Once they had changed into their school robes Vincent and Debbie spent the rest of the train journey finding interesting spells in their books and practicing them. Vincent managed to get a couple pretty much down where as Debbie only managed to get one working, the levitation charm they used on the paper aeroplanes. Picking up their bags and getting off the train Vincent noticed a depressed look in Debbie's eyes, "what is it?" he asked reluctantly, Debbie looked down ashamed "oh nothing" she said trying to dismiss him. Annoyed at her attempt Vincent stopped walking along the platform "i asked you a question don't lie to me" he said, Debbie stopped next to him and mumbled something "what?" Vincent asked again "i'm no good at magic" she said only slightly clearer. "You're okay" Vincent said "but not as good as you" she said, Vincent adjusted the strap of his bag and sighed "neither of us ever tried a spell before an hour ago" he said "you can't expect to be Da Vinci the first time you pick up a brush". With that Vincent continued down the platform and headed toward the stairs everyone was heading down, Debbie quickly ran to catch up to him just as he rejoined the group. Strangely enough Vincent wasn't surprised to see a giant of a man with a beard as big as he was leading the group, after the spells, the walking through wall and the levitating of his headmasters desk this seemed to be the least weird thing Vincent had seen all week. "First years follow me" the giant bellowed "leave your bag's here" he finished as he walked away from the train station and down a cobblestone path, following the giant down the road the group eventually came gigantic lake with a large pier protruding which had a fleet of row boats tied to it.
"Right get in you lot" the giant said as he jumped in the boat at the tip of the pier, a few questioning look passed around the crowd before a blonde girl at the front climbed into the boat next to giant. Everyone soon followed suit, clambering into the boat there was a few people jostling at the back knocking one boy into the water, the giant climbed out of his boat and marched down the pier, the boards creaking with each step.
"What happened here then?" he asked as he lifted the boy out of the water and held the dripp mass of robes by one hand "i fell in" said the boy as the two others in his boat sniggered. "well cut it out i have enough to deal with dragging that second year along" he said gesturing towards Wendy who was in the front boat still groaning with a slug or two on her lap "now cut it out" with that he dropped the boy into the boat and headed back to his own. Tapping the side of the boat the entire fleet untied themselves from the pier and began to sail across the lake towards a grand castle on the otherside.
Getting out of the boats they stepped onto a grand stone pier which connected to a large staircase which wound up towards a big old fashioned door, going through that door the group was met by another larger door "wait here ill just go get mrs McGonagall" the giant said before he disappeared. Vincent frowned, where had he heard that name before?, he quickly shrugged off the thought as he looked around at the people he would be spending the rest of the year with. Of course there was Debbie who was close behind him nervously looking around them at the painting on the walls, he also saw the boy who fell in earlier still drenched, next to him were two boys who look like opposites of each other. One had short snow white hair and pale sickly skin who towered over the rest of the group, he was talking to his opposite a short tanned boy whose long pitch black hair covered half of his face. On the other side of the group was a very giggly girl with tied up curly hair who seemed to find everything the tallish blonde girl opposite her said hilarious. After a few minutes standing there a woman appeared she had long black robes which flowed behind her, and her serious face was decorated by crescent shaped glasses "gather around children gather around" she said as she stood in front of the large double doors. "in a few second you will pass through these doors and enter the Grand hall" she said with a cheerful flourish "there you will be sorted into one of four houses Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor or Slytherin and i expect you to all be on your best behaviour as the entire school will be watching. Vincent chuckled at a couple of very audible gulps at the teachers announcement "come one now" the teacher said as she approached the doors, giving the group one last check she pushed open the doors and lead them into the Grand hall.
The Grand hall certainly matched its name, four long tables equipped with long benches stretched down the hall each tabled had empty silverware scattered on top and it benches were covered in students, table table had a different colour banner hanging above it. As Vincents gaze rose above the banners he noticed the roof, or rather absence of roof, the night sky was clear above them it was only obscured by floating candles. As they reached the end of the hall Vincent noticed a fifth table which had older people seated around it with a old bearded man sitting a throne at the center of the table. What caught a lot of their attention was infront of that table, sat on a tall stool was an old patchy hat, Mrs McGonagall stood next to this stool and brought out a roll of parchment. "When i call of your name step forward and take a seat and then you will be placed into your house" unrolling the parchment McGonagall adjusted her glasses "Jason Avada" she called out. The tall blond boy Vincent noticed earlier stepped forward and sat on the tool, awkwardly looking back at the entire school he looked over at McGonagall as she placed the old hat on his head.
