Christina stepped off the train into a sea of students. The air was hot and muggy, despite the fact that darkness had fallen, and Christina found it rather hard to breathe. Mosquitos buzzed around the lanterns and a warm breeze was lazily winding in and out of the students. Kids were yelling, laughing, calling to each other; Christina looked sideways at Rachel to see where she should go.

"This way," said Rachel, keen to help Christina out, and began fighting through her peers. Christina followed close behind, trying hard not to step on anyone or bump into anybody. She was thankful that her school robes were so thin--at first, she had argued with her mother about the selection, because she thought that thin robes would make her look very poor, but now she found herself silently thanking her mother for being so stubborn; the ventilation that the thin material provided made Christina much cooler than she would've been had she been wearing a thick cloak. At least now she wasn't sweating.

They emerged from the mass of students onto a road. Christina looked on in awe--the road was covered with little carriages with nothing pulling them, lined up neatly--she followed the road with her eyes and in the distance saw a great shape in the dark--a castle with many towers and turrets, its windows gleaming welcomingly in the night.

"Christina!" called Rachel, "come on!" She was nearing a carriage, waiting for Christina to join her. Excited at this friendly outreach, Christina hurried to join the pretty brunette. She clambored into the carriage to find three other people sitting there--Rachel and two boys that Christina had, of course, never seen before. She sat down next to Rachel and looked down, her face reddening slightly. The boys were rather cute and this was her first encounter with any boy all summer.

Rachel, however, did not seem taken aback at all by the boys presence. In fact, as the carriage jolted into motion, she struck up conversation.

"Wow, it's really hot," she said, fanning herself with her hand and gesturing out the window. The boys nodded.

"Yeah," said one of them, "I can't remember the last time September was this hot." Christina looked at him. He had rather messy black hair and pretty blue eyes.

"Well, it was like this all summer," said the other boy. He had brown hair, green eyes. "I'm Simon," he added, reaching out his hand for Rachel to shake.

"I'm Rachel," she said, smiling and taking it.

The other boy glanced at Christina as though unsure whether or not he should follow suit. Finally, he did. "I'm--"

"His name's pretty retarded," Simon interrupted, laughing. The black-haired boy punched him in the arm. "Shut up!"

Rachel laughed. "What's your name?" she said to the boy.

"It's Jett." The boy shook his head while saying so, and began laughing himself. He reached up and ruffled his hair with one hand, yawning. Christina thought he looked quite attractive while doing so, and held her breath for a moment, watching him.

"I'm Christina," she said suddenly, taking the oppurtunity to introduce herself. The boys and Rachel stopped laughing and looked at her.

"I've never seen you around," said Jett, furrowing his brow. "Are you in our year?"

"...That depends on what year you're in, doesn't it?" Christina was surprised at her own daring. Jett chuckled.

"I suppose it does. I'm in fifth."

"Same here!" piped in Simon.

"Oh. I'm in fourth. We both are." Christina gestured towards Rachel.

"What house are you in?" Simon asked her.

"Uhh...well, I'm new so...I don't know yet."

"Oh," said Simon. "Well, you could get into Slytherin, that would be nice, we could use some cute girls." There was a pause. Then...

"You're a Slytherin?" Rachel inquired.

"Yeah. But I'm not psycho evil or anything. Don't worry," Simon said, chuckling. Rachel didn't look entirely convinced.

"Well," she said, "what did the hat say when it was sorting you?"

"It said I had lots of cunning. I was clever. I was brave. But I knew when to listen to my brain instead of my heart--"

"--and save yourself instead of others, huh?" Rachel cut in. The carriage, swaying, was filled with an awkward silence for a few moments.

"Well, I guess."

Rachel laughed nervously. "Well, we don't seem to be in a life threatening situation, so I'll trust you for now." She turned to Jett. "Are you in Slytherin, too?" she demanded of him.

Jett nodded. "Yeah. The hat said I had lots of ambition."

The carriage began to slow and soon came to a complete stop. Jett opened the door. "Ladies first," he said. "That means you, Si," he added, giving Simon a little push towards the door. Simon responded by hitting him on the top of the head and jumping out of the carriage, dodging Jett's swing of retaliation.

"Boys are so wierd sometimes," Rachel whispered to Christina. Christina laughed nervously. She had already met four new people in this school...she looked up and saw the castle towering above them and her breath caught in her throat. It was even more magnificent than she had imagined.

