The train slowed down and finally came to a halt. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Hermione had rejoined them and Elizabeth was hoping they would lose her in the crowd, but they had no such luck. She stuck close to Elizabeth's side, although Elizabeth was too busy searching for any sign of Richard to notice Hermione's incessant chattering concerning what she had read about Hogwarts over the summer. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Elizabeth heard Hagrid's voice, quieting Hermione.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! C'mon, follow me ─ any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Nobody spoke as they followed Hagrid down a steep, narrow path surrounded by thick trees that opened onto the edge of the Black Lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side was a castle with many turrets and towers. Elizabeth had heard all about Hogwarts from Richard before, but she never imagined it to be so grand. She was sure one could get lost for days in there, both on accident and on purpose.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting on the water by the shore.

Elizabeth quickly followed Harry and Ron into their boat, hoping she wouldn't be joined by Hermione this time, as she had no interest in becoming her friend. Elizabeth certainly hoped she would not be sorted into the same house and be forced to be roommates with the obnoxious girl.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then ─ FORWARD!"

The fleet of boats glided across the lake. Everyone was silent, staring at the castle overhead, and Elizabeth was happy that even Hermione seemed amazed enough with the sight to be quiet. The boats carried them into a wide opening and along a dark tunnel, until they reached a harbour where they clambered out onto the rocks. Hagrid was checking boats as people climbed out. Elizabeth noticed the toadless boy Hermione had been with earlier standing by himself on the rocks. He seemed to have the same apprehensive look on his face when he came to their compartment on the train. He looked rather lost and meek, she thought. Elizabeth figured he was the kind of boy to be in Hufflepuff based on what Richard had described over the summer. Margaret had promptly scolded him for teasing the House. She probably appreciated the jokes none, considering her sister was sorted there.

She saw Hagrid walk over to him and hand him a toad from his pocket.

"Trevor!" cried Neville, blissfully, taking the toad in his hands.

They clambered up a passageway, coming out onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. Hermione was still with them and Elizabeth stayed close to Ron, not wishing to get separated, even if she didn't like him very much. She would rather be with him than on her own at though. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open, which startled Elizabeth a little. A tall black-haired witch stood there. Richard had told Elizabeth about all the professors and she knew this had to be Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher. She was there when William went to school as well, and both Richard and William had mentioned it was best to avoid as her as she was just as strict, if not more strict, than Gran.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," said Professor McGonagall.

They followed her across the entrance hall and she showed the first years into a small, empty chamber, which they quickly crowded into.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall greeted them.

Elizabeth didn't feel very welcome thus far. She found the castle rather large and intimidating. She knew if she needed help getting around, she could surely ask Richard and he'd reluctantly help her, but she was frightened to be in such an enormous place on her own for most of the time. She had never spent a night away from home before and now she felt like she was suddenly shoved out by herself to sink or swim.

Professor McGonagall had an odd familiarity to her. There was something about her that was comforting because she appeared stiff like her Elizabeth's grandmother, but at the same time, that very stiffness that reminded her of Margaret made her a tiny bit terrified of the woman as well. She knew she certainly could not cross this professor like she crossed Margaret and expect to get away with it.

"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses."

Elizabeth was not looking forward to that part. She had been having doubts all summer about where she would be placed and her nerves were now on end as the moment was imminent. She was fearful of being sorted in any house other than Ravenclaw. Even though she fought with Richard on a near constant basis, she felt that being sorted into Ravenclaw, at least he would be there if she needed him, and she felt like she would have been calmer at that moment if he was there with her.

"The Sorting is very important because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

Professor McGonagall was explaining the houses to the rest of the students and how house points worked, but Elizabeth has stopped listening. She was panicking on the inside about the ceremony and what would happen if she wasn't in Ravenclaw like she expected to be. She had no desire to follow in the footsteps of her eccentric uncle by being sorted into Gryffindor, or worse. What Ron said on the train was still floating around her mind. She hadn't given it serious consideration before, but in her anxious state, she began to wonder what if she was sorted into Slytherin?

