“Firs' years! This way! FIRS' YEARS!” A loud voice bellowed.

Harry turned to see a familiar giant of a man and walked over to the group of first years gathering around him. “Hi, Hagrid.” He said and the giant nodded to him.

“Is that alleh yeh?” Hagrid asked and no one else came over. “Alright, come on. And mind yer step.”

They all followed him down a steep and winding path. Things seemed to get impossibly dark away from the lights of the train station and Harry lifted his wand.

“Lumos Maxima.” Harry said and the entire place lit up and all of the students could now easily see.

“Thanks a lot!” Hermione said and came over to him. “I could barely see my own nose!”

That made a few people laugh. Everyone had an easy time walking now, because they could see where they were stepping. They walked down the path behind Hagrid and came around the corner of the path, then suddenly they were at the side of a huge black lake. Across the lake and perched atop a small mountain, was a majestic castle that had many turrets and towers.

“No more than four to a boat!” Hagrid said loudly and waved at the small fleet of little boats that waited for them. Harry climbed into the closest one with Hermione right behind him, then two more people climbed in behind him that he didn't know.

“You're supposed to leave your luggage on the train.” The girl said with a frown.

“I hope you don't tip the boat with it.” The boy said.

“I don't see any oars.” Harry said as he ignored their comments and looked around. “I wonder what...”

“Is everybody in?” Hagrid asked from the boat he had all to himself and didn't wait for a reply. “FORWARD!” He yelled and waved to the opposite shore.

Everyone stared up at the huge castle as the boats took off across the lake's smooth surface, except for Harry. He was leaning over the front of the boat and had his head as close to the water as possible.

“Harry!” Hermione gasped when she saw him and pulled him back. “What are you doing?”

“I think this boat was charmed with the Locomotor spell.” Harry said, then whispered. “Nox.”

The pervasive light the wand emanated was extinguished and a lot of the girls let out frightened squeaks.

“Oops! Sorry!” Harry said. I'll have to wait to cast Revelio later. “Lumos Maxima.”

A lot of people let out sighs of relief when the bright light returned. The boats crossed the lake fairly quickly and they arrived on the other side at a large dock. They all climbed out of the boats and Harry quickly extinguished his wand and cast Revelio on the boat. The words 'Locomotor Boat' floated above it for only him to see, and he swiped his wand to end the spell.

Everyone made their way over to the bottom of a large set of stairs that seemed impossibly long. Harry looked at them, a little worried, since he almost never did any exercise. Not that he could have left the house to do it, anyway. He didn't know that he was worried for nothing.

The medical breakfasts that Hedwig had delivered all month to him had enervating potions and health potions mixed in to get his health and body back up to a normal level. He had been malnourished and underfed and the healer made sure he was back to being fit and healthy. His worried face faded as he kept climbing up the stairs and he wasn't getting winded or felt tired.

By the time he reached the top, Harry had a big smile on his face, because he had never done anything like that before and not being tired or sore afterwards was such a relief. Hagrid walked on and everyone followed him. Harry looked around at everything and in his mind, he couldn't believe that he was walking around a huge medieval castle where he was going to learn magic.

Hagrid came to a stop in front of a huge set of oak doors and knocked three times. They opened a moment later and a stern looking older witch stood there. “The firs' years, Professor McGonagall.”

“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.” Minerva said and Hagrid stepped aside. “Follow me, please.” She said and walked away, as if them refusing to follow her had never occurred to her.

The entrance hall was enormous and Harry thought that the Dursley's house could easily fit inside it. Maybe two houses. Harry thought and looked up at the ridiculously high ceiling. They walked by another set of huge oak doors that seemed to have a lot of voices speaking behind it. They were led into a small room off to the side and the stern witch turned to them.

“Welcome to Hogwarts.” Minerva said. “The start of term feast will begin shorty. Before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because your house will become something like your family within Hogwarts.”

