“Hey Al, look, there’s Scorpio,” Rose said quietly, nudging Albus and nodding her head towards a group of boys, one with sleek blonde hair.

“I hope you listen to your Dad and don’t marry him,” Albus joked. The two friends laughed, but Matt was too busy staring up at the castle to hear them.

Albus, noticing this, said to Matt, “Hey, haven’t your parents or siblings described that castle so much that you’re kind of over it once you’ve seen it?”

“What?” Matt said, looking around. “Er… No, I’m an only child and my parents didn’t go to Hogwarts.”

“Are you serious?” Rose said, staring at Matt.

“Yeah, Dad went to Durmstrang and Mum’s a muggle,” Matt answered.

“Hey cool – that means all three of us are half-bloods,” Albus said.

“Why does that matter?” Rose asked pointedly.

“It doesn’t,” Albus replied defensively. “I was just commenting on…”

However, he couldn’t say anymore because Hagrid had led them inside the castle and they were at once confronted with the magnificent beauty of the Entrance Hall. “Wow,” Albus uttered, staring up at the features of the hall, but then was reminded of something. “Speaking of wow… Hey, Hagrid!”

Hagrid turned and looked at Albus. “Yes?”

“Is there a ceiling in the Great Hall?” He asked, wanting to know the real answer after all the things James had told him.

“Er… yeah, but it’s all enchanted so if ya look at it, it looks like the sky. It’s pretty fancy stuff,” Hagrid replied, then spoke louder so everyone could hear. “Right, I’m gonna leave ya all now and Professor Runwick will be here soon.” He walked down a nearby corridor and everyone at once fell into chatter about The Sorting Ceremony.

“So, Al, apart from Gryffindor where do you think you might go?” Rose asked.

“Um, maybe Hufflepuff. I mean, I can be loyal and hard working, can’t I?” Albus replied.

Rose snorted. “Loyal, yes. Hard working, definite no. Sorry Al,” She said, laughing.

Albus narrowed his eyes at Rose, trying to give her a threatening look, but not succeeding. Suddenly, he thought of something. “But… what if I’m not in Gryffindor? Then that only leaves Slytherin, because there’s no way I could get into Ravenclaw if your Mum didn’t get in.”

“I still don’t see why Slytherin is so bad,” Matt said to Albus, entering the conversation. “I mean, if the bravest man your Dad knew was in Slytherin, then it couldn’t be bad.”

“Look, after at least a week of school, you’ll understand why, so I’m not going to try to explain,” Albus answered, trying to keep back the series of swear words that would flow from his mouth if he tried to describe the Slytherins.

At that moment, a tall, strict-looking man entered the room and started talking. However, Albus was lost in his thoughts about the conversation he was just in, so he didn’t hear a word the old man said. Soon enough though, everyone started to move and two lines had formed. Albus glanced beside him and saw Rose, and Matt was in front of her with another boy. “Follow me,” The man said, his voice gruff. It was at that moment that they entered the Great Hall.