When the train pulls into the station there is pandemonium as all of the older students hurry to get onto the first carriages rather than having to wait for the first ones to return to the station. This pandemonium only increases as Harry and Hannah both step off the train with their familiars perched on them somewhere as those students that had only heard about the Phoenix on the train try to get a better view of the person that has managed to get a Phoenix as a familiar.
At the other end of the platform to the carriages, there stands a giant of a man with a massive bushy beard wearing a battered leather long coat, the lantern hanging from a pole in his hand clearly illuminating him on the dim platform. His cry of "Firs' year's, Firs' year's over here." is clearly audible across the entire platform. As they get closer, Harry can see that the man clearly stands head and shoulders above even the tallest student he's seen so far.
It doesn't take long before all of the first years are gathered around the man, a few of them having being turned back by a teacher over by the carriages. Hagrid does a quick head count, then does it again.
Pointing his finger at Xingwei he says, "Excuse me Miss, but I don't recognise you."
Xingwei curtseys, "I am Xingwei, Mistress Hermione's familiar."
"You don't look like any familiar I've ever seen before."
"That's because I am a red dragon. I've only transformed into a humanoid appearance to accommodate my masters lifestyle."
"Right, I'll let McGonagall sort that one out then." He mutters, then in a louder voice, "Right, first years follow me. Be careful on the path as it rained earlier and they're still a little slippery."
With that he leads them down a path by the side of the platform, the last of the evening light allowing them to pick their way safely down to the shore of a lake.
"Right 'oh. Everyone take a seat in a boat. No more than four to a boat."
Quickly Susan and Hannah grab a boat, and Hermione joins them as she's talking to Hannah about the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett, Xingwei takes up the fourth seat in their boat. Harry joins Daphne and Tracy in another boat, with Neville not far behind him. Much to the annoyance of a couple of the boys. By the time everyone's seated the stars are clearly visible in the sky and the sunset just a red glimmer visible on the horizon.
With a shout of "Forward" from the giant, the boats all surge away from the sheltered cove that they were beached in. As they pass the trees and hedges protecting the cove the castle that is the school comes into view with the moon hanging majestically over the Astronomy tower, and the faint orange glimmer of the sunset providing a backdrop. The twinkling light of fires burning in each of the windows gives the whole scene a fairy tale appearance. There are gasps of awe and a silence falls over the children as they look at the scene.
This silence is broken when Xingwei spots something moving beneath the surface of the lake. Suddenly she's gone from the boat, and hovering above them is a red dragon that's at least 80' from nose to tail. In a deep voice she says, "There's something beneath the waves, don't worry Mistress, I will protect you."
There's dead silence for a few moments as everyone just looks up at the dragon and tries to process what they're seeing. The giant just stares at her in awe and mutters, "She's beautiful."
The screams that many of the children let out when their brains finally process what they're seeing, along with a couple of splashes, breaks his wonder. Looking around and shaking his head he shouts, "It's just the giant squid, it likes to follow along just in case anyone falls overboard so it can fish them out and put them back in their boat."
True enough, tentacles come out of the water carrying a couple of soaking children and deposits them back in the boats. With a huff that leaves smoke trailing from her nostrils, Xingwei transforms back into her humanoid form. Only to be peppered with questions from Susan and Hannah about how she did the transformation.
Daphne looks at Harry with a wry smile, "I guess she wasn't kidding when she said she was a red dragon."
Harry laughs, "Indeed she wasn't."
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Amidst a lot of nervous laughter and conversation, the flotilla makes it's way to a small dock secreted away in a cave at the base of the outcropping that Hogwarts is built on. As the rest of the children are getting out of the boats, Harry kindly casts scruberoo on the two children that fell in the lake.
While his doing that the giant calls out, "Has anyone lost a toad?"
With a Happy cry of "Treavor!" Neville runs forward to claim the toad, this is quickly followed by a mournful cry of "Treavor!" as his raven swoops down and snatches the toad from his hands before swallowing it in two gulps, then returning to its perch on his shoulder.
With a kind hand on Nevilles shoulder, the giant says, "I'm sorry that happened, but Ravens make better familiars than toads, and it looks like that particular raven has adopted you."
