Upon our arrival at Hogwarts, we clambered out of the train, all dressed in our school robes. Towering over us was the silhouette of a humongous- and I mean ginourmous- man, calling in a rough voice, "Firs' Years! Firs' Years over here! This way!"
We meandered over to him, slightly intimidated (can you blame us? This guy was ten feet tall!), and huddled together, chilled by the cold September air. We were quickly joined by about forty-five others, all shivering and gazing apprehensively at the looming castle.
The giant introduced himself as Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts, and led us down a long path that wended through a thick grove of trees.
About three minutes into our walk, Sirius, walking beside me, nudged me in the side and pointed into the trees. Through them, we could see a small, flickering light that looked far away.
Without hesitation, Sirius dropped inconspicuously away from the path toward the light. After a glance to make sure Hagrid wasn't looking, I followed. Remus looked torn between coming with us and being a good little boy, but when Sirius sent him a withering glance, he steeled himself and plunged into the trees after us.
We fought our way through the brambles and undergrowth, emerging some fifteen minutes later. We found ourselves on the crest of a hill, where the forest ended and the sprawling countryside began. At the bottom of the rocky hill was a small village. "Hogsmede," Sirius breathed. "That's the only entirely wizarding village in the whole country."
And between us and the village was a fence.
Unperturbed, Sirius walked up to it, put his fingers through one of the links, and began to climb up. Once he got to the top, he swung both legs over and dropped to the ground. I hesitated, but my curiosity got the better of me.
With both of us on the out-of-Hogwarts side of the fence, we looked back at Remus. He was gazing apprehensively at the fence. "I don't think we should," he said.
"Why not? What's the worst that can happen? We'll be put in detention, that's all."
He still looked leery. "It's against the rules. Only Third Years and up are allowed here."
His opinion changed, however, when I stuck my hands in my armpits, waved my elbows up and down, and said, "Bwock! Bwock, bwock, bwock, bwock, bwock! Chicken!"
His eyes narrowed. And he climbed the fence.
Three minutes later found us walking past a pretty big cave in the rocky hillside. Looking inside, Sirius whistled. "Wow. If we ever need someplace to hide…"
His voice trailed off, and we heard the echo bouncing around the walls. We continued onward, finally reaching the edge of the village. Sirius, who appeared to have been here before, led us through the streets to a pub called the Three Broomsticks.
A pretty lady with glittering eyes stood at the bar, taking the order of a man with a pasty-white face and pointy front teeth. The drink she brought him was dark red and thick.
"Vampire," Remus muttered as we walked confidently up to the counter.
The barmaid looked at us suspiciously. "You three look like you should be up at the school, being sorted into houses."
"Us?" Sirius said in an Irish accent, with a disdainful air to it. "No, ma'am, we're visiting the village with out parents. They're over at Madam Puddifoot's, having a cup of coffee. They sent us here because they 'don't think the atmosphere is conducive to a creative environment.'"
"I see," she said, but she still sounded doubtful. "Are you all three brothers, then?"
"No, just me and James are twins. Remus' parents are here, visiting with ours. Now, how about some fire whiskey?"
Then I felt a rather large hand on my shoulder. I looked up sheepishly to see an old witch with a tight bun on the back of her head. Her other hand was on Sirius' left shoulder. Her lips were compressed into a tight line, and her sparks were practically flying from her eyes. "You three," she said softly, "are in bigger trouble than you have been in your entire lives. You're to come back up to the school with me, where you'll be sorted." Grabbing Remus' ear, she added, "And I hope it's not into my house."
As it turned out, we were. Upon entering the Great Hall, all three of us were sorted into Gryffindor House, of which Professor McGonagall- the witch who had come to retrieve us- was the head. Immediately after we were sorted, McGonagall pulled us into the entrance hall to receive our punishment.
The first few weeks of term passed really, really slowly. Apart from spending our first four nights in detention, we had gotten lost three times, been splattered with ink by Peeves the Poltergeist, nearly been eaten by a sixth year who's robes we accidentally set on fire while we were attempting a wizard's duel in the hall outside of Charms class, and been told that First Years weren't allowed on the Quidditch team.
I learned quickly that while I knew everything there was to know about magic, Sirius knew everything about the magical world that wasn't magic. He knew every department in the Ministry of Magic, its function, its location, and its members. He could recite every wizarding school in the world off the top of his head, and he even knew the date of every goblin rebellion in history (a good thing, too; I would have failed every one of my History of Magic exams if he hadn't told me the answers to everything the night before).
Remus, unlike either of us, knew everything there was to know about everything. He soaked in new knowledge like a sponge, and he read everything he could get his hands on. As sickly as he looked, he wasn't shy, and he would ask teachers anything that pertained (or didn't) to the subject.
The funny thing about Remus was this: about once a month, he would disappear for a night, and neither of us could figure out why. We badgered him about it the first couple times, but eventually we learned to leave it alone. We learned to accept it as one of those mysterious things about the wizarding world that very few people knew the answer to. We put up with it.
And then there was this other person. Her name was Lily Evans, as I learned very quickly. She had been sorted into Gryffindor as well, and though she at first treated me with cool indifference, it soon turned to outright dislike. I didn't understand why; I was popular, top of the year, and (if I do say so myself) rather good-looking. And I was good at Quidditch, though I couldn't show that off because first years weren't allowed on the team (that made me really angry, if you haven't figured that out yet). I resolved that she was just jealous. She'd come around in time.
Had I known then how long I would have to wait, I'd have given up right then and there.