Chapter One
Habberduck Spotting
"You don't happen to have some chopsticks handy, do you Remy?" said Sirius as they both burst out laughing.
"No, I think I lost mine at the last time I saw a habberduck. Great things, chopsticks, ya know." replied Remy, searching his pockets.
"What are you talking about? We've seen no habberducks since the door stopped working! Now either I'm getting old and my memory is failing me or that's been for at least a couple hours and you have definitely used your chopsticks since then. How am I going to eat my chocolate frog without any chopsticks?"
The two burst out laughing again as Sirius' frog jumped once more for the door, trying to escape. Once he finally regained control of his naturally flavored amphibian, he checked out the window looking for another habberduck. A habberduck was Sirius and Remy's new favorite word for a discarded port-o-potty in the countryside. Surprisingly, they had seen quite a few so far on their train ride to Hogwarts. Several hours ago they had realized that they couldn't open the door to their compartment. They barely let it disturb them though, being the people that they were. They just laughed and told themselves that they would probably find a way to fix it by the time they arrived at the school.
Suddenly, a boy entered their compartment via the broken door. "Hey, how did you get in?" asked Sirius.
"What do you mean?" replied the boy.
"Our door doesn't work, you can't get in" Remy informed him.
"Oh, that," said the boy, smugly, "That's only from the inside. The spell I put on it only makes it so you cannot get out of the compartment."
"YOU did that?" Sirius said heatedly, rising slightly from his chair. "And why exactly would you want to lock us in?"
"It was just a joke! Chill out."
"It's ok, Sirius wouldn't really hurt you. He just likes to make people think he will. It was all in good fun!" said Remy.
"Sure…" replied the dark haired boy.
Sirius, not able to contain himself any longer, fell on the floor laughing hysterically.
"So why again did you come into our compartment?" asked Remy.
"Oh yeah. Well I saw you guys go onto the train so I decided to play a trick on you. I just came in to see how you were doing and if you had figured it out."
"OK," said Sirius, "but you did take it off, did you not?"
"Yes I did"
"Good. I'll need to get some more chocolate frogs because I have been saving this one for way too long and it's getting nasty…" He popped the frog in his mouth as he tried to open the door, but it didn't open. "Very funny. Now can you take off the charm so I can leave?"
"Fine, fine." Said the boy as he did a funny trick with his wand and the door made a clicking sound. As Sirius went to replenish his supply of candy, Remy decided to talk to the short, dark haired boy.
"So what's your name?" he asked.
"James Potter. My father taught me that trick with the door. It is the only spell I know, though."
"So this is going to be your first year at Hogwarts, then?"
"Yes."
"Ah, well then. Good for you. I remember my first train ride to the school…"
"Remy!" shouted Sirius as he came back through the door of their compartment. "Stop making him think we're 4th years! Bloody hell, if you keep that up you're going to be made prefect or something!"
"I was not telling him I was a 4th year! I was just about to tell him how this was my first time going to Hogwarts too! And his name is James."
"Hello James, I'm Sirius and this is Remy. Now would you please remove yourself from my seat?" said Sirius, a bit over-politely.
"Yes I will, once I finish conjuring some dog poop. Just kidding." replied James. All three started laughing this time.
"So Remy, if you saw any habberducks when I was gone they don't count."
"What?" said Remy, "but I saw three!"
"I wasn't there to make sure you're telling the truth, so they don't count!"
"Uh… What's a habberduck?" asked James.
"Oh, sorry. It's an abandoned port-o-potty. This is the best place in the world for habberduck spotting!" said Sirius.
"Well then, Remy is telling the truth because I saw three too."
"But I was joking!" said Remy.
"Oh. In that case I guess I'm up to three then. What are you two at?"
"I've got eight and here Remy has six and a half." Sirius told James.
"How do you find half a port-o-potty?"
"Well you see," replied Remy, "One of my port-o-potties had someone in it, so I got one and a half points!"
The three finally arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry a short while later. It was a humongous castle built on a short but wide hill. It had its own private lake to one side and almost all around it was a dark, forbidding forest. Sirius, Remy, and James were awed by the shear size of the place. A tall but not in the least skinny man was calling out to all the people on the train.
"First years this way! Everyone else follow uh… Professor McGonagall. Professor! I wasn't aware it you were traveling on the Hogwarts Express this year!"
A woman who looked to be about in her twenties approached the man. "Yes, I rode it last year, don't you remember, Mortimer?" The rest of the very brief conversation was cut off by the sounds of the throng of students exiting the train. Mortimer soon left Professor McGonagall to lead the all the first years down a path towards the lake where there were small boats waiting for them. Each boat had a lantern attached to a pole on the bow since it was quite dark out, despite all the light coming from the school. As everyone started boarding the boats, it looked as if one nervous looking pudgy boy would enter Sirius, Remy, and James' boat, but as soon as he saw there wasn't really enough room, along with a scowl from Sirius, he quickly changed direction.
Not long after everyone had boarded, the small boats took off. They needed no paddling or motor, they just followed the boat with Mortimer and two timid looking boys who looked like they would rather have been in any other boat rather than in with the tall man. As they crossed the lake, Sirius thought he saw some very large things swimming in the water below them. They looked to be about the size of an adult.
"What are you looking at, Sirius?" asked Remy.
"I don't know. It looks like people swimming down there… Except not…"
"Must be merfolk. I heard they live in the lake here." Remy said
"Why don't we go down there and check it out sometime?" suggested James.
"You know that isn't half a bad idea, mate." said Sirius.
