Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Potter Year 1: Slytherin
The First Train to Hogwarts
1 reviewHarry ends up in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. Draco and Blaise are his best friends, as far as that goes, and Ron is the enemy. He still talks to Hermione Voldemort slowly begins to take over H...
-1Cliche
Harry Potter Year 1: Slytherin
A Harry Potter fanfiction written by Cereal_junkie
Warnings: !!!, and possible V
Additional warnings: None needed
Rating: R
A/N: I was originally going to make this into something totally different, but I couldn’t in good conscience slaughter the original stories like I was going to. Believe me, it is better not to ask what it was going to be. Suffice it to say, this will be, as I was originally planning, a Harry-Slytherin story because Gryffindor sucks. I might make this a HarryXHermione fluff story too, just because I’d like a love story between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor. But, I might not because I want it to go another way to. Forgive my indecisiveness but the story is pulling me so many different ways… Anyway, enjoy this, and if you don’t, I’ll eviscerate you with a silver hunting knife. :D
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not the characters, and certainly not any of the cannon events. J.K. Rowling owns everything, except the non cannon events. If I did own the ideas, I’d be insanely rich, but as that is not the case, I present to you my own (slightly twisted) version of how things went, or how I thing they should have in the least. Oh, and as I am trying to follow cannon, some lines are taken directly from the books, and others resemble lines from the books quite closely. Once again, I do NOT own this.
Ch. 1: The first train to Hogwarts
Harry Potter sat alone, thinking about all that had happened since his eleventh birthday. Everything that Hagrid had told him, and everything that he had seen in Diagon Alley. He even thought about the blonde he had met in Madam Malkin’s Robes for all occasions, wondering idly if he would see him again, and almost hoping he didn’t. He didn’t like the fact that he insulted Hagrid, but then he was also the only one he would have seen before. He wanted to make friends, but he really didn’t know how to go about doing it and the boy wouldn’t like him anyway if he found out that Harry was raised by muggles. Harry sighed, staring out the window as the landscape went by.
‘Great. I’m off to a school of Magic and I’ll still have no friends.’ He thought, though he was secretly glad not to have as much attention as he’d had in Diagon Alley. It was all he needed for someone to ask him more questions about things he didn’t know, or couldn’t remember. He was off to, what seemed to him, a rocky start in the wizarding world. He even bet he’d be bottom in the class. He didn’t know anything about what they were learning, as he hadn’t been allowed to touch his books since he got them. As he sat, almost brooding, he heard the compartment door open, and as he turned to look, three boys stepped inside. Harry remembered the boy in the middle as the one he had met in Diagon Alley.
“I’d heard the famous Harry Potter was on the train, but I just had to come and see for myself.” The blonde said, his eyes widening in recognition of Harry. Obviously, he remembered meeting him as well. Behind him, two of the biggest eleven year-olds Harry had ever seen were nodding stupidly in agreement.
“Sitting alone? I would expect you to be swarmed by now.” The blonde said, smirking and taking the seat across from Harry. He waved his hulking escorts in, and as they sat down, the blonde decided to introduce them.
“This is Crabbe, and that’s Goyle.” The blonde said, gesturing to the two in turn with a bored expression. “And my name’s Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.” The blonde said, holding out his hand. Harry shook it, not wanting to spurn his first potential friend. The boy may have been rude to Hagrid, but if he wanted to make friends he supposed he didn’t have to agree with all of the blonde’s opinions.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Harry said, responding in turn. Draco smiled, as if saying “Of course it is” and leaned back in his seat.
“Anyway, I heard you were raised by muggles.” Draco said, a disgusted look on his face. “That must have been awful.”
“It was. They hated me.” Harry said scornfully, crossing his arms as he thought of the Dursleys.
“They probably didn’t know who you are. I heard muggles weren’t all that smart.” Draco said with a smirk.
“Oh, they knew. They knew before I did. They just didn’t know what it meant and they didn’t care.” Harry said, his mood getting worse.
“How awful. Why in the world were you left with muggles anyway? I bet there were plenty of pure-blood families who would’ve loved to be able to raise the boy-who-lived.” Draco said, Crabbe and Goyle nodding in agreement though Harry couldn’t tell if the two actually knew what was going on.
“Beats me. I would’ve loved to be anywhere else. Who ever put me there didn’t care all that much, did they?” Harry said, thoroughly cursing whoever had placed him at the Dursleys.
