(Y/N)'s POV

It was getting dark so it was hard to see, luckily being as tall as I was I towered over the other first years so I could see better than most "But I still have no idea what to do" was one of the worries that pricked at the back of my mind.

Luckily a booming voice directed me "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" I followed the voice and was met with the tallest man I had ever seen, he was at least five feet taller than me and that was saying something, at first glance I was worried that this man was here to take me away from Hogwarts because of my incident with Malfoy.

Then he said " All right there, Harry?" this was when it clicked, when we were on the train Harry had told us about Hagrid the friendly giant who had helped him escape the Dursleys, he was the keeper of the keys and groundskeeper of Hogwarts, and this man certainly met the description, right down to the bushy beard.

"You there, Firs' years only" he said as he pointed to me, I quickly let out a sputtered cry that I was a first year, he replied simply with "Oh" and then continued. "C'mon, follow me -- any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, we followed Hagrid down a narrow path. It was so dark on either side of us "So it must be a forest" I thought or at least thick trees there. Nobody said anything. Neville was sniffling about Trevor, I tried to comfort him as best I could.

"Don't worry Neville, I'm sure one of the teachers can find him for you, maybe you could ask Hagrid when we get there." I pat him on the shoulder. "Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!". I was taken aback; I had been hiking with my Dad and Brother before, but I had never seen anything like this. The castle was huge, I was stunned into silence, my brain only managed to conjure up one thought "Brilliant". My mother and (B/N) descriptions hadn't done it justice.

What happened next was a bit of a blur in my memory, we got onto boats, this is when Neville separated himself from me and I got into one with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but with my large size and Ron's gangly legs it was a bit cramped. The next thing I knew the boats had drifted across the lake.

As we were getting out Hagrid had reunited Neville with his toad, this brought a bigger smile to my face then it should have but I couldn't help but be happy for the guy. After a bit more chatter Hagrid rapped three times on a large wooden castle door with his huge knuckle.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid. When the door opened a woman with a very stern look on her face and some fancy green robes was stood waiting "Thank you, Hagrid I will take them from here" she said in gratitude, she seemed a bit scary but I'm sure she was nice really.

The hall was gigantic, bigger than my entire house, almost my entire block, this filled me with excitement and the giddy feeling I had at almost seeing the yellow rat returned. "Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. 

"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

 This was a particularly long speech but for some reason I was captured by every moment of it. Specifically the outstanding wizards part. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

I immediately checked my posture to make sure I wasn't slouching, and puffed out my chest as much as I could, I would try to straighten out my hair like Harry was trying to but that never got me anywhere, so instead I ran a quick hand through my (H/C) hair, as my mother always said "First impressions are everything."

Ron then muttered one word while talking to Harry that sent me into a panic "Test," I was filled with dread "Mum had never told me we needed a test for Hogwarts, maybe she's not allowed to because it was meant to be secret?" 

"No, calm down, you have read everything you needed to, you have seen Mum doing magic for ages, you will be fine. Besides, if he could get in, I could for sure." I was about to make a mental list of all the spells I knew but my thoughts were halted by ghosts flying by. 

They seemed to be heading to the ceremony, great now I've forgotten everything I've ever read about magic, stupid tests, this always happens, I freeze up and forget everything I've learnt. It happened when Dad sent me to muggle school, and it will happen now.

My mental panic was ended when Professor McGonagall arrived and told everyone to get into lines, I did this on autopilot, I wasn't paying much attention anymore and was just following the crowd and trying to remain calm. We made it to the great hall with all the other students, I heard Hermione somewhere in front of me mention Hogwarts, a History.

Wait. I had read that, I remember it, I racked my brain trying to remember any spell that could help me from that book. Then I realised I'd forgotten about something written in that book, The Sorting Hat my mother told me about, that must be the test.

I was swept with a wave of relief, and for some reason this had led to my body letting out a loud "AHA" before my brain could stop it, once I realised what I had done I wanted to die of embarrassment, and the whole hall erupted into laughter, some of the staff included.

Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. I was right, crisis averted.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and for some reason the hat sung a song, it was a good song but to be honest, I wasn't very interested.

Everyone on the tables loved it though. The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became still again. Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!" A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause –"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

"(Y/N), Bogwood!" Oh no, Of course they would use that name, it was the one on my letter, and my parents only split up after I had received it and even then it was very personal and hush hush, so that was the name they had on the record. 

There were some murmurs from some of the older students and immediately I could feel a wave of pity on my back. I walked past Ron to take my seat and he had a solemn look on his face, now he knew why my name was so familiar, but worse than that was walking past Draco Malfoy who had a smirk on his face.

I took my seat on the stool after pushing to the front, past my friends and walking past Professor McGonagall and after a brief pause, she placed the hat on my head. As the hat dropped over my eyes I was met with a voice, the voice of the hat.

"An interesting one, what can I do with you?" He proceeded to ponder over my flaws and strengths "Clever, loyal to a fault, a bit clumsy, but very cunning, a trait you hide. You take after your brother, but show traits fit for any house, what one do you fit the most?"

This filled me with a twisting sensation in my stomach, so I did the first thing I always do when I'm not sure of what to do, I thought of my brother. So with a new smile on my face filled with good memories I murmured "That's for you to decide I think." 

The Sorting Hat let out a chuckle and said "What if you don't like my judgement?" so I recited one of my father's favourite muggle sayings, I think he got from a band "Let it be." "Very well" the hat smirked. There was a breath of silence. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat bellowed.