CORA

"Have you found it?" Cora didn't expect she would have spent her first journey to Hogwarts looking for a missing toad. Where could it be?

"Not yet, Dean," said Cora.

Cora had met Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan when they all were trying to look for a seat, so they decided to do it together. Seamus was short, with sandy-colored hair, and very quick to laugh. Dean was calmer than Seamus, but not when he talked about football. Dean supported the West Ham United Football Club, while Cora supported the Arsenal. She didn't even care he supported another team; she was just happy to know that another person was into football as much as she was. 

The three of them had found their sits in a compartment with a girl and a boy. They were both older than them, and they were about to start their second year. The girl's name was Fay, and she was really kind and loved flowers, apparently. The boy was Steve, he had a tick Scottish accent, black short hair and squared glasses, he didn't talk much, he was very focused on his drawing; Cora had seen one of them and he was drawing the five of them in comic style, he was very good at that.

The two friends talked about Hogwarts. Apparently, they were both in Hufflepuff; they were talking about their favorite places and eating the strange wizardly sweets; her Chocolate Frog had just jumped on her, taking her off guard, when someone entered their compartment. That's how they met Neville and Hermione; the boy had lost his toad, and so they all decided to help him. It had started as a game, but without realizing it, they had been looking for the lost pet for half of the journey.

"You've lost Cora's fight!" Seamus exclaimed with a laugh.

Dean looked at Cora with wide eyes. "You fought?"

"I didn't," Cora said simply. "A git pushed a girl."

"We are arriving in a few minutes before we arrive; I've asked the conductor," Hermione said, entering the cabin, and Cora couldn't help but frown. "You should wear your robes." She hadn't known Hermione for long, but Cora could really not understand why the girl always needed the urge to say what she thought or what she had read. Cora didn't like feeling stressed, but just knowing that Hermione had already read all the school books made her almost uneasy. Her aunt hadn't told her it was necessary to read and practice over the whole program before the start of the terms, but maybe she had to, or not?

"Thank you, Hermione," said Fay with a smile before turning to Cora. "We should go to the bathroom so the boys can change." Cora nodded her head, taking her robes from her camping backpack, and followed Fay through the train corridor. 

"So, have you found the toad?" Cora looked behind her back and saw a tall girl with dark hair, dark make-up, and dark clothes talking with Steve, who pushed his glasses up his nose.

"No, Sienna," he said. "I feel sorry for him."

"You've tried your best, don't worry about it," the girl said with an encouraging white smile.

Cora had barely had time to wear her robes when the train came to a stop.

"I have to go take my backpack," she said, opening the bathroom door and looking from behind it, but Fay shook her head.

"Don't worry, you'll find everything at school later," Fay said, kindly adjusting her yellow and black tie.

Cora waited for Seamus and Dean to arrive where she was, and then she walked with them out of the train. She looked at the end of the train, wondering if Marsh was alright. Her eyes wondered on the platform, it seemed a normal platform full of students; there were some of them who had red and yellow tie, others had it green and white, others blue and white and others yellow and black as Fay's and Steve's. It had surely to do with the Hogwarts houses; her aunt and her father had been members of Gryffindor house, and she had told Cora the story behind all the Houses, but Cora hadn't been paying much attention, so she really didn't remember.

"Firs' year, firs' ear, this way, "a voice roared, making them turn.

Seamus gasped, "Guys, have you seen that?!" Honestly, it was difficult not to see the man who was walking towards them with a lamp in his gigantic hand. Everything was huge about that man: He was extremely tall, with a large bush of curly hair and a beard.

"Well, hello, Harry." Cora saw the man smiling kindly, looking at a boy with messy black hair. She hadn't seen Harry all day, but she knew he had traveled in a compartment near hers. Everyone had been creeping around Harry's compartment to take a look at the Boy Who Lived. She thought he could feel uneasy, so she decided not to go and say hi.

The large man talked a moment to Harry before saying to the first-year students to follow them.

"Good luck with the Sorting," said Fay before waving to Cora, Seamus, and Dean, who waved back. Then she turned to talk with a red-haired boy who had tapped her on the shoulder.

They followed the big man on a dark, narrow path. 

"I can't see anything," Seamus said, giving voice to everyone's thoughts. Suddenly, Neville gasped, and Dean helped him, not letting him fall down. 

"Ye all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man said. "Jus' round this bend here."

After having round a corner, the path opened onto the edge of a black lake. In front of them, at the top of a mountain there was a huge castle with lots of towers, the light through its windows shined brightly in the dark. That was surely something Tyler would have liked to see; for a moment, she really wished her friend had been a wizard, too. He would have enjoyed all of that. She looked at it, trying to remember every detail so that she could describe it to Tyler in a letter.

Everyone had their eyes fixed on the view before them, and without looking away, they walked to the lake, where wood boats waited for them.

