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Hogsmeade Station looks to be on the outskirts of a little village. The train platform is small and dark, with the sun well and truly set by now, so it's easy to spot the bright lantern as it approaches - not from the direction of the village, but by a dark forest path leading the opposite way, and being carried by Mr. Hagrid. He whistles, loudly, to get the children's attention, and calls, "First years over here!"
where you ought to be
lost
She smiles, standing up straight as the first years gather around - daring, even, to slip to the front and wave a bit. "Hey Hagrid!" she calls.
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He grins indulgently and stoops down briefly. "Made it okay, I see," he says warmly. Then he straightens up and resumes his calling.
"You're friends with Mr. Hagrid?" whispers Neville, who looks a bit intimidated by him.
lost
"Yeah," she whispers back. "He's really nice. I stayed with him over the summer."
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"Follow me!" he calls once everyone's assembled, and leads them down the dark path by which he came. It's a few minutes before they see anything more interesting than trees and shadows, but then they come upon a vast still black lake, reflecting the distant yellow pinpoints of light that are the windows of the Castle Hogwarts, on the opposite shore atop a high cliff. There are little boats clustered by the near shore, that look just like the one Hagrid took Harriet away from her aunt and uncle in.
"Four to a boat," Hagrid calls. "They'll row themselves across once everyone's in."
lost
Four's enough for her, Neville, Hermione, and Ami - she glances at her friends to confirm they're all also thinking of getting in a boat together.
willow-wand
"Yeah!" Ami walks over to make sure the boat stays steady while everyone else climbs in.
willow-wand
And Ami gets in last, settling in to wait the boats launching.
His gaze keeps drifting to Hogwarts.
bfg
Hagrid, who's standing up straight in a boat to himself, turns toward the castle, stomps one foot formally, and calls out, "Forward!"
The boats depart - it's a bit of a lurch getting them un-beached, but then they move swiftly, smoothly, and silently over the water.
lost
Harriet grips tightly to the boat's edge, a bit uneasy, but -
Hogwarts is fascinating.
She - feels odd, at the thought of talking into the silence.
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The cliff looms, stark and straight and almost vertiginous, as they approach.
"Mind your heads!" Hagrid calls as the boats make their way toward and through a curtain of ivy hiding a wide but low-ceilinged passage under the cliff. (Hagrid himself has to sit down in his boat and hunch.)
The pass under the cliff leads to an underground harbor, and the path Hagrid leads them along away from the harbor leads to the Hogwarts lawn. They emerge next to a wide dirt road that leads to a wide flight of stone stairs and a pair of wide wooden-and-iron doors. Opposite the road from them are a group of empty and apparently-horseless carriages - apparently the non-first-year students got here by a different, faster route.
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Hagrid ascends the stairs swiftly, and knocks three times, BOOM BOOM BOOM, upon the wooden doors.
lost
She hops up the stairs after him, not really less nervous than the other students, but somewhat less affected by it.
The door creaks open, inward, apparently on its own, revealing a tall thin witch in emerald green, whose eyes scan across the gathered students.
