Lucy gave Hagrid a giant smile as she passed him. Without thinking through her actions, she gave him a big hug around the leg.
"'Ello there? You al'ight?" he called down to her.
"Yeah, sorry! Just excited to be here," she looked at the ground as she realized that Hagrid wouldn't know her.
Despite not knowing her, Hagrid gave her his trademark smile, "Everyone's happy to be ah Hogwarts. If you ge' too homesick, you and your friends can always stop by my hut for tea."
She smiled at him while Blaise pulled her into a boat.
"Stop hugging the riffraff! You have a reputation to uphold!" he hissed under his breath. Malfoy gave her a sneer and refused to talk to her. Despite their attitudes, she just gave them a smile.
With a jolt, the small boats pulled away from the shore. Lucy stared in amazement around her. The lake and the surrounding land looked exactly like it had in her memories. It was strange to see Hogwarts looking so whole and undamaged.
As she looked around, she spotted Neville in a boat near her. While he was a bit pale looking, he didn't look any worse than that. Apparently Madam Pomfrey had been able to patch him up quickly. She wondered if he had even been taken off of the train. Sometimes she forgot how amazing magic was or how easy it was to heal most wounds when you have a trained Medi-witch around. It was a whole different ball game when it was just her, Hermione, and Ron alone in the middle of the woods.
She looked back towards Hogwarts. The windows were lit up with the glow of candles. There were no gaping holes in the walls or towers torn down. She felt her shoulders square up. This time would be different!
Inside the castle, McGonagall addressed the First Year students.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-the-term banquet is about to start, but, before you can take your seats, you must first be sorted into your House. There are four possible houses that you could be sorted into; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Each house has its own strengths and noble history. Outstanding witches and wizards have come from each House. Your House will be something like your family while you are at Hogwarts. You will take classes with your House; you will spend your free time in the common room of your particular House. Your triumphs will be marked by points given to your House; any rule breaking will be punished by the revocation of points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope that each of you will be a credit to whichever house you are sorted into."
Listening to the stern professor, Lucy felt the first trembling of worry start to slither into her stomach. She was a new person this time around with new fears and concerns. Would she still be sorted into Gryffindor? If she was sorted into another house, how would she handle it?
"Don't look so worried, I'm sure you'll be sorted into Slytherin," Draco said.
Blaise gave her a glance, "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Malfoy. Both of her parents were in Ravenclaw."
Draco rolled his eyes, "Surely you don't think Lucy is intelligent or diligent enough to get into the House of Scholars."
Blaise shrugged, "Maybe they just sort according to family history. After all, all the Malfoys I've ever heard of have ended up in Slytherin."
Draco opened his mouth to reply to that but a bushy haired girl on the other side of Lucy spoke loudly enough to interrupted all the conversations around her, "I read about this is 'Hogwarts, a History.' The secret of how they sort students has been a mystery for generations. It's only after the students are sorted that they get to know."
"That one'll be a Ravenclaw for sure," Blaise whispered to Lucy. She smiled as she thought of how many people over the years had said that about Hermione.
A little further back in the group, Lucy heard a loud voice talking, "My brothers told me that you have to fight a mountain troll to be sorted."
Lucy could almost physically feel Draco's sneer as he turned around, "Please, like parents wouldn't complain when their children don't even survive the first day. Besides, mountain trolls are stupid. It wouldn't be smart enough to sort us."
Ron's face started to get red, "Well do you know how they're going to sort us? If not, why don't you just shut up."
Draco looked over his fellow first year, "Red hair, stupid expression, you must be a Weasley."
Ron's hands fisted at his sides.
Lucy looked on the group with worry. Had a group of First Years ever gotten in a fight on the night of the banquet before? Luckily, Professor McGonagall chose that moment to return. As the door opened, all the First Years turned to look at her.
Professor McGonagall seemed to feel the tension in the room, so she took a moment to give all the students a particularly stern glance before finally nodding.
"Please follow me," she instructed.
Lucy looked in awe around the Great Hall. It was amazing to see Hogwarts back to its original grander without the scars that marked it after the war.
