Clutching his suitcase, Peter stepped out of the train. What he saw nearly took his breath away. Across a lake was a huge castle, glowing with lights. "That's Hogwarts," Lucas said, coming up behind him. Peter could only nod in response.

"Firs' years over here!" A gruff voice called out. A very large man was standing by a bunch of boats.

"That's Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher," Lucas informed him. "He taught Harry Potter; isn't that just so cool?"

Peter nodded again as he walked over to the boats and sat down in one. Lucas sat down next to him, and so did Jason and Nadia from the train. Lucas was practically shaking. "We're going to Hogwarts, like, Hogwarts!"

"Dude, you're going to tip the boat," Jason said.

The boats started moving by themselves, like magic. Peter internally rolled his eyes at himself. It wasn't like magic, it was magic. He wondered if he would learn to do this.

Before he knew, they were all standing inside Hogwarts. The next moments flew by in a blur. Suddenly, they were lined up in what Lucas informed him was the "Great Hall," and a lady named Professor McGonagall was talking to them. Lucas whispered that she taught Harry Potter, too, and she was the head of the Gryffindor house.

The next thing Peter knew, Lucas was going up to be sorted. Peter crossed his fingers for his new friend. The Sorting Hat was gently placed on his head. Lucas' eyes were squeezed shut, and Peter could barely make out him mouthing "Gryffindor". And indeed, the hat roared "GRYFFINDOR!" A huge grin split Lucas' face as the Gryffindor table burst into applause. Peter applauded too, but less vigorously. He hoped he would be Gryffindor so he could be with the one person he knew. Lucas beamed and waved to Peter as he sat down.

The next person Peter knew who was getting sorted was Matt Lloyd, who also got sorted into Gryffindor. Peter politely applauded, but he was terrified, even though he wasn't getting sorted for quite a bit.

"McConnell, Jason!" Professor McGonagall announced. Jason strode up to the Sorting Hat, looking calm and collected. Peter tensed up as the hat was placed on his head. "SLYTHERIN!" it called out. Peter felt a wave of disappoinment run through him. He wanted to be in the same house as Jason. You could still be sorted into Slytherin, he reminded himself. But he didn't want to. Jason strode over to the Slytherin table, a proud, smug grin on his face.

His sister, Nadia, was also sorted into Slytherin. She grinned as she waltzed over to the table, giving Jason a high five. The other girl from the train, Ivy Robinson, was sorted into Slytherin too, and she sat next to Jason, smiled at him, and began to talk to him as Nadia rolled her eyes.

"Potter, James!" Everyone began whispering. Peter realized that this was the boy Lucas had been talking about. He had messy black hair and strode up in a way not unlike Jason, with a wide grin on his face. The hat barely touched his head before roaring "GRYFFINDOR!" Everyone burst into the loudest applause yet. With a cocky smile, he took his place at the Gryffindor table, everyone there cheering and patting him on the back.

"Simmonds, Peter!" Peter didn't feel like he was able to move, but suddenly he was sitting and the hat was being placed on his head. Peter gulped as it began to talk to him.

"Hmm...you have a lot of good qualities. You're smart, you could do well in Ravenclaw. You might even be a good Slytherin. But ultimately..." it paused. Peter held his breath. "It better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Peter was in shock. His legs felt like lead as he somehow managed to walk over to the raucous table. He flopped down in a seat next to Lucas, who grinned and threw his arms around Peter.

"I knew, I just knew you'd be Gryffindor! This is so great! We can hang out all the time and I'm just so happy!" Lucas babbled on as Matt smiled and said, "Congrats."

The rest of the sorting finished up and Professor McGonagall stood up. "I'd like to say a few words before we begin our feast. Remember that the Forbidden Forest is, in fact, forbidden. And as a reminder, hexing other students is not allowed, even if it is "all in good fun"," she seemed to stare directly at the Gryffindor table at that. "Now, let us eat!"

Multitudes of all different kinds of food suddenly appeared on the table. "Isn't this great?" Lucas laughed, piling food onto his dish. Ghosts began to appear all throughout the Great Hall. Everyone was laughing and smiling, and for the first time, Peter felt like he really belonged somewhere. Here, where people were actually being friendly towards him and actively engaging him in conversation. He already had two friends and they only just got here.

There was only one word that would describe this whole situation.

Magical.