Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this chapter, or in the Harry Potter series.. All of the characters are property of J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, her managers, publishers, etc. I do not claim any credit for this wonderful series of books, nor do I make any profit out of this fiction that I write. It is all for personal enjoyment.

A New Idea

Making their way down a corridor, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron found an empty box where they could all fit. Harry sat down closest to the window and Ginny sat next to him. He didn't fail to notice the way Ron and Hermione instinctively sat next to one another. He decided against bringing it up.

"You've grown so much," Hermione said to Harry, leaning towards him, an appraising look on her face.

"I suppose so," Harry said, "sometimes that happens." Hermione had changed too, she had gotten slimmer, her face looked stronger, her body looked…Harry looked away and felt himself blush. He didn't want to think about Hermione's body. That just crossed some boundaries that shouldn't be crossed – ever. When he looked back he noted that her hair had become more silky looking and less of a mess. He made sure to focus only on her hair.

Ron had changed too. He was now broader in the shoulders, resembling his brother Charlie, who the girls all thought was very handsome (Harry never understood girls much). His hair was as red as ever, which was the trademark of all the Weasley children. Ginny too had long red hair that had grown passed her shoulders over the holiday, she looked more mature too…

No! Harry chided himself mentally. Do not look at Ginny or Hermione like that! It's not right!

"I'm so glad to see you Harry," Hermione said, not taking her eyes away from him. "I've really missed you a lot."

"Jeez, Hermione, get over him alright? I'm not going to let you move into the boy's dormitory just so you can be around Harry more! Although I'm sure Neville and Semus would enjoy that… " Ron said, pounding his fist against his hand.

"Oh, shut up, Ron! I'm not being crazy…I just haven't seen him in so long."

"It's alright Hermione, lots of girls get a little obsessive when they're around me. It's completely normal, really," Harry said, smiling. He was feeling very much at ease being back with his friends. He belonged here.

Ginny snorted next too him. "Suure," Harry heard her whisper.

"Hey!" He said, sounding as hurt as he could without laughing. "I also hear that girls who deny their feelings toward men like me--," but Harry couldn't finish his sentence because right then the door to their box opened up and revealed Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood standing behind it.

"Oh," Neville said. "Sorry, this looks pretty full." He waved at Harry while starting to close the door.

"Nonsense!" Ginny yelled. "There's plenty of room for both of you. Besides, Hermione and Ron were just about to leave to go to their prefects meeting," she said kicking Ron in the shins.

"Ow! I mean –yeah, we were just leaving. You guys can take a seat.," Ron said getting up so he and Hermione could leave. "We'll be back in a few minutes, Harry. If the food trolley comes by make sure--," but he couldn't finish his sentence either, because Hermione had pushed him out of the door and closed it behind them while muttering, "You don't need more candy," under her breath.

Harry turned back towards Neville and Luna. "Hey, guys. How was your holiday?" He asked.

Neville answered quickly, "Oh the usual stuff happened. My grandma's paranoid about Voldemort as usual, so she basically locked me up the whole summer. I didn't get to see one Quidditch game!"

"Oh, Neville," Luna said in her dreamy voice. "If you spent time reading like you should, you would have seen in The Quibbler that all of the Quidditch games where complete scams. The players are just uniforms that have been charmed into growing a head and riding around on brooms. My dad did a special report on it last month," Luna added. Luna's dad owned The Quibbler, a publication that was largely considered a joke in the wizarding world. Luna was largely considered crazy.

"Hmm…that's interesting, Luna," Harry said.

"Yes, I just can't wait to find out how Dumbledore is going to survive the backlash from the big switch he's pulling on Hogwarts this year," Luna said. "My father said he wasn't sure if it would work in the first place."

Neville and Ginny both seemed to nod politely, as people sometimes do when they don't want to insult a lunatic.

"What do you mean, Luna?" Harry asked. He hadn't heard of a "switch" at Hogwarts…what did she mean?

