A/N: The face-claim for Mandy is Chloë Moretz and the face-claim for Michael is Max Burkholder.

Hailey had to double-check everything in her trunk to make sure she had everything, then she triple-checked everything, and then quadrupled-checked everything, again. She knew that if she left something behind, they wouldn't send her whatever was left behind.

For the past month the Dursleys were scared of her. Every time she entered the room, Dudley ran out, and her aunt and uncle didn't speak to her at all. At first, she enjoyed that they left her alone and at first it was funny that Dudley ran out of the room, but even that lost it's hilariousness.

She had stuck to her room and read the books that she had gotten at Flourish and Blotts. She even talked to Hedwig, a name that she had gotten out of A History of Magic. She would've named Hedwig, Snowball or Snowy, but she thought those two names were more for cats and reminded her of Mrs Figg, and besides, Hedwig just sounded so majestic for an owl.

At half-past ten, on September 1st, Hailey was left alone at King's Cross Station. Her uncle, aunt, and cousin had left her there. Vernon had left her a rather nasty "enjoy your term" as a parting gift, before the Dursleys drove off laughing as she tried to figure out how to get to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

She stood by with her trolley, rereading her ticket to see if it had instructions on how to get on the platform. She looked up to see a woman giving her a strange look and Hailey couldn't help but give her one back.

Seriously? These people never saw a pet owl before? She thought and looked at the platform wall. Her stomach was starting to do that churning thing again due to nerves. Did she have time to send Hedwig to Hagrid? How long would that even take? She had no clue.

"—Packed with Muggles—"

She turned around to see a plump, red-headed woman with four red-headed tall boys and from the looks of it, there was a young looking red-haired girl. The boys all had a trunk and they even had an owl, too. She followed a little behind them, trying not to be noticed, and watched.

"Now what's the platform number?" the woman asked.

"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," the little red-haired girl said. She was holding her mother's hand. "Mum, can't I go…?"

"You're not old enough, Ginny," the red-haired woman said. "Percy, you go first." The oldest looking boy went to the wall and Hailey tried seeing how to get on there but the boy disappeared in the group of tourists

"Fred, you're next," the woman said looking at one of the twins.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George. Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother. Can't you tell I'm George?" the boy retorted.

"Sorry, George," the woman said.

"I'm only joking. I am Fred," the boy said and went to the wall.

She got a little frustrated when another group of tourists walked in front of the boy, who also vanished and the third boy went to the wall, but he had vanished, too.

Hailey went up to the woman, "excuse me?"

The woman looked at her and smiled, "first time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too."

Hailey looked at the other boy. He was tall, thin, and gangly, with freckles, a long nose, with big hands and feet. Hailey was embarrassed, "Yes. I just don't…don't…"

"Know how to get on the platform?" the woman finished, kindly. Hailey nodded. "Not to worry. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. It's best to do it at a run if you're nervous. Go on now, go before Ron."

Hailey looked at Ron and back at Ron's mother, "Thanks. Um…all right." She looked at the platform and walked to the wall, pushing her cart. Some people jostled her and she started running. She was terrified she was going to crash and closed her eyes. Ron's mother said not to be scared to crash into it. She wasn't sure if she made it and opened her eyes. She was staring at a platform with a scarlet steam engine. She stopped to look around. A sign said: Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. Behind her was an archway that said: Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She relaxed a little knowing that she made it.

She walked down, trying to find a compartment. There were lots of people with cats of every colour winding around people's legs. Owls were hooting and she even passed a boy who lost his toad. She finally found an empty compartment near the end. She set Hedwig inside and tried to push her trunk in it, but it fell on the first time.

"Want a hand?" a boy asked. She looked at him; he was either Fred or George from earlier.

"Yes, please," she said, blushing in embarrassment. It wasn't her fault that she was weak. Uncle Vernon had carried her trunk for her after all.

"Oy, Fred! Come here and help!" the boy, George, yelled.

With their help, they managed to get the trunk in the corner of the compartment. She leaned against a seat and pushed her bangs to the side, to get them out of her eyes and looked at the twins, "thank you."

"What's that?" One of the boys asked, pointing at Hailey's forehead, at the scar.

"Are you really…?" one of the twins started.

