It wasn't really like she had expected it to be, but then, these things never were.

In the same way that the past was sepia toned and full of gramophone hisses, in the same way that her mother, however else she was remembered, would always be smiling from the mantelpiece in buttercup wedding robes, something about imaginings of the future, however carefully pictured, was insubstantial. She could not possibly know, until that day arrived, how the stones would feel beneath her feet, how the air would thrum with excitement, and, most of all, how the knowledge that the long-imagined day was finally here would fill her with such giddy, nervous excitement that she would want to shout at the top of her lungs "I'm at Hogwarts!"

But the huge, vaunted ceiling of the Entrance Chamber looked like it could absorb a million cries of excitement into nothingness, so instead Luna Lovegood turned to the girl she had shared a train compartment with and whispered excitedly "Isn't it amazing?"

"Sure." Ginny Weasley was clearly trying to be enthusiastic, but she looked a little queasy.

Perhaps she was worried about the Sorting? Yes, that was probably it. Luna's father had told her that the Sorting Hat was powerfully enchanted and whatever it told her would be true and it was up to her to make the best of it, but he would always love her no matter what. Luna had only laughed, because he was her father and of course they would always love each other no matter what, and besides, what could possibly be bad about knowing the truth about who you really were?

But Ginny, she remembered, had a lot of older brothers in Gryffindor and she supposed that brothers might be a different story. They had seemed alright the last time she had spoken to them, but a lot could change in two years.

"Don't worry –"

But before Luna could say any more, Professor McGonagall was asking for silence, and Ginny didn't seem to notice Luna trying to smile encouragingly at her, and then they were walking into the Great Hall and Luna forgot everything else.

There was so much to see and she'd heard about the ceiling and the floating candles and the House tables and the professors and she'd tried and tried to see them in her head but it had never been anything close to this and even if she stood here for seven whole years she would never have looked hard enough or long enough and she wanted to know everything and –

"Lovegood, Luna."

She made her way to the stool and couldn't help beaming as she put the hat on her head.

"Ravenclaw!"

Luna was a little disappointed that it hadn't told her more because she really had wanted to know but the table on her right was cheering and she was a Ravenclaw just like her parents had both been and the Hat really thought she could be wise and witty and if she smiled any harder her mouth was going to fall off.

Ginny, Luna was pleased to see, had been Sorted into Gryffindor, so she would be with her brothers after all – and, of course, Harry Potter. Luna remembered too late that Ginny's brother Ron and Harry Potter had both been late onto the train, and she realised that might have been why Ginny looked so worried.

She felt bad for forgetting but when she had asked Ginny about it on the train she girl had flushed bright red and changed the subject. Luna had guessed at the time that the two boys were playing some kind of prank and had asked Ginny to cover for them – Ginny's brothers had always liked practical jokes –but now she wasn't so sure. She wanted to crane her head around to make sure that they were at the Gryffindor table but there were too many people in the way and she wasn't very sure what either of them looked like.

A sudden wave of noise swept through the Hall, and Luna realised she hadn't heard Dumbledore announcing the start of dinner. Why was she so unfocussed tonight? Of course, there was a lot to focus on, but –

Oh! She knew what the problem was. There must be one of those creatures her father had been telling her about – a wrackspurt! Of course, Hogwarts would attract all kinds of magical creatures – the prefects would know all about it.

"Excuse me," she said to the girl sitting next to her. "Do you happen to know if there might be some wrackspurts present?"

"Wrackspurts?" The older girl looked confused. "What are they?"

"They're invisible creatures that float between your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy and –"

The boy on Luna's other side looked around his head nervously.

"Don't worry," she told him. "It doesn't hurt, they just make you a little bit forgetful sometimes."

"No, they don't," the Prefect girl said firmly. "I've never heard of wrackspurts. Don't make things up to tease people."

"I'm not making it up," Luna explained. "They were only discovered very recently. My father told me all about it – there was an article in the Quibbler -"

A boy on the opposite side of the table laughed.

"Roger, don't laugh." the Prefect girl said warningly.

"But Penny, the Quibbler?"

"We're all here to learn," Penny told him. "I don't think there are any wrackspurts in here, you're probably just tired. What did you say your name was again?"

"I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood."

Roger laughed again, and Penny glared at him.

"Well, Luna, I'm sure you'll fit right into Ravenclaw if you keep asking lots of questions, but perhaps stick to something more… mainstream."

Luna nodded, although she didn't really understand the problem. Didn't all the other Ravenclaws want to know about her father's discoveries? But perhaps they wanted to read about it for themselves, and after all the article had only come out last month. Soon, they would have read it and they would all want to know more about her brilliant father and his incredible stories.

She was sure of it.