"Oh, Harry, I suppose you wouldn't have heard seeing as you live with non-magical peoples." ("In last months issue, Luna's father wrote an editorial on how "muggle" was not a word at all. And those wizards who do say it are in fact saying nothing," Ginny whispered.) "But last month there was a front-page story on how Professor Dumbledore is going to switch all of the Hogwarts students houses to promote school unity. It was very well received, we got many letters of thanks for writing such a good piece."

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or just stare dumbfounded at Luna. What was she talking about? Dumbledore wouldn't do anything like that. Switching everyone's houses would destroy the school, not unite it. The idea was ridiculous, and Harry gave it very little merit considering, of course, that it was from The Quibbler.

"Ah, well, that sounds neat." Harry said, for lack of anything better.

"Yes, I hope I get put into a house with Ron," Luna said lightly, and this time Ginny could not hold in her laughter. She quickly recovered and tried to cover her outburst as a cough.

"Are you getting sick, Ginny?" Luna asked. Ginny just shook her head.

There was a long moment of silence as Harry turned his head and looked out the window. He could see the landscape pass him by, the beautiful scenery that he had seen every year that he had ridden the Hogwarts express. His mind traveled back to the girl he had seen with Malfoy outside of the train. He had no clue who she was. Harry knew most of the people who went to Hogwarts - and he certainly knew all of the Slytherins because they were always belittling (or trying to) everyone who wasn't one of them.

The girl had looked so new to him, he couldn't understand why she was on the Platform. Was she a student at Hogwarts? Was she new? Maybe, Harry thought, she was just a friend of Malfoy's. Just a friend who had come to see him off to school. But then Harry remembered her eyes, and how he could see them so clearly from a distance. There was something about this girl…

The door to the compartment opened and Ron and Hermione entered again. They were arguing about something, which was a favorite pastime, and Harry didn't pay it much attention. Ginny slid over so Ron could sit next to her, Hermione sat between Neville and Luna.

"How did the prefect meeting go?" Neville asked putting emphasis on "prefect," they way Harry remembered Ron's twin trouble-maker brother's sometimes did.

"Oh, stop, Neville." Hermione said.

"It went swell, thanks," Ron said defensively. His brothers had berated him enough, so he knew how to defend himself against such remarks. "We have just been given the power to give detentions out simply because we feel like giving them out. And just now I feel like giving one out to you, Neville…"

"Grow up, Ron," Hermione said. Throwing a random piece of parchment at him. "We have not been given that duty, and if we had been, we certainly wouldn't use it so freely."

"Oh, of course," Ron said and picked up the paper Hermione had tossed at him "Ahh…so these are Hermione's O.W.Ls, are they? Well, let's see," Ron looked up and down the paper, "As I would have guessed, nearly all O's. Pathetic as usual."

"You're just jealous, Ron," Ginny said smiling.

"Am not." He said. "I am very content with my five O.W.Ls. I did better than I thought I would."

"I think you even surprised your mom too," Hermione grinned. "She didn't stop smiling at you for days. You did much better than George or Fred did."

"I almost got as much as the two of them combined!" Ron said.

"Good job, Ron ," Neville chirped in. "I got five O.W.Ls as well. I even got an A in Potions." Neville was notoriously bad at Potions; Snape was especially evil to him. Hermione had always helped Neville out with his mixtures, which had gotten them both in trouble more than once.

"Oh good job!" Hermione yelled. She looked over at Harry who had been a very quiet observer, and asked, "What about you Harry?"

"Six O.W.Ls." he said, purposely failing to mention that one of them had obviously been under much debate.

A chorus of "congratulations," and "wonderful," came from the other five in the room. Harry smiled and nodded politely. He just couldn't shake the thoughts of the girl who had stood next to Malfoy.

            "Oh, we're slowing down!" Ginny said straightening up. "We better get our robes on. We'll be at Hogwarts soon."

"Oh good! I just can't wait for the feast…" Ron said excitedly. And so, Harry's ride on the Hogwarts Express ended.

