"Can we join you?" I asked after opening the door to the compartment. Both boys looked at us with a dream like stare for a good minute before nodding simultaneously. They both had blonde hair and blue eyes and appeared to be twins.
"I'm Lorcan Scamander," one said.
"And I'm Lysander Scamander," the other said. They spoke with a light air to them.
"Lily Potter," I greeted.
"I'm Hugo Weasley," Hugo said.
Instead of gawking or being star-struck they just nodded and smiled. It was a little strange, but I liked them.
For a while it was a little quiet. Hugo had gone back to fiddling with his watch and the twins were looking out the window. I switched between looking out the compartment door at the different people walking by and asking Hugo what he was doing. He rarely responded though and I was too excited to sit still.
"Where are you going?" Hugo asked after seeing me stand up.
"Can't sit still," I responded. This was a normal response and Hugo just nodded. The twins waved bye to me as I exited the compartment and made my way down the hall.
Each compartment had its fair share of interesting things and people in it. One compartment had a bunch of people playing exploding snap and was quiet amusing. There was one compartment with a couple snogging, which was really gross and I moved quickly away from that one. I found the compartment with James, Fred, and Louis in it and James motioned for me to come in.
"It isn't safe for a little first-year like you to be roaming the halls Lils," James teased, ruffling my hair.
"But mate, she's a Potter, aren't you guys invincible?" Fred joked, sticking out his tongue at me.
"You're trying to find attention, aren't you?" Louis questioned.
I shook my head at all of them. "I just couldn't sit still is all," I claimed innocently and threw up my hands. James laughed and Fred tickled me, saying something about needing to let out energy. Louis sat still and smiled at me. To his left sat the boy we knew to be his boyfriend. Louis had come out to us last year by bringing a boy to Christmas at Nana Weasley's house. The boy was in his year in Gryffindor too, called Graham and had dark brown short hair and light green eyes. Graham was a pretty quiet guy, but gave really good advice.
"Lay off her mate," Graham laughed and winked at me. "She'll be wanting to run off and find a lad or something."
My mouth dropped and my ears turned red. A lad? I was not looking for any boy and Graham was daft for thinking so. This made Louis laugh and squeeze Graham's hand and James stood up.
"You better not be," he growled. He was really defensive and it was a tad much. I rolled my eyes and waved bye to them all. James just growled but everyone else said bye and Fred ruffled my hair.
I bounced down the corridor, looking through compartments that didn't have the curtains drawn. A few people were already changed into their robes and some were even practicing magic. I was sure that probably wasn't allowed but didn't seem to be a big deal.
The trolley lady passed by me and I stopped her for some sweets. With a licorice wand in my mouth and a box of every flavor beans, I continued down.
I came across the compartment with Albus and Scorpius and some of their other Slytherin friends and Albus motioned me in. Scorpius gave me a high five and asked how my summer went. After being sorted into Slytherin, Albus made friends with Scorpius and we all saw how he wasn't anything like Uncle Ron said he would be. He was actually really nice and caring.
"What are you up to Lils?" Albus asked with a raised eyebrow. He was sure I was up to no good, I knew it.
"Can't sit still," I replied and chewed on my sweet.
"Don't go too much further," a girl with dark hair and dark eyes said to me.
"How come?" I asked.
"Some 7th years are picking on first-years and it isn't pretty," a dark skinned boy said in a grave tone.
"Where are the prefects?" I asked. This seemed to be funny to them because everyone laughed.
"Oh first-year," the girl that spoke before said. "Prefects are only fifth years this year. And the Head Boy is in on it so the Head Girl ignores it. Don't worry though, you're a Potter."
I crossed my arms and thought about this for a minute. It seemed odd that the ones in charge would be doing this, but it was worth checking out at least. And maybe my surname would help me out in this situation. If not, Dom was the Head Girl and surely she'd stop them from making fun of her cousin.
I bounced out of Al's compartment and down the corridor some more before realizing that all of the compartment doors around were open. I peered inside to see older students talking to scared younger ones and only a few were doing nothing. I held my head up and continued down, waiting for someone to see me.
It's not that I wanted to cause trouble, I simply wanted to know how much influence my surname had on all of this.
It wasn't long before a really tall bloke with dark purple hair and deep blue eyes stepped out, intercepting my path. His hair changed to dark red and freckles appeared on his face. He was a metamorphmagus for sure. I smiled at him.
"I know someone else who can do that," I replied. This seemed to shock him for a moment. Apparently that was a trick he used to scare people. Or so he made it seem. His hair turned back to purple and the freckles disappeared. His glare however did not waver.
"You have the hair of a Weasely, but the attitude of a Potter," he started. "You must be little Lily Luna Potter. What brings you to my section of the train?"
"Couldn't sit still," I replied honestly, still smiling at him. He really didn't scare me.
"This is a dangerous place for first-year students," he smirked. There was a small scar above the left side of his lip. I wondered if that was real or something he did to scare people.
"Doesn't really bother me," I smarted off. He raised his eyebrows at me.
"You're a brave one Potter, do you know who I am?" he asked.
I tapped my chin for a moment but came up with nothing. So I shook my head.
"I'm Reilly O'Neal. Head boy and member of Slytherin. Captain of the quidditch team, a beater," he rolled off with a smug grin.
"I'm a beater too," I piped and jumped up and down. He laughed and shook his head.
"If anything you're a seeker. Not big enough to be a beater. Don't you have cousins or something to run along with?"
"Would you want to sit with your cousins that you spend so much time with as it is?"
"You've got a point."
"I know."
"So what do you want?"
I thought about that for a minute. I didn't really think I wanted anything. I was just curious as to what was going on around this part of the train. I was about to say just that when my blonde haired cousin appeared behind Reilly, looking pretty pissed.
"Reilly Jackson O'Neal," she said in a menacing tone. "You better leave my cousin alone right this instant." She may look like her mom, but she had the temper of a Weasley for sure.
Reilly turned around quickly. "Oh Dom, I wasn't hurting your cousin," he said in a smooth tone. No doubt her part-veela was affecting him. "I was introducing myself and asking her if she was lost. Little Lily here is a charm."
My ears turned red. Dom looked at me. "Is this true?" she asked. I nodded and smiled at her. "Well. Lily, get back to your compartment and put on your robes, we'll be arriving soon. Reilly, stop harassing my family and tell your friends to send their little first-year friends back. Or else," she barked and smiled at me. Dom was a really cool person, and an awesome quidditch player, but she was not to be messed with. I think there was something about veelas having short tempers, but that could very easily have been the Weasley in her as well.
She didn't have to tell me twice, and after saying goodbye to both of them I hurried down to my original compartment to find two more girls in there and another boy.
"Dom says we're about to arrive so put on your robes," I announced and then paused to look at the new people.
"After you left-"
"-some new people-"
"-joined our compartment," the twins said together. I nodded and waited for them to introduce themselves.
The girls spoke first. "I'm Kayla Abbot," said the brown haired girl sitting closest to the door.
"I'm Haley Martin," said the blonde girl sitting next to Kayla.
"And I'm Travis McCoy," said the boy. He had mousy brown curly hair and bright blue eyes. He smiled at me and waved as he spoke.
"I'm Lily. Lily Potter," I said as I put on my robe over my muggle clothes. All three new people stared at me with wide eyes. "What?" I laughed at them and slipped my wand inside my robe. I wasn't sure how to react to people staring at me just yet. Dad normally kept us out of the public eye unless we needed to be there and typically we had aurors with us. This was going to be an adjustment I was sure.
It was starting to get a bit dark outside and we were all seeming a tad nervous. Kayla spoke to break the tension.
"So what houses do you think you all will be in?" she asked.
"Ravenclaw," Lorcan and Lysander said at the same time.
"Our mother was one," Lysander said with a smile.
"And we take after her more than dad," Lorcan finished.
"Hufflepuff for sure," Haley said. "I'm not good at anything."
"Hey Hufflepuff isn't a bad place," Kayla said. "My mom was one and I'll probably be one too. We're really loyal people and pretty good at finding things." This made Haley feel a bit better.
"I reckon I'll be in Gryffindor," Travis said. "My mum was one. Dad's a muggle though, but I have a good chance at Gryffindor."
Hugo nodded. "I'll be in Gryffindor. My sister and most of my family is there. There's no question about it."
