The train rolled on for a few more hours and soon the sky turned black as night time came on. The boys had changed into their robes, and watched as the train started to slow down in amongst some trees. Soon, a station appeared, and the train came to a complete stop. "You think we're here?" asked Peter.
"No, we're stopping for fuel," said James sarcastically. "Of course we're here, dingbat."
"Don't suppose anyone else got a glimpse of the castle?" asked Remus. "Well, guess we better head out there." The four of them opened the door to the compartment, and joined the mass of children moving towards the exits. The older kids seemed to be heading for a nearby path, so the younger kids started to follow them, until a big booming voice caught their attention.
"A'right, first yehrs o'er tah me," called the voice. "Ever'one else o'er tah the carr'dges." The boys looked over at the speaker, and were shocked at the man coming towards them. He must have been eleven feet tall at least, and had a long black beard covering most of his face. "Come on, don' be shy noo."
"Oh my God..." whispered a student near the boys. "Is...is he a giant?"
"Don't be stupid," said another one. "Giants are way bigger, and way more violent. He probably got hit by a curse or something."
"Al'ight, is that all of yeh?" asked the giant man, ignoring the whispers about him. "Al'ight kids, welcome tah Hogwarts School o' Witchcraft an' Wizardry. I'm the gamekeeper Rubeus 'agrid, and I'll be takin' yeh up to the castle."
"Are you sure you're not just gonna lead us off into the woods to eat us?" asked one kid, getting a laugh out of some of the others. Hagrid didn't seem to take any notice of this.
"A'right, folla me," Hagrid said, marching down a nearby path. Several of the first years looked nervously at each other, but when they saw the other students following Hagrid into the dark forest, they ignored their common sense and went along after him.
"Remember, if something goes wrong, all we have to do is outrun Remus," said Sirius.
"Hey!" snapped Remus, punching Sirius in the arm.
"Yeah, we need to outrun Peter," said James.
"HEY!" yelled Peter, though he didn't try to hit James.
Soon, the giant man had led the children to the edge of a large lake, and across the other side loomed Hogwarts castle. "Holy moly," gasped Peter. "It's massive!"
"Yeah, you'll get used tah it," said Hagrid, climbing into a small rowboat tied up at the edge of the lake. "Or yeh'll get los' in the first week and be never 'eard from again. All aboard."
"Wait, what was that?" asked one kid, but Hagrid's boat was already sailing across the lake with a couple of students in it. All the other kids were piling into boats, not wanting to be left on the shore after what Hagrid had just said. The four boys managed to all climb into one together, and watched as all the boats slowly made their way to a small dock at the foot of the castle.
"Hey James, whatcha looking at?" asked Sirius, noticing his new friend was staring out across the lake at something. James snapped out of his daydream, but not before Sirius saw what he was looking at. "Hey, were you looking at the redhead over there?"
"What?" asked James, trying to act surprised. "N...no, I was just...thinking."
"Uh huh," said Sirius. "About what, exactly?"
"Uh..." fumbled James, trying to come up with something. "What's in store for us at school?"
"And asking out the cute girl in the other boat?" teased Peter.
"Watch it, I'm not afraid to push you into the lake," warned James.
"You wouldn't," said Peter, trying to hide the slight fear in his voice. "There could be something dangerous in the water."
"I highly doubt there's anything too bad in the lake," said Remus, just as something large breached the surface about twenty yards away from the boats. In the darkness it was hard to see exactly what it was, but the tentacles extending from its body suggested some kind of squid. "Except maybe that."
"You know what James? I'm gonna make a bet with you," said Sirius. "I dare you to ask out your girlfriend at the feast."
"WHAT?!" yelled James. "I can't just..."
"Can I just interject?" said Remus, then continued without waiting for an answer. "A bet and a dare are two very different things."
"Nobody asked you, genius," said Sirius, dismissing Remus's comment. "As for you James, I could always tell her you were staring at her."
"Better be careful, her current boyfriend might get jealous," said Peter, pointing out a pale kid that the girl was talking too. The girl seemed to be in a very good mood, laughing and enjoying herself, while the boy sat in silence, trying to smile occasionally but ultimately going back to a dark expression.
"Him? Bah, I could take him," said James. "He's just acting tough to make himself look more impressive."
"Ooh, brave words," said Sirius. "Care to back it up?"
James glared at him. "You know what? I will," said James. "Once the feast starts, I'm going to talk to her."
"What if we're in different houses?" asked Peter. "I hear they separate us based on house at meals."
"Then I'll..." started James, as they heard a loud THUNK! The boys saw that they'd arrived at a dock near the bottom of the rocks leading up to the castle.
