Chapter 11
Crystal stepped off the train and gathered with the other first years at the end of the platform. Most of the others were huddled together, scared of the dark. Crystal was used to the dark, though; she could still see in the dark thanks to her ghost side. That, and being raised in a cupboard while fighting crime at night, helped hone her eyesight.
That was why she spotted the absolute giant of a man coming toward them before the others did. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.
Crystal stared at the man as he got close enough for the others to see. His voice echoed throughout the wind like a booming drum for all to hear. He had a strange accent which made it harder for people to understand him at first.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" The giant of a man boomed, looking for someone in the sea of first-year students. Crystal had a gut feeling that it was her he was looking for, so she kept her head down and followed the man.
"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
Most of the first years were slipping and stumbling as they followed the man down a steep, narrow path. The sides of the path were lined with thick trees on either side, cutting off any light they could have gotten from the moon. The only light they had was the torch the giant man was carrying.
Crystal felt that the school should have put railings with lanterns on the sides of the path. It was the least they could do if they expected children to walk down it late at night. At least that way, they could see where they were going.
Nobody spoke much on the walk. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed a few times, so Crystal handed him a tissue and a small smile. He returned her smile with one of his own, though his was a bit shakier than hers. Crystal seemed to have cheered him up somewhat.
"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man called over his big shoulder. "Jus' round this bend here."
There was a second of silence before a loud "Oooooh!" echoed throughout the small gathering of children.
The narrow path they were on had suddenly opened onto the edge of a great black lake. Crystal thought she saw a giant tentacle for a second, but it was gone after she blinked.
Perched atop a high mountain on the other side of the lake was a castle. Its windows sparkled in the starry sky, showcasing the many turrets and towers.
Crystal had to admit it was a bit impressive, but she had seen more impressive things in the ghost zone.
"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant man called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.
Crystal eyed the boats with trepidation. They looked like they were ready to sink at any moment. She hesitantly got into one and was followed by Ron, who quickly took the spot next to her.
They were followed by Neville and Hermione. As soon as they were all seated, the giant man started talking again.
"Everyone in?" he shouted. Being so large, he had to have an entire boat to himself. Crystal hoped it would hold his weight. "Right then - FORWARD!"
Crystal gave a small lurch when the fleet of little boats started moving all on their own. The small boats glided across the lake. Surprisingly, it was a smooth ride. Everyone was silent, staring up at the giant castle at the other end of the lake. It towered over them as the boats sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
Crystal hoped that they had railings on the edge of the cliff to keep students from falling off. That would be the smart thing to do, right?
"Heads down!" the man yelled as the first boats reached the cliff. All of the others bent their heads except for Crystal. The little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that didn't even reach her head. She figured that since the man was so large, he probably didn’t realize that the ivy didn’t even reach the small first years on the boats.
The boats carried them along a dark tunnel—something that Crystal thought they could have added lights to, to make it less scary for the first years. The tunnel seemed to be taking them underneath the castle until they reached some kind of underground harbor.
After the boats settled at the end of the lake, all the first years clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. Crystal had to quickly grab Neville's arm to keep him from falling back into the water when he lost his balance on the unsteady ground.
How many health hazards were there at this school? She hadn't even entered the actual school yet, and there were five that she could see.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said the giant, hairy man, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.
"Trevor!" Neville cried out happily, holding out his hands for the small toad. The big guy handed him the toad before leading the group of children up a passageway.
The passageway led them out onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the big castle in front of them. Crystal wished they had added a path from the passageway to the castle.
The man led them up a flight of stone steps, and all the children crowded around the huge, oak front door.
The man looked around, seemingly counting the children. "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" he asked. Everyone nodded, and Neville raised Trevor so the man could see him. The man nodded before he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch with some gray streaks here and there opened the door. She was wearing emerald green robes and a pointy witch’s hat to match. She had a very stern face, and Crystal's first thought was that this wasn't someone she wanted to cross.
She might turn out to be nice, but anyone who could look at children they just met with a stern face wasn't someone she wanted to make mad at her unless she had no other choice.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the big man.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
So the man's name was Hagrid. Crystal would be sure to remember that. It was better to call him by name instead of "big man," even if it was just in her head.
The woman, Professor McGonagall, pulled the door open wide. The entrance hall was so big that Crystal could have fit her entire house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts. The ceiling was too high for most people to make out; even Crystal had a hard time seeing it. There was a magnificent marble staircase facing them that led to the upper floors.
The group of eleven-year-olds followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Crystal could hear the muffled sound of what had to be hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. She assumed that the rest of the school must already be here.
She expected the Professor to take them into the room, but instead, Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the side of the hall. The group crowded in, most of them standing closer together than they usually would have, a lot of them peering around nervously.
Crystal thought that was understandable. They were all children in a new place with a stern-looking witch in front of them. She was sure that a few were wondering if they had done something wrong on the train to school.
Instead of a lecture, the Professor started a welcome speech.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," the stern Professor said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly." There was a banquet? How much money did this school have?
"But before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you shall be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts." Crystal hoped that her house would be a better family than her Aunt and Uncle.
"You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend your free time in your house common room." Wait, that said nothing about spending time with other houses. What if someone had a friend outside of their house? How would they hang out with them? Were there any places set aside for that purpose? If there were, the Professor didn't explain it.
Professor McGonagall continued, unaware of Crystal's thoughts and concerns.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." Wow, Crystal could already tell which ones this Professor liked best and which she liked least. Did she just name them in the order she liked them best?
She sounded happier when saying Gryffindor, a little less happy with Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw got neutral treatment, but with Slytherin, you could hear the dislike for the house in her voice. It didn't seem like a lot of the other students realized it, though.
"Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points." Well, that didn't seem fair to those who didn't do any rule-breaking.
Also, what if someone didn’t do anything to earn many points? They would still be rewarded when someone else got house points, wouldn’t they? Sure, they might not be the ones earning the points, but they were still in the same house.
"At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."
They didn’t even get a cool prize for winning the house cup? The teacher was the one rewarded, from what Crystal was hearing. How had no one else understood this yet?
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." The Professor’s eyes very purposely lingered on Neville’s cloak, which somehow got fastened under his left ear, and on Ron’s smudged nose.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," the Professor continued. "Please wait quietly."
As soon as the Professor left the chamber, Crystal turned to Neville and helped him with his cloak. "Here, that’s better." She smiled at the timid boy after she was done.
"T-Thanks," Neville mumbled in response, blushing a bit.
"I wonder how they sort us into the houses," Crystal mentioned to him, trying to bring him out of his shell. To her annoyance, Ron spoke up instead, not noticing that Neville slumped down into himself at being spoken over.
"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."
Crystal raised an eyebrow. "We’re first years and hardly any of us know any magic. I doubt they would have us do a painful test, so yes, he was probably joking."
She turned back to Neville, ignoring the way Ron’s face turned red. "What do you think, Neville?" This time she made sure to address him directly.
"W-Well, we might have to—" He was cut off when several people screamed, making them both spin around. Crystal was ready to fight while Neville was ready to run.