Marauder Era Reacts to; Belladonna Potter

Chapter 13

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed toward the door and onto a tiny, dark platform. Belladonna shivered in the cold night air. changing just 10 minutes ago into her black robes and having no idea what house she will be in. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Belladonna heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" that was the voice of the giant man that she saw Harry with at Daigon ally.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

The twins and Percy hugged belladonna before walking over to carriages with no horses in the front. belladonna came to it being magic. Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that belladonna thought that pitch-black trees were blocking the light from the sun setting. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.

"You were always such a cutie in first-year nev," Belladonna said, making Neville blush. "He gets it from his mother," Frank said making Alice blush. Oh, like mother like son.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' just this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Belladonna saw Mattheo from a dissentient, but it looked like he already had a group of friends. it couldn't have hurt to ask right? Belladonna wanted to but, her anxiety got the best of her, and she went to a boat with a couple of strangers.

"Anxiety is a b! tch," Belladonna mumbled. Cedric laughed a little hearing her.   

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And 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!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; a few bent their heads, and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

"Thanks Hagrid." 

"No problem, N'ville."

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to what belladonna guest to be upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right - the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing closer together than they would usually have done, peering nervously.

"Oh, its your sorting!" James and Sirius giggled out like fangirls.

"I am five second away from swatting the both of you."  Remus said in a tired tone.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "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 dormitory, and spend your free time in your common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its 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 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 credited 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 for a moment on more of the boy's cloaks.  There was a boy with fiery red hair, and he looked like Fred, George, and Percy. He must be Ron, who the twins told Belladonna about. no offense to the Weasley family but she was going to stay far away from him. She noticed her 'twin' tried to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber as many of the new first years swallowed.

"Was Minnie always that scary?" Sirius asked, earning laughs from his friends.