Dear James

The Express was slowing down. Lily only began to notice so when she realized she could see leaves on the trees; the lush Scotland countryside emerged through the windows as the sun dipped closer to the lake. This is it, she thought.

The girls had all changed into their robes. Her stomach growled at her. Even after the pasty she had gotten from the trolley, she still couldn’t wait for dinner. They would be fed, right?

Alice nudged her with her elbow. “Almost there,” she muttered. The train slowed dramatically, causing everyone on their bench to sway forward unconsciously, then there was a lurch.

Lily locked eyes with Marlene. Go time.

Emmeline pushed up first, standing and opening the door. Alice and Maisy followed Em, while Marlene lingered with Lily.

They paused. It felt so much bigger now, being here. At Hogwarts.

“Ready?” Marlene said tentatively.

Lily nodded.

They stood, exiting the compartment into a bustling hallway. There were students flooding the corridor, but everyone was leaving their luggage. Lily furrowed her brow. “Marlene?”

“Yeah, Lil?”

Lily glanced around, searching for familiar faces. Severus, the boy from the hallway before…Remus, maybe…

“Why aren’t we getting our bags?” she asked distractedly.

Marlene glanced at the luggage, as though she hadn’t thought about it until Lily had mentioned it. “Oh. They do some sort of spell, I guess, to bring them up to the castle,” she replied. “Come on, we have to go. I don’t want them to leave without us,” she added quickly.

Lily stopped searching and gave a short, decisive nod. They pushed forward, through the crowd, as someone called from the platform, “First Years to the docks! First Years to the docks…”

Lily reached back for Marlene. Their hands clasped tightly, and Lily pulled her friend forward toward the water, away from the other students. Her stomach twisted, but she was sure it wasn’t just hunger anymore.

They found an almost empty boat—they were only made to fit three or four, anyways—and climbed in. As they did, the little rowboat (without oars) floated away from the dock. Lily and Marlene sat quickly, seated across from a dark skinned, curly haired, friendly-faced girl.

The girl smiled and stuck her hand out. “Hiya, nice to meet you,” she offered.

Marlene took her hand first. “Marlene, and this here is Lily,” she replied, shaking the girl’s hand.

“Mary,” she said, looking from Marlene to Lily, offering her hand to Lily next.

Shaking it, Lily replied, “Pleasure.”

They floated along quietly, glancing outside the boat at the other first years crossing the lake. It seemed they were floating into the abyss, where was the castle Severus and Marlene had mentioned?

And suddenly, floating next to them was a familiar face—Remus. Lily smiled on instinct. She gave him a little wave, and the corners of his mouth turned up. He lifted his hand to wave, as the boy next to him said, “Blimey, look at that!”

All their heads turned to what the boy was pointing at. Large towers peaked out from around the forest, made of stunning limestone; windows lined the sides and the sun illuminated the front of the castle, making it glow and reminding Lily of her last night at home. Was that really just last night? Her mouth slipped open in awe. “Blimey,” Marlene whispered from next to her as they twisted to gaze at the castle.

“Pete, shove over,” one of the boys in the boat next to them said.

“Oi, I want to come too,” said another one—he was the one they ran into on the train!—and the four boys squished together on a single bench on a tiny rowboat, facing towards the golden castle, chuckling. Lily and Marlene turned around to face Mary, both holding in their laughter.

But Mary looked at them hopefully. “Want to do it too?”

Marlene looked to Lily. Lily looked to Marlene. And Marlene gave the tiniest of shrugs, and before she knew it, Lily was squished up between Mary and the edge of the noiseless, oarless rowboat, facing the truly majestic castle, giggling all the while.

∙ ∙ ∙

The crowd of first years filed from the edge of the lake up a luscious green hillside to the front entrance of the castle. The nerves in the air were palpable. Everyone was mostly quiet. Except for the boys they had rowed next to, except for Marlene and Mary; the latter would mutter snide comments under her breath as the former responded (somehow) quieter and (undeniably) more sarcastically. Lily tried to keep her laughter quiet, but it was no matter: the boys in front of them were doing no such thing.

The tallest of them, a boy with messy dark hair and wire-rimmed glasses, kept elbowing the boy she had run into on the train. He’d say something under his breath and the train-boy would bark with laughter raucously. At the sound of his laugher, the short boy to the right of glasses would start laughing. Remus, who was on the left of train boy, would laugh, too, though Lily could only tell by the shake of his shoulders. His laugh was quiet and non-committal. They’d laugh loud, perhaps a bit too long, and then it would trail off. And then it would happen all over again.

And of course, the gamekeeper at the front of the first years kept throwing icy glares over his back as he led them up the castle, as though he would prefer to be doing anything but this.

Finally, they climbed the regal steps to the front entrance. The doors swung open, and they were faced with even more steps. They kept climbing and out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed a staircase move. It just—swung from one side of the stairwell to the other. She groaned inwardly. Navigating here was going to be impossible.

They approached a woman in emerald robes who stood with poise outside large brown doors. As they approached, all chatter died away instantly.

