Chapter Two
Hogwarts

Sebastian shook the thoughts about the sorting ceremony from his mind, he had more important things to do right now he thought, grinning from ear to ear, as he joined Wulf and Rick whose mouths were already covered in chocolate, and grabbed a handful of sweets from the little silver table.

"Did you see that?" Wulf exclaimed a piece of chocolate almost falling from his mouth as he spoke. "That was the most wicked thing I've ever seen!"

He waved his right arm trying to replicate what Tom had done moments ago and failing miserably, looking like a flailing chicken in the process. "I want to be in Slytherin so he can show me how to make tables of sweets appear!" He bit down on another chocolate frog. "And he was super nice as well!"

Sebastian and Rick nodded in agreement.

"I think my sister lied when she told me Slytherin was the house of evil people!" Rick exclaimed, stuffing his face with various chocolate treats, making him almost choke in the process, "Tom was— He stopped to swallow a particularly big piece of chocolate

"—Tom was brilliant!"

Sebastian agreed, yeah he really was brilliant, and he was more than intrigued about what Tom knew about his grandfather.

Sebastian used to pepper his parents about him, but they never seemed to talk about it, if this Tom knew something about him, they had to talk again… as soon as he was sorted into Slytherin…

The three boys were still chatting while the train was slowly pulling into Hogsmeade Station, it was almost dark outside now, and a few old streetlamps dimly lit up the station, as the train finally came to a screeching halt.

As they were changing into their school robes Sebastian´s gaze wandered out of their window, over the Scottish highlands, and excitement rose in him again, this was it, it was finally happening, they would take the boats over the black lake towards Hogwarts. He had heard the stories about the giant squid and how incredible the Castle looked at night.

He stared at the other two boys who also looked like they were bursting from excitement.

"I am so ready!" Wulf exclaimed his eyes flashing in excitement, and Sebastian erratically nodded in agreement.

After changing into their robes, they made their way through the train saying a final goodbye to their compartment, in which they had spent their last eight hours.

As Sebastian stepped off the train he felt a slight summer evening breeze on his face, and he breathed in the fresh Scottish air.

He turned towards Wulf and Rick who were just getting off the train as well, and met their gazes in excitement. "I am so excited to finally see the castle, I hope it's as impressive as everybody says!" Sebastian told them.

Rick spoke up. "Oh, I've seen a picture once, you won't be disappointed!" He smiled.

Wulf nodded. "I can't wait, come on, let's get a move on!" He darted ahead his trunk in tow.

Sebastian didn't have to be told twice as he and Rick paced after him toward the horseless carriages.

They made their way along the Station, the evening atmosphere was light and warm, and the whole area was full of laughing and chattering students who all seemed to be equally excited to return to school.

After a short walk, they finally ended up on a carriage with two other— what Sebastian assumed were also —first years. Judging by their clueless and at the same time awestruck facial expressions.

As Sebastian finally sat down next to Wulf, his gaze moved towards the bench across from them, where Rick was about to sit down, and he suddenly found himself looking into the eyes of the same uncertain-looking boy whom he saw at Kings Cross Station with his parents.

The boy didn't meet Sebastian's gaze and kept staring at the Carriage floor, his mousey brown hair was short and ruffled, his posture reflecting his uncertain looks, and Sebastian couldn't but feel bad for the boy, being alone here and having no one with you was a scary thought.

He was about to introduce himself to the boy to maybe get him to lighten up a bit when another boy sat down next to him shoving Sebastian and Wulf away.

He pushed them apart, making Wulf snort. "There's a lot of space on here you know?!" As he shot the boy a mildly annoyed look.

The boy only shrugged, and Sebastian felt like he had an arrogant smile on his face as he spoke u., "Don't care, that space there just felt like mine!" He spread his legs out bumping into Sebastian's and Wulf's knees, making them look at each other, sharing an annoyed look.

