"Alice, Al, you alright?" My best friend, Emily waved her hand in front of my face a couple of times.

"Whu- Wha'? Oh yeah. Just tired." As if on cue, a yawn seized me, and I stretched a bit.

"Didn't you get enough sleep?" Daniel asked, liked hundreds of others today.

"Something like that."

"Well maybe you should try to now? There's still hours until we get there, so it's not like a great loss of time or anything."

"Yeah, sure."

But the problem was, I couldn't sleep - not insomnia or anything, just that I'm one of those people who find it really difficult to return to a dream land once they've woken up, and if it's before the evening. I propped my head upon my elbow, which now rested on the windowsill. Watching the scenery go by, I waited; perhaps it could bore me to sleep? Wait, counting sheep is a good way, right? Well, there's some over there!

1 - 2 - 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 - we've gone past the field.

Sighing in frustration, I slumped back down into my seat, earning strange looks from my friends. I smiled sheepishly (see what I did there - no? Fine...), before remembering lightly my first trip to Hogwarts. Something similar had happened -

Suddenly, I was thrust into a flashback as I went through the process of the train and sorting all over again.

*Flashback*

Wandering thought the empty corridors, I lugged my trunk around. No seats in any compartment were available - besides those which people were saving for their friends, that is. Not a single person was willing to make room for a small, innocent first year, in spite of the fact that I could become a Slytherin, and the Slytherins didn't like me because despite being a Pureblood, they couldn't risk their reputation if I turned out to not be in Slytherin. Even the Hufflepuffs, who are supposedly kind and loyal were turning their backs. I came to the last carriage, and saw a brunette girl sitting there by her lonesome self, book in hand, and reading as thought the world would end if she stopped.

I raised my hand to knock, before halting when it was millimetres away; what if she was annoyed at me disturbing her, and therefore didn't let me in? I knew from personal experience how frustrating it was to get interrupted when you were at the height of suspense, and someone goes and interrupts you. I argued with myself a bit more, until a voice intruded my thoughts.

"Aren't you gonna ask to come inside? I can tell there's no more seats - my sister told me that people never sit with firsties, and since when I got on this was one of the only compartments left... well, I figured you'd have no where to sit." Looking up startled, I realised that the brunette girl had stood up and opened the door.

"Oh, right, yeah... sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you - I love to read so know exactly how it feels when someone drags your head from out of the clouds... Hang on, that made it sound as if I was saying you have your head in the clouds, doesn't it? I didn't mean that! I just meant-"

"Don't worry, I know what you meant." To my relief, she smiled at me.

"Haha, thanks. So anyway, I was wondering if I can uh, sit here? As you said, everywhere else is full, and I don't have anywhere to sit."

"Sure, come in!" She gestured me to occupy the seat opposite where she had been siting, before closing the door after me.

"So, uh, I'm Alice... Fawley. You?"

"Emily Hetlie." (Het-lie)

"Cool... so..."

"Wanna talk or read?"

"Exactly what I was gonna say! But-"

"I really don't mind-"

"Either's fine."

"Okay, that's weird."

"Great minds think alike though, aye?"

"Yeah..." I could tell that the weirdness was still reflected in my eyes - and from what it looked like, she could see that to.

"Hang on... turn to face the door a second..." confused, I did so, and could see that she was getting kinda freaked out by something. "Did your- did your eyes just change colour?!" She half shrieked.

That made since now. I shrugged.

"Probably. They do that - different lighting and mood equals different colour. Sometimes they're blue, grey, green, brown... hazel... they've even before been like half brown, but then as the colour goes round the pupil, it turns to green, and back to brown at the top. Kinda cool, I gotta say."

"But there's like a-a gold ring around the pupil... what-"

"Yeah... that's usually how they are, as I said, with either grey, green, or blue."

"I'm sorry, but that's just weird. But pretty... Can I steal your eyes?" I laughed, but was simultaneously really weirded out; she just asked if she could steal my freakin' eyes.

Luckily, I was saved by the compartment door being flung open, two mops of ginger hair closing it quickly, before diving under the seats, and staying quiet. Before I could open my mouth as to what they were doing, the door was opened again, this time with a large Slytherin standing in the doorway, green slime dripping from his head, and fuming.

Uh oh.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" He roared, spit flying from his mouth.

"Where are who?" Emily asked, confusion written in red across her face. She discreetly winked at me, which I took to be a play-along wink. I nodded back, ever so slightly, and unnoticed by the guy who was practically on fire he was so mad.

"THOSE STUPID LITTLE GINGERS, YOU BLITHERING IDIOTS!"

"Um, no gingers have entered here... we were just talking about books-" I started.

"LIAR!"

"No really, we were! Quidditch through the ages - y'know, by Kennilworthy Whisp?"

"I MEANT YER LYING ABOUT THE GINGERS!"

"But we weren't..." I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why would we lie? If some people walked in don't you think we'd notice?"

"Hmmm. Well we'll see when you get sorted, won't we? What's your name and blood status anyway? That could prove that you're hiding them."

