They didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.

"Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. The group turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.

They followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled, Dudley could only assume, by an invisible horse, because when they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession.

The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw. Dudley got into a carriage with Ron and Dean. Hermione jumped in one with Neville, Ginny and Luna.

As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, Dudley saw two more towering, hooded Dementors, standing guard on either side. He felt a wave of cold air as they passed. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Dean was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and they got out.

As Dudley stepped down, he heard a drawling voice call.

"You fainted, Lovegood? Is Longbottorn telling the truth? You actually fainted?"

Malfoy and his friends were laughing at Luna. Ginny was staring at them furiously.

"You're acting pretty cocky for someone whose loser father is on the run," Dudley snarled. He stepped forward, fists clenched.

Malfoy flushed, his hand reaching for his wand.

"Is there a problem?" said a mild voice. Professor Lupin had just gotten out of the next carriage.

Malfoy gave Professor Lupin an insolent stare, which took in the patches on his robes and the dilapidated suitcase. With a tiny hint of sarcasm in his voice, he said, "Oh, no - er - Professor," then he smirked at Crabbe and Goyle and led them up the steps into the castle.

Dudley stared at Malfoy as Ginny and the others came to join them.

"You still think I should leave him alone?" Dudley growled at Hermione.

"You might not get the chance, mate," Ron said. "Ginny looked ready to kill him."

"I wouldn't go that far, Ron," Ginny said. "A Bat-Bogey Hex though …"

They all laughed, including Luna. Luna's laugh however was a sudden shriek of mirth which caused some nearby 6th year students to jump and gaze around as if expecting to see some insane ghost lurking nearby.

Dudley glanced at Ron who had started laughing too.

"I would love to see that," Luna said, finally, wiping her eye. "A Bat-Bogey Hex!"

"Is there such a thing?" Dudley whispered to Ron as they headed into the castle.

"Yeah, Ginny got Fred and George with it in the summer. They were surrounded by the great, flapping things."

Dudley laughed.

They joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.

The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Dudley followed the crowd toward it, but had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Granger! I want to see you. Lovegood, you go and see Flitwick!"

"You can't be in trouble already," Ron said, as Luna hurried off to Flitwick, who was stood balanced on a pedestal so he could see over the crowd.

"Of course I'm not," Hermione said scathingly. "I'll see you all later."

Dudley led the way to the Gryffindor table. "Shift," he ordered Seamus, who scooted up to make room for Dudley and his friends.

"Hope they hurry up, I'm starving," Ron complained.

"Yeah, I should have ordered more pasties," Dean agreed.

Dudley looked over at the crowd of students. As he did so, Professor Sprout, who had seemingly being given charge of the first years this time, led a group of tiny children forward.

"I'm sure we weren't that small," Dudley whispered to Dean.

"You certainly weren't, you were huge even back then."

Dudley knocked Dean's hat off so he had to go and retrieve it. Neville laughed. He looked pleased to have been fully accepted in the group.

The students all watched as the hat quivered and started to sing.

"Oh many many moons ago, when I was just a lad …"

Each year the hat sang a song about the virtues of each of the houses and this time it was no different. Dudley applauded along with the rest once it had finished and now it was time for the sorting.

First up was a small, jug-eared boy who was sorted into Slytherin. Dudley hissed to a disapproving stare from Hermione.

The next three were all Hufflepuffs, followed by a Ravenclaw. Finally, Dingle, Daisy was made a Gryffindor, followed by a stringy looking boy with shaggy hair called Dunstable, Miles.

The hat proceeded along the names. Dudley hissed each Slytherin. At Milton, Milton, Neville made the first little joke he had ever made in Dudley's presence.

"Gran always said never trust someone with two first names,"

Dudley chuckled and gave Neville a clap on the back. Neville was a bit clumsy and awkward, but he wasn't a bad guy.

Finally, the sorting was over. As soon as the applause had died down, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.

Professor Dumbledore, though very old, always gave an impression of great energy. He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and an extremely crooked nose. He was often described as the greatest wizard of the age and had defeated Voldemort at the end of the Wizarding War, so Dudley had a lot of respect for him.

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

He paused, and Dudley thought he didn't seem pleased by the Dementors presence.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly, and Dudley and Ron glanced at each other. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," he said.

Percy, who was sitting a few seats down from Dudley, puffed out his chest again and stared around impressively. Dumbledore paused again; he looked very seriously around the hall, and nobody moved or made a sound.

"On a happier note," he continued, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.

"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Only those who had been in the compartment on the train with Professor Lupin clapped hard, Dudley among them. Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes.

"Look at Snape!" Ron hissed in Dudley's ear.

Professor Snape, the Potions master, was staring along the staff table at Professor Lupin. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, but even Dudley, who hated Snape, was startled at the expression twisting his thin, sallow face. It was beyond anger: it was loathing.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

"Him?" Dudley hissed.

He hadn't had much to do with Hagrid in the past, but he had suspected him of being after the Philosopher's Stone, he had been caught with an illegal dragon in Dudley's first year and last year he had been arrested on suspicion of releasing Slytherin's monster.

"Fred and George have always liked him," Ron said with a shrug.

And sure enough, the twins were applauding and whistling.

"I had tea with him a few times in my first year," Neville piped up. "He's a nice guy."

"I don't dislike him," Dudley said. "I'm just surprised—especially after he was almost kicked out because of the dragon."

As Professor Dumbledore started speaking again, they saw that Hagrid was wiping his eyes on the tablecloth.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"

The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink. Dudley, suddenly ravenous, helped himself to everything he could reach and began to eat. He started filling his plate with meat, until he remembered his promise to lose weight and so spooned some carrots and potatoes on it too—they were the only vegetables he liked.

"Try some mushrooms, Dudley," Hermione said. She had rejoined them after the sorting had ended.

She spooned some onto his bowl. Ron snickered, no doubt thinking she was mollycoddling Dudley.

Dudley had never tried mushrooms before and tentatively nibbled one. "Not bad," he admitted, spearing one on his fork.

"My and Dean have a bet on when you'll quit your diet," Ron said. "I picked the first Hogsmeade Weekend. Dean thinks you'll hold out until Christmas."

Dudley responded by shoving a roast potato down the back of Ron's robes.

As they ate, Dean asked Hermione what McGonagall had wanted.

"Oh, just to go over my classes, that's all," she said before quickly changing the subject to discussing Hagrid.

Dudley was of the opinion he would be a bad teacher. Ron and Neville thought he would be ok. Hermione was unsure. "He does like, well, dangerous, creatures—remember the dragon? And Fred and George swear he keeps a giant spider in the Forbidden Forest."

After the feast, they all joined the Gryffindors streaming up the marble staircase and, very tired now, along more corridors, up more and more stairs, to the hidden entrance to Gryffindor Tower, where a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress asked them, "Password?"

"Coming through, coming through!" Percy called from behind the crowd. "The new password's Fortuna Major!"

"Oh no," said Neville Longbottom sadly. He always had trouble remembering the passwords.

"Just write it down," Dean suggested. "It's what I do."

Through the portrait hole and across the common room, the girls and boys divided toward their separate staircases. Dudley climbed the spiral stair with no thought in his head except how glad he was to be back. They reached their familiar, circular dormitory with its five four-poster beds, and Dudley looked around. He was glad to be back.