Elegiac

Chapter Three; A New Home

The group walked up a flight of stone steps and stopped in front of a giant oak door. Turning around and reaching into his pocket, the man guiding us asked Neville, "You ther'. This yers?" Outstretching his hand, he held Trevor.

"Trevor!" Neville shouts, bouncing up the steps with a smile to grab Trevor. The burly man turned around after making sure everyone was there before knocking three times on the door. The oak door swung open immediately. A black haired witch dressed in emerald robes stood in the doorway, a stern look plastered on her face.

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

"Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here." The stern faced professor opened the door wide, letting the group in.

An entrance hall that was vast enough to fit a house, lit by flaming torches every few feet. The ceiling was not easy to make out, only several flights of marble stairs leading to different parts of the castle could be seen above them.

Professor McGonagall led the group across the flagged stone, the drone of hundreds of voices on a door to the right. The rest of the school must already be here, I thought to myself. We were led past the door, into a small empty chamber off to the side of the door. The group crowded inside, looking towards the black haired woman when settled.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall announced. Any chatter that was happening before had now quieted. "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 free time in your house common room.

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 rule-breaking will lose your 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 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." Her eyes lingered on Neville's robe, which he had managed to fasten under his left ear, and on Ron's dirt smudged nose. Several students around me did a double check over them, making sure they were presentable. Professor McGonagall said she'd return when they were ready and to wait patiently. I helped Neville with his robe, while McGonagall turnt and left the chamber.

"How do you think they do the sorting?" Neville stammered. I shrugged my shoulders, brushing off the non-existent dust of the blonde's robes.

"We'll be fine. It can't be too dangerous, we haven't learnt magic yet and we don't have our spells. I doubt there'd be room for us to fight a troll each in the Great Hall." I joked, patting my friend's back.

Several people were whispering, all in the same nervous tone. Some stood silent, watching the door and hoping McGonagall would come back soon. A chorus of shocked screams came from behind me.

Another group had walked into the room, however this group was of a pearly-white and slightly transparent, floating a foot off the ground. Ghosts, I concluded in my head. The ghostly group walked past, seeming blissfully unaware of the shocked children beside them. What seemed to be a fat little monk was speaking.

"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights took notice of the first years. Nobody answered his question.