Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 3: Welcome to Hogwarts

By the time the train had come to a full stop, the sun and blue hue of the sky had completely disappeared, replaced quickly with a bright moon and a dark canvas speckled with glinting stars. Shaye was positive this was the same night sky she saw when she looked out the window of her bedroom back home, but for some unknown reason that she just couldn't put her finger on, it seemed different tonight; vaster, blacker ... more magical.

"Right, then." A loud, booming voice was the first thing that Shaye, Harry, and Ron heard as they stepped off of the train and onto the cement platform. "First years, this way, please!"

A large huddle of first-years flocked toward the voice, but as soon as Shaye saw the man belonging to it—a giant of a man who was two times larger than most adults with long brown hair and a scraggly brown beard—she was sure she couldn't have missed him even if she tried. 

"Come on, now, first-years, don't be shy." The man held out a glowing lantern so the smallest and newest of the Hogwarts students knew where to gather. "Come on now, hurry up." The man then smiled down at Harry as if he knew him, which knowing Harry Potter, he probably did. "Hello, Harry."

"Hey, Hagrid." Harry greeted the large man while Shaye, Ron, and most of the other first-years were busy taking in his size. 

Unbothered by the ogling eyes that he was probably far too used to, the giant man, Hagrid, waved for the pack of young children to follow him. "Right, then. This way to the boats. Come on, now, follow me."

Staying close to the front of the group with Harry and Ron, Shaye followed Hagrid as he led them away from the train station and towards a small dock surrounded by wooden boats. Following Hagrid's instructions of no more than four students to a boat, Shaye climbed into one of the first ones with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Occupying the lead boat all to himself, Hagrid waited until all of the students were settled before calling for the boats to move. And just like that, without the press of a button or even the wave of a wand, the fleet of boats drifted off into the black lake. 

For a while, the only sources of light were the small lanterns hanging from the front of the boats. Shaye strained her eyes in the darkness trying to find their destination, but when the fleet rounded a bend and the world seemed to light up from the warm glow of the large castle ahead, Shaye felt her breath catch in her throat. She had heard stories about Hogwarts and even seen pictures of the castle, but there was nothing compared to seeing it in person for the very first time.

Shaye was far from the only student admiring the castle. Wherever she looked, mouths were hung open and eyes were wide. "Wicked," Ron whispered, his voice just barely audible over the lapping of the water against the side of the boat. 

By the time Shaye had a chance to contain her excitement and nerves, the boats had arrived at another dock where a large boathouse sat, seemingly unused for a while. The students were led up a winding flight of wooden steps and then, the moment that everyone had been waiting for, into the castle itself.

Following a strict path, Shaye and the others headed down a plain-looking corridor where the only decorations on the stone walls were lit torches. They then ascended another flight of stairs where a woman in emerald green robes and a witch's hat greeted them, faint chattering and music coming from the closed doors behind her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," the woman greeted. She was older, her brown hair tied back in a tight bun. Despite the serious look on her face, Shaye noted that she also had kind eyes. "Now, in a few moments, you'll pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Now, while you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."