Choosing Marauders *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter 4

The two stared out the window. They had arrived at Hogsmede Station. A stout, old witch popped her head in and told them to get out of the compartment, and that they could leave their trunks where they were. They stood up, and walked down the aisle, both of them positively shaking from excitement. They stepped off of the train and into the station, where they heard a voice bellowing: "Firs' years, firs' years, this way!" 

James and Sirius followed it, until they could see and enormous man amid the sea of students. They stumbled over to him. Up close, they saw that the man had a tangled beard that looked as if it hadn't been brushed in weeks, and must've been 11 feet tall. His black beetle eyes had a warmth in them that you wouldn't expect from someone with such a frightening build. 

"Hello" He said kindly looking down at them, a smile forming behind his beard. "We'll just have to wait a few minutes for the others and then you'll be off to Hogwarts."

They nodded, staring curiously up at him. Like the man said, all of the other students arrived with in the next four or five minutes, some looking eager, and some like they were about to throw up from nerves.  The large man introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. He told them all to just call him "Hagrid", and then started walking out of the station, motioning for them to follow him.

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

They all gasped. 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. Sirius and James hobbled onto a boat along with a round faced girl and a shivering brunette boy.

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

all the boats moved at once, along the smooth lake. Nobody spoke. They were all too mesmerised with the castle that was to be their home for the next 7 years. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. They had to duck their heads as they passed 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 harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They climbed up onto a passageway until they finally reached smooth grass. They walked up the steps and exchanged nervous glances as they crowded around the front door.