One Day They'll Know Your Name

Name calling

As Harry and his friends got off the train, they heard a booming voice. "Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere!" They followed the voice and discovered a large man with a large beard standing next to a trail that led up a hill.

"Come on then, follow me now. Ye'll get yer first view of 'Ogwarts soon enough 'ere. This way now."

The first years all followed the large man, and at the top of the hill everyone took in a collective gasp.

"Brilliant!"

"It's beautiful!"

"Wow!"

Hogwarts was beautiful. It was all lit up with torches and had so many towers. It was like one of those old Scottish castles, which now that Harry thought about it, it was an old Scottish castle. He could tell his other friends were equally impressed. The first years continued to follow the man down towards the lake, where a whole bunch of boats were waiting.

"No more'n four to a boat now! Everybody in a boat? Let's go!"

The boats took off like, well, magic, and Harry was glad he didn't get seasick, even though the boats didn't really rock at all. About halfway across the lake, there was a flicker of movement just under the top of the water. The next moment, a snake like thing came out of the water and went back down with barely a splash.

"What was that?" Neville asked.

"That was the squid, I think. My brother's made it seem scarier than it seems to be," Ron answered.

"A squid? There's a squid here?" Neville asked, looking terrified.

"Yeah, Father told me a little bit about it. He said it's basically harmless and hasn't attacked anyone in years," Draco added.

"I'm naming it Bob." Harry's voice came suddenly, surprising the others.

"Bob?" Draco asked incredulously. "Why would you name it Bob?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. He just seems like a Bob. Plus I kind of want to fight him, but I can't swim so I'm giving him a name instead."

"You want to what?!" Neville squeaked. "Why would you want to fight Bob?"

"I don't know. I just want to fight him. Seems like it would be entertaining. Maybe later."

"Harry, you can't fight the squid," Ron said. "That is a bad idea."

"Well obviously I can't fight Bob. I can't swim."

By that time, they had reached shore and Hermione, Pansy, Theo and Blaise all looked very confused.

"Why are we talking about fighting the squid?" Pansy asked.

"His name is Bob," Draco interjected. "But Harry can't swim so there will be no fighting of the squid today."

Harry sighed, looking disappointed. "I'll fight him someday. Oh look, I think we're wherever it is we were going."

The large man confirmed that by speaking to a tall woman with a stern look on her face and a tight bun. "The firs' years, Professor."

"Thank you, Hagrid." She turned to the children. "I am Professor McGonagall. Please follow me." She led the way into a small room next to the large double doors. "Stay here for a moment, I will return shortly."

The children talked among themselves for a few minutes, looking around. Suddenly, there was a slight chill in the air and a lot of translucent flying people flew up through the floor, through the walls, and even a few down through the ceiling. Harry jumped a little, not used to people appearing out of nowhere still, until he remembered the ghosts he had read about in Hogwarts, a History. A fat ghost that looked a little like Friar Tuck in that one Robin Hoover or whatever movie his cousin had watched that one time he was cleaning the living room popped up near them.