Magic Everyone Was Good At

After the epic Toad Retrieval Case (Andrew's description, and he would bet that plenty of Hogwarts students in their year would still be talking about it someday), the long journey suddenly came alive.

Satisfied, the idle students from every year returned to their compartments after seeing Harry and got on with their own business. It was the last day of summer holiday, after all. If not for Harry Potter, this time would have been far too precious to waste.

While several students who had realized something was wrong frantically called their friends over and bent over their tables to finish their homework, Professor McGonagall, busy preparing to welcome the new students at Hogwarts, received an owl from the Hogwarts Express.

She read the letter for less than half a minute before going to find Dumbledore, who had appeared in her office right on schedule, with an odd look on her face.

"What's happened, Minerva?"

Dumbledore looked puzzled. "Have the Weasley twins done something on the train? But isn't today the first day of school?"

Judging by years of precedent, there should not have been any rule-breaking today. Students who habitually broke the rules never had much energy for it on the first day. Even the Weasley twins, the hardest to handle in recent years, had not done anything to lose points on their return to school last year.

"It isn't the Weasley twins. It's Potter."

Professor McGonagall handed him the letter.

After a quick read, Dumbledore's expression turned strange too. "On the train, he gathered some of the new students and helped another new student find a toad?"

"But didn't Hagrid say... he was rather shy?"

"That hardly sounds like something a shy student would do. By now, almost everyone on the train knows he helped a classmate before he even started school."

"That's a good thing, Minerva."

"Not necessarily, Albus. There was no conflict this time because they haven't been sorted yet. No one wants their School to lose him before the Sorting. Once he's sorted, I'm afraid we'll have another James..."

"There would be nothing wrong with that. James was a good student too."

With that, Dumbledore settled the matter.

"Where are we?"

Andrew sat up after another nap and asked the question. He had not slept enough to begin with, and once their discussion ended, drowsiness had sent him back to sleep.

"We should be nearly there, right?"

Justin looked a little flustered. "It's getting dark."

"It is." Andrew gave a small yawn. "If we don't arrive until tomorrow morning, I suggest they rename the train. An express has no business being this slow."

"Let's change into our proper clothes. I expect they'll make an announcement soon, and I doubt they'll let us show up on our first day wearing whatever we like."

He was right.

No sooner had they changed than someone came around telling them to prepare to get off.

"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on board. We'll take it to the school for you."

The announcement rang out through the train as well.

"Let's go."

Andrew rubbed his palms together, then pressed them to his face. "Time for the Sorting."

"First Years! First Years, over here!"

On a rather unremarkable platform, a giant who was anything but unremarkable stood holding a lamp and calling out.

From the middle of the group, Andrew saw the man who had to be Hagrid lower his head and murmur something to someone in the crowd. Then he raised his voice again.

"Any more First Years? Follow me!"

The new students soon gathered around Hagrid and followed him onto an extremely rough path.

Surely there ought to be a better way. This bumpy path must be reserved for First Years, so in theory, someone should be telling us how it commemorates the founders' hardships and how they built the school despite such difficult conditions... But no one's saying a word...

Andrew could not tell whether they were meant to draw their own conclusions or their guide had forgotten his speech. The path was so hard to walk, though, that he lost the urge to complain any further.

But after another difficult stretch of path, they finally caught sight of a huge castle in the distance.

As they marveled at it, Hagrid's voice rang out again.

"See those boats? No more than four to a boat!"

So it really is about remembering how our predecessors crossed mountains and water to build the school, is it?

Still grumbling to himself, Andrew squeezed into a boat with the students he had met in his compartment and shifted his Wand somewhere easier to reach.

He had no idea what spell had been cast on the boats. If a group of beginners had been left to row, the ride would have been more exciting than bumper cars. Instead, boats that should have sat still, gone backward, or crashed into one another followed Hagrid's boat with almost no steering at all. They even kept a steady speed.

Andrew's urge to curse vanished, and his grip on his Wand loosened.

Apparently, the school had anticipated the risks. There was no visible protection, but nothing was going to go wrong.

That's magic for you.

With that thought, Andrew even had the leisure to chat with his boatmates and take in the scenery. It really was lovely. If there were fish in the lake, it would be an even better place to cast a line.

After passing through a rather hidden passage, they finally reached something resembling a dock.

"We're here!"

"Ah, Trevor!"

Neville's scream came right after Hagrid's call. His toad apparently had no intention of going ashore.

A small splash followed. Then Andrew heard someone shout, "No!"

A much louder splash came next.

His relaxed mood vanished. He snatched up his Wand and turned toward the sound.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

But it was not one voice. More than a dozen rang out at once. Clearly, everyone had practiced the Levitation Charm diligently.

Neville's toad nearly shot into the sky before its owner caught it with ease.

The other person who had fallen into the water was not so lucky. She was practically hauled back into the boat by her hair, and quite a bit of it came out.

One Levitation Charm was harmless in theory. More than a dozen were another matter.

The pain was one thing. When she saw the hair that had fallen out, she began to sob quietly.

"It's all right. Madam Pomfrey will fix you up in no time. You won't miss the Sorting!"

Hagrid was not especially good at comforting people, but fortunately, he added, "She's good at reattaching anything, even hair."

The girl covered her face, but her sobbing eased a little.

"Let's get to the Castle first. I'll hand the others over to a professor, then take you to the Hospital Wing. You'll be just like you were in no time. Not a single hair will be different."

True to his word, Andrew and the others were soon brought before Professor McGonagall. After a brief explanation to her, Hagrid hurried away with the girl.