"I refuse to answer that until you identify yourself."

"Alright. Robbin Fawley. Pureblood. Your turn." He snarled at me.

"No, it's still yours. But I'll be nice. I am Alice Fawley. My father is Charles, and my mother Rowena. You have just claimed yourself to be my brother, which you're definitely not. As you already know, I'm Pureblood. Try again."

He looked shocked and slightly out down - good, serves him right!

"Sorry, I uh gotta go - evidently you dint know where the gingers are, so I'll go and find them-"

"No. Answer the question. You just claimed to be a relative of mine, when I we both know that you're not. So answer. Now."

"Me name actually is Robbin, but me surname's Banks. I'ma Half-Blood."

"Leave now Dawn. Leave. Now."

With that, he scurried out and left me and Emily in a daze. Suddenly, I cracked a smile, and before I could help myself was laughing. She joined me, though I was still unsure as to what we were laughing about.

Then I remembered why that guy entered in the first place, and - once I had calmed down a bit - nudged the human thing under one of the seats.

"You can get out from under the seats now guys, he's gone. Scared him off, the wimp."

The two gingers that caused the whole scene to involve rolled out from their hiding places, and stood up, brushing themselves off.

"Thanks for that!" One said.

"For future reference, I'm Fred, Fred Weasley-

"-And I'm George, the better looking twin of the two of us!"

I looked between them, before noticing a couple of differences; my older sisters are identical twins, but they're as different as chalk and cheese.

"Hello Gred and Forge, nice to meet you." I greeted them, and Em did the same.

The rest of the ride passed with us all talking, laughing, and reading (once the twins had gone).

At last we arrived, and me and Emily hurried out, dragging our trunks as we stepped off the stuffy train, and onto the concrete platform that was lit up brightly. Bushes, shrubs and flowers of both magic and muggle origin decorated the otherwise dull station. The Autumn air chilled me as I heard a loud, rough voice call out

"Firs' years! O'er here! This way, come on! Firs' years." I glanced at Emily who seemed as cold as I was, and together we headed over to the giant man. Being a Pureblood, I knew that he was supposedly a very nice man, who was named Hagrid. My parents and family always told me that he was incredibly tall, but they really couldn't put it into perspective; stood in front of me, Emily, and the rest of the shivering First Years stood a man who must've been at least 8 feet tall, and was a meter wide. He stood with a large moleskin coat, a lamp in hand, and hellhound dog at side. His face was mostly covered by a straggly black beard, and his eyes were beetle black.

To say the least, the group of us that were gathered round were not only shaking from the cold.

"Ah, is tha' everyone? 'Kay then, follow me." He strode down a pathway I had previously not noticed. Nervously, we followed him, yet had to half-run (faster than a jog) to catch up with him. He seemed to realise, so tried to slow down a little. We followed what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of us that I thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. "Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid, as he introduced himself, called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. 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'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Me, Emily, Fred, and George sat in one of the small, rickety, wooden boats together.

"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; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

We stepped out of the boats, as Hagrid told us to. Then, he knocked four times on the door. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. A tight lipped, tall, thin witch stepped out of the now open oak doors. She wore an expression that indicated that she was strict, and messing with her might be the last thing you ever did. In other words: she was not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wider, and I could now see inside. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Burrow house in it - thrice. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

We followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. I could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right - the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed us into a small, empty chamber off the hall. We crowded in, standing rather closer together than we would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-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.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. 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 rulebreaking 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.

"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."

She glared at a girl who had dark hair, and an air of superiority, who wasn't paying attention.

Anyways, a few minutes later, she came back again. We followed her through to the Great Hall, which was adorned with floating candles, the dark night sky that was filled with twinkling stars. There were four long tables, with benches on either side, that housed all the students from second year and up (no pun intended).

The platform that we were led up to held a table for all the staff, and in front of that, in view of the entire school, sat a small, three-legged stool. A raggedy hat, that looked as of it was made up of patches, sat on top of it. Then, just above the seam, ripped apart, and acted like lips as it began to sing:

"A great many hundred years ago,

When I was the hight of fashion,

Four people of the magic kind

All shared the same passion:

To build a place for those like them,

To teach all that they could.

And once they found the location,

A school to be built here, would.

These were,

Incase you had not guessed,

The founders four of our school.

They harmonised for many years,

And no problems did arise.

For the entirety of that time,

'Twas the students needs they prised.

But more than that, they did decide,

Was needed to be rewarded

Those they valued would be those they taught,

So the students were divided.

Bold Gryffindoor

Valued Bravery, having courage,

Heart before head,

Where as Ravenclaw thought the other way round,

Favouring those with the sharpest of minds,

These would become the best.

Salazar chose those like him;

With blood only of the purest,

Cunning, sly, and ancestry were,

In his opinion, the ones who should flourish.

Hufflepuff took the rest,

For she thought all deserved a chance,

But despite the fact that this is what she claimed,

Finders were the favoured ones,

And those who were not loyal, were to be ashamed.

