18 Ch 18: Hogwarts

Draco, Lorion, Crabbe and Goyle went and sat on one of the wooden boats. There was a lamp with a long handle on the boat. Lorion wanted to carry lamp, but Draco gave Crabbe a stern look. Crabbe immediately snatched the lamp from Lorion.

Clearly, Draco felt that it was beneath their status to do such minimal chores. As all the students sat down, the boats started moving by itself toward a majestic castle well decorated with colourful lights.

The castle reminded Lorion of the medieval castles found in France and Britain. The boats quickly floated to the castle. Soon, they reached the banks, from which Hagrid took them through the corridor. Finally, they climbed the stairs and saw an old witch with a pointed hat standing in front of them.

The lady announced "Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But, before you take your seat, you must be shorted in your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points and any rule breaking will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the House with the most number of points will host the House Cup!"

However, before she could finish, a healthy boy shouted "Trevor" and ran in front of the witch and picked a frog up. He then looked around and realized that he just disturbed the speech of the professor. So, apologizing, he quickly fell back in the crowd.

The old witch didn't continue her speech. She only said that the shorting ceremony would begin momentarily and left with long strides.

Draco whispered to Lorion "This was McGonagall, a professor in transfiguration spells at Hogwarts."

Suddenly, Draco saw a boy with round spectacles standing with a red haired boy and laughing. Draco said a bit loudly "So it is true then, the famous Harry Potter is going to study with us this year"

  As soon as the words were said, the entire auditorium started whispering.  Draco came forward and said "This is Crabbe, Goyle and my brother Lorion. As for myself, I am Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. "

Ron, who was beside Harry rudely laughed when he heard Malfoy introducing himself proudly. Draco looked angrily at Ron and said "Red hairs, handed down robe, there is no need to guess. You must be a Weasley! Well Harry, some wizard families are better than the others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you with that."

Draco extended his hand, but Harry didn't respond. He rather said rudely "I think I can tell the wrong shorts of people for myself."

Draco was angry and felt humiliated. But before he could reply, Professor McGonagall returned. Draco could only snort angrily and return back beside Lorion. Lorion didn't say anything, just gave a cold glance to Harry and Ron. Soon, it was declared that the shorting ceremony was about to begin. Children were asked to stand in proper line and enter quietly when their names are called.