''𝙎𝙡𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧.''
𝗜 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱. I didn't know what to expect from any of this, so when I stepped out onto the station and saw Hagrid ahead, I was a little relieved. He called over all the first years, as the years ahead had walked off in the opposite direction from us.
I had spotted the people from the compartment I stumbled across earlier, a little further back into the crowd. Seems like they spotted me too, or at least, the black haired boy did. He gave me a smile and a small wave, as I reciprocated the action.
Hermione elbowed me to turn back around, seeing the crowd had started walking ahead. Neville stuck by my side, he didn't like being around any other people, and he was most aquatinted with us.
''Boats? Really?'' Hermione asked.
''I heard there's a giant squid in that lake.'' I smiled while looking into the lake, trying to spot the giant squid.
''That's only a myth.''
''It might not be.'' I replied. Hermione had now gone pale, seemingly to keep forgetting that we are in a magic world where literally anything is possible.
Hagrid said there was only allowed to be four people to a boat, so I split off from Hermione and Neville, telling them that I was going to see if I could find anyone else to sit with on the boat ride. I'm pretty sure Hermione and Neville went to go sit with Harry Potter and whoever the other little boy was.
Hagrid was in a boat on his own, seeing as he equaled to at least five students. Some students were still walking around looking for a boat to sit in, same as I was at the moment.
''Eagle lady!'' I heard someone call from ahead of me. It was a new name, which honestly, made me a little happy. It was the black haired boy from earlier, he had walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulder. ''Want to come ride in the boat with us?'' He asked.
''If that blonde piss pot isn't there, then gladly.'' I stated. The boy laughed.
''No, it's only going to be me and Zabini. Come on.'' He grabbed my wrist and pulled me along behind him, towards the boat where Zabini had been waiting. We hopped into the boat, the black haired boy sat next to me as Zabini sat in-front of us.
''Tell me, is there really a giant squid in this lake?'' I asked the two, looking down into the lake.
''Of course there is, he only picks on certain first years though.'' Zabini said. I hummed and looked back into the water.
''You know, we didn't quite catch your name.'' The boy from beside me had said. He's right, I barely knew their names either.
''Y/n Granger.'' I told the two.
''I am still going to call you eagle lady on occasions. Theodore Nott, just call me Theo though.'' Theo smiled. ''And this, is Blaise Zucchini.'' Theo had gestured to the person that sat across from us.
''Zucchini?'' I questioned. Blaise sighed and rubbed his forehead.
''It's not Zucchini. It's Zabini.''
''Zucchini.'' Theo corrected. I laughed at how stubborn Theo was.
''Alright, fine. What house are you wanting to be in, Y/n?'' Blaise had asked.
''Not quite sure, I'd be fine with either house.'' I shrugged at the question.
''I'm going to be Slytherin, it isn't really that hard to figure it out.'' Blaise stated, seemingly a little sad.
''Are you sad about it?'' I asked. He looked up at me then over the boat at the water. Since Blaise wasn't keen on answering, Theo did it for him.
''Slytherin isn't seen kindly to the other houses. To everyone, Slytherin's, are bad guys. Only dark witches and wizards. Every house has flaws, but they can't see it so they put it all on Slytherin house because we aren't like the others.'' He explained. Theo averted his attention from me to the bottom of the boat.
I felt bad for them, because Theo looked like he knew he was also bound to become a Slytherin. I didn't want them to be like this, because in all the time that I've known them, Theo had been energetic and kind. Blaise had been a bit antisocial, but he's a nice boy all the same.
''I don't care.'' I stated simply. Blaise had looked away from the water, back up at me. Theo did the same, so now they were both looking my way. ''I don't care what they say about Slytherin, you guys are absolutely amazing and nothing nor nobody is going to change that. Slytherin or not, I'm glad I ran into you guys.''
''It's more like stumbled and stared then ran.'' Blaise replied, with a small chuckle. Theo had laughed at his comment.
''Alright fine, I'm glad I stumbled and stared at you guys. Blaise, now you just made it sound weird!'' I shouted at him, he was now full on laughing. We'll were laughing so hard that the boat started rocking back and forth, and it wasn't until it was tipped upside down that we had tried to stop our laughter.
''Get back in yer boat!'' Hagrid shouted from the front. Everyone who passed was looking at us weirdly. Theo, Blaise and I just kept laughing.
''Alright, it's settled. I declare us, best friends.'' Theo had stated. ''We need to sign a paper, keep it official.''
''Seriously, Theo?'' Blaise asked. Theo just nodded enthusiastically.
''So if anyone has complaints, we can pull out our declaration on them.''