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," said Professor McGonagall before exiting the chamber.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Harry looked terrified and Elizabeth put aside her own fears for a moment to ease his worries. She put on a brave face and smacked Ron across his chest.

"Ow!"

"Stop scaring him!" she scolded. In a way, she felt like it was payback for scaring her earlier as well. "Don't worry," she said to Harry. "Richard said all they do is place a hat on your head. It doesn't hurt at all." She tried to give him her best reassuring smile so he didn't know she was just as afraid as he was. "He told me it's really easy and over really quickly."

Although she was still on edge, she was sure she had calmed him down at least a little until she heard people behind them screamed. Several ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. They glided across the room talking to each other, not noticing the first years, and Elizabeth could tell which students lived in the wizarding world and which ones were from the Muggle world based on who paid any mind to the ghosts. Harry looked positively frightened again and seemed surprised that Ron had ignored them as if they weren't even there.

"Move along now," said Professor McGonagall once she returned to the chamber. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

She felt just as petrified as Harry with those words. She could not shake all the doubts about the sorting that she had, from her grandmother and Madam Malkin's hushed conversations in Diagon Alley, to Ron's insensitive remark on the train ride. She wanted to convince herself she was just overreacting to first day jitters, but so far it wasn't working.

"Now, form a line and follow me," Professor McGongall instructed.

Hermione was back behind Elizabeth in line and she did her best to ignore as her as they walked out of the chamber. They crossed through the hall they came through and reached a pair of double doors leading to the Great Hall. They proceeded in line into the giant room with four tables in a row and one table at the very back occupied by the staff. Hermione had begun whispering to Elizabeth about how she had read in Hogwarts: A History that they enchant the ceiling to look like the sky outside. Of course, Elizabeth knew this already without Hermione telling her, but she found it just as impressive as the Muggle-born. She was so wrapped up in watching the fake night sky that she was only half listening to the Sorting Hat's song. She was snapped out of her daze by the sound of applause as the hat finished singing.

"So you were right," Ron whispered to Elizabeth. "We've just got to try on the hat."

"Of course, Ron. When am I ever not right?"

"You're wrong plenty!" Ron hissed, but Elizabeth hushed him.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," said Professor McGonagall. "Abbott, Hannah!"

Elizabeth felt better knowing that if she had a while to wait, that at least she had Ron to wait with. As the other students with surnames at the beginning of the alphabet were being sorted, Elizabeth was trying to find Richard among the students in the hall. She wasn't having much luck, but she manage to spot all three Weasley boys at the Gryffindor table, which wasn't much of a task with their vibrant ginger hair to give them away.

"Granger, Hermione!" Professor McGonagall called out.

Hermione almost ran to the stool and eagerly jammed the hat on her head. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

Ron groaned and Elizabeth sighed in relief. She was happy to finally be rid of the irritating know-it-all. She didn't know what she would do if she had to deal with her for seven years. As far as Elizabeth was concerned, Hermione Granger was Ron's problem now.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

Elizabeth noticed the poor boy who kept losing his toad was called to the stool and looked just as uneasy as he did after the boat ride. The hat took a few moments, but finally placed him in Gryffindor, much to Elizabeth's surprise. Not surprising was when Draco Malfoy took the stool and was quickly sorted into Slytherin. His family had a history of being in Slytherin House, so she expected nothing less of him.

Elizabeth began wondering if where her family were sorted had any effect on where she would be placed. She knew it was the case for the Weasleys. All of Ron's older brothers were sorted into Gryffindor, and his parents as well. She didn't think he would be any other house, and when Ginny started school next year, Elizabeth already knew she was certainly Gryffindor material. However, she didn't know about herself. Her grandparents had both been in Ravenclaw, and so was her father, but Uncle William wound up in Gryffindor. She remembered William's story that Aunt Abigail, despite her parents and brother being Ravenclaws, was a Hufflepuff herself. Her uncertainty over her place was consuming her and she was beginning to think it would have just been easier to live in France with Mamie so she could attend Beauxbatons like her mother did.

At last, Professor McGonagall called, "Potter, Harry!"

