Rose leaned out of the window as the train chugged out of the station. "Goodbye! Goodbye!" she called, waving to the little group of people who were seeing them off. Then as her parents were obscured in the steam from the engine she turned to Albus, who was standing next to her.

"Shall we find a carriage?" she asked. Albus nodded, and the two of them heaved their trunks along the corridor. They had to go halfway along the train before they found an empty compartment. Albus helped Rose manoeuvre her trunk into the luggage rack, and after they had stored his away as well they sat down.

Suddenly Rose noticed that Albus was carrying a cage with a Snowy Owl in it. "Wow! When did you get it?" she exclaimed. "Dad gave her to me last week when we went to Diagon Alley to get my books and stuff. He said she reminded him of his first owl, Hedwig", Albus explained.

At that moment, someone opened the door. "Mind if I sit here?", he asked. "Everywhere else is full." Rose looked up. In the doorway stood the pale, blond-haired boy her father had pointed out in the station—Scorpius Malfoy. She gave a curt nod, tossed a lock of her curly red hair out of her face, and turned to gaze out of the window, as Albus had pulled out his brand-new copy of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them and had begun to read.

As Rose gazed at the countryside flashing by the window she let her thoughts wander back to the first time she had met Scorpius. Two years ago, they had managed to get tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. Because they had purchased the cheapest tickets they could, they had had to arrive two weeks before the game. After a few days she knew her way around the campground, and her parents had let her wander as long as she was back for meals. On one of her trips, she had seen a boy who looked about her age. She had walked up to him, and said: "Hi! I'm Rose. What's your name?" He had smiled and answered: "Scorpius." They had played tag together until she had to go. It had been fun, Rose remembered.

She hadn't seen him again, until the night of the game. She and her parents, her little brother Hugo, Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and her cousins, James, Albus, and Lily, were on their way to the stands. As they had moved towards the entrance, a family of three had come up from behind them. As they passed, Harry and Ron had nodded curtly to the father. She recognized Scorpius, but he had hurried by too fast for her to greet him. After they had gone on, Rose had asked: "Who are they?" "That was Draco Malfoy and his wife and son", her uncle had answered. When she realized she had been playing with a Malfoy, she had been nearly speechless.

She hadn't thought of him since, and now here he was, sitting in her compartment on the Hogwarts Express. She set her jaw stubbornly and continued to gaze fixedly out of the window. Albus was still reading, and there was no way she was talking to him—he was a Malfoy.

It wasn't until it started getting dark that Albus shut his book with a snap and started pulling on his Hogwarts robes. Before Rose knew it, they had arrived at Hogsmeade station. In all the commotion, Scorpius disappeared again. Not that she cared. He's a Malfoy, she told herself. He doesn't matter. Then she heard a voice calling: "Firs' years, over here! Firs' years!" Rose and Albus struggled over to where Hagrid, looking slightly greyer than when her parents had gone to school, was beckoning. "Firs' years? Any more firs' years? Alrigh' then, foller me."

They went down a steep narrow path, through what seemed to be a thick forest. As they rounded a curve in the path, Rose gave a gasp of awe. On the other side of a lake stood a majestic castle, with towers and crenellations and lights everywhere.

Hagrid led them down to the edge of the water, and told them to get into the boats that were there. "No more'n four to a boat! Are yeh all ready? Well then, 'ere we go!" As they travelled across the lake Rose continued to gaze up at the castle. Soon they were at the other side. As they reached the cliff the castle was built on, Hagrid yelled: "Heads down!" They all ducked and the boats entered a tunnel in the cliff. It seemed to go right under Hogwarts itself. They landed at an underground harbour, and once all the first years had clambered out, Hagrid led them up through a passage in the rock, which came out on a smooth expanse of lawn in front of the castle's main doors.

Hagrid took them up a flight of stone steps to the doors, and as he knocked, Rose squirmed her way forward until she was directly behind him. She peered in excitedly as the great doors swung open, wondering what life would be like here at Hogwarts.

The doors opened to reveal a tall, stern-looking witch with auburn hair neatly pulled back into a bun. "I've brought the firs' years, Professor Ffloyd," said Hagrid."Thank you Hagrid. Come along, children, follow me," said Professor Ffloyd in a strong Scottish accent.

She led them across the huge stone entrance hall, which was lit by flickering torches. Opposite them was a marble staircase leading to the upper floors. From a doorway to the right came the sound of hundreds of voices, but Professor Ffloyd took them to a small empty room next to the stairs. They crowded in, and as Rose turned to face the professor she wondered what was coming next.

She and the other first years didn't have long to wait. Professor Ffloyd smiled at them all, and began: "First of all, welcome to Hogwarts. We will shortly begin the start-of-term feast, but before that, you will all be sorted into your houses." Rose had heard about the beginning-of-term speech that was given to the first years, so she let her attention wander as Professor Ffloyd explained the Sorting. "…it will take place in a few minutes in the Great Hall. I will come get you when we are ready. Please wait quietly."

