Before we start I'd just like to make it perfectly clear that I in no way consider myself a poet. Because of this I feel I need to apologise for the appalling sorting song. It's rubbish, I know.

PART ONE
FIRST YEAR

Chapter Two
Things to be Sorted

1st September 1989. That was the date I first laid eyes on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where I would spend the next seven years of my education. It was also the date I first had to get there, something that was rather difficult for all the hundreds of students to do simultaneously without attracting the attention of muggles. Luckily though, this problem had long since been solved by the time of my first year.

They called it The Hogwarts Express. Yes, very original name seeing as it went to Hogwarts Castle. It's basically an old-fashioned muggle steam train. In fact, it departs from a muggle station in London – King's Cross to be precise – the only real difference being the platform number. Nine and three quarters. Well, if you've ever been to King's Cross station you'll say that there is no such platform. But you, just like every other muggle there, will have been deceived. For there is such a platform, and getting on to it is so simple you could pop down there and find it tomorrow if you'd like. But I don't suggest it. You might get some funny looks.

"And you will make sure to write at least once before the end of the year, won't you? I know how you get sidetracked and carried away."

"Granma, I'll write every week if you want," I told the frail old lady who was currently digging into her large green handbag for some unknown item she would probably never find.

"No, dear, of course that won't be necessary. How are you supposed to have fun with all your new friends if you keep on dashing off to write to silly old me?" I rolled my eyes. The trolley in front of me rattled loudly as I pushed it along Platform Nine, the large brown trunk swaying ominously backwards and forwards, clanging against the metal frame every few seconds. Granma Sue checked her pocket watch nervously. "Oh dear, we better hurry now."

I looked up at the large yellow numbers displayed on the platform notice. "What d'you mean? We've got at least another twenty minutes before the train leaves."

"Well, yes," she said as she quickened her pace slightly, "but you can never be too early, can you?" Granma Sue always fretted like this. I had grown accustomed to it by now.

An older boy with an even more heavily packed trolley bumped into me as he rushed forward. I barely heard his mumbled apology as he sped on. A woman dressed in a large floral dress and top hat ran after him, calling for him to slow down. Granma Sue muttered something under her breath about drawing attention. I saw what she meant. We were both used to muggle dress, having lived in a muggle town for so long, and it still surprised me how inept other wizards could be when it came to fashion. Granma Sue looked quite normal, really. Her green pencil skirt and paisley shirt gave her a somewhat smarter image than I was use to, but her short, curly, white hair was the same as always. It gave her that homely grandmother appearance I had come to love. Of course, she wasn't really my grandmother, but I had called her Granma Sue ever since I met her, and that was how I now saw her.

She stopped abruptly in front a large metal barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"Well, dear, this is it. Hang on." We paused as a couple of older businessmen in pinstriped suits wandered past towards the end of the platform. "There we are. Now, quickly dear, I think there's a train arriving."

I nodded. Granma Sue had told me years ago about the unusual way of getting onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Trying desperately to be as inconspicuous as possible, I gently leaned against the seemingly solid barrier. I was not met by the cold sting of metal. Instead, I fell straight through, right into the glorious sunshine that streamed down from above. I pulled my trolley through and turned, staring avidly at everything and anything I could lay my eyes on.

A large red steam engine stood beside the platform, its paint glistening despite the thick grey smoke that was billowing from its chimney, spindly golden letters spelt out 'The Hogwarts Express' on its side. Contrary to my assumptions about being too early, the platform was packed with teenagers and parents – the mothers trying not to cry and hugging their children far too tightly, fathers slapping sons on the back and trying to calm their wives. The kids themselves didn't look at all upset. The faces were shining with the expression of hope and excitement at the prospect of another school year with their friends. A large painted sign hang overhead, reading the platform number.

"Yes, yes, quite something, isn't it?" I turned to my left. Granma Sue had joined me, rummaging once again in her handbag for an imaginary object. "Come on, we're in the way here."

I nodded, still in awe at the scene, and followed as she led me further down the platform. She stopped about half way down and gave me the biggest bear hug I had ever received. She pulled apart and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Now, be good, won't you? Don't get in too much trouble. But don't be scared to write if you're not completely happy. And don't forget to keep your socks cl-"

"Granma," I interrupted before she started on the undergarment lecture, "I'll be fine. I can look after myself. You know I can."

She bit her bottom lip and didn't look convinced. "Of course you can." She said finally. "Now, go on, you've only got five minutes before it leaves and you'll want to find a good seat, won't you?"

