Chapter 3

The carriage stopped at the foot of the stone steps that lead to the Entrance Hall. The foursome walked up the steps and through the oak doors that marked the entrance of the school. They stepped into the light and airy Entrance Hall and went through another set of doors that lead to the nearly full Great Hall. All four of them walked down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, looking for a spare seat. They finally found a seat and settled down just in time to see 35 or so nervous looking first years line up in front of the staff table. Vicky saw a red haired head turn towards the Gryffindor table and give a shaky smile. She replied with a reassuring thumbs up and a wide smile and Lily gave a firm nod and turned to face Professor McGonagall, who was now placing a very old and tiered looking hat on a three-legged stool at the front of the hall. It opened a mouth like rip at its base and said:

I am here to say,
Which house you will be in today,
Will you be in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor,
Or Slytherin or Ravenclaw,
I am here to decide,
There's nothing in your mind you can hide,
If you are a Hufflepuff,
You are loyal even when it's tough,
If you are a Gryffindor,
You have a very brave core,
If you are a Slytherin,
You will achieve outside of the tin,
And if you are a Ravenclaw,
You are clever and know the law,
So put me on your head,
And to me your mind is bigger than a shed.

Vicky and Lauren looked at each other and grinned. The sorting was always fun. Professor McGonagall was now calling out names and, one by one, the small children at the front stepped forwards and placed the sorting hat on their head. In 5 minutes Georgia Hall, Ryan Mellow, Danny Miller, Jason Norman and Holly Piper had become part of Gryffindor house.
"Potter, Lily!" Professor McGonagall read out and the small red haired girl stepped out of the line and put the hat on her head. It was very quick and easy:
"Gryffindor!"
The Gryffindor table erupted with noise and Lily ran off to sit with her brother and sister. Vicky gave her sister a big hug and Albus cheered as he slapped her on the back.

When the sorting had finished, the golden plates on the 4 tables filled themselves with chicken, beef, steaks, vegetables and a whole array of puddings. Lily gaped at the food for a second then, realising what everyone was else was doing, started picking up bits of meat and potato and piling it all onto the plate in front of her.

After everyone was fed and watered and the last of the desserts had faded from their plates, Professor McGonagall stood up in the middle of the staff table and waited for silence before she started talking.
“Welcome to Hogwarts! Now that we have had our wonderful feast we have to get the notices out of the way as well. First, the dark forest is forbidden to all students and you will be punished most severely if you decide to wonder out of bounds. Next, as I must remind you, all Weasley Wizarding Wheeze products are banned throughout the school and no magic should be preformed in the corridors. Finally, only students in third year or above are aloud in to the village of Hogsmeade and then they must show permission from a parent or guardian, no permission no entering the village. Now, everything’s out of the way and you all have lessons tomorrow so goodnight and good luck for the year!” Professor McGonagall stopped speaking but didn't sit down until everyone was on their feet, filling through the doors and back into the Entrance Hall. Vicky hugged Lauren and said she would see her later, then Vicky, Lily and Albus pushed their way through the doors and to the foot of the marble staircase, were they could see Chloe and James, waiting.
"Well done, Lils!" Chloe congratulated her sister by throwing her arms around her and hugging her tightly.
"Yeah, congratulations. Mums going to be thrilled." James copied his twin and hugged his youngest sister. Once they had finished this, the five of them trooped up the staircase with a trickle of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's. When they had got to the second floor Chloe turned to Vicky, "Do you know the password?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, course. Its 'party'." Vicky answered as they went up yet another staircase.
"Ah, that's easy to remember!" Chloe said, relieved that she didn't have to remember an obscure password to get into the Gryffindor common room.
The family reached the seventh floor without any disruption except from Peeves the Poltergeist appearing out of nowhere on the forth floor. They were all relieved to reach the portrait of the Fat Lady who guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
"Password?" She asked, happily.
"Party." Vicky said, confidently.
"Welcome back." The Fat Lady's portrait swung open to reveal a cosy looking room. Lily stared, open mouthed, at the room before she plucked up the courage to enter. As soon as she had stepped through the portrait hole, the painting had swung back and Lily could no longer see the corridor beyond. Vicky tugged at her sister’s sleeve and brought her back down to earth. Lily spun around to face her family and the half full common room. She hugged her two brothers and sister , wished them goodnight and followed Vicky through a door that lead to the girl’s dormitories. Vicky pushed a door open on the right and Lily saw a small plaque on the door saying 'First years'. Vicky hugged her again, kissed her on the forehead and wished her goodnight. She then gave her sister a small push into the dormitory and closed the door. Lily looked around the room and saw 3 other girls unpacking their things. The nearest girl turned around and at the site of Lily, stretched out her hand.
"Hello. My name is Georgia. You must be Lily. Nice to meet you!" She grasped Lily’s hand and shook it.
"You can have the bed next to me if you want." She pointed to the bed by the window.
"That would be great. Thanks!" Lily gushed. She couldn't believe how easy it was to make friends. Georgia seemed nice and she had only just entered the room!

Lily had just finished unpacking when one of the other girls came up to her.
"Sorry for not speaking earlier I'm just really nervous." The girl said in a very quiet voice.
"Its OK. I felt the same when I first got here. It faded once I had been put in Gryffindor though. My whole family’s here, you see." Lily smiled at the girl.
"I haven't got anyone here but will you help me make some friends? My name's Clara, by the way. Clara Rain."
"Of course I will and my name is Lily Potter." She stretched out her hand and Clara shook it, smiling.
"Thank you so much, Lily!"
"It's OK. I think we should get some sleep." Lily said, suddenly.
"Yeah. We've got an early day tomorrow." Clara said, going over to her bed and changing into her pyjamas. Lily looked over to the bed in the corner. The scarlet curtains were drawn around it and Lily knew that the other girl, Holly, wasn't going to be as friendly as the others.

When she was dressed in her nightdress, Lily pulled the curtains, around her bed, closed and snuggled down under the thick, red duvet. She fell asleep almost instantly and didn't wake up until the following morning.