As the kids got off of the train, they were tossed and shunted around by tons of older students, who were running and screaming. Emily shoved a few of them back, leading the way.
The chilly wind of the night whipped at Teddy's face as he struggled to see where he was going through the crowd. They all seems to be headed in the same direction, and all seemed to know where they were going.
Teddy was a bit perplexed to see the quiet, straggly boy from the train following them. Though he was very curious about the boy, he found it annoying that he hadn't even mentioned his name.
Lizzie stopped them all as the crowd approached a path. It was long and winding, disappearing up into the distance, where you couldn't see it's end. Beside it were dozens of wooden carriages, tethered to which were skeletal black horses.
They repulsed Teddy just a little, with their big, white eyes, that you couldn't tell which direction they were staring in, and their bony bodies, their wings looking dry and dead, and unable to fly.
"Ooh cool! My brother told me about these! The horseless carriages!" Emily squealed loudly, and many older students stopped to look at her.
"What are you talking about?" Teddy asked, a little rudely. "They're not horseless carriages! Look what's pulling them!"
"Nothing pulling them, doofus, can't you see?" Emily poked her tongue out a little.
Teddy opened his mouth to argue, but Lizzie joined in.
"Um...they look horseless to me, Teddy, there's nothing pulling them..."
"I'm telling you guys, there's a gross horse thing pulling them, but, if you don't believe me, fine,"
"Teddy I'm telling you-"
"He's right." They heard a hoarse, quiet voice speak up. It was the boy. He seemed to shrink down in his robe as they all turned to look at him.
Emily opened her mouth, but her argument was drowned out by a loud booming shout.
"Firs' years over this way! Firs' years over here!"
Lizzie motioned for them all to follow, and soon, as the crowd of older students departed, they saw a silhouette of a very large man, holding up a faintly lit lantern.
"Teddy!" The man greeted him, and Teddy looked around wildly. The man was at least eight feet tall, with a mess of tangled black hair, streaked with grey, tiny, black eyes that crinkled around when he smiled.
"Las' time I seen yeh, yeh was a tiny little baby! An' now look at yeh!"
Teddy remembered Harry telling him about Hagrid now. Teddy smiled.
"Harry taking real good care of yeh' then?"
Teddy was tempted to say no, as a joke of course, but he nodded. Emily and Lizzie were gaping at him. Emily opened her mouth, perhaps to ask Hagrid why he was so tall, but Hagrid shouted across to the small group that had formed while they'd been talking.
"That all the firs' years? Righ' then, follow me everyone!"
He trudged forward, and they all took tentative steps to follow. He led them across damp ground, and, as Teddy began to think he heard something that sounded like water, he stepped in something wet, and icy cold.
He drew back, shaking out his soaking foot, and looked up. He let out a gasp. Out before him was a large, lake, dark and peaceful looking. And beyond that, was Hogwarts.
It was giant, and it seemed to glow, out of every single, tiny diamond window. It had tall, magnificent towers and many turrets, but also, Teddy could see cracks in it's great walls. Emily was jabbering about something, but Teddy tuned her out.
"Four ter' a boat, let's get a move on there!"
Hastily, Teddy led Emily and Lizzie into the nearest wooden canoe, and, to Emily's visible dismay, the small boy followed. Teddy didn't mind though.
They took off suddenly, the boat moving all by itself. Teddy had to squint because of the air, moving fast and stinging his face, freezing and cold.
After going past what looked like something that used to be a stone arch, but now was a pile of rubble, their boats all pulled up to a sort of dock, past which was a fancy wooden door, with a brass knocker. Teddy held his breath, the rush of anxiety coming back to him.
Hagrid raised one of his mountainous fists, and knocked a few times on the door. It opened to reveal a man, dressed in red robes, with a roundish face that Teddy vaguely remembered seeing in a few of Harry's photo albums.
"The first years, professor Longbottom." Hagrid said, beard twitching above a smile.
"Thanks Hagrid, I'll tell the headmistress we're ready."
