Ah this ended up being shorter than I intended. Sorry about that! On the bright side, so many conversations with so many different people! Characterization always makes me nervous so having everyone talk so much in one chapter is a pretty big deal for me! It's so amazing to see how many people like reading this- you're the reason I keep doing it! I hope you all enjoy!

Oh, I am aware that Harry can't see thestrals at this point, but Charlotte *cough I cough* forgot. She'll probably forget to ask him about it too, so no biggie.

On the train, I'm in my usual compartment with Fred and George. It feels good to have a usual place, with my usual friends. And in their "usual" way, Fred and George are conspiring to cause some trouble before the term even starts. They promise me they'll come back soon, as well as promise to tell me what they're doing, before dashing out of our compartment. I will definitely hold them to that.

Since I've now been left alone, I pull out my last letter from Theo, which I received this morning and have not had a moment to read. I wonder if Theo actually wrote it last night or if his owl just took a long time to get to me today? Owls, like regular muggle mail, can be quite unpredictable in how long it will take them to arrive; obviously it depends on distance traveled, but weather and other uncertainties also have to be factored in. That being said, our letters usually arrive sometime the day after we send them, since we don't live that terribly far away from one another. Opening the letter in question, I begin to read:

Dear Raven,

I know we are going to be seeing each other in a just a few days, but I wanted to write to you one more time. I've had a lot of fun having a penpal over the break and I don't want to give it up! I don't think my parents would be happy to know I have such a close friend- they've always wanted me to focus on school and "social events", like parties at the Malfoys'. Malfoy is interesting, even though he doesn't always show it, but my parents don't want me to be friends with him either. I'm supposed to be his "business acquaintance", but I'm not sure what that means when we don't run any businesses yet.

Anyway, have a safe trip and don't worry about writing back- I'm sure we'll see each other soon enough in class.

Your friend,

Theodore Nott

Poor Theo! He sounds like Rapunzel locked in her tower. He's even worried about being my penpal. I knew the pureblood lifestyle was difficult, but this is just ridiculous! I know I could never survive in that sort of environment.

While I would love to keep these letters, the paranoid part of me can't handle it. After skimming it one more time, I pull out my wand, and with a whispered, "Incendio" the letter is gone. As the one who Theo has unwittingly admitted to being his only friend, I am going to try my best to be a good one. Though I sometimes have to remind myself that overly pitying him is not something a good friend would do. Instead, I know that just treating him like any other kid is the best way to take care of him. While I had a great time over break, I can't wait to hang out with him again.

"Hey Char! Sorry to ditch ya like that!" Fred, I think, slides into the seat next to me, his brother and Lee Jordan aren't far behind.

"Starting your fourth year off with a bang?" I ask.

"Wait, you heard a bang?" Lee looks around with a nervous excitement.

"Whoa, no bangs for us!" George throws up his hands.

"No way! We didn't do it!" Fred agrees.

"No, a metaphorical bang, silly!" I laugh.

"Oh…" the three look disappointed.

"Was there supposed to be an actual bang?"

"...maybe." We all laugh heartily as the twins hunker down to tell me their plans for the year.

"Now that's not everything, of course!" George winks.

"We want you to have a few surprises too," Fred adds.

"Fair enough. I love surprises!" After our discussion of our plans for the year, the twins and Lee decide to start a game of Exploding Snap. "I'm going to go get changed," I announce. "Don't wait for me."

"See ya later, Char!" They call as I head out. I've decided I'm going to see if I can find Luna. While I would like to be friends with Ginny as well, I feel like she's too close to Harry to be a safe choice. Luna, on the other hand, may be close to Harry, but I don't think anything I could do would influence that girl.

As I head back from getting changed into my school clothes, I'm pleased to find Luna alone in her compartment with the door open. Luck is on my side today!

"Umm, hi! Are these seats taken?" I ask cautiously. Luna looks up at me as if in a daze.

"Why yes, they are, in fact." Well that certainly wasn't the answer I was expecting.

There is an awkward pause. "They are? Did your friends go to get changed?"

"No, I don't have any friends," Luna states simply. Another pause.

"Then who's sitting here?" Luna takes an even longer pause, as if contemplating my question.

"Hmm? Oh, no one is sitting there, if that's what you're asking. I was taking up the whole compartment myself to see if there were any nargles trying to go through our luggage."

"And are there?"

"No, it doesn't seem so. Though my necklace is probably keeping them away from this one in particular."

"Well that's good. So this is the best cart on the train?"

"That is one way to put it," Luna eventually agrees.