"I'm sure it's against the rules though. Not to ruin your fun or anything, we could still do it." said Remy. Their conversation halted when they reached the opposite shore. Mortimer led all the first years into Hogwarts to a pair of big doors.
"You are about to enter the Great Hall. You will wait until I call you, then you will sit upon a stool and wear the Sorting Hat, which will sort you into either Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Those houses will be your home at school for the next seven years. Once everyone has been sorted, we will feast. Oh, and don't be scared of the hat, he won't bite." Mortimer chuckled to himself quietly. He opened the doors to allow them through into the Great Hall, which couldn't have had a better name. It was Gigantic, with four incredibly long tables spanning the length of the room that each held a great number of older kids. There was a table at the far end of the room that looked like where all the teachers sat. The ceiling of the Great Hall was a very impressing image of the actual sky above the roof, and there were floating candles everywhere in the air, lighting the room.
Mortimer led them across the length of the hall to a stool that held a very old and patched up hat in front of the head tables. Mortimer walked up and stood by the stool. He took out a long parchment from the inside of his jacket, and called the first name.
"Carley Ambleton!"
Carley sat down on the stool very nervously. Mortimer placed the hat on her head. After about a second, the hat shouted out. "Hufflepuff!" Carley got up, looking very relieved it was over, and went to the table Mortimer directed her to, under a giant yellow and black banner with a badger's head on it.
"Barry Ark!" said Mortimer. Barry repeated Carley's path almost exactly.
"Ravenclaw!" said the hat. After a few more names were called, Mortimer called out "Sirius Black!" Sirius, not looking nearly as nervous as most of the previous children, sat up on the stool.
"Gryffindor!"the hat shouted after a moment of thought.
As more kids were called up to the stool, Remy whispered to James "I wouldn't wish to be in Slytherin if I were you. I hear that's where Lucius Malfoy was sorted. Bad luck to run in to that boy. He is quite a nasty 3rd year, acts like he owns the place."
"Yes I have heard about him," James replied, "My father used to know his father, but it was a short acquaintance." Their conversation was interrupted when Remy was called up.
"Remus Lupin!" Remy went up to the stool. The hat was barely on his head before it talked.
"Gryffindor!" Remy joined Sirius at the Gryffindor table, under a large red and gold banner with a lion on it.
"Jesse Maxwell!"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Samuel O'Conner!"
"Slytherin!"
"Peter Pettigrew!" This time it took a little longer for the pudgy boy that had turned away from Sirius, Remy, and James' boat to get to the stool.
The Sorting Hat this time had a small whispering conversation with Peter. Whispers broke out in the crowd of remaining children. It was not long, though, before the hat said "Well then… Gryffindor!"
"James Potter!"
The Sorting Hat had no trouble this time when it again said "Gryffindor!" James took a seat next to Remy. While the Sorting Ceremony continued.
"Well, that's a relief." James said.
"Yes it is. But when do we get our food?" said Sirius. He, Remy, and James waited, not so patiently, as the Sorting Hat finished its business. After a while, all of the first years had been sorted. An old man at the center of the head table stood up and brought silence to the hall with his hand.
"Good evening to all of you! I, as most of you know, am Professor Dumbledore, your headmaster. This will be my fifth year with the honor of being your headmaster, and I am much exited to get it underway. Now before I tell you all what will be going on this year, I would like to introduce to you your new transfiguration teacher, Professor Digby." Professor Digby stood up and waved to the students. He was fairly young looking, with short, dark hair and small spectacles. He had a broad smile on, and looked quite friendly. As Professor Digby sat down, Dumbledore resumed. "Just a few rules now, for all of our new students. The Forbidden Forest is completely off limits to all students. That having been said, we would like to encourage you to explore the school and its grounds. There are many interesting things here. We have also gotten new furniture for the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor lounges. We apologize for the lack of hospitality the old furniture in those houses provided, and would like to assure you that the new furniture should be much to your liking. Now, I wish you all a good year. Enjoy the feast!"
Everyone was very delighted as the food appeared on their tables from thin air. There were many kinds of stews, casseroles, and much more. Sirius took a huge serving of mashed potatoes while asking for the sparkling grape juice at the same time.
"Is there bubble water anywhere?" asked Remy.
"Not that I've seen, though there should be. This stuff is good too, though." said Sirius as he passed Remy the sparkling grape juice.
"Hey, over here, I found some bubble water!" James said delightedly.
"Oh good, I was beginning to question the integrity of this place!" Remy replied.
The feast went on for a long time. When things started to wind down, Dumbledore stood up once more. "I think it's about time you all go up to your dorms. If you are still eating, well, I'm sure you won't starve. The prefects of your house will lead you to your houses. Goodnight everyone."
The prefects lead them up to the Gryffindor house. The entrance was apparently a large painting of a fat woman. "Pigoysters!" said the prefect in the lead.
"So I see I'm just going to have to be your servant again now, aren't I? Well I'll let you go this time but don't expect me to be so easy about it tomorrow!" said the Fat Lady as her picture swung open to reveal a passage through into a very lush living area. The place was almost completely red, with red chairs, comfy chairs, and couches.
"Boys to the left, girls on the right, come on." said one of the prefects as the students filed up into their dorm rooms. When Sirius, Remy, and James got into their dorm, they found their bags were already there.
"Oy mate, this is good room service!" said Sirius and they all laughed. They set up their beds next to each other and got ready for bed.
"Hey, Peter! Would you mind closing that window? It is getting a wee bit drafty in here!" said James.
Peter looked a bit startled. "Me? Oh, ok" he said as he closed the window that was right by his bed. They talked for a while together about Hogwarts until they started to get angry with them. Still a bit stiff from the train ride, they had a very restful sleep.