Meanwhile Albus, Rose and Scorpius headed in the direction of the carriages that were waiting lined up in pairs along the path. They clambered in to one of the carriages, and were joined by a rather nervous looking second year Hufflepuff, Dedrius Lovegood. He had shoulder length white hair and watery blue eyes. He was wearing an elven gold headband, which came to a point in the centre of his forehead and on his shoulder was a white dumbo rat, barely distinguishable from his hair. He was clutching a copy of The Quibbler, which as always, came with a free pair of spectrespecs. The carriages set off along the long winding path, as if being pulled by horses that could not be seen. Rose informed them that it was being pulled by Thestrals that could only be seen by those who had witnessed somebody dying. Albus found this to be rather depressing. He was cheered up almost immediately however by Whisker pawing at Rose's flaming red hair, and taking a tumble from her shoulder, to her lap. This caused Dedrius' rat to squeak in terror and run down the back of his robes. Scorpius also allowed himself a slight smirk at this, as Dedrius performed some sort of seated jig in order to recover his rat.
The carriages eventually pulled up outside the gates to Hogwarts, and the students piled out of them. As they approached the gate, there was a general murmur of confusion. Where the students would normally walk straight through and up the long cobbled path to the castle, they were greeted by Filch the caretaker, who was wearing a rather nasty grimace. He informed the students that he was instructed to check them for anything that may cause trouble or general disruption around the castle. Albus couldn't help but feel sorry for Nalia,who on her first day at Hogwarts, must have had to go through some sort of similar process when the first years vacated the boats the other end of the lake.
The students formed a que and one by one, had their robes and general personage checked by Filch. A dark haired Ravenclaw fourth year girl had several bags full of nosebleed nougats, Tonne-tongue toffee, puking pastilles, feinting fancies and fever fruities confiscated, and looked thoroughly miserable as she walked through the gates. A few more students were searched, and Gryffindor third year smirked as he passed the gate. Nothing had been found on him other than a quill, which looked altogether uninteresting so it had not been taken. Albus immediately recognised it as one of the disappearing quills from Weasleys Wizards Weasley's. The Slytherin fifth year In front of Albus had several rather large dung bombs confiscated and then it was Albus, Rose and Scorpius' turn. Filtch eyed them all suspiciously, and warned them he would be keeping a special eye on them, but as he found nothing untoward on any of them, he had no choice but to let them past. As they walked through the gate, they noticed Fitch's cat, Mr Gibbous. It was a huge black thing, which was more like a hairy pig. Mr Gibbous stared at them through unnerving green eyes, and let out a low, evil hiss. Scorpius, Rose and Albus all exchanged a look which said they were all resisting the urge to give him a good kick. Albus couldn't help but wonder if his father had this much trouble with Mrs Norris, Flich's old cat that had been killed during the infamous battle of Hogwarts. Filch often waxed lyrical about Mrs Norris, and how she was the bravest and most noble cat the world had ever seen.
They continued up the long path to the castle. Rose said that it was the strangest thing that people were being searched on the gates and a long discussion ensued about why on earth they had all had to submit to this 'invasion of privacy' as Scorpius had branded it. By the time Albus and Scorpius had finished ranting about how much more difficult getting Zonko's or Weasley products into the castle was going to be, with Rose periodically rolling her eyes, they were walking through the entrance of the castle. As they entered, the great hall was on their left, so after quickly taking bets on which house Nalia would be placed in, they hurried into the hall, said their goodbyes and went to sit on their house tables, ready for the start of year feast.
Nalia and the rest of the first years were waiting nervously in a room under the castle, getting quieter and quieter the more time went on. Letting her nerves get the better of her, Nalia started feeling quite sick and dizzy. She then gave herself a good talking to. After all, her new friends, Albus, Rose and Scorpius had assured her there was nothing to be scared of, and all she had to do was try on a hat. As she was telling herself all, of this, silvery figures started coming through the walls. The figures were clearly men and women, but how had they come through the wall, why were they see through and why were they flying...surely they weren't, they couldn't be could they? All of these questions went whizzing through Nalias mind, but her suspicions were confirmed when a tall boy with mousse brown short hair, swept to the side, spoke to one of these figures. 'Hey... I know you! You're in Hogwarts, a history, 5th edition! You're Nearly Headless Nick, Ghost of Gryffindor tower!'. 'Its Nicholas DeMimsy Porpington to you young man!' He said rather sharply. 'But yes, I am the ghost of Gryffindor tower...first years' he sighed, and glided through the opposite wall.