"So...can I sit here?"

"I suppose so." I take the seat across from the young blonde, who, despite not admitting to it, seems happy to have some company.

"My name's Charlotte. Charlotte Campbell," I stick out a hand for a handshake, and am not at all surprised when she doesn't reciprocate.

"Luna Lovegood. Have you heard about the Weetimorousbeastie? I'm wondering if we'll be close enough to its native habitat to go looking for it."

"What's their native habitat?"

"Oh there's only one of him," Luna corrects me. "He lives in the River Clyde, in Scotland."

"Well I know that we're in Scotland, but I don't know where exactly. Then again, I don't know where that river is either, so I'm not much help."

"That's alright. I think I'll ask Professor Dumbledore when we get there."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about the sorting and things first?"

"Those things will happen as they happen. I don't think it makes sense to worry about what's to come when it can't be changed."

"Wow, that was deep," I say stupidly. Kids really say the most adult things sometimes. Luna just shrugs it off.

"If you say so."

"So what is a Weetimorousbeastie?" I've certainly never heard of one.

"It's a small, crafty, cowering, timorous little beast," she recites, clearly from memory.

"Why those specific words?"

"That's where it's name comes from. It's a wee, timorous, beastie," she explains, adopting a bit of a Scottish accent to help me understand.

"Oh!" I laugh. "That makes sense, actually."

"If only everyone had such straightforward names- talking to people would be much easier then, don't you think?" Luna asks.

"Or far more difficult." Luna seems confused. "Think about it, if we all knew ahead of time every person's annoying quirks, we would never want to speak to each other."

"I see. I never thought of it that way…" Has she thought of this before?!

The two of us continue with this silly conversation the rest of the way to school. Fred and George wouldn't mind if I didn't come back to see them off, but I've left my bag with them, so when the train starts slowing down I bid Luna goodbye.

"It was nice meeting you, Luna! Maybe I'll see you in the Ravenclaw common room?" I wink.

"That is a possibility," she says in her usual dreamy tone.

"I hope so! See you later! And good luck with your Weetimorousbeastie!"

"Thank you." And with that, I think I've made a good impression with Luna. Maybe I'll be lucky enough for her to consider me a friend!

For the record, I don't actually believe that Luna's magical creatures exist- well, most of them anyway. I'm sure she can't be wrong about every single one, but, for the most part, I know they're not real. That being said, I'm not going to be the one to trample her hopes and dreams, especially not when I want to be her friend. Besides, it's going to be her career one day to look for those creatures, so it's not like her belief in them is bad for her or anything.

Fred, George, and Lee are in the middle of an intense game of Exploding Snap when I show up again, and the three barely acknowledge my existence. It's fine though because I immediately get drawn into watching the game.

"Go Fred, go!" I shout. Unfortunately my excitement was mistimed- my words cause Fred to miss his pair and the cards explode in his hand. "Oh no! I'm sorry!"

"Hey Char, keep it up!" George laughs. "You're the perfect distraction! Ow!" George got too distracted making fun of his brother and made the same mistake.

"And Lee takes the win!" Lee gloats, throwing his cards down and tapping the pile with his wand to prevent any more explosions.

"Congratulations!" I laugh.

"You're a hell of a king maker!" Lee laughs as well. The twins are sulking at me.

"It wasn't my intention, I swear!" I throw up my hands. "I didn't know I was such a distraction!"

"Well that's true," Lee mutters as he picks up all the cards.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. I'm gonna go get changed." Without another word, Lee picks up his bag and heads out.

"What was Lee trying to say?" I turn on the twins.

"I didn't hear him, did you George?"

"Can't say I did, brother."

"What did we miss?" Fred asks.

"Nevermind." I drop the subject, not even sure I heard Lee right in the first place.

….

We are finally at Hogwarts! I can't wait to have a calm, leisurely year. Harry certainly won't be, but he and his friends aren't my problem, so they can deal with it on their own. I will be having a great time with my new friend (hopefully!) Luna, as well as my other friends.

But first thing's first, we have to finish the rest of the trip to the castle, which means being pulled by the thestrals. I wish Luna was here, so I could ask her what they look like, but I guess I'll just have to ask her some other time. As per usual, I make sure to stay away from Harry, so I can't ask him either. I remember them from the movies, but not all that well. I've never seen someone die so I don't get the chance to see them in person- a blessing and a curse, I suppose.

The other students I'm with don't know what is pulling our mysterious wagon, but they're not interested either. One of them, another Ravenclaw, makes a comment as we get in, but a Hufflepuff quickly waves it off with a dismissive, "It's magic, obviously," and moves on. Oh well, their loss.

