As soon as Remus burst through the barrier and onto platform nine and three quarters he knew he was somewhere special. The very air was buzzing with magic. In every direction children and teenagers and their parents were running about in a last minute fluster, calling out to friends and exchanging final hugs. Owls were shrieking, cats mewing, and there was even the odd small explosion which made Remus jump. He had never been among so many people before, let alone so many children his own age.

"Come on Remus, no time to dawdle if you want to get a seat," said Lyall, taking Remus hand and chivvying him along towards the far end of the platform.

Remus allowed himself to be lead by his father but his eyes were still focussed on anywhere but where he was walking. He turned his head to look in every direction, trying to take in as much of the scene as possible, even though at the same time he felt so overwhelmed by it all that he thought get swallowed up by it.

"Alright Remus this carriage look like it's still pretty empty," Remus's dad was saying, it took Remus a couple of seconds to realise he was speaking again, "now listen to me, you be a good boy and have fun alright. Listen to your teachers, do all of your homework," he bent down so that his mouth was level with Remus's air and lowered his voice, "and remember to go to the matron before the full moon okay? We'll write to you to make sure you're alright," he gave Remus's shoulder an affection squeeze, "and remember that if there are any problems or if there's anything you're not sure of all you have to do is go to see Professor Dumbledore okay?"

"Okay," said Remus.

"We love you Remus," said Lyall, drawing his son into his chest, "me and your mum both. And we're so proud of you, not because you're going to Hogwarts but because of who you are. You deserve this Remus, all you have to do is show everyone that you are the kind, clever, caring young man I know you are."

"Yes dad," said Remus, his voice slightly muffled by his Dad's jumper.

"And whatever you do be safe alright?" said Lyall, holding his son slightly away from him so that he could look him in the eye, as he did so Remus saw he had been crying, "Look after yourself, remember the other children won't know that you're ill so they might want to play rough games and things like that so it's up to you to make sure you let yourself heal properly after the full moon okay?

"I will," said Remus, feeling ever so slightly more threatened by the throng of children surrounding him.

"Good lad," smiled Lyall, "come on, let's get your trunk on the train."

Remus's dad carried his trunk onto the train for him and put it in the already half full luggage compartment, then the two of them walked down the carriage looking for a compartment. They found one with only a single occupant, a short pudgy boy with blonde hair who was biting his nails.

"There you go Remus, he looks like a first year too, why don't you go and sit with him," said Lyall, opening the door and ushering Remus into the compartment, the pudgy boy abruptly stopped biting mid-nail and looked up at them but didn't say anything.

"See you at Christmas then Remus," said Lyall, giving his son another brief hug, "write to us as soon as you get the chance and let us know what House you're in."

"Okay," said Remus, "Bye."

"Bye," said Lyall, giving a warm smile which faded quickly into a look Remus had often seen his father wearing, it was hard to describe even in his own mind, especially since he was only an eleven year old who knew next to nothing of the world and it's subtle tragedies, he only knew that when his father wore that look on his face it meant he had to do his best to act happy, and this time was happy, so he gave his broadest grin and waved to him as he left the compartment.

He had almost forgotten about the other boy.

"Are... are you a first year too?" asked the boy, reminding Remus of his presence.

"Um, yes," said Remus, "yeah, my names Remus. Umm... do you mind if I sit with you?"

"No, n-not at all, my name's Peter."

Remus sat down, and there followed an awkward silence which Peter decided to fill by biting off the other half of his nail. Remus watched him, perhaps too obviously for after couple of seconds Peter lowered his hand uncomfortably.

"My mum and dad say I shouldn't do that," he laughed nervously, "when I was little they use to put a charm on my nails to make 'em taste funny, but I must be weird 'cause I liked the taste so they gave up in the end."

Remus couldn't think of anything to say in response and Peter went red, clearly thinking he had bored Remus with his story. Remus hurriedly tried to drum up a response to assure him that he hadn't, he seemed like a nice boy after all, and if he wanted to make friends Peter seemed like a good person to start with.

"My mum and dad are always telling me things like that too," he said, "they're always worried I'll hurt myself playing and stuff."

"It's... it's probably the same with all parents," said Peter, with that little nervous laugh again.

"Yeah, probably," said Remus, although he had no way of knowing, "are you excited to be going to Hogwarts then?"