The giant then leads the children up a spiral staircase that's lit by floating motes of light. Once they reach the top, it's a short walk from there to the main doors of the castle. Once they reach the door the heat from the early autumn day has already dissipated, and most of the children are starting to shiver. The exceptions being those near Sunbeam or Xingwei.
The giant then raises his fist and bangs loudly on the door in three measured knocks. A moment later both doors open to reveal Minerva in her finery and her hair in a tight bun, with a sash of tartan the only nod to her heritage.
"The first years Professor."
"Thank you Hagrid. I'll take it from here."
"'afore you go, the young lady over there is actually a red dragon, and the familiar of the young girl standing next to her."
"I see." Minerva says disbelievingly.
One of the children pipes up, "She is, we all saw her transform over the lake when the giant squid followed us. I even fell off the boat."
A chorus of agreement from all the other children present causes her to purse her lips, "Ah see. Well this is most irregular. First years, please follow me."
She turns and strides off to an antechamber just off of the entrance hall, just before the doors to the Great Hall.
"If'in you can all wait in here, I will prepare the Great Hall for your arrival and then fetch you through the other door. Young lady with the horns, please wait a moment."
As the other children file in, Xingwei walks over to Minerva.
"Professor?"
"I'm Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher. May I ask your name?"
"Xingwei, Professor."
"No last name?"
"No Professor."
"I have to ask, I've been told you're a familiar, are you bonded?"
"I am, which is much preferable to being trapped in an orb. Sunbeam, the phoenix is also bonded, as are the Raven and Fairy that you've seen."
"I see, I will need to let the rest of the staff know so that provision can be made for them, however it is your situation that leaves me in a pickle. As by our laws, a witch or wizard cannot be separated from their bonded familiar. This is also a rule in the school charter. However, we also can't allow people that aren't students or staff members to stay in the school. As you are clearly a person, I'm afraid that you'll need to be sorted after the rest of the first years."
"I understand professor, does that mean that you'll also be sorting Sunbeam?"
Minerva coughs before she replies, "While I would like to, she doesn't have the ability to communicate with us, and so she is not recognised as a person by our laws. So regardless of her intelligence or lack thereof, she is seen as a magical creature."
"She will be most disappointed when I tell her. Oh and phoenixes can speak, they just use a variation of colour tongue that works in the infrared."
"While that may be true, it doesn't change the fact that she can't communicate with us. Now if you could wait in there with the first years, I need to get things ready for your sorting."
Minerva watches as Xingwei walks into the room and catches sight of the tip of her tail poking out from the bottom of her dress as she walks.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Harry, Neville and the girls from the compartment all head over to one side of the room once they come in, and Hannah and Hermione both immediately have their noses in their respective books given that they didn't get much book time during the train journey. Harry on the other hand, pulls out a camping sofa, and then is promptly badgered into starting to teach Tracy and Daphne Simian, so he pulls out a toddler book and starts to go through one slowly. Susan cradles the Lin-Z as it plays some music quietly with Neville who is alternating between scritching his Raven and pulling his new wand out and staring at it.
It was into this that a slim blond boy with extravagant robes and perfectly coifed hair. Behind him are two large boys who wouldn't look out of place shaking down the geek in a school playground. He stops in front of Harry and stiffly sticks out his hand, "I hear that you're Harry Potter. I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. If you wish I can show you how to make friends with the right sort of person."
Harry sighs with annoyance and pulls out a book on wizarding etiquette and flicks to a page marked with a post-it note before coughing once, "Mr Malfoy, I thank you for your kind offer. However, as I am heir to the House Potter, and I am also doing well at making friends with Heirs Greengrass, Longbottom, Abbott, and Bones, along with the 2nd in line to the Davis household, I feel that my judgement is sufficient. While admittedly House Greengrass is only recently ennobled, I feel that they are still worthy of my attention. What may I ask would the Mean, Self-absorbed, snob of the minor house of Malfoy, that doesn't even have the wherewithal to introduce themselves appropriately, have to offer the heir to an Ancient and Most Noble house?"
