1 September 1991 - "[He] was really beautiful. He was handsome — this orphan, this foundling, this outcast."

"Awesome!" I said, my enthusiasm heightening. The train was beginning to slow, and my heart began to race. "Oh... I think we're almost there. I... have to admit, I'm a little nervous."

I grinned at him, but it faltered slightly as the train stopped.  "I am too," I said to him.  What if there was a mistake and they did not know I was here?  I had gotten a letter from Hogwarts, too, and yet my mum wanted me to come here.  I knew she wanted my dad not to taint me with his dark side since we were both so much alike, but still.  I was a little worried.  "I think everything will be fine... I wonder how they do things here... at Hogwarts, they have Houses.  You get sorted by this hat and it's like your family while at school according to my parents."  I was talking quickly and more than what I probably would have due to those nerves.

"You'd have a better idea on that than I would, obviously," I said, totally not even listening anymore. The train had stopped and everyone seemed to be in a mad rush to disembark. "Should we... um, grab our stuff?"

I poked my head careefully out the compartment door.  I pulled it back in and looked at Iggy.  "No one else has theirs," I told him.  "Let's do this."  I was rather excited.

"They must bring it all in for us," I concluded. My heart was racing as Nolan and I left our compartment on the train. As we stepped onto the platform, I looked around and saw what had to be hundreds of students. Knowing that I would not have to embark on whatever this journey was alone made the end of the tunnel a little bit lighter.

Over the noise of the students' chattering, another voice, louder, barked orders. "Everyone line up by your level! By your level! First level, this way! Second level, next!"

I looked back at Nolan. "I imagine that we're first levels, then?" I asked.

<<Sorry, I'm making this up as I go along. Not sure how we want to do the Alma Aleron sorting.>>

<< haha no worries... I cannot remember how it was before. >>

I nodded at him.  "Yeah, we have to be," I said, since it did not seem like there was a level zero which seemed like it would be appropriate for us.  We stood in line and I looked around at the faces.  I was glad to see that the others with us looked as nervous and timid as we did.  At least we were not the only ones who appeared that way.

An older student jostled by Nolan and me, stopping to take a look at us. He was half-irritated, half-understanding. "Newbies?" he asked. When I nodded, he answered, "First level. That way."

I looked at Nolan and smiled. "I guess we go that way."

"I s'pose so," I said, wondering if we were going to get looks like that from all of the older students.  "This is rather chaotic," I noted as we walked in the direction the student had pointed out for us.  I sort of thought it might be more organized.  But then again, with having this many students, it was probably as organized as it could be.

<<I'm trying to think of a not-so-Hogwarts-ish way for them to go to the school. Any thoughts?>>

The woman barking orders drew closer as Nolan and I walked with the other new students. As I looked around, I saw several other clumps of students, each clustered together. The students at the other end of the platform were the oldest, the upcoming graduates I presumed.

"I feel like cattle," I admitted, "being herded here and there."

<< I think you don't want my ideas... all I can think of at the moment is magic carpets lol Unless, to make it seem really scary to first years, they do something similar to Floo network.  Like... (my idea kind of comes from snape's task in HPSS) there's fire and they step through it and they come out in their banquet hall?  Or maybe something odd like the Ministry entrance?  They walk into a hole in a tree (taking this from Once Upon a Time lol) and they're transported inside the castle?  At least those are more creative than magic carpets lol >>

I nodded at Iggy.  "I wonder how we're going to get to the castle?" I whispered quietly as everyone seemed to be waiting patiently.  For what, I had no clue.

<<I think they'd want it to be more awe-inspiring than terrifying, right? I'm trying to think of how the school might be set up - maybe carved into the side of a cliff by the ocean? If you like that, maybe boats are still okay. Or, maybe we can do magic carpets that take them down the side of the cliff?>>

I looked around for a castle, but there wasn't anything surrounding the train station except a lot of forestry. "What castle?" I wondered aloud. I peeked my head around the corner to look outside but still didn't see much of anything. "I don't see anything at all."

<< Oh, I like that idea for the school   And yeah... I think they'd prefer not to terrorize the students lol >>

I was able to get a better look ahead of us and realized that Iggy was right.  There was no castle.  "Oh... I was assuming it'd be like Hogwarts," I said simply, knowing that was a castle.  Apparently nothing was going to be even close.  Hopefully the classes would still be similar -- Ayden and I could help each other still.

<<I'm so sorry about not having posted in awhile!! >>

The woman barking orders marched the newbies, including myself and Nolan, across a bridge that went over the railroad tracks. On the other side was a ledge that looked to fall into a cliff, at the bottom of which was the Atlantic Ocean. I gulped and looked at Nolan apprehensively.

"Two by two!" she commanded, obviously wanting us to step forward and plummet to our deaths. When nobody volunteered, she plucked two others from the front of our group. She steered them toward the edge of the cliff - my heart was racing for them - when a large, plush carpet floated up to their feet.

"Get on," she said, her hands at the smalls of their backs in case of the inevitable hesitation. Just as soon as the two stepped aboard the magic carpet, it began lowering itself down the cliff like an elevator. The first two were out of sight. "Who's next?"

<< No worries   You're busier than me lol! >>

I was rather apprehensive when I saw the ocean splashing down below us.  What were we expected to do?  I was glad that Iggy had the same look on his face that I was sure was written all over mine.  The woman giving instructions grabbed two students from teh front of the group -- I was glad that Iggy and I were not the first ones.  I was not sure if I would have been able to do that.  I saw a magic carpet and was a little relieved.  Mum had spoken of these before.  That would not be so bad, would it?  

When she asked who was next, I looked at Iggy.  "May as well get it over with?" I asked, unsure if he would be willing to go this soon or not.

I shrugged. "It's gotta be us eventually," I said. When Nolan and I stepped forward to volunteer, the woman looked mildly disappointed. I was willing to bet that she rather enjoyed picking students out of the crowd.

As we stepped up to the edge of the cliff, another carpet danced at our feet. It was difficult not to look past the carpet at the seemingly miles and miles of air between me and the ocean below, but with a gulp and a racing heart, I stepped aboard the carpet.