
The entire morning was crazy. Everyone in the hallways were whispering about Neville, which he seemed to hate, since he was a very shy person. They all got lost as least twice because of the sheer size of the castle.
A hundred and forty-two staircases, too many doors to even try to count, and the ghosts didn't help. Only Nearly Headless Nick seemed willing to help anyone. And then there was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris who seemed to know everything that went on and would immediately go get Filch.
Classes didn't go very well either. They found out that at midnight on Wednesdays they would study the stars, and they would go to the greenhouses three times a week for Herbology. The most boring class was History of Magic, taught by a very dead and boring ghost. Professor Flitwick was a short wizard who stood on books to see. He taught Charms and when he came to Neville's name he toppled off his book stack. And McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, taught transfiguration. She was a very strict and clever witch they found out and seemed impressed only with Hermione when the were supposed to turn a match into a needle, until Katarina was able to do it better.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was a huge joke. All Quirrell did was stutter and his room smelled funny, like lots of garlic. His turban was supposedly from an African prince, but he wouldn't tell what he did to get it besides that he fought off a zombie.
Friday was Potions with the Slytherins and neither of the four was happy. They immediately recognized their teacher as Snivellus, their fathers's sworn enemy.
"Well, well. If it isn't the infamous Marauder children." He sneered under his breath, but Kat heard him due to the fact she had inheritated certain Werewolf qualities from her father, thankfully not the transforming part.
He began class with a little speech about how difficult Potions was and how different it was from other classes at Hogwarts. They listened quietly and were amazed when Snape seemed to pick on Neville, almost as much as the Marauders.
He had questioned Neville with several hard questions about what certain plants did what and what they were etc, none of which he knew. Hermione and Katarina knew, but Kat decided to keep quiet. Hermione didn't know that much about Snape and therefore waved her hand around.
They soon paired up and started a potion. Sarah and Kat, Harry and Adrian. Poor Neville, Snape made him horribly nervous and he blew the potion up, causing Seamus to take him to the hospital wing.
"You four! Why didn't you tell him he was doing it wrong?" he snapped at them.
"Perhaps we were too busy with our own potions to notice." Adrian snapped back.
"One point from Gryffindor Black." He opened his mouth to protest until Kat kicked him and mouthed "Don't push it. Percy said he can get really mean."
"Hey." Harry said, adding crushed snake fangs to Sarah's cauldron. "Let's visit Hagrid later. It could be fun!"
"Sounds good to me!" Adrian agreed. An hour later they left the dungeons and headed towards Hagrid's cabin.
They did some of their homework in the Commons and talked to the older years about the exams, third year when you get to choose courses and the OWLs until just before three and they left for Hagrid's cabin.
He lived on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest in a large wooden cabin. They knocked on the door and heard scrapping and boomy barks.
"Who is it?"
"Harry, Adrian, Kat and Sarah." Harry called.
"Right. Hang on Back, Fang." He finally got the door open and let them in. They entered the large one room cabin to see Hagrid struggling with an enormous black boarhound.
"Make yerselves at home." Hagrid told them. Kat and Sarah sat in a large armchair and Harry and Adrian sat at the table.
"How'd yer firs' week go?" He asked, boiling tea and setting down a large plate of rock cakes.
"Okay. I like several of our teachers." Kat said, grabbing one of the cakes. Harry and Adrian bite into one each and made a pained expression.
"Except Snape. He seems to dislike us." Sarah said, chewing on a cake.
"Wonder why." Adrian mused out loud, elbowing Harry's rib.
"I'm sure yer know about Snape and yer dads not getting' on."
"Yeah." Harry agreed. Then he noticed the Daily Prophet laying on the table. "Hey Hagrid can I take this? Mum didn't send me one."
"Sure. Read it." Harry slipped it into his pocket and after another hour they left for dinner.
"Hey listen to this!" Kat told them at dinner.
GRINGOTTS BREAL-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witched unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault, vault number 713, that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you." said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
When Kat finished reading the others noticed she was pale.
"What's wrong Kat?" Adrian asked, rubbing her arm.
"That day dad and I were at Gringotts and we saw Hagrid at that vault!" she whispered quietly.
The others sat in stunned silence.
