PUNKS & POETS (book one, year 1-4)

007; The Sorting Hat

By nightfall the Hogwarts Express had reached Hogsmeade, the small village by the school inhabited by purely witches and wizards.

James walked alongside Sirius and Remus, the two boys who he had just most recently met, off of the train. He could feel the early September breeze brush against his cheeks as he stepped out into the chilly air. Before him laid a clear night sky with millions of stars visible. The moon was almost full, casting a bright glow upon the many students standing on the platform. They had all changed into their robes, leaving their trunks behind. Sirius gazed around him, his hands in his pockets and a pleased smirk upon his lips. Remus slumped his shoulders, turning away from the moon almost as if he was trying to hide from it.

"First years this way!" a tall half giant man said with a rustling voice. He had on a brown coat with patches on the bottom of it and a thick dark beard covered half of his face. The large man carried a large and heavy looking lantern in his right hand, and his left hand was waving at the first year students to follow him. James did so, closely followed by a enthusiastic looking Sirius and a anxious looking Remus. They walked away from the village of Hogsmeade, following the giant man down a narrow winding path through some trees. All the older students, dressed in either deep green, canary yellow, royal blue or scarlet red, seemed to be going the opposite way.

"We'll be there soon" the giant man said with a thick accent, hurrying them on "it's got the best view of the castle I'll tell you that, it's fantastic, professor Dumbledore can assure you all that"

They walked further down the winding path of trees in the darkness, moss and stones and fallen branches beneath the soles of their shoes. Soon they reached a dark lake with tons of dark wooden row-boats. "Come on, hop on in, four per boat" the half giant said, putting his lantern down to help the new students into the boats. James stood by Sirius and Remus, patiently awaiting for his turn. He could hardly see any of the castle from behind the trees, but he did see something. Or someone. In the crowd, a few metres away from him stood a rather short girl with firery red hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in all black as the rest of them, holding her hands clasped in front of her petite body, her fingernails painted with a opaque pink. She was stood next to a pale boy with black stripy hair, looking around nervously. James didn't know why, but she stood out to him. Maybe it was the colour of her hair compared to the dull dark coloured hair on the heads of the people standing around her or perhaps it was the way she smiled as she saw a bird jump from tree to tree. He didn't know, but she was mesmerizing. Lighting up the darkness of the night with her presence.

"Come on you four"

It was James's turn to move, feeling the half giant lift him into one of the wooden boats that awaited in the dark water. There he sat with Remus, Sirius and a scrawny little blonde boy he had never seen before. And off their boat went, of course being enchanted to row itself. And his view of the red haired girl disappeared, only to be replaced with a breathtaking view of the Hogwarts castle. He could hear gasps around him, and he himself couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the million lights that seemed to be coming from the castle. It was grand and tall, bigger than he could've ever imagined. "Wow" Sirius blurted out, staring at the castle. "It looks like something out of a fairytale" James added, earning a convinced nod from Sirius. Remus seemed just as mesmerized by the sight, looking at the castle as he fiddled with the wide sleeves of his black robe. The small blonde boy who was sat next to Remus seemed even more taken aback by the wonderful view before them, his lips parting as his jaw dropped.

"Hello by the way" James said, turning his head to look at the boy "I'm James, James Potter, who are you?"

"Oh uhm Peter Pettigrew" the boy said, stuttering ever so slightly on his words as he answered James's question. "Nice to meet you Peter" James said, beaming a smile "excited about Hogwarts?". "Very" Peter nodded, pushing his lips together. "And I'm Sirius" the boy with the dark hair added, turning his head to look at Peter "Sirius Black". "Hi Sirius" Peter said ever so quietly, carefully meeting the gaze of Sirius for just a moment. "This is Remus" Sirius then said, pointing towards the boy sitting at the front of the boat, who was seemingly in his own world.