p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The morning of September 1st found me laying in my bed at seven AM, wide awake. I had woken up early and wasn't able to fall back asleep so after leaving Aries' cage door open since he had gone hunting that night, I made my way into the bathroom to get ready. There was no point in checking my luggage since everything had been packed for over a week now and was set by the front door. My train ticket had come a week before by owl and had been tacked up on my bathroom mirror since then. I pulled it off from where it hung and admired the gold script again. Aries flew back into my room with a shriek, carrying a dead vole in his talons. We had become companions over the past few weeks and he would now fly to my arm when I called. Of course, the system wasn't perfect since I had a few scratches from him being surprised./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After reading some books for a while, I ran down stairs, almost falling on my face in my haste. I wanted to eat a good breakfast since the train would be leaving at eleven. I found the kitchen empty and quiet. My mom and dad were probably still asleep tired from their late shits last night. Heading for the pantry, I pulled out my favorite cereal, grabbed a bowl, spoon, and the milk, then began to eat. When I finished, I cleaned my dishes and made my way upstairs to get changed. I put my owl in his cage and then dragged the suitcase out to the car. We had planned on leaving early so that we could be there on time, so we left the house at 9:30. By that time, Aries had begun to screech and flap his wings. A few of the neighbors even came out to see what the commotion had been about./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Since we had never been to King's Cross Station before, it took us a while to get there and it was also across town. My parents had to drop me off early since they both had to get to work at eleven, but they wished me luck. As my dad was hugging me, he slipped a bag of my favorite chocolates into my pocket. I thanked him quietly since mom didn't want me to have too many sweets. After waving at them until the car disappeared, I walked inside to find Platform 9. Lily had promised to meet me there. As I neared the platform the howl of a cat and the screech of an owl reached my ears, and knew that I had found the Potter's. Standing beside the platform was Lily's brother Albus, who was arguing with her other brother James, who I had met when I had gone and visited Lily. Their mother was standing a bit off to the side, laughing as she watched her husband try unsuccessfully to break up the fight./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Cassie! You made it!" I heard Lily call to me as she ran over. She dragged me over to where there was a group of children around our age and introduced me to them. They were all Lily's cousins, and were really cool. Twenty minutes until the train left, Mr. Potter gave everyone a buddy and we ran towards a brick wall.. I was sure we would crash in a heap of luggage, clothes, and pets, but I appeared on the other side. Platform 9¾. It was even better than I had imagined. People were milling about and the hum of their voices filled the platform. Steam cascaded out of the top of the train's funnel. Further down, I could see doors opened and welcoming people onto the magic train. We put all of our things in the luggage compartment, then went to find some seats. Most of us sat in the same compartment, but the older ones went to sit with friends./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We sat talking for a few minutes until we heard the train's whistle. We hopped out of our seats to wave to the parents outside the train. Since my own parents hadn't been able to stay, I waved at the Potter's. As we rode out of the train station, we could hear people running up and down the aisles, talking or shouting excitedly. We all stayed in our compartment, talking about our hopes for Hogwarts. Lily explained to me how the procedure would go when we got there, and how we would be going across the lake to get to Hogwarts. At this point, James burst in, saying that the trolley was coming. Everyone got all excited, quickly pulling money out of their pockets, and I didn't understand why, that is until it arrived at our door./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A plump witch pushing a trolley full of assorted sweets and candies opened our door and asked, "Is there anything I can get you dearies?" We all jumped up and began to buy things off of the cart. By the time we were done, I felt like we had bought half of the candy on the trolley. In reality, there was still thousands of them piled onto the trolley. The door swung shut again, leaving us to eat our candy in silence, only disturbed by the sounds of chewing delicious candies and wrappers./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ooh, Cassie try this," Lily said to me, passing a multi-colored bow labeled Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans towards me. Shrugging, I popped one into my mouth. Almost immediately I regretted it because it tasted like bratwurst. I spit it out into a napkin and glared at Lily as she laughed. "What was that? It tasted awful!" I complained. Lily