Eccentric // Fred Weasley [1]

The Sorting

We left our trunks on board and joined the crowd shuffling to get off the train. I had stuffed the rest of my chocolate frogs into my pockets and put Ella in her cage before following Hermione and Neville onto the platform. I stood there shivering in confusion for a second before I saw a lantern bobbing above everyone's heads.

I heard, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" I followed the lantern and the rest of the first years. When we were all together I looked up to see the face of the man holding the lantern. He was the biggest man I'd ever seen with wild hair and a beard covering up everything except his small black eyes. His face crinkled into a smile, "C'mon, follow me. Mind yer step now!"

We followed him down a steep path lined by trees. I was looking at the ground trying not to trip on any tree roots so I didn't notice we had stopped. I ran into Harry and fell on the ground. I looked up to say sorry to him when I caught my breath. In front of us was a huge black lake reflecting a castle perched on the edge of a cliff. The castle had light pouring out of its windows with towers and turrets shooting into the sky.

"No more'n four to a boat," the giant yelled pointing to a cluster of rowboats at the edge of the lake. I followed Harry and Ron into a boat with Hermione behind me. I sent Neville an apologetic look as he watched us sadly from another boat. When everyone was in, the boats glided across the lake silently, moving by themselves. No one said anything as we got closer to the cliff until the man yelled, "Heads down!"

We went through a curtain of ivy covering a hole in the cliff face. We floated down a dark tunnel until docking at what looked like an underground harbor. As we climbed out of the boats the man said, "Oy you there, is this your toad," handing Neville a toad. The man walked ahead of us and when we reached set of doors, knocked three times.

Immediately they swung open to reveal a tall black-haired woman in green robes. She had a stern face but warm eyes as she looked at us. I knew right away that I liked this woman.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

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

She nodded to us and we followed into the what I guessed to be the entrance hall. We followed her to the end where a set of carved wooden doors stood. We could hear voices on the other side of the door which just made us even more nervous. Professor McGonagall turned towards us, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The feast will begin shortly, but before you can be seated you must be sorted into your Houses. Your Houses are like your family, you do everything together. The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Over the year your triumphs will earn you points for you House and rule breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year the House with the most points will win the House Cup. This is a great honor. The sorting will begin shortly. I suggest you smarten yourselves up while we wait."

She gave us a sweeping look lingering on Ron's smudged nose and my messed up hair.

She slipped though the door and everyone slipped into whispered conversations. To my left I heard Harry ask, "How exactly do they sort us?" I opened my mouth to reply when Ron said, "Some sort of test I think. Fred said it was really painful." I stifled a giggle not wanting to ruin the joke. I already knew because Harley had told us after his first year.

Suddenly a pale boy with a pointed face and slicked back blonde hair stood in front of Harry and said, "So it's true then, what their saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." People started paying more attention to the conversation, whispering and pointing. "This is Crabbe and Goyle. And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron snickered and Draco whipped his his head to look at him, "Think my names funny, do you? No need to ask yours, red hair and a hand-me-down robe. You must be a Weasley." The way he said Ron's name like an insult made my blood boil.