"She is," the other stated and looked at her. "Are you?"

She wasn't sure what they were asking, "What?"

"Hailey Potter," they said at the same time.

"Oh, her," she said and realized what she said. "I mean, yeah, I am."

They stared at her and she was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Fred? George? Are you there?" a woman yelled.

"Coming, mum," they looked at her one more time before running off.

Hailey sat down next to the window, trying to stay hidden. This whole famous thing was weird. She was famous for something she can barely remember, minus the green flash of light thing. She watched the red-haired woman try to rub something off Ron's nose with a handkerchief as she told the twins to look after him. She heard that Percy was a Prefect, who bragged about it all summer.

"Hey, Mum. Guess who met on the train?" Hailey ducked down a little. "You know that girl who was near us in the station? Know who she is?"

"Who?" the woman asked.

"Hailey Potter!" the twins said.

"Can I take Ron and go introduce him to her? Can I? Please?" Ginny asked, sounding excited.

"No," the woman said, sternly. "Is she really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked her and even saw the scar. It's really there, like lightning," presumably Fred responded.

"Poor dear. No wonder she was alone. She was so polite asking how to get on the platform," the woman said.

"Do you think she remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?" one of the twins asked.

Hailey went to take out a book out of trunk when a whistle sounded. She put it back and considered taking it out to read again. She even considered putting on her robes, but was it early to even wear them?

She went to sit down and noticed that they were passing houses. She wasn't sure where they were going, but it was better than being with the Dursleys or going to Stonewall High to get her head dunked into a toilet. Although she wished she could've gotten brighter coloured clothing at Diagon Alley, but they weren't on her list. Maybe she should go see if Mandy or Michael were somewhere on the train.

The door opened and Ron walked in. He pointed at the seat in front of Hailey. "Anyone sitting there? Everywhere else is full."

Hailey shook her head and Ron sat down in the chair. He looked at her and then he looked out the window.

The door opened and the twins were back. "Hey, Ron, we're going down to the middle of the train. Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

Hailey looked at Ron, wondering if they just said, 'giant tarantula.' Where does one buy a giant tarantula? How does one capture a giant tarantula?

"Right," Ron mumbled.

"Hailey, did we introduce ourselves?" one of the twins asked, turning to her. "Fred and George Weasley. This is our brother Ron. See you later. Bye."

"Bye," the two first years said, and the twins left. Hailey was tempted to go look through her trunk for a book or get her robes to change into.

Ron blurted out, "Are you really Hailey Potter?" Hailey nodded. "I thought it might have been one of their jokes. Do you have…?" He motioned to his forehead. Hailey brushed her bangs to the side to show him the lightning bolt scar. "Is that where You-Know-Who—?"

"Yes, but I can't remember anything besides green light," she said and fixed her bangs.

"Wow," Ron said, staring at her and then back out the window, once he seemed to realize what he was doing.

Hailey looked at him, "Are all of your family members wizards?" She needed to break the awkward silence.

Ron looked at her, "I think so. I think Mum's got an accountant for a second cousin, but we don't talk about him."

"I bet you know all kinds of magic," Hailey said.

Ron shrugged and said, "I heard you went to live with Muggles. How was it?"

"Terrible," Hailey answered, "well, not all Muggles are terrible. Just the ones I lived with." She mumbled, "I wish I had three wizard brothers."

"Five," Ron said, looking gloomy. "I have five older brothers. I'm the sixth one to go to Hogwarts."

"I bet you have a lot to live up to," Hailey said, a little stunned. He had five older brothers and a little sister? That must mean seven kids in all!

"Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was the Captain of Quidditch. Percy's a prefect and Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get good marks, and everyone thinks they're funny," Ron explained.

"What's Quidditch?" Hailey asked.

Ron looked at her, looking a little stunned. "What's Quidditch? It's the most famous wizarding sport ever." Hailey looked at him as he went on explaining about how it was a sport played on broomsticks, how it has six goal hoops, what the Chasers, Keepers, and Seekers were, and what each one does. Then he had to explain to what the Snitch, Quaffle, and Bludger are.

After Ron explained what it was all Hailey can think is, it sounds so violent. She looked at Ron, "It sounds…interesting."

