Unknowingly, the children lost track of time as the prefect reminded them that they had reached Hogsmead. The boys grabbed their gowns or uniforms and immediately put them over their existing clothes without a care in the world, talking among themselves.
Harry was fully engaged in this small happiness he now had after his closed-door making potions and elixirs, walking with ease and a smile blooming like a summer flower.
As the last person from their group to come down, Harry suddenly saw the looming giant standing with his hand holding the lamp over the children with little light to illuminate the pathway of the children. Harry found it amusing and walked alongside the pavement behind Edmund, the silent kid.
Somehow, the four children came from the same background, which is strange considering they were at the orphanage and they both have magical potential to become wizards and witches.
Not only that, they were strange, so strange that Harry had to constantly try to understand their terminology during their games but he fully enjoyed the train ride.
"Ah, it seems the boat can only carry four," Lucy exclaimed, looking at the floating boat and turning to Peter and then to Susan.
"You siblings board one boat, I'll find another one and join them." Harry waved his hand and walked to the boat beside them and settled down. Not long after, Edmund joined him without saying anything.
"Well, Lucy, Susan, climb on. Edmund will join Harry. It's not like we will go to a different destination," Peter, seemingly the eldest among the twins, suggests, and the siblings obey without complaining.
Harry smiled at that interaction, somewhat envious of the four twins, but averted his gaze and stared at the distant castle he could see thanks to his magical specs.
"Mm, quite the weather in the middle of September," he said, looking at the bright moon illuminating the lake with its milky light sparkling at the surface of the lake. The sight greatly made Harry truly admire it.
"All aboard?" He heard the booming voice of Hagrid from one of the boats as he looked to the shore and saw the senior students follow the headboy and girl to the carriage manned by the invisible skeletal horses known as Thestrals.
"Forward," Hagrid commanded, and the boats jerked upstream, causing small exclamations and gasping from the unprepared students.
Harry looked around and then at the lake and fell into deep thought. The four children whom he played with on the train were quadruples and what is really strange is that they were all growing up in the same orphanage and also became magical.
Thinking about it was strange in itself, the same with the way they acted, as if they could read each other's thoughts, and the way they spoke with mixed language and behavioural maturity shown by them with the grace of royalties made him think of royalty.
"It's quite peaceful and serene." He heard Edmund speak with a touch of weariness in his tone. Harry looked at him and then at the three on the different boats and also saw the peace between their eyebrows and fell into another thought.
"Could they be like the man that fight over my body?" He thought but dismissed such a thought and refocused on the water and other stuff.
Not long after, Harry got to see the view of Hogwarts with the students. Everyone was staring with awe and amazement at the coming castle figure amidst the full moon's light.
"Welcome to Hogwarts." They heard the half-giant words echo through the lake with a warm and welcoming tone at the edge of his tongue.
"Indeed, such a beautiful sight silently enhanced by the moonlight as a background for the view," Harry exclaimed softly with Edmund nodding his head in agreement.
"We have arrived!"
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Inside the Hallroom, a certain old man, long greybeard with sun shape spectacle can be seen squinting his eyes trying to solve Harry's mysterious location or place of settlement.
He had heard from his agent about the boy not returning to the Dursleys and had frantically searched for him.
That was until weeks ago when Harry constantly appeared at Diagon Alley and at St. Mungus Hospital with Ted Tonks, a Muggle wizard.
Not only that, Albus managed to get insight into certain potions and elixirs that were produced by the Potter boy. 'Indeed, he is the child of House Potter.'
He sighs in exasperation at the talent Harry showed but does not overly react to it. What worries him the most is that he can't keep track of Harry and the vault that he was using as his own pension was no longer accessible to him thanks to Hagrid's stupidity.
'Now that the boy is here, I can start testing whether his mother's protection spell is still active and see if I can mould him to become the saviour of the British Wizarding World.' He muses when the door to the Great Hall is pushed open with Professor McGonagall walking in with first years following behind him like curious ducklings.
Albus immediately locked onto the messy hair and a glint of light flashed through his eyes. 'There you are, my boy. You worry this old man.'
Seeing him in the flesh, Albus finally relaxed a little bit.
"I will call your names one by one and put this hat on when I call your names, am I clear?" Every first-year student nods their head with visible discomfort and anxiety due to their new environment.
"Good, you may begin."
Not long after she said that, the hat on the stool suddenly moved and split while projecting a voice.
This caused another funny reaction from the children and it also marked their journey in Hogwarts.