Author's Note: Wonderful response I've been getting, I see.

Chapter 9

Jaguar, a bit bewildered by all the noise and confusion (for though she was not a quiet person, she had mostly lived in relative isolation of the sort people who could buy whole islands to live on, in order to keep secret a particular lifestyle live in), stepped off the Hogwarts Express, and into the town of Hogsmeade. Turning around, she reached for Sirius' hand, not caring if it was childish. Struggling through the bustling crowd of students, they made their way to the outskirts of the mob, and looked around.

"Where do we go?" Jaguar asked, yelling to be heard over the noise. Sirius gazed around, and shook his head. Of course he would have no more clue than she did. Remus, Lily, and James seemed to have disappeared, as Jaguar could no longer make them out in the crowd.

In the twilight, Jaguar saw a giant of a man standing on a rock, using his hands as a megaphone to broadcast something. It was quite surreal, the whole scene. She felt a sudden rush of excitement that left her feeling as though she were about to wet her pants. To distract herself from this feeling, she pointed him out to Sirius. "Maybe he knows," she suggested.

The older students seemed to be vanishing away into the gathering darkness. Jaguar thought she glimpsed Ari Black with a big group of girls, but she wasn't certain, and whoever the girl was didn't turn around.

As the station became more and more empty, Jaguar realized that the only people left were around her age, and looked just as nervous and spellbound as she did. Anxiously, she hurried forward, the way the rest of them did, drawn toward the giant man, who was now grinning and not yelling anything.

He stepped off his rock as the last of the children approached, and addressed them all, "Orite, 'ello there, all of ye! If yer here, I'll trust yer a firs' year. Ye'll be followin' me. Me name's Hagrid, by the by."

The group of children bustled slightly as they took a moment to look around at each other. A lot of them seemed very shy, and weren't talking to anyone. Jaguar, who had let go of Sirius' hand, looked for someone she knew. Her eyes fell upon Lily, who was talking to Jasmine Asriel and another blonde girl who was gesticulating wildly.

After a moment, the group began to move down a long path lit with lanterns, down a slight slope, to a very large lake. As they rounded the last bend, nearly all of the children gasped in wonder and paused in their step to gaze at the magnificent castle. Jaguar, having been to the neighboring town a few times before, was not so amazed, although even she had to stare at how beautiful the school was. In fact, how could you name something so majestic a school? It didn't seem to fit.

Lily squeaked in stark amazement. "Oh my! It's a castle! How marvelous!"

"We'll be sailin' 'cross in these!" Hagrid now yelled, gesturing toward a cluster of very rickety looking rowboats which seemed to be missing oars. "No more 'an four to a boat, mind ye."

Jaguar and Sirius, seeing their friends in boats that were already filled, found their own, and were joined a moment later by two girls, right as the boats began to move.

One of the girls was as short as Jaguar, and looked very thin. Wrapped in a large anorak, she still looked as though she were freezing cold. She looked to be at least part Asian, and had slightly slanted eyes on her pale face. Her name, she said, was Ki-Lin Morrison. The other girl was taller, but even thinner, with striking dark blue eyes and pale blonde hair.

"My name is Ambika Dawes," she offered. The hand that she extended to Jaguar was very warm. She seemed to exude friendliness.

"I'm Jaguar Brazil, and this is Sirius Black," said Jaguar, as Sirius was busy examining the water frantically for sharks, of which he was deathly afraid, although he would never admit it. "Where are you from?" Jaguar queried, having noticed that Ambika had a strong accent, and that Ki-Lin seemed to have none at all.

"I am from France," Ambika said. "This is my first time in Scotland. My family just purchased a home in Liverpool. I wanted to badly to attend Beauxbatons. Alas, Hogwarts is said to be a better school, therefore I cannot." She looked downcast for a moment, then inclined her head to Ki-Lin.

"I am from Berlin—or I was born there. But I lived in Egypt until I was 6, then America until I was 9, and now I live in Spain. Would have been easier to go to school there, but both of my birth parents went to Hogwarts, and since I never knew them, I thought it would be a good way—" she cut herself off suddenly. "It's so pretty!"

The subject changed to school houses. Both Sirius and Jaguar adamantly wanted to be Gryffindors, while the two girls didn't care too much, but were both leaning toward Ravenclaw.

As long as they don't want to be Slytherins, Jaguar thought.

Upon arriving at the shore, the students were herded down a long, apparently underground passageway, filled with mud (all of the Paris-type girls shrieked), and worms (Jaguar shrieked, being terrified of them), until they came up into a dimly lit antechamber, and wiped their feet on a large welcome mat.

Hagrid, who had been walking before them swinging a lantern now turned and exited the room, leaving them with a tall woman.

"Hello, first years," the woman said. She regarded them sternly over the top of her glasses. Her nose was long and very stereotypically "witchy", and her hair was tied tightly into a bun at the back of her head. "I am Professor McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where you will spend the next 7 years. Stay here, and make yourselves presentable." With that the woman left.

The children stood around, shifting in almost complete silence, excluding Paris, who was screeching about something or other. Presently, the professor returned and led them all into the Great Hall, for the Sorting Ceremony.

Author's note: I know this chapter is insanely short... But the next one is a bit longer, so I didn't want to overwhelm anyone, haha. Thanks very much to my one reviewer. I'll have the next chapter up before Sunday. Maybe even tomorrow, but mostly likely Saturday. Thank you all for reading (whoever you all may be).