"Let's go!" She said breathlessly. She grabbed him by the hand and pulled. They had been told to leave their luggage and pets on the train - they'd be brought up to Hogwarts separately. So they left their cats in their carriers and their trunks on the racks and, propelled mostly by Bonnie's excitement, emerged onto the Hogsmeade platform. A man, larger than any Bonnie had ever seen, and hairy, held a lantern and called the first years to him. A flock of eleven year olds bumped shoulders and waited anxiously. The only noted exception was a pair of twins with bright-red hair. Bonnie could only assume that these were the Weasley twins Addie had told her about.
The man, Bonnie knew, was Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Alan had told her about him, and walked her through the boat ride to the castle.
"It's really quite nice," he had told her. "Nicer than the carriages, even. And don't worry too much about the Sorting, it doesn't hurt or anything..."
Ian and Bonnie stepped into a boat with three others - a good-natured boy with bright grey eyes and two other girls. The girls talked between themselves, leaving Ian, Bonnie, and the grey-eyed boy to themselves.
"I'm Cedric," the boy said, shaking hands firmly with both. "Cedric Diggory."
"I'm Bonnie, and this is Ian." Ian smiled at her, shy and grateful that she'd successfully avoided his last name by not giving hers.
"Good to meet you," Cedric said. Bonnie liked him immediately, for his manners and his kindness. Ian didn't talk much, but replied when spoken to. All fell silent as their boat sailed itself toward the magnificently gleaming castle.
It was everything Bonnie had dreamed of, and more. Better. The students were ushered off of the boats and into the castle where they were greeted by the stern figure of Professor McGonagall, Alan's favorite teacher and Head-of-House.
"Welcome, first years," she said. "to Hogwarts School. In a few moments you will pass through the doors of the Great Hall and join your future classmates for the Sorting Ceremony. There, you will all be Sorted into one of the four Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
A hushed sort of muttering went through the crowd of first years as fragments of family Houses and guesses of where they would be Sorted swept around. It did not cease until Professor McGonagall clapped her hands together.
"Follow me, please," she said. The doors to the Great Hall opened, and immediately the first-years were fixed with the curious stares of the upper classes. Shoulder to shoulder they filed through until they all stood before a stool and a curious, shabby old hat that sat atop it.
Professor McGonagall quickly silenced the Great Hall, and held up a scroll of parchment.
As they watched, the hat opened it's mouth - a great rip near the brim - and began to sing.
Bonnie did not pay much attention to the words, she was too busy staring around the Great Hall. The high, enchanted ceilings that displayed the thin grey clouds that played hide-and-seek with the stars. The floating candles. The torches. The tables of each House, differentiated by the colors of the students' robes. When the hat had finished singing, Professor McGonagall stepped forward again, and held up a scroll of parchment.
"When I call your name," she said, "You will join me here at the front, where you will sit on this stool. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and it will sort you into one of the four houses. When you have been sorted, you will join your House for our welcome feast. Now...
Abrams, Stella!"
Bonnie watched carefully, suddenly glad that her surname did not begin with "A". She wouldn't like to be first, not at all.
Stella Abrams was a tall, thin girl who moved with a dancer's grace toward the stool. When she had been seated, ankles crossed and hands folded, Professor McGonagall lowered the hat onto her head. A few moments passed before the hat shouted: RAVENCLAW!
The Ravenclaw table burst into applause as Stella, smiling, skipped over to join them.
One by one, students were sorted. Bonnie lost track of them. "Davies, Roder" was sorted into Ravenclaw, and then "Diggory, Cedric!" was called. Cedric smiled at her as he excused himself politely, other students complying as he moved between them. He sat on the stool, hands gripping the sides, as McGonagall lowered the hat.
His was the quickest yet. No sooner had the hat touched the tips of his ears than it bellowed: HUFFLEPUFF!
There was a flurry of yellow as the Hufflepuffs cheered, happily welcoming their newest member.
Edwards, Terrence. SLYTHERIN. A burst of activity from the green-and-silver table. It seemed to take forever to sort through the Es, the Fs, the Gs. Finally, finally, McGonagall called her name into the crowd of first years.
"Hargrave, Bonnie!"
There was a whoop from the Gryffindor table from Alan, who seemed to be quickly hushed. But it eliminated the fear that had been slowly building inside of her, and allowed Bonnie to smile as she perched neatly on the edge of the stool, her feet resting on the bottom rung. She felt McGonagall slide the hat over her head.
And then there was a soft voice in her ear that made it jump at its first syllable. Faintly, she heard the chuckles of the students, but the voice quickly overpowered them.
"Well, well, well," the hat said, "Another Hargrave child, hmm? Your brother Alan proved quite a surprise. The first Gryffindor in your family for generations. Hmm. A gentle, quiet one you are. Uncomplicated. Plenty of intelligence, yes, but no thirst for it...cleverness, but no ambition for it. No thirst for power, and you don't care much for proving yourself, do you? Prefer to be on the sidelines rather than the center of attention, hmm?"
