Daisies • HP Next Generation

Brave, Wise, Loyal, or Cunning

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!" A giant man with long bushy hair and beard held a lamp over the crowd of children before him. He stood more than twice as tall as any of the first years, and cast a foreboding shadow over the students, but once Daisy could see his friendly face, with twinkling eyes and a bright smile, she figured he couldn't be as scary as he looked.

Daisy looked around. Lily and Sophie had already been pulled away from her by the packs of students milling around randomly. Daisy pushed her way through a group of older kids to reach Lily, who she had only been able to see by her brightly colored hair in the foggy darkness.

"This way," Daisy said, tugging on Lily's sleeve.

Lily looked up. "Oh, hey it's Hagrid!" she said, still in her unfamiliar, cheery tone, and pulled Daisy and Sophie towards him.

They were about to approach Hagrid, when they were stopped by a small elderly man at a long table in the middle of the path.

"Electronics please," he recited. "And don't sneak any through. They'll only break once they enter the Hogwarts grounds."

Daisy took out her mobile, now covered in a dark blue protective case, and her laptop and held them out to the man. He took them from her, and placed them in a metal lockbox about the size of a small suitcase. "Here's your key, you will be told when you can access your items. Good evening."

After Sophie had handed over her mobile and received her key, the three girls walked over to the group of first years who were collecting by Hagrid. After all of them had been accounted for, they all followed Hagrid down a slick, steep slope, surrounded by something - Daisy guessed tall trees - that blocked out all light.

Soon, Daisy started hearing gasps of amazement coming from the students in the front, and peered over their heads to see what they were looking at. The path ahead had widened, and all the first years could now see the towering castle over the broad black lake spread out before them.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid said, and gestured for all of them to get in one of the small wooden boats at the shore.

Sophia led the way to one of the empty boats, and all three sat down. Joining them, was a boy that Daisy didn't recognize, but no one was interested in talking about themselves when there was so much to be seen.

Just as she started to wonder where the oars were, Daisy realized that their small fleet of boats had already started gliding through the lake towards the castle. The waves could barely be noticed, and she would have sworn there weren't any at all if not for the sound of them slapping the sides of the boats.

After passing under the castle, they turned up at another boat harbor, and everyone got out.

"Now, follow me this way everyone," Hagrid called, helping the last student out of his boat. He led them up a flight of steps up to a pair of humongous oak doors, and knocked. Daisy turned around just in time to see the last few boats disappearing around the edge of the castle, to where, she could only guess.

The door only took a few moment to open, and behind it was a short wizard who introduced himself as Professor Flitwick, Deputy Headmaster.

Hagrid dipped his head, and stepped back to let them through, smiling at them as they went by. Daisy noticed he was particularly sure to smile at the ones that looked nervous.

Daisy stepped into the Hall not expecting anything too grand, but she couldn't help but gasp once she saw the room. The ceiling was taller than she could see, and marble staircases led up in different directions. There were no electric lights, only torches hanging on the walls, and lots of large windows, that surely showed lots of light during the day.