I paused before answering. James and Albus had already told me all about their sorting experiences. James said the hat barely touched his head before screaming out Gryffindor but Albus said the hat talked to him for a long time. He said the house had told him he would be great in Gryffindor but saw a more intelligence and self-preservation in him and finally put him in Slytherin. This seemed to have shocked most of the school and no one clapped for a few seconds. Both boys said James started the clap and yelled that's my brother causing everyone else to clap.
I was pretty cunning, and had a lot of ambition, so I had some qualities of a Slytherin. It's not that I wouldn't mind being in Slytherin, but I didn't really want to be there. I wasn't thrilled to think about living in the dungeons. Albus fit there fine, but I wasn't really like Albus.
Everyone was looking at me though. "I don't know," I responded. "Maybe Gryffindor, maybe not. It's up in the air. Do we really know anyway?"
Everyone seemed to be a bit shocked by my response but nodded and shrugged. Hugo eyed me for a minute to see if I was up to something but shrugged it off and began talking to Travis about famous quidditch teams. Travis seemed to know a lot about them and asked me if I could get an autograph from my mum on a Harpies poster. I shrugged and told him I'd see what I could do. I knew mum would be more than thrilled and probably write a column about it in the Daily Prophet. She was the quidditch correspondent after all.
We arrived at Hogwarts finally and everyone went silent. I think we were all really nervous. I led the way out and Hugo followed behind me, keeping a hand on my shoulder. The rest of our group followed out and eventually everyone was off the train. I saw the older students walking towards some carriages but couldn't find my brothers so I just stood in the crowd of first-years.
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" A voice so loud it must belong to Rubeus Hagrid said. I pulled Hugo along and ran up to greet him.
"Hey Hagrid!" both Hugo and I said, looking up at the giant who stood a good 3 ½ meters in the air.
"Lily, Hugo!" he yelled at us, engulfing us in a hug. "My you've grown. Well, come along." He yelled back along to all of the other first-years and led us to boats. "Four to a boat!"
Hugo and I got into a boat with Lorcan and Lysander filing in with us. They smiled their dreamy smiles at us and suddenly the boats lunged forward. I hadn't seen any paddles and we were moving at a nice speed so naturally there must have been magic involved.
A chorus of woahs echoed across the boat as we saw Hogwarts come into vision. It was huge and sat on the edge of a cliff. There were big towers that surrounded the main building and smaller buildings connected by bridges. The school looked bigger than I ever imagined. I was speechless at the size and beauty of the building.
When we arrived and filed out of the boats we walked up a flight of stairs outside that led to a massive set of doors. Three or four of Hagrids stacked on top of each other could have fit through this door. They opened completely and we all filed into a huge open area that had statues and knights and paintings lining the walls. I closed my mouth after realizing it was gaping open and stopped with everyone else.
Our family friend Neville Longbottom appeared outside and waved at us all. "Hello all, I am Professor Longbottom, deputy headmaster and head of Gryffindor house as well as your Herbology professor. Shortly we will walk through these doors into the great hall where you will be sorted. You will be sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. While here your house will be like your family. You will sleep, eat, and go to class with them. You will also gain points for doing good things and lose points for any rule breaking. Follow me."
A smaller but still large set of doors opened and we walked down a pathway surrounded by four long tables. Gryffindor was all the way to my right with Ravenclaw beside it. To my left was Hufflepuff and then Slytherin on my far left. There were banners above each table with the respected colors and mascots on them. I looked up in awe. I had read that the ceiling was enchanted to look like the outside but that was nothing compared to what it really looked like. I nudged Hugo to look up and he muttered a low woah, wicked before we came to a halt.
"When I say your name please step forward and put on the sorting hat," Professor Longbottom said after we had all stopped. This was it. This was the moment I would learn what house I would be in for the next seven years.
"Abbot, Kayla" was the first name to be called. She walked up and the sorting hat covered most of her head.
"HUFFLEPUFF" The hat yelled after a short second.
"Abbot, Tyler" was the next boy who looked a lot like Kayla. I guessed they were twins. I hadn't seen him with her on the train, but maybe he had friends he sat with. The hat after a moment said "HUFFLEPUFF"
"Anderson, Scott," a small dark skinned boy was the next to go up. The hat waited a little longer with him. "RAVENCLAW" it yelled.
"Barker, Taylor," a tall girl with blonde hair stumbled up next and before the hat could even be placed fully on her head it yelled-
"SLYTHERIN"
The first "GRYFFINDOR" belonged to a "Jefferson, Craig" and "Lethe, Parker" a small dark haired girl was also deamed Gryffindor.
