The Girl Who Loved: Year 1

Chapter 3

By the time Colleen returned to the compartment Valerie, Harry, and Ron were all waiting for her, dressed in their uniforms. Colleen took note of her brother's robes and giggled how short they were when they were revealing his shoes.

After the boys stuffed the last of the candy stash in their pockets, the group exited off the train onto the platform. Colleen immediately shivered in the cold air, and a light in the distance was floating towards them.

"Firs' years!" a voice boomed. "Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

A man much taller than average man with a thick, brown beard appeared from the darkness. A smile rested on his face, giving off a friendly presence.

"C'mon, follow me," he instructed the new first years. "Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Everyone followed behind him down a dark and narrow path. It was hard to see where they were, and the only source of light was the little lantern in front of them. Colleen wasn't usually afraid of the dark, but she felt uneasy. Out of habit when she got scared, she grabbed Ron's hand.

Was his hand always this small? And when were they so soft?

A finger tapped her shoulder. "I'm behind you, sis," Ron said.

Colleen looked over at whom she was holding hands with. A boy a few inches shorter than her had locked eyes with her, and she began to blush.

"Sorry," she whispered, then let go of the boy's hand.

The boy just shyly chuckled as Colleen's cheeks felt hot.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the tall man said, "jus' round this bend here."

The first years finally could see what he was talking about, and across a sparkling, moonlit lake a castle illuminated by golden lights shone in the distance.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the man instructed as he guided them to fleet of boats floating against the shore of the lake. Harry, Ron, Valerie, and Colleen carefully settled into a boat as Neville and Hermione went to another boat where the boy Colleen had accidentally held hands with had climbed into with a boy with darker skin.

He met her gaze again, and she could see his features had freckles sprinkled on his face. He smiled at her before blushing and breaking eye contact.

"Everyone in?" the man shouted, now in his own boat. "Right then – FORWARD!"

All at once, the boats simultaneously moved forward. A few mutters of excitement escaped the first years' mouths, and the castle seemed to grow taller as they sailed closer to the castle.

As soon as the children were off the boats, they headed to the doors of the castle. The man used his massive fist to knock the door three times, and they flew open. A witch in emerald-green robes greeted them with a stern look on her face.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," the man introduced them.

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

She opened the door wider and guided the new students through the entrance hall. Flaming torches lined the stone walls, the ceiling was so high that it almost deemed to disappear, and the students passed a marble staircase leading to the upper floors.

They made a right and were guided passed a large room where hundreds of Hogwarts students were patiently sitting at four extremely long tables. McGongall lead the first years to a smaller chamber, and they crowded in.

The professor then faced them. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The state-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 very important 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.