"All four houses? You sure that won't cause problems?" Daphne asked seriously.
"Only if the people in them can't separate business from personal matters. The rivalries between houses have no part in business. It's like getting mad at Flourish and blots or Olivander for selling to people from a different house, makes no sense." I said calmly.
"Yeah but those are not also students at Hogwarts." Tracey pointed out.
"I am aware of the difference but as I said business and personal matters shouldn't be mixed. Something I will make abundantly clear to anyone I sell to." I said with a shrug.
After that things quieted down and I got to focus on my book until the trolley lady came by offering food. I purchased some fizzy pop and a roast beef sandwich that I had for lunch while sipping on the pop throughout the trip. The sun was mid trip below the horizon when the train arrived at Hogsmeade station. The station was all brickwork but well maintained at least with a carriage path leading away from it elsewhere and a footpath to the edge of the black lake where several boats sat docked.-
I stood up as the older students started getting off and took down my trunk before opening it up and taking out my robe. I draped it on over my clothes before putting my trunk back and leaving the room so the girls could change. Once we were ready we left the train itself alongside the other students.
"First years! First years this way!" Hagrid was calling out as everyone got off the train.
I walked over to the slowly gathering crowd of similarly aged kids to myself and waited.
"I heard we have to fight a troll to be sorted." one of the kids said nervously.
"Well I heard the heads of each house choose their own students." another said and I rolled my eyes.
None of these theories were even close to the truth but I wasn't going to correct them either. I imagine it was a sort of tradition to keep first years in the dark about the exact nature of the sorting ceremony. More likely than not because it was amusing watching them squirm anxiously. I was likely the only first year not all that nervous about the matter since I already knew the details.-
"How are you so calm?" Daphne asked nervously as Hagrid lead us to the boats as the dark settled from night arriving.
"The ceremony isn't truly dangerous or the school wouldn't work and I honestly don't care all that much which house I get sorted into." I said frankly.
"Maybe but you will have trouble if you get sorted into Slytherin with your blood purity in question." Tracey said seriously.
"If it happens I'll figure it out. At worst I can just hex everyone till they leave me be." I said with a shrug.
"That.... might work." Daphne said hesitantly.
Soon enough we got to the boats and Hagrid told us all three to a boat as we loaded up. The man himself took up a whole boat and even then the poor vessel looked a slight rock away from sinking. The lanterns at the front of the boats lit up as the things started to drift out over the lake all on their own. Casually running my haki over my hand I could feel the slight hum of the magic enchanting the boat I was in. It wasn't as clear as my own magic and far weaker but definitely there.-
As we passed over the slightly rocking dark waters I extended my admittedly weak observation haki to see if I could notice the giant squid. It was kinda blurry and moved in and out of my perception range but I was sure I spotted the thing lazily trailing along under the fleet of boats, no doubt to rescue any students that fell overboard. I couldn't get a clear look at it though since my haki was weak as hell. To be fair though I had only been training it for at most a month now so really that was to be expected.-
The trip across the lake was uneventful otherwise as it was a crisp cool night with clouds overhead as per usual. The castle was visible in the far distance and I had to agree that it was truly magnificent. Several tall stone towers with sharp points on top of a wide many windowed ancient stone structure that you could practically feel the history it had stood through. The fact it sat high up on a hill next to the lake made it even more scenic. The boats pulled into the docks and the at most thirty first years alighted onto solid ground again.-
The population of wizards were never particularly populous but I knew thanks to the books that my year had the one of the lowest number of new students due to the fact Voldemort was most active during that time. Those in the wizarding world didn't feel safe bringing children into the world at the time. Most of the new students were as a result from families that moved here after his defeat, muggleborn or pureblood who had nothing to fear from the man. Even then we only made up a single class worth of students which explained why everyone seemed to share the same schedule in the books.-
I had always thought it odd that Slytherin and Gryffindor had so many classes together but this was a pretty damn good reason. Anyways Hagrid lead us up the stone steps to the castle and into the large wood and iron doors. There was an almost immediately change in temperature as the castle was lit up with flaming torches and braziers. We were then lead straight to a set of internal doors that were quite large where a tall black haired older witch with glasses stood waiting.-
"The first years Professor, as promised." Hagrid said respectfully.
"Thank you Hagrid, i'll take them from here." the witch said sternly but not unkindly.