Chapter 6
"Firs years over here!" they heard the voice call again, "Come on now, don be shy!"
Slowly, the group walked slowly towards the voice, to find a man, so tall and wide, Lily thought that she could probably fit inside him about six times. He was simply too big to be allowed!
"Is that everyone?" the giant cried, "Right then. My name is Rubeus Hagrid, and I'm the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts. We have to cross over the lake on the boats, so follow me!"
The first-years followed Hagrid to the lake, which had many rickety-looking boats sitting on its surface. In the distance, a splash came up, and everyone saw giant tentacles, waving ferociously in every direction.
"No more then four to a boat!" Hagrid called as he got into one of the boats, of which he had all to himself.
Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus got into a boat, and waited nervously. Once everyone was in, Hagrid tapped the sides of his boat, and in unison, all the boats started nearing to the other side of the lake.
"You'll see Hogwarts in a sec.! Just around this bend here!" Hagrid bellowed.
Gasps were heard from every boat as Hogwarts came into view. It was a giant castle, which was so tall; it seemed to touch the clouds. Very soon after that, the boat s reached the bank, and all the students jumped out, excited of lied in store in the castle.
When they got to the castle doors, Hagrid lifted his fist and knocked three times.
A middle-aged witch answered the door, and said "Thank you Hagrid, I shall take them from here." And so Hagrid walked through the doors and into the next room.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." The lady began, "I am Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher. Now, in a short moment, you will join your classmates, but before you do, you must be sorted into your houses. They are, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are here, your house is like your family. Triumphs earn you points, and rule-braking looses them. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup. This is a great honor. Now follow me to get sorted."
So McGonagall, or as James and Sirius had secretly dubbed her in their heads, Minnie, led them through the doors that Hagrid had disappeared into. Inside was a huge hall, and the sky seemed to be invisible.
"How does it do that?" he muttered to Lily, who was beside him.
"It is bewitched to look like the sky outside." She whispered back, her voice shaking slightly.
As they approached the front of the Hall, a three-legged stool came into view, with an old hat sitting on it. The hat stared at everyone, and everyone stared back. Then, it opened the brim wide, and stared to sing:
It was a very long time ago
When I was first made
I sort you into houses
That you will be in through the years
I must divide you
But I always fear that it's wrong
For a great, deadly foe
Is dividing us all in fear this year
We must stand very strong
Or we will not last very long
Gryffindor, the brave one
Was from wild moor
He lived to fight the evil ones
With everlasting courage
As a result
The brave went to this house
The smartest one was Ravenclaw
Who happened to be from glen
She took the brightest and smartest
Through an everlasting test
Sly Slytherin left the school early
And was from fen
He took only pureblood wizards
For he believed them to be best
And then the kind Hufflepuff
From the wild moor
Took all the rest
And taught them all she knew
And now the time has finally come
Now I must sort you
But though I fear it's wrong
It's the job Gryffindor entrusted me too do
As the hat finished his song and took a bow, the Hall exploded into cheers. McGonagall took out a long list of names, and called out "Baird, Alexis!"
A girl with sandy-blonde hair, and hazel eyes, walked over and placed the hat on her head. A short while later, the hat cried, "Gryffindor!"
"Black, Bellatrix!"
A girl with raven black hair swaggered up to the hat, and before it could fully touch her head it screamed, "Slytherin!"
Cheers came from the Slytherin table as Bellatrix ran off to join them.
"Black, Sirius!"
Sirius jogged slowly towards McGonagall, and sat down, and when the hat touched his head, he heard a voice in his ear.
"Another Black, eh? Normally I would put you straight into Slytherin, but you do not belong there. No, you belong in Gryffindor!"
Relived, Sirius ran to the table and sat next to Alexis, a grin over his face. The teachers, however they clapped, were bewildered. A Black in Gryffindor? It was unheard of!
The sorting continued, and after what seemed like millions of years.
"Evans, Lily!"
Lily ran up and placed the hat delicately on her head.
"You are a smart one," the hat whispered in her ear, "loyal too. I know where to put you! Gryffindor!"
She ran, and sat down on the other side of Alexis, who greeted her warmly. For the people who had not yet been sorted, the sorting ceremony seemed to drag on and on until finally.
"Lupin, Remus!"
As he walked up, he noticed some of the teachers giving him odd looks, and embarrassed, he lowered his head until McGonagall was fitting the hat on his head.
"A werewolf, are you? Never had one of you before. It takes great courage to be one. You are also immensely smart, and loyal. You will be in Gryffindor!"
Overjoyed, Remus jogged over and sat next to Sirius, a goofy grin plastered to what seemed to be permanent, over his face.
After a boy named Peter Pettigrew was sorted into Gryffindor, James name was finally called.
Slowly, he walked up to the hat, and gave a small smile to Professor McGonagall, and when the hat was an inch from his head it screamed Gryffindor.
After Gabrielle Zolondek was sorted into Hufflepuff, the Hall fell silent, and waited for Dumbledore to make his beginning of the year speech. He got up and said, "Welcome, pupils, to another year at Hogwarts! There is a time for speeches, but this, unfortunately, is not one of those times." And with that, he sat back down.
Suddenly, gasps from all the newly sorted students were heard as the plates that sat before them filled with food such as mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and even hambugs. Everyone filled their plates to the brim with everything except for the hambugs, and dug in. After about an hour, all the dinner food disappeared and was replaced with dessert, like treacle tart and ice cream.
Finally, when everyone was done eating and the food was cleared from the plates, Dumbledore stood up and smiled at the Hall.
"To our new students here at Hogwarts, welcome! To those who are returning, welcome back! A reminder to everyone, the Dark Forest is off limits to all students. Also, the list of banded objects have been stretched to include items from Zonkos, the new joke shop in Hogsmeade. To view the objects, please check the list in Mr. Pringles office. Also, a warm welcome to Professor Trish Potter, who has consented to fill the post of Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck! Now, I would like to introduce our Head Boy and Girl, Molly Prewett, and Arthur Weasley! Now you may go to bed. Chop, chop!" Dumbledore concluded, waving to them.
James ran up to the staff table and said, "Mom! You didn't tell me that you would be here!"
His mom smiled, and answered that it was her surprise, and that she could not wait to teach him. "Now run along, or you will not be able to sleep in your dorm!"
So James ran off to join his friends, where he was introduced to the new fifth-year prefects, Gideon Prewett, and Amelia Bones, and together they made their way up so many flights of stairs, James lost count a couple minutes later. In about ten minutes, they stopped in front of a portrait of a lady in a pink dress.
"Password?" she asked.
"Godric Gryffindor." Amelia said promptly.
The portrait nodded and swung forward, revealing a large circular with stairs leading to the dorms.
"The girl's dormitories are just upstairs to the right. Boys, the same on your right. Your belongings are already up there." Gideon said, and then told them to go to bed.
Lily entered the dorm with three other girls, Alexis Baird, Eden Lane, and Alice Prewett. They got changed into their pajamas, and immediately started talking about many different things. Mainly their families, classes, ect.
It was a different story for the guys. While two boys named Peter and Frank collapsed on their beds, falling instantly to sleep, Remus, Sirius and James were talking about good ways to prank people.
"We will need a name!" Sirius announced.
"We are going to be marauders aren't we? All we have been talking about is causing mischief." Remus said, not hearing Sirius comment.
"That is it! We will be called Marauders Inc.!" James exclaimed.
Suddenly, like a sleeping spell hit them, they all started to snore.
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The Marauders are born! So sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, I have not been on the computer much. I will try to update quicker.
Waterdreamer- Thank you! I like that chapter best so far!
Summary for next chapter- First day of school