Looks like we’re in for a wild ride.
I’m on the Hogwarts Express in a compartment with a bunch of Slytherins. I know they’re Slytherins because all their outer robes are trimmed in silver and green and they have the Slytherin crest sewn onto their left chest. They are all blonde, which makes our entire compartment fair haired. I feel like we are all related.
One of the two oldest boys is a Prefect, with long, almost white hair. The other is huge, with thick limbs and a short neck. Maybe he’s part troll. He’s got a blonde beard edging his jaw but has shaved the rest of his face smooth.
The younger boys are talking between themselves and one of them keeps looking round to where I’m sitting against the window. That one has thick curly hair and a round face which is scratching something in the back of my brain but I just can’t figure out why. I am ignored by all but the curly haired boy.
That is until the Prefect says, “You’re a Pettigrew aren’t you?”
I have my hand in my pocket, holding my wand. It’s warm in a comforting way.
“Yeah, I’m Peter.”
The Prefect leans over and whispers something to the part troll who grunts and shakes his head. Then they both smile at me in a really creepy way.
When the lunch trolley comes along, the older boys buy heaps of sweets and pass them round, even to me. At some point in the journey there must have been a seat swap I missed because the Prefect is now seated next to the curly haired boy and they are laughing together. Their faces couldn’t be more different, one sharp, the other soft. When the Prefect brushes some of the boy’s curls back from his forehead it makes him quiet. He doesn’t look at me for the rest of the train ride.
On the platform I follow a giant man who is calling for all the first years to follow him. We walk down a slope, and it’s so dark I almost trip three times. There is a great black lake before us and a fleet of small boats.
“Four to a boat!” the giant calls.
The memory of when I fell off a dock into the Thames because a seagull snatched my hat overwhelms me. I was only under for seconds before dad levitated me out, but I still thought I was going to die.
“Oh gosh,” I say to no one. “I can’t swim.”
Suddenly there’s someone in my face. “Why would you need to swim?” a boy with long dark hair says, eyeing me with disdain. “He said ‘four to a boat.’ Not get in and float.”
“Nice one,” another boy says, knocking into the first.
His glasses catch the light of the lantern and I recognize James Potter. I don’t think he recognizes me and hurry to get into a boat down the shore from where he’s standing.
We cross the lake, then follow the giant up to the castle. It’s bigger than I ever imagined. It looks like its own small city perched atop a hill. I keep my distance from James and the black haired boy who heckled me. I have no idea what house I’m going to be sorted into and I don’t really care. My mum was a Gryffindor and my dad was a Ravenclaw.
I learn the black haired boy is named Sirius Black and the name rings a bell but I can’t remember how I should know him. I wait a long time for my name to be called. When it is, I walk to the stool, sit down and place the hat on my head.
“Peter Pettigrew,” a nasally voice sounds between my ears. “Hmmm, this is a tricky one. I don’t see a hunger for knowledge. Nor a desire to prove yourself.”
I slip my hand back into my robe pocket to feel my wand.
“An alder wand, even more surprising,” the voice continues. “Now let’s see . . . there’s loyalty and kindness and something . . . ah yes, I see. In that case it will have to be GRYFFINDOR!”
The hat yells the last word aloud, like it has for each first year. Mum will be pleased. I take off the hat and walk to the Gryffindor table sitting down near Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. James joins us soon after. I avoid making eye contact with him and Sirius who whisper and laugh through the rest of the ceremony, but Remus is quiet, like me. When the sorting is over, James turns to me, holding out his hand.
“James Potter,” he says with a wide grin.
He’s either an idiot or he’s suddenly decided to give me a chance. Suddenly I’m filled with hope.
“Peter Pettigrew,” I say, doing my best to meet his eyes.
“Well, lads, looks like we’re in for a wild ride.”
It seems like Sirius, James, and Remus all already know each other. When I ask Remus about it, he says they were all in the same compartment on the Express. I find it hard to believe James and Sirius only just met, but I don’t want to seem weird so I keep my curiosities to myself.
Up in our dorm room, I unpack my trunk while Sirius does nothing but moan about how his family is going to disown him or something. His mum sounds like a right loony.
“You watch, she’ll come marching up to the castle and demand they re-sort me!”
“Would she really?” I ask. It seems extreme. Do they allow re-sorting? What if the hat changes its mind about me two months into the school year?
“Peter.” My head snaps up and I look at Sirius. “Do you know who I am?”
What kind of a question is that?
“Are you serious?” I say, pulling my eyebrows together.
“Bloody right, I’m Sirius!”
James laughs at this, but I must have missed the joke because Remus makes a comment and I still don’t get it. Sirius begins making a speech and this time when James laughs, I do too. When James and Sirius pull pants onto their heads and start marching around the room chanting “Sly-ther-in” I join in before Remus does.
When I lie in bed that night, I think about my new dormmates. James has been nothing but nice since we ended up in the same house. I decide to watch out for Sirius; his mood oscillates in an unpredictable way. Remus can’t seem to figure out if he wants to be here or not. I conclude all I have to do is be less weird than Remus and maybe I’ll make some friends.