Chapter Two: A Tale of Four Friends

After getting off the train, all the First Year students were rounded up by the gamekeeper, a very large man by the name of Hagrid who was over seven feet tall, and taken on boats that rowed themselves across a lake to Hogwarts. They waited anxiously on a large staircase to be called into the Great Hall. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter (whose last name, they found out, was Pettigrew) waited at the top. Sirius, James, and Remus were, it seemed, the only calm ones of the group. Sirius and James were confident, Remus indifferent. Peter, along with the rest of the First Years, was shuffling his feet nervously. He let out a whimper every so often that drew the attention of Sirius.

"Stop whining, Peter. It's just the sorting ceremony," he said disdainfully.

"Right you are, Mr. Black," came a prim voice from behind him. He turned to face a tall, stern looking witch whose hair was drawn back into a tight bun on the back of her head. She stared at him for a moment before addressing all the First Years. "Once inside the Great Hall, you will all be sorted into your houses. The people in your houses will become like your family. You will share dormitories, eat together, and go to class together. Anything you do well may earn your house points. Any discrepancies and points will be deducted. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Please come this way."

"Who was that? Do you know?" James asked Sirius, who nodded.

"That's McGonagall," Sirius said, studying the back of her head. She turned, staring down her nose at him once more.

"Professor McGonagall, Mr. Black," she corrected him. "You'll do well to remember it." She then led them all into the great hall. It was packed with students and teachers. Four tables were stationed with different banners hanging over each, and the teachers' table sat at the very front of the room. Just in front of it sat a stool with a very raggedy looking hat on it. Before James knew what was happening, the hat opened its mouth (since when did hats have mouths?) and began to sing. Its voice rang out clearly through the hall.

I welcome all, old and new,
To Hogwarts once again.
I'm sure you'll find there's lots to do
Let the school year now begin.

You First Years are so scared
You're not sure of what you see.
I bet you've never seen a hat
Who sings quite as well as me.

My brim is torn a bit I know
And my point is not quite right,
But a chance is all I need
To prove my witty might.

I'll sort you into houses
Of which you've heard I'm sure,
But if you've not I'll tell you now
About the regal four.

Old Gryffindor, he was known
As a leader among men.
His house was named on his behalf
Where the brave are taken in.

Miss Ravenclaw had many hopes
For the smartest all around.
Her house would always bear the mark
Of the clever and profound.

Now we come to Lady Hufflepuff
Whose heart was pure as gold.
Her house would always take the ones
Who were left out in the cold.

Master Slytherin was always known
For his sly and sneaky ways.
His, the last and final house,
His talents did portray.

Now I'm sure you have ideas
After my long and lovely song
About the house (only one of four)
Of where you do belong.

I'll listen to suggestions
And look into your heart,
But the final decision on where you go
Is where I play my part.

The Hall burst into applause and the First Years began muttering among themselves.

"What a wonderful song," James heard a girl behind him say.

"Probably took it all last year to make that up," Sirius said, laughing.

After the hat had stopped, Professor McGonagall told them, "You will now be sorted into your houses." She started in alphabetical order with "Leah Anderson!" A small mousy-looking girl stepped forward and was sorted into Hufflepuff. After a few minutes Professor McGonagall said, "Sirius Black!" Sirius stepped forward, his whole body shouting his confidence. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on Sirius' head. It was a few short seconds before it shouted "Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table broke out into cheers and applause. Sirius sat with them, giving James a 'thumbs up.' Down the line she went until she came to "Lily Evans," who was sorted into Gryffindor. (She sat as far from Sirius, it seemed, as she could manage.) Further and further down her list came "Remus Lupin!" Remus stepped forward and the hat was placed on his head. Again it shouted "Gryffindor!" Another round of applause. After that there were two boys placed in Slytherin, one in Ravenclaw, and two girls in Hufflepuff. Peter, who was just before James, was also sorted into Gryffindor.

The last of his friends to be sorted, James' mind began to wonder. What if he were put into Ravenclaw? Or worse yet, Hufflepuff or Slytherin! He'd never get to see his friends, and—"James Potter!" He walked up and sat down on the stool. He felt Professor McGonagall place the hat on his head. Then suddenly he heard a voice that was most definitely not his inside his head.

"Ahh…I see. Yes. Well, you have quite a bit of brains here, my friend. That'll come in handy. But I sense rebelliousness in you. Courage too. Hmm. There's a fierce loyalty as well. We'll have quite a few in that house this year, but I think it's best to put you in GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted the last bit to the entire school. James breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to his friends. He was patted roughly on the back. He looked up and saw Lily staring at him. She blushed and smiled when she saw him look her way.

Professor McGonagall continued down her list, but James was hardly paying attention. He was already getting to know a few of the other Gryffindors, and listening to Sirius explain how his entire family had been in Slytherin and how glad he was that he was to be a disappointment to his family once again. A few minutes later Professor McGonagall came to the end of her long list of names.

"The hat was talking inside my head!" Peter was saying in breathless excitement, "It wanted to put me in Hufflepuff, but I begged it not to. I told it I wanted to be with you guys. My new friends! It told me that I'd have to work extra hard to keep up, but oh, I don't care. I have you guys and…" he broke off when an older, graying professor stood.

He wore half moon spectacles. His beard was almost touching his chest and his hair was to his shoulders. He smiled at them.

"Know who he is, don't you, James?" Sirius whispered.

"That's Dumbledore. Everyone knows who he is," James said.

"He's a great man," Remus said softly. They both looked at him.