Stepping off of the train, Harry looked around. He felt the night air rush past his face, and heard a familiar voice boom over the hustling crowd. "Firs' years over here! Firs' years…" Hagrid. Hagrid, a man who was half-giant by birth, was right back where he should be, calling the first years to line up so he could take them across the lake. Last year, Hagrid had been missing from his usual duties, and it turned out that he had been in the mountains cavorting with giants…

"Harry, we've got to supervise this mess, okay? I'll see you on the carriage and save me a seat!" Ron screamed at Harry while running towards a group of second years who where tripping over each other trying to get off of the train.

"Okay," Harry said back, but was unsure whether or not Ron heard. Hermione would be helping Ron and the other prefects supervise, so Harry turned and looked for Neville, Luna and Ginny, whom he had lost in the race to get off of the train. He didn't see them, however, and while looking his eyes caught upon Malfoy and that girl, stepping off the train. Malfoy was grasping her hand lightly and leading her towards the carriages, she followed behind him laughing at something. Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle brought up there rear. Who was this new girl that Malfoy had taken such a liking to?

"Well, come on, Harry! We can't save this seat for you forever!" Harry turned toward where he had heard his name yelled and saw Neville waving at him holding open a door to one of the carriages.

"Ah, thanks, Neville," Harry said walking swiftly up to the door with his luggage in tow. "Did you save a seat for Hermione and Ron too?"

"Sure did, now get in!" Neville said, gesturing Harry inside. "I'll hold your luggage for you."
            "Thanks." Harry stepped through the door. Inside the carriage, he saw Luna and Ginny talking about something frantically and gesturing wildly.  Harry grabbed his luggage from Neville, seated himself, and tried very hard to pay attention to what Ginny was saying. He failed miserably. Within moments Harry heard Neville yell, "Hermione! Ron! We've got you two seats over here!"

Harry peeked out the window to see Hermione and Ron run up to the carriage, luggage trailing behind them. Suddenly, they stopped and seemed to quickly draw in a long breath.

"Wow," Ron said.

"They're beautiful," Hermione added. "They look just as I thought they would."

Harry was confused for a moment - and then understood.

The thestrals.

Thestrals were the horse-like creatures that flew the carriages to Hogwarts every year. The amazing thing about thestrals was that a person could not see them unless they had witnessed someone die. Harry had first seen them last year, after he had seen Cedric Diggory die. Neville and Luna had been the only other students he knew could see the too. But Ron and Hermione could see them now because they had witnessed Sirius die. Sadly, Harry wished that they weren't able to see them still, seeing the thestrals wasn't worth witnessing the death of a person.

"They must be looking at the Thestrals," Luna whispered to Ginny.

"Come on you two," Neville said from outside of the door, ushering them along. "We need to get going, really."

Hermione and Ron entered the carriage and both looked at Harry with wide eyes. Harry nodded and told them to sit down. A wave of guilt and misery washed over him – it was his fault that they had witnessed Sirius die.

"They were so cool!" Ron said. "I see the thestrals now!"

"Yes, Ron," Hermione said, sensing Harry's sadness.

"You aren't a lunatic Harry! They are real!" Ron continued.
            "RON! SIT DOWN!" Hermione screamed. The carriage started to move, and Ron plopped down on his seat. The thestrals took off, flying in the air.

"Next stop: Hogwarts and the beginning of a new year." Neville said, with a hint of a sigh lingering in his voice. Harry, in a newly saddened mood, couldn't blame him.

Every year, all of the students and staff of Hogwarts met in the Great Hall to greet the first years and have a grand feast. This, Harry always thought, was one of Ron's favorite moments at Hogwarts. There was butterbeer and pumpkin juice, sandwiches and stews of all sorts. The start-of-term feast was certainly one to look forward too.

While walking into the enchanted Great Hall through the large double doors, which Harry figured could never be broken, Harry was quite sure that he heard Ron whine to Hermione about having to "watch the little first-year buggars put on the old smelly hat" before he could eat. Harry laughed aloud, earning glances from several other students.

Last year, the other students had regarded Harry as somewhat of a joke, this year they all seemed to admire him ("Once again," Neville whispered, "All is right with the world."). As he walked to the front of the his house table, Harry noticed Colin Creevey and Parvati Patil, two fellow Gryffindors, wave at him, he smiled and nodded back.  Harry, Hermione and Ron sat near the head of the Gryffindor table, while Ginny wandered off towards the back to meet up with a few of her friends who had beckoned her to join them, (while simultaneously smiling at Harry).

