Chapter - 8.1

As soon as Nicole and the others joined Alex outside the train, they heard a loud voice from behind.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! You all right there, Harry?" A giant man with a funny accent approached the group and patted Potter's shoulder, which almost made the latter kneel on his knees.

The man was so tall that his big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. He looked happy seeing Potter in front of him.

Nicole also recognised the man. He was the guy they saw at the King's cross and followed inside. She never saw his face, and they did lose him later, but she could not forget that bushy brown beard she saw.

"We will talk later, Harry. Off you go now," The man bent down and whispered to Potter. But in doing so, the man sent a group of students tumbling over one another with nothing but a push from his buttocks.

"C'mon, fellas... Not the place for yer to sleep. Follow me – any more firs'-years? Don't complain if I left y'all behind." The man made the final call and turned around to leave, leaving a group of disgruntled students behind, murmuring to themselves.

"Mind yer step, now!" The first-year students followed behind the man slipping and stumbling down a steep and narrow path. Meanwhile, the man effortless moved despite his size. As they made their way, nobody spoke much. There would be occasional whisperings, and the boy who lost his toad sniffed once or twice.

"You know him?" Ron asked Potter, pointing towards the big guy walking in front of them.

"Uhmm..." Potter nodded, "He is Hagrid. He was the one who came to help me with all the shopping. You can say he is a friend." Potter replied. It was also heard by Nicole, who was right behind them. She wanted to join them both and chat more about Hogwarts and other stuff, but her brother had pulled her behind.

'Is he being protective of me? The big brother kind of protective?' Nicole thought, 'You are not good enough for my sister. I better not see you anywhere around her.' Nicole tried to mimic her brother in her thoughts and could not stop herself from laughing.

Alex, hearing his sister giggling to himself, looked at her only to see her turn her face away.

'Is she perhaps...?' Alex thought. (You can add what he thought)

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

The narrow path that the students were walking on soon opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. And on top of the high mountain on the other side of the lake stood a vast castle with many turrets and towers. The night was moonless, and apart from the few glittering stars, only the windows sparkled, dazzling the students.

While the students were busy appreciating the beauty, Hagrid's words brought them back to reality.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid yelled, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Alex could count a total of twenty boats in front of him, not including the large one which was possibly there for the giant with them.

And with that, he had a general idea of the number of first-years surrounding him. They were probably in the range of seventy and eighty, most likely close to eighty.

And with that mental calculation done, holding on to his sister's hand, Alex went ahead and boarded a boat. Following the siblings, Potter also stepped into their boat. He knew no one there, so it was better to stick with them for the time being rather than be with a stranger. Ron too, wanted to follow, but as he was about to get on the boat, he was pushed aside by Hermione, the fourth one to get on the boat.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who got on his own boat, "Right then... FORWARD!"

And to everyone's amazement, the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, on their own. Gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass.

Everyone gaped at the startling sight of the great castle that towered over them. Soon the boats sailed below the mountain pass that joined the mainland to the school. Everyone was gawked except for one, Hermione. Hermione, instead, was more interested in staring at Alex.

But when it went on for too long, Alex finally had to react, "Is there something on my face?" Alex asked, not able to hold back longer.

"No... No... No... Not at all," this, on the other hand, caught Hermione by surprise. Flustered, she shook her head in denial, "It's just that... That I had something to ask of you. Can...?"

But before she could complete it, Alex sternly denied, "No."

"Please, just on...aaummm," In mid-sentence, Hermione's lips sealed, and she could not speak no matter what. Horrified, Hermione threw her hands around, trying to get help from Nicole, Potter and, for that matter, Alex.

"Brother!" Nicole exclaimed when she saw the situation Hermione was in. She actually felt bad for her, "Don't be such an asshole. If you are going to behave like this, there is no doubt that you won't have a friend," Nicole lectured her brother. She initially wanted her brother to handle Hermione. Nicole thought it would be good for him to have more contact with someone other than her. But when she saw the situation go out of hand, she had to intervene.

The idea behind Nicole's thinking was simple. She had read and heard all about the inducting of students to different houses. And no matter how much she might want for the two of them to be in the same house, if they were to get inducted into the different houses, she feared that he would end up being all alone.

"What's goin' on in the back? Who used magic?" Soon Hagrid's voice was heard from the front, "Don't think jus' 'cause yer are no longer in the muggle world, y'all can use magic however yer want. Not goin' to happen."

"... I won't say it again," Hagrid grumbled. What got him so upset? No one knew.

"I don't need one," Alex looked at his sister and made it clear, and with that, he turned towards Hermione, "I like things peaceful. You are way too loud for me. I would appreciate minimal contact between us." Alex sternly told Hermione and then waved his wand below his robe once again, releasing Hermione of the restraints. But this time, Hagrid did not say a thing.

On the other hand, despite being free of the spell, Hermione did not utter a word. Her eyes turned misty, and she looked away from Alex, staring somewhere far on the dark, black lake. She was, without a doubt, hurt by his words. And Nicole, who saw this, could do nothing but glare viciously at Alex.

But since this was not the right time and place to straighten her brother, she held Hermione's palms in hers and consoled her.

'Heads down!' yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff, getting Alex out of the situation, they all bent their heads, and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which 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 harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

'What's with this dark shady way of taking us to the school?' Alex thought as he looked around the moss-covered walls, 'They could have easily made us go to the school with others and filtered in the end.'

With Hagrid in the lead, holding a lamp, they clambered up the passageway, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadows of the castle.

But this was still not the end. The students had to again walk up a flight of stone steps before everyone stopped and gathered in front of a large wooden door.

"Nobody missin', aiee?" Hagrid turned to look at the students with his body wobbling sideways. When he got no response from the students, he raised his gigantic fist and knocked on the wooden door behind him three times.

Soon the giant door opened slowly with a creaking sound. Hagrid was the first one to go in, followed by the students. And before they knew it, they were standing in front of a stairway again. And maybe most of them were tired of this so-called secrecy, and over the top mystification, a buzz of chatter emerged among the students. Complaints began to flow, and even Hagrid could easily hear them, but he did not stop to answer.

Disgruntled, students unwillingly followed behind Hagrid to climb the stairway, but by the time they could see the end of the stairway, many of the students were crawling their way up the stairs on their butts.

Alex, on the other hand, was a bit annoyed, yes. But he was not tired in the slightest because of his superior physical abilities, thanks to all the quests he went on. But, Alex did not want to reach the top first, and stand in the front row. Also, he had to accompany Nicole, who though better than those crawling up on their butts, was still on her fours, trying to reach the top like a cat.

It took some time, but slowly students began to assemble at the top of the stairway. And waiting for them, there was a tall, black-haired lady dressed in emerald green robes and a pointy hat on her head. And she had this trademark stern look on her face, something Alex and Nicole had experienced first-hand.

"The firs' years, Professor," Hagrid approached the lady who was none other than Professor McGonagall.

"I will take them from here," Professor McGonagall replied, and nodding his head, Hagrid left, leaving the students there.

"Well, that was tiring and creepy,"

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