"Yeah!" said Peter, "kind of nervous too though."

"It is all kind of scary isn't it," said Remus, glad he wasn't the only one nervous about starting school.

"Yeah, I think I'm most worried about the Sorting."

"How come?" asked Remus, surprised that that was what Peter was most worried about.

Peter blushed and began to fidget with his hands as he answered.

"Well, you know... what if I get dumped in Hufflepuff? I'm rubbish at everything, I'm bound to get put in the stupid House."

"My dad says Hufflepuff's as good as any other House, he says Hufflepuffs are normally really kind and make good friends... I think I'd like to be in Hufflepuff."

"What House does your dad want you to be in?" asked Peter.

That seemed like an odd question.

"I... I don't know," said Remus, "he never said anything about it."

"What? Never? What about your mum?"

"My mum's a muggle, she doesn't know much about the Houses except for what my dad told her, but I think they're both just happy I'm going, I don't think they really mind what House I'm in."

"Lucky," said Peter, "both my parents we're in Gryffindor, and most of the rest of my family too, they want me to be like them, and my cousins will laugh at me forever I get put in Hufflepuff. They told me you have to fight a Dark creature, knowing my luck I'll probably get a dragon or something," said Peter unhappily.

"Wow," said Remus, "my dad told me you just have to try on a Hat."

Peter looked up confused and hopeful.

"It's called the Sorting Hat apparently, the founders of Hogwarts enchanted it so that it can look inside your head and tell what kind of a person you are and that's how it decides where to put you."

"Really?" asked Peter, "you think my cousins were lying then?"

"I think so," said Remus, "After my dad told me about it he got me this book called Hogwarts a History and in the chapter about the Houses it definitely said that since the death of the four founders students have been Sorted by the Sorting Hat."

"Those lying trolls!" exclaimed Peter, "they were making me worried on purpose!"

"I'm sorry," said Remus.

"You don't need to be sorry," said Peter, "I so glad you told me the truth, at least that's one less thing to worry about now. It'll be easier to be brave trying on a Hat than to be brave fighting a dragon or something that's for sure."

A whistle went and the train pulled away from the platform. As the train chugged along the conversation between the two shy boys became easier, and Remus found himself hoping that wherever he was Sorted he would be in the same House as Peter. To be honest he didn't share Peter's desire to be in Gryffindor. He knew he wasn't strong and brave and he was perfectly content with that. He might quite like to be in Ravenclaw, he didn't think he was stupid but doubted that he was cleverer than average. Hufflepuff sounded like the House for him, from the sound of it if you were Sorted into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor people expected a lot of you, but Remus didn't want that, he'd much prefer to be allowed to hide in the background, get the best grades he could and make a few good friends. He didn't want any more than that, just being allowed to go to Hogwarts was a dream he had never even dared to dream of come true. The only House he really hoped he wasn't put into was Slytherin. Though his father had never said a word against that House he knew from his avid research into the school that Slytherin was notorious for it's connection with the Dark Arts, it had turned out more Dark wizards and witches than any other House, and if there was one thing Remus never wanted to become it was a Dark wizard. He had promised himself a long time ago, as soon as he was old enough to understand how one became a werewolf, that he would never bite anyone. He wasn't angry at the werewolf who bit him, he knew from experience that at the time they wouldn't have been in control of his or her actions, that it wasn't their fault. In fact he felt sorry for that person, he felt sorry for them that they didn't have anywhere to transform safely, that they didn't have anyone to make sure they didn't escape and to take care of them the next morning. He knew he was lucky to have his parents, and he must be the luckiest werewolf in History to be coming to Hogwarts as well. He knew he had to make the most of it.

Remus and Peter were soon joined by a group of girls a few years older than them.

"There's space in this one Dorothy, Clara" called the first girl, opening the door and calling back to her friends, "there's only a couple of first years."

Remus wondered for a moment how the girl knew they were first years, but then it dawned on him how small and nervous he and Peter must look compared to the older students who were returning to Hogwarts rather than making the journey for the first time.