Elizabeth watched intensely as Harry stepped forward. Whispers broke out all over the hall as he sat down on the stool. She made eye contact with him before the hat dropped over his eyes. She inhaled deeply and held it. He was taking a while up there, much longer than anyone else had. She saw him grip the edges of the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

She let her breath out. The whole of Gryffindor erupted in loud cheers. Percy got up to shake Harry's hand as he reached the house's table. The Weasley twins were yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

The number of students waiting to be sorted had now dwindled down to the end and Elizabeth was more nervous than before, but not nearly as nervous as Ron seemed to be when his name was called. He was pale green by now and Elizabeth was sure she had to be too.

As he slowly walked toward the hat, Elizabeth figured this day would be the last she spent with Ron. They would now be sorted into different houses and make new friends. Even if she said she didn't like him and always claimed he was thick, she was very used to Ron in the way she was used to Richard. She had known him for so long that she had grown used to fighting with him. She had even grown used to being picked on by the twins.

A second later the hate shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

She knew it and felt slightly relieved for him. Being in the same house as his brothers, Ron would feel more at home at Hogwarts. She glanced over to the Gryffindor students and saw Harry clapping loudly with the rest of the table.

"Wellington, Elizabeth!"

She looked straight ahead when she heard her name. Nausea overwhelmed her by the time she reached the stool and put the hat on.

"Hmm, another Wellington," said the Hat in her ear. "Ravenclaw most likely. Indeed intelligent, an appetite for knowledge. But plenty of courage and loyalty. Yes, I'd say so ─ GRYFFINDOR!"

Elizabeth nearly stumbled off the stool. She didn't hear the Weasley twins cheering loudly, or Ron and Harry clapping. She couldn't hear anything except the ringing sound of the hat's decision in her ears. She collapsed next to Ron at the Gryffindor table. She only had one thought in her mind, My grandmother's going to kill me.

She didn't notice the final student become a Slytherin, or Dumbledore get up to give his speech. She kept going over the moment in her head. She didn't understand it. She didn't know how she was a Gryffindor when Richard had told her all summer long that she was exactly the right type for Ravenclaw. The only thing she could keep thinking was that her grandmother was surely going to faint when she heard the news, and when she woke up, she would blame William. She glanced over to the Ravenclaw table and this time her eyes found Richard immediately. He was watching her and when their eyes met, he shook his head and looked back at Dumbledore.

The dishes in front of her were now piled with food, but she didn't feel like eating. She didn't think she could stomach a meal right now. The nauseous feeling was worse than before.

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly, snapping Elizabeth out of her thoughts. She saw he was talking to one of the ghosts. "My brothers told me about you ─ you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

Elizabeth had heard about him too from Richard and knew he preferred not to be called that. Leave it to Ron to insult the dead, she thought.

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington," the ghost said stiffly.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" said Seamus Finnigan.

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed. "Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder, as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Ron and Seamus looked stunned and Elizabeth smiled at their reaction. She thought it served them right for being impolite to their house ghost.

Elizabeth didn't touch any of the food during the feast. Harry had tried to get her to eat something, but she just couldn't bring herself to eat. She didn't feel hungry at all, despite not having eaten since breakfast that morning. The conversation at the table turned to their families and Elizabeth found herself excluded from the rest of the talk. She was the only girl at their part of the table, but she would rather be there being ignored than sitting next to Hermione. It was now sinking in that not only would her grandmother be disappointed by the news and Richard seemed irked with her, but she was going to have to share a room with Hermione Granger until they finished their schooling.

While the boys were chatting with one another, she was checking out the other tables. She saw Malfoy at the Slytherin table sitting next to the Slytherin House ghost, the Bloody Baron, and he looked none too chuffed about it. She smiled slightly to herself at Malfoy's misery. She looked to Richard again, whom this time immediately avoided her gaze and any feeling of joy she had just gotten back disappeared as quickly as it came. She slumped down further in her seat, feeling dejected.

"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.

Elizabeth was sitting next to him and immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Harry, looking at the High Table. "Hey Percy, who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?"

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you?" said Percy. "No wonder, he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape."

