A/N: I have finally gotten back into the swing of this story now! Sorry for the massive gap between the last two chapters.

Chapter 5 – The First Night

Abby POV

The train pulled up slowly into the station. We decided to split the same ways for the carriages which were being pulled by Threstrals. I backed Zeeva into a corner seat and lent against her for the trip to the castle.

When we arrived we went straight to the great hall. Lily grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the table with gold and scarlet colours. I guessed that this was the Gryffindor table. I sat in between Lily and Zeeva and waited for something to happen.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts students. A new year of learning awaits us." A woman spoke at the front of the hall; I guessed that she was Professor McGonagall, the Headmistress. "The Sorting Hat ceremony for the new students will begin." She announced.

A ragged old pointed hat sitting on a stool at the front opened a seam at the front and began to sing a poem.

Now that the summer is done, a new year has begun.

We all have a yearning for learning,

But there must be some burning.

Into four houses you must be split, and new friendships will be knit.

Gryffindor want those of you who are courageous, brave, and loyal.

Hufflepuff will accept those who work hard, are tolerant, loyal, and fair.

Ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit.

Finally those with ambition and resourcefulness will go to Slytherin.

With new additions there may be chaos, but will be solved by the case.

Some old friends appeared and to their plans you must adhere.

Old foes once again reign, don't let them gain.

Once over rejoice with a singing voice,

The final battle is to commence.

Clapping began for the hat's new poem; it was a weird poem to be sung at the beginning of the year. I wondered if it had any connotations. I looked to Dad, who had a confused, thinking expression on his face. I might ask him about my thoughts later then.

It seemed that the gaggle of students in the middle of the room were the first years. One by one, as their names were called out, they would walk to the front and sit on the stool. The hat would be placed on their head and the hat would announce which house they would reside in for their time at Hogwarts. That house would then burst into cheers as they made their way over to the table.

Once everyone had been sorted Professor McGonagall stood up again. "Now before we have the feast I have some announcements to make. Firstly I must remind students that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students unless you have a note from either me or the other heads of staff and you must be accompanied by a teacher. You must not walk around the castle after hours unless it is an emergency or you have a note from a teacher. There are now a few computers in each of the house's common rooms and new plugs have been installed into the dormitories for you to use any electronic devises. Now let us catch up with each other from over the holidays, and the feast has now begun." As she said the last part food magically appeared on the table. Everyone in the hall started talking as they dug into the food laid out before them.

OOO

Once the puddings had been finished the table cleared once again. Everyone stood up and started to walk towards their respective dormitories for the night. I stayed seated and waited for Dad to meet me. A few moments later Dad walked up to me with a tall black man, who had a tooth pick in his mouth. "Abz this is Professor Vance the Deputy Head."

I popped up from my chair with a big smile. "Hi, it's nice to meet you." I said holding my hand out to them. He looked a little taken aback; I guess he didn't expect me to be so upbeat and friendly.

Professor Vance hesitantly shook my hand. "It's nice to have you here Abigail."

I shot him a dirty look and took away my hand from the hand shake. "It's Abby actually." I corrected him.

"My apologies Abby." He said like a real gentleman.

"Shall we make our way to the office?" Dad announced, giving a slight cough. We all nodded and I followed them as we made our way. Obviously I didn't know my way around yet, but I probably would know the whole building like the back of my hand within two days.

Using a password to allow us entry up the stairs to the office, we all stood around her desk, waiting for something. A moment later Professor McGonagall walked into the room with the sorting hat, I knew it was now time for my sorting.

"If you could take a seat, it will only take a moment as I'm sure you saw from the sorting of the first years earlier on." I sat down as to her instructions and the hat was placed on my head.

"Hmm very interesting." Said the Hat. "You have many of the great qualities Ravenclaw desires, however you seem to be more suited to Gryffindor, and not just because your whole family has been put there either." The Hat was then taken off of my head. "Take heed of my words tonight in the great hall." He must have been talking about the poem, so it obviously did have some meanings behind it.

"First I will give you the password to the Gryffindor common room, then Professor Vance will show you to your room. This year the password is Quadpot. Now tomorrow will be a busy day, and today has been a long one, I trust that you'll want some sleep tonight." She said, effectively dismissing me. "Mr Potter I need a word with you." I was then ushered out of the room.

I followed half a step behind Professor Vance towards the teachers' dorms. "What subjects are you thinking of taking?" He asked.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Charms, and Ancient Runes." I told him, rattling off my subjects once again.

"A nice choice of subjects. Well this is your room here." He said pointing to a door to my right. "Next to you is your father and my room is opposite his if you need anyone in the night." It was good to know, however there was one door in the corridor which he had left out.

"Who's in that one?" I asked, pointing to the door opposite mine. At that moment it opened and a black boy walked out. He kinda reminded me of Professor Vance a little. "Oh it's just you out here making all that noise." He commented. He turned to go back into his room, but Professor Vance stopped him.

"Gerald, remember what we talked about. Make her feel welcome will you." Gerald turned back around.

"Hi I'm Gerald. Meet me in the great hall tomorrow at breakfast; I'll direct you to your first lessons. At lunch I'll give you the guided tour." He then walked back into his room having greeted me 'properly'.

"Alright I'll see you in the morning Abby. Goodnight." Professor Vance then walked into his. I then walked into mine, with nothing else to do.

It was a reasonably sized room, painted in neutral colours. There was a four poster bed in the middle of the room, a wardrobe to one side and desk on the other. My trunk and Midnight were waiting for me at the end of the bed.

The bathroom was next to the wardrobe, near the door to the corridor. The bathroom was also painted in neutral colours and contained a small bath, a large shower, a toilet, and a sink with a nice big mirror. There was also a shelf to keep any necessities on.

I went back into the bedroom and put Midnight's cage on the desk as it was near the window. I then opened it and let him out for the night. I then started to unpack my trunk before putting my iPod on and trying to settle down for the night.