Malfoy turns redder and redder during Harry's formal sounding admonishment. Not helped by the fact that Harry is clearly cribbing from a book. To cap it off, Daphne is clearly hiding a giggle behind what looks like a book for toddlers. He turns about face and heads over to his cronies after such a spectacular burn.
Harry mutters, "Blast, I thought I'd be able to get him to blow up with that."
Daphne leans over, "So what was it you looked up, as I know you only glanced at it."
Harry shows her the page he has bookmarked, "Oh, it's only the list of houses and their status. I remembered that Tracy said that her brother was already here in Ravenclaw. At least I got level 4 Mischief out of it. L has been a rather corrupting influence over the last month. Mainly because my aunt keeps making googoo eyes at Simeon, which frankly I really don't want to know about. As such, I've been spending more time learning from L."
"Who's L again?"
"She's the sage of Mischief Magic."
"Oh, yes, the one that likes trolling forums, whatever they are."
Whatever else was going to be said, was interrupted by a shriek followed by a ball of fire as three ghosts floated through the wall. Said ghosts quickly pass back through the room, and one of them pokes it's head out again.
"We're sorry, we do this every year as a way of preparing the new first years for the fact that there are ghosts in the castle, and they are harmless. Please don't throw another fireball at us."
Xingwei, who is currently still holding a fireball, immediately gains the appreciation of the more skittish first years, even though she extinguishes it shortly after the ghost finishes talking.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
It's only a minute before Professor McGonagall opens the door to the Great Hall and calls, "This way children, line up at the end by the doors here. When I call you name, walk down the centre of the tables and sit on the Stool. I will now bring out the Sorting hat."
She strides down the aisle and through a side door by the teachers table. While she's doing that Hermione looks up at the ceiling and comments, "You know, I read about this in Hogwarts a history. And while it's impressive, I don't really think it beats visiting the library of a ruined university hanging in the plane of magic, and knowing it's only there because of three people that you've actually met."
The other first years try to imagine what such a sight must look like before looking at the ceiling themselves and struggling to compare the two in their minds. When they fail, the consider that this is the girl who has a red dragon as a familiar and is friends with Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, and the boy with a phoenix as a familiar. Some of the closer existing students look a little offended by Hermione's statement, but then they don't know that her familiar is a red dragon.
While this is going on, Minerva returns with the sorting hat and a three-legged stool.
As soon as the brim of the hat touches the stool, the hat creases in a way that forms rudimentary eyes and a mouth. It then opens it's mouth and starts to sing slightly off key and with no sense of tempo. It's not got further than 3 words in before a fireball knocks it off the stool.
"Everyone's a critic these days," it grumbles, "Professor McGonagall, would you put me back on the stool please?"
Once it's back on the stool again, not even singed from the fireball, it opens it's mouth and says, "I'm not going to sing again, so hold the fireballs. I spent all year on that song, and I'll be damned if I don't pass on the message it was supposed to convey. Look, I'm about to sort you all into your respective houses. However, it doesn't matter if you're brave, smart, loyal, or cunning, in the end you're all students here and your house shouldn't stop you making friends with other people. There, I've said it we can get on with the sorting now."
Slightly non-plussed at the events, and the fact that the sorting hat seems to be so unruffled, Minerva takes a moment before opening her scroll, only chivvied along when the hat says, "Oh come on, it was only a little fireball. It's not like I had a hellhound set on me, like McDoogle did in 1548, or I was run through with a sword, which happened multiple times in the first few hundred years of the school."
Tracy watches nervously as both Susan and Hannah are sorted into Hufflepuff. There really was no other house either of them was going to go into. However, she knew that despite her half blood status, she's a shoe in for Slytherin based on the traditional values. As her name is called she glances over to Daphne who gives her a smile. Then she walks down the aisle as if she owns it.
Sitting on the stool, Professor McGonagall places the hat on her head, and it engulfs her vision.
"Hmm, interesting, interesting, yes very interesting. You know you are a shoe in for Slytherin, so tell me, why shouldn't I just put you straight in there?"
