"First years! First years, over here!" said a scratchy voice. A line of kids that looked to be around my age stood in front of the small man who was calling for the first years. Tom was right at the front of this line, looking behind him to scope out the competition, I was sure. I waved at him, but Tom sent me a poisonous glare, and stuck his nose into the air. (Haha that rhymed! The author of this story is SO SMART, right? Ok, I'll butt out now.)

We watched the other kids as they pulled away on horse-drawn carriages. When the last carriage was out of sight, the man cleared his throat. "My name is Ogg, and I am the keeper of keys and grounds here at Hogwarts, and will be addressed as such. I work closely with Appollyan Pringle, the caretaker, and we will be keeping a close eye on behavior both inside the castle and out on the grounds. It is best to keep us on your good side." The old, decrepit man cast a beady eye on us each in turn. Finally he cleared his throat again and stepped onto a boat floating in the lake before us. "What are you waiting for? Get in, three to a boat! Two of you here with me." Tom and a stranger I hadn't seen before eagerly scrambled in behind Ogg.

"Well, I guess we had better find a boat!" Alex said. He led the way into a vacant boat and hesitantly climbed in, clinging on to the shore as he did it. I chuckled and followed. A girl climbed in behind us and introduced herself as Emily Carter.

"Ogg is something huh? He reminds me of my principal back in my muggle school at London! Both of my parents are wizards, but they wanted me to get the full "Muggle Experience"! That's pretty weird coming from two Ministry officials! And it's kind of hard to feel like a muggle with two people apparating left and right! Did you know-" The girl went on and on, but my attention turned elsewhere when we rounded a bend and the castle came into view. I caught my breath as we came to a rest in front of the huge building.

As we scrambled onto the bank, I saw my brother point me out to Ogg and laugh behind his hand. Ogg shot me a glare that made me extremely uneasy. It looked like life at Hogwarts just got a whole lot harder.

"Ogg? What took you so long?" said a ringing voice as we entered the castle. I recognized it almost immediately.

"Don't blame me, Professor Dumbledore. It's the kids who held me up. Especially that one." Ogg sent me another marvelous glare as he nudged me forward. I looked back and saw Tom's smug look.

"Hmm," was all Dumbledore said as he looked down his crooked nose at me. "Well, they are ready for you in the Great Hall. Follow me!" We formed a line again and entered a room filled with kids, long tables, and adults sitting at a high table. Everyone's eyes were trained, however, on an old, worn out hat sitting on a stool in the middle of the room. I looked at it too, and gasped when it began to sing.

"Welcome to Hogwarts,

The Place of new starts!

We have 4 houses, which are your family here,

And in times of great trouble, these are the ones you draw near.

The four founders intended it to be this way,

But of course I don't have to say,

Your family should always remain true!

It doesn't matter which house is you,

Family will stand strong.

But here at Hogwarts, I must tell you in my song.

The founders started with Helga Hufflepuff,

Who believed loyalty was enough,

To earn a spot at her school,

But others believed she was a fool.

Salazar Slytherin, wanted only the purest of blood,

And refused to accept those who he considered mud.

Rowena Ravenclaw, the cleverest of the bunch,

Said she had a hunch,

That the school needed the wisest of the wise,

However Godric Gryffindor didn't see it in her eyes.

He wanted only the brave to be his students,

But the others didn't believe in such sentiments.

They fought for days, quarreled through the night,

The arguing was quite the sight.

Finally, gallant Godric Gryffindor had had enough of that,

So he whipped off his lovely hat,

And gave it a brain, and told it what to do.

The hat had to sort students just like you.

So, please come forward, and I'll tell you where you belong.

I hope to see you next year where I'll give others a different song!"

The room erupted in cheers, and Alex looked over at David. "That was weird, wasn't it? The beginning about family seemed a bit out of place. I wonder what it was referring to!"

"Yeah," David gulped. He had a feeling he knew exactly what the hat was referring to, and he didn't like it one bit.