Albus was drinking his tea.
It was his usual routine of sitting at the staff table in the Great Hall and observing students slowly trickle inside for breakfast, the hubbub in the Hall much the same.
Today though one student in particular caught his eye, and he watched as Luna Lovegood half-walked and half-skipped to the Ravenclaw table, but she stopped in the middle of the Hall and turned towards the Hufflepuff table.
Now she had his undivided attention.
And so it seemed she had of the rest of the Hall as well, as with every step she took, the Hall got quieter and quieter, so by the time she stood next to Cedric Diggory, his eyes looking at her questioningly, every word she said next could be heard clearly by everyone.
"Hello Cedric!" her airy voice greeted him.
"Hey, Luna!" he greeted back.
"Would you please come with me," she said.
"Sure," he said, getting up as his Head Boy badge caught the light, and offering a half-shrug to his friends, and started following her along.
Albus took a sip.
With every eye in the Hall on them, they walked, the destination this time around being the Gryffindor table, and the subject of the girl's next query being none other than Harry Potter. Of Course, he thought.
"Hello Harry!" Luna gave another airy greeting.
"Hello Luna!"
"This is Cedric," she introduced.
"We've met."
"Would you like to come with us?"
"Alright," he said, getting up self-consciously as usual, this time to Albus it felt even more warranted than in the past, as every eye gawked.
The three walked on, the boys following a step behind her, catching each other's eye, and bypassed the other two tables in their way, and naturally reached the Slytherin table next.
Albus poured another cuppa.
As he looked up, Terence Higgs was being addressed this time around.
"Hello Terence!" another greeting of her airy voice, and Albus smiled.
"Hello," the greeting for the first time in the past few minutes carried a question.
"Would you mind if we sat here and had breakfast with you?" she asked.
After a moment his answer was "No."
Slowly they sat, as the other students made space for them transfixed, Cedric on the outskirts, with Harry in the middle beside Terence, and Luna proudly hopping on to the seat beside him at the other end of the quartet.
He heard clapping next, and moved his eyes for the first time in the past few minutes to someone other than Luna, as everybody else did the same.
Pomona stood to his right clapping for the four. Minerva beside her followed along and Filius eagerly a moment after to his left, and reluctantly it seemed so did Severus.
The rest of the table followed suit, and in scatters the rest of the Hall. Not everyone cheered the display of House unity the Sorting Hat had sung for, Dolores in particular looked like she had eaten something unpleasant, before the façade of the smile was back on and she daintily joined in.
He waited for the Hall to quiet down again as he added in some sugar, and joined in on the cheer as an afterthought.
He stood after a few moments of quiet has been had before the whispers would have had a chance of starting.
"It seems that we've started the term on a very bright note already," he beamed, "and I feel the need to award a few House points to keep the spirits up."
That had everyone's attention.
"Ten points each to Mister Cedric Diggory, Mister Harry Potter and Mister Terence Higgs," he nodded at the three, "and fifty points to Miss Luna Lovegood for a small yet strong display of House unity."
His eyes he hoped twinkled as he looked at the four students, who after acknowledging him started eating their breakfast finally, all but one very self-consciously.
Albus sat just as the whispers inevitably began.
He took another sip.
The tea this morning had been exceptionally delicious.