The rest of the ride passes smoothly, the mostly Hufflepuff group talking about whether or not they'll be trying out for quidditch this year.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Those seventh years will pummel you!" The Ravenclaw girl states sagely.

"So what! I'm good! I can handle it!" A boy states with all the enthusiasm of someone who has not been on the other side of a perfectly aimed bludger.

"Second years almost never make it on the team," another boy argues. Oh, they're gonna be pissed when Malfoy buys his way onto his team.

"But you can be a part of their practices and then you're a shoo in for the next year!" Says a different girl, her eyes alight. If I had to guess who's going to make the team, I would bet on her. She's got a solid head on her shoulders, clearly.

"Whatever. You guys can wait around until next year, but I'm getting on the team this year!" The confident one stands up for a moment with a fist in the air, but a perfectly timed bump in the road sends him toppling back into his seat. The group laughs.

"Sure, Herbert. If you say so."

Moments later, we pitch to a stop and we all hurry out towards the warm castle and the promise of food. In the crowded mess of second years, I manage to get a glimpse of Theo, who gives me a small wink. I wish I could be as suave as him! I swear if I winked in a crowd somehow everyone and their mother would know about it.

While the Ravenclaw table is happily full, I still easily manage to leave a seat open next to me, a seat specifically for one of the new Ravenclaws who will be joining us soon.

Hopefully.

If nothing has changed.

While the first years are being called- oh there goes Colin Creevey, poor boy- I look over their heads to scan the familiar faces around me. And that's when I find the Gryffindor table to be suspiciously lacking two familiar faces. Where are Ron and Harry? Wait, did they take the Angelina? I thought that was next year! The Whomping Willow was next year's plot point, I thought.

I wrack my brain for a moment, almost at a loss. Come on Charlotte, think! I'm clearly missing something vital here. Wait, why did Ron and Harry have to take the Angelina in the first place? Because they couldn't get through to the platform...because of Dobby! Holy shit, I completely forgot about Dobby!

Dobby who ruined Harry's summer, who didn't want Harry to come to school this year, who makes Harry take the Angelina (technically), who gets emancipated by Harry at the end of the year with a sock, but does Dobby do anything that could potentially put me at risk? Not that I can remember right now…

"Luna Lovegood!" I'm snapped back to reality with the calling of my soon to be friend, and within a few moments I'm standing up and clapping for her. I feel a little awkward, but I wave her over anyway. If I didn't remember her being bullied, I would be more worried about stealing her from potential friends, but as it is I think I might be one of her only friends in Ravenclaw, so I'm going to take advantage and enjoy her.

"Hello again, Luna!" I say cheerfully as she sits down.

"You were right, I did end up in Ravenclaw. Can you see the future, Charlotte?" she asks me way too pointedly. I force a laugh.

"Of course not! Just some wishful thinking."

"Hmm."

What the hell, Luna!? Don't just say "hmm" as if you think I'm lying! Why does everyone I meet do this to me? I sigh and move on. No point worrying about it. Not like anyone has caught on to me yet, despite all the weird things people say to me without realizing.

Another sorting comes and goes and just as dinner is beginning I see an extremely sulky looking Ron and Harry come into the hall, confirming my suspicions about the Angelina. They'll be in trouble for a good while, and Dobby will be getting a thorough tongue lashing from Harry when next they speak, not that I can remember when that is.

Luna and I chat some more, and I think she wants to be my friend too! ...Wow I can be so childish sometimes. But then again, even adults want friends, right? As we're finishing up dinner and getting ready to leave for the dorm, our head boy and girl, call for the first years.

"Oh, Luna." I pull her close for a moment before she gets up. "If anyone gives you any trouble, let me know, okay? The Ravenclaw house can get a bit...intense. I'll sort them out if you need." Luna smiles and it almost seems, sad?

"I don't think that will be necessary. I've dealt with a lot of people like that, and I've found the best thing to do is just ignore them. They're not really hurting anyone."

"But they're hurting you. That's the point of bullying," I argue.

"Oh, I don't think so," she says dreamily, not looking at me anymore. "I think they're just afraid of new things sometimes, that's all."

"Just...be careful. Alright?" I don't think Luna's bullies ever got physical with her but I worry. If I can shield her from unnecessary harm, I will.

"Thank you Charlotte," she finally says, pulling away to join the other first years. If I had been talking to anyone else, they may have accused me of being overprotective or assuming that they would be bullied when the year hasn't even started yet, but Luna just thanked me and left. I wonder if she did think those things and just didn't vocalize them. I guess I'll never know. With that, I made my way up to bed.

