a/n: Sorry I didn't get to mention this in my first chapter! But, thanks to my totally awsome beta, CASSIE! I heart you!
"Firs' years over 'ere! Firs' years please! Let 'em through!" the large figure of a man was clearly visible, even though it was dark. He had shaggy hair and beard, and small glittery eyes. Dylan recognized Rubeus Hagrid from years of reading Harry Potter, and his mole skin overcoat. Hagrid was holding a lantern before him, picking out first years. Cassie looked at Dylan.
"Well, I guess we follow him." She said. Grabbing Dylan by the arm, Cassie snaked her way through the crowd, as though she was a seventh year, not a first.
"Is tha' all the firs' years? All right, follow meh." Hagrid turned around and led the group of first years up a woodsy path.
"Um, Cassie, do you by any chance know were he is taking us?" Dylan asked her, remembering what Cassie's father had told her about fighting a dragon.
"Yes, and from what I remember of you from camp, I would hope you do too. The boats, remember?" Dylan had forgotten the tradition at Hogwarts that first years got there by boat. Dylan let out a breath and smiled sheepishly at Cassie.
"Yer'll be able ter see Hogwarts in moment, jus' a sec…"
Dylan gasped as Hogwarts Castle came into view. She had imagined it in her mind, but this was nothing like she had imagined. Smiling, she could hear the Harry Potter theme song playing in her head.
"It does look good, don't it? Hogwarts? All right, get in the boats!" Hagrid instructed. Dylan stumbled into a boat with Cassie and another girl. She had dark hair that went to about her shoulder, tanned skin and big, brown eyes.
"Wow, I've always pictured Hogwarts in my head," the girl told Dylan and Cassie "But this is just like…like…"
"Stepping into J.K. Rowling's brilliant mind?" Cassie suggested.
"Exactly." The girl replied. All three of them turned their eyes back to Hogwarts and continued to sail nearer to it, basking in its glory. When, at last, the boats hit the shore, the group stepped out and stood, rooted to the spot, waiting for Hagrid to give them instructions on what to do.
"Ah, right now. Follow meh!" Hagrid said, leading the first years to a large oak door. The detail was amazing on the door, and Dylan could swear that a wizard carved into the door had winked at her! Hagrid raised his fist and knocked three times on the door. A portly old man, with a mustache, answered Hagrid's call. He reminded Dylan of a walrus in some ways.
"Firs' years, Professer Slughorn." Hagrid told him. The man nodded.
"Go on Hagrid, I'll take them from here." He said. Hagrid nodded and walked inside the castle. The first years looked at the man, who smiled.
"Well come in! It's rather cold out here!" He said brightly. Everyone walked past the door and entered a magnificent hall, with a huge marble staircase leading up to the many floors above them.
"All right then!" the man said, turning around and smiling at all the terrified looking faces around him. "My name, is Professor Slughorn, deputy headmaster at Hogwarts. In a few minutes, you will walk through these door and join your house table, but before you can sit at your house table, you must be sorted into one of the four houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, my own house." He said proudly. Cassie turned to Dylan.
"Not a single witch or wizard who was a Death Eater did not come out of Slytherin." She explained.
"Now, wait here, and I'll bring you inside in a few moments." Professor Slughorn turned on the balls of his feet and opened the door. For a split second, Dylan heard the chatter of the other students, but it subsided as the door swung back into place. Dylan waited with Cassie, for Professor Slughorn to come back. A thought suddenly crossed her mind.
"Um Cassie? Your dad was kidding, right? About the dragon?" Dylan said, tentatively. Cassie shrugged.
"I dunno, mum said he was being a baboon's backside, but for all I know, we might have to fight a Crumpled Horned Snorkack." She said this so casually, like she wasn't even worried. Dylan, on the other hand, was more nervous then a turkey on Thanksgiving. What house would she be in? She wasn't brave, or smart, or resourceful! Would she be in Hufflepuff? Everyone said that Hufflepuffs were just everyone who didn't fit.
"All right, everyone. Sort into pairs, don't push!" Professor Slughorn had reappeared. Dylan moved closer to Cassie's side.
"Is everyone paired up? All right, follow me!" Professor Slughorn led the group through the wooden doors to a splendidly decorated Hall. The hall had five long tables. Four of the tables were lined up next to each other, facing the fifth table. Dylan guessed that the first four tables were the house tables and the fifth table was the teachers table. In front of the teachers table, was a tattered black wizard's hat, sitting upon a wooden stool. Dylan knew what this was. The infamous Sorting Hat.
"Now, when I call your name, come forward and put the Sorting Hat on. After it sorts into your house, go and sit at your house table." Professor Slughorn said. He took a long roll of parchment out of his robes. He cleared his throat.
"Appleton, Jordan!" A girl with shoulder length black hair walked up to the stool with a look of utmost terror. She sat and Slughorn put the hat on her head. After a few moments the hat shouted.
"GRYFFINDOR!" The girl looked rather relieved with herself and sat down at the table to the far left.
The sorting continued without conflict until "Malfoy, Orion!" said Slughorn. "Nobody knows who his mum is. He just appeared on his dad's doorstep one night. Mum told me last year." Cassie whispered to Dylan, as she watched "Clings, Casey!" become a Hufflepuff. All too soon…
"Potter, Cassiopeia!" Cassie flounced up onto the stage, with out a care in the world, not even after a few Slytherins whispered, "That's Loony's daughter!" She plunked the hat onto her head and waited a few seconds before the hat cried out,
"RAVENCLAW!" Cassie smiled and skipped over to the Ravenclaw table, all who cheered because…well, she was Harry Potter's daughter. They continued with,
"Elmswood, Zachary!" called Slughorn, as a rather wiry brown haired boy walked up to the stage. The hat waited a few moments before…
"RAVENCLAW!" Zachary grinned, embarrassed, but relieved in spite of himself. He walked pass the crowd of first years, to the Ravenclaw table and sat next to Cassie. Dylan occasionally caught Cassie's eye, as she waited her turn to be sorted. Cassie smiled back a Dylan a few times, but usually she was talking to Zachary Elmswood.
"Cook, Brian!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Grant, Melissa!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Homme, Lisa!"
"RAVENCLAW!
All too soon, Dylan heard,
"Wheeler, Maddylan!" Dylan glanced back at Cassie one last time. Her best friend grinned and gave her two thumbs up. Dylan took in a deep breath and walked to were Professor Slughorn waited with the sorting hat. Dylan sat down on the stool and crammed the hat over her head.
"Ah, new blood!" A voice in Dylan's head said, "Hmmm…yes, this is tricky, definitely not in Slytherin, or Hufflepuff. Let's see…Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I had the same problem a few years ago, before you were born…Harry Potter was also difficult to place. I wanted to sort him into Slytherin, but that was not what he wanted. So, in the end, I sorted him into Gryffindor. Well, I think I know were, now…you'll be in…"