Chapter 2
"Firs' years, over her'! Firs' years! C'mon now, don' be shy! Firs' years!"
"Who's that?" I whispered to Rose, referring to the gigantic man who was yelling for the first years by the lake.
"Oh, that's just Hagrid," said Rose. "Don't let his…well, appearance scare you; he's really nice. I'll take you to visit him this weekend if you want."
"Alright," I said apprehensively. "Do I go with him?"
"I s'pose so. I mean, you have to be Sorted."
So I followed the crowd of first years walking over to Hagrid. If I had thought that he was large from a distance, it was nothing compared to now. He was at least three feet taller than me, and sported a thick, bushy brown beard that was streaked with grey. The first years looked even more nervous than me.
"We got a big 'un this year, eh?" boomed Hagrid.
I jumped and then tilted my head all the way back to reply. "Oh. Um. Well, sir, you see, I'm Allison Lancaster, sir, and I got my letter late, but I'm a third year. I just, you know, have to be Sorted. Sir."
"Oh, so you're Allie Lancaster? Pleasure teh meet ya. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper. But y' can call me Hagrid." He stuck out his enormous hand.
I cautiously shook it. "Nice to meet you, Hagrid."
Hagrid turned and saw that the first years were all there. "C'mon now, into th' boats! No more'n four t' a boat, 'nless y' care t' take a swim!" I found an empty boat and slipped into it. I had just settled myself when a boy jumped in the other side.
"Will!" I said, not expecting to see my brother.
"Hey Al," he said, smiling. "Pretty conspicuous, aren't we?"
"Yeah," I sighed.
"Hey," said Will gently. "Don't worry about it. We'll just get Sorted and everything will be fine. No one's gonna remember that we were in the first year line." I nodded, glad that I wasn't alone.
Some people have brothers who pick on them mercilessly or could care less about them. I'm not one of those people. Will to me had always been a friend, albeit one with a protective streak as wide as the Thames River and a love for teasing me the rest of the time.
"So what house are you hoping for? I want to be in Gryffindor," said Will, obviously trying to change the subject.
"Not sure," I said. "Anything but Slytherin, really. Well, I would prefer not to be Hufflepuff either, from what I've hears, so I guess Ravenclaw or Gryffindor." I spotted Lily and Hugo and motioned for them to join us in the boat.
"Thanks," said Lily and Hugo in unison.
"No problem," I said. "Hugo, Lily, this is my brother William. Will, this is Lily Potter and this Hugo Weasley." They smiled politely.
Will's eyes widened in shock, his mouth dropping into a perfect O, but before he could say anything, Hagrid yelled, "Everyone in? Alrigh', let's go!" and the boats started to row across the lake of their own accord.
Less than a minute into the ride, there was a collective sound of surprise from the first years, and then a chorus of screams as a gargantuan tentacle slithered out from beneath the surface of the lake.
"Awesome!" breathed Hugo. "Dad told me all about the Giant Squid!" Lily squeezed her eyes shut and folded her arms tightly to her chest.
"Tell me when it's gone," she muttered.
"C'mon Lils, it's so cool!"
"So cool it could just pick you up and drag you down to its lair at the bottom of the lake and then eat you for its appetizer."
"Whatever," said Hugo, trailing a hand into the water as the tentacle slowly slid back down into the depths. Pulling his hand out, he flicked Lily and me with drops of icy water.
Lily shrieked, and I gasped. "What the heck, Hugo? Do you want me to push you out of this boat?" she yelled.
"No, not really," said Hugo, smirking. Will just watched all this with an amused expression.
"Then don't do that!" she harrumphed and purposefully turned her head towards the growing sight of Hogwarts.
Just then, there was a large splash and more screaming.
"Did someone just…" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"There's always one," I heard Hagrid grumble.