Almost ten minutes later, they left their trunks in their compartments and walked out.

  “Which house do you think you’ll be in? I feel like I’ll be in Ravenclaw but I’m very nervous.” Tracey said as she grabbed Neville’s hand.

  Keith yawned and followed behind them as all the first years moved towards one single person, a huge man who looked almost double the size of an average man.

  “C’mon, follow me — any more firs’ years? Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years follow me!” the guy said as he made sure that all the short kids gathered up.

  Once he made sure that there were no more students to wait for, he began to guide them through a narrow path until they reached the lake.

  Multiple boats were stacked neatly along the shore on the water.

  “No more’n four to a boat!” the man said and Keith followed Neville and Tracy onto the boat nearest to them. As he got in, he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

  “Keithhh! I’m so glad we meet again!” Susan said as she too, got onto the boat and sat down beside him.

  Soon, the boats began to move forward at the same time, seemingly being pulled by invisible threads as they followed behind the huge man’s boat. Once they reached the other side of the shore and began to get off the boats, they heard a gruff voice.

  “Oy, you there! Is this your toad?”

  Neville skipped over to him with pure happiness before he took back his toad and ran over to Keith, grinning ear to ear.

  “Well, congratulations. I thought you left him in kingscross station if I’m being honest.” Keith said as he gently stroked the frog’s slimy back.

  They followed the other students up the stone staircase and stopped in front of a huge oak door. Keith watched as multiple students looked around or fidgeted nervously.

  Three loud knocks were heard and the huge door swung open almost instantly.

  A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face, an expression that reminded him of his mother, Andromeda.

  “The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said the large man.

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  “Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.”

  He couldn’t help but smile as he already began to miss her. He sighed softly while the woman talked to the huge man.

  The door that was slightly open was now pushed open completely. The rest of the first year students followed behind her and so did Keith, feeling mostly excited but also a slight nervousness.

  He had been dreaming of this for years. The only way to get complete freedom over being able to learn spells other than the ones allowed by his mother, was getting into this place.

  Once they followed Professor McGonagall into a small chamber, they began to stick closer to each other even though there was enough room for everyone to stand comfortably.

  “Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses.

  “The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House

  Common room.

  “The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards.

  “While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

  “The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.”

  Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville’s cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and then moved to someone else in the crowd.

  “I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly.” she said and left the chamber.

  Keith looked at Neville, “Which house do you think you’ll be in?”

  “Hufflepuff… I’m not brave, smart or cunning.” Neville said, seemingly confident about his house placement. “What about you? You said you wanted to be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw right?”

  Shrugging, Keith put his hands into his pockets, “I hope so, but I’m not really sure. Dad said that it’s common to see kids ending up in the same houses as their parents. My father was a Slytherin and my mother was a Ravenc-”

  Just then, a bunch of ghosts flew through the walls and hovered over the bunch of students. Keith silently watched while they talked, not too surprised by their presence.

  ‘I heard about ghosts but they’re much more impressive to look at directly…’ he thought to himself.

  They talked about someone called Peeves and how this person wasn’t even a ghost. One of these two ghosts looked down at the kids below and paused for a moment.

  “What are you all doing here?”

  Nobody answered.

  “New students!” said the ghost named Fat Friar, smiling around at them. “About to be sorted, I suppose?”

  A few people nodded mutely.

  “Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!” said the Friar. “My old House, you know.”

  Keith stared up at Fat Friar, who now reminded him of his father, Ted. He took a deep breath and shook his head, trying to shake off his homesickness but ended up jumping in fright.

  “Move along now,” said a sharp voice. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.”

  Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

  “Now, form a line,” she told the first years, “and follow me.”