"Maybe it's at Hogwarts!" Harry exclaimed loudly. People at the table turned to look at them and they smiled before turning towards each other again.
"Wonder if we could get out of Hagrid what it is." Adrian mumbled, stroking his chin.
"Don't Adrian! It's too early in the school year." Sarah whispered, her eyes shifting around, making sure no one was listening.
"Oh lighten up Sarah! I promise I won't do anything, alone." Sarah groaned as he and Harry nodded at each other.
"Give it up Sarah. Besides it might not be at Hogwarts." Kat reasoned.
"Yes, but we won't know, unless we try to find out." Harry laughed at Adrian and they continued their dinner, their minds on other things.
Please review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Thank you to my reviewers! I love you so much!
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter, although I really wish I did!
Sorry about the layout last chapter. It was my first time putting anything on the net, so I hope this layout works better!
Another thing: I decided I'm going to do one school year as one story. And obviously they are going to be short for this and the next story.
K, enough of rambles, onto the story!
The Way It Should Have Been
Chapter Two: Hogwarts
Harry ripped his door open and scrambled out. "Come on!" He pleaded. His dad laughed before turning the car off. His mother got out as well, before Harry ran to the back to pull his trunk out. His dad grabbed a trolley and put it on. Harry placed Hedwig's cage on top. His friends had also each gotten an owl on their birthdays. Katarina had been in early July, Adrian's in late June and Sarah had been last week. His dad pushed the trolley and Harry followed with his mum. James led the way to Platform nine.
"Watch closely." Harry nodded as he watched his dad walk straight towards the barrier between nine and ten. Instantly he disappeared when he hit the wall. Harry's eyes almost hit his glasses they popped out so much.
"COOL!" He turned towards his mom who laughed.
"You next." He nodded and walked through casually. He ended up next to his father staring at a huge scarlet engine. There were hundreds of students walking around, talking to their friends, saying good-bye to their parents, etc. There were cats, owls, frogs, rats, all kinds of creatures.
"This is amazing!" Harry whispered. His mom hugged him.
"Welcome to the beginning of your school life. Use it well." He nodded. They moved out of the way so other people could come through.
"HARRY!" He turned to see Kat running towards him. He hugged her as they laughed. "I'm so excited!"
"I know!"
"Come on, Adrian and I already have a compartment." Harry waved to his parents. And they walked over to the train where a conductor took Harry's things and put them on the train. Harry and Kat pulled them into the farthest back compartment where he set down his trunk and Hedwig. "Adrian is with our parents looking for you three." Harry laughed and they returned to the Potters to see the Blacks and Lupins there already.
"Hey Harry!" He and Adrian did their handshake.
"You three look so excited! I'm so happy!" Jennifer said. The others laughed.
"Pettigrew!" James said. They turned to wave. Peter was pushing a trolley with Sarah's things. "How are you Sarah? Excited?" She nodded happily.
"We have a compartment. Come on." They hopped on the train again and took Sarah's things to the compartment. Then they returned to the adults.
"Oh mum! Don't cry!" Harry said. Lily sniffed, but nodded. The others noticed the other moms were crying too. They all hugged their moms.
"Hey it's Molly!" Sirius said. They turned to see a red head woman run through with four sons and a daughter.
"Who?" Harry asked.
"The Weasleys. Known for their red hair and seven kids. The two oldest are graduated." Sirius explained to his godson.
"WHOA." Kat said. They watched as the boys piled their stuff onto the train, the girl hanging onto her mother's hand. Finally the whistle blew.
"OH!" Jennifer said.
"Quick on the train!" Lily said.
"We'll owl everyday." Callista added.
"Be as good as possible!" Diane finished.
"Just remember..." Remus started.
"Have fun!" James and Sirius finished.
"Bye kids!" Peter added. They hopped on the train and ran to the compartment and stuck their heads out the windows and waved to their parents.
"BYE!" They called. The train slowly started to move. They continued to wave until they turned the corner and lost sight of their parents. They sat down and grinned before they jumped up.
"OHMYGOD!!! It's finally happened!" Katarina shouted, holding onto Adrian.
"We're finally going to school! It's finally our turn to renew the names our father's made." He added.
