HP: Card System

Inside the train carriage, Hermione was practically vibrating with excitement as she flipped through her spellbook.

She had an endless stream of questions, most of them directed at Ted. Every new discovery thrilled her, and her enthusiasm was contagious—at least, to those who were still awake enough to respond.

'Honestly, if I were learning magic for the first time, I'd be even more excited than she was.'

The problem? She kept pestering Ron, Neville, and the other wizard-raised students about what spells they had learned at home. And no, the one that turned a rat's fur pink didn't count.

Ron groaned. "I feel like I'm being personally attacked here."

Neville and Ron exchanged looks of shared shame, wearing the kind of expressions that screamed, 'Yeah, we know we suck, but do you have to remind us?'

Jerry, meanwhile, was practically trembling, avoiding eye contact altogether.

Harley, on the other hand, had plenty to say. She started listing off spells she had picked up from Sirius's unorthodox training.

The Levitation Charm, the Disarming Charm, even a bit of wandless magic. Ted had yet to practice any of those.

In the original timeline, Harry's talent was impressive—but in this version? Harley was something else entirely.

The train rattled along, its rhythmic swaying making it hard to stay awake. The journey stretched on, from noon to sunset, and the destination still felt impossibly far away.

'An express train? More like a sightseeing ride…'

By the time the overhead announcement finally signaled their arrival, darkness had already settled outside the window.

Harley and Hermione were the first to step out, giving the boys a chance to quickly change into their wizarding robes.

One by one, they followed suit, stepping off the train into the cool night air.

The platform was small and bare, barely more than a stop in the middle of nowhere. Beyond the dim station lights, the world was swallowed by shadows.

A towering figure stood nearby, holding a lantern high. His deep, booming voice cut through the night. "First years! Over here! Follow me!"

It was impossible to miss him—three meters tall, built like a walking mountain, with a voice that could shake the ground.

"That's Hagrid," Harley said knowingly. Without hesitation, she lead the others forward. "Come on, let's not get left behind."

"Oh, Harley! Good to see yeh!" Hagrid greeted her warmly, then nodded toward Neville. "And you too, Neville."

They followed Hagrid down a narrow path, weaving through the dense night. After a short walk, the trees parted, revealing a vast, black lake stretching before them.

At the water's edge, a row of small wooden boats bobbed gently, waiting for their passengers.

The rocks near the shore were slick with moss, and Hagrid's voice rang out again. "Mind yer step! Don't go slippin' now—"

Right on cue, two students immediately lost their footing, nearly tumbling straight into the lake.

"Four to a boat! No more than that!"

Harley hopped onto the first boat, already making herself comfortable. Ted and Hermione took the next, while the rest quickly clambered in wherever they could.

Once everyone was seated, Hagrid called out, "Off we go!"

The boats jerked forward all at once, gliding smoothly across the surface of the lake.

Each had a small lantern at its bow, casting just enough light to see by—but not enough to banish the eerie darkness stretching around them.

The water was impossibly still, like a mirror reflecting the night sky. The boats moved without a sound, as if they were floating through the cosmos itself.

No one spoke. A nervous hush had settled over the group, anticipation thick in the air.

Ted let his mind wander. He remembered that the lake housed merfolk—not the elegant, beautiful kind found in fairytales, but the kind that looked like they belonged in a deep-sea horror movie.

And then there was the giant squid of unknown origin.

Freshwater squids weren't a thing, which meant this lake had to be connected to the sea somehow.

Which meant…

'Wait. If this is a saltwater lake, then Hogwarts must be located somewhere west of Loch Lomond, north of Glasgow...'

Before he could spiral further into his geographical deductions, Hagrid's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Turn this bend, and yeh'll get yer first look at Hogwarts."

Ted leaned slightly toward Hermione and whispered, "Make sure you take this in. It's something you'll never forget."

The boats rounded a rocky outcrop, and suddenly—there it was.

Hogwarts.

The castle rose up in the distance, a silhouette of towering spires and ancient stone walls, glowing with the warm golden light of countless windows. It was vast. Majestic. A fairytale fortress come to life.

The closer they drew, the grander it became, until the sheer scale of it nearly took their breath away.

"This is Hogwarts," Ted murmured. "Where the next generation of heroes—and villains—will be made."

Hermione, eyes wide with awe, whispered, "Every first-year takes this route. They say it's meant to make us appreciate the hardships the founders faced when building the school."

Ted hummed. "Or maybe there's more to it than that."

There was something in the air. A deep, ancient magic stirring all around them. As if the castle itself was acknowledging their arrival, binding them to it in an unspoken agreement.

A rite of passage.

He could feel it. The invisible thread of magic linking every student in the boats to the towering fortress ahead.

"Look down!" Hagrid's voice boomed again.

They obeyed, peering over the edges of their boats.

Beneath the dark water, the reflection of Hogwarts shimmered, impossibly clear, as though the castle itself existed in two worlds at once—the one above, and the one below.