The entire hall fell into silence, gradually the hat began to move, creases began to form in the side of the hat and these creases began to form into a face, "ahh sorting time again" the hat sang as it seemed to stretch out if it was even possible for a hat to do that. "now who do we have hmmm Avada i remember your father you'll be following in his footsteps i think, Slytherin" the hat announced invoking loud raucous cheering from the far right table as Jason joined them. "Luke Avada" McGonagall called out, the tan boy Jason had been with stepped up to the stool, once the hat was placed on his head the hat spoje immediately "i wonder why they bother calling upon my expertise sometimes it just obvious you'll join your brother, Slytherin". Another round of loud cheering came from the Slytherin table as Luke sat next to his brother, "June Bear" McGonagall called, the cheery curly haired girl skipped up to the stool, once the hat was sat on her head it began to grumble to itself "i can't make heads or tails of this!" the hat complained. "Hufflepuff" the hat shouted causing another round of cheering from the middle left table, "Matt Farrow" McGonagall, up stepped soaking wet boy "eww get the boy a towel" the hat cried once he was put on his head "Ravenclaw" it cried, there was a mixed reaction from the middle right table as the boy came over. Obviously not everyone wanted this half fish boy at their table.
"Vincent Grant" McGonagall called out, brushing down his robes Vincent stepped forward, "he heard Debbie whisper "good luck" as he approached the stool, as the hat was placed on his head Vincent felt a slight pressure in his head. "what the hell is that?" he thought and almost fell off his chair when he received an answer "how strange" the voice said "you're resisting me would you please relax so i can begin". Vincent looked around at the unchanging faces around him, nobody can hear this, "no why should i let you in my head" Vincent thought back "so i can sort you boy" he heard the voice say "well i'm not letting you in my head". A light chuckle came from the voice "very well" and with that the pressure faded "Slytherin" cried the hat.
Jumping down from the chair Vincent joined the Avada brothers at the ecstatic Slytherin table, taking his seat next to the brothers an older boy joined him "it good to have you here" he said extending a hand "im Mike Young" Vincent shook the Mike's hand. "I heard what you did to that stuck up bitch Wendy on the train, not to bad for a first year" there were nods of approval from the other students at the table "especially one who's never had a lesson". "Don't worry about the teachers" said a small sweet looking black haired girl opposite him "Wendy knows better than to talk" Vincent heard a small crack as the small girls hand folded into a fist.
"Debbie Starling" called McGonagall bringing Vincents attention back to the sorting hat, Debbie walked cautiously over to the stool and climbed on to it, her anxiety was bad in usual situations right now it must have been unbearable and it showed on her face. Debbie just barely managed to hold in a scream when the sorting hat was placed on her head, causing the entire Slytherin table to snigger "two galleons says shes a Hufflepuff" said the small girl, Mike snorted "way to obvious". Sure enough after a few minutes of silence the sorting hat shouted out "Hufflepuff" and Debbie joined the yellow table, but not before looking sadly over at Vincent disappointed that she would not be with her only friend, but it was for the best Vincent thought, she wouldn't fit in with these people, these were his kind of people.
McGonagall carried on calling out first year names but Vincent had lost interest instead he talked to the Nancy the small girl opposite him and Mike. The two quickly filled him in on rivalries and the house point system "its mainly just an excuse to try and make us work harder" said Mike who was not a fan of being punished because someone else can't cover their tracks well enough. "Yeah but on the bright side it another way for us to put those pompous Gryffindors there place" said Nancy a mischievous gleam creeping into her deceptively sweet face.
They were brought out of their conversation when the entire hall fell silent, looking around for a reason for the quiet Vincent saw the old man in the throne was now standing and appeared to be giving a speech. "Welcome students to yet another year here at Hogwarts, for you first years who do not know me i am Albus Dumbledore your headmaster" the old man said beaming with pride "as the older students will know i have a few rules i must state the importance of, first of all student are not aloud out of their dorms after nine o'clock any students found will be punished". A fairly obvious rule Vincent thought but if the rest of the school was half as amazing as the small part he had seen Vincent could understand a need to explore. "secondly" the headmaster continued "the woods around the grounds are out of bounds and any students who trespass will most likely meet a horrible death" Vincent chuckled thinking it was some kind of joke on the new students but a few looks from the older years soon told him differently. "thirdly students are to be punctual and polite not really a rule but a simple request, now" the head clapped loudly, suddenly the empty silverware in front of them was filled to the brim with the most delicious looking food Vincent had seen in his life "lets eat".