They climbed the stone steps to the great oak doors of the castle and entered a large, brightly lit hallway. A large marble staircase was in the center of it, and to one side another set of great oak doors were open; a great rumble of laughter and voices was coming from it. Rachel led Christina through the large doors. "This is the great hall," she said. "I'm gonna go sit down at the Gryffindor table--that one, right there"--she pointed--"but you should wait here to see what house you're gonna be in. Good luck. Try to get in Gryffindor!" and before Christina could ask how she should go about that, Rachel had rushed off to the Gryffindor table.

Christina felt a tap on her shoulder. Before she could turn around, Simon and Jett came sidling past her. "Get in Slytherin!" they whispered as they passed. Christina grinned nervously at them--they returned the smile. This left Christina feeling quite elated inside--she already had made three friends. Well, one friend, and two...almost friends. Two good looking almost-friends.

"Ms. Johnson?" came a voice from behind her. Christina turned and saw a stern looking witch in deep green robes surveying her.

"Y-yes?"

"You are new, am I correct? From America?"

"Yes."

"Right this way, then. You will be sorted before the first years so that you can take your seat at your respective house."

Christina nodded in response. Her worry was rising within her once again. She followed the woman over to a three-legged stool in the middle of the Great Hall. The hall became quiet; all heads were turned towards Christina. Fear flooded her--even embarrassment--everyone was looking at her--what if something was horribly wrong, some piece of hair was sticking straight up, she had something between her teeth--she pushed these thoughts out of her mind and sat unsteadily down onto the stool. The woman placed a tattered old hat on Christina. Almost immediately, a little voice flicked on in her head.

Ahhh. I've never seen one of your family before. Christina Johnson...I've seen plenty of Johnsons, of course, but none related to you I'm sorry to say. Nevertheless, lets see what I can do. Christina was shocked. She tried to wipe the startled expression off of her face and listen to the voice.

You're quite clever. Lots of ambition. Slytherin, Christina thought abruptly. Slytherin? Is that what you want? No, Christina thought--I don't know, I don't know anything about the houses! The voice chuckled. Calm down. Your so nervous its hard for me to concentrate. You're not very brave. But you have a good heart. You'd do well in any of the houses. Which one do you want to be in?

I don't know, thought Christina in horror. She glanced around the hall and saw Jett and Simon at the Slytherin table. Her eyes flicked over to the Gryffindor table, where Rachel sat, looking eagerly on. Christina saw Rachel give her the thumbs up and grin.

I want to be in Gryffindor, she thought desperately. Gryffindor? But, you know, then you will be limited as to the relationships you can have with those...certain...people in other houses. I know, thought Christina. Just put me where you think I should be! Alright, alright...and then the hat spoke aloud, so loudly that Christina felt herself jump and then blushed. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled, and the gryffindor table cheered while the other houses clapped politely.

Christina got up shakily and walked towards the Gryffindor table, which was cheering as it welcomed her into their house. Rachel waved for her to join her, and Christina gratefully slid into an empty spot on the bench next to her new friend.

"I knew you'd be in Gryffindor," said Rachel, grinning. Just then, the hall grew silent once more as a man stood at the front of the room. "That's Dumbledore," whispered Rachel, before going silent herself.

"Welcome," said Dumbledore, looking out over the students with a small smile on his lips, "to another year at Hogwarts. Now, I know we are all eagerly awaiting our supper"--there were murmors of assent throughout the student body--"but we must, as always, proceed with the rest of the Sorting ceremony first! We had the pleasure of welcoming Christina Johnson into our school"--he nodded politely at Christina, who blushed scarlet--"and now it is time to welcome the first years. Let the Sorting begin." With that, he sat back down and gazed intently at the hat, which hadn't moved since Christina had taken it off. Christina followed his gaze and looked at the hat too, unsure of what she was waiting for. Then, the hat opened along the brim and began to sing.

Created many years ago

I was, and to this day

it is my job to sort you

call you up, send you away

Which house will you be in, you ask?

Just wait and you will see

Do not think inside your heads

it all depends on me

for you're the one whos living

you're the one whos got a soul

I just look inside it

and tell you where you ought to go.

Will I realize you're a Gryffindor?

With courage in your heart?

Well, would you give your life to save

someone, lest they depart?

Will I cresten you a Ravenclaw?

Are you sharp and quick of wit?

Have you never lost an argument

Do you refuse, refuse to quit?

Will I label you a Hufflepuff?

With a friendly face and hand?

Are you normal, are you average

Have you got your future planned?

Will I pronounce you a Slytherin?

Do you thrive on intuition?

Have you cunning ways and

not to mention great ambition?

Well I will name you one of these

though all it does it hurt

Leading you to hate and fight

and treat your foes like dirt

But put me on and I will look

Inside your little head

come on now, dont you be afraid

my judgment is not to dread

Don't be ashamed, there is no way

to either lose or win

So be excited, its your turn

the Sorting must begin!