As she waited in line, she wondered how her luggage and Akia made it to the dorms. She'd poked several holes in the top of a shoebox and placed Akia in there. She'd then strapped the box and a couple other smaller bags to the top of her trunk. Her father had to load the trunk onto the train, but she hadn't had to worry about her familiar the entire trip. Now Lucy worried about how they transported the luggage into the dorms. She knew lots of students left their animal cages on the trains with the rest of the luggage, but how was it brought into the castle.
While she knew it was probably the house elves, she had a sudden mental image of Snape making trip after trip to the train and carrying the heavy trunks into the castle. She hid a grin as she wondered if Dumbledore had ever used something like that as a punishment for the grumpy potions master.
Looking around, her grin disappeared as she met the eyes of many children who were ghosts in her old life.
Behind her, she could hear Hermione whispering about the ceiling. Her smile returned as she thought about the fact that some things never change.
In front of her, McGonagall stood with the old sorting hat. All whispering stopped as it opened its brim and started singing. She clapped along with the other students as he finished.
"Abbott, Hannah," was the first name that McGonagall called.
As the small girl walked off to Hufflepuff, Lucy felt the first stirrings of nervousness inside her. She felt fairly certain that the Hat would sort her into Gryffindor, but she was slightly worried that it might reconsider its original opinion that she would be good in Slytherin. After all, everything she was doing was very secretive and cunning. Would that be enough for it to feel the need to place her in Slytherin?
She felt a hand slide into her pocket and grab her own hand. She looked over at Blaise.
He leaned in to whisper to her, "Don't look so worried. We can be friends no matter what house you're in. Just please try not to go to Gryffindor. It would be so annoying."
She smiled back at him even though she suddenly realized a whole other side of the problem. She was still mad at Ron and Hermione, plus her closest friend was Blaise. If she ended up in Gryffindor, it would be like living in the hot skillet at all times. She glanced over at the new version of Harry Potter. He seemed to be basking in all the attention, smiling at the Gryffindor side of the Hall. There was no doubt that he would be in Gryffindor. Before today, she'd thought it would be cool to be in the same house as the new version of herself, but after the events of the day, she wasn't sure anymore.
She paid attention when McGonagall called "Granger, Hermione," but the bushy haired girl went to Gryffindor same as the last time around.
"Macmillan, Ernest," McGonagall called. Lucy suddenly perked up as she realized that her turn who be coming up soon since her name was now Ogden.
"Hufflepuff!" yelled the hat.
The hat barely touched the head of "Malfoy, Draco" before it yelled Slytherin. The silver and green table clapped politely.
Lucy didn't remember Roger Malone (Ravenclaw) or Lily Moon (Hufflepuff), so she was releaved when she heard McGonagall call, "Nott, Theodore."
She should be next!
Theodore went to Slytherin as she waited for McGonagall to call her.
"Ogden, Lucy!"
Lucy felt very small as she walked to the Sorting Hat. She was even shorter than she had been last time. Before the Hat fell onto her head, she heard the Weasley Twins, "She'll definitely be a Gryffindor!"
"Oh what do we have here? I've already sorted you once," the Sorting Hat spoke into her head.
"Yes, you put me in Gryffindor, and I think I'd like to go there again," she demanded.
"Hmmm, and what would you do if I simply refused to sort you again, you bossy little thing?" the Sorting Hat said.
Lucy felt her blood run cold, "Could you do that?"
The Sorting Hat seemed to hum, "I certainly could if I wanted to; however it would not be good for you. On the other hand, you are a different person this time around, so I supposed I can sort you again."
"Am I a different person?" she asked. She'd been wondering that herself since she was first placed in Lucy Ogden's body.
"Think of reincarnation. If a lawyer reincarnates as a butterfly, would you still say they were the same person?" the Hat asked her.
"Not particularly," Lucy replied.
"It is the same with you. Your soul has traveled with you, but you are a different incarnation of yourself. You are not held to make the same decisions or have the same character that you did the first time around. We are made by our experiences, and you will experience very different things," the Hat mused, "But enough of that! I am here to sort you, not to have counseling. Now as to your request for Gryffindor, you are quite brave; however, I would say you are being quite cunning."
Lucy groaned, "I know, but I'm not sure that going to Slytherin would help me the best. I have to save these people, and they might not trust me there."
The Hat paused, "Ahh I see your deepest trait now. Such loyalty to this community even though they've betrayed you so many times. So much loyalty to this school and your new parents. Better be Hufflepuff!"