Before they could reply the rude Boy spoke up again, his gaze landing on the uncertain-looking boy sitting across from them, whose eyes were still fixed at the floor between them. "What are you looking at kiddo? Jealous of my new shoes?" He lifted one leg, showing off the shiny black leather shoe in question. "Dad bought them for me… but you don't strike me as someone who has the brain to appreciate good fashion." He shot the uncertain boy a disapproving look.

Sebastian felt himself getting angry at this guy, why would he… his train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted "I am Dario Robins by the way." The rude boy stood up, his gaze moving over the other boys on the carriage. "Yes I know my dad is the famous Quidditch player Damien Robins, you don't have to remind me, and no I won't ask him for autographs for you." He shot them what seemed to be a badly faked smile.

Sebastian didn't know what to say, he didn't even know any Damian Robins, nor did he particularly care, the other boys seemed to feel the same, annoyed looks edged on their faces while the boy, Dario continued with his speech.

"I am the future Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor and you should—" He was suddenly interrupted by a new voice from the left, it was cold but not unfriendly: "We don't care, mate, you're really not that special." Everyone's head instantly snapped to the left, where yet another boy had just climbed onto the carriage, plopping himself down next to Rick. He had shoulder-long black hair and a particularly big nose, but his dark eyes were fixed on Dario, looking almost dangerous.

Sebastian's gaze moved towards Dario again, whose mouth seemed to have opened in shock, eyes wide in surprise.

After a few seconds of silence Dario now spoke up again. "—What do you… I just meant… I mean… I am just…" He stuttered his voice now coming out almost uncertain, in contrast to the slightly arrogant undertone it had before.

"Yeah we get it, no one cares for your arrogant boasting, either talk to us like any normal person or shut up."

The new boy told him, his dark eyes fixed on Dario, and everyone stared at him again, even the uncertain boy had moved his gaze from the floor towards him, as he seemed to have composed himself a bit.

Dario swallowed and sat down mumbling a silent "Sorry…" His eyes found the floor now, as the carriage finally started moving.

"It's okay, just don't be a douche and no one will bat an eye!" The new boy exclaimed.

No one made a noise and he sighed. "I guess I should lighten the mood a bit…" He straightened his back, a small smile now crossing his features. "My name is Bridgett Prince!" His gaze moved over the other boys and he smiled. "But please call me Jed!"

Sebastian eyed him curiously, and as he wanted to introduce himself to Jed, the uncertain-looking boy suddenly spoke up. "Hi—" Everyone's heads instantly snapped towards him, curious looks on their faces.

The boy flinched at the sudden looks he got, but seemed to collect himself again as he continued. "—I am—" He paused again, but now seemed to meet Jed's gaze, who shot him a swift smile. "—I am Connor!" He smiled uncertainly, as he looked around between the other boys. "I don't know too much about magic, until a few weeks ago I didn't even really know all of this existed… and it's kinda scary…" His mind seemed to wander off before he caught himself again.

"It's nice to meet you, Connor!" Rick suddenly spoke up as he shot him a small smile. "I guess you're Muggleborn?"

Connor slightly nodded still looking nervous. "I think that's how they call it here, yes."

"That's brilliant!" Wulf suddenly exclaimed. "Can you ride one of these loud machines, that go on four wheels? They seem wicked!" His eyes were twinkling in excitement and Sebastian snorted.

"They're called cars, Wulf, even you should know that!" He shot his friend an amused look. "And I am pretty sure only adult muggles drive them." His gaze moved towards Connor, as he waited for approval.

Which Connor gave him with a nod as he spoke up again, looking a bit more relaxed now. "Yeah, almost all muggles have them, they're basically like—" He looked pensive for a moment. "—like brooms!" He smiled. "The only difference is that they can't fly!" He explained.

Wulf huffed. "That sounds super boring." Making Rick and Sebastian snort as he continued. "Imagine having a broom that can only go on the ground… super lame!" He finished, the excitement having vanished from his face.

