After the epic incident of the missing toad recovery (a term coined by Andrew—he was confident many Hogwarts students of their year would mention this event in future conversations), the long journey suddenly felt more lively.
All the idle students from different years, satisfied after catching a glimpse of Harry, returned to their compartments to deal with their own matters—after all, it was the last day of summer break. If it hadn't been for Harry Potter, how precious would that time have been?
While some students, realizing how much they'd slacked off, started frantically calling friends for help while burying their heads in homework, Professor McGonagall—who was at Hogwarts preparing for the first years—received an owl from the Hogwarts Express.
After reading the letter for less than half a minute, she looked rather puzzled and went to find Dumbledore, who was, as usual, in his office.
"What is it, Minerva?"Dumbledore looked at her curiously. "Did the Weasley twins do something on the train? But today isn't even the first day of term."
From many years of experience, nothing unusual was supposed to happen today. Even the rule-breaking Weasley twins were usually too drained at the end of summer to stir up trouble on the return journey. Last year, they hadn't caused any point deductions at all.
"It wasn't the Weasley twins. It was Potter."Professor McGonagall handed him the letter.
After skimming it quickly, Dumbledore's expression also became rather odd."On the train… he led a group of first-years to help another student find a missing toad?"
"But didn't Hagrid say… he's a bit shy?"
"This doesn't seem like something a shy student would do. Almost everyone on the train knows that he helped another student even before arriving at school."
"That's a good thing, Minerva."Dumbledore relaxed. "Helping classmates isn't bad. If he's inclined that way, even better. Perhaps we'll have a promising prefect in the future."
"Don't be so sure, Albus. There were no house divisions yet—everyone wanted to stay in his good graces. Once they're sorted, I'm afraid he might turn out to be another James…"
"There's nothing wrong with that. James was great too."Dumbledore concluded the matter.
"How far are we?"Andrew sat up groggily after another nap—he hadn't slept much, and once the chatting had died down, he had dozed off again.
"We should be almost there, right?"Justin looked a bit flustered. "It's getting dark."
"True," Andrew yawned, "if we're not arriving until tomorrow morning, I suggest they rename this thing. No way this is a 'express'."
"Let's change into our robes. I'm guessing they'll make an announcement soon. No way they'll let us show up looking sloppy on our first day."
And indeed, just as they finished changing, an announcement came through.
"We'll be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train—it will be delivered to the school for you."
"Let's go."Andrew rubbed his hands and patted his face."Time for the Sorting."
"First years, over here! First years, this way!"
At a platform that wasn't all that visible stood someone who definitely was—a giant holding a lantern and shouting.
Andrew stood in the middle of the group and saw the man—clearly Hagrid—lean down and say something quietly to the crowd before loudly repeating his call.
"Any more first years? Follow me!"
Soon, the gathered first-years followed Hagrid and started down a very bumpy path.
'Logically, there should be a better route,' Andrew thought. 'This path is probably for first-years only, symbolizing the difficult road the founders took to establish the school… or something. But nope, no explanation at all.'
Andrew wasn't sure if they were supposed to reflect silently or if the guide had simply forgotten the speech, but the road was difficult enough to kill any desire to complain.
Eventually, after navigating another rough trail, they finally caught a distant glimpse of a huge castle.
Amidst gasps of awe, Hagrid's voice rang out again.
"See those little boats? No more than four to a boat!"
…
'So it is a symbolic "crossing mountains and rivers to found a school" kind of thing, huh?'Andrew muttered as he squeezed into a boat with classmates from his compartment and moved his wand into a handier spot.
Whatever enchantment had been placed on the boats, it was working. Normally, handing a bunch of magical rookies a rowboat would be asking for chaos. But these boats needed no steering—smoothly and steadily, they followed behind Hagrid's.
Andrew's initial urge to complain faded, and he loosened his grip on his wand.
'Guess the school planned for this. They look unprotected, but clearly nothing's going wrong.'
"Gotta hand it to magic."
Relaxed, Andrew even had the mind to chat with his boatmates while admiring the surroundings—it really was scenic. If there were fish in the lake, it'd be the perfect spot to cast a line.
After passing through a hidden tunnel, they finally reached something resembling a dock.
"We're here!""Ah! Trevor!"
After Hagrid's announcement came Neville's panicked shout—his toad didn't seem too keen on coming ashore.
Then came a faint splash, followed by a louder, panicked shout."No!"
Next, a series of big splashes.
Andrew's previously calm mood turned tense. He gripped his wand tightly and aimed it toward the sound.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
But it wasn't just one voice that shouted—it was a dozen or more. Clearly, everyone had been practicing their Levitation Charm seriously.
Neville's toad practically flew into the air and landed neatly in his hands.
But the person who fell into the water didn't fare as well—a girl, who was practically dragged back up by her hair and now looked rather worse for wear.
A single levitation spell is harmless. But ten or more at once? That's another story.
The pain was secondary. Seeing the strands of hair she'd lost, the girl began to cry softly.
"It's okay, Madam Pomfrey will fix you up quickly. You won't miss the Sorting!"
Hagrid wasn't great at comforting people, but he added:"She can fix anything—even hair."
That at least helped the girl calm down a bit.
"Let's get to the castle. I'll hand the others to Professor McGonagall, then take you to the hospital wing. You'll be good as new—every last strand of hair will be back."
Just like he said, Andrew and the others were soon handed off to Professor McGonagall. Hagrid explained the situation briefly, then rushed off with the girl toward the school's infirmary.