"A'right kids, follah me," said Hagrid. "We'll be in the castle soon, then we can get yeh sorted and have some dinner."
"Bout time," muttered one of the kids near the boys, wandering past them to follow Hagrid. The boys soon followed, up numerous long staircases until they reached a huge doorway. Inside was even more steps, until they were met by a witch wearing green robes.
"Good evening first years," said the witch. "My name is Professor McGonagall, your Transfiguration teacher and Deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts. In a minute, we will pass through these doors, and you will be sorted into your Houses."
"Can't we eat first?" asked Sirius, getting some laughs out of the other kids.
McGonagall simply glared at him. "I can see we're going to have to keep an eye on you," said McGonagall. "Okay, follow me." McGonagall pushed her way through a door at the top of the stairs, and the children followed her down the middle of a huge hall full of children seated at four long tables until they were standing in front of a stool with an old hat sitting on it.
"They're not gonna make us wear that musty old thing, are they?" asked James.
"Musty? Why, in all my years..." said the hat, making all the first years jump in shock. "Ahem, sorry. Who shall be the first sorted?"
"That would be Bonnie Abbott," said McGonagall, reading off from a piece of parchment. A young blonde girl walked up to the stood nervously, and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on her head, and the hat scrunched up its folds in concentration for what seemed like an eternity.
A couple of the student crept closer to see what was happening, when suddenly the hat erupted with a roar. "HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat cried, causing a few people to fall back in shock. A cheer came from one of the tables, and Bonnie went and joined her new house.
"Diana Alexander?" asked McGonagall, with a dark haired girl going to the stool. Sirius looked around, and saw someone familiar at a table on the far side of the hall. His cousin, Narcissa, seemed to be saving him a spot. Sitting next to her was her boyfriend Lucius. Sirius couldn't stand him, despite the family trying to encourage the union. The Malfoys were known to be rich, and many members of the Black family were ecstatic at the possibility of marrying into it.
Sirius turned away in disgust, as another girl (Cynthia Armstrong) was sorted into Gryffindor, and another girl (Rose Bates) was called to the hat. Sirius made up his mind: he didn't want to be a Slytherin. The Black family all went into Slytherin, and there were too many bad members to count. Sirius didn't care which house he was in, as long as it wasn't...
"SLYTHERIN!" yelled the Sorting Hat, snapping Sirius out of his daydream. For a moment Sirius thought that the Hat was already sorting him, until he realised Rose was just getting up off the stool and heading over to the Slytherin table.
"Sirius Black?" called McGonagall. A strange hush seemed to fall over the Great Hall, followed by Sirius gulping in nervousness as he moved to the front of the Hall and took his seat.
"Hmm, another Black, huh?" asked the Sorting Hat. "You know, your family has always been partial to Slytherin house."
"I know," sighed Sirius, as he was about to get off the stool and have the hat removed by McGonagall.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked the Hat, causing Sirius to freeze and McGonagall to snatch her hand back. "I sense something...different about you. You don't want to be like your family. You want more for yourself, to be a better person. There's a place for people like you, and it's...GRYFFINDOR!"
The decision was met with stunned silence, before a cheer erupted from the Gryffindor table. Sirius could hardly believe it himself. He looked over at the Slytherin table briefly to see Narcissa glaring back at him as he took his seat.
Sirius sat back and watched as Gryffindor gained another boy and Slytherin gained another couple of kids, before hearing McGonagall call out a certain name. "Lily Evans?" Sirius watched as the red haired girl he'd been teasing James about took her seat on the stool.
"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the Sorting Hat about three seconds later, which was met with a cheer from the Gryffindor table. Lily got up off the seat and came over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down near where Sirius was placed. Now that she was sitting next to him, Sirius could see what James like about her. She was...cute. Sirius stared at her for a moment, before banishing these thoughts. James wants to talk to her. He shouldn't...
"Hi. It's Sirius, isn't it?" asked Lily, making Sirius jump. She was talking to him?!
"Uh...yeah," said Sirius, not really sure how to answer. "Lily, right?"
"Yeah," said Lily, a nervous smile on her lips. "Kinda weird, isn't it? When they called you and the whole place got quiet."
"Yeah, well, let's just say my family has a bit of a...reputation," said Sirius.
"You make it sound like a bad thing," said Lily.
"That's because my family's reputation is a bad thing," said Sirius. "Almost every member of the Black family ends up in Slytherin, and it's almost expected that we become dark wizards."
"But not you?" asked Lily. "You're trying to be different."
"I want to be," said Sirius. "I hate my family. I hate their high expectations for us. I hate their views on muggles. There's no point to it."