Suddenly the other boy spoke up again, his name was Jed, Sebastian remembered. "Well, muggles don't have the luxury of using magic." He explained. "They don't have it as easy as we do, and well, they have to make the best out of what they're given!" He shrugged and Sebastian had to agree with that sentiment.

When Dario who had been oddly quiet for the last few minutes, after his rather loud introduction suddenly spoke up, all eyes instantly fell on him, most of them with disapproving looks. "Well, I think—" He started, making Sebastian almost snort, like anyone cared what you think, Sebastian told himself, as Dario continued. "—That muggles are super boring…" He grimaced. Imagine an existence without Quidditch!" He told them, looking at Connor, while the other boys only rolled their eyes.

Before anyone could reply to his snarky remark the carriage came to an abrupt halt next to the Hogsmeade Boat House.

"Get off your carriages, it's time to jump on the boats!" A loud deep voice announced.

The boys slowly climbed off, and made their way onto the Hogsmeade pier, as Sebastian saw the culprit of the voice, it was a tall scruffy looking man, he was wearing a long brown coat and had short grey hair and a grey beard.

"I am the Hogwarts Gamekeeper and my name Is Ogg, you will now be sorted into groups, with whom you will remain until the sorting ceremony starts!" The man explained, his loud voice ringing out over the 30 or so students standing on the pier.

A murmuring was heard between the children and Sebastian was equally as confused why would they be sorted into groups now, when they would be sorted into houses anyway?

Next to him, Wulf spoke up. "What does he mean we will be sorted into groups?" He asked, visible confusion on his face.

"I think I know why!" The boy from before, Jed, suddenly spoke up, making the other boys' gazes snap onto him. "Father told me the Hogwarts council decided that the Students would be divided by blood status until the sorting starts, so the Purebloods would not come into contact with—" He was interrupted when the Gamekeeper continued.

"Starting with the first Boat, please come over to that boat!—" He pointed towards a nice looking cushion padded rowboat. "— When your name is called, wait there!" As he lifted a piece of parchment and started reading. "Starting with Abbot Justin—" A boy stepped out of the crowd, he had blond hair and made his way towards the boat as Ogg continued. "—Black Cygnus—"

As they were slowly divided into groups Sebastian found himself together with Wulf, standing next to another nice-looking boat, they were Group Two and were also joined by Jed, the girl from the train, Druella was her name, Sebastian remembered, and another Girl which was introduced as Tiana Rookwood, she had long auburn hair that fell over her shoulders and blue eyes.

And it seemed like Jed was right, they were sorted by Blood Status, as Boat one to three, which were the nice looking boats, were all filled with names that Sebastian recognized as old Wizarding families, Black, Rosier, Greengrass…

"Now, as you're all in your Groups, please make your way onto the boats and sit down, you only get to witness this journey once, so lean back and enjoy!" The loud voice of the gamekeeper rang out.

They did as they were told and Sebastian sat down next to Wulf and the new girl Tiana.

"Oh, do you think that we're going to see the giant squid?" Wulf asked as he sat down, he seemed to be almost shaking from excitement.

The girl from the train, Druella, only huffed as she met Wulf's gaze. "Who cares about some slimy squid, I am excited about the Slytherin Dorms, hopefully, we will have nice rooms, otherwise I will have to tell Father, so he can talk to the headmaster about it!" She leaned back and looked around in disinterest.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, as he heard the other girl, Tiana Rookwood, was her name silently snort next to him, and he turned towards her, as she was stifling a small laugh.

Jed also snorted. "I don't think you should waste too much time thinking about some dorms, maybe just enjoy the show, in the end, you don't even know if you're going to get sorted into Slytherin—" He looked pensive for a moment, and his lips curved. "—but on a second thought, you are probably right, you are a perfect fit for green and Silver…"

Sebastian was surprised that Druella actually shot him back a smile. "Yeah probably, my entire family was in Slytherin so I guess I'd fit right in as well!" She shrugged.