Nearly everyone reacted positively to these words, except for a few, like Harry. The last thing he wanted was to have the people at Hogwarts treat him like the Dursleys treated him. Harry frowned as he looked around and saw lots of happy faces, then he noticed the white haired boy, Draco Malfoy. His frown matched Harry's, which meant he didn't like his home life, either.

Harry realized he wasn't listening to the professor speak, so he looked back at her.

“The four houses are called Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. Your triumphs will earn your House points while any rule-breaking will lose your House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup.”

A few people muttered excitedly about it and the stern witch didn't quite glare at them to be quiet.

“The Sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I suggest you take this time to smarten yourself up to be presentable.” Minerva said as she looked at several students and their wrinkled robes.

We just got off a boat and walked up hundreds of stairs. Harry thought and his frown hadn't lessened.

Minerva noticed it and gave him a pointed look, saw no fault with his appearance, nodded and left.

“Anyone have a comb I can borrow?” A boy asked. “Mine's in my trunk.”

Harry pulled his out and handed it over.

“Hey! Thanks!” The boy said and started combing his hair.

“Anyone want wrinkles removed?” Harry asked.

“Me!” Several girls said as one and came over. Harry performed the basic clothing maintenance spells he knew, which cleaned them and removed the wrinkles in the fabric. He didn't cast them permanently, though. He had promised Madam Malkin that he would only do his own and send anyone that asked about it to her.

“Harry, could you help me?” Hermione asked and he did the same spells, then she blushed and took his hand. “I mean... you know.”

“Ah.” Harry said and discretely pointed his wand at her mouth. He mouthed a shrinking charm continuously, used all of his concentration to only focus on her teeth, then forced her teeth to shrink in tiny increments so that he wouldn't mess up. He saw in his head where he wanted them to go, mainly to fit back into her mouth and match the teeth around them. They reached that spot and he stopped mouthing the spell.

“Is... is it done?” Hermione asked in a whisper.

Harry took out his timepiece and turned it around to show her the shiny gold back. “Smile.”

Hermione caught her breath at the smile in her reflection. “Oh, Harry.”

“I don't know how long it'll last.” Harry said. “According to the books, depending on the power of the caster, it could be a few hours, several days, or weeks.”

Hermione rubbed her fingertip over her now normal teeth and looked at him. “I saw how many times you cast the spell.” She whispered and took his hand. “Even if it's only several hours for each, I'm going to keep them for a long time.” She smiled and her face lit up. “If it's weeks for each one...” She glanced around and no one was looking, so she quickly placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”

Harry's face flushed red, because he had never been kissed by a girl before.

“I wonder what The Sorting is like.” Hermione asked and she didn't know why she couldn't stop smiling at Harry's blush.

“They put a hat on your head and it reads your skills, then it tells you what House to go in.” Harry said.

“Wow, really?” Hermione asked, surprised. “I wonder if it's charmed or if it actually has something inside it to... AHHHHHH!” She yelled, as did several other girls.

Harry turned around to see what she was staring at, then he almost peed his pants at the sight.

Ghosts.

About twenty of the pearly white and slightly transparent apparitions had floated through the wall and were arguing, it seemed like. They floated through some of the other students that were screaming and shivering at the cold sensations the ghosts gave them.

“DEPULSO! DEPULSO! DEPULSO!” Harry yelled in fright as he swept his wand over the encroaching ghosts, his mind solely focused on getting the ghosts as far away from him as possible. The ghosts yelled and hollered as they were slammed by the stream of white light from Harry's wand and were quickly pushed away. They tumbled through the air and then they all disappeared back through the wall they had come through.

Some of the students were staring at the wall where the ghosts had gone, as if waiting for them to come back. Others were staring at Harry in shock at what he did. One of them was Ron, because he had never seen anyone react like that to a ghost before.

Harry was panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. A crying Hermione hugged him tightly and he put his arm around her to keep himself steady.

“G-ghosts.” Harry muttered under his breath, his voice full of disbelief. “Ghosts are real.”