Just then, a tall, slender witch with white spiky hair, and piercing yellow eyes, burst through the door and the room fell silent. 'I am Madam Hooch, deputy headmistress, and head of flying and quidditch here at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Through the door behind me is the great hall. You will proceed silently and in an orderly manner, to the front of the hall when I direct you. Your names will then be called, in last name alphabetical order. When your name is called, you will sit on the stool at the front and the sorting hat will be placed on your head. It will choose your house, which you will keep throughout your time at Hogwarts, and you may then join your classmates at the appropriate table'. Something in the tone of Madam Hooch's voice told Nalia that she was not a witch to be messed with. Madam Hooch then went on to explain the house point system, which was simple enough. Good behaviour and achieving well would earn you house points, rule breaking and disruptive behaviour lost your house points. The house with the most points at the end of the year won the cup. Her head swimming with thoughts of flying, house points, houses and sorting, Nalia lined up with the rest of the first years , and as Madam Hooch held the door open and beckoned them, they all walked into the great hall.
Nalia gasped as she took in all the bright colours and banners, some with snakes, others with badgers or an eagle, and some with a roaring lion. The ones behind the long table at the front had the Hogwarts crest and moto, 'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus' emblazoned on them. Nalia did not know what this meant but was sure Draco had something to with dragons, and resolved to ask Albus or Rose about the motto and what it meant. It was then Nalia noticed the ceiling, pitch black with shining stars, the occasional comet could be seen shooting past. The stars were almost as bright as the enchanted candles floating neatly all around the great hall. She marvelled at the beauty of it all. Amongst the sea of faces she saw Rose at the table under the red banners with the roaring lions on them, that must be the Gryffindors. Rose gave her a reassuring wave and smile, which mad Nalia felt a little better.
At the front of the hall, up a short set of stairs, an old, tatty witches hat. Nalia was very confused, how could this hat possibly tell them which house they were in? Just as Nalia was contemplating this, the rip in the seam near the brim of the hat opened and the hat started singing.
'Those new to Hogwarts and you who return,
Heed my words and try to learn.
Though this school will bring its share of toil,
Your spirit and happiness it will not spoil.
In one of the four houses you shall find your place,
So do your best to work hard and keep up with the pace.
To all the students old and new,
You, these lucky chosen few,
Through your time here, you will will be shown,
In Hogwarts, you shall always have a home'.
The hat bowed and the great hall erupted into applause, and though Nalia found a singing hat to be quite odd, she was sure it would not be the strangest thing she saw during her time here.
The throng of first years got smaller and smaller as they all tried on the hat and got sorted into their houses, Nalia spotted Albus and Scorpius near the front on the table under the green banner with a winding serpent on. That must be the slytherin table. Scorpius spotted her and gave her a sly wink, at which Nalia felt herself blush as she looked down at her feet and smiled.
Detheridge, Malissa was sorted into Ravenclaw and the table under the blue banners with the eagle burst into applause. Diggle, Dawlish became a Gryffindor, causing the Gryffindor table to whoop and cheer. Dugworth, Lionel became a Slytherin, and the Slytherin table, including Albus and Scorpius celebrated. Then it was Nalia's turn. The whole hall stared at Nalia, who had of course arrived with Albus and Rose, so everyone knew she was somehow related to the Potter's.
Now, Nalia did not know much about the wizarding world, however, from the reactions Cousin Harry (or Uncle Harry, as Nalia liked to call him as he had been so kind to her), received when they were out and about in Diagon Alley, the Potters were famous. They had not been able to go anywhere without Uncle Harry having to stop and chat or shake hands with at least three or four witches or wizards. Although this had confused her a lot, at the time she had not thought to question her Uncle Harry or her new friends about it. Right at that moment she wished she had.
She felt herself getting more and more anxious as she walked up the steps to for the sorting ceremony. She kept thinking to herself about the various expectations she must meet, being related to a Potter. And what if she didn't fit any of the houses? What if she wasn't brave enough for Gryffindor, intelligent enough for Ravenclaw, cunning enough for Slytherin or hard working enough for Hufflepuff? What if this was all some big joke being played on her? The walk to the stool seemed to take forever and her feet felt heavier than usual, but Nalia eventually made it, though the was not quite sure how. She sat down and looked out on the sea of faces, eagerly waiting to find out the hats decision. She could have even sworn she heard her Uncle Harry's name whispered several times.
The hat was placed on her head by Madam Hooch and she immediately started to hear a small voice, which appeared to be debating with itself. 'Hmm, you have the cunning and ambition to make a good Slytherin. Wanting nothing more than to make your father proud. You certainly have the bravery and courage to fit nicely into Gryffindor, unphased by this entirely new world. Your intelligence would suit Ravenclaw... but what do you value most...hard work, yes...and patience...and your loyalty to your family... i think... yeeees, HUFFLEPUFF!'. Nalia felt a sigh of relief escape her, and the hat was lifted off her head.
As she headed to the Hufflepuff table, under the yellow banners, emblazoned with badgers, she heard Albus, Scorpius and Rose cheering above everyone else. Although, she thought, she could see a slight look of disappointment on Scorpius' face. Had he been hoping she would be in slytherin with him?