They finally arrived at the station. Harry and Ron both changed into their robes and were walking out together. As Brooklyn exited, he felt something at his feet. Glancing down, he saw a large toad sitting there. He then realized it was the boy's toad and picked it up, looking around.

Finally, he spotted Neville, who was still crying over his pet. Brooklyn approached him carefully, not wanting the boy to run away from him.

"Hey, is this yours?" he asked. The boy looked scared, but then he recognized the toad in his hand.

"Trevor! You found him! Thank you!"

Brooklyn smiled at him. "No problem. I'll see you inside." Neville waved as he walked off with his toad.

He caught up with Harry and Ron and then heard a familiar voice.

"Firs' years, this way! Firs' years over here!" Hagrid spotted them and smiled.

"'Ello, 'Arry and Brooklyn! Yeh two doin' alrigh'?"

Brooklyn nodded. "We're fine!"

"Shoul' probably let yeh know that firs' years ride in the boats to Hogwarts. Perhaps yeh can find another way in and eventually meet up with McGonagall after the feast. Hope that's alrigh' with yeh!"

Brooklyn didn't quite like the idea of being away from Harry that long, especially after the Malfoy episode, but reluctantly nodded.

"I'll meet up with you guys later, just go on and don't fall out of the boats," he said. Harry grasped his hand for a moment, then went off with Ron.

Brooklyn then went his own way, running on all fours up to the castle. He paused for a brief moment to take in the grand scale of it. It was incredible! More turrets and towers than Castle Wyvern ever had!

He approached the front doors carefully, which were luckily somewhat open, and pushed his way inside.

Oh man! Brooklyn thought in awe and amazement. The castle was even more grand inside than out. Suits of armor lined the hallways, and some lifeless stone gargoyles were around, too.

He made his way through the hallways until he heard loud chatter from another giant set of doors a few feet away. Brooklyn moved closer toward them, and peered in.

Inside were more human children than he could count, all sitting at long tables.

He couldn't spot his friend, but he did recognize a line of redheads at one of the tables near the right but stayed where he was. He didn't want to cause a commotion because of his appearance.

Brooklyn continued to watch as an old woman in a green robe lifted an old, frayed wizard hat from the stool, allowing a boy to sit there. He recognized Ron.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat called, which startled Brooklyn at the idea of a talking hat in the first place. Ron then went to sit at the table.

About an hour or two went by as the last of the students got sorted (Harry got sorted into Gryffindor, too) and Brooklyn was already anticipating the end of the feast.

Just as he was about ready to go in there and see Harry, Brooklyn was nearly swamped by the tide of students leaving in separate groups. Struggling to his feet, he anxiously looked around, but couldn't see Harry until the last of the students were gone.

Oh great. How am I going to find him now? He thought in dejection. That's when he heard a meow. Startled, he glanced behind him to see a small cat there, staring up at him.

Brooklyn narrowed his eyes. "Not in the mood, kitty. Shoo."

He was mistaken as to his shock, the cat transformed, to reveal the same old woman who was in charge of the strange sorting of students. She gazed at him with a stern expression.

"H-what?" He babbled in disbelief.

"In the future, you won't judge those who can transform into animals," she said smartly.

Brooklyn took a few seconds to recover. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," he apologized.

She nodded her head. "I'm Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House. Dumbledore is wanting to speak to you right away."

Brooklyn nodded and proceeded to follow her, feeling nervous.

There were so many things to look at. Brooklyn found himself staring around at everything, unaware of McGonagall smiling at his reactions.

At one point, he found himself staring at a knight painting, which suddenly came to life, causing Brooklyn to back off in surprise.

"Get back, foul beast, or taste the cold steel of my blade!" Yelled the knight in a bold voice. Brooklyn got over his surprise and simply folded his arms and smiled smugly at him.

"Ain't nothing you can do about it. How can you even reach me?"

The knight looked affronted. "You dare taunt Sir Cadogan? Come back and fight me!" But Brooklyn simply left with McGonagall, leaving the knight yelling harmless threats behind them.

"I had no idea the photos spoke like this!" Brooklyn exclaimed in fascination as he looked up at another photo of a group of monks tending to a tapestry.

"There will be many more surprises like this along the way, young gargoyle," McGonagall replied, as they at last reached an entrance guarded by a stone gargoyle. Brooklyn was extremely interested in this one.

"Lemon Drop!" She said, which was evidently a password as the gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside, revealing a staircase that spiraled upward.

McGonagall inclined her head to Brooklyn that told him he needed to get on, so he stepped onto the stairway which moved upward until she was out of sight.

In just a few seconds, he was at the top and he walked into the office, which fascinated him most of all.

It was a beautiful circular room, with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses lining the walls, and everywhere he looked, odd silver and gold instruments whizzed and whistled. Brooklyn approached the desk and waited, for Dumbledore wasn't there yet.

A soft churring noise caught the red gargoyle's attention and he spotted a golden bird stand that held the most beautiful bird Brooklyn had ever seen.

It had gold and red plumage, and wise looking eyes. It gazed down at Brooklyn with a soft look. He smiled at it.

"Good evening."

Brooklyn jumped, and turned around to see Dumbledore right behind him, smiling behind his half-moon spectacles.

"You must be Harry Potter's gargoyle friend, am I right?" He asked in a gentle voice.

Brooklyn nodded, still feeling nervous inside.

"I welcome you to Hogwarts, young Brooklyn, and I called you here for a specific reason. You already have quite a bond with young Harry, but it requires all your skills to protect him while you're here."

He didn't know what to say. "But why? We're only friends."

