Pao followed the Groundskeeper in the ever-darkening night. First they were on a street, but they quickly left it for a path. Huffing and puffing slightly due to the steepness of the grade, Pao tried to hold on to Thomas, who was squirming in his pocket. "Thomas, stop it!" WHY did that cage have to pick today to break?

Suddenly a giant glassy sea loomed out of the darkness. Across it lay a massive castle, alight and inviting. It illumined just enough of the path before the group for the first year to see a small fleet of miniature boats floating just off shore. So is that how--?

"AHHhhh!"

Distracted by the view, he hadn't been watching his footing. He stumbled on the rocky path and fell headlong into another student. "OOF!" he groaned upon impact. Further losing his balance, he continued his fall onto the hard, dampish ground, Thomas flying from his pocket along the way. Nooo! At this rate, that toad wouldn't survive one week at Hogwarts.

Trod. Trod. Trod. Stumble just a bit. Trod.

This whole walking to the boats thing was pretty easy once you got the hang off it. Sure she had nearly tripped over just about every bloody stone that laid on the dark ground in all her rush and excitement to get to the boats but that wouldn't deter her! She was on a march to the boats with all the other first years.

Coming to the edge of the lake she could see that the boats were already there. This was the perfect moment to let out a little squeal and so she did. Of course a squeal wouldn't be complete without a little shiver of excitement so there was one of those two as she stood waiting for the next set of instructions. Now that she was so close she could hardly contain herself. Half of her wanted to just jump into one of the boats and just hope it knew where it was going but luckily the other half of her knew better.

Or did it?

Resist Lex; you promised you'd be good...

With a heavy sigh she stood to the side and waited to be joined by the others who she was sure couldn't have been that far behind. Afterall, she hadn't been walking that fast in the first place. See there were already others arriving as well!

She took another step before feeling something collapse right on top of her sending her to the ground and leaving Felix rather unhappy. She shoved off the mass that had fallen on her than realized it was a familiar mass. "Pao!" Merlin she had forgotten that this boy was clumsy. "Are you alright?" Though she should have been half way through strangling him for making her wrist start throbbing again. Man...just when it had stopped!

She watched the figure of a frog land near her then Felix got into a crouching position. Oh no...

Aidan was already excited almost beyond containment, grinning and bouncing along amongst the group of his fellow First Years. But once they rounded a corner, and he could finally see the giant castle he heard about his whole life, that 'containment barrier' broke. And, despite the darkness and unfamiliar terrain, the boy set off toward the empty boats at a run, eager for the experience.

He was just passing the last group of kids before he'd be passing the groundskeeper himself, when he was knocked off his feet by another student, making him grunt at the impact of the boy, and again when he hit the ground....and tumbled a few more feet down a slight slope.

"Oi!" he shouted, grin still plastered to his face. He wasn't mad. Hurt, maybe, but he didn't care. And he definitely wasn't mad. The other boy only helped him advance faster.

Aidan reached down to his fellow First Year, grabbed his hand, and started yanking him. It wasn't really in a 'let me help you up' fashion, but more of a 'let's go!' kind of drag. "Don't lay around! Come on!" he said as he yanked on the boy's arm.

Ari skipped slash jogged after Alexa and hoped that Dylan was following. Watching where she stepped so she didn't fall into the lake or something disasterous like that Ari shouted, "Oi! Lex! Wait up a bit will you!"

Once Ariella had finally caught up to her she noticed Alexa and a young boy, obviously a first year like herself, on the ground and toad hopping around...and a very familiar cat ready to pounce. "Oh boy!" Ariella groaned

Merlin these kids were so anxious to get into these boats, weren't they? So excited they were that they couldn't wait for HIM!!

He was supposed to take them down to the lake. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

Sebastian reigned in the pout that almost formed on his lips and hoping that the two young girls were looking after Pepper and Millie, he ran through the throng of kids on the way down to the boats.

"Excuse me. Sorry." He may have just knocked one of them over in his haste to get to the boats before them. "Out of the way." He said, still in that kind voice even though he was rushing past people and pushing them out of the way.

And then he was there and the boats were in front of him. PHEW!!

"Okay four to a boat please."

Just then Mr. Gibbins ran past a bunch of first year, knocking over a few in the process before making his way to the front. After announcing some instruction Ariella shouted after him, "OI! MR GIBBINS! DO YOU WANT PEPPER BACK NOW!"
Ariella held up the leash to show him...

He recognized that voice. Of course. Who else could he have possibly fallen into? I'm glad it's dark... Though, his skin was usually too dark for people to notice him go red anyways. "Alexa, I'm so sorry! Yeah, I'm fine. You?" He would feel very guilty if he had hurt someone because he wasn't paying attention to where he was going.