had to catch her breath before answering. "The box explains it all. James once got a boogie flavored one. He couldn't get the bean out fast enough." We laughed as a picture of her 15 year old brother wiping his tongue popped into our heads. As my new friends continued to eat, the day and its events finally caught up with me, and I nodded off./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"*****/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I woke up to Lily shaking me. She was saying something about getting changed, and suddenly I was wide awake. "We're almost at Hogwarts, so you need to get into your school robes. I'll take you to the bathroom so you can change, " she explained. As we left the compartment to head for the loo, I saw how late it had gotten from the windows in front of me.. The afternoon had seeped into twilight and the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon. After changing, I followed the red-head back to our compartment, not wanting to get lost. As I sat back down again, my attention turned to the conversation that had started./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rose, who was two years older than me, turned to Albus and stated, "I don't think I'll be able to eat anything at the feast. I'm too stuffed with chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes." Albus nodded, saying that he felt the same way. After they said this, I suddenly felt glad that I hadn't eaten anything other than a few beans and one frog. This would be my first feast in a school of magic and I wanted to get as much as I could. By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, butterflies that I had felt that morning had returned, but this time as an army./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Firs' years, over 'ere. Follow me," I heard a voice called. I followed Lily and Hugo, her cousin, as they made their way to a giant of a man. Hugo had told me earlier that his name was Hagrid and had worked at the school when his Uncle Harry went there. Now the large man had some gray streaks in his beard and walked with a slight limp. We followed him through the forest to what I assumed was the lake. When we arrived there was a fleet of boats gathered together at the docks. Hagrid told us to climb in three in a boat, so Lily, Hugo, and I all climbed into a boat together. When every boat was filled, they moved into the water and across the lake. As we emerged from the tree line, I heard gasps behind me and I looked up. In front of us was a huge castle. It was lit up, and looked extravagant. The castle was enormous, with towers reaching towards the starry sky and windows gleaming with light. It looked like something out of one of my books./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Arriving at the docks at the bottom of the huge hill, everyone climbed out. Ahead of our group lay hundreds of steps that we had to climb. I heard a few groans but knew that we would all make it. It had started to rain a little about half way up, but we soon reached the entrance hall. We stood there, drying off and marveling at the pictures on the walls. Some didn't have anyone in them, but some looked to be overcrowded. Suddenly a witch appeared in front of us. She was short, but plump, and looked like she was well suited to be a mother. Her face was bright and cheery./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Welcome first years, to the school of witchcraft and wizardry. My name is Professor Altrose, and I teach Astronomy. I am also the Deputy Headmistress, and will be helping to sort you all. Now, follow me if you please," she said as she started towards the large double doors. They swung open silently. We stepped in and the smells and sights almost overpowered me. There were four tables stationed in a line, with a variety of students sitting at them. As we walked down the aisle between the middle two tables, I found my eyes looking up at the head table. The Headmistress, Professor McGonagall and all the other professors were sitting there smiling down at us. I was paying so much attention to the decorations that I wasn't listening to what Professor Altrose was saying so I started listening./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"". . . houses. Now, let the sorting commence!" When she said this, cheering erupted in the hall, coming from all of the tables. The professor smiled and made a rumpled old hat appear on the stool in front of us. She then flicked out a long list of names and began to read them off. When a name was called, the student would step forward, and she would place the hat on their head. After a few seconds, the hat would call out one of the four houses, and that table would erupt into cheers. For instance, the name "Nathair, Jackson" was read and he was placed into Slytherin. Name after name was called, until . . ./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Stone, Cassandra." I took a deep breath and stepped up to the stool. The hat was placed on my head, and I could suddenly hear the hat's voice in my head. "Hmmm, I can see courage, and wisdom. You seem to be a girl who values knowledge and wisdom. But… you are also needed in the home of the brave. It'll have to be… GRYFFINDOR!" I almost collapsed with relief, but stood and walked over to