The fleet of little boats moved off all at once gliding across the lake which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. As the first boat reached the cliff, they all bent their heads and the little boat carried them through a curtain of ivy that had a wide opening on the cliff face. They were carried along the dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. They then clambered up a passageway coming out at last into smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. The door swung open at once. A tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes stood there. She pulled the door wide open; the entrance hall was so big you could fit a whole house in it. The ceiling was too high to make out, and magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would have usually done peering about nervously. After the stern teacher had given them a speech, the doors that stood behind her swung open to a great dining hall. At the end stood a stool, and an old, ragged hat...