…

The next morning found me up bright and early, exceedingly excited for the start of the year. Like usual, most of my house was up with me or even earlier- the first day finds most of Ravenclaw house eagerly awaiting the arrival of their schedules. Though I must admit, we aren't the only one up early the first day, we are in larger numbers than the other houses.

Entering The Great Hall, I find Luna sitting alone eating breakfast and happily join her.

"Morning! Sleep alright?" I ask.

"Not particularly. I was busy making sure the dorm is well protected against any unexpected visitors."

"Boys?" I ask jokingly.

"Much more dangerous than them." She says seriously, and then launches into a long, detailed explanation of the many creatures that would be interested in getting into a girl's dorm.

"And don't forget boys!" I add at the end.

"That is true, but since they are probably the least threatening of the list, I didn't feel the need to put up anything against them. Besides, my roomates weren't happy with what I did- I think they would be even less happy if boys couldn't visit them, even though it's not technically allowed." Wow Luna, that was astute of you to notice.

"They weren't happy?" I'm not surprised but I figure it's better to act like I am. Luna looks off across the hall for a few moments.

"Nargles can be quite tricky to keep away," she sort of answers my question in her hallmark way.

Before I can ask her anything else, our schedules arrive.

"Ugh I forgot our schedules are basically exactly the same as last year," I groan. The only differences are what classes are on what days and times.

"I suppose I'm off to Herbology." Luna doesn't bid me goodbye- she just stands up and walks out. If it was anyone else I would be offended or worry that she didn't like me, but for her I'll let it slide.

"Bye!" I call out behind her. She turns back, stares at me for a long moment, and then inclines her head before continuing on her way. Progress!

My first class is Charms with the Slytherins, so maybe I'll get to talk to Theo for a bit. I arrive early, to see if maybe he had the same idea, but unfortunately Draco and his cronies are the next students to arrive. I remember Draco being absolutely insufferable second year, especially when the Chamber opens, so I'll probably do my best to avoid him. Unfortunately, while that's my plan, it's not his plan.

"Well if it isn't Charlotte Campbell," Draco sneers as soon as he sees me. I have to admit, I'm rather impressed that he can make my full name sound like some sort of insult. In his defense of choosing me to annoy, I'm alone in the classroom, so it isn't like he would have any other targets right now.

"Hi Draco," I say with no enthusiasm. "How was your break?"

"Showing up to class early doesn't mean you're going to get any smarter, you know? The professor isn't even here yet. Or is this when you meet up with your boyfriend, "Theo"?"

"Draco you're here too. Maybe you need to get some more rest instead of showing up early. Your insults are lacking today."

"I can't tell if you two are insulting each other or worrying about one another," Theo adds as he walks in to the room.

"Well some of us worry for our classmates' wellbeing, even if their classmates act like douches," I sniff. Theo smirks at me as Draco turns red.

"I do not need a blood traitor worrying about me! Shouldn't you be more worried about your boyfriend or whatever he is?"

"Nott made it very clear last year where he stands with people like me. Though I still don't see why you made that any of your business." I glare pointedly at Draco.

"It's my business to make sure that my classmates are hanging around with the right sorts."

"Ah yes, as the king of douches, that is your destiny, to make sure all the knights in your douchedom follow the right path." I bow ridiculously. "I'm sorry, your majesty." Theo and Draco are both turning red through my silly speech- both for completely different reasons. Theo ducks out of the room to laugh in private as Draco bursts into a rampage, turning even redder than he did before.

"How dare you! I'll make sure my father hears about this foul language being used-" Draco tries to get in my face, but Professor Flitwick comes in at just the right time.

" , have you gotten sunburned over the break? You need to be careful with how much sun you are getting, young man." Now even Crabbe and Goyle are laughing at their leader.

"Shut up!" he growls at the pair as he slams himself into his seat, our argument dropped, though probably not forgotten. I still haven't forgiven him for that stunt he pulled last term with Theo and I, so driving him crazy whenever he bothers me is the least I can do for payback.

Theo returns to the classroom uneventfully as the rest of the students trickle in, and it isn't hard to notice as Draco loudly gives him a hard time about watching out for the wrong sorts. I roll my eyes and ignore the exchange, though I feel a pang of guilt that Theo can't do the same. It's so unfair that he has to constantly hide how he really feels about the world. No wonder he was so quiet in the original series, if he felt like this all the time.