A few minutes later she came back, told them all to line up behind her, and led them across the Entrance Hall to the doors Rose had noticed before. The Great Hall was lit by hundreds of floating candles, and when Rose looked up past them she could see the enchanted ceiling her mother had told her about. Professor Ffloyd took them up to the front between two of the four long tables that were filled with students. She lined them up in front of a stool with an old hat on it.

Rose had heard about the School Sorting Hat, and was looking forward to hearing its song—that is, until she realized who she was standing next to. Scorpius Malfoy again. She was so busy ignoring him that she scarcely heard the Hat describing the qualities of the four Houses and its own role in Sorting the students.

The hall burst into applause as the Sorting Hat finished singing; then Professor Ffloyd stepped forward, holding a scroll. "When I call your name, you will step forward, put the Hat on, and sit on the stool," she said. Then she unrolled her scroll and began.

"Ackerley, Michelle!" A brown-haired girl with glasses shyly walked forward, put on the Hat, which nearly covered her face, and sat down. After a moment's pause, a rip in the Hat opened and it shouted: "RAVENCLAW!" "Belby, George!" was also made a Ravenclaw, but then "Bletchley, Tracie!" became the first new Slytherin. Rose looked over to the Slytherin table. As "Bones, Thomas!" was Sorted into Hufflepuff, she studied the faces. She had heard a lot about Slytherin from her dad. They didn't seem to be that pleasant, to put it mildly.

A few people later, "Creevey, Emma!" was the first to be Sorted into Gryffindor. As Rose gazed at the table on the far left, to which Emma was now making her way, she hoped that she would be sitting there next year, cheering the new arrivals. She brought her attention back to the Sorting. By the time "Goldstein, Luther!" ("RAVENCLAW!"), "Johnson, Roger!" ("GRYFFINDOR!"), and "Macmillan, Steven!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!") had been Sorted, her stomach was starting to grumble hungrily. They were more than halfway through, however, so she supposed she could wait.

Suddenly she heard Professor Ffloyd call out: "Malfoy, Scorpius!" She watched in spite of herself as Scorpius walked forward, put on the Hat, and sat down. It seemed ages before the Hat finally bellowed: "SLYTHERIN!" Rose wasn't surprised. But she wondered why it had taken so long; she had assumed he would be put in Slytherin immediately.

The next few people were all Slytherins. Then she heard: "Potter, Albus!" She held her breath as her cousin put on the Hat. A few seconds later it shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!" She looked over to the Gryffindor table, where her cousins Dominique, Louis, Molly, Fred, Roxanne, and James were cheering Albus' arrival.

"Smith, Arthur!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Spinnet, Peter!" "GRYFFINDOR!" Stevens, Maria!" "RAVENCLAW!" "Thomas, Margaret!" "GRYFFINDOR!" "Weasley, Lucy!" Another one of Rose's red-haired cousins stepped forward. "GRYFFINDOR!" Smiling, Lucy went to sit next to her older sister, Molly.

Then Professor Ffloyd called out: "Weasley, Rose!" Rose gulped, walked forward, put on the Hat, and sat down. A little voice in her ear said: "Another Weasley, eh? You've got courage, no doubt about that. But you've got brains as well. You could do well in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Now, which one should I put you in?" Rose gripped the edge of the stool and thought: "Please Gryffindor. I want to be in Gryffindor." "If you wish," said the Hat. It bellowed to the rest of the school: "GRYFFINDOR!" As she took off the Hat and went to sit by her cousin, she was so happy she didn't notice Scorpius Malfoy staring at her from the Slytherin table.

There were only three people left now. "Whitby, Anne!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Wood, Mark!" "GRYFFINDOR!" "Zabini, Leora!" "SLYTHERIN!" Professor Ffloyd rolled up her scroll and took away the Sorting Hat.

At the High table, a witch wearing emerald-green robes stood up. Rose recognized her as Professor McGonagall. The Headmistress of Hogwarts had been at their house before, so Rose knew what she was like. "There is," the Head began, "a time for eating, and a time for fasting; a time for giving speeches, and a time for being silent. I would like to say a few words before we start our feast. They are: I hope you enjoy it!"

Food appeared all along the tables, and everyone began eating. After the remains of the last course had vanished, everyone began trooping up to bed. Rose heard her cousin Dominique calling: "First years, follow me!" Rose and Lucy squirmed through the crowd to join the other first years as they followed Dominique up the marble staircase. She led them through what seemed like hundreds of corridors and up several flights of steps to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady, who still guarded the portrait hole, asked: "Password?" "Flobberworm," Dominique answered. Once inside Gryffindor Tower, she directed the boys up one set of stairs to their dormitory, and the girls up another. Rose fell sleepily into bed, wondering if she'd ever find her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.