Julian came up with a way to kill time using the Every Flavour Beans they had piled up, and it turned out to be ridiculously entertaining. He dubbed the game "Blind Man's Luck." The rules were simple but chaotic. One person who was not playing that round would quietly pick out four beans and set them down. The players, however, had to sit with their eyes squeezed shut and call out a color. The first person to name a color that matched at least one of the beans laid out had to proudly announce themselves as the lucky blind man, then reach out at random, grab a bean, and eat it. If the flavor turned out to be pleasant, they earned a point, another bean was added to the pile, and the next round began. This continued until someone managed to collect three points.
If the bean tasted revolting though, that player lost a point instead, and if they somehow sank to negative three points, they were officially declared the loser. The first demonstration round was between Julian and Harry, since Ron could not quite wrap his head around the instructions and wanted to see it in action. When they finally finished that first match, Julian had scraped together a total of five positive points with two points lost along the way, while Harry had earned four points and lost two before Julian hit the winning three. After that, they rotated roles so all three of them took turns playing and choosing beans, each experiencing both triumphant wins and disastrous losses.
Eventually, the game came to a natural end when they realized they had simply run out of beans to gamble with.
"That was bloody brilliant, mate! I had loads of fun!" Ron said, grinning from ear to ear. He was especially pleased since he ended up with the most overall wins.
Julian and Harry agreed without hesitation that it was a fantastic little game for friends stuck on a long ride.
By the time the Hogwarts Express finally slowed and pulled into the station at Hogsmeade, the sun was already dipping toward the horizon, painting the sky with late evening colors. They left their trunks and other luggage on the train, having been assured that everything would be sent up to their dormitories after they were sorted.
...
"My brothers told me we had to fight a troll to get sorted," Ron said nervously as they climbed down from the train, his face pale at the idea.
Julian barely heard him at first, his attention suddenly snagged by something in the distance. Beyond the crowd, he spotted several carriages hitched to pale, skeletal, horse-like creatures with ragged wings and milky white eyes. Thestrals. Creatures that could only be seen by those who had witnessed death and truly understood what it meant. They were watching Julian with the same eerie focus that he was giving them.
It felt strangely unsettling and yet oddly natural. Julian could not quite put the sensation into words, but there was a faint tug of familiarity, as if some invisible thread linked him to the beasts. A quiet kinship, impossible to ignore.
Probably because I have died before, he thought, soberly turning the notion over in his mind before forcing himself to focus again.
Pushing the feeling aside, he turned away from the carriages and hurried to where Hagrid was shouting for first years to gather. Harry, Ron, and Julian ended up in one of the little boats with the half-giant, which did nothing to settle their nerves. The craft floated so close to the water's surface that they felt one bad wobble would tip them all in.
At least none of them went overboard like Neville, who managed to fall in and was only saved from an embarrassing disaster by the giant, friendly, magical squid that lived in the lake. Julian had a nagging suspicion that the creature was not actually a simple squid at all, but something more like a kraken. Without proof though, and with no one likely to confirm such a theory, he doubted he would ever learn the truth.
He could not help a quiet chuckle when Hagrid called out for them to mind their heads as the boats drifted beneath a stone archway on the way to the docks. Sitting as low as they were, the first years had loads of room above them. The only one who actually needed to duck was Hagrid himself, his massive shoulders nearly brushing the stone.
Once the boats bumped gently against the landing, the nervous first years scrambled out and formed a loose cluster behind Hagrid. He led them along a short path from the docks toward the sprawling silhouette of the castle looming ahead.
Julian found it nearly impossible to put into precise terms just how enormous Hogwarts truly was. From where he stood, he could not even see the entire structure at once. At a minimum, the footprint of the castle looked at least three times the size of the Roman Colosseum, and that was not even counting the seven towers that, as the name suggested, speared up high above the rest of the building. The main bulk of the castle beneath those towers would have been considered at least six stories tall by muggle standards.
Hogwarts is absolutely colossal. I wonder how many secrets are still hidden in there, Julian thought in awed excitement as he shuffled along behind Hagrid with the rest of the first years.
Before long, Hagrid brought them to a halt just outside the Great Hall. Waiting there was a tall, stern-looking witch with greying brown hair pulled back neatly and sharp green eyes that missed nothing. She stood composed and dignified, watching the nervous crowd of children with calm authority.
"I have brought the first years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said in a steady tone.
McGonagall gave a brisk nod. "Thank you, Hagrid. I shall take it from here. You may join the others inside," she replied.
The big man turned and headed into the hall, leaving the first years under her care.
Professor McGonagall turned to the gathered students and addressed them in a clear, firm voice, instructing them to form neat, even lines, enter the hall when directed, and wait quietly until their names were called for sorting. Somehow, through a combination of tone and sheer presence, she managed to get a crowd of eleven-year-olds to fall into place and stand almost perfectly still, like nervous little soldiers.
As they organized themselves, the older students already seated at the long house tables peered at them with open curiosity, trying to guess which house each new face would end up in.