33. Hogwarts!

Ryan looked out and spotted Hogsmeade station beyond the fog. He could sense this fog was somewhat magical. No doubt to create some kind of grand reveal of Hogwarts. He and the girls exited the train while Ryan enveloped himself in a mild shroud, making others know someone is there but did not pay attention.

He saw seniors separate and go towards the carriages with black, winged horses ready to pull them. Therstals. But something happened that surprised him. All Therstals looked towards him and then lowered their heads as if bowing.

'... Yeah, no doubt the master of death shit is going on here. Damn... wait, then do entities representing Luck and Fate also exist? Will they grow mad if I try to mess with the plot? But God said he wanted me to just exist, so maybe not?

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Better be safe than sorry.' Ryan thought to himself.

"First years over here. First years over here." Ryan heard a yell and noticed the source. 'Damn, that is one big guy. Then again, I should have expected that since he is half-giant.' He thought, looking at Hagrid, the keeper of keys and grounds of Hogwarts... or some similar-sounding title, he didn't remember.

"Everyone board the boats, four on each," Hagrid announced after guiding them to the boats, in his deep voice. Ryan and the two girls sat down as well. He saw Marcus seated with a red-haired kid who was yelling out bullshit, probably Ron Weasley, and With Hermione and Neville.

"Do you mind if I take the spot?" A boy asked Ryan's group.

All three of them nodded, and they sat down.

The boy then introduced himself "I'm Blaise Zabini, please to meet you."

"I'm Susan Bones" "Hannah Abbott" "Ryan" The three introduced themselves.

Blaise noticed Ryan had not given his last name, and the other two also remembered he never told them either.

"Are you still not going to tell your last name?" Susan asked.

"Well..." He tried to drag then released a sigh. "*sigh* You would hear that during the sorting either way, I guess there isn't much use hiding it." He spoke.

"My name..." He spoke and paused.

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"Just say it already," Hannah spoke, annoyed at him stalling.

"Yes, yes... My name is Ryan Black." He spoke, and all three were shocked hearing that, and their eyes widened.

"Black? As in Sirius Black?" Hannah asked with a trembling voice.

Ryan released a tired sigh and nodded. The three just stared at him, a bit scared. "See, I told you it was troublesome." He spoke and shrugged.

"Ah,... sorry," Susan spoke, realizing how they tried to get distance from him.

Ryan held up his hand and spoke "Don't be. I would probably have the same reaction." The three eased up a bit hearing him.

"Still... I can't believe you are related to House Black." Hannah spoke to him.

"Tell me about it," Ryan spoke in a tired voice, while wondering why he was acting with children, then shrugged inside and continued his acting either way. If Dumbles decided to peek into the kids' memories, his acting would help out. While Dumbles may not pay complete attention to monitor Ryan, he still played it safe.

Ryan peeked into the Black Lake and saw Ginderlows and enormous tentacles in the black lake, which he noticed he could easily see through when he disabled the contacts that had a parameter telling him the difference in my vision against the normal standard. Ryan had realized his eyes can be... eye-catching, so I had no choice but to do this. They also changed his eye color to blue. This was also to make sure Snape doesn't pull shit like 'you have Lily's eyes' on him.

He talked with Zabini during which Hagrid warned them to lower their heads, but he kept talking. Soon, they reached the end of the river and reached Hogwarts '... Damn... just damn. I'm actually feeling chills throughout my body.' Ryan thought to himself. Even though he had seen Hogwarts from the air, the scene from the boats was the most mystical scene he had ever seen. It gave solid competition to the time he first saw Avalon.

'I've got to give it to Dumbles, he knows a thing or two about making things dramatic.' He thought to himself.

He snapped out when the boats docked and noticed that so did the others. Hagrid took them to the main gate and knocked on it loudly. It was opened after a few seconds and a slightly old witch with a pointy hat similar to everyone here walked out.

"The first years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said, confirming Ryan's suspicion.

"Thank you, Hagrid." She said, nodding. Hagrid walked away, then she turned and lead them in.

They strolled through the entrance hall towards two gates, where she turned to them and spoke, "Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "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 your free time in your house common room."

She paused and continued, "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 credited to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place a few minutes before the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She said. Ryan saw her eyeing Neville when she said so.

She went inside, and Hannah started complaining about how her parents didn't tell her how they will be sorted. Ryan picked up someone talking about wrestling a troll, but he blocked the voice as it hurt his ears. He did notice a blonde kid with almost the same amount of pompousness as Marcus, who currently glaring at Marcus as if he was his arch-enemy. Ryan also noticed a golden ring around his finger. 'Yeah, that's Draco Malfoy alright.'

Now that he started looking closely, Susan, Blaise, and Hannah were wearing one as well. Heir rings, he presumed. 'The boys near Malfoy would be Crabble and Goyle, while the girl would be Parkinson.' He thought. From their expressions, he guessed Malfoy had met Marcus on the train. Or maybe they had old rivalries because of their fathers. Some ghosts came by and spooked the kids a bit.

Professor McGonagall came back and took us inside the great hall. 'Finally, it's showtime!'