Chapter 2, Year 1

The House with a Badger

Alex, Sara, and Isaac were riding the Hogwarts Express until nightfall. Alex wondered if they would ever arrive at their destination. Would it take more than one day to get to Hogwarts?

At that moment, the train started to slow down and came to a halt: They were finally at the fantastic wizarding school that Alex had heard so many stories about! As she gazed out of the compartment window into the darkness she could see the faint outline of a huge, grand castle with many towers and lit windows. She had never been told that Hogwarts was a castle…

Suddenly Sara leaped from her seat and exclaimed, "Woah! Is tha' 'Ogwarts?! It's a 'UGE princess castle!"

"It's not for princesses. It's for witches and wizards, I said that before," said Isaac, sounding slightly exasperated as he grabbed his luggage from the shelf overhead.

"Well, Imma be singin' Disney songs anyway," Sara said, and Alex couldn't help but smile at that.

As the students unloaded from the crimson train, the first years were told to go towards the giant lake while the older students rode towards the castle in carriages that seemed to be pulled by absolutely nothing. Were there invisible horses at Hogwarts?

"Firs' years over 'ere!"

A man nearly the size of a giant was waving an enormous hand while standing by the lake and calling over first year students. Sara and Isaac hurried over to the group of first years and Alex quickly followed. The giant, hairy man was explaining that first years will be traveling across the lake in boats.

Alex boarded the boat with Sara and Isaac, holding on very tight to Sandy's cage. She did not want to lose any of her school supplies, especially her beloved brown owl. As the boat glided across the black water, Alex had a sudden desire to stick her hand in the water but she felt far too anxious to do so.

As they entered the grand castle, a tall woman with glasses and her hair in a tight bun was telling the first years to follow her. She led them into a separate room and told everyone to line up in a single-file line. At this point, Alex was separated from Sara and Isaac because the single-file line was supposed to be in alphabetical order.

She wondered what exactly was going to happen next, and why all of the first years were in this separate room rather than the big, shimmering dining hall they had passed on their way here. She felt scared. Her mother had never told her about this part, and how she was miles away from home. From a distance, Alex could hear Sara asking all of these same questions.

Suddenly, the door leading into the dining hall opened. The line began to move forward and suddenly the first-years were standing in front of all of the older students. This made Alex even more nervous. She was always afraid of being in front of large crowds. She wanted this to end. She wanted to know what was going on.

At that moment, the tall bespectacled lady brought out a small stool and an old, worn-out witch hat. It had many stitches and patches, and Alex wondered why it was now sitting on a stool in front of everyone. Then a large hole in the hat opened and it began to emit noise. It was not only speaking, but it was singing!

The song told about the four Hogwarts houses: Gryffindors, who are brave and daring; Hufflepuffs, who are patient and loyal; Ravenclaws, who are wise and intelligent; and Slytherins, who are cunning and ambitious.

Alex, personally, thought the ones that sounded best were the puffle ones. Whatever she did, however, she did not want to end up in the snake house like her father. Her mother always said that the snake house people were not bad, but advised Alex to be cautious around them.

First years were already being called to the stool and sorted into various houses. Alex watched from the back of the line as the hat was placed upon student's heads.

"Derico, Justin."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

An Asian boy who seemed incredibly shy hurried over to the table covered in the colors garnet and gold.

"Ethrite, Joshua."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

A short boy with dirty blonde hair hurried over to the table covered in the colors yellow and black.

"Hambinite, Morganne."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Khane, Star."

"RAVENCLAW!"

A short girl with bushy black hair hurried over to the table covered in the colors blue and bronze. Then the girl on the train who was screaming about her bag was called up to the hat. Alex remembered how unconfortable she felt around her. Please don't put me in the same house as her, thought Alex, I hope that doesn't sound mean…

The girl was then sorted into Ravenclaw, and Alex couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the girl named Star.

After a few more names were called, it was finally Sara's turn to go up and sit on the stool. Alex assumed she was talking with the hat about which house she would prefer because she could see Sara pointing slightly at the Ravenclaw table.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. It took Sara a few moments to overcome her disappointment, but eventually she stood up and walked happily over to the garnet and gold table. After a few more students, Isaac was called to the stool and sorted into Gryffindor as well.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem nervous." The tan boy with glasses who stood directly in front of Alex seemed to notice her slight trembling. Alex flushed and nodded vigorously for she could not find her voice at that moment. "Oh, well there's no need to be nervous. I know it's the first day, but Hogwarts eventually becomes a sort of second home to people."

"Worle, Reed."