“Hello, first year students,” she said in a strong Scottish accent. “I am your Deputy Headmistress—and Head of Gryffindor House—Professor McGonagall. Inside these doors is the Great Hall, where you will eat your meals, and your arrival feast tonight. Before that, however, you must be sorted into your houses. Gryffindor—the brave and chivalrous—Ravenclaw—the wise and clever—Hufflepuff—the kind and strong-willed—and Slytherin—the cunning and ambitious. Once sorted, you will join your housemates at one of the four long tables. I will call you forward in alphabetical order.”

She glanced around. Was she scouting out her new house members? Lily wondered. She didn’t like the sound of Slytherin, but any of the others would probably be okay. I’d like to be with Mary and Marlene, she thought selfishly.

Professor McGonagall turned around and pushed open the doors to the Great Hall, and Lily let out an audible gasp.

Candles hung from the ceiling, but then, there wasn’t any ceiling there, either—it was just the night sky. Slightly cloudy, starry, and she could see about half the moon. She walked forward, pushed by the wake of the crowd of black-robed first-years.

Marlene and Mary had walked just in front of her that she was no longer standing next to them, but rather just behind them. Something inside her squeezed. She was suddenly very nervous. All these students were watching—four massive tables worth—what if she messed up? Could you mess up a test like this?

Someone reached for her hand and squeezed it. Lily jerked to look—Severus. She gave him a nervous smile, and he returned it kindly.

They stopped. McGonagall stepped up to the stool, where a tattered hat sat on the bench. “Let the Sorting begin!” she cried. The students cheered loudly. She held up a hand for them to stop, and miraculously, silence came almost immediately.

“Arnold, Simon!”

The boy walked up to the stool, his hands gripping the edges of his robes tightly to stop his hands from shaking. McGonagall placed the hat on his head, and after a few moments, it shouted, “HUFFLEPUFF!”

There was cheering, and the boy stood to join a table indicated with a yellow banner and yellow table runner. Lily took a deep breath. It didn’t seem too hard.

“Black, Sirius!”

There was some muttering from the green table—Slytherin, Lily remembered—as the train boy approached the stool. Sirius sat down with a weary look on his face. The hat sat on his head for longer than it had yet. His face contorted slightly, and the hat shouted, “GRYFFINDOR!”

Sirius’ eyes widened and his face went slack. He walked over to the red table, sullener than she had seen him. All the light had drained from the boy she ran into on the train.

Before she know it, McGonagall called out “Evans, Lily!” and she pushed her way to the front of the crowd, dropping Severus’ hand. She stepped up to the stool, no longer nervous. She sat down, and the hat rested on her head.

Hmm, the hat said. Lily’s eyebrows shot up. Could everyone hear this? Just you and me, the hat responded. There’s kindness here, ambition, for sure…talent and skill, but not exactly wisdom or desperation…certainly bold, and quite possibly the perfect student for… “GRYFFINDOR!” the hat cried.

Lily bounded out of the seat and raced to the red table with Sirius. She chose the seat directly next to him, giving him a little smile. He just stared at his plate. Alice, though, down the table, gave her a little wave of congratulations.

“Lupin, Remus!”

Remus shuffled up to the chair and sat down unceremoniously. McGonagall placed the hat on his head. Lily crossed her fingers. Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor… “GRYFFINDOR!” the hat called.

Lily smiled broadly and clapped with the other students. Remus pulled the hat off himself and slumped over to their table, sitting just opposite Lily. She smiled to him, too, but he wouldn’t look anyone in the eye.

Marlene and Mary came later, both sorted into Gryffindor. The seats next to them had been filled, so they were a few chairs down, but she clapped loudest for the two of them. Sirius and Remus’ friends, Peter and James, sat down next to the two girls moments later, also sorted into Gryffindor.

“Snape, Severus!”

Sev was one of the last students in the clump. He pulled himself out of the cluster and sat down. The hat laid on his head for a moment, then cried, “SLYTHERIN!”

Lily’s heart dropped. They weren’t in the same house.

Sirius flinched when the hat said Slytherin. He had been doing it with all the Slytherin inductees, hoping no one would notice, but she did. This time though, she reached for his hand and squeezed it lightly. He tensed, then catching her eye, gave her a small, grateful smile. She returned it and pulled her hand back.

Once all the students were in their new seats, a man with a long white beard and kind eyes stood up from the teacher’s table. He looked out across the room and held out his hands. “Welcome, all! I do hope we’re all prepared for another…exciting year at Hogwarts.” His eyes twinkled.

Lily elbowed Sirius. “Who’s that?”

He gave her a glance, as if to say, You really don’t know? But he replied sullenly, “That’s Dumbledore. Headmaster.”

She gave a little “Oh!” in reply and promptly fell quiet.

“I have a few announcements before we begin,” Dumbledore continued. “The Forbidden Forest—as its name might suggest—is forbidden. From all students.” There was a snort of laughter from the Hufflepuff table. “Mr. Filch wishes to remind you all that he does not enjoy Dungbombs under his door, as well as a myriad of other practical jokes he has written down on a list too long for me to read presently. The list will be posted outside of Mr. Filch’s office for you to read at your leisure.” At that, there was movement at the end of the Gryffindor table, and as Lily looked down, Alice was rolling her eyes towards some sixth-year boys who were snickering loudly.