“So, considering you were raised by muggles, how much do you actually know about our world?” Draco asked, looking at Harry with a vague interest now.
“Not much.” Harry admitted, blushing with embarrassment.
“Well, stick with me then. I suppose I can show you the ropes. Normally I wouldn’t do something like this, but seeing as you’re you, I can make an exception. Especially since you’re so under educated on the way a wizard should behave, and who he should associate with.” Draco said, sniffing with disapproval as he remembered Harry defending the big oaf Hagrid.
“Okay.” Harry said, shrugging. He might as well learn what he could about the wizarding world so he didn’t look like a complete idiot. They continued to chat about different things, and Harry was slowly learning about different wizarding traditions, as well as the different kinds of witches and wizards. There were Pure-bloods, Half-bloods, and Muggle-borns, which Draco referred to as Mudbloods. Then he complained that the word Mudblood was frowned upon at school, and that in front of teachers, they had to call them Muggle-borns. As time passed, the lunch cart finally came around and between Harry and Draco, they bought almost the whole cart.
Luckily, it seemed that the cart refilled itself magically after the money was exchanged. They laughed and ate together, Crabbe and Goyle eating the most, and when they were down to the last few chocolate frogs, Draco having explained the collecting of chocolate frog cards to Harry, a bushy haired girl popped her head into the compartment. She was followed by a slightly pudgy and rather forlorn looking boy.
“Have any of you seen a toad? Neville’s lost one.” The girl said, gesturing toward the boy next to her.
“No, sorry.” Harry said, shrugging.
“A toad? Why would anyone in their right mind want to keep one? I think I’d lose mine on purpose if I had one.” Draco said, rolling his eyes. At this, Neville looked even worse. The girl just gave Draco a dirty look. She decided to ignore the blonde as she spoke up.
“Well, thank you anyway.” The girl said, looking at Harry as she spoke. She smiled at him and led the forlorn boy away, closing the compartment door behind her.
“Ha! I can’t believe they actually let her kind go to Hogwarts!” Draco said, glaring at the compartment door.
“Her kind?” Harry asked, confused.
“Mudbloods. I heard about her when I was looking for you. She’s an annoying know-it-all. Everyone thinks so.” Draco said, and although Harry wanted to say something, he knew making enemies of the boy was not a good idea. He had a feeling it would be more beneficial to him to stay on his good side. He could disagree with him openly once he was sure the boy liked him enough to forgive him for it. Until then, he wanted to be careful not to make enemies. He wouldn’t call Muggle-borns Mudbloods, but he would contend with Draco for the time being. Maybe he could become friends with the girl too. Maybe he could even get Draco to put up with her and eventually like her as well.
It was a long shot, but he felt somehow that he could do it. He was good at persuading people, after all. This should be a simple matter. Harry decided to try to find out how much Draco knew about her.
“What’s her name?” Harry asked, figuring Draco had to know at least that much.
“Hermione Granger. Why, Potter? Interested?” Draco teased, smirking.
“Hardly. She just seems like she’d be an interesting person to talk to.” Harry said casually, gauging Draco’s reaction.
“Pff. You can go talk to her. I won’t have anything to do with her. Just let me know when you’re done slumming so I can teach you more about what you should already know.” Draco said, figuring Harry wouldn’t make a move to talk to the bushy haired girl.
“I wasn’t talking about now. I was talking about in school.” Harry said, making no move to get up. Draco smiled at the predictable reaction.
“Of course. But then, she probably won’t be in the same house as us. You see, we, that is, you and I both, are more Slytherin material. She’s going to Ravenclaw. I’ll bet you 10 galleons.” Draco said with a confident smirk.
“I’m Slytherin material? What makes you say that?” Harry asked, wondering truly whether or not Draco had gone insane in the last few seconds.
“Oh come on Potter. Despite your past, that is, defeating the Dark Lord, I can tell just from our conversation, common as it was, that you’re cunning. Intelligence goes hand in hand with that. You’re also observant. You watched how I acted and you reacted in an intelligent manner. Then, there’s the fact that you’re trying to stay on my good side, and yes, Potter, I had noticed. You would like to say certain things and even reprimand me for using the word Mudblood, yet you hold your tongue. That, to me, shows both that you’re ambitious, in the way of trying to be the friend of a Malfoy, and that you’re manipulative, in the fact that you’re acting how you think I want you to act to better build my opinion of you. In short, you are Slytherin, Potter, no matter what anyone else says.” Draco said, pleased with himself. Harry smiled, despite himself.
