Author's Note: Sorry, but it might take me a little longer to update. Graduation just happened, I got a new job, and now I have to prepare for college. I will finish the story though, but it won't be as quick as I have been. Sorry for any wait!

The Story Continues...

The train slowly pulled into Hogsmeade Station. All the students unloaded the train and headed off towards the carriages. Harry heard the familiar voice of Hagrid in the distance.

"Firs' years! All firs' years come on over here!" Hagrid yelled.

Harry knew that the first years traveled across the lake in a boat and entered the castle in a different entrance. He had to do it himself on his first year.

Harry, Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and Crookshanks walked towards the awaiting carriages to take them to the school. They boarded the carriages and shut the door. The carriage jerked forward and headed off towards the castle.

"Yes, so close!" Ron said.

"Almost there." Harry added.

The carriage came to halt in front of the castle. It was completely dark by now. They climbed out of the carriage and walked up the stone steps to the huge doors.

"Good evening Harry." It was Dumbledore. He opened the doors to greet the returning students. This was the first time this ever happened.

"Hello." Harry said.

Dumbledore knelt over and whispered something into Sirius' ear that Harry could not make out. Then he stood up and waved them inside.

Dumbledore opened the doors and let all the students enter into the Entrance Hall. Sirius stayed behind with Dumbledore. All the students then made a turn and walked into the Great Hall. The ceiling was bewitched to look like the clear, night sky outside. The hall was decorated in the school's colors and a huge Hogwarts banner hung above the teacher's table. Above each table was a banner, each representing each of the four houses (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin). The students all headed to their tables and took a seat. Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed towards the back, where the Gryffindor banner hung high and proud. Next to the banner was the trophy that was awarded to Gryffindor two years ago. Harry remembered that year well.

All the students took their seats and quickly became silent, all waiting for the arrival of the first years. Harry turned and saw Hagrid enter through the door behind the teacher's table and take a seat. He looked over at Harry and gave him a wink. Harry smiled and turned to watch the doors.

The doors suddenly burst open and Professor McGonagall led the first years to the front of the room. She told the students to stay put and walked into a room on the side. She came back out carrying an old, shabby-looking hat. Harry recognized the hat very well. It was the Sorting Hat. It placed students in the houses that it thought best suited them. Professor McGonagall raised her hand to silence the crowd: The Sorting Hat started to sing:

"Oh, you may think I'm not a pretty sight to look at,

But don't judge anything on what you see,

I'll burn myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your pointed hats black

And keep them standing tall,

Because I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing you can hide

That I cannot see,

So put me on

And I will tell you where you ought to be.

Perhaps I will put in Gryffindor,

Where the brave stand strong,

And their courage and nerve

Send Gryffindors along.

I might put you in Ravenclaw,

Where they have an intelligent mind,

For those who are willing to learn

Will always find their kind.

Or perhaps in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

They are true and patient

And unafraid of toil.

Why not the mighty Slytherin,

Where you will find your true friends,

Those people will go to any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

I'm only three feet high!

Your future will be safe

For your grades will fly!

The whole entire hall burst into applause, all except the first years, who were quivering on the spot. Harry leaned towards Ron and whispered something in his ear.

"Can you imagine? That was us four years ago." Harry said.

"Yeah. That was us. Standing there shaking." Ron started to laugh, "I wonder how many of them have annoying older brothers who scared them like Fred and George did to us!"

The hall immediately became silent as Professor McGonagall unrolled the parchment that held the names of the new students.

"When I call your name, please come forward and have a seat on the stool." Professor McGonagall said, "Abott, Melanie!"

A short girl with dirty blonde hair walked up to the stool. She sat down and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. It dropped down and covered her eyes. There was a moment's pause—

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right burst into applause as the girl walked over and sat down at the Hufflepuff table.

"Buggett, Brendon!"

"RAVENCLAW!" and Brendon scuttled off towards the table on the left.

"Brown, Mandy!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat and Harry and the rest of the table cheered as Mandy walked over to join them.

"That's my little sister!" Lavender Brown, a fellow Gryffindor, said to Harry.

The Sorting Hat went on until it reached a name Harry recognized.

"McKearney, William!" Professor McGonagall shouted.

Harry remembered him from Flourish and Blotts. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his small head. The Sorting Hat paused for a moment before it yelled "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry cheered the loudest and waved William over. He jumped off the stool and walked over to the Gryffindor table. He saw Harry waving him over and took a seat next to him.

Harry leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Welcome to Gryffindor!"

William smiled a toothy grin as he watched the rest of the sorting. Finally, the last name was called.

"Westworth, Zoey!"

The girl walked up to the stool and took a seat. Harry stared long and hard at the girl. She looked vaguely familiar. But Harry couldn't pinpoint where he would know her from. The hat barely even touched her head when it shouted "SLYTHERIN!"

The far table burst out screaming and cheering as the young girl walked over.

"You know, it's really a shame." Hermione said.

"What is?" Ron asked.

"Well, what if not all the kids who get sent to Slytherin are all bad. What if they are actually really nice. But the house and people just turn them evil." Hermione finished.

Harry sunk in his seat. He never told anyone but Dumbledore about the Sorting Hat wanting to place Harry in Slytherin when he first tried it on. But that was all in the past. Harry knew he was placed in Gryffindor for a reason.

