Hogwarts

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hog’s Mead Station. Excitement sparked through the compartment like electricity. Eddrick could still feel his nerves eating away at him, but he did his best to just ignore them. They left their luggage on the train, as they were told to do. As Edd stepped off the train with his two new friends, he heard a loud, booming voice calling out, “First years, first years this way. Come along now, first years.” Edd recognized him as the large man from Diagon Alley. Edd joined the group of first-year students gathering around the man. He made sure that everyone was present before the group set off. Amy grabbed his arm and said, “It’s so dark. Kinda spooky.” Edrick just nodded. In truth, he could see just fine. He could even make out some of the details on the bark of the trees that they passed. He didn’t really feel like explaining his eyes most of the time, so he usually just pretended he couldn’t see in the dark. The large man’s voice boomed so that even those in the back could hear it clearly: “You’ll be getting your first look at the castle in a minute here. Just around this bend.” The students went around a bend, and a collective gasp ran through the group as they spotted the impressive school.

Hogwarts Castle was a large building that towered over a lake. Edd couldn’t help but feel wonder and amazement. He’d heard stories about the place, but actually getting to see it was something entirely different. Edrick could make out a fleet of wooden boats sitting at the lake shore. The large man led them down towards the lake and filled the students into the boats. Edd shared a boat with Amy, Cho, and his sister. Lillian decided to introduce herself: “Hey there. My name’s Lillian Lought. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Amy gave her a beaming smile. “Lought? Like Edrick here? Are you two siblings? Of course, you just introduced yourself, just like he did. It makes sense that the two of you are related. You look just like each other. Well, I can’t really tell because it’s so dark, but I’m sure you look like each other.” Lillian just gave her an awkward sort of smile and looked over at Eddrick. It was clear that she was having a similar reaction to the girl's sudden and **** manner of talking. Edrick, who was sitting next to Amy, decided to bail his sister out. He simply nodded and said, “Yeah, we do kind of look alike. She’s my sister.” Lillian gave another uncomfortable-looking smile and then busied herself with staring at her hands. Amy noticed this: “Are you shy? Goodness. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just get so excited when meeting new people. I’m sure we can be wonderful friends.” Lilian looked up at her and said, “I’m not shy. I just, well. Being friends sounds nice.” The boat ride went smoothly enough from then on. Amy yawned at one point and rested her head on Edd’s shoulder. She whispered in his ear, “I hope we’re in the same house. If we are, I'd love to spend some time with you tonight. You’re pretty cute.” She rested her hand on Edd’s inner thigh for a second as she said the last part, before taking it away quickly. Edd was also very hopeful of them being in the same house.

The fleet of boats passed through an opening in the rocks covered by hanging plants. The boats all docked, and students began to file out of them. Edd noticed that Amy was keeping very close to him. She walked right next to him, close enough that her elbow kept brushing against his. He didn’t fully understand, but he figured that she had simply taken a liking to him. He really, really hoped that they ended up in the same house. The large man led the students into a hall where an older, rather severe-looking witch dressed in green robes and a green hat was waiting for them. She cleared her throat. “Thank you, Hagrid. May I have your attention, please? I am Professor McGonagall. You will be sorted into your houses shortly. Your house is sort of like your family when you’re here at school. You will live with them, eat with them, and learn with them. I suggest you smarten yourselves up.” The teacher shot a few judgmental glances at students who hadn’t properly buttoned up their robes or who had dirt smudges on their noses. She walked off and left the students to ponder and whisper about what she’d just said. Amy grabbed Edd’s arm and started her excited talking. "Oh, I just wonder which house I’ll be in. I can’t wait. Ravenclaw sounds very good. Oh, it would be so lovely. I just love ravens. It would be so cool to have a raven as a symbol.”

Edrick thought of pointing out that the symbol of Ravenclaw was actually an eagle, but he didn’t want to say anything to ruin her mood. Now that Edd was used to her machine gun pace of talking, he actually found it quite cute. It didn’t hurt that she herself was cute in general, but he couldn’t help feeling a certain joy at seeing her so giddy. He was going to agree with wanting to be in Ravenclaw when a shriek sounded in the hall. Everyone turned quickly to see a bunch of transparent people flying through the wall. They were arguing about someone named Peeves and whether they should forgive him or not. Edrick wasn’t very interested in their conversation. He recognized these as ghosts; he’d read ‘Hogwarts a History’ after all. What moron wouldn’t have read that before coming here? It was interesting to see them in person, but he understood that they were ultimately just people.

The ghosts noticed the students. Edrick heard one of them say, “First years, about to be sorted.” A ghost that looked sort of like a fat monk floated down. “I hope to see some of you in Hufflepuff; that’s my old house.” The ghosts continued to talk about their houses and how they hoped to see new students in them before they eventually flew off. Not long after, Professor McGonagall returned and led the students through a large set of doors and into the great hall. It was by far the most impressive hallway Edrick had ever seen, probably the most impressive in all of Brittany. It was a huge room with four proportionally long tables. There was another table at the end of the hall that clearly belonged to the teachers. The most astounding feature of the room was, of course, the ceiling. Edrick had read about it, but actually looking up and seeing the night sky as if there wasn’t a ceiling was an incredible feeling. He found it so wonderful how magic had been able to do such a thing. Magic was truly a wonderful thing. The students were lined up as Professor Mcgonagall brought out a stool and a very ragged-looking hat. She set the stool and hat down before pulling out a scroll of parchment and saying, “Now then, let’s get started.”