Unfortunately for me, class feels like it's going to be a lot of the same- another year of being so far ahead that I feel completely unchallenged. Maybe next year I'll start pushing the boundaries with my professors, showing them I'm gifted and interested in taking on extra information outside the curriculum. Maybe I'll be able to get some one on one time with a few of them to learn more useful material. Twelve feels a bit young to start pushing that hard, so I'll just focus on my own private studies this year.

That being said, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to go out and about to The Room of Requirement. I'll have to take advantage of it as much as I can before the school goes on red alert. I shouldn't have to worry about the basilisk, considering I'm not Muggle Born, but that doesn't mean anyone is going to let me wander the halls at night. So annoying. With that in mind, maybe this is the year to start asking for extra tutoring. I'll just have to see how it all plays out, I suppose.

My first day of classes pass uneventfully, but I know my second day will be interesting regardless of what happens because it will be my first day of DADA with "Professor" Lockhart. I can't wait to see the greatest fraud of our generation in action. He's a legend! I've had to deal with far too much of everyone's excitement about him becoming a professor here for me not be excited to see him at work. I mean, you've gotta lie like a champion to make yourself this successful!

...or not. My first day of class with Lockhart is pushed back due to the pixie fiasco. I wasn't there- he only managed to ruin his first class with the Gryffindors and Slytherins before just giving up for the day, but the whole school knew about it in minutes. I completely forgot about that shit show. Are wizards just easily fooled or something? How can Lockhart not have been found out when he's so clearly incompetent?

"Did you hear what happened in Professor Lockhart's class?" I hear an upperclassmen in the hall talking to another girl.

"Yeah! Who knew pixies were so strong? If they could take Professor Lockhart by surprise, maybe they are a more ferocious breed?"

The two continue talking but I can't keep listening to such a ridiculous conversation, unfortunately for me, I hear similar versions of this all over campus. The wizarding community just has no reason to believe he's lying. Instead of looking at the large and obvious trail of breadcrumbs laid before them, they all just wander blindly after the man leading them astray.

It's brilliant. He's so famous, he's practically untouchable; at this point he's virtually a less harmful, dumber version of Tom- using his fame to distort who he really is so much that he's another person entirely in the public eye. If only Lockhart wasn't so...dumb.

Our first real class with Lockhart is excruciating. Professor Quirrell, being mostly Tom, was not a good teacher. If it had been Tom himself actually caring about teaching, he would have been a phenomenal teacher- not that I would ever admit that to him, even though I'm sure he already knows.

That being said, Quirrell wasn't exactly a bad teacher, just, too heavy on unimportant aspects of the theory. But Quirrell I understood! I mean, he was clearly more evil- trying to cripple a future generation of witches and wizards by depriving them of the basics of defensive magic- than incompetent. But Lockhart…

"Alright class, today we're going to be talking about me. Obviously." He laughs obnoxiously, to which some of the girls giggle with him. "But seriously, we're going to be on page thirty four of your very handsome textbooks- written by and starring me- as we talk about Nisses." I raise my hand at this. "Yes, Miss...Campbell?" he pauses to look up my name.

"What about the pixies?" Depending on each person's stance of the professor, most of the girls turn to glare at me for bringing them up while most of the guys are trying not to laugh.

"Miss…" he pauses again, but doesn't bother looking this time. "I was trying to let your classmates have a chance at some defensive magic, but I underestimated their abilities. Thankfully, I was their to remedy their situation." I fight the urge to roll my eyes. While it could be fun to ruffle his tail feathers a bit, it doesn't serve me in the long run. He'll be my professor for the duration of the year, and annoying him is only going to make class time even more difficult if he picks on me.

"Wow, Professor, that's amazing!" One of the Hufflepuffs gushes (gosh you would think I would actually give a crap and eventually learn people's names, but I still haven't bothered). Her outburst takes the limelight off me, and my outburst is all but forgotten.

"Yes it is!" Lockhart latches on the opportunity to boast about himself further, and this manages to bring the conversation somewhat back to the day's lesson? He doesn't actually talk about what he said he was going to, but he did promise to talk about himself, so at least he didn't fall short on that.

In the end, I decide this will be a fantastic class to do homework in, since Lockhart isn't paying a lick of attention to what any of us are doing. He just assumes that anyone writing is taking notes, and everyone else is staring at him in rapt attention so he's happy to keep prattling on. At the end of my homework session, I find that the class isn't half bad when I completely ignore the teacher. Maybe I'll even come to enjoy it as a somewhat quiet time to get some work done.