"Two reasons, the first is that especially this year, for those with cunning and ambition, going into House Slytherin is going to harm my chances of being friends with the most influential people in the year. The second is that I've already made friends with Susan, Hannah, Hermione and Harry, and being in a house that's currently known for the number of blood-purists that inhabit it would harm those friendships."
"You realise that you've restated the same point twice."
"Look, I know I don't have the smarts that Daphne does, but I do know that I'd like to be in Hufflepuff."
"I could always put you in Ravenclaw, they'd help build up your smarts."
"Thank you, but I'd really rather go to Hufflepuff."
"Well, if you're sure, then it better be HUFFLEPUFF!"
As the hat is pulled off her head, there's a cheer from the house of the badgers.
Daphne watches with some relief as Tracy avoids the snake pit. She knows that she'd have needed to protect her if she hadn't been able to avoid it, as in the noble circles there were always rumours about the fate of half-bloods that didn't have a protector. Now she only needed to worry about her own sorting.
Hermione is also nervous, though for different reasons. She watches as Entwhistle, Goyle – One of the boys behind Malfoy, Finnigan, Goldstein, and another couple of students go before her. Then she's called and she walks down the aisle biting her lip.
"Hmm, ah, well. Ok, tell me right now why I shouldn't just shove you straight into Ravenclaw."
"L"
"What?"
"You've been looking through my memories, so look at my interactions with L."
"Hmm, ok, hmm, she did what? You spend how long like that? Hmm, yes, I see. OK, I see, though you still haven't given me a reason."
"You want a reason? Look, I know I can do the ivory tower of intellect with few if any peers. I've been there, been doing it all my life and I can continue to do it on my own. I don't need to be around other people that do that. But making friends, loyalty, working hard on things that aren't academics? Those are things it has been made painfully clear that I need to improve on. From what I've read, the only house where I could get that is Hufflepuff."
"I can't interest you in Ravenclaw at all?"
"Sorry, no."
"Shame, though Helga would be right chuffed at all the attention her house is getting this year. Well it better be HUFFLEPUFF."
Daphne watches as Hermione's robes turn yellow, and the Hufflepuffs all cheer as she walks the few steps to their table. Then it's her turn, she flashes a quick smile at Harry and Neville before striding down the aisle as if everyone should be bowing to her. Sitting down with poise befitting a queen, she stifles a smirk at the reaction that Nott and Malfoy are going to have when she's not in Slytherin. As the hat covers her eyes she lets the mask fall and show the person she really is.
"Oh great, another one that thinks they know where they should be going. And no, it can't be one of the prestigious houses. Look, I can see you're going to persuade someone to take you to the Realm of Magic as soon as you can. Just promise me that you'll get them to pick me up on the way and we'll call it even."
"Done."
"Then let it be HUFFLEPUFF! Again."
Neville couldn't shake the feeling that he shouldn't be here. It was much less than it was when he got on the train, but it was still there. His raven was a comforting feeling in the back of his mind as it groomed his hair soothingly. He barely noted that all the other kids from that compartment had gone to Hufflepuff when his name was called. He missed it the first time, and it was only Harry putting his hand on his shoulder that brought him back to now, and let him totter forward, almost tripping over his feet in his nervousness. He almost panics when the hat is put over his head, only a soothing voice in his head stops it from happening.
"Don't worry kid, I'm just going to take a quick look so that I can sort you. You do realise that it takes a great amount of courage to walk down that corridor in the hospital every week don't you. There are many here that would never have been able to do that week after week. I can also see from your work in your greenhouses that you're not afraid of hard work. However, you are not strongly suited to any of the houses. So I'll give you a choice, on the one hand you've got Gryffindor where they will teach you to harness your courage and allow it to push you forward. On the other you have Hufflepuff, where they will value your work ethic, and you'll build a group of very loyal friends."
"I know my Gran would want me to go to Gryffindor, but all the friends I've made to far have all gone to Hufflepuff."
"Good choice young man, friends will help you move mountains. Well it better be HUFFLEPUFF."
