I do not own Harry Potter, this is a fan fiction.
Hermione was a very good traveling company, they both loved to read. "So what happened to you?" Harry asked what did she mean? She took his glasses off him and with a quick movement of her wand she repaired them for him, handed them back to Harry. "Your glasses did not have that crack always did it? What happened to crack the lenses of your glasses like that?"
Harry had no choice but to tell her that Neville and his friends pushed him out of a compartment they were seated in, something about the compartment was for pure blood only. Hermione could not believe that Neville Longbottom was a blood purist. Had she not seen his glasses she would have called him a liar, but she did. "Unbelievable, the boy who lived is a blood purist, like you know who. I always believed he was some sort of price charming talk about a rude awakening."
"Sorry, but you did ask, and I don't like to tell lies, especially yo someone I think can call my friend." Hermione indeed was happy to call such an honest boy her friend. But something is odd about you, I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something almost unnatural about you. "It's quite the opposite actually, I am a veela after all, quarter veela to be precise." Hermione asked him if he was telling the truth, and he told her again he did not lie to friend, "But veela are usually female."
"I don't know how but I can assure you I am a veela, the elder of the flock told me so. She would have no reason to lie to me." Hermione asked if he could use the famous aura then? He told her the aura was inactive until they reached a certain age, and that was still a few years for him. "I imagine my body might go through some changes, but that was never really explained to me. I live a very peaceful life with my mom and dad, so I rarely if ever get angry. My wand was a wand that my mother gave me, it simply started shooting sparks one day as I was looking at it. Now I can't leave it anywhere, cause it will appear right in my hand or in my coat pocket. It got to the point that my dad had to make me this holster."
"If that wand was a girl, I would say she loves you." Hermione joked that maybe the sparks was her sign of happiness. Harry pretty much begged her to stop, or else he was liable to faint due to all the blushing she was causing him. "Either way, it has some really intricate design, and it looks like it was made a long time ago," Harry told her it was a family heirloom. They began talking about all the different houses, till they talked about with house they each would think they be placed in. "If people consider the fact that I am a veela, they will probably want to place me in Ravenclaw."
Hermione told him she would not mind, Ravenclaw was called the house of the wise after all. They were probably the most read first years around. "But the place I don't even want to consider is Slytherin, that was the house most dark wizards and witches came from." Harry looked down almost depressed after hearing that. "She asked him why did he look so sad?" Harry told her she had to keep it a secret. She promised not to reveal what he was going to say.
"The founder of that house was not evil, he did not even believe in the purity of your blood. I should know, Salazar Slytherin was my great grandfather after all on my mother's side. I even talked to him once or twice, to his portrait at the very least. I am also a paselmouth. You know can talk to snakes. Great grandpa Salazar said it was because our ancestor used to come from people that lived with snakes their whole lives. A garden snake was my best friend till she died."
"What could you talk with a snake about?" Harry told her about where the mice hide beneath their house, you know the one that tried to eat some of the food in your pantry, or which grass was good to cure indigestion, or what leaf would make a good sleep aid. All sorts of things, she told him about some really neat potion ingredients that according to her should never be mixed together or the whole mixture blew up and would stain your face three different colors.
Harry at that moment heard something odd, a croaking coming from the hallway. With a move of his wand, he picked up the rather large toad. Ron came soon after screaming at him that he was planning to hurt the pet of the boy who lived. Harry put the large toad on his hand and told him that he simply found him, but if he wanted to discredit him already that much, when he had done nothing to him, maybe he should reevaluate his priorities. He gave the toad a friendly pat on his head and went inside his compartment.
Ron took the toad back to Neville, he truly expected to hear how Harry had turned into something of a fireball throwing monster, half bird and half human. This was the entire reason he left Trevor run down the hall. To make the veela freak lose his temper and showed everyone what a dangerous monster he really was, and get him expelled on his first day. Ron told him as he handed him his toad that his plan failed if anything he was calm, collected and polite, if not kind.
"Wake up, Weasley you only feel that way because you probably got affected by his allure. It is always something wrong with half-breeds like him." Draco clearly did not like Harry, but Ron did not care, to him being friends with the boy who lived was his ticket to fame and recognition, something he desperately needed to make himself known and seen as a success, not something easy considering his brothers probably did great things already.
Percy was a prefect, another worked as a curse breaker for the bank, another tamed and cared for dragons, and another was a professional quidditch player. Tough competition, but not a one could say they were friends with the boy who lived. If he only knew better than to think like that, he would one day find that being the friend of Neville Longbottom was not something that was free, it came at a heavy price and the reward was not worth it. One day he would truly lament this day and realized what he truly needed was a true friend.
The train came to a brief stop, it seems the train was making sure they would not suffer an accident, or maybe another passenger was getting on board. It turns out is was just a kindly old witch who was in charge of selling sweets to the passengers, she was having a trouble carrying all the sweets from the loading platform into the train, Harry once again with his wand made the entire supply move into the train and to a place the lady would have no trouble of restocking her cart.