Filling his plate Vincent quickly tucked i to what seemed like every food he had ever craved, there was chicken legs, burgers of every kind, roast potatoes and battered haddock his favorite. Everyones plate seemed to be filled with different things whatever they liked or wanted, grabbing a chalice in front of him Vincent drained the water to help wash down the meal. "Whats your favorite thing to drink" Nancy asked Vincent shrugged at the strange question "cola probably" he answered shoving another fork full of fish into his mouth, Nancy brought out her wand and tapped his chalice. Instantly the chalice filled itself this time with the distinct black colour of Coca Cola "cheers" Vincent said amazed before taking a large gulp from the drink.
Everyone eat until they were ready to burst and once they were gone the remains vanished leaving the silverware spotless, so clean Vincent could see his reflection in his plate what now?" Vincent asked as he saw people start to drift out of the hall "we second years have a hour free for whatever we want" said Mike as he and Nancy got out of their seats "FIRST YEARS OVER HERE" shouted a smug looking fat boy at the end of the table "good luck" said Nancy "Terrys a bit of a prick" and with that she and Mike disappeared leaving Vincent alone with the Avada brothers and a few other Slytherin first years. "So what do think think happens now?" Vincent asked as they walked other to the shouting boy "probably some kind of initiation" said Jason "our older brother was a Slytherin but he wouldn't tell us anything" Luke grunted in agreement. "Right first years i'm Terence im the Slytherin prefect and as long as you do what i say i'll be taking you to the common room" Terry said as he surveyed the new students "and if we don't" said a new student, a smug looking shaved head kid.
Terry looked at the boy and slowly approached him until they were close enough to smell each other's breath "if you don't i'll take you so far into the dungeons that the sun will become a distant memory and then i'll leave you there" Terry finished with a smile which made the shaved boy audible gulp, Vincent was impressed.
"now that question and answer is over come on" without another word Terry turned and left the hall quickly the first years followed. Terry lead them towards a door which opened to a spiraling staircase which went down deep into the castle's depths. At the bottom of the staircase the hall split off in two directions Terry stopped them at the junction, "Death and Glory" he said and with that there was a loud crunch noise. The bricks in front of them began to disappear, the sight reminded Vincent on the entrance to Diagon Alley, the bricks fell away to reveal a golden rimmed arch way and a pitch black brick hallway "that was the password for this year, this keeps the other houses out, remember it" he ordered.
The common room was amazing, the walls and floors were made of shiny black bricks with golden pillars reaching from the floor to the ceiling, a golden fire place was against one wall with a green flame burning brightly in the center. Dark green golden rimmed furniture sat close to the flame and tall black book shelves stood against the walls filled with books of a darker nature. "This is the common room you're free to spend as much time here as you like all books are at your leisure as long as they don't leave through that door" Terry said pointing at the way they had just came, " down that hall you'll find the dorm rooms boys on the left girls on the right needless to say that there isn't supposed to be any mingling" this caused a few childish giggles. "The rest of the day is yours, be back in here by nine and be down here by nine tomorrow for your classes" when he was finished he pushed past the first years and left them there. "What now?" Jason asked looking around them, Vincent and Luke shrugged "lets go check out our rooms" Vincent said, Luke and Jason nodded in agreement. Going down the hall and heading down the left, going down the hall they past and number of black wooden doors, each door hand the owners name on a golden plate they went down the hall until the names became familiar. "Theres yours" Vincent said pointing to a door with Jasons name on it "looks like your bunking with Neil West" Jason cursed under his breath "damn thats the annoying skin head" Vincent and Luke chuckled loudly, Jason swatted his brothers head and angrily opened his door and disappeared inside. Luke rubbed the back of his head still laughing, they continued down the hall and two doors down they found their room, "we're roomies" Vincent said entering the room, the same black brick floor and walls continued into the room the room was decorated with two beds, two desks and two wardrobes. "Hope you don't snore" joked Vincent jumping onto the left bed as Luke checked out his wardrobe, the wardrobe was already filled with clothes "those your's" Vincent asked, Luke nodded taking off his long robe and hanging it with the rest off his clothes. Checking out his own wardrobe Vincent found it was filled with the clothes he had packed, a bit creepy someone went through his stuff.
A knock came from the door before they could get it the door opened to reveal Mike "how'd you like the rooms?" he asked entering the room and perching himself on Vincents desk "there all right" Vincent said shrugging. "yeah they used to be worse, the other houses still have group rooms it like five six people per room, Snape our head of house worked some magic and got us these" Vincent got up from his bed "Nice, we got two hour til curfew anything interesting to do?" he asked.
Mike smiled "well me and Nancy were going to hang out on the ground wanna come?" Vincent took off his robe and rolled up his shelves "i wouldn't want to third wheel" he joked, Mike shook his head "don't get me wrong Nancys nice but a bit to.." mike searched for the right word "intense" he finished snapping his finger at the answer "for me". Vincent grinned and walked into the hall "lets go then".