Chapter One
I'm incredibly excited the night before I go to Hogwarts for the first time. What child isn't? I've gone to a muggle primary school for the last six years, and although it's nice and I've made some good friends there, I know Hogwarts will be a million times better. Just being able to have a little more independence will be wonderful. Walking to different classes with my friends, rather than being shepherded everywhere by an overprotective primary school teacher. Being able to go to sleep at whatever time I like every night, and not having my parents around to tell me what to eat and what to wear and when to do my homework.
Not that I won't miss my parents, because I will. I love them both to bits, but they drive me mad sometimes. Mum nags too much, and Dad has got to be one of the most embarrassing parents in the history of the world. Plus whenever we go out as a family people keep staring at them because they're the famous Ron and Hermione Weasley. It gets pretty annoying sometimes.
I will miss my brother, though. Not that I'd ever tell him, but he means the world to me. Of course we wind each other up most of the time, but that doesn't mean we don't love each other. I mean, brothers and sisters are supposed to argue, aren't they? I'll miss not having him around all the time, but it's only for two years, then he'll be coming to Hogwarts too.
So the excitement definitely outweighs any nerves I might be feeling about leaving my family behind. After all, half my family are at Hogwarts already. I think I must have at least one cousin in every year at Hogwarts. And of course Albus will be starting at the same time as me, and he's the cousin I'm closest to. So there's no way I'll get homesick or anything like that. At least I hope not.
It takes me a while to get to sleep. I find myself speculating about what house I'll be in. I know that Albus is worried about it, but I'm not. I'm aware that there's still a bit of prejudice about the issue among some people, but that's just stupid. The war was nineteen years ago, for heaven's sake. Everybody knows that Slytherin isn't just made up of future death eaters nowadays. Slytherins are just perfectly ordinary people, though there's still a bit of rivalry between them and Gryffindor. But the Sorting is just an interesting way of determining a little bit about somebody's personality and allowing them to spend their time at school with people who are similar to them.
I guess Dad might be a little bit disappointed if I'm not in Gryffindor, but he'll get over it. It's no longer automatic that all Weasleys go into Gryffindor. James did (though he's actually a Potter, not a Weasley) and so did Fred and Roxanne. But Molly (who's two years older than me) went into Ravenclaw. Victoire (who's going into seventh year this year) is in Ravenclaw too, but Dominique is in Slytherin and Louis is only starting this year so we don't know where he'll be. There's quite a lot of rivalry within the family now, but it's all pretty friendly. The adults try not to pick sides, but it's hard for them because they were all in Gryffindor. Well, except Auntie Fleur and Auntie Audrey because neither of them went to Hogwarts, so they don't really understand it all.
Anyway, the only reason Al is worried is because James keeps telling him he'll be in Slytherin. Which is stupid, because it's obvious that he won't be. Not that there's anything wrong with Slytherins (me and Dominique get on really well) but it's fairly clear that Al isn't one. I don't think he's a Gryffindor either, though. Personally I think he'll probably be in Ravenclaw, and I'm almost always right about this. Since I was six or seven I've been guessing which house each of my cousins will go into, and I've been right every time. Not that I've told anyone, because they like to think that it's this big surprise, but I just have a bit of an instinct for it.
If I'm right then Al will go into Ravenclaw, and Lily and Hugo will both go into Hufflepuff when they start in two years. Louis will probably be in Ravenclaw, but he might be in Slytherin. I'm not completely sure. He's got elements of both houses. And Lucy will be in Gryffindor. There's absolutely no doubt about that.
The only person whose house I really don't have a clue about is mine. Apparently my instinct doesn't work when it comes to figuring out myself. I guess I'd quite like to stay with Al, but at the same time I'm not sure if I'm a Ravenclaw. I certainly read a lot. And I always get pretty high marks at school. But so did Mum, and she was a Gryffindor.
I guess I'll just have to wait and see. No matter what house I'm in, I'm just happy to be going to Hogwarts at last.
Eventually I manage to drift off to sleep, knowing I have a long and tiring, if very exciting, day ahead of me. The next time I fall asleep it'll be in a bed at Hogwarts, though in what dorm I really have no idea.