Chapter 2
The door opened soundlessly to reveal a tall, stern looking woman that Ginny instantly recognized from her brother's stories. Several times over the summer, she had heard about the time Professor McGonagall had dragged by the ears to detention after bewitching several snowballs to chase Quirrell around, pelting him in the back of the head. That particular story had become much more popular after Harry had revealed why the DADA professor actually wore the turban. She smiled. Not many first years could say that their brothers had pelted He Who Must Not Be Named in the face with snowballs. McGonagall frowned, though Ginny wasn't sure if she was frowning at Hagrid or the students. Behind them, Hagrid cleared his throat importantly. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, Hagrid. Follow me, students." And with that, she turned on her heel and marched and into the magnificent entrance hall. She lead them to a small room off to the side of the hall, where it sounded as most the school already sat. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall. The start-of-term feast will take place after your sorting. The Sotring is important because, while you are here, your house will be like your family within Hogwarts-"
A nervous hush enveloped the group as she turned from them, but Ginny ignored them. She had six brothers. Surely, she knew what to expect. Luna seemed oblivious to the jitters her classmates had just found and was staring around with her eyes wide and mouth slightly open. "Daddy had told me it was lovely, but I hadn't pictured this." Ginny winced for her new friend as her voice carried loudly through the halls. McGonagall stiffened but kept walking briskly. She glanced over her shoulder, pinning Luna with a hard glare.
"I'm certain your opinion of the castle is enlightening, Ms. Lovegood, but it will have to wait. You may start your letter after the ceremony." She opened the door ahead of her, ushering them in. Luna stared at her, eyes wide.
"I've read of Professor Trelawney. Do you have the inner eye also?" McGonagall huffed, her nose turned up.
"I teach Transfiguration, Ms. Lovegood. Now if you're quite finished?" Luna nodded airily and McGonagall launched back into what sounded like a rehearsed speech about the houses. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I suggest you smarten yourselves up, as you'll be in front of the entire school." Her eyes lingered a moment on Luna's butterbeer cap necklace but Luna was staring straight up at the ceiling. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."When the door snapped shut behind her nearly every voice in the room broke into hushed conversations.
"That wasn't very smart thing to ask, Luna." Colin, said staring around. Luna made a noise remarkably similar to the one McGonagall had just made.
"There is no such thing as a foolish question." She said crossly, folding her arms over her bag.
"How do they sort you into houses?" Colin asked Ginny, nervously fidgeting with his camera.
"The hat is infested with Nargles." Luna said tersely. Colin looked back to Ginny, terrified. She wasn't sure if Luna was being serious or was just taking the mickey out of him. She took pity and explained anyway.
"My brothers Fred and George say it's a hard potions test but they're usually not very trustworthy. My mum and my other brother's friend say they put a hat on you."
"That's it?" he asked laughing nervously.
"Well, the hat tells you which house you'll be in. My dad supposes it's bewitched to think like the original founders so that it knows for sure where you'll fit in best."
A throat cleared behind them. "The Sorting is about to start. Follow me please." As they entered, Colin couldn't resist lifting his camera and snapping a quick photo of the night sky through the ceiling. McGonagall turned and glared at him when she heard the sound. She placed a four legged stool in front of the first years and set an old tattered wizards hat on top of it. It opened it's mouth to sing just as Ginny began to scan the crowd for familiar faces. She easily spotted Fred and George telling what looked like a hilarious joke to a group of girls. Ginny grinned and continued her search. Percy wasn't far from them, staring ahead, politely. Hermione Granger, whom Ginny had just met a few weeks ago in Diagon Alley was not far from them, a large book already opened up against a bronze pitcher. She too seemed to be craning around looking for someone. And then the realization hit Ginny like a blow to the stomach. Ron and Harry were still missing.