The boats glided toward a hidden cave beneath the cliffs, slipping into the shadows as they neared the underground dock.

Hagrid lifted his lantern high, his deep voice rumbling through the night. "Alright, everyone off! Follow me, and watch your step."

The first-years clambered out of the boats, their shoes crunching against the damp stones of the shore.

In front of them loomed a narrow, twisting staircase carved into the rock, stretching upwards into the darkness.

More than two hundred steps later, they emerged onto an open-air square, its stone columns framing the massive, towering entrance to Hogwarts.

Hagrid strode ahead, his enormous fist—roughly the size of a small pumpkin—pounding on the castle's wooden doors. A deep, resonant boom echoed through the square.

A moment later, the doors creaked open, revealing the hunched, scowling figure of Argus Filch.

His thinning hair, or what little was left of it, clung desperately to his scalp, and his sunken eyes darted between the new students as if already searching for troublemakers.

"First-years?" he rasped, his voice like parchment scraping against stone. "Right. They're mine now."

Hagrid snorted, an engine-like rumble in his chest. "Be nice, Filch. They're just kids."

Filch sneered but said nothing, waving the students inside. "Follow me, and no funny business. If I catch anyone trying tricks, you'll regret it."

Ted felt an odd sensation in his mind—like a system notification popping up in a video game.

______________________________

[Ding! New Quest Unlocked: Explore Hogwarts (Red).]

Welcome to Hogwarts, a school filled with history, magic, and more secrets than a locked loot chest. Your goal? Find them. Uncover them. Exploit them.

Quest Goal: Explore Hogwarts.Progress: 1%Rewards: 1000 XP, +1 Skill Point, Random Card

Remember: No night exploration = No real Hogwarts experience.

______________________________

Ted smirked. 'Looks like the adventure's already begun.'

Meanwhile, Filch, despite his age, moved at a brisk pace. The group struggled to keep up after the exhausting climb up the stairs. Many were already winded, their breath coming in short gasps.

Ron muttered, "Is it just me, or is this guy making us run a marathon before school even starts?"

"He's trying to break our spirits early," Neville wheezed, his face red.

Finally, they stopped in front of another set of heavy doors. Filch left them there without a backward glance, mumbling about "undisciplined brats" as he disappeared into the shadows.

The students finally had a moment to catch their breath, and a low murmur of chatter filled the corridor.

Then—

"W-Whoa! Look!"

A few startled gasps rang out as a group of ghosts drifted effortlessly through the walls.

Their misty, translucent forms glowed faintly under the torchlight.

Some of the Muggle-born students recoiled in shock, while others, their curiosity outweighing their fear, reached out to touch the spirits.

"Ah, first-years!" a cheerful voice rang out. "Welcome to Hogwarts!" Nearly Headless Nick, the resident ghost of Gryffindor, floated forward, his ruffled collar barely concealing the nearly-severed head beneath it.

"Pleasure to meet you all! I do hope you'll enjoy your time here—though I must warn you, Peeves the Poltergeist is particularly mischievous this year."

Before any of the students could ask more, the doors creaked open once again. Professor McGonagall emerged, her stern gaze instantly silencing the crowd.

The moment she appeared, every student straightened up instinctively.

"Before we proceed with the Sorting Ceremony," she announced, "I will explain how this process works."

She surveyed them with sharp, calculating eyes. "At Hogwarts, students are sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin.

Your house will be your family while you are here, and your achievements will earn it points towards the House Cup. Misconduct, however, will result in deductions."

Her gaze lingered on Ron, whose nose was still smudged with dirt from their hasty march.

Neville's cloak was slightly crooked, and several other students looked as though they'd just stumbled out of a battle zone rather than arrived at school.

McGonagall pursed her lips but said nothing. Instead, she turned sharply. "Straighten up. The Sorting will begin shortly."

As she disappeared back into the Great Hall, a wave of nervous energy spread among the students. Some whispered anxiously, others speculated wildly about the Sorting process.

Hermione had begun muttering under her breath, her fingers twitching as if she were flipping through an imaginary textbook. "I read all about this—what if we have to perform a spell? What if it's an entrance exam?"

Ted, seeing an opportunity, leaned in and whispered, "You should've practiced calculus."

Hermione's head snapped up so fast it was a miracle she didn't get whiplash. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Ted grinned.

Before she could interrogate him further, McGonagall returned and gestured for them to enter.

The Great Hall was breathtaking. Four long tables stretched down the vast space, filled with students of all ages, their faces glowing in the flickering candlelight.

Floating above them were the enchanted house banners—green for Slytherin, blue for Ravenclaw, red for Gryffindor, and yellow for Hufflepuff.

The most mesmerizing sight, however, was the ceiling. It reflected the night sky above, a sea of twinkling stars stretching infinitely into the darkness.

Hermione gasped, her voice hushed with awe. "I read about this in Hogwarts: A History. It's enchanted to look exactly like the sky outside."

Of course, Hermione's Hogwarts: A History commentary always arrives on time.

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Word count: 1833

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