A/N: I started writing about Amy's trip to Diagon Alley but then when I read through it I discovered that I had made a very rushed story line. I have written so many first trips to Diagon Alley (probably over fifteen because I am always coming up with new ideas for a new Harry Potter fanfiction) that I get a little bored with it and I want to get on with the rest of the story. So this part here starts in the middle of the original chapter because I got rid of the Diagon Alley part. I have read so many stories with rushed story line and usually it irritates me so I decided to get rid of it completely except for a small summary. Oh and sorry about the sorting hat song in advanced. I have never been good with that stuff.

Enjoy.

I hugged my parents good bye wishing that they could go through the barrier with me but Mrs. McGonagall had said that the barrier was solid to any muggles. We had arrived early because I had hoped to get a compartment to myself instead of embarrassing myself by sitting in a group of people that may not have wanted me. I didn't want to leave my parents behind but I knew I had to. They hugged me again before I took my trolley cart and closed my eyes before running at the barrier between platform nine and ten. I felt afraid that I would crash and so I opened my eyes again.

I was suddenly standing on a platform in front of a train that said Hogwarts Express. I looked around at the parents who were saying goodbye to their children. There weren't many people there yet which I was very glad of. I just wanted to get on the train and get into a compartment to myself. I did hope that someone would sit with me but I just didn't like the idea of walking in on a group. I pulled my heavy trunk off of the train and hauled it over to train. It was very tiring and I couldn't even lift the trunk onto the train.

"Do you want some help?" Someone asked behind me.

I turned to see a tall boy with black hair and blue eyes. I nodded and he came over and lifted my trunk up. I envied how he could be so strong to just lift a trunk full of school books and a cauldron up. I followed him onto the train where he led me to an empty compartment and put my trunk into the luggage rack.

"Thank you." I said.

"No problem." He answered. "Hope to see you in Ravenclaw."

Feeling happy I sat down and looked out the window and saw many more people had arrived. I started to think about my trip to Diagon Alley. My parents had written to Mrs. McGonagall using an owl to let her know that they had decided I would be going to Hogwarts. I couldn't believe it when they had used an owl. I didn't even know where it had come from. Then she had sent a letter back explaining all the details on how to get into Diagon Alley. I closed my eyes as I pictured the archway that had opened in the back of the pub called Leaky Cauldron after an assistant named Torber had tapped his wand against some bricks.

"Can I sit here?" Someone asked.

I opened my eyes to see a girl with dark brown eyes and brown hair staring at me. I nodded noticing that there was something strange about the girl. She pulled in a black trunk with her and I stood up to help her put the trunk in the luggage rack along with mine. She thanked me before sitting down opposite of me and she looked out the window. She seemed a little shy and nervous to me. I didn't say a word to her I just began thinking about Diagon Alley again

We had gone to a large white building called Gringotts. It was the wizarding bank and my father had to exchange a large amount of money for me. The bank was run by goblins and I had a feeling that my parents had wished that they hadn't decided for me to go to Hogwarts after all. I had felt a little nervous about the goblins myself and was very happy to leave the bank. We had gone to a book store called Flourish and Blotts first before picking up my cauldron, potion's ingredients and wand. The last place we had visited was a robe shop.

"Hello." Someone said interrupting my thoughts.

I looked up to see a pair of identical twin girls. They didn't bother asking if they could sit with us, they just motioned for a boy to come in. He looked about sixteen or seventeen and he was pulling behind him two pink trunks. Without saying a word he lifted both trunks into the luggage rack before leaving. I started at the two girls. They were both very pretty. They had long auburn hair and green eyes. One of them sat with me while the other sat beside the girl who was still looking out the window.

"First years?" One of the twins asked.

"I am." I answered. "My name is Amy Henson."

"I'm Sheila Andrews." The girl beside me said before pointing to her twin. "And that is Shelly."

"Pleased to meet you." I answered. "Are you guys muggleborn too?"

Shelly shook her head. "No, we're half blood. Our mum is muggleborn but our father is half-blood. His parents were both muggleborn."

"I am." The other girl said very softly that I hadn't been sure she'd said anything in the first place.

She didn't say another word though, she didn't even tell us her name. The train started to move and I found myself telling the twins about my school life. How the kids had always teased me and called me freak of nature. They nodded sympathetically and told me that they had problems at school too. They had only had to stay at school until third grade until their mother pulled them out of school and decided to teach them herself until they could go to Hogwarts.

"Muggles just don't understand us that is all." Sheila concluded.