When the hat had finished and the applause had died out, McGonagall unrolled a piece of parchment and began reading aloud. "Creevy, Colin." The boy beside her froze. McGonagall glared at him. Ginny nudged him forward some and he stumbled over to McGonagall. She lifted the hat from the seat and he plopped down. When she put the hat on his head, it slipped all the way down to his nose. It was still only for a second before the seam in the front opened wide like lips shouting-
"GRYFFINDOR!" The table clapped merrily for him and she was pretty sure the whistles she heard were coming from George and Fred. Colin scuttled off the stool and towards the tables. In his hurry he almost sat down at the Hufflepuff tables before they gently pushed him towards the Gryffindor table. Ginny tried to pay attention but her nerve had all but dissolved when she realized that one of her brothers was missing.
It felt like forever, waiting for McGonagall to read through all the names. Much quicker than she'd have liked Luna was called forward. The second the old hat brushed her blonde hair it cried out- "RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaw table clapped loudly but no one shouted or whistled quite as loud as when Gryffindor gained a student. She'd been able to ignore it with her new friends beside her but as Ginny stood before the whole school with just a few other students in her year she felt the gnawing of anxiety. She wasn't very brave. She was too afraid to fly a broomstick in daylight and too afraid to talk to Harry Potter. She was afraid for her brother and for Harry and was petrified by all they'd done last year. She could never do what they'd done. She could never be a real Gryffindor.
And while she was staring at her shoes telling herself this, McGonagall called her name a second time. She looked up at the sound of an ear splitting whistle coming from the Gryffindor table. McGonagall motioned her forward impatiently, glaring at the table. Ginny stumbled forward, searching the crowd. Fred and George were standing up at the back of the room waving wildly and silently. She giggled. As she walked the rest of the way to the table she saw Colin give her a thumbs up and Hermione beaming at her over her book. Suddenly she felt much better. She remembered the time Charlie had performed a levitation charm on her. Yes, she decided, sitting down on the chair proudly. She felt just like walking on air. When McGonagall lowered the hat over her head, a loud voice echoed around her.
"Oh, another Weasley, eh? Oh, a witch, that's a rarity." She blushed deeply. "Hrm. What do you think, child?" Ginny said nothing but the first thing that popped into her head was the image of the entire Gryffindor table cheering madly for her, Ron and Harry running forward to hug her. "Ah, well, I suppose that settles it then- GRYFFINDOR!" And with that Ginny leaped off the chair beaming up at McGonagall. Fred and George were deafening the whole room with their shouting. Ginny couldn't see him but could just imagine Percy trying to crawl under the table in shame of his brothers. She waved to Luna as she passed and sat down beside Colin as Fred and George bounced over to her. They hugged her at the same time, so tightly she couldn't breathe.
"OH LITTLE GINNY!" Fred bellowed "How smashing to see you!"
"How delightful! It will be like we live in the same house!"
"We'll be like family!" She laughed shoving them off.
"Shut up will you!" she whispered harshly pointing at the head table. Dumbledore had just risen from his seat and was smiling at them. Simultaneously, they both crouched down to Ginny's level, silently smoothing her hair down and brushing off her robes. She really did try to listen to his speech but it was near impossible with her twin brothers doing everything they could to make her laugh. She did manage to get rid of them after Dumbledore sat down and food appeared before them.
"Fine, fine. Shoo us away if you will. See if we ever send you a toilet seat again." She laughed again, smiling at Hermione. The older girl was turned away from her looking down the table. Ginny's heart sank suddenly. Where, she wondered, was her prat of a brother, Ron? As she loaded up her plate with roast chicken, boiled potatoes, peas and carrots, Percy walked down the table to her.
"I'm proud of you, Ginny." He said sticking his hand out as if expecting her to shake it. She lifted up her robes and launched herself at him, hugging him tightly.
"I'm your sister, you loon, not an old ministry witch. Oi, where's Ron and Harry?" he frowned tightly, pushing her back into her seat.
"I haven't seen them. Though when I do, they'll get a stern talking to. I've already sent off a note to our parents about them." She nodded turning back to her food. "I take it that means you haven't seen them either?" he asked Hermione over Ginny's head. Hermione shook her head grimly. "Well, that's that then." He said, patting her shoulder awkwardly before heading down the table to his own seat.
"You're Ron's sister then?" a plump boy sitting next to Hermione asked.
Ginny gave a small wave. "I'm Ginny."