"It is. I think you might like it," Ron said, looking at her.

Hailey looked out the window and back at Ron, "Five older brothers, huh? Sounds like hell."

"Not really. Everyone expects me to do well, but if I do, it's no big deal, since they all did it first. You never get anything new either. I got Bill old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat," Ron said.

"I sometimes end up with…wait, did you just say rat?" Hailey asked, looking at Ron.

"Yes," Ron said. He took out a fat grey rat, which was either asleep or dead. "His name is Scabbers and he's useless."

"He looks dead," Hailey pointed out.

"He's usually asleep," Ron said. "Percy got an owl for being made a prefect but they couldn't aff—I mean I got Scabbers instead." Ron looked out the window, his ears were tinged red.

Hailey looked at him, "There's no shame in not being able to afford anything. I never had any money and my aunt buys me clothes from a second-hand clothing store and sometimes I ended up with my cousin, Dudley's, old clothing. I never received anything for my birthday or Christmas." She motioned to her awful looking bright yellow and light green tie-dyed shirt, which Mrs Figg had given to her a few days before September 1st, saying congratulations for some reason. "I have no clue who owned this shirt."

Ron looked at Hailey, "Muggles have stores where they sell clothes that belonged to strangers?"

Hailey nodded, "yes." She looked around, "you know, I bet I'll be the worst in the class, considering I never knew I was a witch until Hagrid told me."

"There are a lot of people who came from Muggle families and they learn quickly," Ron countered.

Things got quiet and there was a clattering outside their compartment. The door slid open and a smiling, dimpled woman asked, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

"I brought sandwiches," Ron muttered. Hailey went to the cart, thinking of the Mars Bars that she would be able to buy. She found out that the woman didn't sell them, but had something else entirely. She brought some of everything and gave the woman eleven Sickles and seven Knuts. She brought her sweets with her and tipped it all on an empty seat.

"Hungry?" Ron asked, looking at the sweets and then at Hailey's skinny frame.

"Starving. I didn't eat when I got up at five," she explained, taking a large bite out of a Pumpkin Pasty.

Ron took out a package and pulled out a sandwich. He pulled it apart and said, "She always forgets that I don't like corned beef."

Hailey picked up a package which was a Pumpkin Pasty and held it out to Ron, "I'll trade you one of these for that."

"It's all dry," Ron said. "She doesn't have time, you know with the five of us."

"Here, take this," Hailey said. Ron took it and Hailey felt good sharing something with someone. She never had anyone to share anything with, unless sharing insults with Dudley and his gang counted as sharing something.

She picked up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "Are these real frogs?"

"No, but look at the card and see what it is," Ron said, "I'm missing Agrippa."

Hailey wondered what an Agrippa even was, "What?"

"Oh, right, you don't know." Ron explained, "Chocolate Frogs have famous witches and wizards cards in them to collect. I got five hundred, but I'm missing Agrippa and Ptolemy."

"Agrippa?" Hailey asked. "If I was that person, I'll go around saying something like, 'I'm Agrippa around the neck.'" She made a strangling motion and chuckled at her joke, "I crack myself up."

Ron looked at her and Hailey unwrapped the Chocolate Frog and took out a card. The man had half-moon spectacles, a long crooked nose, and flowing, silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture it said Albus Dumbledore. "So this is Albus Dumbledore."

"You never heard of Albus Dumbledore?" Ron asked. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa."

Hailey handed him a pack without looking as she read the card.

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
CURRENT HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particular famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner Nicholas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Hailey turned the card over and gasped as she saw that Dumbledore had disappeared, "He disappeared."

"You can't expect him to hang around all day," Ron stated, "He'll be back." He looked at a card and groaned, "No. I got Morgana again. I have about six of her." He looked at the Potter girl and held it out to her. "Do you want it? You can start your own collection." He looked over at the pile of Chocolate Frogs.

Hailey took the card and motioned to the sweets. "Help yourself. You know, in the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos.

"They don't move at all? Weird," Ron said.

Hailey opened up a Cauldron Cake package and took out the miniature cauldron. It looked like chocolate with a handle, had what looked like vanilla frosting in the middle with a small, white chocolate ladle in the frosting. She ate it and knew that it was going to be one of her favorite sweets.