"It's good to be back, isn't it Harry?" Ron asked, throwing his legs over one of the benches that lined the table.

"Oh, yeah." Answered Harry, "It's good to be here."

"I'm just disappointed that we never get any fresh meat around here, if you know what I mean" Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor sixth year, said to Harry. At the same time eating some candy he had stored in his pocket. Harry glanced at Ron, who was watching Dean eat with great interest. He had no idea what Dean meant.

"What'd you mean?" Ron said, staring as Dean picked up a chocolate frog and stuck it in his mouth.

Dean Thomas swallowed the frog, then licked his fingers and said, "Oh you know, Ron. No fresh meat – no new girls to see…" He trailed off.

"Oh! Of course! Yeah, no fresh meat, right." Ron said, nodding widely. "Too bad indeed."

"Oh, please, you two. That's disgusting," Hermione broke in. "If either of you ever managed to charm a girl with that attitude, I'd be very surprised." Harry noticed that this comment received a slight flashing look from Ron, which disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Hogwarts students were coming through the double doors less frequently now, which usually signified the first years were about to arrive. Harry turned his head towards the teachers table to see who had returned from the summer, and who hadn't. Headmaster Professor Dumbledore was at the center of the table, as usual, talking to Professor McGonagall, who was Harry's Transfiguration teacher as well as Head of Gryffindor House. Harry's Charms professor, Filius Flitwick, was there as well, sitting next to Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher. Professor Binns, a ghost, sat next to Pomona Sprout and Madam Hooch. At the far right end of the table sat Professor Snape, Harry's least favorite teacher. Too bad he's still alive, Harry found himself thinking.

Snape, a greasy black haired man, had once been a follower of Lord Voldemort, but apparently he had deserted his fellow Death Eaters and had become a spy for Dumbledore. Harry didn't trust him, but Dumbledore did, which would have to suffice. Snape had never gone easy on Harry, and would often purposefully ruin Harry's class work. While thinking back to the memory he had witnessed through the Pensive, Harry didn't much blame him.

Harry saw Hagrid walk into the Great Hall through the teacher's back door and sit down at the table in his usual seat. Hagrid was the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, much to the dismay of Malfoy and his gang. While scanning the table one last time, Harry was quite surprised to see no one sitting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts seat. This particular position had always been hard to fill, but the seat had never been empty when school started. Harry wondered if the Headmaster had found anyone at all?

"I wonder who's going to fill that seat?" Hermione whispered, as if she had read Harry's mind.

"Dunno," Ron said.

Parvati came down the table and said "hi" to Harry, smiling foolishly. Harry greeted her in return.

"I just wanted to say that the Sorting Hat ceremony will probably be starting soon," she said in a sweet voice.

"Oh good," Ron said touching his hand to his stomach.

"Yeah….." Parvati trailed off, looking at Ron with a slight pinch in her face. "Well, I was also just talking to Colin, and he said that he saw Malfoy walking around with a strange girl. He said he hadn't seen her here before. Have any of you seen her?"

Harry had. "Yeah, I noticed her earlier at the Platform," he said, trying to sound as if he hadn't been wondering about who she was for the past two hours.

Ron and Hermione looked at him – they saw through the act.

Parvati failed to notice, "Oh, you did, Harry? Well, Colin said that she was pretty good looking, and I don't really know if I can trust him, you know, since he dated that foul looking girl over the summer. Can any of you believe she actually won that beauty contest?" Parvati paused, waiting for an answer. "Well, I can't," she said when she received none. She turned back to Harry, "So, what did you think of her?"

Harry was very taken aback. He had not expected to have to answer a question like this; he had never been asked his opinion on a girl before. "Uh, well, she had….nice hair," was all he could manage.

Ron looked intrigued, while Hermione broke out laughing over his answer.

"Nice hair?" Parvati said, looking a bit worried. "How nice?"

"Erm…" Harry said awkwardly. How nice was her hair?!

"Oh, spare him, Parvati," Hermione managed between giggles. "He has no clue."

