Chapter 3: A Bright Red Train and an Old Dirty Hat

September 1st crept up on Jake like a nasty cold. Some time in the last half of August, Neville showed Jake a Toad that his Grandmother had managed to get the money for that he named Trevor. Jake had congratulated him, but soon realized that Neville was prone to losing Trevor. He figured it may have been a better idea to not get a pet for the pudgy faced boy, but Neville was happy regardless, so who was he to put him down?

It was somewhat early when he woke up, around 9 o'clock. The train wouldn't be leaving until 11 o'clock on the dot according to Dumbledore, so he had breakfast before showering and it was barely turning 10 when he'd gotten completely ready, including gathering up his belongings and putting them into appropriate suitcases and making sure Chloe's cage was set to go for when he had to put her in there.

He passed the rest of his time until Hermione and her parents showed up by rereading Hogwarts: A History . He got pretty far into it again when they did arrive at 10:30, "Jake! Come on!" Hermione urged him out of the Leaky Cauldron. He put Chloe in her cage, which she reluctantly agreed to. He offered to let her out and fly beside the train on the way to Hogwarts once they got moving, which seemed to settle her down. They barely got his luggage to fit in with Hermione's in the trunk, but he had to carry Chloe's cage with him in the back seat because it wouldn't have fit otherwise, "I'm so excited, Jake! We are going to Hogwarts today and will find out what House we will be sorted into. Which House do you hope to be placed in?"

"I don't think I'd mind any of them, honestly, just as long as I'm in the House you are," he smiled at her.

Her cheeks turned slightly red, but she smiled back at him, "Yes, I would prefer to be in the same House that you are, it will make being friends so much easier if we have all the same classes together."

Up in the front seats, where they couldn't see, Hermione's parents glanced at each other and smiled. From the moment they'd left the Leaky Cauldron the day they met Jake, Hermione had at least mentioned him once a day, wondering how he was doing at the Leaky Cauldron. Their daughter was more than excited about having a friend who shared her interests, it let her be herself a bit more confidently. Jake brought out the best in their daughter.

They arrived at King's Cross with fifteen minutes to spare and were looking for Platform 9¾, but didn't readily see it. Her parents thought about asking one of the workers walking around, but both Hermione and Jake agreed that wouldn't yield anything good as the workers were Muggles and most likely had no idea about it. Jake walked up to the beam between 9 and 10 and placed a hand on it. Instead of resting on the cold, gray stone of the column, his hand went through it like Magic, "I found it," he whispered gleefully to them.

One by one, the four of them went through the barrier that led to Platform 9¾ and were all greeted with the sight of the Hogwarts Express. Jake and Hermione were both in literal awe at it, seeing it for the first time, "This is awesome," he said under his breath.

Hermione, standing right next to him, heard him, "It most certainly is. Come on, let's go ahead and find a compartment before there are none," Hermione led him to the train, each pushing their trolley's. They got on the train, found a compartment that ended up being much larger on the inside of the doors. It caused them both to smile as they stowed their luggage in the compartments above. They both walked back out to say goodbye to Hermione's parents, "Bye Mum, Bye Dad, I'm going to miss you both, but I'll be home for the Christmas Holiday, don't worry."

"We're going to miss you, sweetie, but you both enjoy this year, okay? We love you so much!" Her mother hugged her.

John walked up to Jake, who had just let Chloe out of her cage, "Can I trust you to look after my daughter while you both are there at Hogwarts?" He asked him.

"Yes sir, you can count on me to look after her," he smiled up at the man.

"Good, I was expecting you to say that. Well, you kids have fun learning magic at school, we've got to get work, don't we Jane?" He asked his wife.

"Yes, we do, bye kids!" She yelled as they both exited the Platform.

The two First Years boarded the train again and sat in a comfortable silence after going ahead and changing into their Robes, reading various books from their current year to brush up on some information. Jake practically knew his Charms and Potions books from Cover to Cover. He found it easy to retain all of or most of the information, but without at least having a class in the subjects, he wasn't good at the practical aspect of wand usage.