He barely had time to register that her cat seemed all too interested in Thomas when another voice broke the silence. Shoot, did I fall into TWO people??? Even better than usual! Next thing he knew he was literally being dragged downhill toward the lake. "Hey! I'm trying, I'm trying!" Because really, he could go faster if he was allowed to walk rather than be dragged. "Alexa, grab Thomas!" he shouted back towards the girl.

It seemed everyone had been tripping over each other. This was all because of poor lightening, she was sure of it.

Getting up slower she winced at the sudden movement of her wrist before reaching over and grabbing the annoying adorable little feline. At the moment both her hands were not at their maximum potential so she didn't want to have to do a lot of chasing and rescuing. With him safely in her hand she turned to Pao for a minute. "Sorry about that." Oh wait but he was apologizing too. The next thing she knew he was being pulled away by some other boy. How rude. Before he got too far he shouted for her to grab Thomas. Uh oh....

She shifted Felix to her right hand that had the hurt wrist then bent to pick up the frog with her left. For a moment she glared at Felix. "If you try anything I'll feed you to the squid and that's a promise."

Then she turned her attention to Mr. Gibbins who had pushed through thee crowd--nearly knocking into the water mind you--so he could get to the front. He was just lucky she was too excited to be offended. She knew she was small but that didn't mean she could be pushed aside and possibly fed to the squid!!

Four to a boat...hmmm...

She looked around to see who might have made the other three for her boat. She saw Ari; that was a pretty good sign...but who else...?

Trying?! The boy obviously wasn't trying very hard!

"Get up!" That was the only way he'd get there faster. ...Unless he wanted to roll there...Which...might be quite fun, actually.

But the slope wasn't THAT steep, so it would be more work than fun. And tonight was all about FUN because THEY WERE FINALLY AT HOGWARTS!!!

Aidan turned to the boy again, this time tugging his hand UP, so he could stand. "Let's race!" he suggested, getting into a take-off position, and waiting for the boy to do the same.

"You okay?" Ariella asked Alexa as she approached her, "What was the second time you've fallen in only...10 minutes..." Ari giggled a bit at Alexa's bad luck, and giggled even more as she scolded her cat, "You know, Felix might get himself into more trouble this year than you!"

Ari, still holding onto Pepper, looked at Alexa and smiled as she asked, "Do you care to join me on a boat ride Miss Cambridge?" Ariella bowed in joking manner and giggled once again

Awarlesta followed the Groundskeeper to the boats. She had the sudden rush of butterflies in her stomach when she realized this was the last ride before approaching Hogwarts. She squealed and jumped excitedly, but stopped when Pegasus started screeching in protest. She smiled and looked for a place in the boats.

Robert had managed to lose Angel somewhere in the crowd of first years as they made their way to the boats. He hung back as much as possible, but ended up in a boat by himself. He adjusted his robes so they covered his pants, horrible tweed ones that they were, forced upon him by his mother. Robert planned to purchase more suitable and less embarrassing pants via owl as soon as was possible.

He looked back towards the shore, wondering who would join him in his boat.

Annie was still holding the Groundskeepers wombat by the time she reached the boats... she didn't know what to do. Was she meant to take it in a boat or give it back to him. Completely confused she just tried to think about what was happening when she noticed that Lex was also standing there with a couple of other firsties!

"Lex!" she said happily moving a bit quicker to catch up to her while being careful of the slightly more restless wombat... apparently it didn't like it while she moved too quickly so she focused on stroking it's fur to try to keep it calm before she gave it the stick. She was gonna prove to the groundskeeper that she could take care of the wombat... speaking of which, she might have to visit it when she arrived at Hogwarts so she made a mental note to drop in on the groundskeeper every once in a while.

He was anyway nice!

"I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?" she asked the fellow first year who she'd met, seemingly ages ago, in Diagon Alley while she was with her brother... who still hadn't re-appeared!!!

Awarlesta approached a boy alone in the boat. Clutching Pegasus, she spoke softly, "Hi, um, do you mind if I join you?"

Dylan started walking towards the boats when he heard yelling, once he got there he saw that Alexa was on the floor with a boy on top of her. She couldnt seem to keep on her feet could she right now.. first the portkey and now this.

He was suddenly shoved out of the way a little as he saw the groundskeeper run towards where the boats were.. very nice Mr Groundskeeper.. just shove a few students out of your way.. why dont you? its not like they were going to harm your precious boats anyways.

He got down to the boats and looked around to see who else was there.. he didnt mind who he went with cause in the end their destination was the same.. the school. "Hi girls.. I saw your fall back there Alexa.. you ok? you sure that boy didnt hurt you too bad?" he chuckled jokingly about the boy falling on her.

As another had yelled at them.. something about racing.. drat! if only he could have been a part of that race.. it would have been fun to see who was fastest!

Robert spotted Angel, who had approached the dock and was talking to another student. He was a bit distracted when another girl approached him where he was sittingin the boat.

"Um, hi. No, not at all please do." He scooted over to the far side of the boat to provide balance for the girl to board. "I'm Robert, by the way".

