The door flung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald robes with a very stern face stood at the doorway.

'The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall,' said Hagrid.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.'

The first-years trotted behind Professor McGonagall into the Entrance Hall. A gigantic place it was, so big that it can easily have the Chamber's house fitted in easily.

They stopped in a small empty chamber. Clarie could hear thousands of voices on the door on her left – obviously the whole school was in that room already.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' said Professor McGonagall. 'The start-of-term feast will begin shortly. But before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is very important, because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while rule-breaking will lose house points eventually. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will become a credit to whichever house you will be sorted in.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I suggest you to smarten yourselves up before you meet the rest of the school. I will return in a few minutes. Please wait here quietly.'

She then left the chamber. Clarie swallowed hard in the dead silence in the chamber.

'How exactly will we be sorted into our houses?' a black girl broke the silence.

'Oh, it's simple. You'll just - '

'Now, Fat Friar, you don't spill all the secrets that these first-years who ought not to know yet!'

People gasped and turned to see where the owners of the voices are. Then, Clarie saw them: twenty or so half-transparent, pearly white ghosts streamed into the little chamber through the solid black walls above the students. But one of them stood out the most: a ghost, which Clarie doubted whether if he really was, who was wearing coloured clothes and had dark orange eyes. 'Aha, ickle nutty little first years!' the ghost said, and cackled devilishly, zoomed back through the wall behind him.

'Look out, kids, Peeves love to make fun of everyone. Just mind not to fall into his little tricks,' a ghost sighed, shocking his head, but which was wobbling on his neck.

'Oh, you must be Nearly-Headless Nick!' Fred said enthusiastically. 'I've heard much about you – my brothers have been telling me about you!'

'Young man, I prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington,' the ghost said stiffly. 'And mind you, young - '

They heard a loud splash and someone shrieked loudly. Then an evil cackling followed and Peeves the poltergeist pooped above a girl with a pale, horse-like face and grey eyes, who was soaked in water.

'You dirty little dreadful ghost!' the girl screamed. 'I swear that – '

'What is all this racket?'

Professor McGonagall had returned into the chamber and said in a disapproving voice. Her face turned into an angry expression as she saw the soaked wet girl and Peeves zooming in and out of the room laughing loudly. 'Peeves, I'm warning you – '

'Warn me what?'

Peeves made a rude gesture towards Professor McGonagall. Then a ghost with a rather mournful, gaunt face and covered in silvery blood slid silently through the air towards Peeves. 'You are no longer allowed to the feast tonight, Peeves. Now out of the place.'

The ghost croaked in a deep voice. 'Yes, sir, your Bloodieness,' Peeves said, slightly disappointed in his voice. He made a face towards the first years and zoomed out of the room again.

'Well, then, see you later!' a little plump ghost monk, who appeared to be the Fat Friar said cheerfully. The rest of the ghosts floated into the wall opposite to which Peeves vanished into.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and miraculously, the dripping-wet girl dried up almost instantly.

'This will never happen again, I can assure you,' Professor McGonagall said sternly. 'Now, would you please form a line and follow me.'

Feeling oddly nervous, Clarie moved behind Lee and in front of George. The group of people walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and reached a pair of double doors. Professor McGonagall opened them and they entered the Great Hall.

Clarie had never seen a place like this: thousands of candles are floating above their heads, and above the candles was a starry sky which looked so real that she almost doubted whether this place was open-air. Four long tables, two on each of her side were laid with golden plates and goblets, but all of them were empty. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting at. Professor McGonagall led them there and the first-years spread into a horizontal line, facing the staff and her, and a wooden stool with a really battered old hat on it.

Everyone in the hall stared at the hat. Suddenly a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:

Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

The whole Hall broke into applause. The hat bowed to each of the table and became still again.

'So we'll simply try on that hat?' Clarie whispered. Lee nodded. 'Good heavens, I thought we are doing a quiz or something.'

'When I call your name, please step forward, sit on the stool and put the hat on to be sorted,' said Professor McGonagall. 'Alvey, Alvin!''

A round, shaking boy with brown hair stumbled out of the crowd, put on the hat, and for a moment of silence –

'HUFFLEPUFF!' shouted the hat.

The table on the right bursted into cheers and applause as Alvin ran towards the Hufflepuff table. Clarie saw the Fat Friar waving merrily at him.

'Ansel, Catherine!'

'RAVENCLAW!' shouted the hat again, and the table second from the left roared with cheers.