"I'm Neville Longbottom. I'm in Ron, Harry and Hermione's year. This" He said, lifting an upturned jug, "is Trevor." A toad's nose popped out from under the pitcher before Neville hurriedly set it down again. Ginny looked at him oddly. "My toad. He's got a bit of a habit of getting lost." He shrugged and Ginny snickered a bit. "I lose him every few days but he always turns up." He glanced over at Hermione who was nearly out of her seat, craning around looking. "So I take it Harry and Ron have given everyone the slip?" he asked merrily.
Hermione plopped back into her seat with an angry grunt and propped her book in front of her face. Neville shrugged and turned to Ginny. "I haven't seen them since we got to the station." She said worriedly. Neville scoffed into his pumpkin juice.
"Oh come off it. You know what they did last year. I'll bet Ron talked about it all summer long." Ginny snickered. He had talked about it all summer long. Not that she really minded, of course. "I'm sure they're fine." After a few bites of his dinner, he addressed her again. "So. Are you happy you're in Gryffindor?" she nodded brightly.
"Very much. But I was so nervous." Neville nodded smiling.
"I was nervous during my sorting too. Thought for sure I'd be in Hufflepuff. My Gran still says the hat was wrong."
Hermione spoke from behind her book. "The hat can't be wrong, Neville." One of her thin arms stretched around the book for a roll. Ginny pushed them under her searching fingers. "The founders themselves enchanted it. It says so in Hogwarts a History and the hat said so itself just last year." Neville scoffed.
"Well, obviously it was right with you three after what happened last year. I was afraid enough of that dog. Couldn't imagine taking on that, a troll, and Snape's test. Though you were the one who got past Snape's potions right?" Hermione blushed slightly.
"Really, Harry did most the work." She said, hiding behind her book. Neville turned to Ginny.
"She's lying." He said, taking a big bite of steak and potatoes. "I asked Harry last year and he told me she was brilliant. Saved his life and ran to tell Dumbledore as fast as she could."
"It was just a simple riddle, Neville." Ginny imagined she could see Hermione blushing all the way to the roots of her bushy hair.
"Yeah well, you're still definitely a Gryffindor in my book." Ginny smiled. Yes, she could definitely see Hermione blushing over her book. She could definitely see why Ron and Harry liked her so much. "So, Ginny. What are you looking forward to most?"
"Flying." She answered immediately. Hermione shook her head and settled back into her book.
"Flying?" Colin asked from her other side. She'd almost forgotten about him, he'd been so quiet. It seemed as if he'd been staring at the floating candles and refilling pitchers for the past several minutes. "On a broomstick? Like they do on telly?" Ginny laughed.
"Telly? The little electric box Muggles watch all day? Oh, my dad would love you." Neville looked at her, confused. "He's a bit of a nutter over Muggle stuff. Loves to take them apart to see how they work." She turned back to Colin. "And of course, on broomsticks, numpty. Don't tell me you've never heard of Quidditch?" he stared at her blankly and Neville burst out laughing.
Hermione came to his rescue as his face flushed red. "Oh for Heaven's sake, not you too. Ignore them, Colin. Quidditch is a Wizard sport-"
"A wizard sport?" Ginny cried, "Don't let her lie to you, Colin, Quidditch is the wizard sport. Well there are two teams of seven players all on broomsticks. There are three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and one Seeker. My brothers Fred and George-" Fred hooted and waved at her from a few seats down the table at the sound of his name. ginny rolled her eyes and continued on. "Those two red headed nutters down there are Gryffindor's Beaters. Harry's our Seeker. Everyone says he's the best Gryfindor's seen in years." Ginny blushed furiously and turned to Hermione who had already begun taking notes from one of her DADA books.
"Hermione, mind if I borrow-" before she'd even acknowledge her, Ginny slapped the scrap of parchment between her plate and Colin's and yanked a quill from her robes. "This here-" she said, using a bit of Hermione's ink to sketch a large oval, "- this is the pitch. Over here-" she drew 3 small circles at either side of the pitch. "- are the goal posts. It's the Chasers job to get the Quaffle-"
"That's a regular ball about this size." Neville said, holding up his hands up as if he were holding the quaffle.