''What's the paper going to be called?'' I asked.
Theo hummed as he thought about it. Blaise was also thinking, but not as hard as Theo was.
''No clue, I'll figure it out.'' He waved his hand. ''For now, we should get out of the water.''
''Thank Merlin, I'm getting water in my shoes.'' Blaise complained.
''Ew. Wet socks are no joke.'' I replied.
''That's why I want out of the water!''
We all started laughing again, not as hard as before we tipped the boat over though. Once we got the boat upright, we all got back in. Water was dripping from my hair, running down my back, which even though I was already wet, still felt weird.
Our boat was the last one to reach the shore, since we took forever to turn the boat back over. I had also noticed that while we were in the water, I hadn't seen the giant squid once. Maybe it was a myth, like Hermione had said. But I wasn't settled upon it. Hagrid had led us up a huge staircase, which we had to walk up because I totally wasn't swimming in the water for a good ten minutes.
The stairway was narrow so Blaise, Theo and I kept pushing and shoving some people, seeing if anybody would fall down the stairs. We were also racing up them, whoever got to the top first got to sign the paper first and name it.
''Cheater! You pushed me!'' Blaise complained as he reached the top. Theo was doing a little victory dance while everyone glanced over with weirded out glances. We could care less.
''How dare you think I did anything of the such! I won fair and square.'' Theo had a smug look on his face.
''Plus Blaise, did you really want to name the paper, anyway?'' I added.
''I guess not.'' He shrugged and walked off with the rest of the crowd. ''Come on! We need to get to the sorting.'' Blaise shouted at Theo and I. I had ran off to catch up with Blaise, leaving Theo behind as he yelled for us to come back.
We only stopped running when we had entered the school, Hagrid was leading us up some staircases. How many stairs did this school need? When we got to the top, Hagrid had left us and there was another person at the top. She looked quite old, with grey hair, green robes, a pointed black hat and glasses that looked like were sliding down her nose.
She started to greet everyone and tell them about their houses, saying they were basically like their family. Quite funny, I actually have family within these walls. Theo nudged my side, which caused me to bump into Blaise. We both looked over at Theo simultaneously.
''What?'' Blaise whispered.
''Look.'' He pointed up. There were huge doors behind the lady, and in-front of those doors was a ghost. The ghost looked a bit like a jester, most of the ones I've seen in some books that Hermione has stashed away. Neville had lost a hold of his toad again once we got off the boats, and had found him next to the lady's feet while she was talking.
The ghost was now behind the lady as she spoke, he started imitating the movements and words of the lady that was talking to us. We had a hard time keeping our laughter to ourselves, and I'm sure the ghost had seen that. It was the moment she walked away, that Blaise, Theo and I started laughing.
Everyone's attention was on someone, just not us.
''It's true then, what they were saying in the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts.'' Everyone standing on the stairs had started whispering to the person who was next to them. I could see the blonde boy walking towards another kid, who had black hair and round glasses. ''This is Crabbe and Goyle.'' He gestured to the two people behind him. ''And I'm Malfoy. . .Draco Malfoy.''
''This is who you guys are friends with?'' I whispered towards Blaise and Theo.
''To be honest, parents only want us to be aquatinted with him because of pureblooded supremacy. Something or the other.'' Theo waved it off.
''Pretty sure my mother just wants to get to meet his father.'' Blaise rolled his eyes as he scowled.
''Well, now I'm here and we can forget about Malfoy for all the years to come.'' I stated, throwing my arms around each of the boys shoulders. Theo wrapped his arm back around me as Blaise chuckled lowly, but doing the same.
''We'll soon find that some wizarding families are better then others, Potter. Don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.'' Malfoy then extends his hand towards Potter. Potter looks down at it wearily, before looking back up at Malfoy.
''I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks.'' Potter retorts. The three of us all look at each other with wide eyes and smiles. Small snickers coming from us every now and then. Malfoy went to say something else, but was stopped when the lady came back and tapped him on the shoulder with a paper.
''We're ready for you now.'' She led us all through the huge front doors, as they opened in an overly dramatic way. The room was lit with floating candles that were spread around the room. There were four tables, one for each house. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin, in order from left to right.
The teachers table was up at the front, where sat over dozens of people. I heard Hermione up ahead say something about the roof, so when I looked up I saw the night sky. Nudging Blaise and Theo, I pointed up to the ceiling which made them gasp out a 'woah' simultaneously.
''Will you wait along here, please? Now before begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words.'' A man rises from his seat at the long table in the front. He had a very long white beard, matches with white hair. Along with a periwinkle colored robe.
