Chapter 16: Welcome to Hogwarts

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 16: Welcome to Hogwarts

After leaving the train, McGonagall rounded all the first years and escorted them to the lake, where the half-giant, Hagrid was waiting for them.

Harry was having a hard time keeping his straight face after seeing so many old friends who were now back among the living and looking happy.

Hagrid looked at the first years and grinned.

"Alright, little ones! Get on the boats, they will take you directly under the castle. Oh…and make sure not to fall, I forgot to feed the giant squid this week." 

"He is joking about that last part, right?" Said Ron with worry.

"I read about the giant squid living in the lake, but I don't think it eats people…" Commented Hermione, looking a bit worried too.

"Haha!, don't you worry, Weasley. I'm sure the squid would spit you back out. He doesn't like to eat trash." Draco Malfoy gave a passing glance to both Ron and Hermione when he said that.

"Malfoy!" Ron growled.

This was the third time that Harry had to stop the redhead boy from jumping at Malfoy and it was getting tiresome.

"Enough!, wait at least for the school to start and then you can request a formal duel if you want."

"A duel?...oh, that's right!. You just wait, Malfoy!" Ron's anger quickly subsided and was replaced by joy.

Malfoy now looked slightly worried but did his best to hide it.

"Tsk, like I would be scared of someone like you!. I'll duel you any time you want. I bet you can't even use a single spell yet!."

Ron just sent Malfoy one last threatening glance before looking away, but the truth was that he didn't really know any spell yet. The only one his older siblings had taught him turned out to be just a prank.

 The boats were for four people, so the trio chose one boat that already had one occupant in it. When the boy turned around to see who else had gotten in, he made a disgruntled expression when his eyes landed on Hermione.

"Oh, it's you guys." Said Neville, not sounding very excited.

Ron looked at Neville with interest as if trying to find something about him.

His eyes then widened in recognition.

"By Merlin!, you are….you really are-"

Ron was interrupted when the boat started to move by itself, surprising the occupants.

"Whoaa!" Ron was about to fall into the water when Harry grabbed him.

"Thank mate!" the redhead exclaimed before turning his eyes back to Neville, who was now looking away from him.

Ron may have perceived the tension in the air because he decided to stay quiet for now.

The boats arrived safely under the castle, where another professor was waiting for them to guide them further into the castle.

The group of first-year students soon found themselves admiring the great hall of Hogwarts while the rest of the school stared at them with interest.

"Whoa!, what's with the roof? I can see the sky!" one of the kids pointed up, to the enchanted ceiling.

"It was enchanted by the founders themselves, I read about it in 'Hogwarts, a History'. "

Hermione hurried to share her knowledge, even if no one had asked.

"Why is everyone staring at us?"

"It must be because we need to do the sorting now!"

Two students commented.

"What are they going to make us do?" Said Ron with horror.

"My brothers told me that we have to fight a troll…"

"Don't be ridiculous Weasley!." Draco made his way to the front of the line where Harry and the others were.

"If you have nothing intelligent to say it's best if you keep quiet!"

Ron threw Malfoy a nasty gaze.

"No one asked for your opinion, Malfoy! I bet you don't know anything about the sorting either."

"Hmph!, the contents of the sorting ceremony are something that has been kept secret from the first years since the founding of the school," Draco said with a knowing smile.

"There is, however, someone among us who may know something about it." 

He walked until he was in front of Neville.

"Maybe the famous Neville Longbottom knows about it."

There were many gasps of surprise and murmurs among the group who had just realized…the famous 'boy who lived' was among them.

All eyes became completely focused on Neville and murmurs started to become more audible.

"It's really him?"

"By Merlin, he is actually here"

"He looks a lot more fat than in the books."

Neville lowered his shoulders and looked down, wanting to be somewhere else.

"I don't know either…" He said softly.

Draco looked a Neville with a mixture of disappointment and anger.

"I see, you don't know either…."

"Did you really defeat You-Know-Who?" asked someone.

"How did you do it?" A short redhead girl asked.

"I don't know, please, stop asking about that!" Neville raised his voice slightly and looked away.

"Leave him alone! , he doesn't like to talk about that." Hermione defensively got in front of Neville.

The kids who grew up in the magical world looked at Neville with mixed feelings. For one, they were happy to finally see the hero they heard so much about during their entire life, but on the other hand, they were disappointed to find out that he was nothing like what they had imagined.

The ones who came from muggle families were just looking with curiosity, wondering what all the fuss was about.

Draco got close to Hermione, his two goons at his sides.

"Get lost. He doesn't need from a mu-....from someone like you!" 

"Silence, everyone!" Professor McGonagall looked at them with her usual stern expression from the teacher's area. 

The first-year students noticed that she was standing next to a peculiar hat that had been placed on top of a wooden stool.

"We are about to begin the sorting ceremony," Said McGonagall