"Firs- years this way" Came a familiar voice as Ron and I stepped off the train. We shared a grin.

"Hagrid." We laughed.

"Oh hullo Harry, Ron. Come stand over 'ere, show the others what to do." He said, in a grin I was sure matched ours. We looked at the crowd around his legs, then joined them. Malfoy peeked at us from behind his cronies

"Look its Perfect Potter and Wet Weasley." One of his friends said, someone giggled.

"I would rather be wet then look like you." Ron replied making the person shut up. I could see Hermione frown in front of us.

Hagrid took us away from the main body of students and down onto a mud path that led to the lake.

"Your Uncle told us of this." Ron whispered to me loudly.

"M…me too" Neville said as he joined us. He tripped over a branch on the path, almost toppling into me. I laughed and helped him.

"Yeah, Uncle Sirius was into telling his Hogwarts story's wasn't he."

Hermione seemed to turn slightly in front of us, but she carried on walking. I pointed at her, wanting Ron and Neville to be quiet about my family while she was around.

We soon came to the boat and were divided into groups of 4, only Hagrid got a boat to himself, and we made our way across the lake.

We were stuck in a boat with Hermione, putting an end to any conversation that we had been planning.

"Hogwarts is very pretty isn't it? As soon as I got the letter I was excited, and wanted to look up everything that I could about it, didn't you?" She said in one breath. She carried on, blissfully ignorant of the look that Neville, Ron and I were sharing.

"DUCK" Hagrid's voice cut through Hermione's monologue. She however was looking straight up the cliff-face at Hogwarts, when she ducked but got a face-full of the Ivy curtain that dropped from the opening. Ron sniggered at the look on her face until Neville elbowed him in the ribs. We got off the boats and onto a weird underwater jetty-thing.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid asked, checking the boats as everyone disembarked. "Right then, follow me." He went off in the darkness. We could only see him by the bobbing lamp that he held. I started to follow him.

"Harry?" Ron said.

"Mmm?"

"Do you think that your uncle was right, or that Fred and George were right?"

"About?"

"About how they choose what house to go into?"

Now that was a hard question. In the years I had grown up Fred and George had worshipped Sirius and my Dad. What they had told Ron was probably a spin off from Sirius. So it would possibly have a smidgen of truth in it. But then again…

"I think that what my Uncle told you is probably the better one to believe Ron."

Both Ron and Neville sighed in relief.

I grinned, dreading to think of what Fred and George had told their younger brother.

We all followed Hagrid across the lawn and up a flight of steps to a door that I had seen many times over the years in photographs. Mum had one on the fireplace, right in the centre.

It was a picture of Sansa and Mum at Hogwarts, Sansa was sitting on the stone wall, with Mum near her. They were both laughing in the picture.

It was this door that Hagrid knocked and another very familiar face opened them at once. She was dressed in emerald robes, and had her hair up in a very tight bun.

"The Firs-years Professor McGonagall." Said Hagrid.

"Yes. Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here." She replied, pulling the door open wide. It revealed a large room, lit with flaming torches and a huge marble staircase. Another picture memory, this time a picture of Sirius, Remus and Dad.

We followed Professor McGonagall across the entrance hall and into a vestibule. From the room we could here the hundreds of other Hogwarts students, waiting for us. McGonagall turned round to face us all as we squished in the room.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, The start-of-year banquet will begin shortly, but before we can start you have to be sorted into your houses. The Sorting ceremony is very important as while you are at this school your house is like your family within Hogwarts. You will eat, sleep and have classes with the people that are sorted into the same house as you. You will also spend free time in your common-room, which the whole of the house shares."

McGonagall looked and sounded like she had recited this speech too many times in the years she had taught at Hogwarts.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are here your triumphs will earn you points and any rule breaking will lose your house points." She paused and looked pointedly at me. I grinned. "At the end of the year the house with the most points is awarded with the house cup, a great honour. I hope that each of you will be a credit to whichever house. The ceremony will beginin a few moments, I suggest you smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you wait for my return."

Her eyes seemed to pass straight over me to another unfortunate, and then they lingered on Ron's nose, where he still had a smudge. She knew from years of practise with me that my hair would never do as anyone wanted it too.

"I will return when we are ready for you." McGonagall said as she turned on her heel and left.

Ron looked like he was going to be sick.

"H…Harry, are you sure that Sirius's is the one to believe?"

I thought back to what Sirius had said over the years.

"Yes." I said uncertainly. "I think."

Ron nodded and seemed to go a bit paler. "Which one?"

"Uh…" Thankfully I was saved from answering his question as a scream from behind me sounded out. We all whipped round, and I could here gasps from all around me. What must have been all the Hogwarts ghosts had just appeared through the wall.

"Forgive and forget, I say, we aught to give him a second chance – " Said a fat monk.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you lot doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had just noticed us, but I was hardly paying attention.

"Harry, when you are at Hogwarts, remember to be careful around Peeves. He can be a delight at times, but never say anything that you don't want the whole of Hogwarts to find out in less then a few seconds." Sirius said.

My dad chuckled in the corner.

"Who's Peeves?"

Both Sirius and Dad began rolling on the floor in mirth.

"Mum?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Who's Peeves?"

"New Students!" The Fat Friar was exclaiming, smiling at us. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"

A few people, including Neville nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" The friar was saying. "My old house you know!"

"Move along now." Said McGonagall's sharp voice, one that I would recognise anywhere. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to begin."

The ghosts floated away through the wall one-by-one.

"Form a line, and follow me." McGonagall said, leading the way. I glanced at Ron, he had (if possible) gone whiter then he had been about 5 minutes ago.

Even though in all of the pictures that I had seen of Hogwarts, both wizarding pictures, and muggle pictures I hadn't been expecting what McGonagall led us into. The hall was lit by what seemed like millions of candles, floating in mid-air above the four long tables of the houses. The tables were laid with hundreds of golden glittering plates and bowls. I looked upwards as Mum had told me to and gasped. It looked as if the Great Hall had just opened onto the night sky.

I could hear Hermione whisper about what she'd read in some book when a sharp bang was heard. We all faced the front where McGonagall had put a stool down. She placed a hat on top of the stool carefully. Mum had talked about the sorting hat. I felt myself smile and looked at Ron. He was frowning now, realising that both his brothers and Sirius had fibbed.