Awar smiled and took a seat near him. She shook his hand, "I'm Awarlesta. Pleasure to meet you."

Lex turned to see that Ari had made her way over to her. She smiled over at the girl but then began to laugh when she said that Felix would be in more trouble than her. Somehow that seemed very much likely and she didn't put anything passed this little guy. "Yeah no kidding, but of course he'll be behaving for the rest of the trip." She said before glaring down at him once more.

"Ooo, I'd love to!" She said with her friend asked her to ride with her. "It'll be fun and we might even get to see the squid for real!!! Wouldn't that be sooo cool?!" She really wanted to see it but she had no idea how to make it surface for that to happen. Meh...she was sure she would be able to think up something by the time they were half-way across so all was good.

There was her name again. She flashed around, nearly tripping over her own feet as she did. After catching her bearings once more Lex looked around in the dim light and saw Angel. She had lost her on the walk over but seemed to have found her again.

"I know, it's been a while hasn't it?" She said with a chuckle.

Though it had been a long time she could never forget this girl and her brother. They were really hilarious and she still wanted them to both be in her house. Then all of them could hang out and she would be able to meet Dylan and Ari! Oh wait! She could meet her now.

"Oh and this is my friend Ari." She said with a smile, nodded her head towards her other friend, as her hands were pretty full.

__

She turned to Dylan who had asked her if she was fine. Just how many people had seen that fall anyway?? But it wasn't a big deal and at least he wasn't laughing at her so she gave him a nod. "Yup, I'm fine, just a few scratches and an upset Felix but nothing more." Or well...that was what she would tell them no matter what!

"And anyway, we're finally here! Soon we'll be on the other side getting sorted and everything!!! "

Suddenly EVERYONE was running. Or at least it seemed like it. Even VIPmandude. Was this a race? Was there a "best boat" that everyone knew about except him? Well there was certainly no way he was going to get the rinkydink LAAAAAAAAME boat, so he also broke into a sprint.

He ran so fast that he almost slipped and fell over into the shallows. But with a most skillful windmill motion, he managed to maintain his balance. He had chosen the boat on the far left, which was as-of-yet unoccupied. "HA! I HAVE OBTAINED THE BEST BOAT!" he bellowed triumphantly. How unfortunate for all the other students that they had chosen the incorrect boats.

Dylan smiled as she said that she was fine "Thats good.. cant have you being injured before we are sorted" into Ravenclaw of course.. right? He was sure that she still believed that. "Felix will be fine he is a strong guy.. you can tell. Just dont let him near the sides of the boats dont want him freaking out over a bit of water" yup the last thing they needed was a freaked out kitty scratching them all over.

He smiled and nodded "Yeah we are! I know! I cannot wait to get there.. the quicker we get sorted the better. " he just wanted to start exploring the school more than anything.. and also wave a wand or two doing some spells. He hoped they were awesome ones that they start of with not lame ones like a levitating spell or something.

Ariella laughed at her friends, or with them, as they talked about how excited they were to get on a boat and get to the castle, but then again so was Ari!

Ariella turned to face the girl, surprised that she hadn't noticed her before and intorduced herself, even though Alexa had already done so, "Yup! I'm Ari! It's nice to meet you!"

She then turned to look at the boats and noticed some kids were already getting in, "You guys want to get in a boat now?"

Holy cow!! For such a little girl she sure could yell very loudly. Sebastian placed his hands around his mouth and yelled back. "YES PLEASE. BRING HER ON DOWN."

And there was Angel with his little Millie and didn't the wombat just look nice and content with the young Gryffindor. "YO ANGEL. CAN YOU BRING MILLIE OVER HERE PLEASE." It's not that he didn't trust the girls with his pets. It was just...okay he didn't trust them to take them into the boats. When they were back on solid ground then they could play with them again.

Bwahaha!!

Sebastian caught sight of the young Ravenclaw race down to the boats and then almost fall into the water. He shouldn't laugh, but it was too funny not to.

Oh and he thought he had the best boat, did he?

"Nah dude. Mine is the best boat." Because it was the biggest.

Hearing the groundskeepers voice she looked up smiling, and walked over towards him with the wombat comfortably sitting in her arms. It was just sooooo adorable, she was definitely gonna have to visit them all the time, if just to talk to Millie... she hoped he wouldn't mind!

Grinning up at him she willingly, despite not wanting to, passed Millie back to him. "Here you go" she said happily, still thinking about how adorable Millie was... she'd have to get herself a wombat! "She's adorable... can I visit her while we're at Hogwarts?" she decided to ask now, rather than rock up and have her hopes crushed....

Taking the wombat out of Angel's hands, Sebastian smiled down at her warmly. "Of course you can. I think she'll like that. She was rather taken with you." He had the feeling that Millie was going to get quite a few visitors. She WAS extremely ADORABLE, even he had to agree with that.

"You can take her for walks too if you like."