Jed nodded, and it was quiet for a second. "Well, judging by all your surnames—" His gaze moved over the students on the boat, before he continued. "—You're not the only one with family in Slytherin." He met Druella's gaze again and shot her a swift smile.

Sebastian nodded and saw the others do the same, he knew that almost all of the old wealthy Pureblood families were normally sorted into Slytherin, his mum was, his dad was, and he was pretty sure his grandparents were as well.

For the first time the Girl, that was sitting next to him, Tiana spoke up. "Mother says I should follow my brother's footsteps, he's a fourth-year Slytherin, and every Summer when he comes home, he's almost drooling over the amazingness of Slytherin." She snorted. "Not that I care too much what he says, he's as thick as wood!" She told them as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Sebastian and Wulf laughed, he liked this Girl, she seemed funny and she had also laughed at Druella's arrogant speech before.

Suddenly a loud— "Look!" —ripped Sebastian from his thoughts, as Wulf stood up and pointed towards the front of the boat, where an enormous Castle appeared over the Hillside.

It was unlike anything Sebastian had ever seen, the huge towers were lit up under flickering torchlight, the long old stony walls, it was an incredible sight, the way it lay between the soft Scottish highlands.

He noticed that his mouth was open in surprise and he let his gaze move around, to see that the others had the same dumbstruck expression on their faces, even Druella who had tried to seem unimpressed about everything a few minutes ago, gazed at the giant structure in awe.

Almost there he thought, as he felt the excitement build in him again, almost there…

The rest of the boat trip went relatively quiet as everyone was occupied with staring at the castle and its surroundings, it seemed like no time had passed when they docked on the Hogwarts boathouse.

"Oh, we didn't even see the giant squid!" Tiana exclaimed, a slight hint of disappointment in her voice as they climbed out of the boat.

The Giant Squid, Sebastian totally forgot about that, too overwhelmed with the view that was Hogwarts. "Oh, I heard it shows itself quite often, and you can see it from the lake shore on most days!" He told her, shooting her a swift smile which she reciprocated.

"Oh yeah, you're probably right, well the castle made up for it I guess…" She shrugged, as she turned around and skipped ahead towards the stairs that led the way upwards towards, what Sebastian thought looked like the main hall.

He felt something nudge him in the back as he gazed after Tiana and the other students who started making their way up the stairs towards the castle.

He turned around and saw Wulf's grey eyes staring at him, an amused look on his face. "First day in Hogwarts and you're already staring at the Girls." He smirked.

Sebastian grimaced. "Eww, no! Girls are totally barmy!" He snorted. "It's not like there's a huge infamous or dare I say, legendary, castle in front of us!" He exclaimed, gesturing towards it, which was the truth he thought, why would he be thinking of Girls… he grimaced, this time internally, their annoying voices, the way they always knew better…

He was thrown out of his inner rant when Wulf laughed. "I know I was just messing with you, now come on or we're going to miss the sorting ceremony!"

Sebastian nodded but was suddenly pushed from behind.

He spun around to see who so rudely bumped into him and when he spotted Dario again, he only rolled his eyes.

"Out of the way, the future Gryffindor Quidditch Captain is coming!" He exclaimed in his arrogant boisterous voice, he had a smug look on his face as he was shoving his way through the other students, a blond-haired boy was trailing next to him, with a similar expression on his face.

"Didn't we already tell you!" Wulf suddenly shouted towards him, from next to Sebastian. "Nobody cares!" His voice seemed annoyed and Sebastian couldn't fault him, the way Dario was behaving shoving people away, he really was a huge prick.

This time Dario didn't quiet down but turned towards them.

Sebastian thought he didn't look scared, no he looked angry. Dario and the other boy now stepped towards him and Wulf, and not to be outdone they also took a step forward.

"How about you stop behaving like arrogant idiots!" Sebastian shouted as he glared at the boys.

He wouldn't let himself be intimidated by some boisterous brats Sebastian thought, and he met Dario's gaze as the four boys came face to face.