Soon enough it's Harry's turn to be sorted, as he walks down the aisle Sunbeam launches herself off his shoulder towards the headmaster. Fawkes panics and flames out from where he was perched on the back of the headmasters chair and incinerating the headmasters hat. However, her target was actually the sorting hat, which she rips out of McGonagall's hand, flips in the air, and regally lands on the stool followed by the hat, which hides her completely.
Harry stops just before the stool with a smile on his face as he watches the hat pull faces. He can feel the conversation happening over their bond, though he's not privy to the details. Eventually the hat calls, "Hufflepuff mascot."
Gingerly Minerva picks the hat up again and Sunbeam takes off with a cry of victory before doing a dance on the Hufflepuff table to cheers from the Hufflepuff table. Harry himself sits down and as the hat touches his hair it calls "HUFFLEPUFF! I am not chancing spending a billion years in the centre of a star just to be awkward."
To the sound of laughter throughout the Great Hall, Harry takes his seat at the Hufflepuff table. For some reason, the Gryffindor table seems particularly hard done by at the sorting. While this is going on the headmaster manages to get his hat and hair sorted out, though the smell of burnt hair pervades the area around the teachers table and the first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.
Despite the wishes of many of the students, the rest of the sortings don't throw up any oddballs until Ronald Weasley. It looks like he might be a hatstall for a moment, but then the shout of "Gryffindor!" from the hat. For the first year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and a few teachers, it's somewhat more amusing as the hat grumbles quietly, "Just be glad I didn't put you in Slytherin for that. 'Because Harry Potter is in Hufflepuff' isn't anywhere close to a good reason. Ooh, I'm not being put away."
Minerva steps in front of the stall, "We have one extra sorting to do tonight. Unusually for the modern era, one of our first years has arrived with a chaperon of sorts. As the school charter states that only staff and students may reside on the premises, the young lady in question will need to be sorted and her position in the school decided by the sorting hat." – The sorting hat squirms in her grasp with excitement – "Xingwei, please come forward and sit on the stool."
Demurely, Xingwei walks down the aisle to the stall and carefully adjusts her skirts so that she can sit on the stool without squashing her tail. As Minerva lowers the hat on her head it touches her horns and screams, "Watch the horns lady, more carefully, just put me down between them and I'll be fine."
When it finally settles on her head between her horns she feels something prod at her mind. The hat above her says, "Could you let me in please Miss, as I need to look inside in order to sort you."
After confirming with her master that it's the right thing to do, she opens her mind to the hat.
"Ooh, ooh, oh! Well it's clear that once you've got a bit of experience with the magic we teach here you'd be able to teach just about any subject, even though you're still a teenager. Well, with your experiences, I can't exactly make you a student. And I can't declare you a familiar, even though that's exactly what you are. Therefore, I'll need to go with, HUFFLEPUFF TEACHING ASSISTANT! Take a seat with the students as that's where your master is."
With the sorting over, Minerva leaves with the stool and the sorting hat while the headmaster stands up.
"Good evening new students and old. I did have quite a speech prepared, but alas I kept my notes under my hat, and you've all seen what happened to that." A titter of laughter spreads throughout the hall, "For those that don't know, I am your headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Now as is fairly normal for the beginning of a school year, I have some announcements to make. First of all, we have some staffing changes to announce. Please welcome Professor Quirrell, he will be teaching DADA this year. Older students may remember him as being the muggle studies professor.
"Potions Master Snape has stepped down as a teacher and will be working fulltime as a potions master at the school with Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey to keep our stocks full. He will also be performing research and turning the produce of our greenhouses into saleable goods. Replacing him is Professor Tonks, she holds a mastery in potions, though hasn't been declared a Potions Mistress as yet. Due to a dearth of Slytherin alumni on staff, she will also be taking over as Head of Slytherin.
"Deputy Headmistress McGonagall is stepping down as head of Gryffindor in order to devote more time to both her teaching and her duties as Deputy head. With some creative interpretation of the rules, she is being replaced by Madam Hooch who has been with us since 1920 when she finished her successful quidditch career." – A loud cheer from the Gryffindor table forces him to pause – "I bring up her career as she was not only a star player at the time, she was also a respected referee known for her impartiality. Obviously she will still be teaching flying to the first years later in the month. Finally, due to finding it more difficult to move around the castle, our caretaker Argus Filch now has an assistant caretaker, Robin Wilhelm, who will be taking over many of his duties."
