Platform 9 ¾ /Year 1
The platform 9 ¾ was filled with witches and wizards.
Moms and dads saying goodbye to their children for the first time, as well as seconds, and thirds and so on.
Some kid got a smooch on the forehead from his mom and did not look too pleased with this fact. Aurelia giggled at that. There were kids that barely showed any reaction to the situation, their postures stiff and no emotion left over for a goodbye.
She felt sorry for those kids, her mom said that those kids aren't happy. Those are the kids of pure-blood families. Not really the people Aurelia liked to surround herself with.
She was searching for some kids who looked bearable, when her father tapped her on her shoulder.
"Auri, look! Those girls over there,-" he pointed at three girls finishing to load their luggage on the train, "-you could ask them to sit with you. They look nice, don't they?"
Aurelia hesitated.
"Why can't I just sit with you on the train?"
Her mother gave her a sad frown. "I'm sorry dear, but dad's gonna sit with some colleagues and I have to gather the prefects. However, I agree with your dad on this. You should sit with those girls, I'm sure they're alright."
"You should hurry up a bit to reach them before they're gone. Come on, it's gonna be fine", her dad added.
Aurelia looked at her parents once more before going to the train's door. She looked to her right and into the corridor. She passed a few cabins, each already full with four students. She assumed that the train was going to be comletely full when they left the station.
Almost at the end of the wagon she found the girls again. "Hi, do you mind if I sit with you?" She regarded all of the girls.
A light brunette took the initiative, "Sure, go ahead." When Aurelia had sat down she continued, "What's your name?"
"I'm Aurelia Farkalits." The girl who had asked, widened her eyes and the other two also seemed to recognize her name.
"Like the professor? You're the professors' child?" the dark brunette asked. She nodded in agreement.
"Wicked", she added with a smile.
During further conversation she learned that the extroverted brunette across from her was called Miriam. The one with the short, dark brown hair was called Martina and the blonde, was Eva. Not that she liked to admit it, but her dad was right: they were rather nice aquaintances.
All three of them had known each other since kindergarten, where they had been the only ones with magical ability.
Even though her new friends seemed to get along pretty well, they were polar opposites. Mimi was an extrovert who liked to talk while the other two kept more to temselves. Of course, all three of them presented very sympathetic in her opinion.
Since the train ride to Hogwarts took quite some time, it was the perfect opportunity to talk about all of the gossip and interesting things about the school, they had heard about.
The girls were invested, listening to all of Auri's knowledge about the school. Having two professors for parents made for some pretty good entertainment apparently.
They had also shared their expectations concerning the magical subjects and most importantly: the sorting ceremony they would participate in this very evening.
Influenced by all kinds of rumors, they all shared a slight disliking of Slytherin house.
The rest of the ride they spent with chocolate frogs, disgusting tasting jelly beans and more conversations.
When they finally arrived at their destination, their luggage disappeared from the train and the students were led to the lake by a red-haired woman. She introduced herself as not only the head of Slytherin, but also the care of magical creatures teacher, professor Reinisch.
The little boats were stuffed with students and while they slowly drifted towards the giant castle, Aurelia's excitement grew.
The cool air and dark sky didn't really soothe any nerves either, but looking around at the other first-years in her boat, she saw similar reactions. They slowly got closer to the shore and when the time arrived, they left the boat as quickly as possible.
An enormous amount of students filled the space around her and the professor held her lantern up high so everyone could see her.
"Please follow me into the castle. And as soon as we are on castle grounds, I am asking you to keep the volume down, because of the echo", she announced.
Aurelia tried her best to stick with the other girls during the walk. Even though, they were still technically allowed to talk outside, they were too busy admiring the school in front of them.
It was a whole lot bigger than she could've ever imagined. Her parents told her many things about Hogwarts, but she never believed the castle to be this big and still hidden from the muggle world.
When they reached the entrance, professor Reinisch led them though a long corridor and then up a staircase. At the top of the stairs the woman came to a halt.
"I will ask you to stay right where you are until I come back to you. I will check with the headmistress if everything is ready for the ceremony."
The moment she disappeared behind another set of beautifully decoreated wooden doors, the big group of first-years erupted in chatter. Aurelia didn't hold back either. Her and her new friends shared their excitement about the following event.
"I'm so scared, what if none of us are in the same house? Then we're all on our own", Martina exclaimed.
"I hope I'm not one of those who sit in the front for five minutes. That would be so embarrassing!", said Mimi.