The professor motioned for all of them to follow. For an awkward moment, nobody moved, until Emily rolled her eyes and took a bold step forward. Everyone hurriedly followed.
They were all led past a high wall on the opposite side of another large, brass door, which was flanked by four empty hour glasses. The wall was covered with neat, smooth bricks, each with names carved in them. Teddy leaned forward, reading some of the names. Colin Creevy...Lavender Brown...Fred Weasley...Teddy's stomach lurched as he read two names that were right next to each other, names that he knew well, names he always thought about when he was lying awake at two in the morning, but names be never wanted to talk about. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Lupin.
Emily was staring at him strangely. Teddy quickly looked away.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor Longbottom spoke in a half-whisper as the frightened students quieted down to listen. "I am Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher, and head of Gryffindor house." There was a faint note of pride in his voice that suggested this was a great achievement. Emily laughed a tiny bit when he said his name, but Lizzie elbowed her- hard.
"See those doors right there? That's where the rest of the school is. In order to go sit with them though, you need to be sorted into a house. There are four of them, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. Don't worry, it's nothing to be nervous about." He smiled at them kindly. "All you have to do is try on a hat. Simple enough?" They nodded solemnly. "Good. Now, for you're stay here then, you'll keep your house. You'll sleep with the people in your house, eat with them, spend free time in your house dorms, and also compete for the house cup with them. It's a tradition that's been going on for many years. Doing good things earns points, and rule breaking loses points, and that's all kept track by the gems in these hour glasses. Simple enough?" Nobody answered him. "Alright...Follow me then."
He pushed open the doors to reveal a grand hall, so big that you could fit a house in it. Millions upon millions of floating candles lit the room up, and the domed ceiling opened up to the velvet black sky.
They were all marching down an aisle of about four people across, led by Professor Longbottom, between two tables longer than a suburban lawn. Each table was packed with students, chattering loudly. Teddy saw a few people point at him, probably because of his hair, which was slowly turning red to match his cheeks, which were burning with slight embarrassment.
They all came to a halt at the very front, where there was a kind of half stair, leading up to an elevated sort of stage. Upon that was a golden, horizontal table, which seated adults that Teddy supposed were the teachers. In the very middle was a woman, with grey hair in a very tight bun, spectacled and eyes that reminded him of a hawk, yet she smiled at him kindly.
Professor Longbottom materialized a stoop from nowhere with his wand, and set it in front of the table. Teddy breathed in, hands shaking. The professor set a hat upon it. It was ripped and frayed more than any hat Teddy had ever seen.
Everyone waited. Watching. Suddenly, a patch opened, that of a mouth, mad the hat began to sing, in a carrying, booming and scratchy voice:
"Oh, hundreds of years ago,
Nobody knows the exact date,
Four sorcerers of great talent,
Found themselves in quite a state.
They wanted to educate young wizards, that they agreed upon.
But who were the worthy ones,
Was what they thought hard on.
Who deserved the knowledge of their school?
Each founder picked some noble traits.
They split the students into,
The houses we have today.
The kind, the true, the honest,
The compassionate and just.
They are the Hufflepuffs,
Fair, balanced and deserving of your trust.
The wise, the smart and creative,
Whom always have an open mind.
Ravenclaws are what they're called
There's no answer they can't find.
The clever, sneaky, confident,
The ones of great ambition,
Became the Slytherins,
You can't stop them on their mission,
Finally, the bold, the daring,
The chivalrous and brave
They are the fearless Gryffindors,
Such gallancy they pave.
Try me on, upon your head,
I can tell where you belong,
I know exactly where you go,
Trust me, I can't be wrong!"
As the rest of the school applauded, Teddy let out a shaky breath. He had to hold onto Lizzie's shoulder to steady himself, and then she let out a giggle. He awkwardly put his hands in his robe's pockets.
"When I call your name, you'll come forward, try on the hat, and then join your house's table."
"Anderson, Elizabeth!"
Teddy let out a tiny, inaudiblr gasp as Lizzie shook out her sheet of blonde hair and tentatively stepped forward. He didn't realize that they'd be first.