the table. People who I didn't even know were patting me on the back and congratulating me. I couldn't help but feel that I had found another place to call home. I stared up at the Sorting Hat and waited for Lily's name to be called. When it was, she almost sprinted up to the hat. Before it was even set upon her head, the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and we all cheered. I stood up and gave her a hug, then we waited for Hugo to join us. He came to sit down after nine more names were called, and had a relieved look on his face. After all the first years were sorted, Professor McGonagall stood up and welcomed us to another year at Hogwarts./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Welcome back to another great year at Hogwarts. To those who are new, I welcome you with open arms. I hope that you'll be able to call Hogwarts a home for the next few months. To those who are leaving, we bid you a fond farewell and hope that you will enjoy your last year here. Hogwarts will always be here to welcome you home if you choose to return for a career. Now, let's eat!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Turning to look at the table that had previously held nothing, I was amazed to find food piled high on silver platters. I saw roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, pudding, corn . . . were those peppermint humbugs? I got a few of my favorites and dug in. As everyone ate, the hall was filled with laughter and conversation. I was about to take another bite of the chocolate pudding that I had just served myself up, when a head appeared in my food. My eyes bugged out, but it seemed that enough surprises had occurred today./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I only meant to greet you. It's so hard to appear in a spot that doesn't have a student in it," said the ghost. He was dressed in robes not seen since the middle ages, a ruffled tunic with a high collar. He did look sorry, so I accepted his apology. Lily explained to me that there were ghosts' everywhere in Hogwarts. He introduced himself as Nearly Headless Nick./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How can you be nearly headless?" a student farther down asked. A look of frustration came over his face. He mumbled something under his breath, sounding lie, "Every single year. Just once I'd like to not be questioned."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Of those who are a bit squeamish, I suggest you look away." he told us. Some of the students did, including Hugo. Nick grabbed his left ear and yanked on it. His head was pulled away to reveal the inside of his neck. Some of the students looked away in horror and disgust, while others faces took on a green tint. He fixed his head, and with a slight bow, Nick flew off./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I knew he was going to do that," said Hugo. His face was pale, and he didn't look good. "Dad told me all about him. He said he was sleeping, and someone came to cut his head off, but they did it wrong, so he isn't headless." While Lily explained that his dad was probably joking, I finished off my pudding before another ghost head could appear in it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When everyone was finished eating, Professor McGonagall stood up to make an announcement, her voice echoing in the now silent hall. "There are many rules that all students must follow. The Forbidden Forest is off-limits to everyone, unless you are going to Professor Hagrid's class, or serving a detention. The caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like everyone to remember that pranks and spells should not be done in the halls." A man who looked like he could use a bath cleared his throat, causing the Headmistress to sigh. "And he would also like me to mention that if you harm Mrs. Norris, you will be strung up by your toenails in the dungeons. Now off to bed. Prefects, please take your first years to the common rooms."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The student body all stood up at the same time, so the aisles grew very crowded very fast. The noise also rose once again, containing the sounds of benches scraping on the stone floor and friends from other houses saying good-night to each other. Forcing my way through the older students, I followed Lily as she followed the Gryffindor house prefect. We left the hall and walked up a flight of stairs into a vast tower. I looked up and found that the staircases were moving! They turned slowly, and as I watched, I could see other students walking on them. It was so amazing that I stopped and someone crashed into me. Both of us fell to the ground and I turned to apologize./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oops. I'm sorry." I said quickly. The girl who crashed into me looked up and snarled, "Yeah you better be. Next time watch where you're going." I stood there baffled as she picked herself up and stalked off. I had simply been standing, she had been the one who bumped into me. Lily helped me up off the ground and we ran to catch up with our group./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The prefect led us to a large picture that took up most of the wall. It was located at the corner between two staircases. In it, a fat