Ron seemed more interested in the chocolate than the cards, which she dived into, just to see what the cards were, while passing the Chocolate Frogs to Ron.

Soon, Hailey had: Dumbledore, Morgana, Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelius, and Merlin.

They soon ate some of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans after Ron cautioned her on that they have every flavor. Hailey ended up with toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and even pepper.

The round faced boy that Hailey had passed on the platform came in. He looked tearful, "Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?"

Hailey could've sworn she heard the word toad, but shook her head, "No. Sorry." Ron shook his head, too.

"I've lost him. He keeps getting away from me," the boy said.

Hailey looked at the boy, "I'm sure he'll turn up, eventually."

"Well, if you find him…" he said and then walked away.

"I wouldn't be so bothered losing my toad like him. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk," Ron said. "I tried to turn him yellow to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. Here. I'll show you." He started looking around in his trunk and pulled out a battered-looking wand with something white poking out at the end.

He raised his wand when the compartment door opened and the round-faced boy was back with a bushy, brown-haired girl who was wearing her Hogwarts robes.

"Have either of you found a toad? Neville's lost one," she said, in a sort of bossy tone.

"We told him that we hadn't seen it," Ron stated, flatly.

The girl noticed the wand in Ron's hand. "Oh, you're doing magic? Let's see it." She sat down next to Hailey, with her hands clasped.

Hailey looked at the girl and back at Ron. Ron cleared his throat, "sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat, rat, yellow." He pointed his wand at Scabbers, but nothing happened, and Scabbers stayed grey.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the brunette girl asked. "It's not a very good one. I've tried a few simple spells myself for practice and it worked for me." Hailey nearly rolled her eyes at the other girl. "Nobody in my family is magic at all and it was a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased. I've heard it's the best school of witchcraft there is. I've learned all of our course books by heart. I just hope it's enough. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. Who are you?"

Hailey looked at Ron. Were they supposed to memorize their course books? If so, she needed to start right now and Ron seemed stunned too.

Ron muttered, "Ron Weasley."

Hailey shifted in her seat, "Hailey Potter."

"Are you really?" Hermione asked. "I know all about you, of course. I got a few extra books for background reading. You're in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

Hailey looked at Hermione, "I am?"

"Goodness, you didn't know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," Hermione said.

Hailey looked at the other girl. "I would've, but I don't want to seem narcissistic. I already crack myself up and sometimes I even worry about myself. I don't want to add extra narcissism on the already formed amount. I need to knock myself down a few pegs, you know, to make sure I don't get an even bigger head." She smiled, letting them know she was joking.

Hermione and Ron just stared at her. Hermione continued, "Anyway, do either of you know which House you'll be in? I've asked around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor; it sounds by far the best. I heard Dumbledore himself was in it, but Ravenclaw doesn't sound too bad. Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two better change, I expect we'll be there soon."

Hermione left the compartment with Neville.

"Stupid spell," Ron said. "I beat George gave it to me, knowing it was a dud."

"I would've done the same thing, if I had younger siblings. You know, just to mess with them," Hailey said.

Ron looked at her, "Well, whatever House I'm in, I hope she isn't in it." He looked at her, "Wait. Do you know what the Houses are?"

Hailey nodded, "Yeah." She remembered what Mandy said back in Diagon Alley, where families were usually placed in the same house. "Which House are your brothers in?"

"Gryffindor," Ron said.

"I hear families are usually placed in the same house as each other, like it's a legacy thing," Hailey explained.

"Yeah, my parents were in it," Ron said. "I'm not sure what they would tell me, if I'm not in it. I guess Ravenclaw doesn't sound too bad. Imagine what they would say if I was put in Slytherin." He shuddered at the mention of Slytherin.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" Hailey asked.

"There hasn't been a witch or wizard who didn't go bad in there," Ron stated. "That's the House that You-Know-Who was placed in."

"Well, I hope I don't get placed in there," Hailey said. "I don't want to be in the same House that someone came from who killed my parents."

Ron looked at Hailey, "You don't look evil to me."

