A new chapter is up.
Come in, get comfortable, and let’s see what kind of trouble waits this time ❤️ ✦ As the three of them talked, time slipped away quickly.
Before long, the sky outside had darkened, and the train began to slow.
They were nearly there.
The three of them efficiently changed out of their Muggle clothes and into Hogwarts robes.
Edmund glanced through the window at the light rain falling outside.
The damp chill beyond the glass made him shiver faintly.
Then he thought of something, opened his suitcase, and took out a scarf.
He wrapped it gently around Cho’s neck.
“Wear this.
It’s raining, and it will be cold outside.” Cho’s cheeks turned pink, but she did not refuse his kindness.
The train arrived at Hogsmeade Station.
Edmund and Cho followed the crowd out.
“Firs’ years!
Firs’ years over here!” A booming voice rang out from nearby.
A man more than twice the height of an ordinary wizard stood there, broad enough across the shoulders that he seemed to fill the platform by himself.
He waved constantly, gathering the new students toward him.
“Cho, I’ll go over first.” Edmund nodded to her and started toward Hagrid’s group.
“Good luck, Edmund.” Cho looked at him warmly, her eyes full of expectation.
“I hope you get Ravenclaw.” Edmund met that hopeful look and felt a faint bitterness rise in him.
With the name Gaunt, he was practically marked for Slytherin before the Sorting Hat touched his head.
Still, for Cho’s sake, he had to try.
He also had no particular affection for Slytherin.
As a half-blood wizard entering that house under the Gaunt name, he would almost certainly attract the wrong kind of attention.
Soon, all the first-years had gathered around Hagrid.
After counting them, the giant man lifted an old oil lamp and led them away, turning back now and then to shout.
“Mind yer step!
Careful now!
This bit’s rough!” The young witches and wizards followed with some difficulty.
Hagrid was far ahead, and the old lamp gave off only a dim glow.
Edmund drew his wand.
“Lumos.” Soft white light bloomed from the tip of his wand.
The students behind him immediately relaxed.
“Wow, Ron, look at him.
That’s brilliant.” Edmund turned at the sound and found, to his mild surprise, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley walking behind him.
When Harry realized Edmund had heard them, he looked slightly embarrassed.
Talking about someone behind their back was awkward even when it was praise.
“Hello,” Harry said.
“I’m Harry Potter.
This is Ron Weasley.” Edmund nodded and introduced himself.
“Edmund Gaunt.” Harry noticed that Edmund did not become excited or strange after hearing his name.
That alone made him guess that Edmund might also have grown up in the ordinary world.
“Are you from a Muggle family too?” Harry asked quickly, then corrected himself.
“I mean, raised outside the magical world?” “I grew up in the Muggle world,” Edmund said.
Harry brightened a little.
“You’re really good.
I still don’t know any spells.
On the train, I met a girl called Hermione Granger.
She’s Muggle-born too, and she used magic to fix my glasses.” He sounded genuinely happy.
The magical world had been kind to Harry so far, but everyone treated him like the Boy Who Lived.
He did not even know what he had done, or how he had done it.
Seeing another student who had grown up outside the wizarding world, and who did not react strangely to his name, made him feel much less alone.
“It was nothing,” Edmund said.
“I read ahead after getting my books and was lucky enough to manage one or two simple spells.” He did not deliberately distance himself from Harry.
Ordinary social contact was harmless.
As for whether Dumbledore would arrange any traps for him later, that depended on who understood the board better.
Harry smiled sheepishly.
Since receiving his textbooks, he had also tried reading through them, but chanting spells at random had produced no results.
Eventually, he had stopped.
“Which house do you want?” Harry asked.
“Ron says Gryffindor is the best.
I only hope I don’t end up in Slytherin.” Ron nodded firmly beside him.
For a Weasley, Gryffindor was the only proper house.
If he were sorted into Slytherin, he suspected he would become a family scandal.
Edmund smiled and did not comment on that.
He thought of a fresh, pretty girl, and the soft hand he had held earlier.
“I’d prefer Ravenclaw,” he said.
“It seems…
very inviting.” “What?” Harry blinked.
“Nothing.
I think Ravenclaw suits me.” “Oh.
All right.” Harry looked a little disappointed that his new acquaintance did not want Gryffindor, but he did not try to interfere.
Under Hagrid’s guidance, the first-years boarded small boats in groups of four.
The boats moved gradually toward the cliff.
At Hagrid’s command, everyone lowered their heads to pass beneath an opening.
Edmund had to suppress a laugh.
Even after Hagrid lowered his head, he was still taller than most of the students, yet everyone obediently ducked anyway.
At last, the boats drifted to the landing.
Hagrid led them through a tunnel, across the grass, and up to the great front doors of the castle.
With a heavy mechanical sound, the doors opened.
A stern witch in emerald-green robes stepped out.
Her severe expression made the first-years, who had been whispering only moments before, fall instantly quiet.
“Professor McGonagall,” Hagrid said, gesturing behind him.
“The firs’ years are all here.” “Thank you, Hagrid.
I will take them from here.” Professor McGonagall’s expression softened slightly.
With one wave of her wand, the students’ rain-damp and disordered robes became clean and tidy again.
The first-years’ opinion of her improved at once.
McGonagall led them inside.
The Great Hall was ancient, elegant, and almost unreal.
Countless burning torches lined the walls.
Above them, the enchanted ceiling shimmered with stars.
At the far end, the staff table stood across the hall.
In the center sat an old man with silver-white hair, speaking to Snape on his left.
Below the staff table, four long house tables ran lengthwise through the hall.
Candles floated above them, and golden goblets and plates gleamed in the light.
Older students sat on both sides, turning to look at the new arrivals.
In the center of the hall stood a small platform.
On it rested an old, battered hat.
Professor McGonagall did not lead them through the hall immediately.
Instead, she turned to one side and arranged the first-years in a line.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” she said.
“Before you take your seats, you will be sorted into your houses.
When I call your name, you will step onto the platform, sit on the stool, and place the Sorting Hat on your head.
The hat will decide where you belong.” Edmund stood among the first-years and looked at the scene before him.
It felt like a dream.
Excitement rose through him, bright and impossible to suppress.
Hogwarts.
He had arrived.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS AuroraVale Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you a little deeper into the story.
Stay close, because things are only getting more interesting.