"Bye." I replied happily before heaving my overstuffed trunk from the trolley, pulling open the door and shoving it up the step. I was about to climb up after it but stopped suddenly. I turned back to Granma Sue and embraced her almost as tightly as she had done previously. "I'll miss you."

She ruffled my hair. "I'm sure you will." She whispered affectionately, laughing slightly as she did. I jumped up onto the train and shut the door, looked down at my trunk and started lugging it towards the nearest free compartment I could find. I peered out the window and saw Granma Sue waving. There was a slightly sad look in her eyes. It was then that I realised that with me gone for the entire term, she would be completely on her own. As I waved back, hoping that the guilt didn't show on my face, I resolved myself to write to her by the end of the first week. After forcing the trunk up into the luggage rack I sat and gazed out the window once more. Granma Sue was looking through that handbag once more. I chuckled, leant back into the seat and felt the train grumble to a start as it slowly pulled away.

The compartment door slid open.

"Excuse me, are these seats free?"

I rotated my head to see who had spoken to me. A boy with wavy light brown hair and grey eyes stood in the doorway, smiling politely a perfect smile. I instantly sat up a little straighter and tried to flatten my hair.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I told him. He thanked me before walking in, closely followed by a black boy with dreadlocks and a pretty girl with blonde hair. He sat opposite me and extended a hand, which I took almost too eagerly.

"I'm Cedric by the way. This is Lee and Sarah." He pointed to each of the others. I smiled and nodded.

"Cassie."

"So," Lee began while taking out a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and opening them, "your first year too?" He chucked an orange coloured bean into his open mouth casually. I nodded in reply, persuading myself not to goggle at the handsome boy opposite me. "Cool. What house d'you think you'll be in? I just hope I'm not in Slytherin, other than that though I'll be happy." I gulped internally. "I guess Gryffindor would be the coolest, and Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad, but I doubt I'm clever enough for that – an empty broom closet, that's what my dad always calls me."

"I'm not surprised." Sarah commented. The purple bean missed Lee's mouth and he looked insulted. We all laughed. Sarah turned back to me, her blonde ringlets bouncing slightly as she did. "I like your hair colour, by the way. Do you dye it?"

Before I could open my mouth to respond, Lee jumped in, "looks like you're not too smart yourself. I believe the correct grammar would be 'do you kill it?' – hang on, why would she kill her hair?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. Cedric looked as equally puzzled as Lee.

"Dye. D – Y – E. Not D – I – E, stupid." She was met by blank stares from the two boys.

"You're muggle-born." I said matter-of-factly. Now Sarah looked confused, as if she didn't know what that had to do with it, but nodded nonetheless. I explained for everyone benefit. "She means colour it. Wizards don't dye their hair. There are some complicated transfiguration spells and a few potions on the market that basically do the same thing, but I think they're called something else."

"Oh, so do you use any of them?"

"No." I replied kindly. "I was born with it like this." Subconsciously, I ran a hand through the tips of my straight shoulder length hair. Too be honest, I hadn't always been happy with the colour. When I was younger people used to stare at me as if I was odd – the deep grey looked as if it ought to belong to a much older person, someone that used to have black hair but was now changing colour – but I was used to it by now. And in certain lights I guess it could be pretty.

"Nice." Cedric remarked and I couldn't help but blush a little. Just then the door slammed open and we all jumped to see what had caused it. A boy who must have been a couple of years older than us leaned against the frame out of breath. His ruddy freckled face was almost the same colour as his curly red hair. He looked around the compartment as if searching for someone.

"Has anyone seen a pair of red-head twins?" he finally wheezed out. All of us shook our heads in answer. "I am so going to kill those two," the boy mumbled while turning to leave, "haven't even seen the grounds yet and they're in trouble, well when mother he-"

The door slid shut behind him. All four of us looked questioningly at the others.

"What d'you think that was about?" Lee asked.

"No idea."

The rest of the journey passed in friendly conversation, only interrupted twice; once by the food trolley as it passed – Sarah, not having tasted wizarding sweets before, was particularly pleased by the Fizzing Whizbees – and once again by the ginger boy asking after the twins. Soon enough though night had fallen and the loud rattling of the train came to a screeching halt.

Leaving my trunk onboard as instructed by the bodiless voice that had rung throughout the train five minutes earlier, I clambered down and felt my feet connect with concrete. I got out of the way of all the other students that were now disembarking onto the small station platform, all dressed in the same black robes and noticed that most were emblazoned with one of four coats of arms. I recognised them as the marks of the students' respective houses and I realised with a shudder that I too would soon have one gleaming on my chest.