Yes, Bonnie thought. Yes, that sounded right.
"Brave, but not daring. Honorable. Loyal, and kind to a fault. You'd better watch that, my dear, it may one day do you harm...stubborn as the day is long and fiercely protective of those you love. It seems, little Bonnie, that Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are the options open to us."
The hat fell silent for a moment, and Bonnie felt the nerves close up her throat. What if the hat couldn't decide? What if she was thrown out of Hogwarts before she'd even begun? What if...?
"Not to worry, not to worry," the hat said. "It seems to me that you truly belong in...HUFFLEPUFF!"
Hufflepuff! Her mother's house. Cedric's new House. She found her new friend's smile easily in the crowd as she ran to join her new Housemates. Sitting between Cedric and an older girl with bright-pink hair, Bonnie settled in to watch the rest of the Sorting.
"Johnson, Angelina" was soon sorted into Gryffindor, as was "Jordan, Lee!"
A few more students were placed in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, until a very few students were left standing at the front, the Weasley twins among them.
"Gryffindor, for sure," the pink-haired girl beside Bonnie said, as if she'd had the same thought as Bonnie.
"Don't be so sure, Nymphadora" replied a boy across from her. "It doesn't always run in families."
"It does with the Weasleys," the girl replied. "And don't call me that, I told you...!"
She turned to Bonnie and rolled her eyes.
"I hate my name," she explained. "Nymphadora. What a wretched name for a child, right? Most people call me Tonks." Her eyes were dark and twinkling with both good nature and mischief. Bonnie, though rather taken aback by the girl's vividness...of hair and of personality...nevertheless couldn't help but like her.
"I'm Bonnie," she replied softly. Tonks nodded.
"Your brother's the year below me. Prefect, right?"
Bonnie nodded.
"I was never made Prefect," she said with a shrug.
"She causes too much trouble," the boy who had called her Nymphadora said with a wink. "Now be quiet, you lot, and let's watch the Sorting."
They settled down, just in time for "Rosier, Ian!" to be called.
A hush seemed to fall, just slightly. There had been other children of Death Eaters, of course. But Rosier was more well-known than most, a martyr to the Death Eaters and a particularly nasty sort to the rest.
"Rosier," muttered Tonks darkly. "I'll bet you anything he's in Slytherin."
But the hat didn't seem so sure. It took longer than it had even for Bonnie. Finally, after many long minutes, it confirmed Tonks' theory and, with a last glance at the only friend he'd yet made, Ian walked over to join the Slytherins.
"There's not a witch or wizard went bad that isn't in Slytherin," Tonks muttered darkly before Dumbledore rose to speak.
Ian hadn't seemed so bad, Bonnie thought, but a flicker of doubt overcame her. Thankfully, her thoughts were soon taken over by the singing of the Hogwarts' song and the appearance of heaps and heaps of delicious food.
When she was finally full and very sleepy, the Hufflepuff Prefect stood and called them to her. She was a pretty girl with wavy auburn hair and rosy cheeks who led them out of the Great Hall and down many flights of stairs until they came to a hallway containing a painting of fruit which, the Prefect explained, led to the kitchens.
"One of the many good things about being in Hufflepuff," she said with a wink. She led them to a stack of barrels, and pointed out one two from the bottom in the middle of the second row.
"This is the barrel that will let you in to the Common Room," she said. "Just tap it with your wand to the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff," like so..." She tapped her wand against the barrel, taptap taptaptap. "If a non-Hufflepuff gets in," she said as the passage opened, "The barrels will burst and absolutely drench them in vinegar. Quite easy to find them, after, by their smell...and Hufflepuffs are not above ridiculing imposters."
She led them through the tunnel and into the coziest-looking room that Bonnie had ever seen. It was large and round and quite low-ceilinged. For the first time, Bonnie was particularly thankful for her petiteness. There were large, round windows quite high on the ceiling which, according to the Prefect, looked out across dandelions and rippling grass during the day, and let loads of sunshine into the room. At the moment, though, they were quite dark - the fire crackling merrily in the fireplace gave the place a welcoming glow, however, reflecting off of the burnished copper touchings of the furniture. The furniture was all plush and inviting, and there were plants everywhere - some even burst into soft, sweet song when the first years arrived, and others which danced happily in the light of the fire.
"Through these doors, you'll find your dormitories," the first years were told as their Prefect gestured to big, round doors in the wall. "Boys on the left, girls on the right. If you need anything, just come find me - my name's Rosie Montgomery, and I'm a sixth year. Welcome to Hogwarts!"
The doors to the dormitories were opened, and Bonnie bid goodnight to Cedric as boys and girls split off.
Her first night at Hogwarts. And tomorrow, everything would really, truly begin.
((Don't worry - I know first year isn't very exciting, and we won't spend very long in it. These first three chapters are set-up. The real action will begin by Chapter Four.))