The door opened again and the professor asked them to follow her.
After entering the great hall, Aurelia saw all of the older students sitting at their houses' tables and waiting for the ceremony to begin. Aurelia couldn't even estimate how many witches and wizards were sitting in this hall.
In the front of the room stood a woman in wizard robes. She had a short Bob with a clip holding back the front pieces of her hair. She also wore a pair of glasses. Her mom told her about this woman. That's professor Stiglitz, the headmistress.
In tge back of the small podium was a long table full of the school's professors. And next to the headmistress stood her mother. Before leaving home, she had already let her know, that she would be the teacher to call on the students and place the sorting hat on their heads.
They arrived at the front and stopped once more in front of the podium.
Her mom started speaking, " dear students, as you might know before the beginning of the very first term, all students must be sorted into the houses. There is Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. During your time at Hogwarts, your house will become your family. You will collect house-points over the year for achievements, and you will lose house-points for breaking rules. At the end of term, the house with the most points, wins the house cup."
After a small pause Stiglitz spoke, "Let the sorting ceremony begin.", she said with a bright smile.
In alphabetical order, her mother called the students. The very first one to sit on the chair and be sorted, was a boy named Julian. "A very easy choice right here. Slytherin!", the hat announced. The blonde boy seemed delighted with this result.
A few more students got sorted before Mimi, as the first of the four, was asked to sit on the chair. She looked back at them one last time with a slightly concerned but also excited expression, before stepping forward.
She too, was sorted into Slytherin. Some names stuck in Auri's head. Sebastian was the second Hufflepuff to be sorted this day. A girl named Nina was delighted to be a Gryffindor, Claus was also a Slytherin and a boy named Kilian was not as glad to be declared a Gryffindor.
After a Ravenclaw named Maximilian, it was Martina's turn. Just a moment later Aurelia looked at another proud Hufflepuff. And she was next. "Aurelia Farkalits.", her mom exclaimed with a smile. She took a few nervous steps toward the chair and then sat down. After a few shaky breaths, the hat sat on her head and quickly decided that she was a Gryffindor. She was very happy with her result.
With a big smile she rushed to the table decked in red. The older students as well as those sorted before her, congratulated her. She sat down and watched the rest of the students going up the podest.
And their luck actually put Eva in Ravenclaw.
She was completely under the rush of adrenaline, so she only really cared for the Gryffindors from then on. Opposite of her another boy named Kilian took a seat. He looked a bit sceptical.
"Not excited about your house?", she asked in his direction. He didn't notice her speaking to him at first.
When he did though, he asked, "Me?" She nodded in response. He just shrugged. "I like Gryffindor but my friends got sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw so, I'm kind of alone now."
"Me too." She answered. His annoyed expression turned into something more appreciative. And a second later Elias sat next to him. Watching them laugh together at the end of the ceremony, Aurelia assumed he might not be that alone anyway.
Stiglitz then continued with a speech. She talked about the rules and the commitment to the school and magic. She explained how many things there worked and how to find help if anything was still unclear.
She then told the first-years to follow their house's prefects to the common rooms. After that, she officially declared the ceremony over and the tables suddenly filled with food.
Aurelia enjoyed the dinner. They had pumpkin juice with some soup and for dessert, they were offered pasties in three different flavours. While eating Aurelia got a bit into talking with Nina. It was a bit difficult to speak to her at the table because four people sat in between them and they had to lean back pretty far to yell some words at each other. She seemed very nice however.
When the feast was over, the prefects got up from their seats and loudly stated to follow them closely, to not get lost in the castle.
They did as asked and she was led through half the school, over multiple moving staircases and around many corners until they reached a big portrait. They stopped again because the prefects held some speech about respecting older students and the teachers, ESPECIALLY their head of house, professor Kuhn.
Well, if she didn't know all about respecting her dear father.
All done with that, the blonde prefect girl told them about the password and when she spoke it to the fat lady in the portrait, the painting swung aside like a door and revealed the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
They were then assigned to their dorms and Aurelia was pleasantly surprised to share a dorm with Nina and two more girls she didn't know yet.
They entered the circular room to find four beds, draped with red sheets and surrounded by red curtains, to close up for some privacy. Attached to the bedroom was also a small bathroom.
She found her luggage neatly stacked on top of the bed right next to the bathroom door and started unpacking a little.
Her day ended with light conversation with her new roomates before finally falling asleep.