By the time the train had arrived at the station, Ambrosia had forgotten all about Sirius Black. As she stood next to Maggie, both now wearing their robes, she couldn't help but feel nervous.
They followed the rest of the first years to a giant of a man. Ambrosia thought he greatly resembled a bear, what with all that shaggy hair covering his face.
Having called all the first years to him, they followed him, stumbling down a narrow path that led to the edge of a great, black lake. Everyone stared in awe at their first glimpse of Hogwarts. There, on the other side of the lake sat a large castle. Its windows glowed a warm gold, and Ambrosia could see many towers reaching towards the sky.
At the edge of the lake there waited several small boats.
" 'k everyone, get in. Four to a boat please!" The giant man pointed towards the small boats. Ambrosia and Maggie quickly sat in a boat together, making sure to shoot a glare at anyone who attempted to join them.
"Like I'll share a boat with more people. This thing looks like it might sink any minute. Father never mentioned this part before!" Maggie gave a huff and shifted in her seat, causing the boat to rock dangerously.
Once all the students were in the little boats, they moved away from the shore, gliding over the black surface of the lake. There was silence as everyone stared at the approaching castle.
"Heads down everyone" the large man yelled as they neared the cliff on which the castle stood. As Ambrosia bent her head, the boats moved through a curtain of Ivy and into a dark tunnel that ended at a small harbour. There they got out of the boats and followed the large man through a passage way, across grass and up a flight of steps till they reached the large oak front door of the castle.
The large man knocked on the door, which swung open to reveal a tall, black-haired witch with a stern face. She was wearing an emerald dress and greeted the giant with a nod and a "thank you Hagrid".
As she walked through the door she called for the first-years to follow her. They marched through the grand castle until they reached a small chamber, where they gathered, standing rather closely together and waited.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. I am professor McGonagall. In but a few short minutes you will be sorted into one of four houses where you will spend the rest of your school years in. Your house will become like a family to you. In your house you will attend classes together, sleep in the same dormitory, spend your free time together and you will try to gain points for it.
The four Houses are Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Each house has produced remarkable witches and wizards and will guide and support you throughout your school years.
While here, you can gain points through your achievements, but lose points through misbehaviour and rule-breaking. The house with the most point by the end of the year will win the House cup, a great honour indeed.
While you will be staying at Hogwarts I hope that you will become an asset for you house. Now I suggest that you make yourselves presentable while you wait." With that she left the chamber.
As soon as the door had closed everyone began talking about the sorting. No one seemed to know how they would be sorted into their houses.
"You don't think they'll make us perform magic, do you? I haven't learn any spells yet!" This produced murmurs of panic.
"Don't be daft. They know that we haven't learnt any spells yet. I bet they've devised trials to test us. Maybe there'll be a dragon and we have to fight it" a boy from the front said. He was the same boy from the train. The one who was standing with Black. What was his name again? Ambrosia remembered it started with a J.
His words caused even more panic. Before anyone else could suggest anymore crazy ideas, the door opened again and Professor McGonagall walked back in. "Settle down" she waited until everyone had stopped fidgeting.
"Now, I want you to form a line and follow me please." Swallowing a sudden lump in her throat, Ambrosia followed Professor McGonagall out of the chamber, down the hall and through a pair of double doors.
She couldn't help but gasp once she saw the Great Hall. The huge room was lit with thousands of floating candles. Four large tables seemed to house the rest of the students and a fifth table had the teachers sitting at it.
Looking up, she saw that the ceiling of the Hall was enchanted so that instead of wooden beams she saw the night sky. Stars were twinkling down at her as they walked towards the teachers table.
Tearing her eyes away from the enchanted sky she saw Professor McGonagall place a stool in front of the staff table before setting a raggedy looking hat on top of the stool. Ambrosia looked at the hat in disgust.
"I'm not touching that thing" she whispered to Maggie, who only nodded in reply, still in too much awe to speak. Suddenly the hat began to move, a long rip along the bottom formed into a mouth as it began to sing about the merits of each house. When it mentioned the part about having to put the hat on your head to be sorted, Ambrosia had to resist the urge to gag. Still, she joined everyone else in clapping when the hat finished its song.
McGonagall stepped forward holding a large roll of parchment.
"Once I have called your name you will come forward and place the hat on your head where it will sort you into your new house," she said.
"Anderson, Julius!" A small, pale faced boy walked up to the stool and put the hat on his head. "RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled after a minute.
This didn't seem too bad, Ambrosia thought to herself. All she had to do was sit there with that thing on her head and it would put her into one of the houses.
Two more names where called before Professor McGonagall called Sirius Black's name. He seemed to sit on that stool for ages before it finally called "GRYFFINDOR!" A relieved looking Sirius made his way over to the cheering table. As he sat down he caught Ambrosia staring at him and shot a smirk in her direction. With a huff she turned her head back to the Sorting hat.
It wasn't long until her own name was called. Slowly she made her way to the hat, pulling a face at the disgusting state it was in before she pulled it over her head.
"DeLane huh? Let's see what's in your head. Hmmm. Ambitious yes, very driven. A bit of a superiority complex, just like your brother. There's only one place for you. SLYTHERIN!"
Relieve and happiness flooded Ambrosia. Ripping the hat from her head she made her way over to the Slytherin table. There she spotted her brother further down. He had a proud look in his eyes as he gave her a welcoming smile. As the clapping died down again, Ambrosia couldn't help the feeling that she belonged here.