Shelly looked at the girl who had watched me while I told my story about being teased. "What about you? Were you teased at school too?"

She nodded. "Not about the strange things I did though. I never did strange things at school . . . only at home. They just didn't like me and I moved around so much so most kids made fun of me for being the new girl."

We all stared at her and I saw her blush. I knew right away that she was from another country and I wondered if they was why she was so shy. I could tell from her accent that she wasn't from Britain. I suddenly realized that I was being rude by staring at her so I adverted my eyes and looked out the window. The twins had no problem about being rude though and started questioning her about where she was from. It turned out that she was from Canada and her school was overcrowded or something so muggleborns were sent to other schools.

"So- er what is your name?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Ashley." She answered.

She seemed to be a little more comfortable around us now and she began telling us about her family life and school life. Her father died when she was only six but she wouldn't tell us more about that. I started to relax around the three other girls and we all started to have a good time. The twins had brought a pack of cards that exploded. Ashley and I exchanged looks before timidly taking the cards they gave us and listened to them explain how to play exploding snap.

Around mid afternoon a witch came with a trolley cart that had different assorted food on it. The twins started to buy some food and I pulled out some pocket change that had been left over from the trip to Diagon Alley and bought something she called Cauldron cakes, Every Flavour Beans and packets of chocolate frogs. I noticed Ashley didn't have any money so I gave her some of the chocolate frogs and a cauldron cake.

"There are cards of famous witches and wizards in the chocolate frogs." Shelly informed me.

"And I'm not sure if you want those beans." Sheila added. "They mean every flavour. I don't like them at all. You can end up with one that tastes like a muddy old boot."

"How do you know what a muddy old boot tastes like?" Shelly asked her twin.

"Oh well." I said shrugging.

I pulled out one of the jelly beans, it was green and I popped it into my mouth as Sheila hid a grin. It tasted like mint so I didn't see what she was talking about. I offered Ashley some who pulled out a brown one and popped it into her mouth before making a face.

"Ew, it's all bitter tasting." She said.

I continued eating them with her. We ended up with ones that tasted like spinach, oatmeal, cotton candy, pepper, crayon and other strange flavours. After all the food I noticed that my stomach started to hurt and I hoped that we would arrive soon. I had forgotten that I sometimes had motion sickness so I gave Ashley the rest of the treats before staring out the window where it was getting dark outside.

Finally a voice said over intercoms I imagined: "We'll be arriving at Hogwarts any moment. Please get into your school uniforms and first years may leave their items in the train."

We all opened our trunks to pull out our robes which were black with the Hogwarts crest on it and quickly changed. My stomach was starting to feel better now and I felt relieved when the train finally started to slow down. Once the train stopped we quickly left the compartment along with other students who were leaving theirs quickly. Outside it was cool and windy out. I decided to stick with the three other girls as we heard someone shouting:

"Firs' years this way! Firs' years!"

We walked over to a giant man who was shouting this. I nearly stopped in my tracks when I saw him. He was covered in shaggy brown hair and seemed to be twice the size of a regular man. I wanted to turn back and go home but I bravely followed the three others over to him as other first years joined us. I looked around at the other faces and other people seemed to be as nervous as I felt. One girl I noticed seemed to be on the verge of tears once she had spotted the giant.

"All of you here? Good. Follow me."

We followed him along a slippery path and I looked around at my surroundings feeling my excitement starting to grow again. I heard a loud exclamation of excitement and I looked up to see that we had reached a lake. It wasn't the lake that the others had gotten excited about. It was the large castle perched on a mountain top across from the lake. All the windows seemed to be lit and I felt the apprehensive feeling again as the giant yelled for us to get into a boat, four per boat.

I joined the girls that had been in my compartment. I ended up beside Ashley who was staring up at a castle with an excited look on her face. Once everyone was in a boat they started moving across the lake and I put my hand into the cool water and watched as the water made waves around it as we sped across the lake. Once we were across I pulled my hand out of the water and quickly rubbed in on my robes, it felt very cold now.

The giant man led us through a dark passageway and onto the smooth lawn and over to a flight of stone steps. I saw a small girl trip of the steps as we went up and I hid my grin away. I instead looked behind me and stared around at the pitch darkness until I felt someone prod my shoulder and I noticed that the oak doors had opened and the students were going inside. We entered a large room that could probably fit two of my houses in it. I had never been inside a castle before so I couldn't help the excitement that was building. This was so much better than being at Morrison where Susie would try and ruin my life.

