A voice echoed through the train; "We will be arriving in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Harry looked up from the book of magical history he had been reading and stared out the window. He had hoped he would meet someone on the train that he could befriend, but the best he got was a round-faced boy who sat for a moment and then ran out when he realised he had lost his toad. Harry had thrown his snake a look but the creature denied eating a slimy toad. So most of the journey had gone the same way as Harry's final days at Privet Drive, reading a book and inhaling as much magical knowledge as possible. The boy was curious and excited about what he would be learning.

He was almost there, to this magical school that he had been a part of since his birth, a school his parents had attended, one that his parents' killer had attended.

Harry's stomach dropped.

Professor McGonagall had told him everything starting from his parents' time at school the war they fought in after they graduated, and how Voldemort had hunted them down and killed them both. A shiver ran down Harry's spine, he finally knew the reality behind his scar and what the green flash that he saw every time he tried to remember his parents was.

"You're stressing" the hissing voice of the snake interrupted Harry's thought. The creature was coiled up on the seat opposite to the one Harry was sitting on, its red eyes as sharp and piercing as ever.

"It's a new place" Harry shrugged.

"So was the school you went to before coming here" the snake pointed out. "You will do just fine. Unlike most of the others who will join you for classes, you have trained your magic and will be ahead of them. Trust me on that."

Harry nodded but he hardly believed it. There were families of wizards according to Professor McGonagall and he was certain they were going to come in with a ton more experience than what Harry had with his snake friend.

He put his robe on and once the train slowed and finally stopped, he joined the crowd thronging the corridor. People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air.

"'Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" Harry heard a booming voice call. It was a giant of a man holding a lamp.

Slipping and stumbling Harry and the rest of the first years followed the man down a steep, narrow path. They must be walking through a forest of thick trees or something with how dark it was. Nobody spoke much, except for the few sniffles coming from one of them.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," said the large man, "jus' round this bend here".

Harry froze with the rest of the first years at his first look at Hogwarts, a vast castle with many turrets, towers and sparkling windows on top of a high mountain on the other side of a great black lake.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the man called and pointed to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Harry occupied a boat with a plump-faced blonde girl, a sharp-featured brunette girl and a dark-skinned boy.

"Hello," Harry said shyly to the two girls and one boy. The plump-faced blonde and the boy smiled at him while the sharp-featured brunette paid him no mind.

The fleet of little boats moved all at once, gliding across the glass-like lake. Harry stared up at the great castle that towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff.

Then all at once they lowered their heads when the man shouted, passing through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

The large man checked the boats, procuring a toad that the round-faced boy from the train accepted with a large smile. The toad did not seem too happy to be found from the looks of it.

The man led the group through a passageway in the rock, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge oak front door. The man raised a gigantic fist and knocked thrice on the door.

They swung open to reveal Professor McGonagall.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall" said the man.

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

Professor McGonagall pulled the doors wide open, exposing Harry and the rest to the giant entrance hall, the stone walls that were lit with flaming torches, a ceiling so high it was tough to make out and a magnificent marble staircase.

Harry heard the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right as they followed the woman across the flagged stoned floor. Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall, where they crowded in and stood much too close for Harry's comfort.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," began Professor McGonagall, "The start of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony 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 Gryffindors are brave but brash and act before they think" the snake hissed into Harry's mind. "The Ravenclaws are good at using their mind and are stuck up. The Hufflepuffs are soft and that is their downfall. The Slytherins are a mix of all three. They are brave but they do not rush into danger, they possess brilliant minds but they do not think themselves to be better, they are soft but not to the point where they will let it swallow them whole."

"You know a lot about Hogwarts houses" Harry whispered.

"I gather knowledge that will benefit me, and now you as well."

Harry took a deep breath and looked forward. Professor McGonagall was gone, as was the snake on his shoulder. Or perhaps the creature was hiding itself to not raise any suspicions. Snakes were not allowed in Hogwarts after all, only cats, owls and toads. Which begged the question, how did the snake learn?

"How are they going to sort us?" a soft but clear voice interrupted Harry's train of thought. It was the round-faced blonde girl he had shared the boat with. She was looking right at Harry, nerves dancing in her eyes.

"I have no idea" Harry answered with an apologetic smile. "It could be some test to see which house suits us best" If it was a test, Harry was confident he could pass.

But on the off chance he did not, he'd have to go back to Privet Drive and attend some normal school. No, he had money and the bank Goblin had taught him how to exchange that for muggle money. He could afford his own place with it and go to a school of his choosing. He wouldn't need to rely on the Dursleys any more.

Several people screamed behind Harry and he turned sharply. A gasp fell from his lips.

"Don't be too startled, ghosts are normal at Hogwarts" the snake whispered into his mind.

"Are they?" Harry asked, staring at the gaggle of ghosts who were talking amongst themselves. "How do you know?"

"I told you, I gather information that will benefit me."

"So you know how we are going to get sorted?"

"I do."

"Will you tell me?"

"No."

Harry felt his irritation grow and could have sworn the snake had snorted at him.

"Move along now," said the returned Professor McGonagall from the door. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

One by one the ghost floated away through the opposite wall, and in a line, the students followed Professor McGonagall through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, each one floating in the air like they were being suspended on invisible ropes. They were floating over four long tables filled with students, each table possibly for each house and laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers sat. Professor McGonagall led the first years there.

Too many eyes were staring at them in Harry's opinion, so he instead stared at the ceiling. But instead of a ceiling, he saw velvety darkness dotted with stars. He heard someone talk about some book, but he didn't pay them much mind, he was too stunned at the sight. Was the ceiling opened to the skies outside? How did they manage that?

Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

Harry's gaze jolted back down at the voice and found a hat with a rip near the brim.

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 folk 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!'

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," said Professor McGonagall.

"A hat will sort us?" Harry asked himself in disbelief. But then again, it was a magical talking hat, one that described each house in its weird poem. A description that did not quite match the one the snake had given Harry.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat declared and the table on the right erupted in cheers.

"Bones, Susan!"

The round-faced blonde girl who had shared the boat with Harry rushed for the stool.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat declared and the table on the right erupted in cheers once more.

"Boot"… "'Brocklehurst"… "Finch-Fletchley"… "'Finnigan"… "Granger"… "Greengrass"… "Longbottom"… "MacDougal"… "Malfoy"... "Moon"... "Nott"... "Parkinson"... then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"... then "Perks"... and then, finally–

"Potter, Harry!"

The entire school seemed to come to a standstill. The students that remained all stared at Harry, and the boy had the urge to lift his robe to cover himself. He was never good with the attention of a few, let alone that of so many.

Legs feeling like lead he approached the stool and his vision turned dark when the hat was placed on him. But he could still hear everything, he heard the whispers of all the students. He was certain that the students were still craning their necks to get a better look at him.

"Hmm…" a deep voice rumbled in his mind, a voice he did not recognise. "Plenty of courage… not a bad mind either… honest and kind as well… and a thirst to prove your worth… very difficult. Where should I put you?"

"Which house do you think I fit in?" Harry asked.

"Which house? Which house do you think you belong in?"

"Isn't that your job to figure out?"

The voice chuckled, deep and rich.

"Your life has not been easy Mr Potter, I can see that. But it has certainly laid the foundation for you to become something great. I think the house that would help you best would be SLYTHERIN!"

Harry inhaled deeply as a chill passed through him.

"You have a challenge ahead of you Mr Potter, do not let the whispers of others let you from being who you want to be."

Harry squinted when the hat was pulled off of his head. Before him, all the students were still staring, yet Harry couldn't help but feel that the stares had changed somehow.

Excerpts from the book were taken to describe Hogwarts.