"You all right, Cassie?" Cedric asked me sounding concerned. Obviously I hadn't hidden my apprehension as well as I had thought. I forced a smile onto my face.

"Yeah, fine. Where d'you think we're meant to go?"

The question had barely escaped my lips when a deep booming voice called over the chattering of the students.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere! Come on now! Firs' years!"

The cool breeze whipped around my ankles as we started forcing our way through the crowd towards the source of the voice. I didn't have to go far to see just where it was coming from. A man the height of at least two of the very tallest of the students, and five times as wide, with a big bushy beard and long straggly hair the colour of soot was standing at the edge of the crowd, a lantern swaying in the wind as it hung from his right hand. I heard Cedric gasp beside me. Either this man had got on the wrong side of an Engorgement Charm or he was half-giant. No way could he be considered just a 'large man'.

"'Urry up there, you two!" he shouted over the horde while waving in our direction. We pushed past some of the older students and finally reached the place where a group of extremely nervous looking first years were standing, each trying not to be the closet to the colossus man.

"Hullo, Hagrid." Two boys stepped forwards, seemingly impervious to the infection of fear that had sprouted amongst the first years. I knew immediately that these were, without a doubt, the infamous red-haired twins.

"Well, 'ello there," the giant squinted down through his beetle black eyes at the pair, "you must be the Weasley twins. Your brother Percy was looking for you, you know."

The twins shared a mischievous grin. "Oh yeah, we know."

"Righ' then." the overgrown man turned to the rest of us again. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at 'ogwarts. I'm escorting you all up to the castle." Hagrid twisted around abruptly, almost knocking over one of the smaller girls in the process. He didn't seem to notice. "Righ', off we go, then!"

We followed Hagrid out to the edge of a vast black lake, the edges of which we could barely see, where many small rickety wooden boats floated expectantly.

"Come on, then." Hagrid boomed, "no more than four to a boat, tha's it."

I clambered down into the small boat. Cedric followed, as did Sarah. I spotted Lee out the corner of my eyes getting in one with the twins and a brown haired girl. No rowing was necessary and the boats gently rolled across the silent water, Hagrid whistling merrily from his own personal vessel. The lake was calm and the smooth surface looked like silk as ripples echoed from the wake of the crafts. I almost did a double take as I looked around and saw a long grey tentacle sticking out the water from a distance, as if waving to the newcomers. Thick trees surrounded the eastern side of the lake and appeared to stretch further north around the edge, the sounds of a forest at night could be heard even from this far away.

"No freaking way." I heard Sarah whisper. I rotated myself to see what had caught her attention and felt the breath catch in my throat. Rising high above the northern shore towered a monumental castle, its window glittering gold against the black sky, its many towers leaning so precariously that I was certain that the only thing supporting them was magic. The boats gradually drew nearer. Muttering could be heard from all the students, either expressing their wonderment or guessing what would await them inside. We hit the banks with a loud knock, climbed from the boats and followed Hagrid up the impressive staircase, through the great oak doors into the stone entrance hall. A great deal of noise was coming from one of the doors off to the right where the other students obviously now waited. Hagrid led us into a small chamber opposite the room where the noise was escaping from. A tall, stern-looking witch was waiting for us there.

"Goodevenin' Professor." Hagrid greeted her.

"Thank you, Hagrid." She replied in a voice equally stern to her appearance. Hagrid left. "Good evening, students." The witch greeted us all. "I am Professor McGonagall, teacher of transfiguration and Head of Gryffindor House. In a moment now we will be entering the Great Hall where you will all be sorted into your respective houses. These are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

"Anyone in Slytherin gets dungbombs thrown at them!" One of the Weasley twins shouted. Half the people laughed, including, I noted, Lee, Sarah and Cedric. I suddenly felt rather ill. I had a worrying suspicion that I was about to lose my new friends. McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the twin who had spoken and everyone immediately fell silent.

"That will be quite enough, thank you. Now, while you are here you will eat, sleep and have classes with your house. House points are rewarded for good behaviour, and taken away for any rule-breaking. This naturally means that selecting the right house for you is a very serious matter indeed – one that is not to be taken lightly." I saw her eyes flicker to the Weasleys once more. "The sorting ceremony is therefore thorough and I expect best behaviour. From all of you." There was a silence as she looked us individually in the eyes, as if trying to spot any wrong-doing before it had occurred. She seemed to find none. "Very well. If you'd follow me."