"Many of you may know me as Albus Dumbledore. I've known some of you for an awfully long time, and will know most of you very well by the end of the school year. But from this point on, you will know me as Professor Dumbledore or Headmaster. Such formalities are necessary, I'm afraid." His voice was soothing and he searched all the faces in the crowd as he spoke. "This is my first year here as Headmaster and I'm as excited as I was on my first day here as a student. I know it must be hard for you to imagine a man as old as myself as an eleven-year-old boy, but I assure you I was, at one time, young.

"I'd like to make a few announcements before we begin the feast. For all First Years, the Forbidden forest is out-of-bounds. There are many creatures in there that do not appreciate our students walking around and will take advantage of such situations. Our new caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to ask that students not do magic in the hallways. If I understand correctly, there were quite a few problems with vanishing rooms and students last year. And finally, I would like to welcome you all to a new start here at Hogwarts. Now, let the feast begin!" And with a wave of his hand, the golden plates in front of them piled high with all kinds of food. James' eyes widened and he smiled across the table at Sirius, who was already putting food on his plate

Their Prefects, Frank Longbottom and Alice Arthurs, led them to the Gryffindor common room, which was hidden behind the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"This year's password is Phoenix Feathers. If for any reason it's discovered by one of the other houses, it will have to be changed. So do us all a favor and don't write it down," Frank said sternly to the group of students. The Fat Lady had already swung open when Frank had said the password.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there yapping or are you going to go inside?" she asked irritably.

Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter all shared a dorm room with a boy named Linkin Lovegood. They found their things waiting for them there and began to unpack. Linkin took the bed furthest from the door and almost immediately began to scribble notes on a piece of parchment.

"Longbottom said we'll get our class schedules tomorrow at breakfast," Sirius was saying.

"Does that mean we have the whole evening to ourselves?" Peter squeaked.

"I suppose," Sirius said. "What do you lot want to do?"

"We could explore the castle, couldn't we? Figure out where everything is?" James offered.

"No one knows where everything in this castle is," Remus said softly. "I doubt that even its founders knew."

"Yeah, but that'd be half the fun, wouldn't it? Knowing things that no one else knows?" James said, his excitement at the thought mounting.

"I suppose. But we couldn't break any school rules," Remus said.

"Couldn't we?" asked Sirius, looking at each face in turn. They stared back at him and he grinned mischievously.

An hour or so later, they were heading out of the common room when Frank Longbottom stopped them.

"Have you four finished your unpacking, then?" he asked.

"Yeah. We thought we'd go have a look around the castle," Sirius told him. It seemed to James that they obviously knew one another, because Frank smiled.

"Not going to get into any trouble are you, Black?" he asked, his smile widening. Sirius grinned back.

"Nah. Not on the first day, anyway. Just some exploring."

"Well, don't forget to be back before lights out. McGonagall will have a fit if anyone from Gryffindor gets in trouble the first night."

"Do you know of any hidden passageways?" Peter peeped. Frank stared down his nose at Peter.

"Of course not. And if you find any, you're to tell me straight away," he told Peter firmly. Sirius sighed and pushed Peter out the porthole.

"Got it. Report secret passages to you straight away. Be back before lights out. No problem," he said, following Peter. Once the Fat Lady slid shut behind them, Sirius slapped the back of Peter's head. "What's the matter with you, you git! Talking about secret passageways to a Prefect!"
"S-sorry, Sirius. I won't—not again," Peter stammered. Sirius sighed.

"So which way do we head?" Remus asked, looking down the two corridors that went to the right and left of their dormitory. .

"I say we go left," James said. "Keep our hands on the right wall. That way we don't get lost." The other boys were staring at him. "What? You've never heard of that trick? Muggles use it. You keep your right hand touching a surface at all times and you can always find your way back."
"Alright, James!" Sirius said, slapping him on the back.

Several hours later they came back to the common room exhausted with nothing to show for their efforts.

"I can barely walk," Peter complained as he stumbled past the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"The exercise will do you good," Sirius said, though he was also breathing heavily.

"I'm at my ideal weight," Peter insisted.

"Yeah," Sirius snorted, "If you're six feet tall!"

"Come off it, Sirius," James said. "We're all tired." They made their way to their room and each collapsed in their respective beds.

"Three floors. Nothing at all," Sirius said in disbelief.

"Well, we found some really interesting artwork," Remus said. Sirius slanted him a look and rolled his eyes.

"I don't know about you, but I'm more than ready for a good night's sleep," James said, stretching.

"Yeah. We really should get to bed. We have class tomorrow," Remus said.

"Oh, that's right," Sirius groaned.

"I-I'm really nervous about my first classes. Do you think they'll be hard?" Peter asked.

"You're nervous about everything, Peter," Sirius said, his eyes closed. "I will tell you one thing though, mates. There's no way I'll ever be considered another faceless First Year. By the time the year's up, everyone will know Sirius Black. And by the time I'm a seventh year, my name will be legend. It will be spoken with reverence. Respect, even."

"Well, we know they'll never write songs of your modesty," James laughed.

"Who needs modesty? Modesty is overrated."

"Especially when you're Sirius Black, aye?" Remus said. They all laughed.

They went to bed late that night, but James couldn't sleep. He could hear Peter snoring on the other side of the room and Remus muttering occasionally in his sleep. He didn't know whether Sirius slept or not; he didn't move, but he supposed he could be lying awake as well. He couldn't believe that it was only his first day at Hogwarts and already he'd made such great friends. He smiled into the darkness. This was going to be a great year.