Almost nobody speaks much, with Dayo the exception that chatters on and on about how cool it all is.

Neville sniffles once or twice.

Sapphire shoots him a reassuring smile but otherwise just looks around, surely it won't stay dark and nondescript forever.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid calls over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

And indeed, there it is, its glittering lights reflecting over the lake and dancing in the distance, hinting at an enormity and opulence that will probably only become greater in the light of day, when they can appreciate it in its entirety.

Sarah just gazes at it smiling widely. Hopefully the inside is as nice as the outside.

There's a loud "Ooooooh!" as the other students glimpse the castle for the first time. On the lake rest several small canoes next (but not in any way attached) to a wooden pier which seems to be their destination.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid calls and the students start boarding.

"There's four of us if we've managed to stick together." She looks around.

Yep! Dayo, Ron, and Neville follow her into the boat.

"Everyone in?" shouts Hagrid, who has a boat to himself. "Right then—FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moves off all at once, gliding across the lake, which is as smooth as glass. Everyone is silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towers over them as they sail nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stands.

She matches the silence and just drinks in the sight.

"Heads down!" yells Hagrid as the first boats reach the cliff; they all bend their heads and the little boats carry them through a curtain of ivy that hides a wide opening in the cliff face. They're carried along a dark tunnel, which seems to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reach a kind of underground harbor, where they clamber out onto rocks and pebbles.

"That was fun."

They clamber up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walk up a flight of stone steps and crowd around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here?" And before waiting for an answer Hagrid raises a gigantic fist and knocks three times on the castle door.

The door swings open at once. A tall, grey-haired witch in emerald-green robes stands there. She has a very stern, almost stereotypical witch face.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulls the door wide. The entrance hall is big enough you could fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls are lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them leads to the upper floors.

She looks very serious. It's interesting to see the person who apparently read her letter. She keeps looking around.

Indeed it is.

They follow Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. They can hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right—the rest of the school must already be here—but Professor McGonagall shows the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowd in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she says. "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 rulebreaking 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 linger for a moment on Neville's cloak, which is fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," she finishes, and leaves the chamber.

"That's interesting. I wonder what the actual consequence of winning the house cup is."

"You get a big cup," some other student whispers.

The other students seem to be panicking about how they're going to get sorted into houses. There's talk about it being a test of some sort.

The books she read were conspicuously silent on how the sorting happens but there was no mention of it being difficult or dangerous so she isn't worried. If any of her new friends seem worried she'll try to reassure them.

They're a bit worried.

Suddenly several people behind them scream, and when they turn to look, they see that about twenty ghosts have just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glide across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seem to be arguing. What looks like a fat little monk is saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance—"

"My dear Friar," answers a ghost wearing a ruff and tights, "haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost—I say, what are you all doing here?" he asks, finally noticing the first-years.

She had read about ghosts being at Hogwarts, seeing them is something else though. Still, it's polite to answer. "Waiting to be sorted."

"New students!" says the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old House, you know."