Instead of his Grade 1 book, he pulled out his Grade 2 book and took a gander at it, reading up on spells he technically wouldn't learn until next year. Hermione looked at him as the train finally pulled out of the station and asked, "What are you reading Grade 2 for?"

He glances up above the book to look at her, "I already know Grade 1 like the back of my hand, so at least I'm learning and reading new material."

She looked like a light bulb had lit up in her head, "That makes so much sense! Why didn't I get the Grade 2 book?"

"You wanna read mine with me?" He asked all of a sudden.

"Sure," she stood up and sat down on his side with him, looking at the book that was now between them as she sat right next to him. They were reading up on the Disarming Charm, Expelliarmus , when the compartment door was opened. They both looked up and saw a pudgy faced boy.

"Neville? What's wrong?" Jake asked upon seeing the despair on his face.

"T-Trevor, I can't find him anywhere..." Neville was on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry," he said, putting his book away, "Hermione and I will help you find him, right?" He looked at her.

"Of course we will," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, I'm so sorry to bother you with it..." Neville's shoulders sagged.

"No bother at all," he stood up with Hermione, "I know you'd help me find Chloe if she was lost, so of course I'll help you find Trevor."

The both of them went compartment to compartment asking anyone if they'd seen a Toad around anywhere. As he was about to open another compartment to ask, he heard Hermione ask someone something, "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then," she asked, leaning against the frame. Jake walked up beside her just in time to see a red headed boy attempting magic.

The red haired boy cleared his throat, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow," he waved his wand down towards the rat, but it remained it's sickly grey color and was fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" Jake asked him. Neither boy seemed to notice he wasn't a Native.

"Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and they've all worked for me. I'm the only one in my family who's magical at all, and my parents were very surprised when my letter arrived," Hermione said to the two boys in the compartment. She had of course already told this to Jake, but she felt the need to tell them too, apparently.

"My Aunt and Uncle didn't seem that surprised, but I sure was when my letter came," the black haired boy said.

Hermione then noticed his glasses, "What happened to your glasses?" She asked and went into the compartment, sitting down beside the red head.

"They've been broke for three days now... I tried fixing them, but as you see I didn't do that well," he said with despair.

"Fortunately, there is a spell for fixing them," Jake said with a smirk.

Hermione pulled her wand out and waved it in front of the raven-haired boy's face, " Reparo ," she said and his glasses fixed themselves, removing the sellotape he had holding them together in the center as well.

He took them off and gave them a once over before putting them back on, "Thanks..."

Hermione had caught sight of his forehead and saw the scar, "What was that on your forehead?" She asked and he lifted up his hair, "Holy cricket! You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger," she said happily, then looked over to the ginger, "and you are?" Jake noticed how disgusted her voice sounded, probably from how close she was, and Jake had to admit that the ginger didn't look the cleanest.

"Ron Weasley," he said, giving an odd smile.

"Pleasure," but it was not a pleasure, Jake knew that.

"And who are you?" Ron asked, looking at him.

"Jake Fernandes," he said as his introduction.

"Where are you from? You from somewhere outside of Great Britain?" Ron asked him.

"Yes, I'm from America," he told Ron.

"Where is that?"

"Across the pond," was all he said on the matter. Ron didn't pursue the topic as Jake's voice very much ended the topic, despite his evident confusion.

"So are you not excited to meet THE Harry Potter?" Ron changed the subject.

Jake shrugged, "Not really. I've read the books he's in but otherwise I'm not really concerned about his celebrity status. I fully intend to treat him as an equal at Hogwarts, nothing more." He looked over at Harry and he had a grateful smile on his face. Harry clearly must not appreciate his fame like Ron does.

"Speaking of Hogwarts," Hermione started, "what House do you two hope you get in? I hope I'm in Gryffindor, but I wouldn't be sad if I got Ravenclaw, just as long as it's not Slytherin..."

"I guess Gryffindor, all of my family has been in Gryffindor, and I doubt that will change any time soon," Ron said.

"Gryffindor is what I would want as well, since Albus Dumbledore was also in Gryffindor," Harry said aloud.