lady was trying to break a glass by singing. Now, I wasn't a music teacher, but I could tell that this woman had never had any lessons whatsoever and that I could probably sing better than her. Her shrieks seemed to get louder once she noticed that we were standing there. Eventually she gave up and threw the glass against a wall. The prefect said "Peppermints", and the picture swung wide to reveal.../span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After reading some books for a while, I ran down stairs, almost falling on my face in my haste. I wanted to eat a good breakfast since the train would be leaving at eleven. I found the kitchen empty and quiet. My mom and dad were probably still asleep tired from their late shits last night. Heading for the pantry, I pulled out my favorite cereal, grabbed a bowl, spoon, and the milk, then began to eat. When I finished, I cleaned my dishes and made my way upstairs to get changed. I put my owl in his cage and then dragged the suitcase out to the car. We had planned on leaving early so that we could be there on time, so we left the house at 9:30. By that time, Aries had begun to screech and flap his wings. A few of the neighbors even came out to see what the commotion had been about./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Since we had never been to King's Cross Station before, it took us a while to get there and it was also across town. My parents had to drop me off early since they both had to get to work at eleven, but they wished me luck. As my dad was hugging me, he slipped a bag of my favorite chocolates into my pocket. I thanked him quietly since mom didn't want me to have too many sweets. After waving at them until the car disappeared, I walked inside to find Platform 9. Lily had promised to meet me there. As I neared the platform the howl of a cat and the screech of an owl reached my ears, and knew that I had found the Potter's. Standing beside the platform was Lily's brother Albus, who was arguing with her other brother James, who I had met when I had gone and visited Lily. Their mother was standing a bit off to the side, laughing as she watched her husband try unsuccessfully to break up the fight./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Cassie! You made it!" I heard Lily call to me as she ran over. She dragged me over to where there was a group of children around our age and introduced me to them. They were all Lily's cousins, and were really cool. Twenty minutes until the train left, Mr. Potter gave everyone a buddy and we ran towards a brick wall.. I was sure we would crash in a heap of luggage, clothes, and pets, but I appeared on the other side. Platform 9¾. It was even better than I had imagined. People were milling about and the hum of their voices filled the platform. Steam cascaded out of the top of the train's funnel. Further down, I could see doors opened and welcoming people onto the magic train. We put all of our things in the luggage compartment, then went to find some seats. Most of us sat in the same compartment, but the older ones went to sit with friends./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"We sat talking for a few minutes until we heard the train's whistle. We hopped out of our seats to wave to the parents outside the train. Since my own parents hadn't been able to stay, I waved at the Potter's. As we rode out of the train station, we could hear people running up and down the aisles, talking or shouting excitedly. We all stayed in our compartment, talking about our hopes for Hogwarts. Lily explained to me how the procedure would go when we got there, and how we would be going across the lake to get to Hogwarts. At this point, James burst in, saying that the trolley was coming. Everyone got all excited, quickly pulling money out of their pockets, and I didn't understand why, that is until it arrived at our door./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"A plump witch pushing a trolley full of assorted sweets and candies opened our door and asked, "Is there anything I can get you dearies?" We all jumped up and began to buy things off of the cart. By the time we were done, I felt like we had bought half of the candy on the trolley. In reality, there was still thousands of them piled onto the trolley. The door swung shut again, leaving us to eat our candy in silence, only disturbed by the sounds of chewing delicious candies and wrappers./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Ooh, Cassie try this," Lily said to me, passing a multi-colored bow labeled Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans towards me. Shrugging, I popped one into my mouth. Almost immediately I regretted it because it tasted like bratwurst. I spit it out into a napkin and glared at Lily as she laughed. "What was that? It tasted awful!" I complained. Lily had to catch her breath before answering. "The box explains it all. James once got a boogie flavored one. He couldn't get the bean out fast enough." We laughed as a picture of her 15 year old brother wiping his tongue popped into our heads. As my new friends continued to eat, the day and its events finally caught up with me, and I nodded off./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"*****/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I woke up