The boy gave Alex a friendly smile as he walked toward the stool.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Alex could not believe her ears. Slytherin? The boy had seemed so nice, how was that possible? Maybe Slytherins were not as bad as she had once thought.

"Wrial, Alexandria."

It was now Alex's turn to be sorted into a house. She felt incredibly nervous as she walked toward the stool, her arms and legs were shaking. As she sat down, Sara waved vigorously to her from the Gryffindor table. This made Alex calm down a bit as the hat was placed upon her head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the sorting hat without any hesitation.

Alex hurried quickly towards the table of yellow and black. She felt relieved to be sitting down and was very happy with being put into Hufflepuff. Sara was congratulating her from across the hall. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables were right across from each other.

After Alex thanked and congratulated her, she turned around to see her fellow Hufflepuffs. They were all very kind and gave her a warm welcoming.

"Hi," said a voice to her left. "My name is Josh. When I saw you standing up there you looked really scared. I wanted to make sure you're okay,"

Alex realized this was the dirty-blonde-haired boy who was first sorted into Hufflepuff. As Alex nodded, she realized he had green eyes. She was always rather fond of green eyes.

"I'm just nervous. I-I'm not used to this stuff yet," Alex explained in a small voice.

"Are you a muggle-born?" asked Josh, tilting his head slightly.

"No, I'm a half-blood. I live with my Muggle mom though,"

"Oh, well if you ever need any help then feel free to ask. Purebloods like me know all about these kinds of things," Josh winked, and Alex gave a slight chuckle.

The dining hall, or Great Hall as she heard the older students calling it, fell silent at that moment. The lady with glasses and a tight bun whom Alex met earlier had stood up and begun to speak. She gave a speech about having an amazing year and how she has arranged the schedules to give more diversity between houses.

After she finished her speech and sat down, the plates in front the students began to fill with various foods, such as chicken and roasted sweet potato, and their goblets filled with many drink options, such as butterbeer and apple juice. Just as Alex finished her dinner, thinking she could not fit any more food in her stomach, various desserts and pastries filled the plates once again. She could not resist trying one or two wizarding deserts. Or perhaps seven.

After the amazing meal, it was time for the students to head to their dormitories for bed. Students stood up from their seats and began to head towards the doors of the Great Hall. Alex had no idea where to go, and quickly joined Sara in fear of getting lost.

"Do ya kno' where we're suppose' to goh?" Sara asked, and Alex shook her head. Then she heard an older student call for the Hufflepuffs and another for the Gryffindors.

"Follow me, I'm a Prefect!" said the older students simultaneously. Alex then joined the Perfect student of Hufflepuff and Sara joined the Perfect student of Gryffindor.

As they exited the Great Hall, the Gryffindors began to head towards the staircase that went upwards and the Hufflepuffs went through a door with a staircase that led downwards. Sara told Alex to be careful, Alex saying it in return, then began to mumble about the amount of stairs.

As the group of Hufflepuffs approached a stack of barrels, the Perfect student was showing the first years how to get into the common room. Alex had noticed on the way that the common room is very close to the Hogwarts kitchen, and this pleased her.

After choosing the correct barrel, she crawled through a tunnel into the common room. It had many honey-colored wooden tables and chairs, and small green cushions near the fireplace. It was filled with various types of plants that Alex hardly recognized. She overheard someone saying that Professor Sprout did a wonderful job with decorating this year.

One of the Perfects of Hufflepuff showed her where her dormitory will be for the rest of her time at Hogwarts. She was led to a circular wooden door nearest the fireplace, and as she opened it she could see the circular room with wooden bedsteads covered in patchwork quilts.

As Alex began to unpack her trunk, which had already been placed next to her bedstead, another girl entered the room. This girl seemed to be older than her and she had curly dirty-blonde hair. It wasn't until she approached her bedstead that she noticed Alex was also in the room.

"Oh! Hi…are you new?" she asked.

"Y-yes," Alex said in a nervous voice, her face now starting to turn pink.

"Oh, well hi, I'm Michayla. I guess I'll be sharing a dormitory with you."

"Hi," Alex said, hoping her smile came off as sincere.

Later, after Alex had crawled into bed, she was laying on her side thinking about all that had happened today. She gripped her pillow rather tight. It was the one she had packed with her. Although she felt a little homesick, thinking about Hogwarts made her feel better. She would write her mother often, and she would have Sara and they boy named Josh to keep her company. As she drifted off to sleep, she remembered what the Slytherin boy had told her earlier: Hogwarts eventually becomes a sort of second home to people.

At that point, she almost knew that Hogwarts would always be here to welcome her home.