Kellen took Hermione by the hand and led her outside. They heard a deep, loud voice calling out: "First years, first years! This way!"
The two friends followed the sound and were soon able to match a face to the sound. A very, very large man – probably eight feet tall – carried a lantern which revealed a surprisingly friendly-looking face. He had a thick, dark mane of hair, and a bushy beard to match.
Kellen swallowed a lump in his throat and decided to introduce himself to the big man beckoning first-year students toward him.
"Hello, I'm Kellen Grimseth," he said as he approached the big man with the loud voice, his body shaking somewhat. "I'm a first-year student. I take it I'm in the right place?"
The big man looked around him, trying to find the nervous-sounding voice, then looked down in front of him. He grinned at Kellen. "Yer in the right place, my boy. Kellen Grimseth, eh? That's a right interesting name. Doesn't sound English, or Scottish… I'm not rightly sure what kind of name that is, ter be honest."
Kellen smiled at the man. "It's Norwegian. I'm actually from the States, but I was given an opportunity to study at Hogwarts because my mum's side of the family is British, plus my second cousin's a student."
The big man chuckled. "Well, I'm very pleased ter meet yer, Kellen. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys and gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Most folks simply call me Hagrid. And who's yer pretty little friend?"
Hermione's face lit up. "Hello Hagrid. I'm Hermione Granger," she replied. "I just met Kellen a few hours ago on the train. He's a very sweet boy."
"Well, hello there, Miss Hermione," Hagrid beamed. "Pleased ter meet yer as well. Now, if yeh will both excuse me, we need ter make some room for the rest of the first years. We'll be heading ter the castle in just a few." He lifted his head back up and continued to bark out instructions for the first-year students to join him. "First years, this way please! Step lively!"
About five minutes later, when all of the first years had assembled by Hagrid, he nodded at the group of wide-eyed youngsters.
"Follow me, please," Hagrid said. "We've got a bit of a jaunt ahead of us." He lead the students down a dark, twisty, windy path for about fifteen minutes, when they came upon a shore of a big, black lake.
"It's too cold for a swim tonight," Hagrid chuckled. "So, we'll be taking boats across the lake. Four ter a boat, if yer please."
Kellen found an empty boat and got in, and then gently took Hermione's hand as he helped her into the spot next to him. A couple of minutes later, a couple of other boys clambered into the boat with them. One was a lanky boy, about Kellen's height and build, except he had a shock of bright red hair instead of sandy blonde. The other boy was small and slight – he looked to be even smaller than Hermione, who was quite petite herself. He had several distinguishing characteristics besides his slight frame: his hair was shaggy and dark – almost jet black, he wore a pair of old and damaged glasses, and perhaps most striking of all, he had a notable zeta-shaped scar on his forehead.
Kellen cocked his head when he saw the visage of the smaller boy. "No way!" he exclaimed in a soft voice. "You're… you're Harry Potter! I've heard of you."
Harry smiled shyly. "You're not the first to recognize me, a few other children on the train did as well. But truly, I'm just Harry from Surrey."
Kellen returned the smile. "I'm Kellen Grimseth," he said as he extended his hand. Harry took Kellen's hand gratefully and shook it gently.
Kellen then offered his hand to the red-haired boy. "I'm sorry, I don't recall seeing you on the train. What's your name?"
The ginger smirked. "Ron Weasley."
"Nice to meet you, Ron," replied Kellen. "Oh, and this is my new friend, Hermione."
"Who?" Ron said, thoroughly confused at the sound of her name.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Hermione Granger," she said, carefully enunciating her name so Ron could understand.
"That's kind of a weird name," Ron replied.
"Try Kellen for a weird name," Kellen said glibly. "I think she has a wonderful name, myself."
Hermione smiled broadly at Kellen in appreciation. This boy is a right keeper, she thought to herself.
"I'm sorry," Ron said to Kellen. "I was a bit rude and it was wrong of me." He turned to Hermione and smiled. "Friends, her-my-uh-knee?" he said with a slight chuckle, as he stuck his hand out.
Hermione grinned at Ron. "Friends, Ronald," she replied as she shook his hand.
She then extended her hand out to Harry. "And it's nice to meet you too, Harry. Like Kellen, I've read about you in some of the wizarding history books."
Ron whispered in Harry's ear. "Those two seem to be awful smart. I think we should be nice to them. They could be valuable friends." Harry nodded in agreement.
The boats gradually made their way across the dark lake, illuminated by the glow of the silver moon, high in the night sky. Hermione pointed at the gradually-approaching castle. "It's so beautiful, isn't it?" she asked. "It didn't look nearly as big from the train station."
A short while later, all the boats reached the other side of the lake, and the children disembarked. Hagrid waited for them to assemble again, and once again barked for them to follow him to the castle. "Just a little bit further," he told the first-years. "Just a few more minutes is all."
When they reached the castle, they clambered up many dozens of stairs until they reached a mighty archway, where a middle-aged, austere looking witch clad in green awaited them. Despite her rather stern exterior, she had a certain kindness in her eyes.
Kellen quickly recognized her as Professor McGonagall – the witch who took the long trek from Scotland all the way to Minnesota in early March earlier that year. "That's the second witch that visited me," Kellen whispered to Hermione.