Richard had mentioned that Professor Snape taught Potions and was head of Slytherin House, but didn't say much else. When she tried to find out more, like whether he was a harsh professor or not, Richard just shrugged and told her it's probably best if she doesn't let him know she exists. She didn't understand what that meant and Percy's comment about Quirrell looking nervous speaking to him didn't help to clarify any.

Dumbledore got to his feet again as the last of the food disappeared.

"I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." His eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley Twins. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

Elizabeth was beginning to dislike school and didn't have high hopes for it improving. The night had not gone her way one bit with the sorting and Richard's attitude toward her had only made her feel worse. Being given a list of rules, completely separate from the ones her grandmother insisted she follow, was too much for her to handle.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch."

She didn't even bother paying mind to that announcement. She had never played Quidditch before; she had only watched it. First years never made the House team anyway, according to Richard. Margaret would never let her play even if she was the most naturally gifted Quidditch player in the known universe. She said it was much too dangerous when Richard wanted to try out for his House team years earlier. He seemed thoroughly disappointed, but Thomas didn't let him press the matter.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wise to die a very painful death."

She did pay mind to this, however. It greatly piqued her curiosity.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song! Everyone pick their favorite tune, and off we go!"

Everyone finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.

"And now, bedtime," said Dumbledore. "Off you trot!"

Elizabeth stood up and followed the rest of the Gryffindor first years, led by Percy Weasley, out of the Great Hall. He was telling them to keep close when they were met by a dark-haired Ravenclaw prefect leading his House's first years. He and Percy were talking at the front of the group, out of Elizabeth's range of hearing. Suddenly, he stopped walking, directing the Ravenclaw students down a corridor while the Gryffindors carried on straight ahead. When Elizabeth went to pass him, he grabbed her arm.

"Elizabeth Ann —"

A look of despair fouled Elizabeth's face. "What do you want?"

"Don't tell Gran about this," he whispered and then let go of her to follow the Ravenclaws to their common room.

She hurried to catch up with the Gryffindors ascending the marble staircase. Percy led them through doorways behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries, up more staircases, and down corridors before they suddenly came to a halt. A bunch of walking sticks had begun to fling themselves at Percy.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice. "Peeves, show yourself." A loud, rude sound answered. "Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

Elizabeth knew Percy was even worse than Richard. He jumped at the opportunity to tattle on anyone, especially his younger brothers. When Richard caught Elizabeth doing something she wasn't supposed to, he usually didn't run off to tell their grandmother. He told her off himself, or just ignored her altogether most of the time. She had to admit, she could have wound up with a lot worse for a brother. She could have wound up with Percy Weasley.

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Ickle Firsties!" he said, with an evil cackle. "What fun!"

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck his tongue out and vanished, dropping the walking sticks.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward.

They all scrambled through a round hole in the wall. The Gryffindor common room was filled with cozy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory. Hermione had now found Elizabeth again and was talking her ear off about the feast as Elizabeth trudged up the spiral staircase. She wanted to tell her to shut it already, but if she had to live with Hermione, she figured it would be best not to alienate her on the first night. As soon as she got to their room, she pulled on her pyjamas and got straight into bed. Although she was tired and just wanted the night to end, she couldn't fall asleep with the conversation in the room. She was surprised that this time it was not Hermione who was responsible for the annoyance. Lavender Brown had begun talking to Parvati Patil and neither were keeping their voices down. She still wasn't feeling her best, especially after what Richard had said on the way out of the Great Hall. She thought about asking the girls to go to bed as nicely as possible, as not to make enemies of her roommates already, when Hermione spoke up.

"Excuse me, some of us would like to be well rested for first day of lessons, if you don't mind."

Elizabeth rolled over in her bed to see Hermione sat upright with an annoyed expression on her face. She certainly didn't want to cause tension immediately, but Hermione had no problem in doing so. The two girls surprisingly didn't argue with Hermione though, and ended their conversation for the evening. With silence in the room, Elizabeth wrapped herself up in the duvet to prepare for sleep. She thought maybe Hermione Granger's irritating personality could be useful after all.

A/N: Plot points and quotes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Chapter 6, The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, pages 110 to 112. Chapter 7, The Sorting Hat, 113 to 129.