Hermione smiled at him, clearly Harry had read Hogwarts: A History , "Well," she looked out the window, "I suppose we will be there soon... you two should go ahead and change into your robes," Hermione said, standing up from her seat beside Ron and walked out with Jake, "Come on, let's see if we can't still find Trevor before we get there."

"Alright," Jake agreed and they both began to search for the Toad again.

Another forty minutes of searching proved fruitless. Trevor probably wasn't even on the train anymore as far as they were concerned. They were on their way back to their compartment when they saw three boys, two large and one scrawny with Platinum Blonde hair, all standing outside of Harry's and Ron's compartment, "What's going on, you think?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno, let's go find out," he replied.

They both got close to hear what the scrawny boy was saying, "Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?"

"Unless you get out now," they heard Harry say.

"But we don't feel like leaving," the platinum blonde boy was about to say more, but Jake intervened.

"Well that's too bad ain't it?" He said and the three other boys turned to look at him and Hermione.

"And who are you?" Hermione asked them.

"What's it to you?" the boy retorted.

"The lady asked you your name, it's polite to tell her that much," Jake said calmly. Hermione was standing slightly behind him, her shoulder touching his, and he felt her tense slightly.

"If you must know, I'm Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle," he motioned to each one as he said their names, "now who are you two?"

"Jake, and this is Hermione. Now I suggest, Draco Malfoy, that you three leave right now," Jake told them.

"Or what?" Draco sneered.

"Or we find out who's better at magic right now," Jake taunted him.

"I could just have these two fight you," Draco was smirking as Crabbe and Goyle made movement towards him and Hermione.

Jake was quick on the draw of his wand, aiming it at them, causing them to hurry backwards, "I can drop these two before they even have a chance to think about their next move, which could probably take a while," he smirked, "besides, I don't need magic to take them on," he aimed his wand right at Draco, "so do you wanna see who's better with their magic, or are you gonna leave?"

Draco finally recognized the voice, "You know, I heard there was an American on the train, but I didn't know it was you," he started to laugh as he walked away, Crabbe and Goyle tailing him.

Jake holstered his wand and both he and Hermione walked back up to the compartment, "You two alright?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks," Harry said.

Hermione glanced at Ron and couldn't help pointing it out, "You got dirt on your nose, did you know that? Right here," she motioned on her own nose where the dirt was on Ron's.

He quickly tried to rub his nose, but to no avail. Jake and Hermione went back to their compartment to see Neville sitting sadly, "Sorry, Neville, we looked, but we couldn't find him..." Jake said, sitting across from him, Hermione beside him.

"It's o-okay... my Gran was right... I-I shouldn't have g-gotten a pet..." Neville was starting to sob.

"It'll be alright, Neville, don't worry," Jake tried to offer some words of comfort. A voice rang out through the train telling them all to leave their luggage on the train as it would be taken to their dorm rooms for them. They all disembarked the train and they heard a loud voice calling out to them.

"Firs' Years! Firs' Years! Over here! All right there, Harry?" The absolute giant of a man said in a loud and booming, but also friendly voice.

"Hey, Hagrid," they heard Harry respond to the gigantic man.

"Hermione, how tall do you reckon that man is?" Jake asked her quietly.

"I dunno... about 9 feet tall? Why do you ask?" She was curious.

"I don't know, but something about him... I doubt he's all human," he looked at her.

"You're saying he's got something else in him?"

"Exactly," Jake said, unable to actually prove his theory, but not even Dumbledore came close to the height of this man.

"C'mon, follow me - any more Firs' Years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' Years follow me!" Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark either side of them that Jake thought there must be thick trees overhead, blocking out any and all light. Nobody spoke much on the short journey. Neville kept sniffling at the loss of his toad, Trevor. Jake patted him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud, "Oooooh!" As the Castle had come into view when the narrow path had opened on to the edge of a giant, black lake. It was perched atop a high mountain on the other side of the lake, its windows sparkled in the starry sky, and had many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called back to them, pointing to a small fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shoreline. Jake, Hermione, Neville, and another girl who introduced herself as Susan Bones all shared a boat together, "Everyone in?" Shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself due to his massive size, "Right then - FORWARD!"