"What are their views on muggles?" asked Lily. "Sorry, I only ask because I'm muggle-born."
"Really?" asked Sirius. "Well, uh, my family wouldn't like you. Sorry, you seem nice and all, but my family thinks that mudbloods are scum of the earth." Sirius suddenly realises what he'd let slip. "Oh, jeez, sorry, I didn't mean to say that."
"Say what?" asked Lily. "Mudblood? What is that?"
"Oh? No-one's told you?" asked Sirius. "It's a bad word for describing someone with non-magic parents." Sirius looked across at the Slytherin table, and saw Narcissa still glaring at him. "Just a heads up, there are some people who will call you that, no matter how good of a person you are."
"Bring them on," said Lily, a determined look on her face. "I'm not scared of a few idiots who don't..."
"Remus Lupin?" called McGonagall, snapping Sirius's attention back to the Sorting Ceremony.
"Ooh, sorry, one of my friends from the train is getting sorted," said Sirius, watching as Remus took his place in the stool.
"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the Sorting Hat, to the cheers of the Gryffindor table. Remus excitedly took the hat off his head, and ran to join Sirius and Lily at their table, as a girl named Jane Owens took his place.
"Hey Sirius, looks like we'll be in the same house," said Remus. "I wonder if the others will end up here too."
"Guess we'll see soon," said Sirius, as the next two kids were sorted into Slytherin and Ravenclaw, and McGonagall called out Peter's name.
"Hmm..." pondered the Sorting Hat. "A good sense for survival, if only for self-preservation. Ravenclaw would make some sense for you, but I feel like if you were tested, you'd prove us all wrong. I'm thinking...GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table cheered as Peter joined his friends, and James was called to the stool.
"Well, we're three from three," said Remus. "You think James will end up here too?"
"Of course he will," said Peter.
"Does it matter if he doesn't?" asked Sirius. "He's cool, he can hang out with us even if he's in Hufflepuff."
"Then we have to see if my friend Severus ends up here too," said Lily.
"Is he the..." said Sirius, before a loud roar cut him off.
"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the Sorting Hat, causing the Gryffindor table to cheer wildly as James sat down between Lily and Sirius.
"Welcome to the club, buddy," said Sirius, patting his friend on the back.
"Hi there," said Lily. "James, was it?"
"Uh..." started James, suddenly very aware that the girl he'd been dared to talk to was sitting about half a foot away from him. "Uh...yeah. And you're Lily, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," replied Lily. "How are you?"
"Uh..." stammered James, ignoring the comments the others were making.
"He's failing," said Peter.
"Hush," said Remus. "You have to give him a chance to fail."
"Yeah, give him a chance to fail," said Sirius.
"Uh..." continued James, before being interrupted by Lily.
"Look. Severus is being sorted," she said. "I hope he's in Gryffindor too." James sighed in relief, since now he didn't have to say anything.
"Hmm, let's see..." said the Sorting Hat. "Hmm, you're got good intentions in you, that much is certain. But you've got power, such power, and a great desire for more. I think I know the perfect house for you: SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table cheered as Severus removed the hat, scowling, unhappy with being sorted into a different house than Lily.
"Oh well, I guess I'll still see him around the school," said Lily with a hint of sadness, as a boy named Timothy Stebbins got sorted into Hufflepuff. All the while, James continued to try and think of what to say to her.
In fact, it wasn't until dessert that James realised that Sirius was talking around him with Lily. "I didn't realise that muggles had picture that moved and spoke too," said Sirius.
"Yeah, but our ones don't talk back to us like magic ones," said Lily. "They're more like...recordings of people talking and moving. And they're done for entertainment more than anything else."
"Yeah? Like what? What happens in them?" asked Sirius.
"Well, the last one I saw before I came here was about a boy who won a ticket to tour a chocolate factory," said Lily.
It was at that moment James decided to just go for it, regardless of the consequences. "I like chocolate too, will you go out with me?" said James, hardly even looking at Lily.
Lily paused, a spoonful of pudding halfway to her mouth. "Excuse me?" she said.
"Please say yes," muttered James, ignoring Sirius who was trying to stop himself from laughing out loud.
In response, Lily pushed James face straight into his own bowl of pudding. "Where were we?" asked Lily.
"Talking about muggle stuff so that I can get back at my family," said Sirius.
"Oh yeah," said Lily. "So, there's also..." Before she could finish, someone at the front of the Hall cleared their voice, and Dumbledore stood up, preparing to make a speech. "I'll tell you more later."
"Sure thing," said Sirius, turning his attention to the Headmaster, and ignoring the humiliated James cleaning his face off on his napkin. "Better luck next time buddy."
"Yeah, right," grumbled James.