She thanked Harry by giving him a few chocolate frogs. He, of course, insisted on paying for them. "No sweety, I have plenty of these,and a good and kind deed like you did should be rewarded. Thank you for your help." He did not want to be rude and thanked her for her kind gift. He gave a few to his friend Hermione and she thanked him, it was quite fun looking at the cards that came with the chocolate frogs, Harry got three cards in all, his great-grandfather, Albus Dumbledore, and his own grandfather.
Hermione, on the other hand, had the other three founders of Hogwarts. She asked him if the cards were really accurate. Harry told her that the picture of his great-grandfather did him no justice, he looked a great deal better in the portrait in his home attic. The card made him look sinister, even evil which of course he was not. She asked him then why did he did not like muggles? "Hermione, What would you feel if a group of muggles killed the person you love by drowning her for no other reason than they think she was a witch? Would it not make you a bit bitter against the people that killed your precious love?"
Hermione had to admit she would be bitter, she would probably distrust the people like them for a long time. "Great grandpa Salazar watched as his parents and his wife were killed like that by muggles, only by a small miracle, his children were away visiting his parents. Because of that, he did not also lose his children. He raised them alone and in seclusion, afraid that the muggles would finish their murder spree and kill his children."
Hermione wondered why did history forget to mention that part. Harry told her there were a number of reasons. First, the witch hunts were conducted by a mob of muggles, how many people would actually incriminate themselves by recordings that a certain mob in a certain town killed and massacred hundreds of innocent people, simply because they were jealous of their abilities or good looks? The other it provided an easy scapegoat to blame a single house for all the wrongdoing of the entire castle. "I am pretty sure every house has had it share of rotten apples. They are wizards and witches sure, but deep down they are only human. Evil can bloom in anyone after all. Just look at Neville."
Hermione had to admit it made sense. As the train came to a stop he saw that the first years were getting on board some rowboats, he even saw a man his father knew quite well. Rubeus Hagrid the groundskeeper of the schools. Harry walked to him with Hermione who looked a little scared. "No need to fear me, young lady, I am quite friendly once you know me, isn't that right Harry?" Harry told her he was an old friend of his family. "Which reminds me, how is Fluffy these days, did that flea medicine work?"
"Oh, yes it sure did the trick and the heartworms and other nasty parasites too, He looks a lot healthier thanks to that medicine." Hermione had to ask what medicine is he talking about, "Harry here looked up a potion to cure my adorable pup, Fluffy. They are good friends, they played catch together quite a few times."
He told everyone to get on the boats and not to worry about the luggage, it would take to their rooms after the sorting. Neville was in the same boat as Harry and Hermione. "I hear you have to fight a troll to be sorted into a house, and of you fail they let you die. I am sure a pathetic Potter will not be able to fight the troll at all." Harry did not bother in saying anything. Hr simply tried to enjoy the beauty of the black lake and the sights leading to the castle. The castle itself was a sight to behold, majestic was not enough to describe it.
A particularly stern looking woman came down to meet the new students, "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, I teach transfiguration magic and I am the head of house Gryffindor. Maybe after the sorting, a few will be lucky enough to be in my house, welcome to Hogwarts. The sorting shall begin shortly. You will be sorted into four houses of the castle." She began looking at the nervous students.
"Each house will be much like a family it's members if you do honorable or achieve any notable deed you will earn house point, do malicious or dishonorable deeds you will lose house points. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the honor of winning the house cup. Now each form a line and follow me into the great hall."
Harry did not find the fact that the hat of Godric Gryffindor was actually singing. His great grandfather's portrait told him he should expect it. What he was surprised was that Neville was placed in Gryffindor and that he clearly was left for last. "I really should not find it so surprising the elder told me of possible discrimination against our kind."
As soon as he was called and they placed the hat on his head he heard a voice in his head. 'Kid, drop down the shields, I can't do my job while you have your oclumency shields up.' Harry did as the sorting hat asked. 'Harry, you know as well as I do, there is no such thing as a half or quarter veela, you either are or you aren't why did you make such a pathetic excuse.' Harry said nothing. 'I see your kind still thinks others will discriminate because you can do something no other humans can... Do not worry young veela, I do not discriminate.'
Harry breathed a little easier, "Thank you." The hat almost seemed like it was smiling. 'Now this is a surprise, Heir to all four founders. Salazar was your great grandfather, you are quite right too, he was such a friendly man. I miss him sometimes. Now as for your house, you are brave and that is a fact, sly as a serpent is long and humble beyond reproach, wiser than most first years combined. Difficult, very difficult. But I see you want to do some good then you better be..' "Gryffindor"
The entire hall became quite, it had never taken so long for the hat to decide. Neville had hoped that he would be rejected and told he was not wanted in the school. Sadly for him, he was placed in the same house he was, he was making a rather angry expression as he saw Harry walk up to the house ghost who was talking to the bloody baron, the baron was glad to see he was not afraid. "Nice to see you are as brave as any of our family." Harry greeted sir Nicholas and wished him a good evening to the bloody Baron, "I will not feel so lonely here, maybe we could talk sometimes."
The bloody baron was truly smiling when he heard that. "It will be my pleasure, just send word with any of the ghosts, and I shall come. I am looking forward to hearing how our ancient and noble house is doing." Harry went and took his seat at the Gryffindor table.