It was a minute that dragged on slowly as she sat, the old hat covering her eyes, waiting.
"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted out to the hall, and Teddy clapped loudly. He wasn't really sure if he could call Lizzie a friend or not.
"Anderson, Emily!"
There was no trace of fear as Emily stepped forward. The hat had barely covered her face before it shouted "Gryffindor!" out to the hall. Teddy clapped a little less enthusiastically.
It was a dull wait as he sat through the rest of the students. The most interesting thing that had happened was "Leightner, Marcus" tripping and falling flat onto his face right after beig sorted into Ravenclaw.
After what had seemed like ages, professor Longbottom called out. "Lupin, Teddy,"
He thought for a moment about staying where he was and pretending he wasn't there, but his feet were forcing him forward. He heard mutters across the hall as he felt himself (and probably his hair) go red.
His vision of the whispering hall disappeared as the hat dropped over his eyes.
A small, barely audible voice spoke into his ear, muttering.
"Ah, yes, I remember your father, a brave man, your mother, a kind woman, a gryffindor and a hufflepuff, what an interesting mix...let me think..."
It was the most uncomfortable two and a half minutes of his life, sitting there in front of the school, waiting, as his forehead got very sweaty.
"Gryffindor!" The hat announced to the hall, and Teddy was very happy to get off of the stool and join Lizzie, who was applauding, and Emily, who wasn't.
"Good, we're in the same house," Lizzie said breathlessly just as Emily said "Great, we're stuck with you,"
Teddy grinned a little.
They spoke in whispers, waiting for everyone else to be sorted, pausing only to watch "Nelson, Matthew," for they realized that it was the small, shaggy haired boy from the train.
He took the longest so far, must've been five minutes at the least. It was long enough for people to get bored anyways, for a quiet babble of conversation had broken out among tables.
It was Teddy's surprise, when the hat shouted "Slytherin!" in a booming voice.
"He won't last two seconds," Emily whispered as Matthew hobbled to the table. "My mother's told me about that house."
"Yeah." Muttered Teddy. "So has Harry."
The rest of the the sorting went by slowly, but when it finally ended, Teddy's stomach was rumbling.
"Welcome new students." The headmistress had stood. Her voice was a bit quiet, but every student listened raptly. "I hope you will all enjoy it here."
With that, she sat again, and millions of dishes filled the tables. Teddy hurriedly loaded his plate, already drafting in his mind what he would write to Harry.
***
Harry sat in bed late at night, looking anxiously out the window, even though he knew that even if Teddy did write a letter to him, it wouldn't get to him yet.
"You okay?" Harry heard a soft voice, and looked up to see Ginny looking at him. He blinked, taking his glasses off and setting them on the bedside table.
"Yeah. Just thinking."
Ginny tilted her head, biting her lip.
"Do you still have dreams about it?" Her voice was strangled, as if there was something caught in her throat.
"Oh," Harry closed his eyes. "Yeah. Usually, when I'm anxious. Like, er, before Teddy started school, last night. And when Al was in St. Mungos."
"Me too. Last night I mean." Ginny closed her eyes too. "Usually it doesn't happen often but...I dreamt about Fred. And, and Percy, God...he wouldn't stop screaming."
They sat in silence for a long time, holding hands, Harry stroking the side of Ginny's hand with his thumb.
Finally, Ginny sat up, and lay her head on Harry's chest, her scarlet hair streaming down.
"Harry?" She said sleepily. "Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure Gin, anything,"
"I want another baby,"
"Oh," Harry laughed. He had been expecting something more serious.
"I mean, I carry them around inside of me for nine whole months, and they come out looking like you!"
"Well, I'm better looking," Harry said, and Ginny whacked him with the pillow.
"And I need at least one more chance at Rock Paper Scissors," she giggled.
"Yeah," he kissed her lightly. "Let's have another baby."
***
Hey schools over omG!
THIS MEANS:
My updates will be no more than a week apart and that's a promise!
Hoped you liked this one 😊 don't make fun of my sorting hat song lol, it was v hard to come up with and took me FOREVER
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