We did. Back across the Entrance Hall and through the doors leading to what I could only assume would be the Great Hall. Four long tables stretched before us, each packed with busily talking students. Above these hung great banners displaying each of the house logos. On the side furthest from us the great lion of red and gold for Gryffindor, next the yellow and black badger of Hufflepuff, then the blue and bronze eagle of Ravenclaw, and nearest us the coiling green and silver serpent of Slytherin. Chatter began to die away as the older years realised we were there, walking down the Hall towards the fifth table, where teachers sat, most smiling warmly in greeting. My attention, which had previously wandered to the high arched ceiling that was enchanted to look exactly like the outdoor sky – now shining with glittering stars and barely a cloud in sight – was snapped back down to the curious faces swarming the hall as we were brought to a halt in front of the teachers' table, facing the rest of the school. I felt increasingly nervous as every second passed. Granma Sue had assured me that the sorting ceremony was easy and completely painless, but that didn't mean I wouldn't make a complete fool out of myself.

Professor McGonagall came back into sight carrying a stool in one hand and a tattered brown hat in the other, which she then continued to place onto the stool in front of us. She stepped back. Everyone in the room appeared to be watching the hat excitedly, as if waiting for something to happen. Then, quite suddenly, there was a loud ripping noise and a seam in the hat came undone. It scrunched up and soon was looking something akin to a mouth. This image was only confirmed when the hat promptly burst into song, words flowing out over the hall from the mouth-seam.

"Long before the goblin killings
And witch burnings of old
Four wizards came together thinking
Of young minds ready for the mould.
They started this fine school, you see,
But soon there was a hitch.
How to decide just whom to teach?
Which wizard and which witch?
The reply came from off their heads
And sits before you here.
A thinking cap was all they sought
The answer it seems was clear.
And so to sort - that is my job
And why I was first made.
Four houses stretch before you now
But just one shall be your aid.
Perhaps you lie in Gryffindor,
Where only the bravest dwell.
Or else you, like fair Ravenclaw,
Know all there is to tell.
Maybe Hufflepuff will do you well,
Loyal and pure of heart.
And lastly it's their cunning ways
That set Slytherin apart.

"Now which one will do you true?
You may think you know,
But the truth lies far deeper than
Your surface thoughts will go.
But no matter, for inside your head,
There are no clues that I can't trace.
So put me on and I will put
You in your rightful place."

The hall erupted into a sea of applause. Some of the older students stood, cheering, some even whistled in praise. I sighed in relief. Wearing a hat couldn't do any harm, right? But then again, that thing about seeing everything inside my mind I did not like. What if it shouted all my thoughts out in front of the entire school? Was that the true test? To see how we would react in that situation?

The applause grew to a slow stop. Professor McGonagall stepped forwards once more, now holding a long piece of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will sit and place the Sorting Hat on your head. Once your house has been decided you will join them at their table. Abraham, Philip."

A weedy looking boy edged apprehensively forwards. He sat, but when he placed the hat on top of his head it was so large it fell right over his eyes. There was silence as everyone waiting for something to happen. Philip Abraham fiddled with the sleeves of his robes anxiously. Then quite suddenly-

"Ravenclaw!" the hat bellowed at the top of its lungs. The table under the blue banner burst out cheering. Philip removed the hat and almost ran over to the free seats near the end. McGonagall raised the list again and peered down through her square spectacles.

"Bletchley, Miles."

A large boy plonked his way onto the stool, seized the hat and pulled it onto his head. There was only a few seconds pause before-

"Slytherin!"

The Slytherin table clapped joyously. The Gryffindor table let out a joint boo in protest. I could tell that the old rivalry was still firmly in place between those two houses.

The sorting continued in much the same fashion as one by one the terrified first years tried on the rugged Sorting Hat. I noticed that the hat seemed to take a different amount of time deciding for each student. Calingham, Sarah was put in Ravenclaw after a good five minutes of silence. Whereas, Diggory, Cedric had barely sat down before the hat cried Hufflepuff. Johnson, Angelina and Jordan, Lee were both assigned to Gryffindor. Montague, Simon went to Slytherin and Noman, Catherine to Ravenclaw. Soon the number of students that remained standing had been depleted to only a handful. I gradually became more and more worried.

Finally, Stimpson, Patricia sat at the Gryffindor table and McGonagall called, "Syter, Cassandra."

I took a deep breath and approached the stool. The brown leather of the hat slid over my eyes and rested on the bridge of my nose, casting an eerie blackness over my vision. I waited patiently. It was a second before anything happened.