But who would sort each into their chosen house,

When all of them had perished?

It was agreed that something that could

See the personality would sort

Students into the groups that each of them cherished.

So here I am, gather round,

Just place me on your head.

I will see your true thoughts,

And decide where you belong.

You may not believe what

I may say, but your personality

Is what I see.

I can see your deepest desires, but do not fear,

No one will know but you and me.

So try me on, without a fret,

Place me on your head,

I shall choose where you ought to be,

And your new home shall be clear!"

The Great Hall burst into applause. I joined in, acting as though it was nothing remotely out of the ordinary - which it wasn't for magic folk. The muggle borns, I noticed, seemed to be trying not to have a nervous breakdown! Emily had earlier told me that she was half-blood, and of course I knew Fred and George were Pureblood, because every Pureblood is related. Plus, they're entire family were "blood traitors" in the Wizarding War.

"When I call your name, please step forward to be sorted. Abein, Sally."

The before mentioned girl strode up confidently, and had the hat places upon her head. It sunk down, covering her eyes. She jumped after a second, before the hat called out,

"GRYFFINDOR!" She seemed to sigh in relief as it was taken off, and she hurried to her new "home". I noticed that most had the same reaction as her; after it was place don't heir head, they jumped. All too soon, Professor McGonagall called out,

"Fawley, Alice." I walked over to it, and knew that the Purebloods and most Half-Bloods would know that I would either be in Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw; my mum was a decedent of Rowena Ravenclaw herself, thus being named after her. My father, however was a Gryffindor, yet came from a family of Hufflepuffs. I mean, t didn't he, that one sister was in Slytherin, and the other was a Hufflepuff...

I stumbled up to the seat, and felt it being dropped upon my head. All I could see was darkness.

"Ahh, Miss Fawley... I've been expecting you for some time." I realised why all the others before me had jumped now; the hat was talking to me inside my head. "I see you have the brains of your mother and ancestors, yet the courage of your father... you're Pureblood, yes, and are rather cunning, I must say. Hmm, difficult, difficult. You are also particularly good at finding, perhaps- no, Hufflepuff isn't the place for you. Yet neither is Slytherin. You have the traits, but wouldn't fit in there, no. So, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? Where to put you, where to put you?" My thoughts flickered to my friends; the twins were Weasleys, so were almost definitely put into Gryffindor by default. But Emily seemed like more of the Ravenclaw kind...

"You're split between them too... Well, you would do exceedingly well in either. Which do you choose?" I was startled for a moment; it was asking me for my opinion? But that rarely happened, usually only when it was a hatstall. "Why my dear, this is a hatstall... I've been trying to place you for five minutes, and I'm still unsure. But I guess you've done your research..."

"I really don't know, I- well, I'm not sure! Hang on, let me just work out the pros and cons of each-"

"Perfect! That shows your true stragety! I guess it had to be RAVENCLAW!"

I took the hat of and placed it back on the stool, before hurrying over to the table that was cheering for me. I sat down as the next person was sorted. Not even three people later-

"Hetlie, Emily." Emily went forwards, and placed it delectably upon her head. After a bit of deliberation, it decided-

"RAVENCLAW!" She hurried over to me amidst the claps and sat down beside me. We watched the rest of our new classmates be sorted, and "Daniel Wright", "Micky Jones", "Rose Noble", "Donna Pond", "Amelia Tyler", "Rory Smith", "Martha Williams", and "John Smith" joined me and Em in Ravenclaw. They were all nice people, which was incredibly relieving. It was a shame that I was right about Fred and George - they were put into Gryffindor.

But I couldn't help but feel on top of the world right now;

I was at Hogwarts, in Ravenclaw, the house founded by one of my ancestors, and had already made a few friends both in my house and out of it (whilst on the train, I had also become acquainted with Ash Moore, a Gryffindor who was in the same year as one of my sisters), and was currently talking to the other members of my new house, whilst eating the most memorable food I had ever had the pleasure of tasting. It also seemed that I was becoming friends with the best people I could've chosen.

Classes hadn't begun yet, but I had everything I needed for the next seven years of my life. For now, all was well.

*End of Flashback*

I smiled fondly at the memory. I realised that my tiredness seemed to have evaporated, and after glancing at the time realised that I must've fallen asleep.

"Thank Merlin you're awake! Those guys have been going on and on and on about Quidditch, and I don't know how much longer I can bear it!" I perked up at the mention of Quidditch. "Oh no, your gonna join in, aren't you? Why does it have to be the subject that you guys are all into, and I'm not?" Emily whisper-yelled to me.

Zoning into the others' conversation I joined in, and couldn't help but feel that I had the bestest friends a girl could ask for - as cliché as that sounds. For an eleven year old, I had actually been pretty right - classes were a pain, yet at Hogwarts good things generally tended to outweigh the bad ones.

But there was one more thing I had been right about - well two; Howarts food was there best there was.

The other thing? Simple: for now - possibly for years to come - I had all I needed, and for those very reasons, All really was well.