FicWad

∞ Chapter Three ∞

Hagrid and Kat made their way to the train station to greet the students, both new and returning. It was a long walk, and Katherine wanted to bring Salazar, but Hagrid said no as it would scare the first years. Besides, Salazar was curled up sleeping on her bed, so she left him there with a warm blanket on top and a tray of fresh meat for him when he awoke. Hagrid had his big floodlight with him, and as they got closer to the train station he lit it, illuminating a circle of light around them.

“A’right first years over ‘ere! Come on now don’ be shy!” Hagrid boomed. Prefects got off first and held the carriage doors open for the rest of the students to file out. There were a vast range of them too. Some were towering tall above, others had already been sorted into their houses, as could be seen from their emblems on their robes. Kat looked down to her own robes, the school crest shining in the light.

“Oh ‘ello ‘arry!” Hagrid said cheerily. Kat looked back to him.

“Hello Hagrid!” A boy, probably Harry, responded.

“Bloody hell!” The red-haired boy beside him stated, eyeing Hagrid up and down with disbelief on his face.

“Hagrid, is this Harry?” Kat asked, standing closer to the first boy who responded. He had circular glasses that looked brand-new, and a faint pink line producing from the bottom of his dark brown fringe. He turned to look at Kat.

“Ah yes.” Hagrid responded, before using his booming voice to get the first years attention and rouse them for being slow.

“Hello, my name’s Katherine.” The girl politely said, holding her hand out for the boy.

“My name’s Harry, obviously.” Harry responded, before laughing with Kat. “This is Ron.” He introduced the red-head beside him, who also shook her hand.

“Who is the big guy?” Ron asked.

“His name is Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts, and I’m his helper.” Kat replied. Before they could go into conversation Hagrid came back to the head of the group.

“A’right first years follow me teh’ the boats!” Hagrid interrupted before beginning to walk away into the darkness.

The first year students followed Hagrid and the lamp light into the surrounding darkness whilst the prefects ordered the rest of the students into their different transportations modes to the castle. Kat was talking with a girl with a big mound of frizzy hair about the different magical properties and creatures that can be found in the Forbidden Forest, amongst other academic topics. Hagrid led the first years down to the docks and helped them all get into the boats. Harry and Ron got in a boat with two other boys, the girl Kat was talking with went into another boat, and Kat shared a boat with Hagrid.

“A’right now careful not teh' fall into the water right!” Hagrid yelled over the whispering of the students before the boats, of their own accord, gently moved across the water to the castle.

Kat looked around the Black Lake and at the boats floating gently across the water. Most of the students looked either a mix of frightened and puzzled at how the boats were doing it. Kat noticed a familiar face to her left in one of the boats. It was the rude boy she bumped into at the broomstick shop. He looked like he was happy and excited to be here, sitting next to two larger boys. They appeared to be talking and becoming friends.

“Woah, AAAHHH!” a voice cried before a loud splash could be heard. Kat saw one of the boats rocking slightly from the corner of her eye and dove into the water. Many of the other students cried out in surprise and shock, telling her not to do it and that she didn’t know what was down there.
Hagrid wasn’t bothered, he only looked back to watch and see if the kid who fell in surfaced again. He did, but he was far behind the convoy of boats. Kat hadn’t resurfaced and this caused the other students to become increasingly alarmed. The kid who resurfaced was splashing around hopelessly, his head going under and then popping back up again.

“Is she alright?”

“Can that guy even swim?”

“Why did she jump in?”

“Why isn’t the big one doing anything about it?”

Murmured questions filled the air, but underwater they were but a distant vibration, muffled and distorted by the water and the calming current. Kat made her way to where the kid’s legs were being useless under the water. She stopped just short of the drowning student and used her magic to command the water to do her bidding. The water formed a hand-like shape, gently lifting the boy out of the water and dropping him back into his boat, which was half-way across the lake now with the rest of the convoy, and shrank back into the lake, unforming. And still Kat hadn’t resurfaced. Hagrid, safe in the knowledge of what Kat is capable of, turned back around and yelled to the students.

“Now what did I tell yeh’ about fallen in teh' the lake huh! There’s some dangerous creatures down there, don’t fall in.”

The pale boy from the broomstick shop looked back again, realising that Kat hadn’t resurfaced, and frantically searched for bubbles or something on the surface of the lake, but he couldn’t see anything. Not when they were moving forward and the darkness behind them was following, consuming everything the light couldn’t save. He turned back to Hagrid.

“But what about that girl, she hasn’t come back! We can’t just leave her in the water!” He yelled.

“She’ll be fine you worry ‘bout yer’self.” Hagrid replied calmly. He wasn’t scared of leaving her in the Lake or the Forest by herself, since she had been in there and had her fair share of danger since she was brought here after the war. He knew she’d be fine and having the time of her life, like always.

“But you said that there are dangerous things in the water!” The boy yelled back, furious at the half-giant. His father had told him about the groundskeeper and how idiotic he was, but this was unbelievable.