"It's their job to get the quaffle in the other team's goal posts. They have to get past the Keeper to do that. He hovers about the posts keeping them safe-"
"Like football!" Colin exclaimed. Hermione's head popped up, smiling.
"Yes, Colin. The Keepers are very much like Goalies in football." She said quickly. Ginny wrinkled her nose.
"Pah. Quidditch is a thousand times better than some muggle sport that doesn't even leave the ground." Hermione huffed and returned to her book. "And then there's the Seeker. His job is to find the snitch." Colin blinked in confusion. "That's a little golden ball with wings about wee big." she held up her fingers about the size of a golf ball. "They used to use a little golden bird 'fore they started going extinct. Any how, this little bugger's near impossible to see and flies around as fast as it can. The game doesn't end till the snitch is caught. The team whose Seeker catches the snitch gets 150 points and almost always wins."
"Oi! Don't forget about us!" Shouted George who had been watching her explain from a few seats down. She stuck her tounge out at him and turned back to Colin.
"And while all that's going on the four Beaters are darting around with these bats trying to hit two other balls called Bludgers at the other team's players. Haven't had a bad accident here at Hogwarts for a long time but most professional Beaters can break bones when they get in a good shot."
"Barbaric, isn't it?" Hermione asked over her book.
"Barbaric? Are you insane?" Ginny shouted over her glass. "Quidditch is the very best thing about of Hogwarts!"
"Please! You're not serious-" a girl Ginny had never seen dropped into the seat beside Hermione. "- Uh oh, hello, Parvati."
"Have you heard?" she asked excitedly.
"Heard what?" Neville asked.
"Someone's crashed a car into that awful tree past the greenhouses. The Wailing- I mean the Whapping-"
"The Whomping Willow." Hermione corrected her quickly. "Crashed a car into it? Surely you must have misheard."
"No, I didn't." Parvati insisted. "My sister said so. She said one of the Ravenclaw Fourth years saw it. She was just walking back from the loo and when she glanced out the window she saw it fly right into the Whomping Willow. Who knew muggle cars could fly?"
"They can't-" Hermione's voice caught in her throat and she glanced at Ginny, eyes wide.
"Anyway, she said right after it hit the tree, the tree started hitting back."Ginny's stomach dropped to the floor. "The car was pretty banged up but she said the two people seemed to be fine. Then she ran back in to tell everyone about it. When they went back out the car and the muggles were gone."
"Parvati," Hermione asked, "did anyone see what color the car was?"
"Blue, I think." Ginny couldn't restrain herself anymore. She let out a loud hoot and threw a roll to the twins.
"Oi! You two! Guess what Ron and Harry have done now?"
"Drowned Percy?" Fred asked, looking around. Catching sight of him, he sighed disappointed.
"Knocked out a troll?" George asked mildly, buttering the roll Ginny had chucked at him.
"The car! They flew the car here!" she was almost out of her seat, shouting to them. George's roll slipped into his lap and Fred's jaw dropped. She heard whispers skittering out behind her and imagined seeing the story flow through the hall like a wave.
"No." George said, dumbfounded. Fred was still stunned silent. Neville let out a bark of laughter.
"You're kidding. Harry and Ron got here in a flying blue muggle car?" Parvati shrugged.
"Someone did." And suddenly, the table exploded. People Ginny had never heard of were clapping her on the back, telling her she had to hand it to her brother, he certainly knew how to make a scene. Hermione quickly withdrew into her book and Percy looked so cross, Ginny wondered if he'd ever come untangled.
And so, for the rest of their dinner, Ginny and Neville talked about the flying car, her idiot brother, and Gryfindor's gutsy and insane Seeker. When everyone had returned to the Common room, without explaining how, George and Fred were sitting on crates of butter beer and passing out crème puffs. Everyone sat around talking about their summers and of course, what some came to call, the Whomping Weasley story. Ginny was sitting in a windowsill with another girl from her grade and Colin when the room erupted again. She just barely noticed the top of Ron's head before he disappeared into the whooping crowd. When they managed to avoid Percy, he caught her smiling and made a beeline for her. Downing her butter beer in one long drink, she said goodnight to her new friends and scurried off to bed.
