Since the beginning | Deamus |

(first year) Ch. 4 Hogwarts and Its Strange Meal Plans*

(Sorry this is so late, I had planned for it to be the first of the month but some things came up. Well, happy pride month! And I'll be updating the chapters a little out of order, sorry for any confusion)

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The grand doors swung open before the giant man had time to finish saying "Welcome to Hogwarts". They swung open with a loud moan, letting the firelight inside flood onto the lawn and illuminate our small, excited faces. In the doorway stood a tall and very stern looking witch with a tight gray bun wearing deep emerald green robes. She surveyed our group over her small glasses with a calculating look that made me gulp with the type of fear you get when faced with authority figures. She definitely didn't seem like someone that I wanted to get on the bad side of.

"Here ar the firs' years, Professor McGonagall." the man waved a giant hand over us.

"Yes. Thank you, Hagrid." The witch said curtly.

She stepped off to the side and gestured for us to follow, leaving Hagrid on the lawn. Stepping over the threshold of Hogwarts was the most life-changing thing eleven year-old me had ever experienced. My perspective seemed to shift and all of a sudden I felt very, very small facing the giant stone castle. The hall we entered was huge, and much larger than any room that I had ever seen. Tall vaulted ceilings that were so high I had to crane my neck just to get a good look at them, statues of armor standing guard along the walls, bright torches burning brightly and causing our shadows to flicker. It all seemed like something that came out of a storybook.

Dean walked along beside me with his mouth agape and his eyes wide as he was taking in the wonderful castle.

We followed behind Professor McGonagall to the stairs that stood directly across from the doors. Our hundreds of footsteps echoed loudly off the wall. The chattering of a thousand voices could be heard through another set of large doors next to the stairs. It seemed, to me, that the most likely and reasonable idea was that we were going to go in there since that was where all of the people were. But to my surprise, McGonagall instead stopped us just at the foot of the stairs.

She stood and watched us for a minute before beginning a lengthy speech about the ins and outs of Hogwarts.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The feast will begin soon, but before that can begin you will all be sorted into your Houses. These Houses will be like your new families. You will sleep with them, attend classes with them, and there you will meet your lifelong friends. The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has produced extraordinary witches and wizards, and you all won't be any different. When a student does something good, like answering a question correctly for example, their House will earn points. Every misdeed that is done, points from that House will be lost. At the end of the year the House with the most points will win the House Cup, a very great honor indeed. Now, the Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly. If you will all follow me."

I was grateful when the speech was over. To be honest, I just wanted to get the whole ceremony over with.

"What is the Sorting Ceremony?" Dean leaned over and whispered to me. I shrugged.

"No idea. Fergus told me you have to perform spells, and if you don't do them right you'll be kicked out. He said it'd hurt too."

Dean's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"No," I shook my head. "Mam says he's full of it."

"So what actually happens?"

"No clue, mam wouldn't tell me."

As soon as we stepped up to the doors, they swung open. Following McGonagall we walked into a large dining hall filled with students. Everyone in the hall went silent as we walked in. The students were divided into four tables (which I could assume were the four Houses) with the teachers sitting at a separate table at the back of the hall.