'Barnes, Alden' joined Hufflepuff, but 'Batts, Nicholas' became the first Slytherin. Perhaps because of the rumors Clarie heard about Slytherins, she found them looking rather mean and unpleasant.

'Cornell, Calvin', one of Rookwood's side guard-like boys was sorted into Slytherin too. 'As expected,' Clarie muttered, and Lee sniggered.

'Draper, Colette' became the first Gryffindor, and the table on the far left thundered with cheers. A few of them were even catcalling.

'Fischetti, Miguel' became another Ravenclaw.

Suddenly a thought hit Clarie: what house she'd be in? Often the whole family is in the same house, as George said. What if her family was in Slytherin, and she was destined to join them?

She felt sick at the thought of joining the foul kids at the Slytherin table. But George said often, a little voice said in her head. If my family used to be in Slytherin, then I must be the odds to be out.

'Johnson, Angelina' became another Gryffindor. 'Jordon, Lee!' Professor McGonagall called.

Lee stared hard at the hat and gulped, looking a little pale. He walked towards the stool and put the hat on, and within a split second –

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Lee took off the hat and ran towards the cheering Gryffindor table with a great grin towards Clarie. She returned a smile.

And the next was 'Nakaruma, Nadami', the girl that was with Rookwood. She got sorted into Slytherin immediately. With a rather disapproving look, Professor McGonagall waved her wand at the fringe over Nakaruma's face and waved her wand as she ran to the cheering Slytherin table. It turned back into an ink black color as her original her color was. Seeing what has happened, the Great Hall turned into a sea of snigger as Nakaruma finally realized what had happened and smoothed the fringe embarrassingly.

'May I have your attention please. Please be noted that no hair-dying is allowed in Hogwarts,' Professor McGonagall said curtly. Clarie decided that she would never, ever cross this woman in her lessons.

Sometimes, Clarie realized, the hat shouted the house at once, like how Lee got sorted in to Gryffindor. The others often take the hat a while to decide, like 'Norman, Natalie' took almost a minute before the hat shouted 'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Nowell'... 'Nye'... 'Osborne'... 'Parker'... and 'Phillips, Andreas', then, at last –

'Potter, Claire!'

The hall instantly muted to total silence, when suddenly the cheers in the hall turned to whispers like hissing fires, with occasional buzz of low exchange of conversations. Students at the tables started to look over to the crowd of first-years.

'Potter, did she say?'

'That Claire Potter?'

No one responded. 'Is there a Claire Potter here?' Professor McGonagall frowned and scanned across the crowd of first-years. And when she set her eyes on Clarie, who smiled embarrassedly at the same old name joke and said, 'I think there isn't any Claire Potter here, professor, but I'm Cla-rie Potter.'

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. Out of Clarie's expectation, Professor McGonagall waved her wand and transformed a fork on the table behind her into a quill. She scribbled something on her list and said, 'Potter, Clarie.'

How she wished she looked more confident than she was when she walked to the stool.

The last thing she saw before the hat dropped over her eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look of her.

'Hmm,' a small voice, the voice of the Sorting Hat said in her head. 'Strange. This diverse is seldom to be seen. You have great courage in your mind, but there's much intelligent also. Plenty of loyalty, too, and you have much desire to prove yourself... so, where should I place this divergent?'

Clarie got more and more nervous by the moment. She gripped the edges of her robes and another voice in her head chanted, 'Gryffindor! Gryffindor!'

'Gryffindor, eh?' the Sorting hat said. 'It doesn't mean you must be in it when your parents are in - ' (Clarie felt a great relief) 'but if you insist – yes, it suits you well, then – GRYFFINDOR!'

Clarie heard the last word shouted to the whole Hall. The effect was immediate: Gryffindor table bursted into an explosion of cheers and claps. She took off the hat and ran towards the cheering table and sat beside Lee, who slapped hard on her back. Some people even screamed, 'We've got Potter! We've got Potter!'

Clarie took a look at the High Table properly: Hagrid gave her a double thumbs-up, and an old man sitting in the middle of the table on a golden chair, who appeared to be the headmaster gave her a warm smile.

There were two teachers at the High Table that stood out in her mind: a teacher with greasy black hair hanging around his face, a cold face and rather oddly, he stared at Clarie hard with his intense black eyes, as if he was studying her. She was confused at the scene but he turned away soon. The other was a witch who reminded Clarie of Asians but had a pair of oddly icy blue eyes which does not match her.

Suddenly Clarie shivered. She heard some familiar hissing sounds when she looked at the witch, but she forgot where she has heard of those noises.

