Welcome to the Rest of your Life

Sorting Ceremony {year 1}

"Firs' years!" yelled a booming voice. "Firs'years!"

Shivering in the cold air of the night, I followed Neville and Hermione towards the voice. When I saw the owner of it, I couldn't help but gasp. In front of us was a man with long black hair and a matching beard. But that's not what had made me gasp – he must have been more than 11 feet tall!

"C'mon, follow me." The man called. "Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

"He's quite big." Hermione giggled, her breath fogging up with every exhale.

"Really?" I laughed. "I couldn't tell!"

We slipped and stumbled after the tall man down a steep, narrow path. He was easily spotted even in the dark; his silhouette at the front of the line was the biggest one.

Beside me, Neville sniffled. We still hadn't been able to spot Trevor before we left. I hugged him gently, receiving a hug back.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec." our big line leader called over his shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here."

"Ohhh!" said someone loudly.

The path ended on the edge of a large black lake. In the distance on the tallest mountain was absolutely everything I'd been dreaming of: the castle of Hogwarts, its windows sparkling in the night from the starlight. It looked even better than I would have ever imagined it – and I had definitely done plenty of imaning!

"No more'n four to a boat!"

I started towards one of the boats. Since Neville and Hermione filled one boat, I climbed onto one with three other boys.

"Everyone in?" called the tall man, who had his own boat. "Right then – FORWARD!"

The crowd of small boats moved all at once across the pitch-black water. I smiled at the sandy-haired boy sitting to my left and received a smile in return. Everyone was silent the entire time as we crossed the lake to Hogwarts, surely basking in the castle's glory. I could almost feel the magic radiation off of the bricks and windows.

"Heads down!" the tall man called as the boats in the front reached the cliff. We all obeyed as the boats automatically went through a curtain of ivy and through a dark tunnel that seemed to be going underneath the castle. We stopped when we reached some sort of underground harbor, where we climbed out onto rocks and pebbles. Neville was right at my side right when I got out.

"Oi, you there!" called the tall man, looking at us. He pointed down into one of the boats. "Is this your toad?"

"Trevor!" Neville gasped happily. The tall man handed him Trevor before leading us up a passageway through the rocks.

"Told you he'd come up." I whispered to Neville out of the corner of my mouth. He playfully elbowed me in return.

We finally came out onto damp grass, standing right in the castle's shadow. We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge oak front door.

"Everyone here?" the tall man asked. "You there, still got yer toad?"

I glanced over at Neville and, in the lamplight, could see him blush slightly.

The tall man rapped three times on the door. It opened at once, revealing a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes. She had a very stern look to her.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." The tall man told her.

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

We all entered the entrance hall and followed McGonagall across the stone floor. There were voices around us on the other side of the walls; instead of letting us join the other Hogwarts students already here, however, McGonagall led us first years into a small, empty chamber off of the hall. I was squished in by Neville and the sandy-haired boy from the boat.