to Lily shaking me. She was saying something about getting changed, and suddenly I was wide awake. "We're almost at Hogwarts, so you need to get into your school robes. I'll take you to the bathroom so you can change, " she explained. As we left the compartment to head for the loo, I saw how late it had gotten from the windows in front of me.. The afternoon had seeped into twilight and the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon. After changing, I followed the red-head back to our compartment, not wanting to get lost. As I sat back down again, my attention turned to the conversation that had started./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rose, who was two years older than me, turned to Albus and stated, "I don't think I'll be able to eat anything at the feast. I'm too stuffed with chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes." Albus nodded, saying that he felt the same way. After they said this, I suddenly felt glad that I hadn't eaten anything other than a few beans and one frog. This would be my first feast in a school of magic and I wanted to get as much as I could. By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, butterflies that I had felt that morning had returned, but this time as an army./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Firs' years, over 'ere. Follow me," I heard a voice called. I followed Lily and Hugo, her cousin, as they made their way to a giant of a man. Hugo had told me earlier that his name was Hagrid and had worked at the school when his Uncle Harry went there. Now the large man had some gray streaks in his beard and walked with a slight limp. We followed him through the forest to what I assumed was the lake. When we arrived there was a fleet of boats gathered together at the docks. Hagrid told us to climb in three in a boat, so Lily, Hugo, and I all climbed into a boat together. When every boat was filled, they moved into the water and across the lake. As we emerged from the tree line, I heard gasps behind me and I looked up. In front of us was a huge castle. It was lit up, and looked extravagant. The castle was enormous, with towers reaching towards the starry sky and windows gleaming with light. It looked like something out of one of my books./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Arriving at the docks at the bottom of the huge hill, everyone climbed out. Ahead of our group lay hundreds of steps that we had to climb. I heard a few groans but knew that we would all make it. It had started to rain a little about half way up, but we soon reached the entrance hall. We stood there, drying off and marveling at the pictures on the walls. Some didn't have anyone in them, but some looked to be overcrowded. Suddenly a witch appeared in front of us. She was short, but plump, and looked like she was well suited to be a mother. Her face was bright and cheery./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Welcome first years, to the school of witchcraft and wizardry. My name is Professor Altrose, and I teach Astronomy. I am also the Deputy Headmistress, and will be helping to sort you all. Now, follow me if you please," she said as she started towards the large double doors. They swung open silently. We stepped in and the smells and sights almost overpowered me. There were four tables stationed in a line, with a variety of students sitting at them. As we walked down the aisle between the middle two tables, I found my eyes looking up at the head table. The Headmistress, Professor McGonagall and all the other professors were sitting there smiling down at us. I was paying so much attention to the decorations that I wasn't listening to what Professor Altrose was saying so I started listening./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"". . . houses. Now, let the sorting commence!" When she said this, cheering erupted in the hall, coming from all of the tables. The professor smiled and made a rumpled old hat appear on the stool in front of us. She then flicked out a long list of names and began to read them off. When a name was called, the student would step forward, and she would place the hat on their head. After a few seconds, the hat would call out one of the four houses, and that table would erupt into cheers. For instance, the name "Nathair, Jackson" was read and he was placed into Slytherin. Name after name was called, until . . ./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Stone, Cassandra." I took a deep breath and stepped up to the stool. The hat was placed on my head, and I could suddenly hear the hat's voice in my head. "Hmmm, I can see courage, and wisdom. You seem to be a girl who values knowledge and wisdom. But… you are also needed in the home of the brave. It'll have to be… GRYFFINDOR!" I almost collapsed with relief, but stood and walked over to the table. People who I didn't even know were patting me on the back and congratulating me. I couldn't help but feel that I had found another place to call home. I stared up at the Sorting Hat and waited for Lily's name to be called. When it was, she almost sprinted up to the hat. Before it was even set upon her head, the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and we all cheered. I stood up and gave her a hug, then we waited for Hugo to join us. He came to sit down after nine more names were called, and had a relieved look on his face. After all the first years were sorted, Professor McGonagall stood up and welcomed us to another year at Hogwarts./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Welcome back to another great year at Hogwarts. To those who are new, I welcome you with open arms. I hope that you'll be able to call Hogwarts a home for the next few months. To those who are leaving, we bid you a fond farewell and hope that you will enjoy your last year here. Hogwarts will always be here to welcome you home if you choose to return for a career. Now, let's eat!