Dorothy and Clara followed the first girl into the compartment and sat down, picking up a conversation they had been having in the corridor about Clara's holiday to India and ignoring Remus and Peter. The two of them carried on with their own conversation in quiet voices so as not to annoy the girls. When the trolley came round with sweets and snacks they each bought a chocolate frog and Peter also bought a pumpkin pasty. Remus's mum had made him a sandwich which he ate before the chocolate frog. Peter had a packed lunch too but he ate his sweets first, something which Remus had never been allowed to do. Peter said he wasn't allowed to do it either but his parents would never find out so it didn't matter. Remus laughed but said he would still prefer to save his chocolate frog for afterwards, he always liked saving his favourite food until last.

Another hour or two passed and one of the girls, Dorothy, Remus thought, turned to the pair of them and told them kindly that they should get changed into their robes now, that they could change in the toilet at the end of the carriage and that they were going to get changed in here so they weren't to come back in until they pulled the blind back up on the little window in the compartment door.

Peter and Remus did as the girl told them. And after that it wasn't long until the train started to slow down and they pulled up at a station. The sign on the platform read "Hogsmeade", they were there.

"Leave your trunks on the train," said the girl who was neither Dorothy nor Clara, just go and follow Hagrid, he's a big bloke, you can't miss him."

Deciding to trust the girl's loose instructions Remus and Peter battled their way through the corridor and stepped down onto the platform. The pair of them were immediately swept along by a great deluge of students, all much taller than them. Remus felt Peter grab onto his robes and he took his hand, he really didn't want to get separated now. He looked around frantically for this Hagrid, the girl had said he couldn't miss him but seeing as even on his tiptoes he was at least a head shorter than most students he was beginning to think that it would be very possible to miss him indeed.

"Firs' years over 'ere!" called a voice, and Remus grinned to Peter in relief.

The two of them made their way towards the voice, and they had not gone more than a couple of yards when Remus realised that the girl had been right. When she had described Hagrid as a "big bloke" Remus had simply imagined a very tall man, but Hagrid must have been twice the height of Remus's dad, towering over the sea of students, his face, largely covered by a great black beard, illuminated by the lantern he was waving to attract the attention of the confused first years.

"Yous two firs' years?" he asked Remus and Peter.

"Yes Sir," said Remus.

"Ah you don't need any o' that 'Sir' business wi' me lad, call me Hagrid, stand over there wi' the rest o' the firs' years and we'll be on the move in a minute."

Remus and Peter joined the crowd of first years who were huddled into the edge of the platform trying not to get trampled by the hoard of passing students. When the platform had cleared Hagrid lead the first years down a path towards the edge of an enormous lake, where several small rowing boats were moored.

"Four to a boat!" called Hagrid.

Remus and Peter nervously climbed into a boat. It wobbled as they got in.

"Have you ever been on a boat before?" Remus asked Peter.

"Once," said Peter, "on holiday summer before last... I fell in."

That sentiment did not reassure Remus so he decided to just stay as still as possible on the seat in the middle of the boat, which looked the safest.

"Oi! James! There's space over here!" called a boy with chin length black hair, all but jumping into Remus and Peter's boat, making it rock in a way neither boy liked. They both gripped to the side of the boat, hoping they wouldn't capsize.

"Excellent!" called back another black haired boy who must have been James, as he came running over and vaulted, as the first boy had done into the boat.

Remus bit his lip and gripped the rim of the boat tighter.

"Who are these guys?" James asked the first boy.

"I don't know," said the first boy, "who are you?" he demanded, turning to Remus and Peter.

"Remus Lupin," said Remus, there was something authoritative in the way the boy spoke that made him give his full name automatically.

"P-P-Peter P-Pettigrew," said Peter.

"P-P-P-P-Peter P-P-P-P-Pettigrew!" mimicked both boys simultaneously, and they both started laughing, which Remus didn't think was very kind.

Peter went bright red and began to bite another of his nails.

"Oh we're just messing around," said James, waving his hand dismissively at Peter, "come on, lighten up, don't tell me you're another one who can't take a little joke. My name's James P-P-P-P-Potter."

"And I'm Sirius," said the first boy, "and I won't bother to tell you my surname because if all goes to plan I'm about to be disowned."

"Gryffindor here we come!" yelled James, hi-fiving Sirius.

Remus was puzzled and was wondering whether or not to ask what the plan was and why Sirius was going to be disowned when Peter spoke.

"You... you want to be in Gryffindor?" asked Peter.

"We're going to be in Gryffindor," James corrected him, and for the first time Remus thought he saw Sirius looking not quite as sure of himself as James, "what about you two?"

