"Wow, Ginny," said Stephanie. "Was all that about her and Harry true?"
"No!" exclaimed Ginny. "Harry would never touch trash like her with a ten foot broomstick!"
"I didn't think so," replied Stephanie. "I mean, when I saw…"
Stephanie broke off, and Ginny looked up to see what made her so speechless. Of course, it was Anthony. He was standing half in, half out of the compartment, and everyone in there was looking at them. He'd changed into his robes, the black contrasting wonderfully with his blonde hair. Stephanie smiled at him, and he grinned back.
"Where've you two been, then?" he asked. "You said you'd only be gone for a minute. We missed you."
He said most of this while looking at both of them, but when he said the last three words he stared directly into Stephanie's eyes. This seemed to give her the courage to speak in front of everyone.
"Oh, Romilda was being a right cow and Ginny had to hex her," she said casually, as if that sort of thing happened all the time. Which it did, but Stephanie never said anything so boldly. Anthony smiled more widely at her, and ushered them both into the compartment.
Conversation started up again, but beside her, Stephanie and Anthony were having one of their own. This was strange, because when Stephanie talked to someone, Ginny was always there joining in. But they were having quite a natural conversation by themselves, so Ginny talked to Dean and Padma.
"Congratulations again, Padma," said Ginny, referring to her new status as Head Girl.
"All it really proves is how much of a two shoes I am," she replied, waving it off.
"No way! Bill was Head Boy, he's definitely not a conformist. So was Harry's dad, and from what I've heard…"
"Okay, okay, you've made your point."
"Do you think they'll be making new prefects this year, since Harry, Hermione, and Malfoy have left?" asked Dean.
"Maybe," replied Ginny. "A few people in my year have left too, I don't understand. Why would parents think the best way to protect their children is to keep them from learning what they need to protect themselves?"
"I'm surprised Seamus' mother didn't keep him," noted Padma, looking over at him. He was lying on the floor, shooting up sparks with his wand, looking bored. He looked over when he heard this.
"She tried," he told her. "Remember last year, she tried to make me come home, but I wanted to stay for Dumbledore's funeral? It was like that, but worse. It was my da who showed her reason."
"Isn't your dad a Muggle?" asked Ginny.
"Yes, which means he doesn't much understand what's going on. He's good like that."
Ginny, Dean and Padma laughed. It was beginning to get dark now. They would be at the school soon. Realising this, everyone who hadn't changed into robes did so. Ginny started playing with Arnold, her pet Pygmy Puff, trying to ignore the fact that Dean's eyes kept straying over to her.
They finally reached Hogsmeade Station. Ginny took a carriage with Stephanie, Anthony, Michael, and Terry. She saw Luna Lovegood standing alone, and called her in. This caused protest among her friends, but they quickly shut their mouth when they saw the look on Ginny face. They knew not to cross her when it came to her Gryffindor loyalty.
"Hi, Luna!" Ginny greeted her brightly, helping her into the carriage. "Good summer?"
"Oh, it was alright, Ginevra," she replied, causing Ginny to cringe at the use of her full name. "Daddy and I didn't find any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, but it was fun looking."
She sat down between Ginny and Terry. Anthony sat across from her, with Stephanie on one side and Michael on the other. The three boys quickly turned the conversation away from this.
"My sister is starting this year," announced Terry proudly. They'd all heard him go on about his little sister Cassie.
"So is my brother," said Stephanie quietly. Only Ginny even knew her brother Tony existed, so this caused the boys to say things that varied on the line "I never knew you had a brother."
"Tony," she explained. "He's eleven and a little monster."
"Aren't they all," mused Terry.
"So, Ginny," began Michael. "You've been going from boy to boy quite quickly over these last few years."
"Do you have a point, Michael," asked Ginny coolly.
"Who's your next victim?"
Everyone laughed, except Luna, who just gazed at Michael dreamily.
"Victim," repeated Ginny. "Is that what you were? Was it really that bad?"
"The heartbreak was," he replied, half joking.
"Well you seemed to get over me and under Cho pretty quick," snapped Ginny.
"I'm always on top, Gin, you know that," Dean replied.
"That's not how I remember it, babe," said Ginny.
"Oh, I beg to differ. What about all that time you spent on your knees? I was higher than you at least."
