Lucky for Michael, he was used to rain. He didn't complain about it, but he was obviously not happy when he was given a raincoat that looked... very mundane. So was his... clothes going to dry or something when he wore it? He shrugged as if to say "what's the harm?", and wore it on.

Nothing happened...

He sighed to himself. He wanted to go home already. All this hassle was for what? To swish a wand and create sparks? He could do that already, with fire. He was going to call his mum and she was going to come. He didn't even know why the first years specifically were taken from a different, muddy path... to a lake.

He looked up. It was dark, but he could hear the water. The lake was... huge. He couldn't see the end of it. Except...

"Wow..." He could only make out the lights of the building ahead, but it was obviously magnificent. He'd seen the pictures on the class books of course, but they didn't do any justice to the real thing. He watched it in awe, with his mouth open slightly. How many floors did it have? How many rooms? How long did it take to walk from one end to the other? These he didn't know, but he wanted to find out.

For once since getting his wand, he was eager yet again. He got onto the nearest boat, didn't even look at the other faces, and just studied the castle as they got nearer...

Lou didn't notice the train ride is over. She loved the long hours she get to spent during travels. Perhaps she was too engrossed with conversations and she managed to take a little nap in between.

It's raining. It didn't bother her but she is definitely not a fan of the puddles it makes. Now it probably will soak up all of their robes. She'd have to drag it to the school. She grabbed some poncho and followed the line up of first years down a steep narrow path. Her eyes widened to the beauty of the lake. Her gaze fell on to the boats nd the lights of the beautiful castle at a distance. The rain didn't cover that up.

Hogwarts! She thought excitedly.

Oh! She almost squealed. She eagerly hopped on to one of the boats and took her seat. She never thought this is how she's going to school. Her adventure gets more and more exciting. She couldn't wait but tell her parents about her experience and term hasn't properly started yet.

As the boats moved towards the castle, her heart skipped a beat. "I've never seen something so magical," she whispered to herself. This is some hing she could only watch in movies. And she just enjoyed the ride.

And just like that it was time again to be back at Hogwarts, ushering in the new first years to their new home for the next several months. While Piers tended to seem grumpy around children, he did actually enjoy this part of his job. Riding across the lake in boats was pretty cool, not the mention the looks on the first years' faces was pretty fun.

The groundskeeper was sitting in the very first boat which was reserved for himself and himself alone and he made sure all the first years were aboard the other boats before sending off the fleet towards the castle. "Make sure to keep all of your limbs inside the boats at all times. I'm not responsible for the creatures under the water's surface that might want to have a first year as a snack."

Once all the boats made it to the boathouse, Piers made sure all the boats got tied up and helped all the first years up onto the dock. After that, he led them up to the castle so they could all get sorted into their houses. The sooner they were sorted, the sooner they could eat.