"I've never been so excited!" Harry said. They soon fell into normal discussion of Quidditch. After a few hours the trolley witch appeared and they bought a bunch of candy, which they dug into immediately. As they sat there trading the cards from their chocolate frogs around, a bushy haired girl appeared in their cart. She looked around before sighing.
"Have you seen a toad in here?" She asked. They shook their heads.
"No sorry. If we do we'll tell you." Kat said. The girl smiled, showing large bucked teeth.
"I'm Katarina Lupin. This is Adrian Black, Sarah Pettigrew and Harry Potter." They smiled at her.
"I'm Hermione Granger. The toad is Neville Longbottom's." They gasped.
"The Neville Longbottom?" Sarah gasped, grasping onto Kat's arm.
"Don't worry Sarah. You'll meet him sometime or other." Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"Thanks anyway." Hermione said before she left. Their talk resumed with random outbursts from Sarah about Neville.
"We'd better get dressed." She said, making it the first reasonable thing she had said all day. The guys nodded and left to let the girls get dressed, then the guys went in and the girls left. They sat together in silence, too excited to speak.
They continued to oh and ah over the lake until the train stopped. They followed the rest of the students.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" called a huge man. The four hurried over to him.
"You're really tall!" Sarah said. He laughed, deep and boomy.
"Thank yer! My name's Hagrid. I'm Keeper o' the keys."
"I'm Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter? Son o' Lily an' James?" Harry nodded. "I'm guessin' there might be a Lupin, Pettigrew and a Black in here as well?"
"Katarina Lupin."
"Adrian Black."
"Sarah Pettigrew."
"Guessin' yeh'll be as bad as yer dads?" They nodded and he laughed again.
"All righ' firs' years! No more'n four to a boat!" The Marauders climbed into the boat right behind Hagrid's and the rest of the first years followed. The boats started paddling after Hagrid made sure everyone was settled and yelled "FORWARD!" Everyone continued to stare at the huge castle, with the large windows looking like large eyes. Soon they were at the opposite shore and they climbed out. They followed Hagrid up the huge steps and when everyone was there, he knocked three times on the huge castle doors.
The doors opened and they saw a tall, dark haired witch in dark emerald green robes standing there. Her hair was in a tight bun and she wore square glasses. She looked very stern.
"Thank you Hagrid." He nodded and waved to the Marauders who waved back. They looked towards the witch. She raised her eyebrows before walking away. They followed quickly, hurrying silently across the large stone floors, past tapestries, suits of armor and tons of huge torches. She led them past a huge marble staircase to an empty chamber that had nothing in it. They stood close together, peering around the dark room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," the witch started. "I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and head of Gryffindor house. The start of the term banquet will be begin shortly. You will be sorted into your houses before you take your seats however. Your house will be like your family during your stay at Hogwarts, so the sorting ceremony is very important. Your classes will be with your house, you will sleep in your house dormitory, and your free time will be spent in your house commons room.
"The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. They each have their own history that is noble and an outstanding wizard and witch have come out of each. Your triumphs will earn you house points and rule breaking will lose them." With this she looked at the four Marauders right in front of her as if she knew just who they were and just what they would do. "At the end of the year feast, the house with the most points will win the House Cup. This is a great honor. Hopefully each one of you will be of value to your fellow house.
"The sorting ceremony will begin shortly. You will wait here until I come and get you. Smarten yourselves up while you wait." She looked around the crowd. "I will fetch you shortly." With a swish of her cloak she turned and walked away. Everyone looked around nervously.
"What do we have to do?" Sarah asked them. Kat shrugged.
"My older brothers said something about having to wrestle a troll." Said a tall, gangly, red-headed boy with a ton of freckles over his cheeks and nose. Kat recognized him as one of the Weasleys.
"What?" Sarah squeaked, grabbing Adrian's arm.
"That is so stupid! I can not believe you fell for that!" Hermione snorted. The boy shot her a look of contempt.
"It's advanced magic. They really wouldn't make us do that would they?" a girl with blonde pigtails asked.
"We could take it! We're the marauders!" Harry said. The other three laughed, but stopped when McGonagall reappeared in the room. She threw a hard look across the new first years.
"Follow me." They quickly walked to keep up with the witch who led them into a pair of tall wooden doors. As she reached them, they opened by themselves. The students gasped as they filed in.