Everyone in the hall clapped, including Christina, who was quite taken aback by this little song. "Did the hat make that up?" she asked Rachel. Rachel nodded as the first first year sat down on the stool and put the hat on. The line had about forty first years in it--it took about half an hour to do the sorting, but finally, the last kid had scrambled to their house, and Dumbledore was on his feet once again.

"Now that the Sorting is over," he said serenly, smiling at the woman Rachel told Christina was Professor McGonagall as she carried the hat and stool out of the hall, "we can eat. Tuck in!" And in an instant, the plates in front of Christina were suddenly overflowing with food--mashed potatos, steaks, chicken, salads, pastas, breads, soups--it was all too much to take in. Christina happily helped herself to everything, and was soon stuffed so full that she wished she hadn't eaten anything. Then, to her horror, the plates cleared and dessert appeared instead. As full as she was, Christina felt the need to eat some dessert as well, just because she could, and had consumed three pieces of cherry pie and two bowls of custard before she finally set down her spoon, sighing heavily. Rachel, next to her, was leaning backwards, groaning.

"I'm so tired," she yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Eating made me even more tired."

Just then, Dumbledore stood up.

"If I could have your attention just once more before bedtime, please," he asked. The hall fell silent. "Thank you." He beamed at the students. "Our delightful caretaker, Argus Filch, as asked me to remind you that no magic is permitted in the halls between corridors. No students are allowed in the forest--that is why it is called the Forbidden Forest--and students must be in their common rooms or dormitories by nine 'o clock each night. Now, I believe I am not the only exhausted one here"--he yawned--"and so I wish you all a very good night. Rest up for your classes tomorrow!" He sat down, and with a great scraping noise, people bushed the benches away from the tables and got up.

"Come on, Christina," Rachel said, yawning again. "I'll sh-sh-show you the way to the c-c-common room." Christina followed her out of the hall, through a mass of students in black robes. She would have very much liked to attentively examine her surroundings, but at the moment she found herself too tired and too full to keep close attention on anything. She shuffled along behind Rachel, dimly taking in the beauty of her new home. Seven spectacular floors later, they came to a stop with a group of other Gryffindors in front of a large portrait of a fat lady.

"This," said Rachel, "is the fat lady." Christina glanced at the portrait, wondering whether it would take offense to being called the fat lady, but the woman in the picture, it seemed, was quite accustomed to being referred to as "the fat lady" and smiled at them all.

"Password?" she inquired.

From behind them, someone said "Bashful Pixie." Christina turned and saw that it was a tall reddish haired boy. He glanced at Christina as the portrait swung open to reveal the portrait hole behind it; the group began to clambor through it. "I'm Richard," he added. "I'm a prefect. Fifth year." He reached out his hand. Christina shook it.

"Christina!" Rachel called from inside the common room. "Come on in!"

"I'm Christina," Christina said to the boy. "Nice to meet you." She smiled and clambored awkwardly into the common room, where she saw Rachel waiting for her. A great, warm fire was in the fireplace, which was surrounded by big comfy-looking red chairs. Tables were by the windows, presumeably for doing homework.

"Here's the spiral staircase," Rachel said, leading Christina over to a set of stairs. She began climbing them and Christina followed suit. "Our dormitories are at the top--same as last year." She paused. "But then again, you wouldn't know, you weren't here then."

They passed a landing with three doors on it and came to the second landing. There were four doors, bearing small metal plaques on the doors: Fourth Years, Fifth years, Sixth Years, Seventh Years. Rachel smiled.

"We get the same one each year. The year on the plaque just changes." She opened the door labeled "Fourth Years" and entered a cool room. Christina was immediately relieved from the heat of the day and of her over stuffed stomach. Five four-poster beds lined the circular room. Christina walked over to the bed that had her trunk at the foot of it and jumped onto it. The sheets felt refreshingly cool and clean against her skin. She crawled up onto the pillow and looked out the window above her headboard. The stars were twinkling in the deep navy sky. Christina could just see hints of orange along the horizon over the forest--the remnants of the sunset. She sighed.

"Lucky," Rachel muttered. "You got the window bed."

Christina giggled at her friend and slid down to the end of her bed, opening her trunk and extracting her pajamas from them. Her "pajamas" were actually just tiny pink flannel shorts and a very baggy white T-shirt. She slipped into them while Rachel's back was turned and then clambored underneath her covers, pulling the hangings around her bed shut.

"Goodnight, Rachel," she said into the dark.

"'Night."

Christina fell asleep in between cool sheets, dreaming of pretty boys and great adventure...