The Marauders: Year One

The remainder of the train ride had gone without incident and the boys had managed to get off of the train without running into the red-haired girl again. On the way out of the train they saw a tall, sandy haired boy talking with two redheaded, freckled twins. He was talking very loudly about quidditch, and through the conversation the boys deduced he was in their year.

"I certainly hope I don't end up in his house, whoever he is," Remus said. "I don't like quidditch very much."

"Are you mad?" James asked. James, upon learning that he'd be attending Hogwarts, had been training on his broom so he could play chaser for the team. He doubted that a first year would make it onto the house team, but it was worth a shot if they were going to make tryouts open.

Before Remus could answer, the boys heard a booming voice yelling for them to move towards it. Peter saw the owner of the voice first, which was interesting because he was easily the shortest member of the group, though the voice did belong to someone rather tall. The rest of the boys noticed shortly after Peter began pointing in the direction of the giant, hairy man who was yelling for first years and ringing a bell. They walked over to him...very, very slowly.

"Firs' years on the boats!" the giant thundered, picking up Peter in one arm and Sirius in the other, dropping them quickly in a wooden boat. James and Remus followed quickly after and were plopped down next to Peter and Sirius. The giant man gave the boat a good hard kick and it was off, moving on its own towards an enormous castle in the distance. They looked across the way and saw the sandy haired boy and the pair of twins having trouble with their boat.

"I think they're going to capsize," James said, a devilish grin coming to his face.

"Should we ask if they need help?" Peter asked.

"Of course not. What are we going to do? We'd end up capsizing ourselves, you dolt," Sirius chided, content to merely watch the peril of the three boys in the nearby boat. The boy with sandy hair stood up, gained his balance and drew his wand, firing a blue bolt out of it that managed to steady the boat.

"Oh..." Remus said, "He's good. I certainly hope I don't end up in his house."

The other three boys just looked at Remus with a look of puzzlement in their eyes. After a round of sighs and head shakings, the boys felt the boat jerk to a stop as it struck a small stone embankment that led up to the castle doors. As the boys jumped off of the boat, Remus quickly moved over towards the sandy haired boy and the pair of twins.

"I saw your steadying charm back there," Remus said. "Not bad."

"Thanks," the boy said, flashing a handsome grin and extending a hand that was rather large for an eleven year old. "Frank Longbottom. These are my friends, Fabian and Gideon Prewitt, what's your name then, mate?"

"Remus Lupin," Remus answered, shaking his hand. He was acting polite, but his real intention of coming over had been to size Frank up. Considering that all he was good at up to this point was spells and reading, he didn't want competition if he could avoid it. Or, if he had to have competition, he hoped he was in Ravenclaw, where it was expected. With a goodbye wave, Remus quickly jogged off to follow his three friends from the train.

"I can't believe he can already do a steadying charm," Remus mumbled when he'd reached the others.

"Can you?" Peter asked, quite innocent in his attempt to get into the conversation. Remus replied with a sour look, and Peter knew exactly what the answer was. They moved through the middle of the large group of first year students until the large doors creaked open and they were beckoned in by a severe looking woman with square spectacles.

"Welcome," the woman said after leading the group to the top of a flight of stone steps. "I am Professor McGonagall. You will wait here for a few moments, and then the doors to the great hall will open. You will stand in a group at the front of the hall and wait until your name is called to be sorted. You will be sorted into one of four houses. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. Remain here until the doors open."

"What house do you lads want?" James asked the other three. "I'm looking for Gryffindor myself. My mum was a Ravenclaw, but my dad was Gryffindor, so I've got my fingers crossed."

Remus yawned and said, "Ravenclaw, hopefully. Gryffindor would be alright, I suppose."

"My mum was a Hufflepuff. Dunno what my dad was," Peter mused. "I imagine Hufflepuff would be rather nice, actually."

"I'd like Gryffindor, but I'll probably land Slytherin because I'm a Black," Sirius said, a note of disgust in his voice. "Every member of my family has been a Slytherin...why should I be any different?"

Just then a pale girl with jet black hair pushed Sirius from behind, almost causing him to topple. She seemed to have thought that had been rather funny, and Sirius, it seemed to the others, knew who she was. He did in fact. It was his cousin, Bellatrix Black, flanked by three boys. One of the three was short, thin, and gaunt, with a nose like a meat hook and shoulder length black hair. The other two were larger, and could've been brothers.

"Hello there, cousin," Bellatrix said. "Have you met my friends? You'll get to know them well enough when we're sorted into Slytherin I suppose."

She introduced the gaunt boy as Severus Snape. Upon being introduced he said nothing and didn't change his expression. He just stood with a look on his face that seemed to say that he knew he was better than the boys he was being introduced to. Bellatrix introduced the large boys as Crabbe and Goyle.

"Lovely to meet you, but really, I don't care," Sirius spat, turning back towards the doors. Bellatrix wound up to hit him on the back of the head, but the doors began to open just as she did so and her hand snapped back down to her side before anyone of authority could see what she'd been about to do. The troop of first years marched forward and saw the sorting hat sitting on a stool up on a raised stage like area. Those in the back didn't really notice though. They were too awed by the colors and sights of the great hall in full swing. Floating candles cast everything in a warm orange light and the star filled night sky shone clearly on the ceiling.

Before anyone knew what was happening, the sorting hat began singing. It sang a song of the founders and of how Gryffindor chose the brave, Slytherin the cunning, Ravenclaw the intelligent, and Hufflepuff the kind. After finishing its song, the hat began barking names.

