Near the end of the passage, even the air seemed a little different, carrying a damp chill and a faint watery smell.
Hagrid's gruff voice echoed through the narrow passage. "Round this bend, and you'll get your first look at Hogwarts."
He had barely finished speaking when irrepressible gasps of wonder rose from the front of the group.
At the end of the narrow path, a vast black lake suddenly opened before them.
Its surface was like a mirror, reflecting the night sky and the stars.
Looking across the lake, they could see the brightly lit Hogwarts Castle atop a distant mountain.
At that moment, every first-year was struck speechless by the sight.
The castle stood on a mountain across the lake.
More precisely, it had been built atop a mountain whose summit had been leveled.
That flat summit and the towering castle spoke silently of their builders' extraordinary mastery of magic.
The thought that the four Founders of Hogwarts had laid its foundations themselves made that awe feel all the more natural.
Warm light shone from countless windows, outlining the castle against the pitch-black sky like an enormous jewel set into the mountaintop.
Even the starlight seemed a little dimmer before it.
Hagrid pointed to the rows of little boats bobbing gently on the water by the shore and called, "No more than four to a boat!"
His voice struck like a heavy hammer, bringing the young witches and wizards back to reality from their awed reverie.
"You two," Draco said, tipping his chin toward Goyle and Vincent, "go get a boat of your own."
Goyle froze. His enormous head turned slowly toward the boats, then he looked down at himself, his face showing pure, slow-to-arrive confusion. "Boss... why?"
"Didn't Hagrid say no more than four to a boat?" Vincent asked, puzzled as well.
"Exactly," Draco confirmed. "But he didn't say there had to be four in every boat. Wouldn't you two be more comfortable with one to yourselves?"
The logic was unassailable.
Goyle blinked, as though this sudden "consideration" and "math problem" had struck some seldom-used region of his brain. He stood dumbfounded for several seconds before nodding rather thickly. "Yeah..."
But then he looked even more aggrieved. "But boss, we want to sit with you."
"Get lost," Draco said bluntly. "Once that huge backside of yours sits down, I might as well stand."
"Pfft-"
A stifled laugh escaped from Hermione's group.
Ron hurriedly covered his mouth, but his shoulders shook like leaves in the wind.
He nudged Harry beside him and forced a breathy whisper through his teeth. "Merlin's beard... he might be a git... but he's bloody right about that!"
Goyle froze, then actually looked down at himself and back at the narrow boat, his simple face showing both realization and hurt. "Oh..."
Vincent grinned stupidly and patted Goyle's shoulder, as if to say, "The boss is right," then told Draco, "Then we'll... take the boat behind yours and follow you."
Harry could not help it either; the corners of his mouth curled upward.
The scene really was rather comical, even a little... real.
Hermione raised one eyebrow slightly, showing a trace of exasperation that said, "Oh, honestly."
She quickly turned her gaze away from this thoroughly inefficient conversation toward the outline of the castle across the Black Lake, as though estimating the distance and the magical creatures that might lurk in the water.
Childish, but at least harmless, and-it did objectively ease the atmosphere.
Lavender recovered from the shame and anger of Pansy's earlier mockery. This turn of events startled her too, before she burst into a little laugh.
She watched Draco's impatient, matter-of-fact expression, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
"Oh," she whispered to Parvati, "even the way he finds people annoying has such style... Actually, he wants his friends to be more comfortable, doesn't he?"
The rose-tinted filter could always be applied with precision, no matter when or where.
As for Pansy beside Draco, she covered her mouth with her sleeve and gave several smug, silvery snickers.
She shot Draco a look that said, "See? You're still the best at handling them." The anger Lavender and Hermione had stirred in her earlier faded considerably in the face of this joke, which displayed his absolute control and their little group's "closeness."
"Ha ha, you little rascal!" Hagrid's rough laughter rolled across the lake like muffled thunder as he herded the first-years toward the boats like ducklings. "But don't worry, these boats are enchanted. They're sturdy! Goyle, Vincent, you two take that one! Come on, everyone aboard, no dawdling!"
A ripple of quiet, good-natured laughter and whispers spread across the landing.
Tension and awkwardness receded like the tide, replaced by a relaxed sense of novelty.
Could that big fellow really fill an entire boat?
Malfoy had such a sharp tongue... but their relationship seemed pretty interesting?
Paying no further attention to everyone's reactions, Draco stepped into an empty boat first, his movements fluid and elegant.
Pansy swiftly followed like a shadow, claiming the seat beside him.
Scratching their heads, Goyle and Vincent obediently climbed into the boat behind them. It sank visibly lower in the water, drawing another ripple of chuckles.
The lake shimmered, reflecting the starry sky and the castle lights.
The boats glided silently toward the middle of the lake, as though drawn by an invisible hand.
The light, the argument, the comparisons, the mockery in the passage earlier... all dissolved like fading ink into the damp night breeze.
What filled their minds now was the majestic, mysterious castle drawing ever closer, the cold lake beneath their feet, the moonlight, and the excitement of the unknown.
A blond boy who had just unexpectedly eased the atmosphere with a sharp-tongued joke about a "huge backside," and had also left certain people with a first impression just a little more complicated than simple "dislike."
Once everyone had boarded, Hagrid asked conscientiously, "Anyone still not in a boat?"
No one answered.
Hagrid nodded. "All right, off we go."
On the shimmering lake, the little boats moved like a migrating herd of black animals, orderly and quiet.
Everyone remained silent, gazing at the enormous castle soaring into the clouds, their hearts filled with an indescribable awe.
As they approached the cliff on which the castle stood, they could only see it by tilting their heads back.
The castle seemed to loom over their heads like a sleeping behemoth, silently looking down upon these newly arrived young witches and wizards.
As the first boats neared the cliff face, Hagrid suddenly shouted, "Heads down, everyone!"
The thunderous voice jolted the students out of their absorption in the magnificent scenery, and they hastily ducked.
The boats glided along the cliff face, passed through a curtain of ivy covering its base, and entered a cavern carved out beneath the cliff.
By the light of a wand, they saw that the passage had been fashioned into a tunnel, with ancient runes and patterns carved into its stone walls. Damp air washed over their faces.
As the boats slowly moved deeper inside, they seemed to reach a point beneath the castle, finally arriving at something like an underground harbor.
Hagrid led the students off the boats, checked that no one remained aboard, then counted the boats. Once he had confirmed everything was in order, he said, "Follow me."
A winding stone staircase climbed along the cliff, its steps worn smooth but still bearing the marks of time.
They followed Hagrid up the stone steps, their footsteps echoing through the narrow space.
At last, they reached an enormous oak door.
The thick door was carved with intricate patterns, and its iron knocker gleamed coldly in the firelight.
Hagrid knocked three times with his enormous fist.
Thump-thump-thump-
The door opened at once, as though someone had been waiting there for a long time.
Sure enough, once it opened, a tall, thin, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood at the entrance to greet them.
She stood as straight as a pine, her hands folded in front of her, her expression stern and unsmiling.
Her eyes were like two precisely calibrated rulers, sweeping quickly and methodically over every face, as though completing an initial assessment of these first-years in an instant.
Professor McGonagall's gaze lingered on Hermione's face for half a second longer, as though giving a little extra attention to this young girl whose eyes held calm and curiosity.
Hagrid grinned. "All the first-years are here, Professor McGonagall."
Professor McGonagall gave a slight nod. "Thank you for your efforts, Hagrid. I'll take it from here."
With that, she raised a hand and pulled the door wide open.
The students could finally see inside-
Torches stood at intervals along the stone walls on either side, their dancing flames lighting the interior brightly.
The ceiling was so high that, standing there, they could scarcely sense its existence, as though there were another night sky overhead.
They followed Professor McGonagall along a grand Marble Staircase. The stairs were broad and gently sloping, and their footsteps echoed through the lofty space.
A hubbub already came from the right, mingled with laughter and the crisp clatter of tableware.
"At last, we get to see the first-years all nervous when the Sorting Hat sorts them," an older student said in a low voice.
"Yeah," someone beside him said, exposing his past embarrassment. "Back then, you sat there like a good little baby, like a prisoner waiting for judgment."
The first retorted, "You weren't much better. I was worried you'd leak some unidentified liquid on the spot and make a laughingstock of yourself."
Someone else stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, we were all the same. Let's just watch the first-years make fools of themselves."
No more arguing between the two was heard after that; presumably, they had only been teasing each other earlier.
But this conversation made the already nervous first-years even more apprehensive.
Sorting? Judgment? Making fools of themselves?
One unfamiliar term after another circled through their minds like little black bats, beating their wings and stirring up waves of unease.