“And finally, Hogwarts has new fauna afield. The Whomping Willow is highly dangerous and should not be approached by any student or faculty without specific instruction from myself unless they wish to lose a limb,” Dumbledore continued cheerily. “And without further ado, let us eat!”

The plates filled with food instantly, but Lily could hardly focus. A murdurous tree? And this appeared to be a normal announcement—no more than a few other Muggle-born first years seemed as bewildered as Lily did. Remus however, did not seem to be fazed by the announcement, shoveling down food as they listened to Sirius groan. “My father’s going to kill me,” he muttered, head buried in his arms.

What did faze him, though, was McGonagall coming over to their table and placing a sinewy hand on his shoulder, crouching down, and saying, “Mr. Lupin, If you would come to my office after dinner? It’s next to the Gryffindor common room; one of the prefects can show you.”

“What’s McGonagall want with you already, mate?” James said from just down the table. Remus just shook his head and kept eating. But Sirius perked his head up next to Lily. She kept eating, trying to put the thought out of her mind. Was one of her housemates a troublemaker already? Maybe I should stay clear of him—but he seemed nice enough on the train, right?

Once they had finished eating, they followed a prefect—Frank Longbottom—up to Gryffindor Tower. They wandered up staircases that swiveled, walked past portraits that talked, and then twisted into a long hallway. They passed McGonagall’s office and paused in front of a portrait just down the hall.

Frank turned around to address the first years. “This is our entrance to the dorms. You’ll need a password to get in; just speak it to the portrait and she’ll let you in.” He turned back around and said, “Widdershins,” and the portrait opened as though it was on hinges to expose a large, door-shaped hole in the wall.

Marlene, Mary, and Lily climbed through the portrait hole and were greeted with the warm ambience of Gryffindor Tower’s common room. People were playing games by the fire, which was crackling loudly, walking up and down staircases, and reading books in nooks scattered around the room. The ceiling was incredibly tall, and the staircases winded up about four floors.

Alice came over to the three of them. “Hey Marlene, Lily—hi, I’m Alice,” she said, introducing herself to Mary.

Mary smiled wide. “Mary,” she replied. “Where’s all our stuff?”

Alice chuckled. “You girls are first floor, room 2, I think. We can go take a look, if you’d like,” she suggested.

The four of them climbed up one of the two staircases and took the first door, which branched into two rooms. Alice led them to the right one, which, as she said, “gets the sunrise view. Side 2 is the better one, trust me.”

Their room had their luggage on each of their beds, which were gorgeous canopy beds, with velvet curtains and golden tassels. They had shelves and a trunk at their bed. The entire far wall was stone, but lined with ancient-looking windows that looked out over the forest—the Forbidden Forest, Lily presumed.

They started to unpack, and Alice sat down on the empty bed, furthest from the door. “This was my room, my first year. I was in that bed,” she commented, pointing at Mary’s bed, closest to the door. Lily’s was next to the one Alice was sitting on, in between and across from Marlene and Mary.  

“What year are you?” Mary asked.

“Third,” Alice said. “I started the same year as McGonagall was made Deputy Headmistress, actually. She’s amazing.”

“She scares me,” Marlene said, face scrunching up. Lily nodded.

“You know who’s really scary?” Alice said. “Professor Binns. He’s the History of Magic professor—legend has it he died in his chair, at his desk, and didn’t realize it. So the next day, he stood up to teach class and just—left his body behind.”

“Woah!” Mary said. “So are a lot of the professors ghosts?”

Alice laughed. “Sadly, he’s the only one,” she said. “But there are some other mischievous ghosts roaming the halls…”

“Ghosts?” Lily exclaimed. She was suddenly reminded of Pet—they used to tell ghost stories under blanket forts during thunderstorms—what would she say when she found out they were real? Lily couldn’t wait to write to her…before she remembered that Petunia was mad with her. Her heart sunk again.

Only Marlene seemed to notice anything, who was eyeing Lily carefully. Mary was staring at Alice with rapt attention, and Alice was loving every moment of it. “There’s Nearly Headless Nick—he’s the Gryffindor Tower ghost, he’s around us a lot—and Peeves, who’s full of mischief. My brothers love Peeves,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Who are—” Mary started.

“Do they ever—” Marlene cut in with a worried look on her face. They turned to each other and started to laugh.

Alice chuckled too, her eyes wrinkling. Lily was lost in her own world.

“I should head to bed. First night and all,” Alice told them. “You girls get some sleep…you’ll get your schedules tomorrow and have some time to wander. Classes start on Monday, but the library’s open if any of you want to do some reading,” she added with a knowing wink, hand on the door. “See you!” And with that, she darted out of the door, flaming red hair trailing behind her as she climbed the staircase to the third floor.

The girls kept unpacking, chattering amongst themselves. Once they were all settled, Marlene took her wand from the side table and said, “Finite!” and the lights went out.

Lily smiled, despite herself as she closed the curtains around her new bed. Maybe—just maybe—she could be okay here. This could be her new home.