"Look at the ceiling!" Kat whispered to the others. They oohd and ahhd over the ceiling that looked the outside sky.
"It's enchanted to do that. I read it in Hogwarts, A History." Hermione informed them.
"Wonderful book isn't it?" Kat asked her. They stopped in the front of the hall and McGonagall placed a three legged stool in front of the first years that held an old and torn up looking hat on it.
"What do we have to do? Answer a riddle?" Adrian joked. Kat elbowed him and he grunted softly.
"When I call your name, please sit on the stool and I will place the hat on your head." McGonagall said, holding the hat in one hand and a scroll in the other. She waited a few seconds before calling the first name.
"Abbott, Hannah!" became the first Hufflepuff.
"Black, Adrian!" Adrian smiled and walked up to the stool before sitting down. They held their breaths as he was proclaimed "GRYFFINDOR!" The table cheered as Adrian sat at the table, grinning from ear to ear. Another girl was named a Hufflepuff.
"Boot, Terry!" became a Ravenclaw as did another girl and "Bulstrode, Millicent!" became the first Slytherin.
A boy named Finch-Fletchley, Justin became a Hufflepuff.
"Granger, Hermione!" became a Gryffindor. The red-haired boy gave a soft groan of protest.
"Longbottom, Neville!" Sarah gave a squeal of delight as the round faced boy walked awkwardly to the stool. He sat down as everyone held their breaths. Finally he became a Gryffindor and the entire table cheered.
"Lupin, Katarina." Kat took a deep breath before she walked to the stool. She sat down and was immediately proclaimed a Gryffindor. She bounced over to sit next to Adrian and they hugged.
"Malfoy, Draco." He swaggered to the chair and sat. Before the hat even touched his head, he became a Slytherin. Several more were said before it was Sarah's turn. She walked slowly to the table and sat.
"GRYFFINDOR!" She ran over to sit next to Adrian and Kat. Harry went next. He sat in the chair and was soon proclaimed a Gryffindor. The Marauders screamed with laughter as Harry ran over to them.
"Yes! We will be the Marauders!" Harry laughed. They hugged before watching the rest of the ceremony. The red-head boy (named Ron Weasley) also became a Gryffindor and he sat next to three other red-heads. Finally "Zabini, Blaise" became a Slytherin and Albus Dumbledore stood to greet the students. He raised his hands and everyone fell silent.
"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! Before we begin to eat I have some notices. I wish first years to know that the on grounds forest is forbidden. Some of our older students should remember this as well.
"And our caretaker, Mr. Filch, wishes to remind you that no magic between classes in the halls.
"Quidditch trials are to be held in the second week of the term. Anyone who wishes to try, please see Madam Hooch.
"Last, but not least, the third-floor corridor is off limits. The right side one. And now that's over, may the feast begin!"
Instantly all the plates filled with delicious food. The Marauders (the four will now be referred to as the Marauders) grabbed all kinds of food and piled them onto their plates. They joined in on many conversations with the other members of the house.
They learned the rest of the Weasley children's names, and the rest of their year. The feast ended too soon and Percy Weasley led the first years to the common room, meeting a horrible poltergeist names Peeves; there was a portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress and she promptly asked for the password.
"Caput Dranconis." And the huge portrait opened and they all piled into the common room. Percy told them which side their dorms were on and everyone retired for the night.
Or well tried to.
"It sucks that the girls can't come in here." Adrian commented. Only he and Harry were awake. They got the beds next to the window.
"I know. Oh well. We'll see them in the morning." He yawned and Adrian laughed. "It's late, let's as least try to sleep."
"Right. Night Harry."
"Night Adrian."
The entire morning was crazy. Everyone in the hallways were whispering about Neville, which he seemed to hate, since he was a very shy person. They all got lost as least twice because of the sheer size of the castle.
A hundred and forty-two staircases, too many doors to even try to count, and the ghosts didn't help. Only Nearly Headless Nick seemed willing to help anyone. And then there was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris who seemed to know everything that went on and would immediately go get Filch.
