Annabel

Chapter 6: The castle

The four of them quickly peeked through the windows
"where are we?" asked Lorcan

"Hogsmeade Station. That should be the Black Lake... and from there... I think a road extends around the lake to Hogwarts Castle. It is actually quite a distance from the village itself, being on the opposite side of the Hogwarts grounds." said Annabel

"And not far down from those buildings are entrance gates to Hogwarts that are located in a clearing of the Forbidden Forest that leads up to the school grounds. Also at the end of the platform, boats are docked awaiting the arrival of Groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid and the first years." said Tiara "and we read that on Hogwarts a History" she said as she high-fived Annabel

They all waited impatiently for everbody to get out of the train, leaving only the luggage and the first years. After that, a huge old man put his head inside the train

"First years, let's go! We're taking the boats!" he said as he walked to the edge of the lake, waiting for the kids. They all quickly followed him, whispering with excitement

   "There are merpeople in this lake!" whispered Annabel to Tiara, and the girl nodded

   "I read that too!" she whispered back.

         Once they were all gathered around the big man, he spoke up.

   "I'm Hagrid, the groundskeeper. We are going to watch the sunset in this boats on our way to the castle, but let's not play around once we're in the water, alright? Let's get going! Four kids in each boat! Cmon!" he said, already sitting down in a little boat. The two girls quickly got in a boat, making sure their robes didn't get wet. A red haired girl and a short boy stepped in the boat too, and when everybody was ready, the little boats started moving very slowly.
         Tiara and Annabel kept looking down at the black water, and once, Annabel was sure she had seen something moving, but her worries quickly faded away to the sight in front of her. A huge castle towered over them as the sun painted the orange and yellow sky. The lake was huge, and the boats moved very slowly, and once they were close to the edge the night had already fallen, with a few stars already appearing. The little boats carried them 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 reached a kind of under-ground harbour, where they clambered out onto the rocks.

"Let's go, don't get you robes wet!" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, 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.
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open and freaking Neville stood there. What was he doing here?!

"Thanks Hagrid, I'll take them from here" he said as Hagrid nodded and walked away
"Let's get going!" said Neville, opening the doors wider to let all the kids in. He lead the way to a small room, close to the Great Hall, and said
"I am professor Longbotton, your Herbology teacher. Welcome to Hogwarts, 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 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 any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, which is really cool. Anyways, they should be ready for us anytime now." he said casually, and Annabel was now a little nervous.
She knew she would get sorted in freaking Slytherin... She's a direct herder of Salazar Slytherin, why wouldn't she. Everybody would think she's a freak, or a monster... Her thoughts were interrupted when the doors slammed open, revealing the Great Hall.
All the students were looking at them as Neville led the way through the large room. They stopped at the very front. Annabel paid attention as professor Longbotton silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she
put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and
extremely dirty.
         Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth -- and the hat began to sing: