"Over there!"
As the young wizards looked around, a sharp-eyed student pointed above the Forbidden Forest.
An enormous object, a flying shape far larger than an ordinary carriage, appeared to emerge from the moon and flew toward the castle, growing steadily larger.
"It's a dragon!"
A first-year screamed, so excited they didn't know what to do.
An older student beside them curled his lip and corrected them.
"Don't be silly. That's a flying house!"
When the dark, enormous shape caught the light from the castle windows, everyone got a better look.
They could all see that it was a gigantic powder-blue carriage.
It really was as large as a house, drawn through the air by twelve huge, winged golden horses.
They had magnificent silver manes and were roughly the size of elephants.
Hagrid gazed at them in rapture, then hurried forward with a large lantern to guide them in.
The carriage flew lower and descended at tremendous speed. The wind it stirred up sent Hagrid stumbling, and the students in the first three rows hastily backed away.
Rumble!
With a deafening crash, the horses' hooves, each as wide as the mouth of a bowl, slammed into the ground.
The carriage landed too, shuddering on its enormous wheels, while the golden horses shook their massive heads, their huge, fiery red eyes rolling.
The door bore two crossed golden wands, each emitting three stars-the Beauxbatons coat of arms.
The young wizards all stood on tiptoe to look. It was certainly a spectacular, impressive entrance.
The carriage door opened.
A boy in pale blue robes jumped down first, bent over, and unfolded a golden spiral staircase.
A gleaming black high-heeled shoe of extraordinary size emerged from the carriage.
When the woman wearing it appeared, her sheer size was unlike anything the young wizards