The trolley full of assorted candy treats was fascinating for Lily, but she only had a few Silver Sickles, which was another strange thing about the wizarding world; money. She took the wise route and saved her money for another time. A good hour or two later, Lily noticed an older girl walking down the halls of the Hogwarts Express. She was peering into each of the compartments, and when she looked into Lily's and noticed that she was alone, she casually opened the door and walked in.
She was older than Lily, that became obvious very quickly. Lily also noticed that the girl had something extra on her robes, a shiny badge. Was Lily supposed to have one of these too? The girl had curly, flaming orange hair that was messily tied up into a bun. She looked more rounded than Lily and had much more circular blue eyes. She had walked in and placed her hands on her hips, which ordinarily would have been intimidating if the girl hadn't had such a sweet face.
"Hello, I'm Molly, Molly Prewett. I'm a fifth year here at Hogwarts, Gryffindor. I take you to be a first year, and I bet just by telling me your name I can correctly guess your house." the bright girl said. Her bright white teeth were shining from her crooked smile underneath her round nose.
"Well, I'm Lily. I don't know much about the houses, I have only read about them in books. I think Ravenclaw sounds interesting and would make me feel a bit more confident about my path, but I don't think I am educated enough in this area. Gryffindor seems to be a nice house, courage and loyalty. I could be in there, but Slytherin just seems downright terrible. They sound like they will do anything to get what they want." Lily said, but her voice died down as she talked, full of fear because she honestly didn't know that much about the houses.
"Don't worry, I can see you will be in Gryffindor. Your focused on your work because you've already researched the houses, don't worry at all. By the way, I'm a Prefect," Molly states cheerfully, pointing at the silver badge on her robes. "So if you need anything come to me. That's what Prefects are for, helping the younger students around and making everyone's lives a little bit easier. That's a cute cat you got there, what's her name." it seemed as though Molly's voice was continually happy, twenty-four seven.
"Well, I named her Molly. Actually my mom and dad named her that because I used to always drag around this little red headed doll and I called her Molly, until my sister broke her when I was six. Come to think of it, that's a bit ironic. You're a red head named Molly just like my cat. Hope that doesn't offend you." Lily said and she came to an embarrassed halt.
Molly just smiled, and Lily found that this girl was very different from anyone she had ever met. "Of course I'm okay with it. You know what they say 'Copying is the highest form of flattery'. I really should be going to the other compartments to check on all the other first years, but I will look out for your name in the Sorting Ceremony. Hope to see you in Gryffindor" Molly barely squeezed the last few words in as she walked out of the compartment.
Lily once again found herself lonely. She just sat all to herself in the compartment in her long black robes, stroking her new cat Molly. What was there to do at Hogwarts? Lily was wondering what all the classes would be like, she only knew of a select few including Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms. What exactly would they learn to do in these classes? Of course Lily had already read all of her books cover to cover, but reading was nothing like the real thing. Lily had been reading since she was four, but magic, this was a whole new venue.
Just as Lily thought she would doze off for a little nap, the train came to a stop and all of the first years were asked to leave their things on the train, and walk out to the castle. And this is when for the first time, Lily Evans saw Hogwarts. It was a beautiful, grand castle with hundreds of windows and candles everywhere. She could hear all of the other first years talking about how spectacular it was, and knew she wasn't alone. She glanced over to a set of boys who seemed to be good friends. Then she noticed they were slipping a frog into a girl's robe pocket and decided that they were not the people to be paying attention to right now.
All of the first years are told to board small boats, to cross the lake approaching Hogwarts castle. Sadly, there was an odd number of people and Lily ended up sharing a boat with those four boys she had seen earlier.
"Hi, I'm Sirius" one spoke, overly excited. He was a normal sized boy, and scrappy looking with near shoulder length black hair that gently curled around his crooked face.
"I'm James!" said another. This boy was thinner than the last, had glasses and black hair that could only be described as…untidy. He had bony little elbows that stuck out in his robes medium hazel eyes.
"Hey, I'm Remus" said a third one, this boy having dirty blonde hair and a longer nose. He seemed to be calmer than the others; his blue eyes were deep and subtle.
"Oh…ummm…yeah, I'm Peter" said the last of them. He was a fidgety boy, constantly playing with his fingernails, and quite obviously the shortest, and a bit pudgy at that. He had mousey brown hair and beady brown eyes that seemed suspicious.
