6. "I have an announcement to make!"
Ron was a swell guy. They had hit it off well in the compartment. Though he had a mean streak which seemed to be triggered by his twin older brothers and jabs at his intellect and lack of money. Harry could relate. The magical world hadn't been too different. He had his own magical Dudley called Draco and he lamented the fact since he met the boy.
Once they boarded off the train, they entered boats that would carry them across a large lake that separated them from Hogwarts. Harry ran a lone finger across the top of the boat, the glistening wood shined just a tad brighter. Magic was seeping through every boat and he could feel it almost singing or maybe it was just ringing. It was all very new to him and wonderful.
"Everybody in a boat. Keep your hands in the boat, don't want any of you to fall in." Hagrid roared out so that every new student could hear him.
Harry and Ron shared a boat with the oversized Hagrid as the boats rode themselves to the destination. Lingering magic Harry had felt previously surged to the sides. The book that was gifted to him grew alive. Pulling it from his sack, the book flipped pages and came to a stop.
Harry licked his lips as a string of new text formed. He could actually read the words. Licking his lips he read the page and said a spell, "Not all that moves must be pushed (Irregular Displacement)!" He felt his pocketed wand radiate a pulse of magic.
The magic in the boat shifted and propelled at a smoother and efficient rate.
"Wow, did you do that?" Ron questioned in shock. "That was wicked awesome."
Harry smiled at the praise. It was quite nice to get, a lot better than slurs of freakiness.
"Amazing that was Harry. Your folks would've been proud." Hagrid patted him on the back, his size causing skinny Harry to almost fall off the faster moving boat.
They soon came to the shore and docked off the boats. The new students were ushered in by more faculty of the school. All of them looking around the school. High above their heads was an invisible ceiling that showed a snowing sky. The book opened again and he read on another spell. He wisely chose not to use it.
"I am Professor McGonagall and I will guide you to the Great Hall. Stay in your lines and wait for your name to be called out." They followed the advice/command and walked behind her. Their trip there was riddled with moving stairs and even ghosts. Thought the ghosts tended to whisper and point at Harry. Most didn't come too close to him. Once they entered the hall, all the older year students were at separate tables.
Atop of a table with teachers, a brown hat began to sing. It sang of the school and each house. After that each student was called out to wear the hat. It then sorted them into their respective houses. Ron got into Gryffindor.
"Potter, Harry." And the explosion of whispering rekindled. With wobbly knees and a lurching stomach, he miraculously made his way to the front. Sitting down, he closed his eyes and waiting for the hat. Professor McGonagall did so.
"Good, good, you have an open mind. That's the best recourse. You have a drive to be great, to prove yourself, especially to the apple of your eye. But most of all you have such great hope." A deep throaty voice said in his own head.
"Gryffindor, please. Gryffindor, please." He pleaded.
"Gryffindor? Is that your final choice? Slytherin would make you great. Ravenclaw would sharpened your witty mind to a razor edge. Perhaps, Hufflepuff will give you the friends you so desperately seek."
"I already have a friend there. It's my first one and I want to go with him."
"If you believe it for the best than you shall go to… GRYFFINDOR." The last word was said out loud for everyone.
Feeling chipper already, he ran to sit beside Ron and await the other first years. When they had finished, the headmaster Albus Dumbledore, he was told, got up and coughed into his fist.
"Hello to new students and welcome back for returning students to another year in Hogwarts. I have but a few things to say to the students. Magic is gift and a birthright. We at Hogwarts wish to bolster each person's talents with the necessary skills to excel. Do not be chained down by the perceptions of others. Many times have I seen brilliant, different minds fade as the years go on to become typical and oppressed people. It is my hope that years from now, you would come to see this school as a Sanctum, but never an escape."
The children listened intently.
"Each of your head of houses will explain the overlying rules of the castle. But I will remind you that the Forbidden Forest is aptly named for a reason and be sure to stay away from particular doors. Once again all this will be explained in great details. My last words are but this Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
"Blimey, he is mad." Ron exclaimed in shock.
"Is he?" Harry asked in doubt, "It sounded more like he had his mind on other things." More importantly, he felt that the last part of his speech held some meaning. Most of them were demeaning. But the pale lady said to have an open mind.
That night, he slept with the words nitwit, blubber, oddment, and tweak plaguing his mind.
He did not see his book coming alive.