''I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch–'' I turned around to see a ragged old man in the back of the room, stroking a cat in his arms. Blaise had gagged, and turned back around quickly. Theo scrunched his nose and followed. ''–had asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to every one who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you.''
Dumbledore then sits back down. I furrowed my brows.
''What kind of school is this?'' I said, a little too loud. The students who had heard me were laughing from my comment, except some who weren't big fans of myself. Totally not pointing any fingers and Malfoy and his gang of pigs.
''When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses.'' She states, and unrolls a paper. ''Hermione Granger.''
I could feel Hermione's nervousness from here, seeing her tense up not too far from where I was stood. She was mumbling to herself, trying to reassure that she would be fine. I only knew this because I've lived with her for so long, she does the same thing.
When the hat was placed on her head and started talking, she looked over to me. I gave her a smile and a nod, making her give me a small smile back.
''Gryffindor!'' The hat shouts. The Gryffindor table shouts and claps for their newest arrival. Hermione shoots me a now confident look.
''Draco Malfoy!'' He swaggers up to where the stool was set, and sat down on it confidently. The hat was only inches from his head before it seemed like it started to freak out.
''Slytherin!'' It shouted. The Slytherin table started shouting and clapping now, as Malfoy has a prideful smirk on his face.
''There isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin.'' I heard from a few students ahead. Unfortunately, Blaise and Theo had also heard. I didn't want them to be sulking again, it was an odd sigh and I didn't like it whatsoever.
''You guys also have to remember, the greatest wizard of all time was a Slytherin. Why not show them the respect they need?'' I stated, quite loudly. My arms were crossed in-front of my chest, while the ginger haired boy turned around towards me with his face red.
He hadn't said anything, just turned back to the front once he was called up. I remember Hermione made me read some books on the history of Hogwarts before coming, so really, I've got to thank her for that.
''You really don't take crap from anyone, do you?'' Theo asked, a bit astonished.
''Not when it comes to my friends. Then we've got a problem.'' I replied.
''Friends.'' Blaise muttered quietly. He saw the weird look I gave him, so he explained further. ''Sorry, it feels weird being called a friend in that way. I don't meet many people of my age, and when I do it's always pureblood. Malfoy for example.'' Theo nodded in agreement to Blaise's explanation.
''Well, things are going to change from this moment on.'' I smiled to each of the boys.
''Harry Potter.''
Everyone had gone quiet. The small murmur's and mumbles between the first years and the student sitting at the tables had stopped as they stared at the front. Potter walked up slowly and wearily, he seemed to be quite nervous around all the students who were currently quiet. The hat started talking to Potter, in a bit of a mumble.
''I still don't get why he is so famous.'' I stated.
''He's overrated.'' Blaise commented, shaking his head.
''Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know. It's all here in your head. And Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness! There's no doubt about that. No?'' The hat pipped up. Potter had mumbled something up to the hat again, over and over. ''Well, if your sure, better be. . .Gryffindor!'' The hat shouted.
The whole Gryffindor table stood up and shouted. I pulled on Blaise's sleeve, to pull him closer to me before one of the Gryffindor students elbowed him.
''Thanks.''
''Anytime. Potter is starting to make me sick, I don't like hearing about him.'' I said, my nose scrunched when I said his surname.
''Neither do we.'' Theo pipped up. ''And a plus for Potter, he's on Dumbledore's best side.'' He points up to where Dumbledore had raised his cup to Potter, as a congrats.
''Oh, great.'' I rolled my eyes.
''Blaise Zabini.''
''Go on, Zucchini. You've been summoned.'' I teased the boy. He smacked the back of my head before walking up to the hat and sitting on the stool. Blaise kept throwing worried glances our way, so naturally, Theo and I made faces at him to cheer him up. Which ended up working because I could see him start to chuckle a little.
What was ultimately creepy, was when the hat went from looking at Blaise to looking at us. Theo hadn't noticed, but I did. The hat was thinking about something, but unlike the headpiece, I couldn't read minds.
''Slytherin!'' The hat shouted. Blaise sunk in his seat a little, getting up and walked over to the Slytherin table. When he sat on a spot on the bench, which was near Malfoy and his gang, he looked up at Theo and I, which we just sent him smiles.
''Theodore Nott.'' Theo jumped slightly at the sound of his name being called.
He didn't move at first, so I shoved him up towards the front. When he went up and sat on the stool, he gave me a glare and listened to the hat. There wasn't much people left to be sorted, I was one of the last few along with Neville. Looking back up at Theo, he had a big smile on his face and started chuckling a little. What did the hat tell him?