“You’re observant too. Maybe we would do well in Slytherin. It’s just…” Harry said, not really wanting to bring it up. Yet it kept nagging at him. He couldn’t help but think about what Hagrid had said about Slytherin.
‘There’s not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one.’
Harry didn’t want to disappoint his big friend, but he had already made a friend that was probably going to be in Slytherin, and he didn’t want to be separated from him, especially when he could be so useful.
“Just what?” Draco asked, guessing at what Harry was getting at.
“It’s just…something Hagrid said.” Harry said, shaking his head. He was in turmoil.
“Potter, despite what people think, Slytherins aren’t all evil. I all but know I’m going to Slytherin, and I’m not evil, am I? Sure, I’m not the nicest bloke around, but I’m sure as hell not evil. It doesn’t matter that the Dark Lord was Slytherin, because it doesn’t mean every Slytherin will be like him. Most of them don’t want to be.” Draco said with conviction, defending his future house with pride. Crabbe and Goyle, once again, nodded in agreement. Harry almost laughed at how much the two looked like those muggle contraptions called bobble heads. This thought, along with Draco’s admission brought him a kind of peace, calming the turmoil within.
“Well, I guess you’re right Draco. It won’t be all bad, especially if you’re there. I guess if I’m in Slytherin, I’m in Slytherin. Nothing to do but wait and see where we’re put, I guess. No use dwelling on it.” Harry said, smiling. He wasn’t going to let it get to him anymore. He guessed, wherever they put him, he would try to make due. It wasn’t like he couldn’t make friends. Sure, he didn’t know how to go about it very well, but he would try. Still smiling, he decided to try to turn the conversation to a more normal subject.
They spent the rest of the time talking about Quidditch after Draco had explained the rules to him, and the two of them fantasized about being chosen for one of the house teams. When they got close to Hogwarts, a voice ringing through the train to let them know as much, as well as telling them to leave the luggage on so it could be taken up separately, they all changed into their school robes. A few minutes later, they got ready to leave the train as it pulled into Hogsmeade station. The excitement, mixing with the ambient magic around them, was almost palpable in the air as the four boys stepped out onto the platform. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang across the platform, and Harry, ignoring Draco’s annoyed look, went over to see his giant friend.
“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there Harry?” Hagrid asked Harry as he approached him, the reluctant blonde in tow with his two body guards. Harry just beamed up at Hagrid. He almost couldn’t believe this was real. He was really away from his cupboard and he was going to school to learn magic! Hagrid broke him out of his thoughts almost at once. “C’mon, follow me! Any more firs’ years? Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years follow me!” Hagrid boomed over the crowd of eleven year olds, and without a word, the first years began to follow the giant man, slipping and stumbling down a steep narrow path surrounded by tall, intimidating looking trees. Nobody spoke much, but Harry noticed that Draco was keeping closer to him, probably so as not to be lost in the crowd of first years and separated.
“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder, “jus’ around this bend here.” There was a collective gasp at the sight of the huge castle perched on a high mountain overlooking a vast, black lake. “No more’n four in a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of small boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle got into a boat, and Harry fleetingly saw Granger get into a boat with the boy who had lost his toad, Neville, if he recalled, a freckled redhead, who Harry remembered as the Weasley that came on to the Platform with him after he had asked his mother to tell him how to get onto it, and an Irish looking boy whom Harry did not know.
“Everyone in?” shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. “Right then; FORWARD!” Hagrid yelled, and with that the fleet of small boats carrying the first years moved off all at once, gliding across the vast, black lake, which was smooth as glass. Most of the first years were in awe of the glittering castle, including Harry. Draco was one of the only ones who didn’t seem overly impressed. The huge castle towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. “Heads down!” yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.
They sailed along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle. After a half a minute, they reached an underground harbor, where they quickly clambered out onto a small beach covered in rocks and pebbles.
“Oy, you there! Is that your toad?” Hagrid asked, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.
“Trevor!” Neville cried, grabbing his toad out of the boat nearest Hagrid and looking as if he would cry from relief. Harry smiled inwardly. He’d hate to lose a pet, so he was glad that Neville had gotten his toad back. Draco just rolled his eyes. After Hagrid was done checking the boats, he led them through a passageway in the rock, coming out onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They then followed him across the lawn and up a flight of stone steps, crowding around the huge, oak front door.
“Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?” Hagrid asked Neville, the boy nodding in the affirmative and holding Trevor up for him to see. With that, Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. Harry smiled to himself. He couldn’t wait to see what wonders a school of magic had for him, even on his first night here.
Ch. End
A Harry Potter fanfiction written by Cereal_junkie
Warnings: !!!, and possible V
Additional warnings: None needed
Rating: R
A/N: I was originally going to make this into something totally different, but I couldn’t in good conscience slaughter the original stories like I was going to. Believe me, it is better not to ask what it was going to be. Suffice it to say, this will be, as I was originally planning, a Harry-Slytherin story because Gryffindor sucks. I might make this a HarryXHermione fluff story too, just because I’d like a love story between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor. But, I might not because I want it to go another way to. Forgive my indecisiveness but the story is pulling me so many different ways… Anyway, enjoy this, and if you don’t, I’ll eviscerate you with a silver hunting knife. :D
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not the characters, and certainly not any of the cannon events. J.K. Rowling owns everything, except the non cannon events. If I did own the ideas, I’d be insanely rich, but as that is not the case, I present to you my own (slightly twisted) version of how things went, or how I thing they should have in the least. Oh, and as I am trying to follow cannon, some lines are taken directly from the books, and others resemble lines from the books quite closely. Once again, I do NOT own this.
Ch. 1: The first train to Hogwarts
Harry Potter sat alone, thinking about all that had happened since his eleventh birthday. Everything that Hagrid had told him, and everything that he had seen in Diagon Alley. He even thought about the blonde he had met in Madam Malkin’s Robes for all occasions, wondering idly if he would see him again, and almost hoping he didn’t. He didn’t like the fact that he insulted Hagrid, but then he was also the only one he would have seen before. He wanted to make friends, but he really didn’t know how to go about doing it and the boy wouldn’t like him anyway if he found out that Harry was raised by muggles. Harry sighed, staring out the window as the landscape went by.
‘Great. I’m off to a school of Magic and I’ll still have no friends.’ He thought, though he was secretly glad not to have as much attention as he’d had in Diagon Alley. It was all he needed for someone to ask him more questions about things he didn’t know, or couldn’t remember. He was off to, what seemed to him, a rocky start in the wizarding world. He even bet he’d be bottom in the class. He didn’t know anything about what they were learning, as he hadn’t been allowed to touch his books since he got them. As he sat, almost brooding, he heard the compartment door open, and as he turned to look, three boys stepped inside. Harry remembered the boy in the middle as the one he had met in Diagon Alley.
“I’d heard the famous Harry Potter was on the train, but I just had to come and see for myself.” The blonde said, his eyes widening in recognition of Harry. Obviously, he remembered meeting him as well. Behind him, two of the biggest eleven year-olds Harry had ever seen were nodding stupidly in agreement.
“Sitting alone? I would expect you to be swarmed by now.” The blonde said, smirking and taking the seat across from Harry. He waved his hulking escorts in, and as they sat down, the blonde decided to introduce them.
“This is Crabbe, and that’s Goyle.” The blonde said, gesturing to the two in turn with a bored expression. “And my name’s Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.” The blonde said, holding out his hand. Harry shook it, not wanting to spurn his first potential friend. The boy may have been rude to Hagrid, but if he wanted to make friends he supposed he didn’t have to agree with all of the blonde’s opinions.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Harry said, responding in turn. Draco smiled, as if saying “Of course it is” and leaned back in his seat.
“Anyway, I heard you were raised by muggles.” Draco said, a disgusted look on his face. “That must have been awful.”
“It was. They hated me.” Harry said scornfully, crossing his arms as he thought of the Dursleys.
“They probably didn’t know who you are. I heard muggles weren’t all that smart.” Draco said with a smirk.
“Oh, they knew. They knew before I did. They just didn’t know what it meant and they didn’t care.” Harry said, his mood getting worse.
“How awful. Why in the world were you left with muggles anyway? I bet there were plenty of pure-blood families who would’ve loved to be able to raise the boy-who-lived.” Draco said, Crabbe and Goyle nodding in agreement though Harry couldn’t tell if the two actually knew what was going on.
“Beats me. I would’ve loved to be anywhere else. Who ever put me there didn’t care all that much, did they?” Harry said, thoroughly cursing whoever had placed him at the Dursleys.
“So, considering you were raised by muggles, how much do you actually know about our world?” Draco asked, looking at Harry with a vague interest now.
“Not much.” Harry admitted, blushing with embarrassment.
