I sat alone in my compartment and watched the countryside fly by. My legs moved slightly in tandem with the gentle thrum of the Hogwarts Express as it rolled along, onwards, towards Hogwarts. I took a deep breath and let it out, my mind was still reeling with the possibilities. I placed my hands on my knees and sat there. A slight rustling to my left and my head immediately snapped to the side to see Hedwig chirping peacefully in her cage. I smiled slightly at her. With nimble fingers, I pried open the birdcage and helped her step out.

"It's just you and me, girl," I said, "It's going to be just us for a very long time, I think."

She nipped at my fingers as I stroked her head, flapped her wings and flew up to the luggage rack, only to settle down there with her eyes closed.

"Traitor," I said.

With nothing to do, I figured stretching my legs was worth the time. Alicia did say to come find her on the Express, it might be nice to speak to some of the other students going back to school.

I pulled my compartment door to the side and stepped out, sliding it closed behind me. The train hallway looked empty and I began walking up towards the conductor's compartment, figuring it would be more interesting than sitting alone.

As I slowly trudged north, my hands in my pockets, I not-very-carefully peaked into the other compartments, hoping to catch a glimpse of Alicia and maybe saying hello.

Thump thump thump thump

I turned around as I heard a loud sound of footsteps banging against the floor. In the distance I saw someone running at full tilt towards me. With just a second to spare, I pressed myself against the wall as I saw a figure blur past me, hands in front of her as she frantically dove forward.

I stared at her wide-eyed as she came to a quick stop and turned to look at me, "Sorry…sorry about that." She panted. "Twins…spider."

"Okay," I said not knowing what else to say when her words registered. "Were you running from twin spiders did you say?"

She waved her hand in the air in front of me as she placed the other against her side and rested against the wall opposite me, still trying to catch her breath. "Weasley twins, jumped me with a giant spider." More deep breaths, more panting. "Scared the living daylights out of me."

"Oh," I said, "Sorry to hear about that."

She waved away my apology as she finally calmed down enough to stand up straight. "I hate running, although I should probably be doing it more." She finally got around to looking at me more closely and for a second she froze. "You must be Harry Potter, the lone firstie."

I pressed my fringe down flat. "Uh yeah, how did you know?"

"You have too much baby fat to be an older student and I'm a third-year, no students in the year below. Process of elimination," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm Patricia Stimpson."

Struck dumb, I just nodded, "Hi Patricia."

A long silence stretched between us as we stared not knowing what to say next. She looked like she wanted to say something further, but held back.

"Well," I said. "I better get back to my compartment then."

"Why?" She asked. "It's not like you're sitting with anyone."

My awkward smile disappeared at that and I looked down. "No, I'm not. I just-"

"Goodness, I am so sorry!"

I looked up to face her and she looked absolutely horrified at what she had just said.

"That came out really, really wrong, I am so sorry!"

I shrugged and gave her a half-hearted smile. "It's fi-"

"You should come sit with me and my friends," she said. Before I could say another word, she reached out and grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind her. Her wide frame required me to maintain a bit of distance behind her. She was also a whole head taller than me, so there was really no escaping.

We marched past seven or eight compartments, before she finally stopped and let my hand go. I was standing next to her, shielded from the view of the people inside.

She pulled against the compartment door and entered without a backwards glance. "I'm back!" She announced with her hands in the air, "Please tell me those creeps are not planning on coming back."

I heard someone mumble something in response, but couldn't quite catch it. There was a bit of talking between them as I stood outside the compartment door, just waiting. What felt like a solid minute ticked by and I just stood there. I was just about to turn around and head back to my compartment when I heard her.

"Merlin's Beard!" She lumbered back to the compartment door. "Harry, why were you just standing there? Come on in!"

"Oh, I just thought-" I began to try to beg off when a boy came to stand next to Patricia.

"And who might this be?" He asked.

"Roger, this is Harry Potter. Harry, meet Roger Davies." Patricia introduced us with a wave of her hand.

He looked stunned for a moment and I saw his eyes flicker up to my forehead before he quickly looked away.

"Do come in, Harry," he said without looking at me. His smile diminished.

I tentatively walked into their compartment and saw an auburn-haired girl sitting comfortably on one side and another boy lounging with his feet up on the other side. Both were staring right at me.

"Have a seat, Harry," Patricia said, kicking the boy's feet off the compartment seat.

I sat down and waved at the others.

"That's Maggie Taylor," Patricia said pointing to the girl at the end, "and this waste of space calls itself Suraj Singh."

Both other students waved at me without saying a word. "Hi."

All five of us were now sat down and nobody said a word. I never knew how painfully loud silence could truly be until that very moment.

"So, do you know which House you want to be in?" Roger asked after too long a moment.

I shrugged, "Not really, they all sound great, I'm not too fussy about that. I guess Gryffindor would be nice, I was told my parents went there."