"No more'n four to a boat!" at the man's words, Cora turned to Dean and Seamus, who smiled at her excitedly. Dean hopped first in the boat and helped Cora and Seamus to do the same. Cora sat down and looked at the lake water; she was almost tempted to touch its dark surface but decided against it; then she turned and saw Hermione and Neville sitting in the boat next to theirs, not far, on another boat. Cora spotted Harry talking with a red-haired boy and the short girl she had met on the corridor of the train, and in another boat, there was the rude pale boy sitting with his two massive friends.

Once the man sat down alone on his boat, they started to move towards the castle. The closer they got, the more details of its walls became discernible. She had never seen Hogwarts, even though she had spent time in Hogsmeade, where her aunt lived.

"Heads down!" yelled the man when they reached the cliff; in front of them, there was a passage covered with ivy, and when they entered, they had to bend their heads to not hit the rocks above them. They were under the castle, in a dark tunnel till they arrived on a harbor where they could get out of the boat; Dean and Seamus got out before her and then they helped Cora to get out, there was no reason, but they were being kind so Cora accepted the help nonetheless. 

Suddenly, the man turned to Neville, holding a toad in his big hand, and asked the boy if it belonged to him.

"Trevor!" he yelled with relief, taking the little pet in his hand. 

Trevor's surely a traveler, Cora thought; how did he get there?

The party walked up stone steps and green grass up to the giant castle Oak front door. Then the man knocked three times, and the door opened.

"I'm so excited!" Seamus muttered with a low cry, which made Cora and Dean snort in unison.

Once the door was opened in front of them, the figure of a witch with black hair in green-emerald robes was clear to see—a figure that Cora knew very well.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the man kindly.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," Cora's aunt said formally before turning and leading them into the castle. The entrance only was huge, lightened with flaming torches.

Her aunt led them into a small, empty chamber next to what seemed to be the Great Hall. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said her aunt. "The banquet will start shortly, but before we begin, you'll be sorted in your Houses," she told them that the Houses' names were Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. "The Sorting is very important," the woman kept saying, "Because here, your House will be like your family; you'll study with your House's members, you'll eat with them, and you'll spend your free time in your house common room" her aunt's eyes traveled between all of them "And each of your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking will make you lose point" Cora showed a little smile to her aunt when the woman's eyes fixed on the girl. Then her aunt looked away, explaining that at the end of the year, the house that had earned more points would have won the House Cup.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I suggest each of you smarten up while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," she said sternly before walking away and giving Cora a last look.

Of course, the moment the woman got out, everyone started to speak quietly with each other.

"What do you think we have to do?" asked Dean thoughtfully.

"Some kind of test?" asked Seamus, slightly in panic.

Cora scrolled her shoulders. "I have really no idea." Her aunt had never told her what she would have faced during the Sorting Ceremony, telling her that Cora would have done better to face it without knowing so that she could be sorted perfectly.

Suddenly, the people behind them started to scream, making her jump. Dean gave out a little gasp in surprise while Seamus screamed without really knowing what was going on. Turning her head above them, Cora saw at least twenty ghosts coming through the wall. Cora frowned. Her aunt had told her about ghosts, but she had thought she was talking about very old people, not actual ghosts. 

Note for me: ghosts exist.

She wasn't sure if writing that to Tyler, knowing how he got scared just by dark or horror movies.

Cora looked at the ghosts talking with each other and then with them when they noticed them. She wondered if everyone could be a ghost after their deaths and if they acted like they did when they were alive. 

One of the ghosts seemed to be a fat Friar, and he was hoping for them to be in Hufflepuff. Cora's eyes fell on the short girl with red hair who, with a big smile, was waving at each ghost that got near her. Next to the girl, Harry was looking around him. After a moment, he noticed Cora, and with a small smile, he waved his hand at her, and Cora did the same.

"Move along, now!" said a sharp voice belonging to Cora's aunt. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." The ghosts flew away one by one, and the new students formed a line. Dean and Seamus were in front of them, and at Cora's back, she spotted Hermione with a controlled, excited expression.

The Great Hall was beautiful; it was impossible to deny that. There were lots of colorful windows, and lit candles were floating in mid-air over four long tables full of students. Looking up, she noticed that there wasn't a ceiling but a night sky full of bright stars, and Cora smiled at the sight.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside," Cora heard Hermione say to someone. "I read about it in 'Hogwarts, A History'." Cora couldn't stop a frown. She had read Micky Mouse's comics during the summer. She was sure that her aunt would have liked someone like Hermione as a niece. 

They arrive before the teachers' table set in front of them. There were curious people there: the tall man that had accompanied them, Hagrid, her aunt had called him, there was a very short wizard that could barely be seen over the table, a man dressed all in black with a hooked nose, a man with a turban and countless others as strange. Then she spotted a young woman dressed in muggle clothes, and Cora couldn't believe she could see familiar clothes there. Then, right in front of them, an old wizard with glasses shaped a half-moon, long white hair, a beard, a mustache, and a kind expression. It must have been Dumbledore, and Cora couldn't help but be surprised by the man's colorful robes.

