Muninn manages not to fall off! It's very exciting!

And they're in the compartment with one minute to spare and quickly put their robes on while the train decelerates, and a crowd starts forming outside their compartment.

Muninn returns to Victor's shoulder.

Oh dear. A crowd.

That is indeed a crowd! They should go be part of it. Otherwise they won't leave the train and that'd be bad.

All right. This is survivable.

It probably is! The crowd slowly goes through the door and onto a tiny, dark platform. Then a lamp comes bobbing over the heads of the students, and Victor can hear a familiar voice:

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Victor?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beams over the sea of heads.

He manages to smile at Hagrid.

"C'mon, follow me—any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they follow Hagrid down what seems to be a steep, narrow path. It's dark enough on either side of them that there must be thick trees there.

Almost nobody speaks much, with Dayo the exception that chatters on and on about how cool it all is.

Neville sniffles once or twice.

...Victor stays near Neville.

He offers Victor a small smile.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid calls over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

And indeed, there it is, its glittering lights reflecting over the lake and dancing in the distance, hinting at an enormity and opulence that will probably only become greater in the light of day, when they can appreciate it in its entirety.

That sure is a big magic castle.

There's a loud "Ooooooh!" as the other students glimpse the castle for the first time. On the lake rest several small canoes next (but not in any way attached) to a wooden pier which seems to be their destination.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid calls and the students start boarding.

Time to get on a boat, then.

Dayo, Ron, and Neville follow him into it.

"Everyone in?" shouts Hagrid, who has a boat to himself. "Right then—FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moves off all at once, gliding across the lake, which is as smooth as glass. Everyone is silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towers over them as they sail nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stands.

Muninn takes off for a closer look.

It's very much a huge, ancient, stone castle, seven stories high with turrets and windows and gardens and a forest...

Nice.

Back to Victor's shoulder.

"Heads down!" yells Hagrid as the first boats reach the cliff; they all bend their heads and the little boats carry them through a curtain of ivy that hides a wide opening in the cliff face. They're carried along a dark tunnel, which seems to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reach a kind of underground harbor, where they clamber out onto rocks and pebbles.

Nifty.

Victor is less enthusiastic but still looks around a bit.