Classes didn't go very well either. They found out that at midnight on Wednesdays they would study the stars, and they would go to the greenhouses three times a week for Herbology. The most boring class was History of Magic, taught by a very dead and boring ghost. Professor Flitwick was a short wizard who stood on books to see. He taught Charms and when he came to Neville's name he toppled off his book stack. And McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, taught transfiguration. She was a very strict and clever witch they found out and seemed impressed only with Hermione when the were supposed to turn a match into a needle, until Katarina was able to do it better.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was a huge joke. All Quirrell did was stutter and his room smelled funny, like lots of garlic. His turban was supposedly from an African prince, but he wouldn't tell what he did to get it besides that he fought off a zombie.
Friday was Potions with the Slytherins and neither of the four was happy. They immediately recognized their teacher as Snivellus, their fathers's sworn enemy.
"Well, well. If it isn't the infamous Marauder children." He sneered under his breath, but Kat heard him due to the fact she had inheritated certain Werewolf qualities from her father, thankfully not the transforming part.
He began class with a little speech about how difficult Potions was and how different it was from other classes at Hogwarts. They listened quietly and were amazed when Snape seemed to pick on Neville, almost as much as the Marauders.
He had questioned Neville with several hard questions about what certain plants did what and what they were etc, none of which he knew. Hermione and Katarina knew, but Kat decided to keep quiet. Hermione didn't know that much about Snape and therefore waved her hand around.
They soon paired up and started a potion. Sarah and Kat, Harry and Adrian. Poor Neville, Snape made him horribly nervous and he blew the potion up, causing Seamus to take him to the hospital wing.
"You four! Why didn't you tell him he was doing it wrong?" he snapped at them.
"Perhaps we were too busy with our own potions to notice." Adrian snapped back.
"One point from Gryffindor Black." He opened his mouth to protest until Kat kicked him and mouthed "Don't push it. Percy said he can get really mean."
"Hey." Harry said, adding crushed snake fangs to Sarah's cauldron. "Let's visit Hagrid later. It could be fun!"
"Sounds good to me!" Adrian agreed. An hour later they left the dungeons and headed towards Hagrid's cabin.
They did some of their homework in the Commons and talked to the older years about the exams, third year when you get to choose courses and the OWLs until just before three and they left for Hagrid's cabin.
He lived on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest in a large wooden cabin. They knocked on the door and heard scrapping and boomy barks.
"Who is it?"
"Harry, Adrian, Kat and Sarah." Harry called.
"Right. Hang on Back, Fang." He finally got the door open and let them in. They entered the large one room cabin to see Hagrid struggling with an enormous black boarhound.
"Make yerselves at home." Hagrid told them. Kat and Sarah sat in a large armchair and Harry and Adrian sat at the table.
"How'd yer firs' week go?" He asked, boiling tea and setting down a large plate of rock cakes.
"Okay. I like several of our teachers." Kat said, grabbing one of the cakes. Harry and Adrian bite into one each and made a pained expression.
"Except Snape. He seems to dislike us." Sarah said, chewing on a cake.
"Wonder why." Adrian mused out loud, elbowing Harry's rib.
"I'm sure yer know about Snape and yer dads not getting' on."
"Yeah." Harry agreed. Then he noticed the Daily Prophet laying on the table. "Hey Hagrid can I take this? Mum didn't send me one."
"Sure. Read it." Harry slipped it into his pocket and after another hour they left for dinner.
"Hey listen to this!" Kat told them at dinner.
GRINGOTTS BREAL-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witched unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault, vault number 713, that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you." said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
When Kat finished reading the others noticed she was pale.
"What's wrong Kat?" Adrian asked, rubbing her arm.
"That day dad and I were at Gringotts and we saw Hagrid at that vault!" she whispered quietly.
The others sat in stunned silence.
"Maybe it's at Hogwarts!" Harry exclaimed loudly. People at the table turned to look at them and they smiled before turning towards each other again.
"Wonder if we could get out of Hagrid what it is." Adrian mumbled, stroking his chin.
"Don't Adrian! It's too early in the school year." Sarah whispered, her eyes shifting around, making sure no one was listening.
"Oh lighten up Sarah! I promise I won't do anything, alone." Sarah groaned as he and Harry nodded at each other.
"Give it up Sarah. Besides it might not be at Hogwarts." Kat reasoned.
"Yes, but we won't know, unless we try to find out." Harry laughed at Adrian and they continued their dinner, their minds on other things.
Please review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