“Don’t get so worked up I’m right beside you.” Kat calmly said, ignoring the commotion that was happening around them.

Everybody had started to panic because of the situation, and it didn’t help when she suddenly surfaced effortlessly beside the boat convoy. Some started screaming at the situation, before screaming in heightened pitches when realising that their boats started rocking because of their movements. Hagrid sighed heavily and nodded to Kat. Katherine slipped under the water’s glossy black surface again and re-harnessed the water to be under her control, stabilising all the boats and stopping them from continuing on their journey to the castle. By this time they were nearly at the shore.

Everybody above water was scared and confused, but Hagrid remained somewhat calm. He was silently cursing to himself about forgetting to warn the Giant Squid to behave, and to warn the students about the Giant Squid. Then the convoy began moving at a quickened pace towards the approaching shoreline. But this time the boats were completely still, not moving at all. It was as if the boats weren’t even in the water and they were sliding across a marble floor. The boats gently sat against the docks and the first years got out and onto the land, some scrambling away from the water as fast as possible. Hagrid was the last to step out of his boat, turning to face the lake. Kat surfaced and walked out of the water.

“It was Squishy.” The drenched girl said.

“Squishy? Who’s Squishy?” came multiple responses.

“I forgot teh' tell him teh' behave.” Hagrid said quietly to himself. He then turned to address the slight situation that the Giant Squid had caused.

“I s’pose I’d better explain. There’s a Giant Squid that lives in the lake ‘ere and he doesn’t like behaving much. He likes teh' scare first years comin’ across the lake by playin’ with the water and touching them.” Hagrid began, before a hand shot up into the air.

“I felt something touch me and I freaked out and fell over the side of the boat. I’m sorry.” A shy little boy said, lowering his hand.

“It’s not the first time I’ve fished kids out of the water don’t worry. Squishy says sorry too, he didn’t mean to scare you a lot.” Kat said calmly, pulling the water from her clothes and letting it rain out in a small cloud beside her. There was a chorus of ‘ooohh’s and ‘aaahhh’s to this display.

“Wow, she just dried herself without her wand! How does she do that? Wait a second, I recognise her voice …” the pale boy was saying to himself before being herded up the stairs and into the Great Hall. Kat shyly walked a few paces behind Hagrid, feeling the eyes of everybody upon her, like they were small bugs crawling underneath her skin. Harry noticed she was uncomfortable and alone, so he slipped into pace beside her and began having a conversation to try and lighten her mood and make her feel somewhat accepted. He was starting to understand how she felt, with him finally coming into the Wizarding World and instantly becoming a celebrity, everybody watching him, it made him uncomfortable too. Ron did the same and walked on Kat’s other side.

Once inside the Great Hall Hagrid was greeted by a tall witch in deep emerald robes with a pointed hat to match. They exchanged words and Hagrid left, but spoke to Katherine before doing so.

“I’ll be up in the dinin’ hall waitin’ for yeh’.” He said gently, before walking away again.

“Attention please.” The tall witch said. “I am Professor McGonagall and in a few short moments we will be walking through these doors behind me and sorted into your houses. Whichever house you get sorted into will be like your family. You will earn points for your house as rewards for good behaviour. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be rewarded with the House Cup-”

“TREVOR!” A young boy yelled, before bursting forwards and claiming a toad that had hopped to the front of the crowd. “S-sorry Professor.” The boy apologised, before returning to his spot, toad clutched tightly into his chest.

Professor McGonagall looked at him sternly before finishing. “I will be with you in a moment.” She said before walking away.

“So it’s true then.” The pale boy said. “Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts.”

Murmurs erupted again about the Harry Potter going to school with them. Harry looked down at his feet, embarrassed. Kat looked around and was confused.

“Harry, do you know who this Potter person is?” Kat turned to him, confused. She had never heard of this Harry Potter or why he was such a big deal.

“It’s me.” He whispered back shyly.

“Oh. Why-” Kat began but was interrupted.

“This is Crab, and this is Goyle. And I’m Malfoy,” the pale boy said, indicating to his two friends beside him at their names. “Draco Malfoy.” He finished. Ron snickered beside Harry. Draco turned to him, his face hard, challenging.

“You think my name is funny do you? No need to ask for yours. Red hair, and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley.” Malfoy concluded rudely. Ron face hardened, annoyed. Malfoy continued, turning again to face Harry. “You’ll soon find out that some Wizarding Families are better than others Potter. I can help you there.” He held out his hand for Harry to take. Harry stood strong.

“I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself thanks.” He replied cooly, noticing that Professor McGonagall had returned. She was behind Malfoy and tapped him twice on the shoulder with a scroll. He glared at Harry and Ron before noticing that you were beside them. His face changed, but only slightly. You glared back at him.

“We are ready for you now.” Professor McGonagall said, before turning and leading the students into the dining hall.