"And you are…..?" asked the thin one, James, or so Lily thought. She had been observing them so much she forgotten to introduce herself.
"Oh, I'm Lily Evans. Do you all know each other? Did you all come from wizarding families?" Lily said shyly, but it was clear that she wanted to know these boys backgrounds before even thinking about befriending them. She was soon to learn that James, Sirius, and Peter were all pure-blood boys and Remus' mother was muggle-born. None of the boys had ever seen each other before boarding the Hogwarts Express, and they just seemed to click. Lily however, didn't know if she felt that same connection with all of them.
After the boats docked and all of the first years entered the Great Hall, a thin, tall, older man went to the front of the hall. He stood at a podium, his shoulder length white beard and half-moon spectacles brought him a look of wisdom. Lily was sure that this was the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. He stood there and simply explained that there were four houses. He also made it clear that the Forbidden Forrest was out of bounds to all students.
Succeeding this, a large, stout man came to the spot in front of the podium Dumbledore had just spoken at. He stood in front of a three legged stool and brought out an old hat that was severely patched and still falling to pieces. He set it on the stool, and what looked to be a rip became a mouth for the hat, and then it sung:
"The sorting hat I am, as you can see
There is some information you must give to me
I will take it, if you like it or not
You will set and put me on right at this very spot
Four houses there are, in which you might stay
So here I gaze at your strengths and those I will weigh
You do belong in Gryffindor if you are bold and risky
And games are always fun for those of you who admit they're frisky
Ravenclaw owns those who bring their sensibility
And it is true that this house has a strong sense of tranquility
From Hufflepuff you are if you happen to be caring
As you always seem to be the students who are sharing
Now Slytherin, their members strong and sly
Belong in this house and your potential reaches the sky
Now that I've told you the houses and each their truth
I say it's time to put me on and look into your youth
Strong minds you have, I do know that
And if you disappoint us, we'll put you in a boiling vat
I kid you children, I hope you laugh
But sorting must be done; singing is just the first half"
As the entire hall began to clap and scream, applauding the great hat, all first years standing in front of it tried to retain their great fear. The same stout man was still standing their and had in his hands a tick scroll which he unrolled, having all the new students names.
"Aubrey, Burtam" called out the man, and a pudgy boy walked up to the stool. The hat levitated then dropped on his head. It furrowed one of it's stitches making it look confused, the yelled
"HUFFLEPUFF!" and was followed by a large amount of cheers from one long table, most likely that of Hufflepuffs'.
"Next, a Mr. Avery?" said the large man, somewhat puzzled, as was everyone else. What was his name? Did he even have one? This quickly became unimportant when he was sorted into Slytherin, though the hat had no confusion here. The names went on and Lily only paid attention to names she knew (which were few) and occasionally a person who looked exceptionally talented.
"Black, Sirius!" yelled the short, heavy man. This one of the boys Lily had met in the boat, and she thought that his house would reveal a bit more about him. The hat was placed on top of him, falling right over his eyes and after several seconds yelled
"GRYFFINDOR!" and Sirius hopped off the stool and flew over to his new house table. The names went on and on, until Lily finally heard her own name being yelled throughout the Great Hall.
The hat loosely fell on her head, sliding down her glossy hair and covering half her face. She sat there and thought of her best traits, because maybe that is what the hat would see. She concentrated on helping her sister in school, and giving all people a chance. She also thought about the bravery it took her to come here. Then, when she was least expecting it the hat came to life and screamed Gryffindor once again. Lily was delighted and ran straight to the table Sirius had run to earlier.
She didn't really care about anyone else's sorting, but did notice that all four of the boys in her boat had been put in Gryffindor with her. The most peculiar of all children was a thin boy, with somewhat greasy black hair that hung down around his chin. He sat down at the stool and before the hat had even fallen on his head it screamed (Slytherin!) and he slowly sulked over to the table. This seemed to be the only person disappointed with their house, or maybe he was always sad looking.Lily wanted to go comfort him, but thought it best to stay and enjoy the feast of kings at her own house table.
Later, after the feast had been devoured, all the Gryffindors were led up to their tower by two students, and one that Lily was glad to say she knew. Molly had told Lily correctly when she said she would see her later in Gryffindor, and she was accompanied by another redhead, but this one a boy who went by Arthur. They walked up to a large portrait of a Fat Lady and Molly clearly said "Everlasting Icicles". And the portrait opened to reveal a large red room.