Dumbledore suddenly looked grave. "I don't suppose anybody told you about the night his parents died?"

Brooklyn shook his head. "Harry told me that they died in a car crash."

"That's not what happened. They were murdered. By the most dangerous dark wizard who was once a student here; Lord Voldemort," He announced in a solemn voice.

Brooklyn's blood turned cold at this news. Harry's parents were murdered, just like his were!

"Voldemort was on a quest for power, and called on many supporters to fight beside him, or die. Now his name is feared among even the bravest of wizards. But then, when he came to kill Harry, his mother, Lily, begged for mercy from him."

"What happened?" Brooklyn asked.

"He killed her. Then he tried to kill Harry, but the curse rebounded back onto him, rendering his powers useless and caused him to flee. Her sacrifice caused a powerful protective charm onto her son."

Brooklyn's eyes grew round. He never thought magic could be capable of this!

"So... he's gone, right?" He asked hopefully.

"For the time being, but he's out there, biding his time, which is why I called upon you, Brooklyn. I give you the important mission of protecting Harry Potter here, for everybody's sake. He's our only hope to defeat Voldemort for good."

Brooklyn's mouth fell open. Was he really serious? Him? He didn't mind protecting Harry from his abusive relatives, but it didn't prepare him for this bigger level of protection!

"You really want my help in protecting Harry? I really dunno if I'm even strong enough to take this guy on, I'm just Goliath's second-in-command, though he probably chose a replacement until whenever I get home. And why choose me?" Brooklyn asked, pointing both his hands at his chest. Dumbledore smiled softly.

"It is because you gained a powerful connection with Harry, and you are strong, Brooklyn, even when you doubt your own strength of mind and abilities. But in exchange, I can uncover the source of this trickster's magic over you, when you help us in return."

Brooklyn felt doubtful about it all, but he looked back on the first day he met Harry. They were both parentless and knew how it felt to be ignored and hated by some of the world. And if a dark wizard was after his first human friend's head, heck no would he let this guy hurt him! He took a breath then nodded.

"Okay, Dumbledore, I'll do it, to protect my friend," he said.

Dumbledore beamed. "Wonderful! Now the first order of business is to get you a new wand to defend him with." The red gargoyle blinked a few times.

"Uh, a wand? Sir, forgive me, but I don't know magic," Brooklyn protested. Dumbledore gave a small chuckle.

"Your kind are able to generate magic, too, Brooklyn. It all depends on how they wish to use it. I'll have Ollivander come with some wands for you to try out tomorrow."

He waved his wand, and a bag of food appeared.

"Since you weren't able to join the feast, I saved some leftovers for you."

Brooklyn took the bag, feeling somewhat nervous about what his new assignment would bring to him, but all he did was thank Dumbledore and left the office.

He met up with McGonagall, who took him to the Gryffindor common room where it appeared that Harry was sorted into.

"Caput Draconis," She said to a portrait of a fat lady opened at her words to reveal the entrance. She watched Brooklyn for a few moments, her eyes having a strange, but kind look in them before she finally left, leaving Brooklyn alone to climb through.

He looked around the common room. It seemed homely enough, with a nice large fireplace and red couches and chairs. Suddenly, he spotted Harry sitting on one of the couches with Ron.

"Hey!" He called, waving him over. The gargoyle smiled, a rather painful one, because this new mission was weighing heavily on his shoulders.

"You alright?" Harry asked, looking concerned.

He shrugged. "Dumbledore just wanted to see me and make sure that the two of us were okay. He allowed me to stay in the common room with you, and, well, I apparently need a wand."

Ron's mouth was open in shock. "What? But you're not a wizard!" Harry nudged him in the arm and walked up to Brooklyn.

"Well, at least we can learn together!" He said cheerfully, lifting his spirits just a smidgen. He then saw how late it was.

"Probably should get ready for bed, huh?" He asked, changing the subject before anything else came up about his meeting with Dumbledore.

"I'll be there in a moment," Brooklyn answered. Harry nodded as he pulled Ron along with him to bed.

Brooklyn pulled out his food and ate in silence, deep in thought about everything from earlier.

.....

When he was finished, he made his way up the stairs to the dormitories to find Harry and Ron getting ready to climb into their four poster beds. There were several other first year boys there too, including Neville Longbottom.

"Brooklyn, I want you to meet some of our fellow Gryffindors," Harry introduced, gesturing to two of them.

A dark-skinned boy came up to Brooklyn, his eyes round with awe and amazement.

"Fred and George weren't kidding about a living gargoyle right here at Hogwarts. This is awesome! Name's Dean Thomas!"

He shook hands with Brooklyn, who smiled at Dean, feeling some of his depression go away from meeting another young human who liked him.

The sandy haired boy looked a little unsure and maybe a tad suspicious of Brooklyn's appearance but shook hands with him all the same.

"Seamus Finnigan, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Brooklyn replied.

Neville suddenly came up to them, smiling.

"I-I just want to thank you again, for finding my toad!" He exclaimed in happiness. Brooklyn nodded to them.

"It's great to meet you all. I'm Brooklyn."

For a while, the boys looked him over with amazement, along with Dean asking him questions about his wings. At last, everybody eventually grew tired and moved to their own beds.

Brooklyn spotted a cot next to Harry's bed and eventually realized it was for him. He lay down gratefully on it, very exhausted.

"Some feast, huh?" Ron asked Harry, climbing into his own four poster. "Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets!"

The red gargoyle chuckled as he pulled the blankets over himself and looked up at Harry.

"Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Brook!" Harry replied as he too lay down.

Brooklyn gave a big yawn. What a day, he thought drowsily as he finally gave into the arms of sleep.