Dario's eyes moved towards Wulf, and he snorted. "Oh does the grey-haired, mommy-boy have something to say?" He spat at Wulf whose face was contorted in anger now. "Oh no, I'm sorry, your mummy didn't even show up, I saw you at the Train Station, she must have had more important stuff to do than to be with you!" Before he could react Wulf jumped him, grabbing his shoulders and yanking him to the floor with a loud roar.

As the other boy, with the blond hair who was with Dario, tried to jump in, Sebastian grabbed him from behind, anger searing through him, nobody would insult his best mate like that.

As Wulf and Dario were rolling around on the floor, the boy who Sebastian now had tight in his grip, kicked towards Wulf on the ground, and with a strong motion that was fuelled by anger, he as well landed on his back, as Sebastian threw himself onto him with a roar. "You bloody—" The blonde boy screamed, as they were wrestling for power.

The boy was struggling kicking in every direction but Sebastian's grip held as he pushed him onto the ground, he had both of the boy´s hands in a tight grip, and his shoulder was nudged into his back, making it almost impossible for the boy to move. He had a victorious grin on his face as he looked towards Wulf who was kneeling on Dario, while the boy was on the floor shouting out every course word imaginable.

But his victorious moment only lasted for a second when he felt two strong arms grip him from behind and he was yanked towards his feet.

"You absolute tossers, what the hell do you think you're doing, do you want to be sent home today? You're not even at Hogwarts yet and already trying to get expelled!" An angry voice shouted at them, which Sebastian identified as Ogg´s, and he gulped, as he stared at the other Boys who slowly got up to their feet. "You're going on a trip to the Headmaster, right after the sorting, and I tell you by Godric, pray that you wont be expelled already, with an introduction like that…" His voice came out like ice, and Sebastian swallowed again, his anger blown away by shame and fear.

His eyes snapped to Dario whose robes were ruffled and were covered in dust from head to toe. "They started it!" He exclaimed, in a shaky voice, pointing towards Wulf and Sebastian.

"Bullshit! You shoved me and then came up to us, with your embarrassing try of intimidation!" Sebastian spat back, his voice coming out confident.

He had his fair share of trouble over the years, which he and Wulf were often the culprits of, but this today… he just stood up for his best friend, and he couldn't blame Wulf for jumping Dario either, after what the boy said to him.

Wulf looked at Dario in disdain. "You're lucky that we got broken up, or—"

"Enough!" The Gamekeeper shouted, making them all freeze. "If you can't contain yourself I will have you personally shipped back towards Hogsmeade right now!" His voice was furious and loud.

Sebastian only nodded in recognition, only now he noticed that everyone was watching them, a huge circle of students had formed around them, all silently whispering and pointing, having stopped their way towards the castle, and Sebastian swallowed, he knew that would be the story at Hogwarts for the next few weeks, and he certainly hoped the headmaster would be lenient with them, he shivered, and felt fear course through him, as he thought what would happen if he was expelled on his first day… no he couldn't think like that, it would be okay.

He shook his head and took two steps towards Wulf, who looked pale and seemed to be thinking the same thing he did.

"Come on, let's get out of here for a second!" He said and Wulf met his eyes and nodded.

"Good Idea!" Wulf replied, his gaze moving over the students staring at them.

They shot Dario and his mate who seemed as shaken as them, one last look, before they made their way towards the stairs that led up to the castle, the staring students parting and making way for them like they were some dangerous criminals, and Sebastian felt ashamed again…

But he shook his head. No! he thought, this was a problem for later, now they would get sorted, then they would deal with this mess. He straightened his posture as they walked up the stairs, the atmosphere had slightly lightened up again, and he heard students chatting normally and laughing, making him feel a bit better.

He met Wulf's gaze who was walking next to him and shot him a quick smirk. "They had no chance, we had their arses pinned to the floor!" And Wulf smirked back. "Like always, no one can come up against us!" And Sebastian nodded, a goofy grin on his face now as he looked up towards the castle again.

They would pull through this, together, like always!