"Black, Bellatrix!" The hat called out. Bellatrix slinked through the crowd, walking in such a way that most people would've thought entirely inappropriate of an eleven year old girl. Professor McGonagall stood with the hat in her hand and placed it on Bellatrix's head. Within two seconds the hat made the obvious decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table, under its green and silver banners, erupted in cheers as Bellatrix winked at Sirius and slinked off in her way towards it. Everyone sat in suspense, wondering who would be called up next. Sirius knew full well it would be him, so he had already begun pushing his way to the front.

"Mr. Black, you were not called," the Professor whispered sharply as Sirius got o the platform.

"Yeah, yeah, just put the hat on me. Let's get it over with. Slytherin it is," Sirius mumbled as he sat down. McGonagall, though obviously taken aback, put the hat on his head.

The hat spoke, but only to Sirius as it said, "Slytherin it is, eh? Is that really the way you want to go? I know I don't want to make you a Hufflepuff. Kind, hard working...perhaps later, but not now. You're smart...but not Ravenclaw's smart...quite brave...and quite pure-blooded."

Sirius whispered to the hat, "If you could put me in Gryffindor that'd be lovely actually."

"Gryffindor? Are you certain? You'd do well in Gryffindor or Slytherin...but I know a tough sell when I see one," the hat muttered before yelling out loud. "GRYFFINDOR!!!"

Sirius stood, a cocky smirk on his face as he looked to the Slytherin table where his cousin sat in shocked silence as the Gryffindor table yelled uproariously. He winked at Bellatrix, a mock version of what she'd done earlier, and sat with his new housemates.

After Sirius sat more people were sorted, Crabbe and Goyle were both sorted into Slytherin, and the hat paused for a moment before selecting its next victim. The has was going in alphabetical order, but being that few people knew many others, it was hard to tell when your name would come up.

"Evans, Lillith!" the hat called out, prompting the redheaded girl from before to trot quickly up to the stool, where she was very quickly placed into Gryffindor. It was the fastest sorting to take place all night, and the boys sincerely hoped that James would be able to stop staring at her. It would be rather embarrassing to miss your own call for staring at a girl.

"Higgins, Alice!" the had yelped. A nervous looking girl with curly brown hair stepped up slowly onto the stage. She sat on the stool, shaking like a leaf as McGonagall put the hat on her head.

"SHE'S A HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat bellowed, causing Alice to smile and practically skip off. The Hufflepuff table, which had only seen one first year up to that point, went mad with cheering when the announcement was made.

After many more names and many more bellowed house assignments the hat said, "Longbottom, Franklin!"

The sandy haired boy from before stood tall and proud as he marched up to the podium and sat under the hat, his handsome smile plastered to his face. Remus was really beginning to resent that stupid grin and he tried to cajole the other two that remained unsorted into disliking it as well.

"How stupid...don't you think he's stupid looking? I'll bet he's stupid," Remus whispered.

"You said yourself that he's good," James muttered. Peter just nodded vigorously in agreement with James. Remus chose to speak no more on the matter, realizing that the others just didn't understand.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat barked, sending Frank, with his proud grin still on his face, towards the whooping Gryffindor table, where he sat close to Sirius. Remus couldn't say that he hadn't expected that.

A few more sortings later the hat finally called out, "Lupin, Remus!"

Remus went up to the stage, trying desperately to remain calm under pressure and thinking he was doing rather well at it. What everyone else saw was just another nervous first year about to be sorted.

"Well, well, well," the hat said to Remus. "You're a Ravenclaw type then, eh? Well...that being the case, I know what I must do..."

Remus was quite glad about what the hat had said to him until it yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!!!"

"What?" Remus asked the hat as it was taken from his head. "What? What about Ravenclaw?"

Remus turned and tried to grab for the hat, but failed, and knew he was resigned to his fate. Why had the hat chosen Gryffindor after saying that he would be a good candidate for Ravenclaw? It didn't make any sense, but he'd read that the hat's decisions were always right, and always final, so he went to sit next to Sirius, slightly deflated.

"Cheer up there, Remus," Frank said to him as he passed. "There are worse places to be. You could've ended up a Slytherin."

Remus paid him no mind and plopped himself down next to Sirius and continued to watch the sorting ceremony. The hat went through a few more names. A number of people ended up as Ravenclaws, a few more Hufflepuffs, and many, many more Slytherins.

"Pettigrew, Peter!" the hat cried. Peter, shaking worse than Alice Higgins had been, walked up to the stool, tripping on one of the steps along the way. He just hoped that he didn't cry from nervousness.

"I see we have a family history in Hufflepuff," the hat said, comforting Peter slightly. "While that wouldn't be a bad choice, I see something in you...something that makes me want to say...GRYFFINDOR!!!"

Peter gasped audibly, or as audibly as possible over the cheers of the Gryffindor table, before being prodded off of the stool from behind by Professor McGonagall and stumbling towards Sirius and Remus.

"Lovely work there, Peter," Sirius said, shaking his hand. "If we get James the whole gang will be in Gryffindor."

As luck would have it, the next name called out was, "Potter, James!"

James sauntered up to the stool, knowing exactly where he would be placed. He was right too. The hat hadn't even touched his head before making him a Gryffindor. More cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table, and yet more after the Prewitt twins were both sorted into Gryffindor as well. The sorting ceremony finished a few names later and eating began.

"Well, lads," James said, putting a hand in to the middle of the table. "Here's to a good first year."

The other boys, Sirius, Peter, and Remus all put their hands on top of his and chorused, "Too a good first year!"