Cora's aunt made them stop in front of the teachers, she set a four-legged stool before the first years and on it an old ragged pointy head. Cora instinctively looked towards her aunt, frowning and nodding to the hat. What kind of test could it be that involved an old hat? But her aunt looked at her sternly before turning to look at the hat. A moment of silence filled the room, and then the hat moved. Cora blinked her eyes in surprise, how could a hat move on its own! And if that wasn't strange enough, it started to sing. 

The hat sang about the four Houses, telling them that Gryffindor was the house of bravery, daring, and chivalry. Hufflepuffs were loyal and just, while Ravenclaws were wise and witty. Lastly, Slytherins were determined and cunning. So that was the difference between the Houses, but Cora wasn't really sure which one she belonged the most.

"So, we've just got to try on the hat!" Cora heard the red-haired boy whisper to Harry in front of her.

"Oh wow! We have to try a talking hat!" the red-haired girl said excitedly.

"I'll kill Fred," the boy said. "He was going on about wrestling a troll." 

Cora observed them before turning to Dean and Seamus. She really hoped they would end up in the same house; she liked those boys. 

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Cora's aunt announced. "Abbott, Hannah!" 

A girl with blonde pigtails walked closer to Cora's aunt; she took the hat and put it over her head till her eyes weren't visible to see. Not so after the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Her aunt kept calling names, and each student got sorted in their house, who always roared in welcoming claps. 

"Finnigan, Seamus!" her aunt called. Before Seamus could go, he turned to them, and Dean gave him a thumbs-up while Cora smiled at him, who had been sorted into Gryffindor. Cora clapped her hands, watching him run to the table of the house. 

Hermione happened to been sorted in Gryffindor, too, as happened to Neville after a long time of silence from the hat.

Then arrived the turn of the pale boy, whose name she came to know was Draco Malfoy. He had been sorted in Slytherin, and now she knew which house she didn't want to be part of. 

"McGonagall, Cora." At the mention of her name, students behind her back gasped, but both Cora and her aunt ignored them, and the girl moved to the woman. She took the hat from her aunt's hands, set it down on the stool, and put it on her head since it covered her eyes. She waited for a moment before a small voice rang in her head as it came from inside herself.

"It's clear, it's obvious, Cora McGonagall. You can't be anything but…GRIFFINDOR!" She heard the hall clapping, and when she took off the hat, she gave it to her aunt, who nodded to her. Cora smiled at her before running to her housemates. Cora smiled at the other students, and she sat next to Seamus, who hugged her. She laughed and turned to the new year's left. Lots of names had been called and sorted before Harry Potter got called.

People gasped loudly, and people started to ask if they had heard it right if the real Harry Potter had come to Hogwarts. 

"Oh my God," a pretty girl with black hair and grey eyes said, looking at the boy. Next to her, the girl with dark makeup turned to a boy with red hair, who was sitting next to a boy who looked exactly like him.

"You weren't making this up," she said with her thick Scottish accent.

The redhead boy put a hand on his chest with a fake dramatic expression.

"You insult me, Sien. Do I ever lie?"

"Don't make me answer that."

"Shh!" said another red-haired boy, with a stern expression and a shiny badge on his chest with a P on it.

Cora turned again to look at Harry; he was already set, and she couldn't see his eyes. The room felt silent for a moment; neither students nor teachers were looking at the boy, and Cora couldn't help but feel nervous for him. At home barely no one noticed Harry, he was silent and many were scared of Dudley, and now he was surrounded by people who knew his name and wanted to know him. It must have been stressful for him. Cora's eyes were fixed on the young woman dressed in Muggle clothes. She was chewing her bottom lips and playing with her fingers.

But when the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" the Gryffindor table shot up, clapping and yelling in excitement.

"We got Potter! We got Potter!" the two twins shouted, clapping their hands. As soon as Harry got to the table, everyone quickly introduced themselves to the boy, who sat down with a shy smile next to Neville. He looked at Cora and smiled before turning to look at the table and smile in the young woman's direction, who had a big smile on her face. 

"Thomas, Dean." At the name, Cora turned and saw Seamus cross his finger, but they didn't have to wait long before the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Cora and Seamus clapped their hands, as did their housemates. Dean high-fived Seamus and sat next to Cora.

Then, it was the turn of the short girl with red hair, Penelope Weasley. As soon as the hat had sorted her in, Gryffindor thanked Cora's aunt and the teachers before running to their table and hugging one of the two twins. 

"Yeah, Penny!" the boy said happily while the other twin ruffled her hair.

"Well done, Penny," said the strict boy. The girl waved to the girls in front of the twins and did the same to the other Gryffindor members, then she ran and sat next to Dean, smiling brightly at Harry, who looked at her happily.

"Weasley, Ronald!" her aunt called.

"Come on, Ronnie," muttered Penny, crossing her fingers. So, they were twins.

After a moment, even the boy got sorted into Gryffindor, and all the redheads on her table clapped loudly, congratulating their brother, who was set next to Harry. 

After the last boy, Blaze Zabini got sorted in Slytherin, the Ceremony was over, and that meant that Cora was officially a Hogwarts student.