DISCLAIMER! I OWN NOTHING! DISCLAIMER!
I KNOW Luna isn't in the same year as Hermione, but for the sake of my story she is.
Fairytales arent real, but the grand castle looming above the boats of students, as they crossed a placid black lake, could be described as nothing but magical. Hermione had rushed into a boat besides Neville, unable to spot Luna in the crowd of first years. It wasn't until the boats had pulled away from the shore that Hermione had noticed Harry Potter and his friend Ron sitting infront of them. The saviour of the wizarding world was sitting directly infront of her, not 40cm away and yet all she could keep her mind on was her near fall and her blonde saviour.
She wondered if he remembered that day in Diagon Alley...As Hermione stared in awe at Hogwarts, she couldn't help but wonder. What would her life be here? The 'what ifs' and 'would be's' plagued her mind as a whirl pool of butterflys sprang to life in her stomach. She had never felt so light in her life, like she could float away at any given moment.
Her gaze flitted from boat to boat, watching her fellow classmates, each face full of excitement. Excitement for the future and for the sorting. Everyone was so quiet, not even a pin could disrupt the clear silence. Hogwarts towered over them as they sailed closer and closer to cliff on which it stood. "Heads down!" the giants voice yelled out, breaking the quiet like a canon ball. The students errupted into a fierce frenzy of whispers and nervous energy as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of thick ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of under-ground harbour, where they clambered out onto the rocks and pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" the giant said pointing to neville, with a very grumpy looking toad clasped in his large hairy hands.
"Trevor!" Neville yelped extacticly and quickly rushed from Hermione's side to collect his long lost pet. He was beaming at the reunion although Hermione guessed that he might be playing down his relief to not be teased. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after the giants lamp, Hermione sticking close to the front of the group with Luna and Neville. They came out at last on to a smooth damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.
Finally they walked up a flight of stone steps and eagerly crowded around the huge oak front door. "Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Neville turned radish red at the question and simply nodded his head vigourisly. The giant raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. Hermione instictvly turned her head and quickly glanced around the students looking for the blonde boy in the crowd. He was standing at the back, with his friends. Just knowing he was there gave Hermione the bravery to turn back and face the ominous looking oak doors open.
It swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. It was Proffessor McGonagall. Hermione sighed in relief, finally a familiar face.
"The firs'-years, Proffessor McGonagall," the giant pronounced proudly.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here", She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was so big you could easily fit Hermione's whole house inside it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble stair-case facing them led to the upper floors.
They all followed McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Hermione could hear the buzz of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, the rest of the school obviously already seated inside.
"Welcome to Hogwarts", Hermione listened intently to every syllable of the Proffessors speech, afraid if she missed something everything would go wrong. "The start of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced oustanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school..." at which point hermione zoned out.
Infront of the entire school? She was going to be paraded infront of the entire school. A cased of nervousness bubbled its way to Hermione's lips, a soon as the Proffessor left she immediantly turned to Luna and started whispering hap hazardly about all the spells she'd learned. This wasn't good, she needed to compose herself.
Just at the moment Luna lay a calming hand on Hermione's arm and squeezed every so gently. The gesture seemed to say 'we're in this together', Hermione smiled happily in thanks to which Luna fully accepted. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start" said a sharp voice, Proffessor McGonagall had returned. Feeling oddly as if her legs had turned to jelly Hermione got in line beside Luna, and followed the Proffessor back across the flagged stone floor and through the double doors into the Great Hall.
Hermione had never imagined such a spectacular place. It was lit by thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Proffessor McGongall led the first years up here, so they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Hermione felt something a kin to prey as the vultures gawked from all angels. All of them guessing which house they would be in, which was the weakest and which was the strongest. Hermione lifted her chin and steadied her breathing. Ready to stare down anyone who looked her way.
Hermione quickly flicked her gaze back to Proffessor McGonagall as she silently placed a four legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizards hat. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing.
'Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find,
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep you bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts sorting Hat,
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in you head,
The sorting hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you,
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring nerve and chivalry,
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means,
To achieve their ends;
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a thinking cap!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. Thankgod. All she had to do was put on a hat! She just wished everyone didn't have to watch...
Proffessor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted"
Hermione's mind blanked as she watched student after student being sorted. The hat calling out a house after picking out the stongest trate from the persons mind. She was starting to feel a little sickly when her name was suddenly called out by Proffessor Mcgonagall. Her enitre body clenched up, frozen for a second before being shocked back to life by a gentle nudge from Luna. She walked briskly to the stool and lightly placed the hat on her head. Everything went dark.
The hats brim came down past her eyes and rested on the bridge of her nose. 'Miss Granger' the sorting hat said in her mind. 'Interesting, a quick mind, very smart you'll do well. But not for Ravenclaw, too much power to keep bottled up in books. Slytherine maybe? No, no, I know.'
"GRYFFINDOR!" bellowed from the brim of the hat. Hermione's smile could reach from ear to ear as she ran off to find her seat, the Gryffindor table giving her a loud applause.
Hermione looked back to her friends still milling in a group at the front of the hall. Luna was smiling happily at Hermione and Neville looked almost shell shocked because McGonagall had just read out his name. Neville made his way to the stool but tripped slightly on the pebbled floor, he fell into the seat and jammed the hat onto his head. The hat took a long time deciding with him. When it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR!", Neville ran off still wearing it and had to jog back amid gales of laughter. He took a seat opposite Hermione, although bright red he was obviously too extatic about being housed in Gryffindor to care. "Luna is next!" Neville laughed nervously.
"Lovegood, Luna" the Proffessor called out. Dreamy little Luna meandered over to the stool, delicatly sat down and placed the hat on her head. During her sorting it looked like the two were having a conversation. Oddly this didn't surpise Hermione. Or the house the hat finally called out. "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Well done Luna!" Neville congratulated her as she took her place next to Hermione.
"I'm glad we're in the same house" Hermione bumped her shoulder against Luna's happily.
"Me too, he's a very agreeable hat. So lonely", Hermione didn't have time to respond to the puzzling statment becuase next up was the boy with the blonde hair.
Proffessor McGonagall had read his name as Draco Malfoy. It was so unsual, but it fit him. Draco walked forwards with such confidence and with such conviction that before the hat had even fully touched his head it called out "SLYTHERIN!", Hermione then had to watch him take a seat on the other side of the hall next to some other first year Slytherins and looking extremely pleased with himself. Her heart had dropped into her stomach. She'd hoped slightly that he'd be in the same house as her. Maybe an excuse to talk to him. 'Maybe they'd have a class together', she hoped.
The rest of the sorting passed in a blur, she didn't even notice Harry Potter being placed into Gryffindor or his friend Ron Weasley. Hermione only returned to reality once the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore shouted out some very strange words. "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
Hermione's mouth fell open, the dishes infront of her were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table; roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire puddings, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs.
Everyone began to dig in. Hermione reached straight for the roast beef and roast potatoes, her favourite of all the dishes infront of her. She smothered it all in steaming gravy and couldn't believe had delicious it was. She thought her taste buds had died and gone to heaven!
"Luna?" Hermione asked when she was reaching for second helpings of beef.
"Yes"
"How much do you know about Slytherin?" she questioned cautiously, trying not to be overly interested. Let it be a passing comment, nothing more or less.
"Its considered dark. Lots of Dark Wizards have come from Slytherin. You-know-who was a Slytherin. My father tells me that mugwamps live tortured in their common room" she said seriously, although Hermione wasn't entirely sure what a mugwump was.
"Whats a mugwump?"
Luna's eyes brightened "Its a type of fungus that lives in the walls, it doesn't like the colour green". Hermione didn't know whether to take her seriously or not. In the end she just blinked and decided to forget about it. Life was never going to be dull with Luna.