"Hmph," Parvati said, looking towards the Slytherin table. 'Oh, that must be her!" She exclaimed suddenly, pointing towards the table. "There next to Malfoy!" Harry and Ron's heads turned immediately, searching for the new girl. "She's not that pretty," Parvati said, still sounding very worried. She then stocked off back to Colin.

Surely enough, Harry saw the same girl he had on the Platform and holding Malfoy's hand coming off of the train sitting at the Slytherin table. She was surrounded by Slytherins, and was talking as if telling a very engaging tale. Her hands moved elegantly, as she wove the story, while her eyes, which could be seen from a great distance, darted from face to face drawing every listener in. Draco Malfoy sat right beside her, his hand around her waist, smiling proudly.

"Wow," Ron said, his eyes still on the girl, "She has very pretty," he stopped abruptly, turning back to Hermione, "hair."

"Sure," Hermione said, staring blankly ahead. And then added, 'So Harry, do you want to stop drooling?" It took a moment for her snide remark (which was unusual for Hermione) to register, but Harry slowly turned back around and smiled sheepishly. Hermione slowly opened her mouth to comment, but stopped when the lines of first years began to enter the Great Hall.

The first years always looked so small to Harry, and he could never quite accept that he had been that small once too, six years ago. The first years walked down the aisle separating the table of Slytherin and Ravenclaw from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. They stopped once they became even with the head of the house tables and waited as Professor McGonagall stood up and produced a raggedy old hat from seemingly nowhere, then set it on a stool right in front of the staff's table.

The Sorting Hat. A rip near the hat's brim opened wide, revealing a mouth-like shape, and the hat began to – talk.

"Ahem," said the hat, oddly reminiscent of Professor Umbridge, which made many students and teachers flinch, "I am the Sorting Hat, and it is here, perched upon this stool, where I usually sing a song describing our four great founders, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw." The students were looking at each other; surprised that the hat had broken its long tradition of singing. Many of the staff looked equally surprised, but Professor Dumbledore remained silent and attentive, all of his attention on the hat. "I am not to do that this year. For this year, there will be some changes." Again, loud whispers erupted among the students. Harry looked toward Hermione and Ron who were both staring wide-mouthed at the hat.

"I was here when the school was founded. I was witness to the friendship between all four founders. They were great friends at first – not enemies – who all had a common goal: to start the greatest wizarding school in the world. They succeeded, but each had different qualities that they deemed every student should have. Slytherin wanted ambitious and pure, Gryffindor preferred honorable and brave, Ravenclaw sought the intelligent sand logical, Hufflepuff would have taken all. So, to settle the dispute of which students to accept, the founders created me, and gave me the voice to place each individual student in the house that fit them best. Soon after, the founders split apart then died, and it was I who was left to realize that this method of "sorting" would divide us all. However, I continued to sort students, as I had been created to do. Until this year," the Sorting Hat paused, and Harry noticed that the first year students were beginning to look a little worried.

"I will not be sorting students this year. It is time, that we realize that we are not a school with students separated into four houses, but instead we are a school with students here to learn – in more ways than one many times.

"So, now, Professor McGonagall, you may take me back to sit upon Dumbledore's shelf. Thank you." Slowly, and unsurely Professor McGonagall rose from her chair and walked back over to the stool. She picked up the Sorting Hat and walked back through the door to the teacher's room. The Hall was silent.

Then Dumbledore rose from his seat as well, his silver-blue robes shining and his long white beard cascading down his front, and began to speak. "This past holiday," he began, "I had the opportunity to do a lot of thinking." Harry doubted this very highly, he was quite sure that this past summer had been very busy for Dumbledore. "I thought about a great many things, and about a good deal of people," Harry saw Dumbledore's eyes slide to him, then away again. "I talked with many people about the choice I have been forced to make, and most to agree that it is indeed a necessary decision." Dumbledore paused to take a breath. After setting down his glass of water, his booming voice again filled the Great Hall. "The Sorting Hat spoke true. Students will not be sorted into the four houses this year. If fact, there will be no houses this year."