"I want to be in Gryffindor too," said Peter eagerly.

"Well, good luck I suppose," said James.

There was something in the way he said it that made Remus think James doubted Peter would get into Gryffindor, but maybe he was imagining it because Peter didn't seem to pick up on anything like that. But now James was asking him which House he wanted to be in. Not wanting to be mocked he said:

"I don't mind really, Gryffindor sounds quite good."

"How can you 'not mind'?!" exclaimed Sirius, "the entire rest of your life depends on what House you're Sorted into! How can you 'not mind'?"

"Uh... I don't know," said Remus, starting to think that maybe he should be concentrating more on choosing a House to try to get into, "I just don't really mind as long as I'm not in Slytherin."

"Well at least you're better than that boy with the big nose and that redhead girl on the train then," said James, "they actually wanted to be in Slytherin. Can you imagined that?!"

"No," said Remus and Peter, shaking their heads.

Hagrid shouted something, but it was indistinguishable amongst all the excited chatter and the sounds of nature coming from the lake and the nearby woodland, then all of a sudden the boats started moving, taking Peter and Remus by surprise. They gripped the side of the boat again.

"Merlin you two are a pair of scaredy-cats aren't you," said James, "come on, you've got to be daring if you want to be in Gryffindor, come on let's try and capsize!"

"No!" exclaimed Remus and Peter, and, to Remus's surprise, Sirius.

James was evidently as surprised as Remus was by Sirius's outburst and he looked at him in enquiringly.

"I can't swim," he admitted shamefaced, "my parents never taught me, they said a wizard would never need to."

"But swimming's fun!" James protested, "it's not a matter of needing too, my mum and dad always took me swimming loads down at the river near my house, and in the summer we'd always go to the beach on weekends and swim in the sea."

"Yeah my parents are strict and boring," said Sirius, "what about you two?" he asked, quickly diverting James's attention to Remus and Peter.

"I can a bit," said Peter defensively, "not very well though, and besides, my cousins told me there are all sorts of monsters in this lake."

"Yeah my mum and dad told me that," said James, "but I think they were just lying to try and make me stay away from it, but I'm definitely going to have to ignore them now if I'm going to teach the pair of you how to swim. What about you... Remus was it?"

"I can't swim either," said Remus, swimming was one of the many things his parents had always considered too dangerous for Remus to do, and consequently he had never learned, now that he was sitting in a tiny boat in the middle of a vast monster-infested lake though Remus was certain that it would have been 'safer' for him to have been taught in a less dangerous environment.

"Merlin," said James, right, by the end of this year you're all going to know how to swim whether you like it or not."

"But... what about the monsters?" said Peter quietly, but before anyone answered him Hagrid called out again that they would soon get their first glimpse of Hogwarts castle.

The hill they were passing retreated and there it was, grand and forbidding, the lights inside twinkling and welcoming. Remus was awestruck. He left it up to Peter, James and Sirius to voice the only thought that occupied his head.

"Wow..."

He was here. He was actually here. Months on end of reading and re-reading that letter, a trip to Diagon Alley, ticking off one by one everything on his list of required items, a train journey which had lasted hours and finally he was here... and he wasn't ready.

The castle grew larger and higher as they approached, and Remus had to lean his head further and further back, afraid to look away from it lest it disappear.

"Are you alright?" asked Peter quietly into his ear, so that James and Sirius would not hear.

"Yes," said Remus, though he could feel cold slimy fingers squeezing his stomach, "just nervous."

The four boys got out of the boat and rejoined the troop of students following Hagrid and his lantern up another steep path, losing sight of the castle for a long panic-inducing moment before, to Remus's enormous relief, it appeared again, stony and solid, rising proudly out of the ground. Remus's eyes wandered up to the top of the highest tower, he wondered how high it was, if anyone could survive falling off of it. The thought made the slimy fingers clench and he tripped over something, falling into the boy in front of him.

"Sorry!" he said hastily.

"Watch where you're going," snapped the boy, getting up and brushing himself off.

"I'm sorry," Remus repeated lamely, but the boy had already marched off to catch up to a girl with ginger hair who stood waiting for him.

The boy leaned in to say something to the girl and the girl turned around to offer Remus a small smile. Remus mouthed opened his mouth to apologise again but Sirius stole the words from his mouth by slapping him on the back.