''Slytherin!'' The hat shouted. Theo got up with pride, playfully swaggering over to the Slytherin table like Malfoy was not too long ago. Neville and I had laughed about it, Blaise was also as Theo took a seat beside him.
''Neville Longbottom.'' I put a reassuring hand on Neville's shoulder, making him look at me.
''You'll do brilliantly, I promise.''
''I will?'' I nodded in response. Neville took a deep breath and walked on up to the stool. I was starting to get tired of standing around, so I hoped I got called up soon. As Neville sat on the stool, he started playing with his fingers while the hat watched closely.
''Gryffindor!'' Neville let out a relieved sigh, running over to the Gryffindor table. When he sat down, he smiled over at me, as he got pats on the shoulders from the peoe sitting around him.
''Y/n Granger.'' Finally.
I'm pretty sure I was the last one being sorted, I saw the lady look up and me and back down at the list a couple times over and over, but kept going nonetheless. When I sat on the stool and felt the hat in my head, it started talking to me.
''I purposely sorted you last, your particularly harder to sort.'' I didn't know who had heard that, but I'm guessing it explained a lot. ''Smarts of a Ravenclaw, Loyalty of a Hufflepuff. House prejudice doesn't mean anything to you, as I've seen.''
''Like hell it doesn't.'' I stated out loud. Most students had laughed, including the hat itself. Theo and Blaise were watching my sorting intently.
''Courageous one, you are. Gryffindor suits you well. Then again, Slytherin would do great for you, dear.'' The hat scanned the hall twice, before looking back down at me.
''I'll let you do your job, because I have no idea how you do this every year.''
''Quiet humorous you are. How about. . .Gryffindor!'' The hat shouted. The Gryffindor table had started shouting and clapping, along with the rest of the hall but they were only clapping. Hermione was stood up, shouting the loudest. When I got up, I ran over to her and brought her into a hug.
''Congratulations.'' She told me.
''Congrats to you too, little sis.''
''Only by two minutes!'' She defended. I laughed and sit her back down in her seat.
''Your attention, please.'' The lady's voice sounded. Everyone in the room turned to Dumbledore, who was now standing up.
''Let the feast. . .begin.''
Food magically appears over all the tables, as everyone gasped at the sight. Plates and silverware were placed in-front of everyone. Food and drinks of all sorts were placed on the tables, chicken, mashed potatoes, turkey, ham, almost anything you could ever dream of.
''I'm half and half. Me dad's a muggle. Mam's a witch. But of a nasty shock for him when he found out.'' An Irish accent sounded from across from me. Neville, who was sitting next to the kid, had laughed.
''Really? What'd he do when he found out?'' I asked the boy.
''Almost killed himself with a frying pan, he did.'' He nodded, taking another bite of his mashed potatoes. Neville's eyes widened at the boy, then looking back at the food on his plate. ''What about you? Blood type, I mean?''
''Muggleborn. Hermione and I are.'' I answered him.
''How's the magical world so far for you, then?''
''Magical.'' I laughed at my own little joke I made. The two boys laughed along with me.
''Ah! There you are!'' I heard a voice from down the table. When I looked over, I saw the same ghost that was stood behind the lady on the stairs. He came flying down the table, stopping right in-front of me. ''You had found my poor old soul, funny, did you?'' He asked, floating upside down.
''Of course, is there a problem with that?'' I asked with a raised brow. He narrowed his eyes at me, before holding out his hand.
''Not at all. Peeves the Poltergeist, at your service.''
''Y/n Granger. Going to be using your service for very helpful purposes.'' I went to shake his hand, only for my hand to go through his. We both started laughing as Peeves flew back out of the room.
''Only a couple hours in, and your already friends with Peeves?'' The kid asked.
''I'm a very likeable person.'' I shrugged.
''Seamus Finnigan.'' He held out his hand.
''You've already heard my name.'' I shook his hand back.
''I bet you, you'll be the word all around the school by the end of the month!''
''I bet you ten Galleons that I will, indeed.''
''Deal.'' He happily said.
I liked being here, I was with other people other then Hermione. No offense to her whatsoever, but I'm quite the social person. It's nice to meet people who like the same things as I do, hell, even act the same. Looking up from my food, I caught Theo and Blaise over at the Slytherin table. They were mumbled quietly to each other.
''Students! Follow me.'' A tall boy, ginger boy at the front of the table shouted. The feast was apparently over, so I stood up and started walking out the door. The other houses had also followed, so I snuck out of the Gryffindor crowd and made my way slowly into the Slytherin crowd.
I ended up being right behind Theo and Blaise, so I waited a few before saying anything, wanting to overhear their conversation.