"Martin, Haley" was called next and I patted her on the back as she passed me. The hat sat on her head a minute before yelling out "RAVENCLAW" which shocked her. I could tell by her smile as she bounced over to the Ravenclaw table.
"Malfoy, Arianna" was called next, making the hall go silent. No one, including me, knew there was another Malfoy child. But sure enough, a very pale blonde haired girl walked forward looking extremely bored. She sat down on the school and looked up at the ceiling. She probably knew all eyes were on her. The hat barely touched her head before it yelled "SLYTHERIN"
"McCoy, Travis" was next and he winked at me as he passed me, making my face turn as red as my hair. The hat barely touched his head before calling out "GRYFFINDOR" which made him grin and strut over to the table.
"Morose, Wilson" was the next name called. He was a tall dark skinned boy and the hat sorted him into "HUFFLEPUFF"
A small girl with almost no hair called "Norris, Sam" was sorted into Hufflepuff. She looked like she almost needed help getting to her seat. It was a curious thing.
"Orion, Grayson" was called next. He swiftly made his way past me, pausing momentarily before moving on. When he looked at me I caught sight that his eyes were yellow. I shook my head, it must have been a play of the lights. Yellow wasn't a color for eyes. This boy was a deathly skinny, and I mean skinnier than me, really dark haired boy who looked like he hadn't cut his hair in ages. It was pulled back in a ponytail and he had a long scar on the side of his face. The sorting hat seemed to be on his head for a really long time before it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Potter, Lily" Professor Longbottom said and smiled straight at me. I gulped. This was it. I was going to be sorted now. I found myself unable to move and I knew I was shaking a bit. The hall had gone quiet and people were standing to try and get a good look at me. A hand pushed me forward and I almost stumbled but I made it up to the stool and before the hat covered my face Professor Longbottom winked at me.
"Aaaah, the last Potter," the hat said. I assumed I was the only one to hear this. "You are most difficult. Very wise, a good trait for Ravenclaw. Your loyalty is outstanding, maybe you'd do well in Hufflepuff. Oh, cunning and power hungry I see. A real need to prove yourself outside of your name. Your brother Albus was just like that. Which is why Slytherin was an excellent choice for him. You would do great things there as well. But you are too daring, too proud. Even though you don't want to admit it you are proud of your last name. Gryffindor runs in your blood and is thick with you. Never have I seen someone with such equal traits for all of the houses. Hm. Where to put you… You are going to be a great witch… mark my words there. Alright well it better be-
GRYFFINDOR" the hat finally exclaimed out loud. The Gryffindor table erupted and James even stood on the table cheering me on. I sighed with relief and the hat was removed from my head. I made my way to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Grayson who was studying me with great intent. I ignored him and received the pats on my back before the next name was called.
"Scamander, Lorcan" was called shortly after me. The blonde boy seemed to float up there and the hat barely hit his head before calling out "RAVENCLAW"
"Scamander, Lysander" was next and the hat sat on his head a little longer before yelling out "GRYFFINDOR" I jumped up and cheered for him as he came over and sat next to me. He looked a little upset and glanced over at his brother. Lorcan gave him two thumbs up which made him smile a little.
A "Tryst, Jennifer" joined us at the Gryffindor table and before I knew it
"Weasley, Hugo" was called and the hat spent almost as long as it did on my head before finally yelling out "GRYFFINDOR" Hugo joined us at the table and I jumped up to hug him. For a second I was almost worried he wouldn't be in the same house as me. Now though I was laughing about it. Because he was a Weasley, and most Weasleys get placed in Gryffindor. Especially the son of two of the golden trio.
"Weasley, Lucy" went up next. The hat sat still for a while before yelling out "GRYFFINDOR" Lucy looked a little stunned and had to be reminded to go sit at the Gryffindor table. We greeted her with excitement but she kept looking over at her older sister. She probably thought she was a Ravenclaw for sure. Most of us did. But there must be some hidden bravery in there somewhere.
"Weasley, Roxanne" immediately went to "GRYFFINDOR" being the last of our clan to join us.
It was the longest wait I had ever experienced and after Headmistress McGonagall announced it was time to eat I dove into the food that had magically appeared in front of us. It was heavenly and kept replacing itself with other food.