Chapter 7
Harry felt lonely and wanted to go back to Christina, but now that the train was moving, he didn't have any chance. He walked towards the corridor and started to look for Ron and Hermione. He didn't have to look for a long time; they were sitting in the last compartment on the train. "Harry, where have you been?" Hermione said, the moment Harry entered the compartment and closed the door behind him.
"I was just saying goodbye to Christina" he said, sitting down and putting down his trunk. "Oh, is she OK?" Ron asked. "Yeah, she'll be fine" Harry said, looking out of the window. "She's not going to be alone, she has Mrs. Weasley" Hermione said, reasonably. Harry nodded, feeling a little better than before.
The journey to Hogwarts was very long, as usual. They bought lots of food from the lunch trolley, because they didn't eat anything back in the Barrow. "So, how did you and Chris meet?" Hermione asked suddenly, frowning, "I mean, she said that you knew each other long before". Harry thought for a moment and then answered the same answer that Chris gave Mrs. Weasley, not the truth. "So" Hermione said, "her parents know you". "Yeah" Harry said, looking out of the window again. "And she told me that she was muggle-born" Ron added, nodding. "Really, just like me" Hermione smiled. The day sled on, and when the dark fell, Harry, for the third time looked out of the window and saw the very far turrets of Hogwarts. When they arrived, they saw the usual carriages that were pulled by some kind of an invisible horse, and Harry, Ron and Hermione ran to get one for them. They entered the carriage and closed the door behind them.
Time passed and they were entering the great hall, wet to boot, but glad all the same. They sat at the Gryffindor table and watched the sorting. Then there was the feast, and they all ate a lot of food, because they were starving. And then…Dumbledore stood up for his usual speech. "Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts. Let me just say welcome to all the new students of the school. And then I would like to announce a very important thing before you all go to sleep". The great hall was silent; Harry looked at Hermione and Ron, who were looking at each other. What could that be? Harry thought, as he looked back at Dumbledore. "This year we will be doing an Outin ball" as he said those word, most of the students were smiling, some of them started talking excitedly. "What does…?" Harry said but Hermione shushed him quickly. "as I said, that the Outin ball is for everyone starting with the third years of course, if you want to invite someone from inside the school or outside" Dumbledore continued, "and this ball will be held in the 24th of December, if you need any information about this ball, please visit your head of house" Dumbledore smiled, and then said, "And now, you can all go to your beds and…" but Harry wasn't listening, "What does it mean?" he asked Ron. Ron was going to answer, but the great hall was full of noises, all the students were getting up on their feet and heading for the doors. "Let's go, we'll tell you later" Hermione said, pushing Harry through the crowed.
They walked between the lines of students heading towards the Gryffindor common room. When they arrived, there was a lot of talk, they were all up, and none of them went to sleep. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on the floor of the common room in a congressional way, since there was no space or chair for the three of them. "So?" Harry said, looking at Hermione. "Well" she began, "the Outin ball is a ball where you have to get a partner…" "Of course" Harry said, "I know that a ball is where you get a partner, but…" she cut across him, "you have to get a partner in the school or out of the school" she finished. "What?" Harry was confused. "That means" she said, "that you can get a girl from outside the school". Harry understood now. "anyway" Hermione suddenly stood up, "we have to go to sleep, term starts tomorrow, we have to get some sleep so we could be concentrating on our lessons " she walked towards the girl's dormitory and went in, closing the door behind her. Harry and Ron looked around; there was nothing to do now. They walked towards the door heading to the dormitory of the boys and head off to sleep. "Good night" Harry said, as he and Ron were sitting on the bed, "yeah" Ron said, "Good night".