'Rookwood, Liam', as she expected, went to Slytherin.

The sorting ceremony continued, with Fred and George being the star of the night.

'Weasley, Fred!' Professor McGonagall announced. Clarie peered over the crowd immediately to get a better look.

The first idea that struck her was hoping Fred would be sorted into Gryffindor. And the second thought: wait. That wasn't Fred.

George, the twin with a slightly sharper feature than his brother went up and sat on the stool, and shot Clarie with a sly little grin. No one noticed anything wrong, until the sorting hat shouted, 'THIS IS NOT FRED WEASLEY!'

George immediately pulled away the hat and ran back into the remaining crowd of first-years, guffawing like mad and gave his twin brother a high five as the real Fred ran out. Realizing what had just happened, the whole Great Hall bursted into laughter, with the teachers facepalming themselves or sighing, as if saying, how will the coming years end up with these two?

But it did not matter anymore, as both George and Fred got sorted into Gryffindor, and everyone welcomed them like they were heroes. The old teacher at the middle of the High Table rose to his feet when the last student, 'Virgi, Alison', the girl that Peeves picked to prank on was sorted into Slytherin. Professor McGonagall brought the stool, the hat and the roll of parchment in her hand out when the headmaster stood up, cleared his throat and started to speak.

'That's Professor Albus Dumbledore, our headmaster, in case you don't know,' Percy whispered in her ear, and Clarie nodded.

'Welcome!' Dumbledore said. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before the feast begins, I would like to say a few words, and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

'Thank you!'

He sat back down, and everyone clapped and cheered. Clarie joined in and told Lee, 'He looked like a genius but he sounded like he is a weirdo.'

'He is!' Lee said enthusiastically. 'My father told me he was probably the greatest wizard in… '

'In what?'

It took Clarie two seconds to realize why he stopped, when she saw the golden platters were suddenly filled with all kinds of food.

It was an amazing scene to her, as she'd never seen so much scrumptious looking food (tasted great as well) gathered in one table: sausages, baked beans, lamb chops, roast chicken, roast beef... all what she loved the best gathered right in front of her.

'I'm half blood, my dad's a wizard and my mom's a muggle,' the newly-sorted Gryffindors listened as Angelina Johnson spoke, when they were dared by Charlie to introduce themselves to everyone, with mentioning an embarrassing moment with their magical powers. 'And… don't laugh at me, but I did once made this little annoying neighbor of mine grew a hawk beak when he kept following me and poking me with a twig. And in the end my dad cleared the mess up and… well, that wasn't a pleasant moment.'

'Gosh, Clarie,' Lee suddenly leaned his head on Clarie's shoulder and said in a dreamy tone. 'I think I just had a crush on this lovely girl. Such a brave, strong young woman.'

Clarie slapped hard around the top of his head, suppressing a giggle.

'So… who's next?' Charlie said. 'George, what about you?'

'Ow, Charlie, don't make us say that, you already know your dear little brother well enough,' George said, pretending to blush. The first-years around laughed.

'Oh no, you don't. Fred, you'll tell double then if George's saying nothing,' Charlie joined the laugh.

'Well, for any further enquiries, please consult our dear Mr. Prefect here, my brother Charlie,' he said, pretending to look and sound like a formal consultant at the services table. Everyone laughed, as Clarie shouted, 'Just tell it, Freddie; I wanna know!'

'You want me to tell?' he waved his hands. The Gryffindors listening shouted 'YES!'.

'Well then, since Miss Claire- '(Clarie acted as if she wanted to punch him with a balled fist showing) 'Clarie Potter asked me to do so, I'll tell,' Fred laughed, and Clarie put down her fist with a sly grin. 'Okay. Um, I once turned my younger brother's big teddy bear into a tarantella, when the stupid little git broke my broomstick.

Everyone wowed. Some frowned. 'I'm never crossing you, Fred; and I hope you're not turning my stew into a cockroach,' Clarie stuck her tongue out, as she pretended to get her bowl away from Fred as far as possible.

'You bet,' he chuckled.

'He'll do it eventually, some day,' George said with a grin.

'Who's turn is it now? Clarie?' Charlie turned to her. 'So, are you sure it's pronounced as Cla-rie? Because we've never heard of that name.'

'I'm one hundred percent sure, your highness our prefect,' she swapped into a poker face and pretended to salute. 'My name's pronounced as Cla-rie Potter by my family since I could remember.'