We walked past a door that was full of chatter and that was when I realized it was Mrs. McGonagall leading us. I wondered if she would remember who I was and I sped up losing the girls that I had been with so that I could be right behind Mrs. McGonagall. She led us into a small chamber before facing us. She gave me a small smile before putting on her usual stern expression.

"Hello First Years, I am Professor McGonagall. You all will be going into the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony in a moment. For now I'll explain some things. First of all there are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Which ever house you are sorted into will be your home for the next seven years. Your triumphs will earn you points for your house and rule breaking will cause you to lose points. Now smarten yourselves up and the sorting ceremony will be start in a moment."

She left through a doorway and automatically people began talking. I looked around for the twins or Ashley but I couldn't find them. I wondered how exactly we would be sorted into our houses and I really did hope that I would be in Slytherin because it sounded so neat. I wished I knew more about the houses and it hadn't occurred to me to ask the twins about the houses. They surely had to know something about the other houses since their parents were magical.

Professor McGonagall returned moments later to lead us into the Great Hall. I fell into step behind a red headed boy and we entered the Great Hall. My legs began shaking as I saw all the eyes on us as we entered the Great Hall. There were five tables in it. Four of them held students and one held the teachers. I could feel the sick feeling that I had had in the train come back and I quickly stared at the floor. We were led to stand in front of a hat on the stool and every eye in the Great Hall appeared now to be staring at the hat instead of us. A rip in the brim of the hat opened and it began to sing:

Once upon a time over a thousand years ago

four of the greatest witches wizards built this place

to teach young souls there ways and knowledge

now there was a problem each of these founders

had different qualities for the students they would teach

Godric Gryffindor only wanted the bravest and bold

Rowena Ravenclaw only wanted the clever

Salazar Slytherin would only take purebloods

Helga Hufflepuff wanted the rest.

So what to do? What to do?

Godric Gryffindor found the solution

That's where I come in young folks

Try me on and we will soon see where you belong.

Everyone in the Great Hall began to clap before Professor McGonagall went up with a scroll and unrolled it.

"When I call your name you will come and put the hat on your head. When it calls out your house you will sit at the appropriate table." She said.

A murmur when through the first years but they went quiet when she flashed us a stern look again.

"Andrews Sheila!" She called.

Sheila rushed up from the middle of the line and placed the hat on her head.

"Gryffindor!" The hat called out.

"Andrews Shelly."

"Gryffindor!"

"Brecton Edward!"

"Slytherin!"

"Clinton Mary-Anne!"

"Gryffindor!

"Dunnell Ashley!"

I watched as Ashley hurried up and placed the hat on her head. It sorted her into Hufflepuff and I patiently waited as McGonagall got down to H's. I watched as students were sorted into each of the houses and each house table clapped loudly for them.

"Henson Amy!" She called.

I quickly hurried up from the line and sat down on the stool before placing the hat on my head. A voice started to whisper in my ear.

"Ah, brilliant mind . . . I wish I could sort you into Ravenclaw but I have orders about your type."

"My type? What muggleborn?" I wondered.

"They'll explain it to you. PERLUSSA!"

Perlussa? I wondered. I pulled off the hat and I suddenly noticed that there weren't four tables for the students but five. A new table had emerged and the students were clapping at it for me. It appeared to be at the end of the Great Hall beside the Slytherin table. None of the Slytherins seemed to notice the table though. In fact when I climbed off the stool and headed for the table none of the students at the original four tables seemed to notice me at all. I felt like I was invisible because when I looked around at the first years they didn't seem to notice me either.

I headed over to the new table and sat down beside a girl who looked just as confused as me. There didn't seem to be many people at this table as there were at the other tables. The other tables looked very full while Perlussa table had a lot of gaps at it. There were three other first years at my table and none of them looked too happy. I had a bad feeling about this table. I looked over at the first years as a girl named Ellen Perenge was made a Hufflepuff. I didn't feel nearly as excited anymore. The sorting soon ended with a boy named Don Zent being sorted into Slytherin.

"Why do I get the feeling that no one else can see us?" I asked the girl beside me.

"I feel the same way." She said.

There were eight first years now at Perlussa table. A boy was staring over at the Slytherin table with a longing expression on his face. When he noticed that I was staring he glared at me and I looked away. The Headmaster that I believed was named Professor Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement but I didn't listen. I stared down at the golden plate in front of me feeling out of place. Why did I get the feeling that the table I was sitting at was for outcasts? Was I always doomed to be an outcast?