Come on Eileen

Chapter 2

As I stepped off the platform with my best friend and the twins, we were greeted by a deep scruffy voice.

"First years, over here! First years!" the voice said. I turned toward the direction of said voice only to find that it was man who towered over all of us. He was even taller than any of the seventh years!

"Wicked!" I heard the twins say under their breaths. We all walked towards the giant man waiting for him to give us more instructions. I was still shocked about how tall this man was that it took me a second to hear Johnny asking me something.

"Eileen!" he whisper-yells. "Is everyone in the wizarding world this gigantic??" He seemed intimidated by the height of the man greeting us that he seems to have forgotten that there were no giants anywhere else he's been.

"No Johnny, he seems to be the exception." I answer. "In fact, I don't think I've ever really seen someone as tall as him, magical or not!"

"Alright, looks like we've got ye all here! Follow me to the boats!" the giant man said. We follow him as he leads us down a path that ends with us at a lake. As we got to the water, I looked up and saw the beautiful castle.

"It's even better than my mum said," I say, in awe of the castle I would be spending seven years in.

"Four to a boat please! And do your best to not fall in! I'd rather not have to explain to Professor Dumbledor that we lost another student to the Black Lake," The man announces, the last part being more under his breath. He looks around at us, seeing that the last thing he said scared a lot of us. "I shouldna have told you that." he said. "Don't worry that was years ago, the creatures are much calmer nowadays." It was obvious that he was trying and failing to calm us.

"Okay, you guys wanna share a boat together? There's four of us so it'll work out perfectly!" I asked the three boys I was with.

"Sounds like a plan Ellie!" Fred replies, earning weird looks both George and Johnny.

"Ellie? How'd he come up with that one?" Johnny asks me quietly, trying to not grab the attention of the Weasley twins who were already heading to grab us a boat.

"I don't know where he got it from, but I kinda like it, it doesn't feel as serious as my full name, ya'know?" I smile to myself, following the boys to the boat they found. "See you already use a nickname all the time, so I guess it's different for you." I look back at Johnny who still seems to be weirded out by my new nickname. "Well, c'mon Johnathan!" I say, putting emphasis on his full name. "Don't wanna be late for our sorting!" I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him with me to the boat.

We all climb into the boat that Fred and George grabbed and get ready to depart towards the castle.

"Hey, don't we need oars?" Johnny asked.

"You forget you're in the magical world now, there's no need for the mundane things like row a boat." I laugh, forgetting how different it must be to live without magic as a tool for everyday things.

We made our way through the old corridors of Hogwarts, passing by the occasional portrait greeting us as we came by. The look on Johnny's face made it extremely hard not to burst out in laughter but as he got used to the idea of the people in the paintings talking to us, I was able to compose myself by the time we got to the last set of stairs.

"I just know I'm going to get lost in this bloody castle," I heard Johnny mutter to himself.

"It'll be fine, we'll figure it out together." I smile at him. As we made it to the last few stairs, I looked up and saw an older woman in emerald-green robes. She looked around at us students and waited until we all settled down before speaking.