The boys made quick friends needless to say. About an hour into the ride, the Trolley lady came by.

        "Anything from the Trolley dears?" She asks.

       "A box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor beans, two Licorice wands!" Says James.

       "Pumpkin pastie!" Exclaims Peter.

      "Nothing thanks." Says Remus.

       "Five chocolate frogs!" Said Sirius.

     The woman tolled out the treats, they paid, and she went of asking the eternal question, "Anything from the Trolley?"

         They spent the rest of the time playing the Bertie Botts game, and James gave Remus a licorice wand. Soon enough, the castle was in sight.

      Remus stood. "I am going to change. We will be there in a few minutes."

     Peter looks down. "Oh yeah. The sortings....." He mutters. "I ought to get my case and change to." He says.

     James nods. "Alright then. See you later."

      Sirius hops up and opens his trunk. James does the same, and they change together in the compartment, making sure to cover the windows.

                                ************
        About twenty minutes later the boys are all on the platform for Hogwarts. Students crowded about, greeted each other, and animals hooted and croaked on the smoky platform.

      "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" Yelled a deep gravelly voice. All of the young ones looked up at a rather large man with a young face, covered with a scruff of black beard, and a tangle of wild black hair. He was huge, but his dark eyes were kind and his mouth was curved upward in a welcoming smile. "Firs' years! Follow me!" He says, lumbering forward with a yellow lantern held high. "We will be taking a sperate route to the castle!! Firs' years!!"

      The sun was starting to set as he led them to a beach with boats lined up along the shore. He stops, and turns to all of them.

      "Alrigh' then. I am Rubeus Hagrid! I am the Keeper o' Keys and Caretaker of Grounds a' Hogwarts! This is my third year leadin' you kids across this 'ear lake to the castle. So, I have a bit o' rules." He says. "One: don' rock the boats! There is a giant squid down in 'ere an' Professor Kettleburn would 'ave my neck if any of you fell in!"

      There were murmurs and gasps among them.

       "Two: follow directly behind me! No fightin' and whatnot. I will have no dilly dallying around! An' three! If you are afraid to go on your own, you may ride with me." He says, pointing to a bigger boat, looking down a bit, as if embarrassed at the size. "4 to a boat! Let's be off then!" He says.

     All the students hurry forward and get into the boats. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter get in together.

        "What do you think of that big bloke?" Asks Sirius as James and Remus sat watching the water for the mentioned squid.

        "Bit intimidated by him to be honest." Says Peter quietly. "I mean look at him. He's HUGE."

        James laughs. "I bet he is just a big teddy bear on the inside."

      The boys roar with laughter. Then Peter stops. "Whoa." He whispers.

      James looks at him. "What?"

      Peter points upward. They all turn and gasp.

       It was the castle.

       The night sky glowed bright with the moon above them and the many stars, illuminating the lake they glided upon glowing underneath it. But the castle was most breathtaking. Lit up by fiery torches and yellow glowing from within the huge windows, it stood out from the dark backround of the night, and seemed to be made out of the surrounding mountainside with its coloring. The towers stretched upward, the main part being the brightest. It was immensely intriguing and everything and more that the young first years had been told by past generations of students.

     James looked at it in awe. "Wicked." He whispered.

       "There it is. Hogwarts." Says the giant guide.