Suddenly the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great Castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled to them as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent forward, but it proved unnecessary for most students as their heads didn't quite meet the curtain of ivy that Hagrid would easily hit. The ivy did hide a wide opening in the cliff face, which you wouldn't even know was there unless you were right on top of it. They were carried along a dark tunnel once they entered through the ivy and were taken right underneath the Castle. They soon reached an underground dock, clambering out onto the rocks and pebbles, Susan, unfortunately felt queasy from the journey and ran over to the side to vomit.

"Poor Susan," Hermione muttered quietly.

"Oy, you there!" Hagrid yelled over to them, causing the three of them to look, "Is this your toad?" He asked, checking the boats for any forgotten possessions.

"Trevor!" Neville ran over blissfully and picked up the wayward Toad. They all clambered up a passageway in the rocks after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak doors they were led to, "Everyone here? Still got your toad, there?" Hagrid didn't wait for an answer as he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the Castle doors.

*******

The door swung open a few seconds later revealing a tall, black-haired Witch in emerald-green robes. Jake recognized her instantly as Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, "The Firs' Years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said to the tall Witch.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," she said, pulling the door wide open. The Entrance Hall was massive, much larger than Jake expected it to be. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, meaning that Wizard-kind still had yet to move on to all electricity. The ceiling was so high and with the dim light of the torches, you couldn't make out where it was or what it looked like, and there was a magnificent marble staircase facing them that led to the upper floors.

The First Years all followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Jake could hear a drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, 'The rest of the school has gotten here already. That's to be expected as they didn't have to take a small boat and enter through the underside of the Castle,' but Professor McGonagall showed them all into a small chamber off to the side that was void of anything but torches. They all ended up crowding together, much to Jake's dismay. He didn't appreciate the accidental bumps and jostles that happened.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said McGonagall, getting their attention, "The Start-of-Term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must first be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony that has gone on since the first days of Hogwarts opening, because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts." Jake glanced over at Hermione, hoping they got into the same House, "You will have classes with your House, sleep in your House dormitory and spend free time, potentially, in the Common Room of your house.

"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 alike. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking 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 just 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," she said, glancing around at several students. Her eyes lingered near Jake, but he could tell she was looking beside him at Neville. "I shall return when we are ready for you, please wait quietly," she said, walking off. Jake gave himself a once over and didn't see anything wrong with his clothing.

He turned to Hermione, "Does my hair look good? Any smudges on my face?"

She turned to him, "No, none that I can see. What about me?"

He gave her a fast once over, "You look fine to me, Hermione," he missed the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks when something caught his attention, Ron to be specific, going on about a test to be sorted that his brother, Fred, had said to him, "No you imbecile, there is no test, none like you're talking about. Your brothers lied to you."

"Oh really? Then what exactly do we have to do, if you're so smart?" Ron asked him.

Jake was about to answer when something else caught his attention. He saw a Ghost fly by. Then two more, then loads more Ghosts. They were pearly-white, and two in particular seemed to be arguing about something, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-" a fat looking monk was saying, before he was cut off by the other Ghost.

"My dear Friar, we have given Peeves all the chances in the world that he has deserved and he squanders them all. He gives us a bad name, you know? He's not even really a Ghost if we want to get - I say, what are you all doing here?" The other one asked, suddenly noticing the First Years. He was wearing a ruff and tights.

"We're First Years," Jake spoke up to them.

"Ah, new students!" Said the Fat Friar with a smile, "About to be sorted then?" Jake nodded, "I hope to see some of you in Hufflepuff!" Said the Friar, "My old House, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice that could only belong to one Professor, "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." McGonagall had returned and one by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," she told the First Years, "and follow me."

Jake got into the directed formation by McGonagall and stood behind Hermione, but in front of Neville, Harry and Ron, as they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. Jake looked around in awe at anything and everything, looking better than he dreamed of. The Great Hall was brighter than one would expect, and that was because of the thousands of candles floating around above four long tables, where the rest of the students were seated, watching the fresh meat walk past them. The tables themselves were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers sat along. Jake saw Dumbledore sitting in the middle and smiled at the Headmaster. Professor McGonagall had led the First Years up to the table, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Jake looked confidently around at the other students, hundreds of faces, joined by Ghosts, all facing them. Jake heard Hermione explaining the ceiling to someone about how it was bewitched to look like the sky outside, no matter what the forecast was, "We read about it in Hogwarts: A History ," Jake whispered to them, getting a smile from Hermione.

