Chapter 4

Remus' POV

Remus and his new best mates step out onto the platform. Over the loud bustling noise booms a thunderous voice. "Firs' years! Firs' years! Follow me to go to Hogwarts!" Remus looked over and saw a massive man with unruly black curls coming out as a beard and long hair. His beetle black eyes shone with friendliness, despite his appearance of being intimidating.

"My name is Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper o' keys and grounds at Hogwarts. Now follow me to the boats. Tha's it, come on now!"

Remus and the others followed Hagrid onto a trail and through a small wood. Beyond the trees they could see the lights from the castle and a large dark mirror that was a lake. When they finally reached the edge of the forest they saw a small fleet of boats.

"Now on'y four to a boat!" Hagrid's voice boomed over the first years. Remus looked at his fellow companions only to see James and Sirius look at each other like they were up to no good and set off to another boat. A boat that Remus could see held the boy they called Snivellus and the girl Lily. Remus just sighed and got into another boat with Peter. In his boat was a girl named Reni and a boy named Frank.

After what seemed like forever, all of the students got into a boat (Hagrid had his own boat) and off they went towards the dark castle. Remus was busy staring up at the giant structure that he would call home for the next seven years when he heard shouting from his right. He looked over and saw that James and Sirius were rocking the boat, making Snivellus and Lily yell at them to stop. Before Remus could protest and tell them to stop, they tipped the boat over sending all four of them into the lake.

Hagrid came to the rescue and pulled them out and back onto their now upturned boat. Remus had to stifle his giggles and not say "Serves you right" when they got onto a small landing and James and Sirius had to wring out their clothes.

"What do you suppose we have to do to get sorted?" Remus asked his mates.

"My dad didn't tell me anything!" James said like he was personally offended that his dad didn't tell him something.

"What happens if we don't get sorted?" Remus just voiced his worst fear only to be laughed at by his mates.

"That's never happened to anyone before. So don't worry! Why wouldn't you be sorted?" Sirius asked.

Remus didn't say anything at first but muttered under his breath "Looks like I'll be the first."

The students filed into a room with a small staircase leading to very large doors where voices of hundreds of students sounded. Remus looked around in wonder. He could fit his entire house and then some in this corridor alone. He was daydreaming about what the rest of the castle looked like when a very stern looking witch appeared from behind the doors. She wore emerald green robes and had her hair tucked into a very severe looking bun.

"My name is Professor McGonagall. Soon you shall be escorted into the Great Hall where you will be sorted. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has a noble reputation and produces fine witches and wizards."

At this James and Sirius muttered something Remus couldn't hear but he thought he heard "Definitely not Slytherin" and they began giggling, receiving a glare from the professor.

"Any rule breaking and you will cost your house points, but you may earn house points as well. Now. Before we go in… why on earth are you four wet?" she looked at James, Sirius, Snivellus, and Lily.

"Those two," Snivellus, or was is Severus, pointed at James and Sirius "Knocked our boat over on the way here." The professor looked sternly at Remus' friends and just sighed.

"Twenty points will be taken off of whichever house you are in. Merlin help me if you are in Gryffindor. Already losing points before you are even sorted. Unheard of!" after her little tirade, she waved her wand with a flick of her wrist and soon all four students were dry. "Now follow me into the Great Hall to be sorted.

Remus' fears came back full force. What if he wasn't sorted? He'd be back on the train to go home to his disappointed father who never talked to him anyway and he'd be stuck with no friends for the rest of his life. He shuddered at the thought.

Though every negative thought he had rushed away from him once those giant doors opened. Inside there were four long tables filled with students wearing their respective house colors and at the front of the hall was another long table filled with the teachers. There were thousands of candles floating in the air above them and the ceiling was bewitched to look like the sky outside. The sight took Remus' breath away and he blindly walked with the other amazed first years to the front of the hall.

Before them was a stool and a grimy old hat. Just as Remus was wondering what was happening, a tear in the hat opened like a mouth and the hat sang:

"Welcome young new pupils

There will be no scruples

As to which house you belong

So come and join the throng

For I can look inside your mind

And so let's see what I can find

If you are brave to your core

How about Good Gryffindor?

What if you're kind and not so tough?

You'd do well in Hufflepuff

If your intelligence leaves others in awe

Let's put you in Ravenclaw

Or if you're the sly one of your kin

We must put you in Slytherin

Just put me here on top your head

And find out where you'll make your bed!"

And with that, the sorting hat finished with thunderous applause from the students.

"Now when I call your name you will come forth and sit on the stool where the sorting hat will place you in your houses." Professor McGonagall called.

Remus wasn't paying attention, too worried about himself when he heard the name "Black, Sirius" called. He looked over and saw that his mate was very pale and his hands were shaking. Remus gave him a reassuring smile and Sirius returned it, although it was more like a grimace.

Remus watched Sirius slowly make his way forward to the stool and heard excited whispers from the Slytherin table. The hat was placed on his head and after only thirty seconds the hat shouted "Gryffindor!"