At the mention of my parents Maggie shot me a pitying look and I bristled, I really didn't like that look. At all.

"Pshaw, Gryffindor is for pansy boys who rush in without thinking twice and get themselves killed," Suraj said as he lounged back in his seat, hands behind his head.

"Shut up, Suraj!" Maggie hissed.

She was really beginning to annoy me, but I was glad for the opening. "Which House are you in then?" I asked him.

"Slytherin," he said with a wide smile. "House of the cunning, ambitious and oh-so-dashing."

"Also snakes that will stab you in your sleep." Patricia finished for him. He shot her an annoyed look and she raised an eyebrow in response. She turned back to me with a big smile. "The rest of us did the sensible thing and got sorted into Ravenclaw. House of the intelligent and the witty."

Suraj loudly coughed and his cough sounded suspiciously like 'loser'.

I felt myself starting to relax around them. "Ravenclaw doesn't sound too bad."

"We are also ruddy brilliant at Quidditch!" Roger chimed in. "What team do you support, Harry? I'm with the Wimbourne Wasps. Any answer is acceptable as long as it's not the Chudley Cannons."

"Um, well..." I hesitated. "Sorry, what is Quidditch exactly? I've heard the basics, but I don't know much about it." Hagrid had tried to explain it to me, but I was very distracted at the time and it sounded very complicated.

As soon as he heard the words leave my mouth, Roger's jaw dropped down and Patricia broke out in giggles. "I don't think I've ever seen him look so gutted." She laughed as she popped a jellybean in her mouth. "I think you broke him, Harry."

Roger slid down from his seat, knees on the floor, he looked at me with extreme intensity. He crawled forward on his knees until he was sat on his haunches right in front of me, placing his heavy hands on my shoulder. "The dark days are over now, Harry. I will teach you, today, and you will never be the same."

I gulped at the look in his eyes.

"Calm down Davies, it looks like you're about ready to bugger the lad," Suraj said with a wide grin.

I immediately blushed in embarrassment.

"Stop being an arse, Suraj." Maggie finally spoke up. "For Merlin's sake Roger, leave the boy alone, he looks about ready to wet himself."

Roger broke into a smile and sat back up in his seat opposite me. "Sorry about that, Harry. Didn't mean to frighten you."

"That's okay," I said, laughing a little now that the moment had passed. "But seriously, what is Quidditch?"

#

"This way, Harry." I heard Hagrid's voice boom in the distance and he stood by a boat with a huge lantern in his hand, his free hand waving at me.

I smiled and walked up to him, "Hi Hagrid! It's good to see you again!"

"How was yer train ride over? Enjoyed the Express?" He asked.

I couldn't stop smiling, yes, it was amazing. "I met some amazing people, they let me share a compartment with them and they were telling me all about Hogwarts and Quidditch and the ghosts and everything! I can't wait to see it myself!"

Hagrid smiled down at me and waved me over. We got onto a rickety boat and he boomed out. "Forward!"

The boat sailed through the water and we drifted through the lake. A few minutes later, Hagrid turned to me and said, "Keep yer eyes out, yer about to see Hogwarts."

We turned a light corner and there it was. I stared in awe at the bright lights and spiralling towers, the warm glows and wide open fields. A large, beautiful castle, so impossibly grand and yet..."Home," I said.

Hagrid smiled at me as I stared transfixed at the castle, my smile could not falter. "Tha' it is. Welcome home, Harry."

#

Standing at the edge of the lake was a female figure with a pointed hat waving at Hagrid as we drew nearer. He waved back.

When we docked, Hagrid and I disembarked from the boat. "Evenin', Professor."

"Thank you Hagrid, I will take it from here." She said and turned her gaze onto me.

I gulped involuntarily. She seemed scary.

She cleared her throat. "My name is Professor McGonagall and I teach Transfiguration here at Hogwarts and am also Head of Gryffindor House. There are four Houses at Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each House has its own virtues and qualities. While you are here, your House is like your family. Good work will gain you points and any rule breaking will cost you points. We will get you Sorted in your House first thing. When you enter the Great Hall, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head to Sort you. Your Head of House will speak to you tomorrow about the arrangements being put into place for your education, Mr Potter."

I nodded quickly, my smile fading. I couldn't even imagine how strange all of this must have felt to her.

"Please follow me."

I did. We walked through the front doors of the castle and turned left to face another pair of massive wooden doors. "This is the entrance to the Great Hall," she said as she pushed the doors open.

I followed behind her and my eyes immediately moved up to stare at the ceiling. It was filled with dark clouds and shinning, floating candles. So beautiful.

"Mr Potter?"

My eyes snapped forward and I saw that Professor McGonagall had walked down the corridor and was waiting for me at the end of the aisle. There were four tables laid out in parallel occupied by the students and a fifth table with the teachers at the front. Also, nobody was talking. I looked around and all the students had stopped talking and were staring right at me. I could feel myself getting light-headed with all the attention and looked straight down at the floor, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes. I then began walking to the front of the Great Hall, my footsteps clanking on the marble floor as the pin drop silence persisted in the room, where Professor McGonagall was waiting with a…Sorting Hat?