"Nice one!" he said, "brilliant! Now Snivellus'll be covered in mud for the Sorting!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Remus protested, "I tripped."

"You tripped on the right person though didn't you?" said James.

"I didn't mean to trip at all! I haven't even met that boy."

"Yeah well count yourself lucky then," said James, "he's the prick who wanted to be Sorted into Slytherin, and that ginger girl's his stuck-up girlfriend."

Remus was still trying to convince James and Sirius that he didn't push 'Snivellus' into the mud on purpose when they arrived in the entrance hall and everyone suddenly stopped and fell silent. Looking up, Remus saw why.

In front of them stood a forbidding looking black-haired woman, her lips pursed and her eyes roving over the crowd of boys and girls as if looking for some misbehaver to pounce on. Remus closed his mouth abruptly and turned to face her, standing to attention and hoping that she wouldn't tell him off for being one of the last to stop talking.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said the woman, her kind smile in no way reducing the severity of her appearance, "my name is Professor McGonagall, and I am the Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House. Through these doors is the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a prestigious institution for the study of magic, with a long and rich history. By attending this school you are all becoming part of that history and it is up to you do this school justice, just as we as teachers aim to do you justice. While you are at Hogwarts will also be aiming to do your House justice. When you walk through these doors you will be sorted into one of four Houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts your House Common Room and your dormitory will be your home, and your Housemates will be your family. Each year these four Houses compete for the House Cup. Good work in and outside of lessons will earn you House points, conversely any rule breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year the points are counted up and whichever House has the most points wins the Cup. Now, the Sorting will take place in front of the entire school so I would advise you to take a minute to neaten yourselves up a bit."

Professor McGonagall's eyes wandered to 'Snivellus' and without warning, she drew her wand and waved it at him, Remus thought for a moment that she was going to curse him for having muddy robes and he was just opening his mouth to explain that it was his fault, but all that happened was the mud vanished from 'Snivellus's robes.

"Everybody ready?" she asked, her thin black eyebrows arching, "good," she said when no one replied, and she waved her wand once more and the double doors behind her opened to reveal the Great Hall, "now follow me."

The Great Hall of Hogwarts was if anything even more impressive than the outside of the castle. Remus was wary of looking around too much after the incident with 'Snivellus' but he couldn't resist gazing up at the enchanted ceiling his dad had told him about. Candles floated in swirls and puffs of dark grey cloud, and in the clear patches a few stars were beginning to peak through. He brought his attention back to ground level, looking ahead of him towards a raised table where the teachers sat in they're grand robes, observing the new students as the filed in behind Professor McGonagall. In the middle of the table sat Professor Dumbledore, with his long white hair and beard, and to his right was an empty chair which Remus supposed as reserved for Professor McGonagall, given her position as Deputy Headmistress. Professor McGonagall stopped and the students once again came to a clumsy halt. A few students began to whisper to one another before a look from Professor McGonagall once again cast silence over them all. In front of him James and Sirius where in their tiptoes, looking over the heads of the students in front of them. Remus shuffled to the side so that he could see between their heads, and raising his heels off the ground he could see the point of a battered old wizard's hat. He smiled at Peter. Now the whole hall was silent, not just the first years, and then all of a sudden the hat burst into song.

The sing explained the traits of the four Hogwarts Houses and the process of the Sorting in a much more upbeat way than Professor McGonagall had, and when it had done there was a huge round of applause, and Professor McGonagall stepped up beside it, unfurling a scroll of parchment and peering at it through her glasses.

"Acclesfield, Rachel," she called, and a girl with dark brown hair braided into two neat plaits fought her way out from the middle of the crowd.

Professor McGonagall waved her up to the little three-legged stool the Sorting Hat had been sitting on and placed it on top of her head. It fell down over her eyes so that her freckled nose poked out under the rim.

There was about half a minute of tense silence before the Hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!" and Professor McGonagall lifted the Hat up of Rachel Acclesfield's head, and the girl hopped down off the school, grinning with delight, and made her way towards the cheering Ravenclaw table.

Several more students were called, some taking a good couple of minutes to Sort, others taking mere seconds. Soon Professor McGonagall had moved onto the 'B's and Remus noted Sirius shifting from foot to foot in front of him, breathing deeply, then Professor McGonagall called "Sirius Black" and James patted Sirius on the back as Sirius walked forward through the crowd up to the stool.