Chapter Four
A Lovely Boat Ride
The train slowed down and came to halt. I stepped outside the train with all the other students. I looked up and saw a lamp seemingly hovering above everyone's head. As the lamp moved closer I saw it was being carried by a man— the biggest man I had ever seen. I figured he had to be Hagrid the grounds keeper, my father had told me about what a disgrace he was to wizarding kind. I thought he looked rather nice.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over hear!" He bellowed through the crowds. "C'mon Firs' years follow me. Mind yer step Firs' years and Follow me!' We all began following him down a steep, rather narrow path. The path led to the shore of the lake. Tied to the shore were a couple dozen boats. I got in a boat with Charlie and two other kids. One was an extremely short girl with red frizzy hair and big glasses. The other was a guy with brown that stuck to head like it had been rained on, (it hadn't) and a frog on his shoulder.
"Hi I'm Charlie," Charlie said brightly.
"Lucielle," The girl replied glancing around nervously as if we were about to bite her head off.
"I'm Arabella," I said turning to the other boy.
"Mark," he replied somewhat shakily. We sat in silence not knowing what to say.
"Ahhh!" Lucielle and I both yelled when the boat staring moving.
"Muggle born?" Charlie asked.
"No," I said, " I just wasn't excepting it."
"I am," Lucielle said.
"Mark, are you?" Charlie asked.
"No, my Dad's a muggle born though," Mark replied.
"How about you Charlie?" I asked even though I already knew that the Weaslys were a pureblood family like mine.
"Pureblood," Charlie said indifferently. Mark gave Charlie a weird look.
"What?" Charlie asked Mark.
"I take it you're one of those pureblood families who think muggle borns should be thrown out of Hogwarts and are always in evil Slythrin," Mark said glaring at Charlie.
"No!" Charlie said angered, " I don't have anything against muggle-borns. Plus both of my parents were in Gryffindor, and so is my older brother. I would hate to be Slytherin, all the Slytherins are evil snot noses." Charlie finished.
"Sorry mate," Mark said sheepishly, "Just seems most purebloods are."
"Most are," Charlie admitted, "But not all." I decided this was a very good time to stay silent about my father views on the matter.
"Everybody DUCK!" yelled Hagrid as we went through a small opening in the giant cliff. We went through a dark tunnel that led to an underground harbor. We got out of the boats and went ashore where we followed Hagrid's lamp up a passageway in the rock. The passage way led to a smooth dark green lawn in the shadow of the castle. We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around a huge oak door. 'Wow,' I thought, 'I'm finally here. At the doorstep to Hogwarts.' Hagrid pounded on the gigantic door. It opened immediately and standing there was a woman with black-hair, emerald robes and a very stern face. This woman seemed to be someone you didn't want to get on the bad side of.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said to the lady in emerald robes.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." Professor McGonagall replied. She led us into I giant entrance with ceilings to high to make out. To the right I could here all the other students talking in what was probably the great hall, but Professor McGonagall led us into a small, empty chamber at the end of hall. We gather in there standing rather close together. I was a little nervous though of what, I don't know.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall started, " The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but you must be sorted into houses. There are four houses. Gryffindor, Slytherin Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Your house will be like your family while you are here. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. At Hogwarts your triumphs will earn points for your house while trouble making will lose your house points. At the end of the year the house with the most points will win the House cup, a great honor. Each house has it's own Noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. I hope all of you will be a credit to whatever house you are sorted into."
"The Sorting will take place in a few minuets in front of the school. I will return when we are ready for you. In the meantime, I suggest you smarten yourselves up a little." She looked down at the students briefly and then left, leaving us to wait to wait nervously. I don't know about the other kids, but I was dreading it. Imagine if I didn't get into Slytherin, my father would kill me. Imagine if I did. (Shudder) There seemed to be no solution that would work for my father and me. Of why did we have to get sorted at