'You can still remember your family? How are they like?' Colette asked with an air of interest. Everyone else at the table encouraged Clarie to tell it.

Shoot. She loathed to tell it. Not in front of so many people, nor about the subject.

'For my most embarrassing moment, yes, I once told a cat that I wished to have a big piece of shit inside the soup bowl of a girl I hated at school, just to express my anger. And it did get a big, smelly piece of shit in her bowl, and I wish everyone here can see her face, that was horrific,' she changed the subject quickly. 'What about you, Lee? What's yours?'

People around groaned and some said, 'C'mon, Clarie, just tell it!' 'It's okay, we won't tell anyone else!'

'Hey, Lee, what's your story?' she poked Lee in the arm, her eyes staring right into his, in hopes of he can get her message, please, a little help here?

He didn't fail her, as a friend. 'Um, hi everyone, I'm Lee. For my experience…'

And Clarie forgot most of the feast, except the feast was fantastic, when everyone at the Gryffindor table turned their attention back to the other first years. Still, she could see from time to time, that there must be one or two of her housemates were taking glimpses of interest and concern at her.

As soon as she stuffed herself up with the last bit of rich, creamy cheese cake the platters were gone, along with the remaining dishes as Dumbledore stood up once again for a speech.

'Ahem, just another few words before you return to your dormitories, the typical start-of-term reminders for you all.

'First-years should be reminded that the Forbidden Forest, as its name, is forbidden to all pupils. Keep it in mind that, there are things you do not want to see this early in your life… or wish to die a painful death.'

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his half-moon shaped spectacles. George elbowed Clarie and whispered in her ears, 'Fancy a nice little walk in the forest?'

'Wouldn't mind when we have time,' she smiled slyly. Melissa Nowell, a fellow Gryffindor first year shushed her.

'Strange, he'd never talk about the Forbidden Forest this seriously,' Charlie frowned. 'I mean, he never mentioned about "a painful death" on this topic. We all know there are beasts and eerie stuff in the forest.'

'Maybe he's got this gut feeling that someone might get in with all possibilities this year,' Fred said, and looked at Clarie diagonally for one second and she could almost get what he meant: they would go.

'Please be also reminded that all students should not leave their dormitories after nine thirty, and a few of our older students might keep it in their mind as well,' Dumbledore continued. 'I have also been asked by Mr Filtch, our caretaker, that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.'

'Which means we can use magic after classes on the corridors,' Lee said, and the first-year Gryffindors sniggered.

'Quidditch trials will begin in the second week of term. Students interested of joining should contact Madam Hooch.'

'Um… what's Quidditch?' she asked lightly, and couldn't help from having the feeling of being the most idiotic doofus in the world.

'It's a bit like basketball on a broom,' Alicia Spinnet, another Gryffindor first-year whispered. 'I'll explain that to you later.' Clarie nodded gratefully.

'And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!' Dumbledore cried, as he give a little flick of his wand and sent a long, golden ribbon flying out into the air above the tables, which twisted itself into a verse of song.

'Everyone pick their favourite tune, and off we go!' Dumbledore said, and the whole school bellowed,

'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty

Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us something worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains rot.'

Everyone started with different tones and ended at different times. Clarie, going overjoyed with this all new experience chanted an American rock tune which ended quickly, leaving her in regret for going too fast. The Weasley twins, however, ended the song the last as they sang a slow church hymn tune.

Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and once they were done he vanished the ribbon lyrics in the air and clapped one of the loudest.

'Ah, music, the magic that will leave you in a trance!' he wiped his eyes and said. 'And now, bedtime! Off you trot, you'll start classes tomorrow morning!'

The Gryffindor first-years followed Charlie through the chattering crowds that were pushing their way out of the Great Hall, up the marble staircase. Clarie, being so tired and stuffed with all the food beforehand had to wrap her arm around Lee's shoulders as he half-dragged her upwards with a startled face.

'Seriously, I'm not going to eat so much again,' she yawned and let go of a burp.

'Seriously, Sunshine, you don't mind being so open?' Lee complained, and he gave a big yawn too.

'Next time if I am drunk, you'll still have to drag me back up.' she pointed dreamily. 'I mean it, Lee; I do drink.'

The chitchat didn't work to ease their tiredness all the way up through all the doorways hidden behind panels and portraits (with people that could actually move!) and staircases that would move around as they wished, with some steps that they had to keep in mind to jump, unless they wanted to fall all the way downwards.