The girl looked at him, not sure how to respond to that. "You do know looks have nothing to do with being evil, right? For all you know, I could be a mass murderer." Ron stared at her and she stared back. "I'm not. I'm just making an example."

The door opened again. It wasn't the Weasley twins, Hermione, or Neville this time. It was a pale haired boy that reminded Hailey of the tall, pale, blond haired man who looked at her with disgust at Flourish and Blotts. He kind of reminded her of Piers Polkiss, as well and she eyed him.

"So, is it true?" the boy drawled. "They're saying that Hailey Potter's in this compartment." He studied the only girl, "so, it's you, is it? My father said he saw you at Flourish and Blotts on the floor with one of the half-bloods."

He said 'half-blood' like how Hailey's family said her, Hailey, and the girl. It made her skin crawl. She was reminded of the girl, Mandy, from Madame Malkin's who said she was a half-blood. Mandy was nice, a little odd, but nice and friendly. Hailey looked at the boy's two friend, they were thickset and looked mean. For some reason they kind of reminded her of Gordon and Malcolm.

"Yes, I'm Hailey Potter," she said as she looked at the blond boy.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle," the blond said, motioning to each boy. "My name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Ron coughed and Hailey could tell he was hiding a laugh. Malfoy looked at Ron, "you think my name is funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys all have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

Hailey glared at Malfoy. This guy was a git and he reminded of her of Dudley.

Draco turned to Hailey. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to make friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He stuck out his hand for a hand-shake.

Hailey thought that was sort of weird to be referred to by her last name in a friendly manner instead of rude, like how Piers usually said it. She looked at the blond boy. He was like Dudley and Piers combined, making the ultimate git. She looked at Malfoy's hand and up at the boy. He insulted Mandy's origin and insulted her first friend, as if that was supposed to put him in her favour? She crossed her arms instead, "I can tell who's the wrong sort by myself; thank you very much."

A pink tinge appeared on Malfoy's cheeks. "You'll be careful, Potter. If you're not politer, you'll end up the same way as your parents, since they didn't know what was good for them, either. If you hang around riff-raff like the Weasleys, it'll rub off on you."

Ron stood up, "Say that again." Hailey stood up too, because Malfoy mentioned her parents.

"You're both going to fight us?" Malfoy sneered.

Hailey put her hand on Ron's shoulder and pushed him gently into his seat. She had dealt with this sort of people for eleven years. She learned some tricks in biology and from Aunt Petunia. "If you leave now, I won't resort to inflecting serious pain on you."

Malfoy sneered at her again, "But we don't feel like leaving. We ate all our food and you seem to have some left." He reached for a Chocolate Frog and Hailey reached over and grabbed his ear.

She pulled him a little closer and tried to sound menacing. "I said leave." She looked at the other two boys, "and that goes for you two as well."

Goyle tried grabbing a Chocolate Frog anyway, but yelled. Scabbers was biting Goyle's knuckle and Goyle swung around and around trying to get Scabbers to release him. Crabbe backed away and Scabbers hit a window.

Crabbe and Goyle ran out and Hailey released Malfoy's ear. "I said leave!"

Malfoy looked at Hailey and Ron, "You're both mad! Wait till my father hears about this!" He chased after the other two boys.

Hailey looked at Ron, "How's Scabbers?"

Ron went to check on his pet and picked it up by the rat's tail. "I think he's been knocked out." He looked closer, "no. He's asleep."

"I've been called a lot of things, but never mad before. I think he's never had his ear pulled before," Hailey stated.

"What has been going on in here?" Hermione asked, looking at the sweets on the ground and Ron holding Scabbers by the tail.

Ron looked at Hermione, annoyed, "Can we help you with something?"

"You two better hurry up and put your robes on. I've been up front to the conductor and he says we're nearly there." She looked at the sweets on the ground and at Ron who was still holding Scabbers by the tail. "Have you two been fighting? You're going to get in trouble before we even get there."

"I doubt I'm going to get in trouble for something that happened off of school grounds," Hailey said.

"I only came in here because people are behaving childishly. They're racing up and down the corridors," Hermione said in a sniffy voice and left.

Hailey shrugged and went to the nearest lavatory to change, then came back. The train was slowing down and Hailey looked out the window.