Everyone looks over to the doors of the Great Hall where a balding old man with lank grey hair stands beside a young man with a mop of light brown hair.
Albus waits for them all to turn back towards him, "This is the end of the staffing changes. Moving on to the rest of the announcements, due to the last-minute shuffle in our teaching staff, we are starting classes a day late in order to finalise the timetables. However, this time will be made up later in the term so that we can finish on time.
"Next, the third floor corridor on the right hand side of the main stairs is off limits to anyone who does not wish to suffer a painful death.
"The Forbidden Forest is indeed forbidden to students. This applies to everyone even Gryffindors.
"Finally, a number of items have been added to the list of banned items in the school. You can find them on the noticeboard outside the caretakers office.
"As you tuck into your feast, I'll leave you with these words of wisdom, Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak."
As he sits down Minerva leans over to talk softly in his ear, "Albus, you should know that the teaching assistant is actually Miss Grangers bonded familiar. She is in actuality a Red Dragon, I confirmed with Hagrid on the way back from your office, and he says she was at least 80' from nose to tail when she changed over the lake."
Albus' head whips round to look at the young woman with the horns, now that he's looking for it her tail is clearly visible underneath her dress as it waves from side to side as she tucks into a whole roast chicken that she claimed for herself.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Once the food appears on the table, one of the 7th year students comes down to see the first years, and perches on the end of one of the benches.
"Good evening everyone. I hope that you've all had a good trip here. I'm Jamie Spindlewheel, one of the 7th year prefects for Hufflepuff." – Once he has everyone's attention he continues – "I'm sure that we'll get to know each other in time, but for the moment there's a couple of things to be aware of. The first is that I'll be leading you to our dorm room at the end of the feast, so please stay put until I come and get you. The second is that anyone with one of these badges is a prefect, and regardless of house you should be able to approach them for help with things like directions.
"I say should, however some of the Slytherin Prefects have been known to be a little mean. Do you have any questions for me right now?"
A boy called Ernest speaks up, "Do we have a communal dorm?"
Jamie laughs, "Not at all, though for the house of friendship and loyalty I suppose you'd expect it. But no, we have paired dorms, and you'll be expected to look out for your dorm mate. So if one of you is ill, having trouble waking up, or the like, the other one can either help or let someone else know, who can then help. The only other thing to be aware of is that we don't allow mixed gender dorms by school policy. Also if there are an odd number of girls or boys, one dorm will have three beds rather than two. Oh, and unlike other houses, all of the first years are in the same area of the dorms, so you can choose your neighbours."
Sally-Anne speaks up softly, "Is there any provision for bathing with only one leg? As I have a prosthetic."
"I don't know, I'd have to speak with Professor Sprout our head of house."
Harry speaks up, "In the meantime I know a spell that will ensure that you're completely clean. Including anything you're wearing at the time. Can we add our own furniture to the Dorm rooms, and also the common room?"
Jamie laughs, "I don't see why not, it's fairly normal for us to customise our dorm rooms to suit our personalities. While I don't see a problem with doing the same in the common room, you should check with Professor Sprout first. If there's nothing else I'm going to head back down the table to eat."
The rest of the meal was spent getting to know their new classmates and what their likes and dislikes were. Harry pointedly didn't look at his notifications throughout the meal so that he wasn't operating with more knowledge than they had. Eventually, the feast came to an end and, apart from Neville who looked fresh as a daisy, all the first years were widely yawning as Jamie came back to their end of the table and led the sleepy group to the entrance to the Hufflepuff dorms. They show them how to enter with full knowledge that they'll need to be shown again in the morning once they're more alert. Once they're shown to the dorms, Harry and Neville are taken by the arms and shown to a dorm between the two groups of girls, with Hermione joining Susan and Hannah on one side while Daphne and Tracy take the other side. Professor sprout takes Xingwei to one side and shows her the suite that she'll be using during her stay, just off the common room with it's own sitting room with a desk and cabinet, and a serviceable bedroom too.