Dusk was gathering and the train started to slow. "We're nearly there," Fred said. James straightened his robes and felt nervous. Lucy's face had gone white and she was clearly nervous too.

"It'll be all right," James said to her, even though he himself felt hollow. The journey up to the castle was blurry. He didn't remember saying hello to Hagrid, even though he knew he had, and he didn't remember getting into the boat to cross the lake.

However he did remember seeing the castle for the first time. He'd heard about Hogwarts his entire life, and imagined the castle in several ways. He didn't expect it to be so vast. In the darkness he couldn't see the details, but the amount of torches and fires lighting up the windows showed it even bigger than he'd expected. It was a vast building.

"Wow!" Lucy whispered from the front of the boat. "This is a school?"

"Hogwarts," James said under his breath, feeling a sense of awe that he hadn't anticipated. Ever since he could remember he'd expected to go here. But he couldn't believe he'd actually set eyes on the school after so long. It looked magnificent. The boats drew to a stop, grinding slightly as they hit the shore. All of the first years jumped down, some of the girls squealed as their feet got wet at the edge of the lake. Hagrid led them up to the great hall, a silence falling over the lot of them. They waited outside the closed doors as a tall man in dark green robes holding a roll of parchment approached them and Hagrid said goodbye as he walked of. The stranger had blonde hair and a goatee and an exasperated unpleasant look on his face. James did not like the look of him one bit.

"I'm Professor Martin, the deputy headmaster," he said. "I will be leading you into the great hall for the sorting. For those of you who don't know, all you have to do is try on the sorting hat, which will then tell you which house is yours. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. These hourglasses here show the level of the house points," he said, pointing out the four identical items, all empty of stones in the bottom half, the top filled with bulging gems of blue, red, green and yellow. As the students watched one green glass stone dropped from the top into the bottom, indicating Slytherin. It made a tiny tinkling sound as it hit the bottom.

"The winner of the house cup will be the house with the most points at the end of the school year. Now, if you'd like to follow me." He pointed his wand at the doors which flew open and then led the first years to the front of the hall. The buzz of conversation died down as everyone watched them and James felt like he was under a bright spotlight. He looked too much like his father and he knew people would make comparisons.

"Everyone's staring at me," Lucy hissed under her breath.

"Why would they be staring at you?" James asked. Lucy didn't get a chance to answer as Professor Martin glared at them to be quiet, but her face turned red anyway. There was a stool with an old hat sitting there and James felt sick when he knew what was coming. He stared at the hat as the hall filled with total silence. Then the rip at the mouth opened and the hat began to sing.

Another time has come and gone,
It's now the start of the year.
Once more I'm here to sort you all,
But don't you dare to fear.
I know where you do best belong,
And see inside your mind.
I place you where is right for you,
Even though I'm blind.
So what are these houses four?
Well let me tell the story.
Four people of greatest magic
Began this school of glory.
They split the students into four,
Each child for their own place.
And now I will describe to you,
Why each one has its grace.
Gryffindor's are brave and daring,
Ravenclaw's are smarter than you,
Slytherin's are ambitious,
Hufflepuff's are just and true.
Each one is a unique house,
For its own special reasons.
So put me on, I'm never wrong,
No matter what the season.

The hall burst into applause and James felt very distant from his body. He couldn't get his brain to connect. Did every first year student feel like this? Before he could dwell further on it Professor Martin started reading names from the list. First was a tiny boy called David Appleby. He was pronounced a "Slytherin!" loudly and he went and joined that table, relief on his face.

James looked at Fred, knowing he would be nearly last and saw that he looked slightly green. Lucy looked white. James had no idea what he looked like but he knew it couldn't be good. "Lucy Chadwick."

She went up to the stool and sat nervously as the hat slid on past her eyes. After a minute or two it declared "Hufflepuff!" to the room at large. James felt his heart sink. He would have liked to have a friend with him in Gryffindor. That is if he got into Gryffindor in the first place he thought with a surge of terror. He counted the seconds as each name got called off. He was concentrating so hard that he almost missed his own name. "James Potter." A hiss like a snake went over the hall.

"Potter?"

"The Harry Potters son?"

"Got to be. Looks just like him."

"Oh yeah, even has the glasses!"

"That will do!" Professor Martin said, quelling the hall with a look. They went into silence as James put the hat on his head.

"Hello Potter, I've been wondering when you were going to come to Hogwarts," a voice in his ear said. James's only thought was hurry up. He didn't like the entire hall watching him. The hat tsked in his ear. "Don't worry, I'm never wrong. People with magical parents always seem so worried. I think I know what to do with you James.

"Hufflepuff!" There was a mixture of applause and gasps. James guessed that, like himself, people had thought he would be a Gryffindor. But he wasn't. His heart went down to the depths of the earth as he realised he wouldn't be sitting at the Gryffindor table. He wouldn't sit where his father and mother had sat twenty years ago. Instead, he had to go to the Hufflepuff table. He took the hat off and went to sit next to Lucy, his heart low.

How would he ever be able to tell his parents this?

Thanks for the reviews so far. I'll try to get more written in the next couple of days :)