By nightfall the Hogwarts Express had reached Hogsmeade, the small village by the school inhabited by purely witches and wizards.
James walked alongside Sirius and Remus, the two boys who he had just most recently met, off of the train. He could feel the early September breeze brush against his cheeks as he stepped out into the chilly air. Before him laid a clear night sky with millions of stars visible. The moon was almost full, casting a bright glow upon the many students standing on the platform. They had all changed into their robes, leaving their trunks behind. Sirius gazed around him, his hands in his pockets and a pleased smirk upon his lips. Remus slumped his shoulders, turning away from the moon almost as if he was trying to hide from it.
"First years this way!" a tall half giant man said with a rustling voice. He had on a brown coat with patches on the bottom of it and a thick dark beard covered half of his face. The large man carried a large and heavy looking lantern in his right hand, and his left hand was waving at the first year students to follow him. James did so, closely followed by a enthusiastic looking Sirius and a anxious looking Remus. They walked away from the village of Hogsmeade, following the giant man down a narrow winding path through some trees. All the older students, dressed in either deep green, canary yellow, royal blue or scarlet red, seemed to be going the opposite way.
"We'll be there soon" the giant man said with a thick accent, hurrying them on "it's got the best view of the castle I'll tell you that, it's fantastic, professor Dumbledore can assure you all that"
They walked further down the winding path of trees in the darkness, moss and stones and fallen branches beneath the soles of their shoes. Soon they reached a dark lake with tons of dark wooden row-boats. "Come on, hop on in, four per boat" the half giant said, putting his lantern down to help the new students into the boats. James stood by Sirius and Remus, patiently awaiting for his turn. He could hardly see any of the castle from behind the trees, but he did see something. Or someone. In the crowd, a few metres away from him stood a rather short girl with firery red hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in all black as the rest of them, holding her hands clasped in front of her petite body, her fingernails painted with a opaque pink. She was stood next to a pale boy with black stripy hair, looking around nervously. James didn't know why, but she stood out to him. Maybe it was the colour of her hair compared to the dull dark coloured hair on the heads of the people standing around her or perhaps it was the way she smiled as she saw a bird jump from tree to tree. He didn't know, but she was mesmerizing. Lighting up the darkness of the night with her presence.
"Come on you four"
It was James's turn to move, feeling the half giant lift him into one of the wooden boats that awaited in the dark water. There he sat with Remus, Sirius and a scrawny little blonde boy he had never seen before. And off their boat went, of course being enchanted to row itself. And his view of the red haired girl disappeared, only to be replaced with a breathtaking view of the Hogwarts castle. He could hear gasps around him, and he himself couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the million lights that seemed to be coming from the castle. It was grand and tall, bigger than he could've ever imagined. "Wow" Sirius blurted out, staring at the castle. "It looks like something out of a fairytale" James added, earning a convinced nod from Sirius. Remus seemed just as mesmerized by the sight, looking at the castle as he fiddled with the wide sleeves of his black robe. The small blonde boy who was sat next to Remus seemed even more taken aback by the wonderful view before them, his lips parting as his jaw dropped.
"Hello by the way" James said, turning his head to look at the boy "I'm James, James Potter, who are you?"
"Oh uhm Peter Pettigrew" the boy said, stuttering ever so slightly on his words as he answered James's question. "Nice to meet you Peter" James said, beaming a smile "excited about Hogwarts?". "Very" Peter nodded, pushing his lips together. "And I'm Sirius" the boy with the dark hair added, turning his head to look at Peter "Sirius Black". "Hi Sirius" Peter said ever so quietly, carefully meeting the gaze of Sirius for just a moment. "This is Remus" Sirius then said, pointing towards the boy sitting at the front of the boat, who was seemingly in his own world.
"Oh yeah" Remus mumbled, turning to look at Peter as he heard his name being called out "sorry, I'm Remus Lupin". "Peter Pettigrew" the small boy repeated, a faint smile upon his lips. James thought Peter looked short for his age, and not well fed at all. Upon his head laid a mess of streaky golden blonde hair and his ears were a little pointy. James soon turned his attention back towards the view of the castle, pushing his glasses further up on his nose.