'This one's for you, ickie little firsties!' a devilish cackle boomed above their heads as Clarie almost gave up and decided to slump on the staircase and take a nice long nap. They looked up, only to see an orange-y, half transparent figure zooming away, leaving dozens of bottles of ink dropping onto the first years' heads.

'Haha, that's for you Gryffies! Huffies come next!' Peeves laughed uproariously and blew a raspberry towards the shocked and black Gryffindors.

'Ow, crap!' Clarie yelled as her tiredness transformed into fury towards the Peeves the poltergeist. 'You mark my word, you filthy big douchebag - '

The trio of her closest friends had to pull her backwards to prevent her from swearing any further, as the Gryffindors complained furiously. Colette even cried over her stained fine robes.

'Hey, Sunshine, you look like one human Dalmatian, you know?' George, whom now had his face half-covered in ink said, suppressing a snigger.

'Do NOT call me sunshine! And I'll kill that stupid - '

'You can't kill a ghost!' Fred, whose fiery red hair now dyed a shade of black guffawed at her words. 'Like seriously, lady, I appreciate your hot temper, but stay a little more reasonable.'

She bit her lip, which tasted of a mixture of saliva and ink.

'Sorry for the manners,' she apologized, but her mind flew to a plot of revenge on Peeves. 'Maybe we'll show him he's messed up with the wrong students…'

'Hey, first years! It's alright, we'll get back to the common rooms as soon as possible and you can take a nice shower afterwards, okay?' Charlie yelled over the angry complaints as he wiped the little ink dot on top of his nose. The complaints turned to a mutter of general agreement that a shower would do to clean up, although Colette was still teary.

They continued their trip, until they stopped in front of a door-sized portrait of an obese lady in pink silk dress. She frowned as she saw the messed-up pupils. 'What's with all of you? Did Dumbledore give you an ink shower?'

'Peeves did,' Charlie explained tiredly. 'Drabblenuts.'

The portrait flung open, revealing a round hole/ passageway behind. The scrambled in, one by one after Charlie into the could've-been-cozy Gryffindor common room, if only they weren't all covered in sticky and thick ink.

Charlie directed the pupils to the boys and girls into their respective dormitories and bathrooms. Clarie surged towards the staircase that led to the girls' dorms with her fellow roommates when suddenly, the staircase turned into a slippery marble slide and they girls shrieked and lid back downwards, and piling up at the bottom, with Alicia landing on top of her.

'Oh, not again…' 'Ouch! You're sitting on me! Clarie!' 'My bad, sorry, sorry…'

The girls groaned and complained about the staircase as they stumbled onto their feet, revealing the duo at the bottom of the pile: George and Fred. Too obvious that they were the ones who triggered the staircase's transfiguration.

'Just wondering what the girls' room looks like,' George mumbled. 'Argh, get off, Fred, you're crushing me ribs!'

'Ouch.' Fred rubbed the back of his neck as he managed up, sitting on top of George, who started to curse him. 'My bad. Shouldn't have done that. Sorry, girls.'

'Sorry isn't enough,' Clarie said as she folded her arms with an artful grin. Angelina and Alicia cracked their knuckles while Colette and Melissa, who were standing behind the little crowd of mess kept saying, 'Um, guys, what about a shower first?'

In the end shower wasn't their first priority. The three girls dragged the twins to the boys' dorms which the staircases cooperated well with their presence while Colette and Melissa, who were trotting behind kept repeating, 'Oh, guys, don't!' as the twins protested, 'Hey, let us go, we're fine and can walk!'

'Hey, boys, delivery!'Angelina yelled as she kicked open the first room's door, with two other shocked first-year and Lee looking stunned at the scene, standing by their beds. She swung Fred who was waggling furiously and threw him inside, landing right in the middle of the room face down.

Clarie dragged George over and with the help of Alicia and George was thrown onto Fred, who was just struggling onto his feet, and both slammed onto the floor hard.

The three girls guffawed, and Clarie called, 'No returns accepted! Sayonara!' and slammed the door behind them.

They giggled and laughed about the twins all the way back.

'Strong arm you have, Angelina,' Clarie said with appreciation as she bumped Angelina's well-muscled bicep.

'Thanks, I get to play Quidditch a lot when I was a kid,' Angelina beamed proudly.

And the girls explained to Clarie all about Quidditch, interesting magic facts and a lot of wizarding games all night long, until they were cleaned up and in their beds, when they all fell asleep between conscious and unconscious.

Before she dozed off, Clarie couldn't help from think that this year, spending in Hogwarts might going to be the best school year in her life.