Suddenly, talk erupted amongst the students. No houses? Hermione and Ron gasped. Neville blinked rapidly. Harry was not quite sure how to react. There must be houses! How else was the school going to be divided? And then Harry understood….the school wasn't supposed to be divided at all. It was supposed to be united.

Harry turned to Hermione. "It's the division," he said, and he saw the spark of understanding in Hermione's eyes as well.

"There will be no houses this year," Dumbledore said again. "And since there will be no houses, there will be no need of the house tables." Dumbledore clapped his hands once and the table that had been right in front of Harry suddenly disappeared. The Gryffindor table was gone! Harry looked around and saw that indeed, all of the long tables that had sat in the Great Hall had disappeared. What was going on? Screams shot through the great hall.

There was a loud thump and Dean Thomas turned towards Harry and said, "Lisa Turpin was sitting on one of the tables when Dumbledore made them vanish!"

"What is happening?" Ron asked urgently. "Has Dumbledore gone mad?"

"No," Hermione answered, "He's just trying to unite us all."

"How by taking away the tables? Is eating on the floor going to unite us?"

"No, Ron! Calm down, and let him explain!"

"I'm sorry, students. I know this doesn't make much sense, nor is it much fun. However, with the changing of times, certain changes must be made here as well," Dumbledore said over the noise. "Voldemort is back." This certainly quieted the hall. "He is back, and he is no longer hiding. If we, as a school, are divided and thus, weak, we may fail. We are not as safe as we once were. So, please, students, try to accept the changes. You may not like them, but they are for the best. Now, hold onto your seats please." Harry looked toward the bench he was sitting on. What did Dumbledore mean? He held his legs together and grabbed the bench, holding on tightly. "RUMPERESI!" Dumbledore cried through the hall, his wand raised high. Immediately, the benches began to crack, separating student from student. Splintering wood was heard throughout the hall. Now, instead of eight long benches in the hall, there were hundreds of small planks of wood each holding a single Hogwarts student. The first years were somehow sitting on planks as well, even though they had not been sitting on a bench in the first place. Noise filed the hall, a combination of talking and screams of surprise.

Harry looked to the ground. His seat was being levitated, or held up by some invisible force.

"Harry," Hermione asked, "What is going on?"

"I have no idea, Hermione," Harry rushed, "You're the bright one."

"Well, she didn't see this one coming, did she?" Ron sneered.

Dumbledore's voice raised high again. "Capereia" he exclaimed. All of the students rose slowly towards the bewitched ceiling of Hogwarts, they were nearly twenty feet off of the ground before they stopped rising.

Harry looked toward the teacher's table. All of the teachers were now standing with their wands raised. They were all participating in a very large spell, it seemed. All except for Hagrid, who stood to the side of the rest of the teachers. Hagrid, Harry remembered, was not, strictly speaking, allowed to perform magic. "Tablieum!" The professors spoke in unison. Harry's gaze darted to the ground below him where he witnessed the four long house table's reappear in the hall. He looked towards Hermione and Ron who had risen to the ceiling next to him. He gave them a confused look, one which they returned.

"Why go through all of this, if they're just going to give us the tables back?" Ron asked.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but was jolted backwards before she could answer. Hermione and her piece of bench flew towards the third table from the left wall, what had once been the Ravenclaw table.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled, trying to reach for her.

"HERMIONE!" Ron screamed, nearly toppling off of his bench grasping after her. Their screams where not heard, however, because they were drowned out by the screams of other Hogwarts students. "Lisa!" "Michael!" "Susan!" "Blaise!" "Neville!" were amongst the names Harry heard being called. Harry's head darted from side to side as he saw dozens of students flying toward the Ravenclaw table. Once they reached the table, their planks of wood were suddenly transformed into different colored chairs, and set down neatly on the floor.

Hermione's piece of wood – now turned a bright red chair – was set down lightly near the head of the table. She looked up at Harry and Ron and nodded her head. "They're switching us," she mouthed.

Ron turned to Harry, and said (while students were still flying towards the Hufflepuff table) "They're switching us? What does that mean?"