Professor McGonagall had placed a wooden stool near the center of the teachers table and an old, raggedy looking hat. Jake figured this to be the Sorting Hat. He wasn't surprised when the hat opened at the seam to form a mouth, and it began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave of heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindor's apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuff's are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole Hall suddenly burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became as motionless as before.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Jake heard Ron whisper, "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

"I told you they lied to you, you idiot," Jake whispered to him.

Ron was about to retort when McGonagall spoke up, holding a long roll of paper, "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she stopped a moment and looked down at the scroll, "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause before the hat suddenly yelled out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went and sat down at the Hufflepuff table, being greeted by the Fat Friar, "Bones, Susan!"

Susan did exactly what Hannah did, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hat shouted again. Susan took the hat off and scuttled to the Hufflepuff table to sit with Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted after a moment of silence.

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaw students stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them. A girl named Mandy Brocklehurst also went to Ravenclaw, but a girl named Lavender Brown was the first Gryffindor to be sorted, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers. Then a girl named Millicent Bulstrode became the first Slytherin.

A boy, Justin Finch-Fletchley was sorted into Hufflepuff. Another boy, Seamus Finnegan, was sorted into Gryffindor, "Granger, Hermione!"

Said girl spared Jake a glance. He urged her up to the stool and she almost ran up to it, eagerly pulling the hat over her eyes. Jake counted twenty seconds passing before the Hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" He heard Ron groan, but the ginger-haired boy would have to get over it.

Jake was the only first year to clap that hadn't yet been sorted themselves, garnering some looks, but he didn't care, he was happy for his friend. Neville was soon called up and was sorted into Gryffindor. Jake clapped for him as well, and Neville set the hat down on the stool, not looking as nervous as he had once been.

It was then Draco Malfoy's turn to put the cap on. It didn't even touch his head when the hat shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went to join his two goons he called friends, Crabbe and Goyle. Not many students stood there now, waiting to be called on. Jake figured that he was at the end of the list since he wasn't originally supposed to go to Hogwarts, so it only made sense that his name was dead last. He stood there patiently as more students were named off: Moon, Nott, Parkinson, two twins with the last name Patil, Perks, then the name most everyone had been waiting on.

"Potter, Harry!"

When Jake saw Harry step forwards towards the hat, nervous as can be, whispers broke out amongst the upperclassmen, "Potter? Did she say Potter?"

"The Harry Potter?" Someone else asked.

Jake stood there, watching Harry for what felt like a lifetime when suddenly, "GRYFFINDOR!"

He could hear both of whom he believed to be Ron's brothers, yelling, "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!" Harry ran over to sit with the other Gryffindor students. Pretty soon, Ron got sorted into Gryffindor and Blaise Zabini got sorted into Slytherin, and there was one final student left to be sorted.

McGonagall looked at him with a smile, "Fernandes, Jake!"

He walked up to the hat, put it on his head and sat down. He then heard a voice in his mind, 'Hmm... I have not seen one of your blood in centuries. Welcome to the school your ancestors once came to, Jake Fernandes, the last of your bloodline.'

'What do you mean?' He asked the Hat.

'Ah, you haven't been told yet? Well, it does not matter right now. Your family was all over the place back in the days. That makes it very difficult to place you. You are much more difficult than Harry Potter was... in fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen someone so suited to every House... where, oh where do I put you?' The Sorting Hat asked.

'I don't guess it really matters...' he thought.

'Does it not? I can see it right here in your head. The Granger girl, your friend, you want to be in the same House as her, do you not?' The Hat was right.

'... Yes... Yes I do,' he said to the Hat.

'Well, then I guess there is only one place for you to go,' the Hat said in Jake's head before bellowing out loudly to the silent room, "GRYFFINDOR!"