Chapter 2: The Long Wait Till School The rest of the summer before the school year went by so slow, which was bad and good at the same time. I was very eager to start at Hogwarts, but I was determined to be the best on a broom so they would have no choice but to put me on the team. The days dragged on and my Quidditch skills were getting better and better to the point where Andrew told me that he thought I had a real chance of being on the Gryffindor team if I was sorted there. It was finally the day! September 1st, the day that I got on the Hogwarts Express and headed off to school! My father woke me and my brother at 5:30 am, but I didn't care because I was going to Hogwarts! We got up and packed all our things and were ready by 7:30 am. When I asked my dad why he woke us up so early he told me that we had quite a bit of a walk because there weren't any close fireplaces for us where the muggles wouldn't see. So we went into the fireplace one by one and appearing at the Leaky Cauldron ready for a long journey. After walking multiple blocks, and getting many looks, we found Kings Cross. It was now 10:15 am and we had plenty of time. My father asked Andrew to go through platforms 9 and 10 first to show me, even though I've seen him do it twice already. Going at a little more than a jog Andrew disappeared through the wall. Now it was my turn, I ran at the wall thinking about Hogwarts and hoping that I wouldn't crash into the wall. I opened my eyes and right in front of me was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, the scarlet red Hogwarts Express. I was walking toward the train to board it when I heard someone calling my name. "Michael! Michael!" it was Dennis Clearfout the boy that I had met in Diagon Alley. "Hey Dennis how's it going?" "Pretty good, I can't wait to get to Hogwarts!" said Dennis with a glimmer in his eye that I'm sure I myself had multiple times when talking about Hogwarts. "Want to sit together? I don't know anyone else but my brother and he's two years older and won't want to sit with me." I said to Dennis. "Sure, I was going to sit with my older brother Leroy, but I'm sure he won't mind if you joined us." "What house is your brother in Dennis?" "He's in Gryffindor and he's in his second year now." Dennis said as if reading my mind to know what I was going to ask him next. The two of us gathered our things and boarded the Hogwarts Express in search for Dennis' brother Leroy. We walked down the hallway a bit and then found Leroy. Dennis introduced us and then we placed our luggage away and situated ourselves for the journey to Hogwarts! As we were waiting to get to Hogwarts we talked about all sorts of things from Quidditch to classes at Hogwarts and everything in between. "Hey Leroy do you know my brother Andrew? He's a year above you, but he is also in Gryffindor." I curiously asked. "Not really, I mean I know him, but we don't hang out. He mostly just hangs out with that Poltveer kid that's in his year." Said Leroy in a tone that didn't sound like he liked my brother that much. Of course I knew he was talking about Charles Poltveer. All Andrew ever talked about besides schoolwork was Charles. Every once in a while he will say he was with a kid named Joey Chiedstor or a girl named Penelope Dootfield, but it seemed like Charles was always by his side. The trolley finally came by and this is what I've been waiting for. I had saved up my money for the past 4 years to buy as many chocolate frog cards as possible. I asked how much for all the Chocolate Frogs and she told me 5 Galleons 6 Sickles and 4 Knuts. I handed it over and still had plenty of money. Leroy and Dennis were staring at me with a look on their faces. I told them to help themselves but that I got the cards. The Hogwarts Express started getting close so we all changed into our robes. My Forever Puppy Cooper was running in circles excitedly while we were trying to get ready. The Hogwarts Express slowed down and then stopped, we had arrived at last! Leroy left us as the first years take boats up to the castle. Dennis and I got into a boat with a girl named Betsy and a boy named Frank. They both seemed nice, Frank Torklord had muggle parents and was very excited about the whole magical world. Betsy Inglehorn on the other hand was a Pureblood and didn't want people to think she was a muggle hater like her parents so she stayed quiet. The boats crossed the pond and there was a giant squid that waved to us all, but besides that it was smooth sailing. We walked up to the castle with Professor Hagrid leading the way. We were met by Professor Eleanor Meadows, who is the transfiguration teacher. She escorted us first years through the castle to a room we all filed into where she explained "You are all about to be sorted into your houses. When at school your house is just like family, so treat them well and they'll do the same. While here the houses compete for the house cup which is won by the house with the most points. Points are won for your triumphs and can be lost for breaking rules. If there are no questions we will now enter the Great Hall." I don't know if it was because we were too scared to ask, but nobody said anything, so we all filed into the great hall and the sorting ceremony started. A couple names were called and got sorted and then Professor Meadows called "Dennis Clearfout!" Dennis went up and had the hat placed on him. All the students before him were decided pretty easily, but seeing as how each of his brothers are in different houses it couldn't have been easy for even Dennis to know what house he wanted to go into. After what seemed like forever the sorting hat gave a roar that said "Gryffindor." I was happy for Dennis, but I still didn't know if I was going into Gryffindor or not, we would see. Some more names were called and then Betsy Inglehorn was called, the girl whom I shared a boat ride up to Hogwarts with. She went up and had the sorting hat placed on her head and after about 20 seconds the hat roared "Gryffindor." I was happy as it seemed like she got along well with Dennis, but I wanted to be in Gryffindor. Some more names were called and placed in housed and then finally the moment of truth. "Michael Stubley!" I suddenly had this rush of confidence into me, I walked up had the sorting hat placed upon my head and the sorting hat talked in a voice only I can hear. "Hmm very diverse family, very diverse." And then the sorting hat said something I never expected it to say "You would fit well anywhere, where would you like to go?" I whispered Gryffindor and he obliged. "Gryffindor!" I could see Dennis and Betsy both clapping with big smiles on their face. Next up was Frank Torklord, who was placed in Hufflepuff. All the first years had been sorted and none of them looked too bad except one boy in Slytherin named Markos Wyatt. He had a Strut as he walked and after immediately being placed in Slytherin he gave this horrible look towards the other three houses as if saying 'you don't deserve me'. The Headmistress Professor McGonagall gave a speech explaining some more of the rules of Hogwarts and places you cannot go. After the speech there was a huge feast that appeared out of nowhere, and after 3 helpings I was finally full. The prefects were then gathering us up to escort us to our dormitories. When we reached the fat lady the prefect said "Gillyweed" and she flung open for all the Gryffindors to pile into the common room. I sat down on a couch with Dennis and we were talking about how lucky we were that we were in Gryffindor. After talking for about a half hour my brother Andrew and his friend Charles came up and he congratulated me on being in Gryffindor. I then introduced Dennis to Andrew and Charles. Before they were about to leave I asked Charles if I could have a word with my brother alone and he obliged. When I got a bit of distance from Dennis and Charles I said to Andrew "When the hat was sorting me he said that I could have gone anywhere and that I could pick, and then I picked Gryffindor. Is that normal?" Andrew gave me a look of slight relief and said "No the same thing happened to me. I didn't know where I wanted to go because mom was in Ravenclaw and dad was in Hufflepuff, but I really liked Charles because we rode on the train to the school together and went on the boat together like you and Dennis. And the hat sorted him into Gryffindor so I said Gryffindor and the hat said Gryffindor. I asked Charles if the hat let him choose and he said no that the hat chose Gryffindor. Don't go telling people this Michael. If people find out that you got to choose where to go they might be jealous and maybe even become angry." I promised Andrew that I wouldn't say anything and then decided to call it a night as I headed up for bed.