"Luna, we're going to be late!" her father yelled upwards. He was met with no response. Huffing in an agitated manner, he began to climb the ladder just as Luna started to climb down. He got off, and she jumped down from where she was, landing like a frog on the level below with her curls bouncing around her face. She was wearing a short purple skirt with a matching army style jacket and neat black stockings. He smiled kindly at her. "Have you had breakfast yet?" he asked her, indicating toward the kitchen below. "I'm not that hungry, father." She said, starting to climb down the next ladder into the kitchen below.
She had just managed to stop crying, and by being nice to her he was putting her on the edge of tears again. She peered at herself in the back of a spoon, and made her face show no evidence of how upset she was. It would not make the separation any easier, but in made her feel better that her father wouldn't see her distressed.
This was going to be difficult – she could admit that. But her mother could stay calm under any circumstance, so there was no reason that she couldn't do the same. An old trunk waited at the front door, labelled with her mother's maiden name, Selene Helena Malfoy. Underneath, Luna had neatly written her own name neatly in elegant cursive.
Her father climbed down the ladder and walked up to her. In his hand was a package wrapped neatly in silver paper, and he handed it to her with a sigh. "Your mother wanted to give you this, on the occasion of your first year at Hogwarts," he said, watching her carefully for a response. She whispered a 'thank you' as she turned away and sniffed. She put the package in her pocket. He accepted that she didn't want to upset him, and they moved towards the door.
They apparated from the front step directly onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Luna holding her father's hand tightly as he held her trunk in the other. "Goodbye, my little moon," he said, and embraced her briefly. "Have a good year."
"I will, father. I'll miss you," she whispered, and hugged him tightly. He released her and helped her get onto the train, hoisting her trunk up onto the luggage rack.
Luna let her eyes adjust to the dimness inside. She turned to the left and tried to find an empty compartment. A whistle blew somewhere outside, signalling one minute to the train's departure. Luna shuffled into a compartment halfway along the train, void of any passengers. She sat down and stared out of the window. Her father was already gone, but she spotted a few familiar faces here and there. There was a sudden commotion as some easily recognizable red-heads popped into existence at the undetectable entrance to the platform. The twins laughed and joked, running to get a seat on the train; Mrs. Weasley looked around with a panicked expression, holding her only daughter's hand tightly.
She approached the barrier that she had just come through with her hand extended, but found only a solid brick wall. She called another parent over, and they inspected the wall together. Percy took his sister's trunk from her, and after saying hurried goodbyes to his mother and allowing Ginny to kiss her, they both rushed towards the train. Luna couldn't figure out what was wrong with the wall. One second it was working, and the next it was not. Just then, the train lurched forward, and the various parents on the platform waved their last goodbyes to their children.
Ginny walked past, spotted Luna and backtracked. "Hey Luna, how are you?" she asked politely as she sat down opposite her friend.
"I'm fine, thank you," answered Luna. "What was happening outside?"
Ginny laughed. "Ron and Harry got locked out by the barrier! Mum can't figure out how it happened, but it seems as though I'm going to be one brother short this year." Luna looked puzzled. This couldn't have just happened by itself – someone or something must be trying to keep these two boys from reaching Hogwarts.
After a few minutes, some other new first year girls had filed in and placed themselves in the other seats in the compartment. Ginny introduced Luna and herself, and the other girls did the same. "I'm Lydia Green," said a tall, shapely girl who wore jeans and a Wyrd Sister's t-shirt. Probably a half-blood, Luna thought as she scanned over the mousy brown hair and hazel eyes.
"Hi, my name's Emily Prince," she stated simply, meeting Luna's eyes evenly. She was fair skinned and had long dark hair that contrasted sharply with her amber eyes. She obviously recognized Luna's features, but the girl was a mystery to Luna.
The last two girls introduced themselves as Angela and Amy Morrison, identical twins that hadn't known they were magical until they received their Hogwarts letters. They had tanned skin and talked with strange accents. They said that this was because they had only recently emigrated from South Africa, and hadn't had much time to get used to the British accent.
Emily sat next to Luna and conducted the conversation. She explained about the Hogwarts houses, and the twins said that they had a similar system back home. Later, Emily spoke softly with Luna as Ginny and Lydia dozed and the twins read books.
"What house do you think you'll be in, considering your parents?" asked Emily, scanning Luna's face.
"I'm really not certain, but I'm aiming for Slytherin or Ravenclaw. My father would freak out if I ended up anywhere else. How about you?" she asked quietly.
"The same, but my father is actually not very fazed about the whole thing, surprisingly enough. He said he won't lose it unless I get into Gryffindor." The two girls laughed, coming to an understanding that they were very similar.