There was a stunned silence in the Great Hall but, with a face-splitting smile on his face, Sirius ran to the Gryffindor table. There was a sudden shout from somewhere in the hall, although Remus assumed it was from the Slytherin table, of "Blood traitor!" This, however, didn't seem to faze Sirius one bit as he sat looking excitedly towards his friends.

Next name to catch Remus' attention was "Evans, Lily" and a flash of red hair darted up to the stool. The girl he met earlier was also sorted into Gryffindor.

Remus stopped paying attention but was startled out of his mindless wandering when the name "Lupin, Remus" was called out. He didn't have time to panic because his feet were shuffling him forward of their own accord. Before he knew it he was sitting on the stool and everything went dark as the sorting hat fell over his eyes.

"Ah, a werewolf! You're the first one that I've seen here. Where to put you, where to put you… you would do well in Ravenclaw, you certainly have the mind for it. But you are very brave considering what you have to go through every month. Better be… GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted the last word.

There was a roar of cheering coming from the Gryffindor table and he could see Sirius motioning for him to sit next to him and James and Peter clapping from the crowd of first years yet to be sorted. He made his way next to Sirius and began to feel his muscles slowly relax along with his heart beat.

Then came "Malfoy, Lucius" and a boy with white blonde hair walked smoothly forward. The hat barely touched his head before shouting "Slytherin!" he had a nasty smirk on his face and he sauntered over to the table of similarly smirking Slytherins. He fits in with that crowd, Remus thought.

He heard Sirius make a sort of growling noise behind him and looked to see him sneering in the blonde boy's direction as he made his way to the green clad table.

Many more names went in a blur. A girl names "Malcolm, Serenity", a very pretty girl with black hair and bright blue eyes came and sat down next to Lily and were talking animatedly before the next names were called. Then came Peter as he was also sorted into Gryffindor. The next two were sorted into Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

"Potter, James" called Professor McGonagall. There were more excited whispers coming from the Gryffindor table.

Sirius leaned over and whispered to Remus "The Potters have been in Gryffindor for generations, if he was put in another house, it would be quite the shock. Kind of like when I was sorted." Sirius just chuckled merrily and Remus smiled at his friend's merriment.

The hat barely touched James' head when it shouted "Gryffindor!" and he made a mad dash to sit on the other side of Sirius. Remus gave him a happy clap on the back but when he turned around, he saw the Lily girl give them a hard look. She seemed to brighten up when her friend from the train was called up though.

"Snape, Severus" walked up with his shoulders hunched over and sweat pouring down his pale face and down his hooked nose. Just as it did with James, the hat barely touched his head before shouting "Slytherin!" There was a polite applause but no one other than Lily really cheered. Although Remus could tell that she was slightly disappointed.

The rest of the waiting first years were sorted and Remus took note of who the boys of Gryffindor's first years were because he assumed that they were going to be lodging together. There was him, James, Sirius, Peter, and a boy named Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley was a dark skinned, stern looking boy with dark brown, yet warm eyes. He didn't really say much as he sat down and Remus thought that he wouldn't be giving him and his friends much trouble.

When the hall quieted down, the headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, stood up and motioned for silence while he gave his beginning of the year feast. "Welcome to all of the new and returning students to Hogwarts. I would like to remind you that like the name suggests, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students. The caretaker, Mr. Filch would also like me to supply that students are not to use magic in the corridors. I hope that this year is full of fun and learning. Now, let's feast!"

He waved his hands and the tables filled with all sorts of food. There was roast beef, fried chicken, boiled potatoes, rice, steamed vegetables, every bread you could think of, and pitchers of pumpkin juice and other drinks.

Remus looked around at his three friends and they all silently sent each other a message before they began furiously stuffing their faces with as much food as possible, much to the disgusted look of Lily and the other Gryffindor girls. When the four boys had their fill of food, a mischievous grin spread across their faces as they pulled out their wands.

With a whisper of the spell from all four of them, the food from the tables floated in the air and started to attack the students. The hall went into chaos. Some of the older students were trying to blow up the food and shield themselves from being hit by the flying pudding. The teachers cried in outrage and confusion and tried to calm the students down while simultaneously stopping the food from hitting them. The only ones not getting hit were the four troublemakers and Professor Dumbledore, for he had some sort of protective bubble preventing the food from hitting him. The Professor just silently watched the chaos with a merry twinkle in his eyes as he regarded the four boys at the Gryffindor table. With a wave of his hand, the chaos stopped. The food fell to the ground, the students and staff stopped running around and shouting, and the hall fell into complete shocked silence.

"You four!" Professor McGonagall shouted, looking at the four clean, grinning boys. "Detention! And thirty points taken each! This is an outrage!" Although Remus felt slightly guilty, he couldn't get over the pure joy he felt that the prank worked.

Professor Dumbledore just stood up and said with his kind, yet authoritative voice "I do believe it's time for you all to head to your Common Rooms. If you would kindly follow the Prefects of your houses, they will show you the way." With the end of his announcement, the student body moved as one out of the Great Hall, leaving the teachers to deal with the mess they left behind.

"That was bloody brilliant!" exclaimed Sirius, putting his arms around Remus and James. The three of them, and Peter, walked with the rest of their food covered housemates to their common rooms without a care in the world. Well except for their detentions.