"In stature, maybe. But you were on you knees first, begging me to do it. Begging."
"You were very good," Michael told her.
"Why, thank you," Ginny replied.
"Yes, very good," he continued. "But I often wondered where you learnt those little tricks."
"Okay, this has gone on long enough," Anthony broke in. "We don't want to know!"
"Speak for yourself, mate," said Terry. "Please continue."
"Well, we have to go now anyway," said Stephanie, as the carriage had stopped.
Ginny exited last, and looked back at the horseless carriages and noted with a shiver that they weren't exactly horseless. She noticed Luna looking at them too, and remembered that she could see them.
"What do they look like?" she asked her.
"The thestrals?" replied Luna. "Huge winged horses with white shining eyes, dragonish faces and necks, and skeletal black bodies. They sound ugly, but they're really not."
She turned and walked up the castle steps and through the open doors. Ginny followed, catching up to Stephanie, Terry, Michael and Anthony. When they reached the great hall, the boys stopped at the Ravenclaw table while the girls continued to the Gryffindor table to join Dean, Seamus and Parvati.
The Great Hall was considerably emptier this year. Looking down the table, Ginny saw only four Gryffindors in her year, four in the year above, and about the same, give or take, in the other years. The other tables were just as sparse.
Ginny looked up at the staff table. Professor McGonagall had taken Dumbledore's old seat. There were five new teachers, and two of the old teachers were missing, not counting Hagrid, who was off with the first years. Snape wasn't there, of course. Neither was Sprout, or Sinistra. One of the extras must have been replacing McGonagall, and the other was either the Divination teacher or the History of Magic teacher, as Trelawny, Firenze, and Binns never came to the great hall anyway. One of the new teachers was a young man, couldn't have been over 25. He was very handsome, and Ginny saw that she wasn't the only girl in the room who has noticed.
When everyone was seated, the doors opened and a small group of eleven year olds walked around the tables to face the school. Professor Flitwick place the sorting hat on its stool and proceeded to read out the names.
"Boot, Cassandra."
Ginny clapped as Terry's sister was sorted into Ravenclaw, but lost interest quickly and gazed around as dreamily as Luna would until Stephanie poked her in the ribs.
"My brother just got sorted into Slytherin," she whispered, looking relieved that she didn't have to constantly put up with him in the common room.
"He must be bad, then," replied Ginny, giggling.
There was only fifteen first years, four in Gryffindor, so the school got their dinner very quickly. There was a flurry of movement as everyone reached out to get their food, but Ginny joined quite reculantly, and piled very little onto her plate.
"What's up, Gin?" asked Stephanie, noticing her friend was eating very sparingly.
"Oh, nothing," Ginny replied. Seeing that Stephanie could see right through her, she added, "I'll tell you later."
After dessert, McGonagall stood up. There was silence as she began to speak.
"Welcome students," she said. "Those of you who opted to return, that it. It may interest you to know that we currently have only 115 students enrolled at Hogwarts, whereas two year ago we had almost 300. However, to correspond with Albus Dumbledore's wishes, this school shall stay open even if only one student wishes to remain.
"With these small numbers of students, most classes shall have to be merged. That is to say, two years will be in the same class. This will be explained in more detail when you receive your timetables.
"We have a number of new staff this year, as a number of our staff has left. The new transfiguration teacher will be Professor Donella."
A strict-looking dark haired witch nodded at the applauding crowd. She was in her thirties, Ginny thought.
"The new Herbology teacher is Professor Samar."
A much pleasanter looking woman with a less than modest waistline smiled broadly and waved.
"The new History of magic teacher will be Professor Wilter."
A bespectacled man tipped his hat to the school.
"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be Professor Daren."
The young, hot wizard smiled and lifted his hand in greeting. Ginny saw Romilda Vane and friends swoon at his smile.
"And finally, the new Astronomy teacher is Professor Fordren."
This last witch stood up and curtsied. A few wolf whistles from the older boys in the crowd said that she was quite attractive. She was probably the same age as Professor Daren.
"Stop that." McGonagall called for silence. "As last year, Aurors will be guarding the entrances to the school. They will also be flying around the perimeter for extra precaution. Now I'm sure you all want to go to your beds, so you can be well rested for your classes tomorrow."