The trip across the lake was not too long, and they soon reached the boat house, and the large bearded man helped them out of their boats before they started walking up towards the school. James walked first, closely followed by Sirius who insisted on walking right next to Remus. Peter trailed behind them, nervously biting down on his fingernails. The castle was just as grand on the inside, large paintings and stairs that moved around. Although there were probably a millions steps or more to climb in order to get there. The half giant led them up to a closed door where they were greeted by a woman who looked to be in her late thirties. She wore her golden hair pinned up neatly and a long emerald green robe. On her head rested a pointed hat and on the top of her nose were a pair of thin half moon shaped spectacles.
"Welcome to Hogwarts everyone, I am deputy headmistress Minerva McGonagall"
"She's the one who wrote the letters" Sirius leaned over and whispered to James, making him nod. "A wonderful feast awaits you, I'm sure you are all very hungry after your long journey here" Minerva said, peering out upon the new students "but firstly before you can take your seats you will need to be sorted into your houses... Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin, now come with me"
The tall doors to the Great Hall opened, revealing the biggest room any of the four boys had ever seen before. It had four long wooden tables filled with students dressed in different colours and a professor's table at the front. The tall ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky and it was lined with thousands of white burning candles. "Wow" James hummed, looking around. He almost couldn't believe his eyes, and neither could the other boys. He was accustomed to magic, but this was on a whole new level for him. He didn't have floating candles back home, nor did his bedroom ceiling look anything like what he was witnessing right now.
Minerva stopped the first year students, grabbing a piece of parchment from the professor's table before she turned back to them. "When I call your name you may come up here and sit down, the sorting hat will be placed upon your head and it will determine your house"
By the middle aged witch stood a brown wooden stool. An old pointed hat, with a sour shaped fold for a mouth and two sharp folds for eyes,laid upon it. Minerva gently lifted the hat up before she unrolled the long parchment scroll. A girl with short blonde braids were the first one to get her name called out by professor McGonagall. James watched as she dragged her feet up to the stool, sat down and got the hat placed on her head. It was too big and slipped down past her eyes. She was sorted into Hufflepuff, making the first sorting of the evening go to the house with the yellow and black colours. They cheered as the girl skipped over to their long table. A few more names were called, earning Hufflepuff another two students, one to Ravenclaw and one to Slytherin.
"Sirius Black"
Sirius could feel his heart beat hard throughout his whole body, making him want to throw up. He took his hands out of his pockets as he strolled up to the front, trying desperately to play it cool. He told himself that it didn't matter as Minerva placed the old hat upon his head, he already knew the answer. He knew that the hat was going to yell out Slytherin as soon as it touched the top of his noble ass head. It was his destiny, he could almost taste it on his tongue.
"Gryffindor!"
Sirius's eyes went wide and he sat up a little straighter, suddenly feeling chock flood through his veins. The Gryffindor table cheered loudly as he was the first to be sorted into the house this evening. Sirius himself couldn't believe it, he questioned if it was even real. The sorting hat had barely even been on his head for more than a few seconds before it made it's choice. Could it be right? He had to close his eyes for a second, squeezing them shut until he saw stars. But when he opened them again, everything was the same. The cheering still rung in his ears and everyone was staring at him by now. Somehow his feet made him stand up after Minerva had lifted the hat off of his head, and he had to pinch himself as he walked over to the Gryffindor table. It was real.
"Amelia Bones"
A young girl with light brown braids and a bony chin was sorted into Hufflepuff, earning a roar of loud cheers, especially from a older boy who looked a lot like her. Perhaps her older brother, James thought.
"Lily Evans"
The red head from before made her way through the crowd, leaving the black haired boy behind as she sat down on the stool. James looked at her, his attention having shifted to her as soon as she had moved. What a beautiful name he thought. He was curious as to see where the old hat would place her. He thought it looked quite adorable, her sitting there with her rosy cheeks and red hair as the hat slipped down to her eyebrows.
"Gryffindor!"