"Ah, tricky little one, you are, aren't you?" I jumped at the croaky voice that had suddenly whispered into my ear. This hat was talking to me. And I was pretty certain I was the only one who could hear it. "Yes, yes, only you can hear, just as only they could hear when I spoke to them. Now, where to begin? I see loyalty in you. And courage. Yes, lots of courage. But your mind. Hmm… The mind that could only belong to a true-" I braced myself as the hat shifted, ready to scream what I knew would be Ravenclaw. But it didn't. There was complete silence as it quite dramatically stopped. "Hang on. What's this I see? Ho ho ho, you are a tricky girl, aren't you? Syter? Yes, I see now. Well, this changes things, doesn't it? And what do you think?" Just place me wherever you think I'll do best. "Clever little thing. Well, in that case, I suppose it ought to be-,

"Slytherin!" the hat cried. I slipped it off my head and made my way over to the table under the green banners. As I passed the Ravenclaw table I saw that Sarah had an odd expression on her face, as if she couldn't believe she had been talking to a Slytherin for the entire journey and not have realised it. I guessed that even muggle-borns knew of Slytherin's not too great reputation. I sat next to a tall dark haired boy I recognised from McGonagall's name-calling as Adrian Pucey. I turned to watch the rest of the sorting. Both the Weasley twins went to Gryffindor and after Eileen Xian joined the Hufflepuff table a silence swept the hall and an elderly gentleman with long flowing silver hair and beard and half-moon spectacles stood from behind the teachers' table. I recognised him from pictures as Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and, most importantly, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Welcome! Welcome!" he addressed the entire hall. "To our new students – a kind welcome. To the rest of us – welcome back. And so another school year begins. Firstly I would like to inform all new students and remind the older ones that the Forbidden Forest is completely out-of-bounds. Mr Filch, our caretaker has also generously asked me to remind you that magic is not permitted in any of the hallways. As well as this, there have been several new items added to the list of contraband objects. The full list of 416 items may be viewed in his office, as I am certain many of you will be only too eager to do. Now, I shall not make your stomach's wait any further, for I am sure they are feeling quite put out from lack of food. So, let us eat."

And with a swift flick of his wand mountains of food instantaneously appeared on the golden plates along the tables. There must have been more roast potatoes than I had seen over my entire lifetime. Roast meats, pies and casseroles, dishes of vegetables and sauces cluttered the table so much it was difficult to know where one plate ended and another began. I was so awestruck I didn't know what to do with myself.

"I suggest the pork. Of course, it's not quite as good as the stuff I get at home, but it's not too far off." I looked at the boy who had spoken to me from across the table. A blonde boy was helping himself to a piece of carrot. He placed the bowl down on the table and extended a hand. I took it politely, trying not to dip my sleeve in the gravy. "Terence Higgs, fourth year."

"Uh, Cassandra Syter, but call me Cassie."

Terence pointed to the girl next to him. "This here is Olivia Gorson, she a third year." The skinny girl had rather sallow cheeks that, in addition to her black hair and blank expression, made her look rather vampiric. I smiled at her. She simply nodded in recognition. "So." Terence offered me the plate of pork chops. I shook my head.

"I don't eat meat." I told him. A frown crossed his face.

"Why ever not?"

"Because I don't need to. And personally I'm not overly keen on the idea of killing needlessly." I said as I instead spooned some parsnips onto my plate. Terence put the pork down but continued to eye me warily, as if expecting me to sprout wings or something.

"You're entitled to your own opinion, I suppose." Terence put a large chop in front of him and started cutting into it. He turned to the brutish-looking boy next to him. "So, Flint, what rules do you think Dumbledore will foolishly try to impose on us this year?"

"Somin' stu'id." Flint said between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes.

"But," I spoke up. All three of the older students looked at me expectantly. "He's meant to be a really good Headmaster, isn't he? I mean, he's one of the greatest wizards of the age."

Terence actually dropped his fork. "Who on earth brought you up, Cassie? Where have you been living?"

"Syter," Olivia said calmly, "I have not heard that name before."

Terence actually gasped. "You're not a mudblood, are you?"

"What has that got to do with anything?" my voice came out slightly louder than I had planned. "Some of the best wizards ever alive have been muggle-born!" The others stared at me in disbelief. "And for your information, I'm about as pure blood as it gets! I just don't feel it makes me better than anyone else!"

No one spoke to me for the rest of the feast.

So my first meal at Hogwarts had not been a complete success. And if I had thought that was bad, the next day would prove that it was about to get a whole lot worse.