''It's a little sad, I mean, you know how our parents are.'' Blaise said.
''Yes, but I could care a little less about that–''
''I say follow Theo's directions.'' I pipped up, making the two boys turn back to me.
''Y/n!'' They shouted simultaneously. Theo threw his arm over my shoulder.
''What are you guys on about?'' I asked.
''Blaise is worried about our parents.''
''If they ever meet you, they are going to ban us from ever seeing you again. Since your Gryffindor and a Muggleborn.'' Blaise explained, looking down at his feet while he did.
''Blaise.'' I left Theo's grasp and walked up to Blaise, putting my hands on his shoulders. ''Is that what you want? Me to never see you guys again, and you do the same.'' I asked the boy. He shook his head, still looking down at his feet. ''Then it's your decision. Your parents should dictate everything that you do, because you are you. Your parents don't have to tell you who to be friends with or where to go, just because your pureblood. That goes for both of you.''
''This is why I became friends with you.'' Theo said, walking up to us.
''Only met me a few hours before we arrived at Hogwarts.''
''So? It means nothing.'' He said with a smug face. I playfully rolled my eyes.
''Are you alright, Blaise?'' I asked the boy, who was still looking down at his feet.
I expected him to just say a simple 'yes' or 'I'm fine', but he hadn't said any of those. He hadn't said anything actually. Instead, he pulled me into a hug, with his head buried in the crook of my neck. This had taken me aback, but I hugged him back nonetheless.
''Thank you, Y/n.'' He mumbled.
''Anytime, Zucchini.'' I replied. He chuckled at the nickname instead of getting annoyed by it.
Theo felt left out, so he came and out his arms around both Blaise and I, now we were in a group hug.
''Theo, what are you doing?'' Blaise asked with a laugh.
''Getting in on the hug here. Now we really need a group name.'' He stated, smiling while his head was rested on my other shoulder.
''Alright, alright. I'm tired and we need to get to our rooms.'' I reminded the two.
''She's right. Come on, Theo.'' Blaise grabbed Theo's wrist and dragged him down the hallway.
''Bye, Y/n!'' Theo turned around and waved before disappearing around the corner.
Eventually, I had found the crowd of Gryffindor students, placing myself between Seamus and Neville. The prefect – they told us they were – had said the password, but I couldn't remember a single letter to it, so I'd just have to stick with a Gryffindor every now and then.
The Common Room was filled with red and gold decorations, the walls were a blood red color while the rugs on the floor were golden. There was also a small circle of red chairs to the left side of the room, a red couch on the right side along with a fireplace in-front of it. Some windows were also around the room, which showed the night sky, the Gryffindor Tower is really, really high up.
The boys dorms are on the left while the girls are on the right. So everyone went to their dorm rooms, because everyone was tired. The dorms were circular rooms, with canopy beds that have red blankets. There was also a small heater in the middle of the room, with windows put beside every other bed and wooden nightstands with every bed. I didn't know who I was put with in this room, only that I was with Hermione.
I heard the familiar sound of my eagle on one of the beds.
''Faris!'' I shouted, running over to him and unlocking his cage. He instantly flew out and around the room once. ''How are you doing? Hungry?'' I asked, while stroking the feathers on his head. He made a noise which let me know that I was right. Opening the first box if owl treats, I set some down on a little plate that was set on my nightstand.
Just then the door opened. I looked over to see Hermione with three other girls.
''Hey, sis. These are our roommates.'' Hermione gestured to the people behind her.
''Oh, hello. Y/n Granger.'' I walked to the door off my bed. ''You are?''
''Angelina Johnson.'' She had long black hair and was dark skinned.
''Katie Bell.'' She had long brown hair and was a little shorter then Angelina.
''Lavender Brown.'' She has wild, light brown hair. Along with a purple headband placed on her head.
''It's nice to meet you all. But at the moment, I'm really tired.'' I chuckled.
''Same, the train ride takes forever.'' Angelina said, taking the bed across from mine. Hermione took the bed on the left of mine, while Lavender took the bed on my right and Katie was between Angelina and Lavender.
I had gotten dressed into my PJ's, and hopped into bed. Hermione had her side lamp on, with a book in her hands, as the booked as brought up to her face so she could see the words more clearly. The rest were asleep, besides Lavender who was looking at a photo album she had tucked away in her nightstand.
Pulling the blanket up to my chin, I laid on my side as I faced the window which the moon looking in perfectly. Faris had finished eating and was now sitting on a small stand he had near the nightstand, with his head tucked beneath his wings.
As I watched the moon, my eyelids started to feel heavy and I soon drifted off to sleep.