I ran through the gateway to platform 9 ¾ for the first time, a little scared that I would just crash into the wall but I went straight through and came upon a huge, hidden platform with heaps of kids and parents, all moving about in a confusing fashion. I looked back as Sophie nearly ran into me and saw my mum, dad and little sister had all gotten through the barrier, too. The whistle blew, signalling the train was about to leave so the four of us hurriedly went to the nearest door and helped me get my trunk up into the train.
"I wanna go too, mummy! I wanna go with Jackie!" Sophie whined, looking back at me.
"You'll be able to go once you are my age, Soph." I said as I messed up her hair, making her giggle. The train started moving and Sophie ran alongside the train until she couldn't keep up, waving at me the whole time, a huge grin on her face.
"I'll send you a piece of something blown up from one of my pranks, sis!" I yelled before she was out of view. I sighed and went to go find a place to sit. I walked past a few compartments until I saw Rapunzel sitting with two other kids that I thought I might have run into during the trip to Diagon Alley. I knocked on the side of the entranceway to get their attention. The three looked at me.
"Hey, Punzie. Can I sit here?" I asked as I looked over the other two. They definitely seemed familiar. They seemed confused at what I had said. Probably the nickname, I thought to myself.
"Sure thing." Rapunzel said so I flopped down next to the girl with wild red hair.
"I'm Jack." I said, looking at the boy across from me.
"The names Merida." The red haired girl said with a Scottish accent.
"I'm Hiccup." The boy said quietly, barely audible. I laughed.
"Hiccup? What sort of a nickname is that?" I asked, holding my sides from laughing so much.
"It's my name." Hiccup stated with a blank face. I immediately felt bad for laughing, as he probably got it a lot, and stopped.
"Uh. Sorry." I said, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.
"It's not the worst. My cousin's name is Snotlout." He said with a small smile. I grinned at him.
"Yeah, Snotlout is definitely a worse name." Merida chuckled. Rapunzel was grinning from ear to ear.
"I can't believe I finally have friends!" Rapunzel exclaimed, causing the three of us to look at her.
"You consider us friends?" Hiccup asked hopefully. I was confused at the fact that the others didn't seem to know if we were friends or not.
"Well I do. Have you never had friends before, Punzie?" I asked, turning on the blond.
"No, not really. Mother never let me leave my tower." She answered, looking down.
"I know how you feel. Mum never lets me get away with anything." Merida said.
"Yeah, none of the other kids on Berk even notice me. Unless I screw up." Hiccups cheeks turned pink.
"Wow. Your lives are such bummers. I mean I was never popular but I had a few friends at least." I said, looking out the window.
"Anything off the trolley, dearies?" A plump older witch asked, pushing her trolley of food and drinks. The four of us got up and all bought heaps of different things, sitting down with our arms full.
"So…" I started, mouth half-full of a chocolate frog. "What House do you guys want to be in?"
The conversation turned to the Houses in Hogwarts and we spent the entire train ride talking and laughing at all sorts of different things, changing the topic every so often. When the train stopped, we had already changed into our robes so we left our things on the train and got off with all the other students.
"Firs' years! This way, firs' years!" A towering man with a hook on one arm and a peg-leg on the other called over the tops of students heads.
"The meathead with interchangeable hands is Gobber, Berks Blacksmith." Hiccup whispered to us. "I wonder what he's doing here?"
"Hiccup!" Gobber yelled, waving his hook. The four of us went through the crowd to get to him.
"Gobber, these are my friends; Jack, Rapunzel and Merida." Hiccup said, pointing at each of us as he said our names.
"Stoick'll be pleased to see that you already 'ave friends." Gobber said. He slapped Hiccup in the back with his good hand and I barely held in the laugh as he almost fell over.
"Alrigh' then. Firs' years follow me!" He called as he started walking in a different direction than the other year levels were going. The first years followed Gobber down to the edge of a huge lake that had small boats along the side.
"No more'n four to a boat." Gobber said, taking a boat to himself. We quickly got a boat for the four of us and once we were all in, the boat started moving on its own. I looked out over the still lake and thought of how fun it would be to skate on something this massive when it was frozen. If only I'd packed my ice-skates. As I thought, a huge castle came into view and the view was spectacular. The sun was setting behind Hogwarts, giving the castle a heavenly glow around it. It was amazing. I saw that Rapunzel was leaning so far out of the boat, it looked like she would fall in and I chuckled at the thought. This is so amazing! I thought. When the boats reached the other side, the students all started getting out of the boats and we all followed Gobber up a set of stone steps to a large wooden door. A woman in a feathered dress came out the door.
"Welcome, first years. Before the feast you will be sorted into your Houses. Either Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Follow me, now." She said, turning and leading us into a huge hall, all the other students were already seated at the four different tables, each with a house banner above it, and there was another table at the front, at a 90 degree angle to the other tables, with all the teachers sitting at it. Professor Manny in the centre, the headmasters chair. This is it. I thought to myself.
Jack: Here it is! The big moment! The sorting ceremony! Let's leave them hanging for a bit!
Rapunzel: But that's mean.
Jack: *shrugs and goes to order a pizza*