The girl still standing there rolled her eyes at the other girl, who she recognized as Molly Weasley. They obviously weren't friends but she'd seen her in passing on many an occasion. Stuck up bird, that one. Shrugging she turned to focus on the boy instead.
She looked back to the young man before her and smiled kindly at his question. "Indeed," she nodded. She kept one hand on her cart and offered him the other to shake. "I’m a Hufflepuff," she smiled. "First time I take it?"
***** Sheila looked at her son and bid him farewell. He was obviously in the hands now of others who would handle him from here. Kevin reached up and gave his mother a quick hug which she didn't dwell on long before breaking away and heading out of the station.
Deciding to ignore his mother's exit as much as possible he turned back to the girl who had just introduced herself. "Kevin," he took the hand she offered. "So is Hufflepuff similar to Slytherin?" It was the only other name other than Hogwarts he had heard.
**** "Um, sort of. There's four houses," she replied as she shook his hand lightly and withdrew it again. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw. You'll be sorted into your house once we get there."
She gestured vaguely towards the wall between the two platforms, 9 and 10. "In order to do that though we've got to catch the train." She smiled at the younger boy. "Don't worry. It's not as difficult as it seems."
**** "Is this sorting scarey?" he inquired as she led him closer to the barrier. Kevin had heard mention of it in the journals but wasn't quite sure if he understood how it was done.
Had Kevin not been to Diagon Alley he would have had a hard time believing there was a train close by that he could not see. "What time does the train leave?" In all his excitement he had known his mother had gotten him there early enough, but he wasn't certain how much time they had wasted trying to figure out how to locate Platform 9 3/4.
**** "Not at all. They put the Sorting Hat on your head and it might ask you a few questions, but it's painless and usually over quickly," she explained. "Then you get placed in your house and make loads of new friends. She smiled brightly at the last. She really loved her house.
She glanced at the clock in the station briefly before answering. "It leaves at 11. We've got some time."
**** Kevin wasn't quite sure what a sorting hat was, though he was certain that however she could describe it would not do the item justice as everything he saw for the first time put him in awe.
"Well, at least it doesn't hurt," he smiled at her and noted that it was only about 10:00. "So is there a word I have to say or something special I need to do to get through?" he inquired.