I sat down on the stool and my last site was that of two hundred-odd students looking right at me as the Hat's brim fell over my eyes.

"Ah, I actually get to do my job this year."

I started upon hearing the voice.

"Fear not, Mr Potter, I am the Sorting Hat, speaking to you in your mind. I see you have kept an incredibly good humour about yourself through all of this."

"Well…Everyone is so sad and there's really nothing I can do about…well, all of it. But magic! It's so amazing! I guess that is what has me excited, even though everyone else seems really unhappy." I tried to explain.

"Not unhappy, Mr Potter, but I think, wistful, regretful, fearful of the future. Nothing quite brings a society to a standstill than the death of its children."

I didn't know what to say to that.

"Well, let's get to Sorting you then! Hmm…Gryffindor, maybe? You have been very courageous and brave through all of this. Not a bad mind either and a real curiosity for magic, but, not quite Ravenclaw material, no I don't think. I see also an ambition, to show the wizardring world that you deserve the title of Boy Who Lived, that your survival is to mean something when none of the others survived. Yes, this thirst to prove yourself, this ambition would make you a good Slytherin indeed."

I listened to the Hat talk at me and really, I don't think I cared much which House I went to. My parents were in Gryffindor so that might be nice. "Mr Hat, really, I'm not too fussed about where I go. But, I am worried that I won't make any friends."

"Yes, I can see why. You are the only student in your year. It may become awfully lonely, indeed. Hmmm… If friendship and camaraderie is what you seek, then, yes, perhaps, better be…HUFFLEPUFF!"

I assume he said the last word out loud as Professor McGonagall removed the Hat from my head. As soon as I saw the light, I blinked a few times and heard the incredibly loud sound of people applauding. When my eyes adjusted, I saw them all standing up.

All the students, sat on every table in every House, were on their feet and enthusiastically clapping their hands and whooping in support. Professor McGonagall placed her hand on my shoulder and directed me towards the Hufflepuff table, where I was immediately beset with shouts of congratulations and requests for handshakes from all my new housemates. Then a boy with a green tie crossed over and also shook my hand. Then a girl with a blue tie. Everyone was clamouring to get a handshake in, or a hug. People were patting my back and wishing me well. I was being pushed one way and then another. Some were laughing, some were even tearing and smiling at the same time.

Sensing my distress, Professor McGonagall spoke out. "Alright now, let the boy breathe. Get back to your tables now, please."

I was shaking as I sat down at my table, the boy sat next to me smiled at me and held out his hand. "Cedric Diggory at your service. Welcome to Hufflepuff House!"

Before I could say anything in response, I hard glass clinking and silence descended on the Hall. The old man sat in the centre of the teachers' table stood up.

"That's our Headmaster Dumbledore, he's a legend." Cedric whispered in my ear.

"Welcome all, welcome to another year at Hogwarts," said the Headmaster. "I know we are all hungry and ready to tuck in, but this is another year where we must stop and reflect. We are all aware that Mr Potter is our only first-year student and it is a reminder of the grave loss that the wizardring world suffered during the last war. The powers of great evil are strong and devastating. Today, we should have welcomed many, many new students into our midst, to fill their minds with wonders and their tummies with the scrumptious feast to come. Alas, we were robbed of this tradition and we shall be robbed of it again next year as we were the year before. It fills my heart with profound sadness as I am sure that it does yours as well."

He paused for a moment as that thought settled in. "When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it-always. We, as a people, have endured great tyranny and unspeakable horror. Many of you may even have memories of those dark times. But that time is behind us. We must put it behind us and ever more charge forward, remembering, always remembering, that which is at stake. Let tonight be a powerful reminder of the things we have to lose when evil is afoot and I can only hope and pray that each of you strives to build a tomorrow that is better, brighter than what we failed to build for you today."

With a light smattering of applause, the Headmaster took his seat. From where I was sat, I could see the heaviness and exhaustion in the Headmaster's face and I think so could everyone else in the Hall. There was a bright flash and all the tables were filled with food. I looked around to see the most delicious spread, a true feast. Yet, after hearing those words, I didn't feel all that hungry anymore. Slowly looking around, none of my Housemates seemed to feel that hungry either.

"Try the chicken," said a voice to my left. Cedric was bravely trying to smile as he loaded my plate up. He looked around at the looks on his friends' faces. "Come on now, none of that, this feast is divine and we shall eat it. Enjoy it! If not for ourselves, do it in the memory of those who should have been here with us."

This made some of the others smile and slowly, tentatively, the students around me began to pile their plates. I looked at Cedric in awe and he turned and smiled at me. "The chicken really is that good, I swear!"