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Turning to look at the table that had previously held nothing, I was amazed to find food piled high on silver platters. I saw roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, pudding, corn . . . were those peppermint humbugs? I got a few of my favorites and dug in. As everyone ate, the hall was filled with laughter and conversation. I was about to take another bite of the chocolate pudding that I had just served myself up, when a head appeared in my food. My eyes bugged out, but it seemed that enough surprises had occurred today./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""So sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I only meant to greet you. It's so hard to appear in a spot that doesn't have a student in it," said the ghost. He was dressed in robes not seen since the middle ages, a ruffled tunic with a high collar. He did look sorry, so I accepted his apology. Lily explained to me that there were ghosts' everywhere in Hogwarts. He introduced himself as Nearly Headless Nick./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How can you be nearly headless?" a student farther down asked. A look of frustration came over his face. He mumbled something under his breath, sounding lie, "Every single year. Just once I'd like to not be questioned."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Of those who are a bit squeamish, I suggest you look away." he told us. Some of the students did, including Hugo. Nick grabbed his left ear and yanked on it. His head was pulled away to reveal the inside of his neck. Some of the students looked away in horror and disgust, while others faces took on a green tint. He fixed his head, and with a slight bow, Nick flew off./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I knew he was going to do that," said Hugo. His face was pale, and he didn't look good. "Dad told me all about him. He said he was sleeping, and someone came to cut his head off, but they did it wrong, so he isn't headless." While Lily explained that his dad was probably joking, I finished off my pudding before another ghost head could appear in it./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When everyone was finished eating, Professor McGonagall stood up to make an announcement, her voice echoing in the now silent hall. "There are many rules that all students must follow. The Forbidden Forest is off-limits to everyone, unless you are going to Professor Hagrid's class, or serving a detention. The caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like everyone to remember that pranks and spells should not be done in the halls." A man who looked like he could use a bath cleared his throat, causing the Headmistress to sigh. "And he would also like me to mention that if you harm Mrs. Norris, you will be strung up by your toenails in the dungeons. Now off to bed. Prefects, please take your first years to the common rooms."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The student body all stood up at the same time, so the aisles grew very crowded very fast. The noise also rose once again, containing the sounds of benches scraping on the stone floor and friends from other houses saying good-night to each other. Forcing my way through the older students, I followed Lily as she followed the Gryffindor house prefect. We left the hall and walked up a flight of stairs into a vast tower. I looked up and found that the staircases were moving! They turned slowly, and as I watched, I could see other students walking on them. It was so amazing that I stopped and someone crashed into me. Both of us fell to the ground and I turned to apologize./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oops. I'm sorry." I said quickly. The girl who crashed into me looked up and snarled, "Yeah you better be. Next time watch where you're going." I stood there baffled as she picked herself up and stalked off. I had simply been standing, she had been the one who bumped into me. Lily helped me up off the ground and we ran to catch up with our group./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The prefect led us to a large picture that took up most of the wall. It was located at the corner between two staircases. In it, a fat lady was trying to break a glass by singing. Now, I wasn't a music teacher, but I could tell that this woman had never had any lessons whatsoever and that I could probably sing better than her. Her shrieks seemed to get louder once she noticed that we were standing there. Eventually she gave up and threw the glass against a wall. The prefect said "Peppermints", and the picture swung wide to reveal.../span/p