It turned out that their mothers were cousins, which made them second cousins. Luna's mother was a Malfoy, and Emily's mother was a Greengrass – two families that had long been allies. Luna was puzzled by the girl, though. She constantly appeared to be holding something back.
"You seem quite uptight, Emily. Is something wrong?" she asked, searching the girl's features for a reaction. It seemed that they had been similarly trained not to show any flicker of emotion, because Emily did not show any hint of surprise at the question even though it came out of the blue.
"It's a secret, and I'm not ready to tell anyone yet," she said softly, her eyes sending the message that she really wasn't allowed to tell anyone anyway.
"That's alright, I understand. If at any time you do feel ready to tell me – I'm very good at keeping secrets." Luna assured her, and Emily changed the topic hurriedly.
They arrived shortly after 6 'o clock in the evening, and all six girls were ravenous. They followed the thunderous request to follow from a half-giant who introduced himself as Hagrid. The girls looked at each other and the twins shrugged. Making their way through the crowd, they were led down a beautifully paved pathway onto the shore of the Black Lake, where they received their first introduction to Hogwarts. Gothic and majestic, it loomed out of the Black Lake, framed by an orange and pink sunset. None of the portraits in Hogwarts, a History really did it justice. The new fist years gasped. They were instructed to climb into the waiting boats. Tiny lanterns lit up at the helms of the boats as each was full to capacity.
Once everyone was safely in a boat, they all simultaneously moved forward in a synchronized dance. They weaved in and around each other, sailing towards the mouth-like entrance underneath the castle, covered in ivy and water-weeds. Luna looked down into the clear, glassy surface of the lake, and was surprised to meet the eye of one Giant Squid. It was quite a large eye, and it stared unblinkingly up at her as she sailed past. Looking up, Luna had a last impression that the castle seemed to reach upwards forever, before they were swallowed whole by the entrance.
In the entrance hall, Professor McGonagall met them with a steely gaze and explained the process. She then disappeared through a side passage after hissing at them to keep quiet. The now terrified first years formed a line two people across as she had instructed. Luna found herself thrust towards the front. Emily grabbed her hand and they took up the positions at the front of the lines.
The doors opened and the two girls led the way through the middle of the hall to the front. Lydia ended up in Gryffindor, the Morrison twins were both put into Ravenclaw and soon enough it was Luna's turn to be sorted. She let go of Emily's hand and walked silently towards the stool. Professor McGonagall handed her the Sorting Hat and she sat on the stool. Placing the hat over her head, she met the silver eyes of a small blonde-haired boy at the Slytherin table just before she saw no more.
Hello, dear lady of the moon. Luna sat up straighter on the stool. It's the hat, she reminded herself. Yes it's me, dear one. You are a unique one, you know. In what way, she wondered. Well, you really would suit any of the houses. But you're going to need to go somewhere that you won't be judged harshly. Where would that be? I don't think I'd fit in anywhere. You know what I am. True, but you will do well in Slytherin. I would love you to come back and talk with me in a year's time. Tell me how you are.
"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted, and Luna handed the hat back to Professor McGonagall. She silently walked to the Slytherin table as they applauded her politely. As she found a seat near the head table, the next person was put into "Gryffindor!" and the whole house rose to its feet to applaud and whistle.
Luna turned and looked for Emily's friendly face, and waited for her name to be called. When it was, Emily boldly marched towards the hat, and as her head touched the rim the hat shouted "Slytherin!"
Emily's face lifted in a smirk.
As Emily made her way over to the Slytherin table, Luna turned and met the silver eyes again. A memory was triggered in her mind.
"Luna?" Emily nudged her as they sat, straight-backed and waiting for the food to appear. Luna turned and met Emily's eyes. Instantly she became aware that they would definitely be friends forever. They were the same – the powers that they possessed went above the normal.
At last, Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor along with all of her brothers, who cheered and whistled louder than all the rest. Just then, a tremendous crash resounded outside, followed by several more crashing sounds, a long creaking noise and then, a thump. A rolling spluttering sound faded into the distance.
"What was that?" Emily whispered to Luna, just as Professor Snape appeared, dragging two forlorn-looking Gryffindor boys by their ears. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had never tried so hard to look invisible. They sat down at the Gryffindor table, and Professor Snape muttered something into their ears that only they could hear. They paled visibly.
Dinner appeared on the table, just as Hogwarts, a History had predicted. At other tables, the students tucked in immediately, but at their house table there was utter silence, every eye focused on the head if house, Professor Snape. As soon as his plate was full, he nodded to the house, and they began to fill their plates. Still nobody began to eat until every member of the house had food. The small number of new Slytherins just followed a few seconds behind everyone else, because nobody had told them about this act of courtesy.