Dumbledore rose to his feet and raised both hands to try and silence the crowd. Almost instantly, the hall hushed and became quiet.

"As you all know, we here at Hogwarts are always pleased with going the extra distance to make our reputation even better. So we have something special happening this year. Professor McGonagall, would you please take over from here?" Dumbledore stated.

"We here at Hogwarts are pleased to announce that we have some transfers from other schools from the around the world. They will be spending the whole year with us, attending classes and all functions. It will be as though they have been here since the beginning." Professor McGonagall spoke softly.

Dumbledore stood back up and spoke, "I would like you all to welcome your new classmates!"

At that instant, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and four people walked into the room. There were two guys and two girls. Harry looked hard at them. The two boys looked to be about sixteen, putting them in with the sixth years. The one girl looked to be about a second year. But the last girl…when Harry set his eyes upon her, he thought his heart stopped beating. The last girl was more beautiful than a veela ever could be.

The four transfers walked to the front of the Hall and stood in front of the Sorting Hat.

"And just like all the others, they too will be sorted." Professor McGonagall added, "When I call your name, please step forward and take a seat on the stool. The hat will take it from there…William Lloyd, sixth year!"

One of the two boys stepped up and sat down.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted.

"Patricia Gertrude, second year!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Jeramiah Hanssing, sixth year!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Benicia Poliverie, fifth year!"

She has to be in Gryffindor! Harry thought and prayed very hard. There is no doubt! She is definitely Gryffindor material!

But before Harry could think another word, the hat replied its dreaded answer: "SLYTHERIN!"

"But there's got to be a mistake!" Harry yelled out without realizing what he had just done.

"Excuse me Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall said in a annoyed tone.

"Oh, sorry Professor…I was just debating that um…that…that we won't be learning about Unicorns this year!" Harry blurted out.

"Right then Mr. Potter. Now would you mind staying quite for the rest of the ceremony?" Professor McGonagall snorted.

"Yes Professor." Harry mumbled.

Benicia stood up and headed towards Slytherin's table. Harry looked over and caught the glimpse of Malfoy. He was watching Benicia walk over with a grin on his face! She is way too good for the likes of him! Malfoy waved his hand to Benicia and she walked over and took a seat next to him.

"How dare he!" Harry thought.

Dumbledore rose to his feet once again and silenced the crowd.

"Now that that is all over with, time for the announcements. As you all know, there is a position to be filled this year. We all know what subject that would be." Dumbledore started. There were a few chuckles at that comment. Harry knew what he was talking about. Every year, they needed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Rumors say that the job is cursed and that is why no one ever stayed more than one year.

"And many of you will know the teacher taking the job. He has already acquired the job a few years before, so I feel he is more than qualified to obtain the position."

Harry stared over at Snape. He had a sour face on. Harry knew that it was probably someone he disliked.

"Oh please don't say it's Lockhart!" Ron mumbled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you would please give a hand for…Professor Lupin!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione jumped out of their seats and cheered the loudest as Professor Lupin entered and took a seat next to Hagrid.

"YES!" Ron yelled.

"He's back! He's really back!" Hermione said.

Dumbledore raised his arms again and the room fell silent once more.

"As a recap for most students, the third floor corridor is still, and forever will be, off-limits to students. The Forbidden Forest is also still off-limits. No midnight strolls are to be allowed and remember, you are here for the most possible amount of learning…with a dash of fun." Dumbledore said,

"Now, before I bore you to death, let us eat!" Dumbledore clapped his hands and all the golden plates and goblets filled with food. There was chicken and sweet potatoes, beans of all kinds and plenty of mashed and baked potatoes to go around. The Pumpkin Juice was extra cold and tasted better than ever before. After everyone finished their second and third servings, the plates became clean, and then were piled high with all kinds of desserts imaginable.

"I don't remember it ever tasting so good." Ron said with a mouthful of chocolate pudding.

When everyone finished with the desserts, Dumbledore clapped his hands again and all the food disappeared.

"Well, wasn't that a delightful welcome back meal?" Dumbledore asked, a smile then broadening across his face, "Well, will all the prefects please take the students up to their common rooms. Have a good night's rest and be ready to start off the school year bright and early tomorrow morning."

And with that, all the students rose out of their seats and headed their separate directions to their common rooms. Harry looked over and caught one more glimpse of Benicia before she walked out of the door. "How could she be placed in Slytherin?" Harry thought.

There were new prefects this year for Gryffindor. The prefects led all the Gryffindors through the corridors and up flights of stairs until they finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" asked the portrait.

"Periwinkle." said one of the prefects, "Now first years, you must remember that password in order to be allowed in the common room at all times. Do not tell any other student in other house. It must be kept between us Gryffindors."

The portrait swung open and revealed the common room. They all climbed in and most headed to their dorm room. Hermione headed up the girls' tower after saying good-night to them. Harry and Ron then headed up.

Once they entered the room, they found Neville, Seamus, and Dean already there. Harry glanced over and found a note on top of his bed. He walked over and read:

Dear Harry,

Dumbledore has offered me to live in his office. I figured it would be the best so that no one would be suspicious. Don't worry, I'll still have my eye on you.

Sirius

Harry folded the letter and placed it into his trunk. Then he changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. He though about what tomorrow's classes were going to be like. He then slowly drifted off to sleep.