Quickly we all piled off the train and were greeted by the familiar sight of Hagrid. The whole family love Hagrid and we all know that even though he looks ferocious he wouldn't hurt a fly. "Alright James? Fred? Did you have a nice ride up?" Before we had time to reply he was yelling "Firs' Years! Firs' Years this way! Right you all here? Good follow me." He led us towards the lake on which about 50 odd bouts were floating calmly. "Everyone in." I got into the driest looking one with Fred, Ben and a brown haired boy. "Forward" Hagrid called out and the boats must have heard as that second they started to move. The journey was calm but Fred who suffered from motion sickness spent most of the time with his eyes closed. The brown haired boy was the same except he was also leaning out of the boat (how that would help him I don't know). "This is amazing!" Ben, like me, was in total awe of the grand castle that was looming in front of us. It looked so big and grand and I knew Ben and I were thinking the same thing. Hogwarts didn't know what was about to hit it.
After a few minutes the journey was over and Fred opened his eyes again. "Right come on. Out of the boats or they'll go back with you in them." Not wanting to go back everyone leapt out and followed Hagrid up the steps. Almost instantly we were greeted by the sight of Professor Longbottom or as I knew him as 'Uncle Neville'. "Is everyone here? Okay, well I am Professor Longbottom; I am the Herbology teacher and the Head of Gryffindor house. Whilst you are at Hogwarts your house will be like your family. At the end each year the house with the most house points will be awarded a cup. Now, you can earn house points by getting good scores in tests or answering questions. You can also lose house points and if you break rules or don't complete homework you probably will lose them. And of course get a detention," He added as an afterthought. "There are four houses as I'm sure you know. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. They each come with a very rich history and I'm sure you'll all be a credit to whichever house you get put in." He glanced down at his watch. "They'll be ready for you now." With that he opened the doors to the castle and walked in beckoning us to follow him.
He led us through a long corridor that was filled with suits of armour and portraits and we all stared open-mouthed. "The sorting will begin now." He told us and then opened another set of doors. Inside was the Great Hall. There were five long tables, one for the Gryffindors, one for the Ravenclaws, one for the Hufflepuffs, one for the Slytherins and one for the teachers. There was also a small platform and on the platform was shabby looking hat resting on a three legged stool and a scroll was balanced on top of the hat. I looked around the hall to find a member of my family and my eyes met Teddy's. He smiled at me and looked up at the ceiling. I copied him and gasped. The ceiling was a dark and stormy blue just like the sky outside and candles were floating around the room to give light. Then, Professor Longbottom cleared his throat and pointed to the hat which opened its mouth and began to sing.
A wise young wizard once said,
Don't judge on what you see,
A homeless man could have more galleons than a King,
And with that wizard I must agree.
For although I do not look like much,
My IQ makes up for that,
I'll tell you where you belong,
For I am the Sorting Hat!
You could belong in Gryffindor,
Where the brave at heart lie,
Or fair Ravenclaw could be your choice,
Where the standard for cleverness is high.
Your future could be in Hufflepuff,
Where the loyal, kind and just are,
Or perhaps Slytherin is your calling,
Where being shrewd and cunning will get you far.
So don't be afraid try me on!
You don't have to worry,
Once you're sorted I'll guarantee,
You will not be sorry
At Hogwarts you'll be great,
In your house you'll belong,
Now I say goodbye,
As it's the end of this year's song.
Everyone started clapping so I decided to do the same even though the poem had made me even more nervous. The Professor Longbottom got up and unravelled the scroll by the Sorting Hat. Oh gosh here we go I thought. "When I call your name please step forward and put on the hat. Acombie Evan" The brown haired boy who was on the same boat as us stood up trembling and then almost as soon as the hat touched his head it yelled out "RAVENCLAW". Evan looked relived and practically skipped down to the Ravenclaw table. "Bell, Christina" A girl with short, blonde, spiky hair got up. The hat fell right over her eyes. There was a pause and then "HUFFLEPUFF". The table on the right cheered. "Borne, Juliana" a very pretty girl with honey coloured hair got up. "RAVENCLAW" the hat yelled and she went and sat down next to Evan. Then "Charles, Jamie" went to Hufflepuff as well. "Creevy, Alice" became the first new Gryffindor closely followed by "Damien, Chloe-Jane". "Donnerbull, Augustus" was then sorted into Slytherin. The sneer he had on his face as he was walking down made me determined not to be in Slytherin even more. But by the time it got to the P's I was feeling nervous. I was the first one of my friends to be sorted and a lot of people who I had not expected to be in Slytherin (like Sam Finnegan) were. Professor Longbottom called out "Payton, Hayley" and an extremely pretty girl with curly dark hair stepped forward. She was sorted into Gryffindor which I was very happy about for some reason. Then "Payton, Layla" who looked almost exactly like Hayley was made a Slytherin. Oh no here I come. Professor Longbottom looked at me "Potter, James" The hall fell silent and slowly I made my way up and let the hat fall over my eyes. "Ah James Potter I have been looking forward to sorting you. Now let's see. Brains of a Ravenclaw, loyalty of a Hufflepuff, ambition of a Slytherin and courage of a Gryffindor."
"You are NOT putting me in Slytherin"
"No, no. Not Slytherin. You would not shine there. Really there is only one candidate. GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled the last words out and a slow smile crept over my face. Gryffindor. I was a Gryffindor. YES! I made my way down to the Gryffindor table and smiled at Teddy. Now all I had to do was pray that my friends would be in Gryffindor too. T wasn't that far away from P so pretty soon it would be Ben's turn. The girl before him Eleanor Smith was very pretty and I was quite disappointed when she was made aRavenclaw. "Thomas, Benjamin" It was Ben's go. I crossed my fingers under the desk and sure enough almost as soon as the hat touched his head it yelled "GRYFFINDOR". I cheered as hard as the rest as Ben sat down next to me. "We've got ages to wait until the W's now." Ben joked. I took a quick look at Fred, Mol and Nina. They looked terrified. Ben was wrong though, soon enough Professor Longbottom called out "Weasley, Fredrick". Shaking slightly Fred got up; there was a moment's pause and then "GRYFFINDOR". Fred was with us! "Weasley, Molly" was the same but by that time all I wanted to know was where Nina would be. "Wood, Nina". She looked scared going up to the hat and the fact that it took quite a while made her even more nervous but then there was the yell of "GRYFFINDOR". Yes! Yes, yes, yes! She was with me! Why I was so happy I did not know but still, woohoo! Then it struck me. The hard bit was over. Now all I had to worry about was how many detentions I got.