We got off the train and heard a voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' o'er here!"

The large man who had been calling lead us towards a big lake, with little boats ready to go across. We saw the enormous castle, looming ahead. It was magnificent. He instructed us to go four to a boat, so Alicia and Lee went in another while I got in one with Fred and George.

"I'm so scared," I confessed to them.

"You, scared? Impossible, your never scared," Fred said.

"I've never had much to be scared of. Anyway, you are too, admit it," I told him.

"Of course not-" he started to say, but caught the look I was giving him, even in the dark. "Well, yeah, I guess I am," he corrected himself.

"Me too," George said.

Then, I saw another girl walking towards the boat. As she sat down, I saw her face. "Shay?" she asked.

I looked at her, very confused, then, I figured it out, "Clair!" she screamed, tackling me.

The boat started to move across the lake, but I hardly noticed. "What happened, I've been to your house and stuff, and your family's not wizard."

"I know they're not, but I got a letter telling me about the school and stuff. At first I wouldn't believe it, but then a Hagrid, you know, the big man in that boat," she said, pointing to the man who was leading us across, "he showed up and told me everything. I guessed about you, and he said I was right."

"I can't believe it! This is great, Clair!" Clair had been a friend at muggle school. I would never have guessed that she'd be here now.

Then, Clair said pointing, "What's that?"

George and I stood up to look at the same time. Then, the boat rocked, and I fell in.

The water was unbelievably cold. My head rose and I gasped for breath, letting George and Clair lift me out. I sat there shivering the rest of the ride across, unable to ask Claire my thousand of questions.

As soon as we reached the other side, a strict looking teacher saw me in my wet clothes, and preformed a charm. Now I was dry and in a considerably better mood.

She ushered us into the castle. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, "I'm Professor McGonagall Soon, you will all enter the Great Hall, and be sorted into your houses. I trust that most of you know that there are four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. This Sorting is very important here at Hogwarts, because you will spend most of your time with the rest of your house. This year we have a very small class; I believe there are only twenty-three of you? So I'm sure you will spend time with the other students too."

"Rule breaking will lose your house points, but your triumphs will gain you house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup."

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a moment, I wish all of you luck."

Then she left, leaving us all to fret about what was going to happen. Everyone was silent, except for one rather loud boy who was talking to his friends about how he was sure to be in Slytherin, but he sounded worried.

Soon, the teacher came back; she opened the doors and let us into the great hall. It was beautiful, there were candles hanging in the air, and the ceiling looked like it was only a starry sky. Then, I noticed a filthy hat sitting on a stool in the front of the room. Suddenly, it launched into song.

The song described the houses and said that it would look in our heads when we tried it on and tell us what house we would be in. At least that was a lot better than some of the ridiculous things Fred and George had described on the train about what their brothers had told them.

Then, Professor McGonagall said, now holding a long roll of parchment, "I will call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat to be sorted. Anderson, Bradley"

A small boy stepped forward, put on the hat and sat on the stool. Hardly a second went by, and the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

"Britton, Chambers" was called up; the hat took at least thirty seconds on him, but then decided, "RAVENCLAW!"

Both Rebecca Carter and Roger Davies became Ravenclaws, too. Sam Elrod and McKenzie Forester made it to Hufflepuff. Angelina Johnson was a Gryffindor.

Then it was Lee's turn. "You'll do fine," I whispered from behind him. He nodded, but didn't look so sure. He slowly walked up to the stool, and sat down. The hat took a moment to decide, but, of course, it shouted, "GRYIFFENDOR!"

Then, McGonagall shouted, "Malfoy, Shay"

I sighed, walked up, and put the hat on my head.