“Well, stick with me then. I suppose I can show you the ropes. Normally I wouldn’t do something like this, but seeing as you’re you, I can make an exception. Especially since you’re so under educated on the way a wizard should behave, and who he should associate with.” Draco said, sniffing with disapproval as he remembered Harry defending the big oaf Hagrid.
“Okay.” Harry said, shrugging. He might as well learn what he could about the wizarding world so he didn’t look like a complete idiot. They continued to chat about different things, and Harry was slowly learning about different wizarding traditions, as well as the different kinds of witches and wizards. There were Pure-bloods, Half-bloods, and Muggle-borns, which Draco referred to as Mudbloods. Then he complained that the word Mudblood was frowned upon at school, and that in front of teachers, they had to call them Muggle-borns. As time passed, the lunch cart finally came around and between Harry and Draco, they bought almost the whole cart.
Luckily, it seemed that the cart refilled itself magically after the money was exchanged. They laughed and ate together, Crabbe and Goyle eating the most, and when they were down to the last few chocolate frogs, Draco having explained the collecting of chocolate frog cards to Harry, a bushy haired girl popped her head into the compartment. She was followed by a slightly pudgy and rather forlorn looking boy.
“Have any of you seen a toad? Neville’s lost one.” The girl said, gesturing toward the boy next to her.
“No, sorry.” Harry said, shrugging.
“A toad? Why would anyone in their right mind want to keep one? I think I’d lose mine on purpose if I had one.” Draco said, rolling his eyes. At this, Neville looked even worse. The girl just gave Draco a dirty look. She decided to ignore the blonde as she spoke up.
“Well, thank you anyway.” The girl said, looking at Harry as she spoke. She smiled at him and led the forlorn boy away, closing the compartment door behind her.
“Ha! I can’t believe they actually let her kind go to Hogwarts!” Draco said, glaring at the compartment door.
“Her kind?” Harry asked, confused.
“Mudbloods. I heard about her when I was looking for you. She’s an annoying know-it-all. Everyone thinks so.” Draco said, and although Harry wanted to say something, he knew making enemies of the boy was not a good idea. He had a feeling it would be more beneficial to him to stay on his good side. He could disagree with him openly once he was sure the boy liked him enough to forgive him for it. Until then, he wanted to be careful not to make enemies. He wouldn’t call Muggle-borns Mudbloods, but he would contend with Draco for the time being. Maybe he could become friends with the girl too. Maybe he could even get Draco to put up with her and eventually like her as well.
It was a long shot, but he felt somehow that he could do it. He was good at persuading people, after all. This should be a simple matter. Harry decided to try to find out how much Draco knew about her.
“What’s her name?” Harry asked, figuring Draco had to know at least that much.
“Hermione Granger. Why, Potter? Interested?” Draco teased, smirking.
“Hardly. She just seems like she’d be an interesting person to talk to.” Harry said casually, gauging Draco’s reaction.
“Pff. You can go talk to her. I won’t have anything to do with her. Just let me know when you’re done slumming so I can teach you more about what you should already know.” Draco said, figuring Harry wouldn’t make a move to talk to the bushy haired girl.
“I wasn’t talking about now. I was talking about in school.” Harry said, making no move to get up. Draco smiled at the predictable reaction.
“Of course. But then, she probably won’t be in the same house as us. You see, we, that is, you and I both, are more Slytherin material. She’s going to Ravenclaw. I’ll bet you 10 galleons.” Draco said with a confident smirk.
“I’m Slytherin material? What makes you say that?” Harry asked, wondering truly whether or not Draco had gone insane in the last few seconds.
“Oh come on Potter. Despite your past, that is, defeating the Dark Lord, I can tell just from our conversation, common as it was, that you’re cunning. Intelligence goes hand in hand with that. You’re also observant. You watched how I acted and you reacted in an intelligent manner. Then, there’s the fact that you’re trying to stay on my good side, and yes, Potter, I had noticed. You would like to say certain things and even reprimand me for using the word Mudblood, yet you hold your tongue. That, to me, shows both that you’re ambitious, in the way of trying to be the friend of a Malfoy, and that you’re manipulative, in the fact that you’re acting how you think I want you to act to better build my opinion of you. In short, you are Slytherin, Potter, no matter what anyone else says.” Draco said, pleased with himself. Harry smiled, despite himself.
“You’re observant too. Maybe we would do well in Slytherin. It’s just…” Harry said, not really wanting to bring it up. Yet it kept nagging at him. He couldn’t help but think about what Hagrid had said about Slytherin.