"Look, Ron!" Harry screamed over the noise, "They're switching all of our houses!" He pointed toward the table, and Ron followed his finger. "Hermione and Neville and Dennis Creevey are all Gryffindors, but now their sitting at a table with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and SLYTHERINS! They're switching us all around!"

The Great Hall was filled with noise. Right when the Hufflepuff table started to look very full, more students were jerked from their places in the air and brought back down towards the next table. The old Gryffindor table.

"The Gryffindor table!" Ron shouted. He and Harry instinctively grabbed on to their seats, clutching tighter in case they were about to be jerked toward the ground. "Ginny!" Ron yelled as he saw his sister fly towards the table.

"Look, Draco's at that table too!" Harry yelled, pointing at the flailing Draco being hurtled downwards. "Not very suave, though." He muttered.

"Parvati!" Lavender Brown, a fellow Gryffindor, yelled as Parvati Patil hurtled toward the ground.

"Same thing's happening with that table too then," Ron screamed towards Harry. The noise was still unbearable. "The teacher's are rearranging our houses."

Harry looked down towards the teachers table. They were all standing very still and erect. Why are the doing this? He asked himself, getting very angry. This is torture…something Umbridge would have pulled!  Half of the students were now sitting in brightly colored chairs surrounding the two middle tables of the room, while the other half of the student population were still floating in the air.

Harry turned suddenly as he saw Ron jerk away from him. "Ron!" He yelled, watching him fall toward the table toward the farthest left table of the room, the old Hufflepuff table. Dozens of others followed, including, Harry noticed, Luna Lovegood and Crabbe and Goyle. Ron's old bench piece turned into a bright green chair as he was set next to Luna near the middle of the table.

Harry glanced around and saw that only one fourth of the students remained floating in the air, and there was only one table left where they could all go…

Harry felt himself being jerked downwards, he was headed to the center of the final table: the Slytherin table. He felt his piece of bench morph into a semi-comfortable chair and he looked down to see that it was black. Harry hadn't seen anyone else's bench turn into a black chair Yet another thing that makes me stand out, he thought cynically. His body jumped as his chair hit the ground. The rest of the chairs that were in the air came flying down to the table as well. Some flew towards the head of the table, others flew toward the back of it. Some landed right next to Harry.

He noticed Terry Boot of Ravenclaw land near him on a bright pink chair, then Owen Cauldwell from Hufflepuff sat across from him. Jan Stark and Raymond Myers both from Ravenclaw sat down at his table as well. There were two first years, whom Harry didn't know, and many other people who Harry had never before talked to in his life. Harry looked up and down the Slytherin table where he now sat, there was not a single Gryffindor, save himself. What? Thought Harry angrily, But all of the other tables had Gryffindors! Harry didn't know anyone at this table. Even the Slytherins, whom he had known because they were always ruining his days, he hardly knew. Millicent Bullstrode and Graham Pritchard, both Slytherins, he only knew by name. This was awful!

Harry looked up and saw that all of the students had now been re-sorted and where down from the ceiling. He looked expectantly at Dumbledore. He's going to say that this is all a joke. Most of the other student's heads were turned towards Professor Dumbledore as well.

Dumbledore, and the rest of the teachers, were still standing completely still and erect. They looked very grand, and if Harry wasn't so angry at them for doing what they just had, he's be in great awe of them. Slowly, Dumbledore opened his eyes; a gesture followed soon by the rest of the teachers, and sat down. From this position he spoke loudly, although Harry noticed he was obviously exhausted. "Students," he said. "These are fellow students of Hogwarts whom you may or may not know. You will stay with these people and get to know them, for you are going to be learning with them as well. Please be open minded about this change, it is an important one." Dumbledore paused and looked over the Great Hall with a sweeping glance. "Now, you may eat." Suddenly, and like every year before, food appeared on the table. A great feast filled with anything a young wizard could want. But Harry wasn't hungry, and as he searched for Ron and Hermione's face through the crowd he saw them waving him toward the double doors of the Great Hall. Harry slowly got up, and walked past the other Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins that now populated his new table to meet Hermione and Ron.

"Hey," he said when he reached them.

"Hey," they both said back.