Everyone at the Slytherin house table ate slowly, their backs perfectly straight. Once they were done eating, the older prefects stood, having been instructed by their head of house. The rest of the house followed, and the entire house left the hall silently in two neat rows. At the head table, Professor Snape watched approvingly. The new Slytherins were fast learners.
He got up and followed them at a distance, waiting in an alcove as each Slytherin had the password whispered into their ear by a prefect. They then had the process of walking through the wall explained to them, just like the one at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
He waited about three minutes to allow for the students to all take a seat in the common room, and then muttered the password as he billowed through the wall, materializing in front of the shocked first years.
"Good evening, Slytherin house." He said softly, and they all waited with bated breath for him to continue. "The older years will know that this is the most disciplined house, where decorum and respect are valued above all other things.
"Your prefects will give you the complete updated list of rules shortly, but there are three that you will need to memorize immediately. One: Slytherin is a unit. This means that there will be no in-fighting. Even if you do not completely agree with a statement that someone makes or the impression that they leave others with, you will not comment on it to them directly. You may address any matters of concern in writing to me, slipped through my door. If the matter is life-threatening, or extremely urgent, you may come to me straight."
He met the eyes of each of the seven first years in turn. "You were made aware tonight of the way that Slytherins compose themselves. Every single house member will be awake by six-thirty in the morning, a down in the common room by seven thirty. You will then be made aware of any notices. At this point the entire house will walk up to the hall together, and you will always follow the rules demonstrated to you about when to begin eating."
Looking towards the older years now, he said: "Rule number two: Slytherins are never caught." A few of the seventh years snickered, and some of them blushed. "If you are caught out of bounds for any reason, Filch will pass you on directly to me. You will receive a month's worth of detentions and they will not be pleasant."
"Lastly, you will need to remember that this is a school, and that your performance is reported directly to me. If you are struggling with the course work, approach me and I will supply you with an appropriate tutor. You will all be in here or in the library doing your homework or studying directly after the last bell and after dinner. Slytherins uphold high academic excellence."
He smirked. "Now, it is time for the first years to introduce themselves. I see that there are four ladies and three young men joining us this year. Please state your full name… and your favourite band." The seventh years laughed. He changed it every year, but every year the first years still looked as surprised. Last year he had asked for their full name and their favourite brand of toothpaste.
After assuring the first years that yes, he was serious; the first little girl stepped forward. "My name is Ember Zabini," she said clearly. "My favourite band is Dolly and the Trolls" The house applauded her politely, some commenting on her choice of music.
The next to step forward was a boy, short and stocky, with light brown hair. "I'm Alistair Lysander Hunt, and I prefer the Babes in Robes," he said, not waiting for the applause to start before he sat down again. The next two boys introduced themselves as Edward and Lincoln Marchbanks, paternal twins who both liked the Wyrd Sisters.
Emily introduced herself next, saying that she favoured Rachmaninov, a classical pianist. The other girl rose from her chair, and introduced herself as Crystal-Anne Silk. "I love the Wyrd sisters too," she added, before sitting again. Luna got up, and stood facing the house. "My name is Luna Selene Lovegood, and I like the Potion Makers," she said, and sat down again quietly as the other house members whispered "Who are they?"
Professor Snape rescued Luna from answering that question by interrupting them. "It's well past curfew. If you are not all in bed in the next 20 minutes, I will know…so do not loiter." The rush was immediate. The first years remained in place, until their prefects came and directed the girls down a passage to the left, and the boys down the right hand one. They were quickly led to a door that was labelled 'First years' and instructed to choose an additional password between them. After a quick whispered discussion, they decided that the password would be "leviathan", a famous sea serpent of the ancient world. After adjusting the password accordingly, the prefect left them to enter their room alone.
It seemed very cosy, even though it should have been freezing underground. There were four single beds, with forest green bedding and silver trims. Next to each bed had been placed their trunk and a desk, and to the left was their bathroom with a shower and mirror for each of them. Luna flopped down on her bed, the closest to the fireplace. She had had one heck of a day. Something was poking her.
Reaching into her pocket, she found the present that her dad had given her. She quickly got into her pyjamas and climbed under the covers, drawing the curtains closed around her. Taking a deep breath, she started to unravel the silver paper.
Inside was a beautiful shallow lacquered box. She opened it carefully, and gasped softly at the beautiful pendant inside. It was made of moonstone, in a circular shape. On the one half was a crescent moon with a face profile, and on the right her own face interlocked with that of the moon. It looked as though she was kissing the moon.
Luna put on the beautiful piece of jewellery and snuggled down into her covers to have a good cry.