‘There’s not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one.’
Harry didn’t want to disappoint his big friend, but he had already made a friend that was probably going to be in Slytherin, and he didn’t want to be separated from him, especially when he could be so useful.
“Just what?” Draco asked, guessing at what Harry was getting at.
“It’s just…something Hagrid said.” Harry said, shaking his head. He was in turmoil.
“Potter, despite what people think, Slytherins aren’t all evil. I all but know I’m going to Slytherin, and I’m not evil, am I? Sure, I’m not the nicest bloke around, but I’m sure as hell not evil. It doesn’t matter that the Dark Lord was Slytherin, because it doesn’t mean every Slytherin will be like him. Most of them don’t want to be.” Draco said with conviction, defending his future house with pride. Crabbe and Goyle, once again, nodded in agreement. Harry almost laughed at how much the two looked like those muggle contraptions called bobble heads. This thought, along with Draco’s admission brought him a kind of peace, calming the turmoil within.
“Well, I guess you’re right Draco. It won’t be all bad, especially if you’re there. I guess if I’m in Slytherin, I’m in Slytherin. Nothing to do but wait and see where we’re put, I guess. No use dwelling on it.” Harry said, smiling. He wasn’t going to let it get to him anymore. He guessed, wherever they put him, he would try to make due. It wasn’t like he couldn’t make friends. Sure, he didn’t know how to go about it very well, but he would try. Still smiling, he decided to try to turn the conversation to a more normal subject.
They spent the rest of the time talking about Quidditch after Draco had explained the rules to him, and the two of them fantasized about being chosen for one of the house teams. When they got close to Hogwarts, a voice ringing through the train to let them know as much, as well as telling them to leave the luggage on so it could be taken up separately, they all changed into their school robes. A few minutes later, they got ready to leave the train as it pulled into Hogsmeade station. The excitement, mixing with the ambient magic around them, was almost palpable in the air as the four boys stepped out onto the platform. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang across the platform, and Harry, ignoring Draco’s annoyed look, went over to see his giant friend.
“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there Harry?” Hagrid asked Harry as he approached him, the reluctant blonde in tow with his two body guards. Harry just beamed up at Hagrid. He almost couldn’t believe this was real. He was really away from his cupboard and he was going to school to learn magic! Hagrid broke him out of his thoughts almost at once. “C’mon, follow me! Any more firs’ years? Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years follow me!” Hagrid boomed over the crowd of eleven year olds, and without a word, the first years began to follow the giant man, slipping and stumbling down a steep narrow path surrounded by tall, intimidating looking trees. Nobody spoke much, but Harry noticed that Draco was keeping closer to him, probably so as not to be lost in the crowd of first years and separated.
“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder, “jus’ around this bend here.” There was a collective gasp at the sight of the huge castle perched on a high mountain overlooking a vast, black lake. “No more’n four in a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of small boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle got into a boat, and Harry fleetingly saw Granger get into a boat with the boy who had lost his toad, Neville, if he recalled, a freckled redhead, who Harry remembered as the Weasley that came on to the Platform with him after he had asked his mother to tell him how to get onto it, and an Irish looking boy whom Harry did not know.
“Everyone in?” shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. “Right then; FORWARD!” Hagrid yelled, and with that the fleet of small boats carrying the first years moved off all at once, gliding across the vast, black lake, which was smooth as glass. Most of the first years were in awe of the glittering castle, including Harry. Draco was one of the only ones who didn’t seem overly impressed. The huge castle towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. “Heads down!” yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff. They all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.
They sailed along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle. After a half a minute, they reached an underground harbor, where they quickly clambered out onto a small beach covered in rocks and pebbles.
“Oy, you there! Is that your toad?” Hagrid asked, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.
“Trevor!” Neville cried, grabbing his toad out of the boat nearest Hagrid and looking as if he would cry from relief. Harry smiled inwardly. He’d hate to lose a pet, so he was glad that Neville had gotten his toad back. Draco just rolled his eyes. After Hagrid was done checking the boats, he led them through a passageway in the rock, coming out onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They then followed him across the lawn and up a flight of stone steps, crowding around the huge, oak front door.
“Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?” Hagrid asked Neville, the boy nodding in the affirmative and holding Trevor up for him to see. With that, Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. Harry smiled to himself. He couldn’t wait to see what wonders a school of magic had for him, even on his first night here.
Ch. End
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