With a smile the young girl skipped over to the red and gold table, her long hair dancing against her back. James couldn't help but let his eyes follow her. Another few names got called out, boys and girls getting sorted into Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. James barely paid attention, all he could do was nervously look over at the Gryffindor table, keeping his fingers crossed that he too got placed there.
"Alice Fortescue". A short girl with bangs and round apple cheeks made her way up to professor McGonagall. "Gryffindor!"
And so it continued, name after name being called. Student after student skipping over towards their assigned tables as James watched, stood impatiently awaiting by Remus and Peter. "Xenophilius Lovegood". A tall boy with long pale blonde hair skipped to the front, sitting down. "Ravenclaw!". James heard the Ravenclaw table cheer for Xenophilius and the other three students that came after him, all being sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Remus Lupin"
Soon the young boy disappeared from James's side, shuffling his feet up towards the front.
Remus wasn't particularly nervous, he didn't really care where the old hat placed him. He was just glad that he was able to set his foot at the school. Here comes the fifth consecutive Ravenclaw in a row James though, but oh was he wrong.
"Gryffindor!"
Remus shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly as the Gryffindor table cheered for him, Sirius clapping his hands above his head loudly. He was probably the one making the most noise. Remus felt content with his sorting and quickly rushed over to the table, sitting down by the dark haired boy he had met in the train. He still didn't think of himself as rather brave or courageous but the warm smile upon Sirius's lips made him feel a little more at home.
James was getting impatient, watching as another girl and a boy were sorted into Slytherin. The names of three girls who's last names all began with M were called in alphabetical order. Mary MacDonald, a soft looking girl with brown hair and bushy eyebrows. Marlene McKinnon, a mischievous looking girl with a wide smile and a mess of blonde curls upon her head. Dorcas Meadows, a laid back looking girl with dark skin and dark curly hair. All three of them got sorted into Gryffindor, earning loud cheers. And so the many names kept on rolling of Minerva's tongue, and the sorting hat kept on yelling out Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. And thus, James grew more and more impatient, barely able to stand still. He propped himself up on his toes, only to let himself roll back onto the ball of his heels a second later, his arms swinging by his sides.
"Peter Pettigrew"
The scrawny boy left James's side, nervously biting on his nails as he walked up to the front with unsure steps. The old brown pointed hat was placed upon his head and everything went quiet. Everyone waited, but nothing happened. The old had squirmed and mumbled as the minutes passed, making everyone wonder what was going on. Peter looked extremely uncomfortable sitting up there all alone James though, and he felt a little bad for the boy.
"Let it be... Gryffindor!"
Relieved that the long hat stall was finally over Peter ran to the Gryffindor table, quick to sit down. A few more names were called, and by now James thought that the time must've surely stopped.
"James Potter"
Finally, James thought as he strutted his way up to the front filled with confidence and anticipation, excitement clear in his bright eyes. The boy with the round glasses didn't mind being in front of everyone, he had never felt uncomfortable in the spotlight. It didn't take long for the hat to sort him, but for the young boy the seconds felt like forever.
"Gryffindor!"
James couldn't be more pleased as he got off of the stool and walked over to the Gryffindor table, knowing that he had gotten what he wanted the most and that he had made his parents very proud. He felt a sense of closeness to his mother and father, now having been sorted into the same house as the both of them had once been, walking in their footsteps. He couldn't help the wide smile that was pulling at the corners of his lips as all the Gryffindors cheered for him. He enjoyed the loud roars and the applause, all of it being for him.
"Evan Rosier"
James sat down at the long red and gold table just in time to see a stern looking blonde boy with a sharp nose sit down on the stool.
"Slytherin!"
Then another girl got sorted into Hufflepuff, followed by a boy who got into Ravenclaw.
"Severus Snape"
James saw the stripy black haired boy who had been standing next to the red haired girl, Lily Evans, walk towards the front. The boy, who had pale skin and a pointed nose, seemed slightly nervous as he sat down on the stool. Yet again it was quiet for a moment as the old hat made odd grimaces. "Slytherin!"
James saw the boy get up, a mellow look upon his face. The same mellow look could be found on the red haired girl's face. And James had to assume that the two were friends, Lily Evans and Severus Snape.