Three boys entered and Harry recognized the middle one at once, he had met the boy in Madam Malkin’s robe shop, the day he went to diagon alley with Hagrid. That guy was a very rude boy, and proud of his pure-blood heritage. When they met, that boy made fun of Hagrid, which infuriated him, but he didnt say anything back then. So, he was curious about what this boy was doing here in the first place.

“Is it true?” he said. “They’re saying all down the train that Neville Longbottom is in one of these compartments. Is it one you?’

Before he could reply, Ronan chimed in, “No, I am sorry you got the wrong compartment. I am Ronan by the way, Ronan Johanson,” he said and then put his hand forward

The boys didnt shake his hands at once, but they did exchange glances with each other, looking a little shocked. He was looking at the other boys, both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards.

The boy shook his hand, “This is Crabbe and this is Goyle,’ said the pale boy carelessly, “And my name’s Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.”

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. “Think my name’s funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford.” He turned to Harry. “Dont know who these four eyes are, based on his clothes, he looks like a son of a hand-me-down clothes store.” Harry made a fist, he was angered by comprehension,

The boy then turned towards Johanson, “Ronan soon you will find out some wizarding families are much better than others. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sorts” Both Harry and Ron got up, both of their faces red with anger

Seeing this Ronan tried to settle them down, “Now now.. Settle down, guys. I think we can be civilized people.”

Draco Malfoy just smirked, “I’d be careful if I were you, Johanson,” he said slowly. “You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and this guy, it’ll rub off on you.”

Suddenly Ron lunged at the boy, but Ronan stopped him, “Say that again, I dare you” Ron yelled.

“Oh, you’re going to fight us, are you?” Malfoy sneered.

“Unless you get out now,” said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him, Ron and Ronan.

“But we don’t feel like leaving, do we, boys? We’ve eaten all our food and you still seem to have some.” Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron, while Ron was struggling to get out of Ronan’s grasp.

Ron was about to leap forward from Ronan’s grasp, but before he’d so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle’s knuckle – Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought more rats were lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they’d heard footsteps because a second later, a girl with bushy brown hair came in.

“What has been going on?” she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail. Ronan who was looking at the old house mouse, spoke, “I think he’s been knocked out,”

Ron looked closely, and spoke, “No… I don’t believe it.. he’s gone back to sleep.” And so he had.

“You’ve met Malfoy before?” Harry asked Ronan and he shook his head.

Harry then went and explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley. The information intrigued Ronan in particular which Harry found weird.

“I’ve heard of his family,” said Ron darkly. “They were some of the first to return to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they’d been bewitched. My dad doesn’t believe it. He says Malfoy’s father didn’t need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side.”

Ronan then bushy brown-haired girl, “I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Ronan Johanson, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.”

The girl nodded, and then spoke, “I am Hermione Granger.. You’d better hurry up and put your robes on, I’ve just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we’re nearly there. You haven’t been fighting, have you? You’ll be in trouble before we even get there!”

Ronan then smiled, “Oh no, we have not been fighting, this was just a friendly banter.” Hermoine didnt believe it, but then Ron chimed in, “Scabbers has been fighting, not us,” And he scowled at her, “Would you mind leaving while we change?”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

The girl didnt like Ron’s attitude, “All right.. I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors,” said Hermione in a sniffy voice. “And you’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?” Shutting the door behind her, she left the compartment.

They took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron’s were a bit short for him, but no one mentioned it. Then a voice echoed throughout the train, “We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.”

They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor. The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Harry heard a familiar voice..

“Firs’-years! Firs’-years over here! All right there, Harry?” Hagrid’s big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

“C’mon, follow me – any more firs’-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs’-years follow me!” Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke, they all traveled in silence.

“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder, “just round this bend here.”

There was a loud by “Oooooh!” by Ronan who was just walking behind Hagrid.

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 than four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Ronan and Hermione.

“Everyone in?” shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself,

“Right then… FORWARD!” And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

“Heads down!” yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid’s lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

“Everyone here?” Hagrid asked and then looked at them. After ascertaining that everyone was her, he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry’s first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

“The first-years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.

“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.” She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted a whole house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right.

‘The rest of the school must already be here’ Harry thought, but Professor McGonagall showed the first-years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start of the term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will 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. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.”

She took a breath, and then continued, “The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its 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. 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.”

She continued further, “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.”

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Ron’s smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair, while Ronan looked around nonchalantly.

“I shall return when we are ready for you,” said Professor McGonagall. “Please wait quietly.” She left the chamber.

Harry then turned to Ron, “How exactly do they sort us into houses?”

“Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking.”

Before Harry started imagining crazy scenarios, when Ronan butted in, “There is nothing like that. The school had an ancient artifact called the sorting hat. A student wears it, and based on the virtues a student had shown so far in their life, the hat then assigns them a house.” His words did calm Harry a little bit, but he was still too nervous.

“Virtues like what?” Hermione asked, “For example, most Gryffindor students are brave, so the hat sees whether you are a brave child or not. If yes, then Gryffindor is the house for you, otherwise not.”

It was then a healthy boy standing close to them asked, “What if you dont have any virtue? What if you dont fulfill any criteria.”

Ronan shook his head, “That is not possible.” Then Ronan put his hand forward, “I Ronan Johanson, by the way.” The boy grabbed his hand nervously, “I am Neville Longbottom”

A few gasps came from the crowd as the boy introduced himself. While a sly smile appeared on Ronan’s face, which Harry found surprising. Since they met, Ronan always had a smile on his face. But this smile that he just had, it was different, it looked like a smile that a villain does when he has cornered a hero in the corner.