Under a deep purple sky, she saw mountains and forests all she could do was stare at the scenery.

"We will be reaching Hogsmeade Station in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school separately," a voice echoed through the train.

Hailey started feeling jittery and her stomach started lurching. She looked over at Ron, who looked pale, which made his freckles stand out. The train slowed down and stopped. The two first-years joined the crowd and people pushed their way to the door, and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Hailey grabbed at Ron's sleeve hoping not to lose her first real friend in the crowd.

A lantern was bobbing over their heads.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Hagrid shouted and Hailey relaxed a little. "All right there, Hailey?"

Am I paler than I thought? Hailey thought and looked over to the giant man, and nodded.

Hagrid was beaming. "C'mon, follow me. Any more firs' years? Watch yer step now! Firs' years follow me!"

They followed after Hagrid and Hailey stumbled into another first year boy, nearly bringing Ron down with her, because she was still holding onto his sleeve. The boy stumbled into a blonde haired girl, nearly sending the blonde to the ground.

To Hailey, it would've been funny if it happened to everyone else except her. The other first years walked around the four, as if they saw four eleven years old stumble into each other all the time.

"Bloody hell, sorry," Hailey said, to…Michael from Flourish and Blotts?

"Is that how we're going to meet up? With you running into me all the time?" Michael asked, seemingly amused.

The blonde girl, Mandy, looked over at them, looking a little annoyed, but smiled when she saw Hailey. "Hailey! I was telling my parents about you that one day. My dad reckons that you're…" She trailed off and her eyes darted to the lightning bolt scar on Hailey's forehead that was peeking out from beneath her bangs.

"This is my friend, Ron," Hailey said quickly, motioning to Ron. "I meet him on the train. Ron, this is Mandy and Michael. I literally bumped into Michael in Flourish and Blotts and I met Mandy in Madame's Malkin's when we were getting fitted for our robes."

Michael's name turned out to be Michael Corner and Mandy was Mandy Brocklehurst.

"My father is a wizard," Mandy explained to them as they followed after the other first years. "My mom knew about it, and I was born in the wizarding world. She likes to take me around to the Muggle world so I don't end up like the Malfoys, who seem to shun everything Muggle-related."

Michael seemed confused, "the Malfoys?"

"Yeah, that blond haired man that you told me about who gave you both a dirty look?" Mandy said looking at Michael, "He's Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father. He shuns, practically everyone." She linked elbows with Hailey and Michael. Hailey decided to wrap her arm around Ron's but he let his arm dangle.

"Funny story, Hailey pulled on Malfoy's ear while we were on the train," Ron said.

"He was being a git." Hailey stated, "and he wouldn't leave, so I pulled his ear and Scabbers bit one of Malfoy's friend's knuckles. It was worth being called mad."

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight of Hogwart in a second," Hagrid said over his shoulder, "jus' around this bend here."

The narrow path opened up to where they saw a great black lake. On top of a high mountain was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. Its windows sparkled against the starry night sky.

"Ooh," all the first years chorused together.

"No more'n four to a boat," Hagrid called out, pointing to a fleet of boats in the water by the shore.

The four got in a boat and somehow, Hailey ended up next to Michael, who suddenly grabbed her arm as he looked at the lake.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted. "Forward!"

The boats started moving on their own and Michael tightened his hold on Hailey's arm. "Just focus on the castle," Hailey instructed him.

"Heads down!" Hagrid shouted and surprisingly everyone did as they were told.

A curtain of ivy brushed over them. They were carried through a tunnel, which was carrying them to the underground castle, until they reached a harbour and they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

Michael ended up dragging Hailey out of the boat with him and he realized that he had clung onto her, released her with an apologetic smile.

Hailey was sure that she would've enjoyed the view of the castle if she didn't have someone latch onto her because he was thalassophobic.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Hagrid called out, holding a toad.

"Trevor!" Neville cried out.

With light from Hagrid's lantern, they clambered up a passageway in the rock, coming out onto smooth grass. They climbed up stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. "Everyone here? You there, do you still have your toad?"

Hagrid raised his fist and knocked three times on the door.

A/N: I looked up fear of bodies of water and I was given Thalassophobia.