"I remember her too," she whispered back.
"Here are the firsties," Hagrid said as he approached the witch, somewhat out of breath. "Just as yer asked, Professor."
Professor McGonagall nodded. "Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it from here."
She turned to address the gaggle of first-year students. "Good evening, first-year students. Welcome to Hogwarts," she trilled in her light Scottish burr. "For those of you who are not familiar with me, I am Professor McGonagall – Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, and Head of Gryffindor House. In a moment, we shall commence our Start-of-Term Feast."
She smiled slightly. "First things first, however. Before we start the banquet, everyone here must be sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Does everyone understand so far?"
She paused for a moment to give the students a chance to think this over. Some of the students mumbled amongst themselves quietly, wondering exactly what the sorting ceremony entailed. She then nodded as she continued. "Very good. During your time at Hogwarts, your house will be much like family. During the term, you can earn your house points by doing good or brave deeds. Conversely, any rule-breaking or other delinquent behavior will result in the loss of points. The house with the most points at the end of the term wins the House Cup."
She eyed the gaggle of students carefully. "I shall return shortly, and the sorting shall begin. Please wait here quietly." She turned around and left the students for a couple of minutes.
A boy with slicked-back locks of platinum blonde hair, who physically resembled Kellen, but somewhat shorter, and lighter-blonde hair, smirked at Harry. "I see the Golden Boy has come to Hogwarts this year as well," he drawled. He sneered at Ron, Hermione, and Kellen. "Between you and me, Mister Potter, you should ditch these bozos and enjoy the finer aspects of the wizarding world. I'll be happy to help make that happen." He extended a hand to Harry. "The name's Malfoy – Draco Malfoy."
Harry looked at Draco, wondering if he should accept the boy's invitation. He looked like he was about to take Draco's hand, when Hermione gave Draco an intense glare. "Who are you calling a bozo, Draco?"
Draco then ignored Harry, and quickly turned to face Hermione. "You," he said coolly with an arrogant smirk. "What's your name, if I may ask?"
Hermione straightened herself up, and looked Draco in the eye. "I'm Hermione Granger, if you must know. And I don't think Harry is the type of boy who gallivants with troublemakers, like you."
"Troublemaker, eh?" Draco retorted as he raised an eyebrow. "I think, Miss Granger, you'll find that it'll be yourself that'll be in trouble." He sneered at the girl. "You're a mudblood, aren't you? You aren't even worth the effort."
Hermione started to sniffle. "If you're asking that I come from a non-magical family, then yes, I am." Humiliated, tears slowly flowed down her cheeks.
Kellen saw how offended Hermione was. He whispered something into her ear. She turned to face Kellen, and a broad smile slowly crept on her face.
He then turned to Malfoy. "Leave her alone, asshole," he seethed.
"Those are some strong words, outlander," Draco drawled. "And who in Merlin's name are you?"
"I," Kellen sneered, "am Kellen Grimseth from Minnesota. For what it's worth, I'm also Muggle-born. And I wouldn't have it any other way." Impressed with Kellen's confidence, Hermione took Kellen's hand and gave it a little squeeze.
Draco sized himself up against Kellen. "You have no idea who you're messing with, Grimbreath," Draco replied coldly. "I come from a pureblood family. You really don't want to get on my bad side."
"I think I do, actually," Kellen spat. "What good is blood purity, when your blood is of terrible stock to begin with?"
Draco smirked. "Would you… like to take a swing at me, Grimbreath? I know you want to."
Kellen's eyes narrowed. "I would, Malfoy. But now's not the time or place."
Draco laughed haughtily. "You're just chicken, Grimbreath. Admit it."
Kellen's face turned purple. "Forgive me, Hermione," he whispered to his friend. He reached for his wand, waved it at Draco and cast the dangling jinx! "Levicorpus!" he cried out. Draco suddenly floated in the air, and hung upside down, several feet in the air.
"Wh-wh-what's happening?" Draco asked, clearly stunned that Kellen was far more proficient with magic than he was. "Let me down! I beg you!" Several children gasped in shock, others burst out in laughter.
"Only if you apologize to Hermione for calling her that awful word," Kellen demanded.
"Fine," Draco huffed. "Just put me down."
Kellen simply waved his non-wand hand and Draco went down with a thud on the floor.
"Owww," Draco moaned in pain.
Hermione looked at Kellen with a look of surprise. "That's some very advanced magic, Kellen," she said. She whispered in his ear. "Thank you for defending me like that." She surreptitiously gave him a little peck on the cheek. "You're going to be a very powerful wizard one day, no doubt. But what's more important is that you're already a terrific friend."
"You're a great friend yourself," Kellen replied, his cheeks pink with embarrassment.
Draco stood up to apologize to Hermione. "I'm sorry for calling you 'mudblood', Granger." He looked at Kellen, his eyes fraught with fear.
Ron snickered. "Did you see the look on Malfoy's face?" he said quietly to Harry, Hermione, and Kellen.
Hermione nodded. "Kellen definitely intimidates Malfoy, that's for sure."
"And I know I picked the right friends," Harry said. "You three are definitely the type I want to be with, no question."
At that moment, Professor McGonagall returned. "All right students, follow me to the Great Hall, and we will get sorted without further delay."