Hey, thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites!
Two chapters in two days. Don't expect this trend to continue but I figured the first chapter wasn't that good and I was eager to write another. It's also a fair bit longer, I'll probably keep future chapters around this length too.
Malfoy was smirking at him two tables away; Harry could only wonder what possessed him to sit facing the Slytherin table. His grey and black robes signified his talents as a mentalist, an expert in the mind arts. A rather useful speciality which guaranteed him a place as an Obliviator if he so wanted, plus dozens of other jobs. Most wizards were wary of those who could influence their minds but Malfoy seemed to be well-accepted within his own house at the very least and was happy to flaunt. Harry and Ron were his favourite targets.
"You reckon they swam to Hogwarts?" Ron spoke up.
Harry turned away from Malfoy to watch the first years slowly trailing in behind Professor Mcgonnagall, who were certainly a bedraggled bunch, bringing in a great deal of water with them.
"Be quiet, there's the sorting hat," Hermione cut in, staring in awe at the ancient hat.
Ever since she'd discovered her talent as an Enchantress she'd become completely enamoured by ancient artefacts, wondering if she could ever create something on that scale.
"Do you think Gryffindor was an enchanter too?" Hermione asked softly.
"I thought she wanted us to stop talking," Ron muttered.
He nevertheless replied. "The sorting hat has a personality, it's more than a simple enchantment. It's probably made with Runes or Potions or something."
"Back in those days they didn't even have a complex classification system," Harry added, as the sorting hat begun to sing.
It was different from his first year's song but mostly similar, explaining the noble traits of each house. Harry sat up a little straighter as it described the courage and determination of Gryffindor. Maybe he didn't have a fancy specialisation yet, but the founders hadn't either. They weren't required to wear special robes declaring their abilities to the world.
He'd been disappointed to miss the Sorting ceremony the last two years but as he watched the first years walk up one by one to put on the illustrious hat, he had to admit it was a little boring. Further down the Gryffindor table he heard quiet murmurs as the older years tried to guess where each first year would end up. He nevertheless cheered every time Gryffindor was called out, smiling at their looks of relief as they sat down.
There was a lot of students though, had his own year been that large? It had seemed like no time at all until his name had been called out but they weren't even halfway through and Harry couldn't help but look down at the empty plates in front of him.
Dennis Creevey had been sorted into Gryffindor, to great fanfare. It seemed the largest cheers were saved for the most gifted and Battle Mages were good - very good. In his own year, Zacharias Smith and Kevin Entwisle were both Battle Mages, and, while Harry didn't know any two boys quite so different from each other, both were excellent duelists. They'd fought each other a couple times actually and the speed and variety of powerful curses they throw at each other were impressive. None of those curses had been of the lethal variety, of course, but they knew spells that could knock someone unconscious or tie them up in ropes or weaken them.
Harry Potter was expected to know how to do things like that, but he didn't. He could just about manage to disarm someone of a wand, (not a larger weapon though, getting Ron's sword out of his grip was beyond him), but he'd never stand a chance against any wizard who could properly fight. He'd been helpless to stop the Death eaters at the world cup, and he hadn't even noticed losing his wand to a House Elf. He didn't know what he was gifted in and as he watched the sorting hat taking a particularly long time to sort a worried little girl, he wondered. Maybe he had no gift at all and would forever be a subpar wizard.
Finally the sorting ceremony ended and most of the school started turning their heads towards the main table, where Professor Dumbledore sat. He slowly stood up beaming at all the students.
"Welcome to Hogwarts! I'm sure you're all anxious to begin eating and I have heard some marvellous things about the roast lamb so I will be brief," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling merrily.
"Tuck in!" Dumbledore waved his wand and the candles at the head table flickered on, drawing attention to all the food which had suddenly appeared in front of the teachers.
As Dumbledore sat down, Harry turned to the plates in front of them, grinning as they filled up with delicious food. Ron quickly began filling up his plate and he heard Hermione sigh beside him. A moment later she was carefully choosing her own selection even as she smiled fondly at Ron's enthusiasm.
"Dumbledore's right, this lamb's fantastic," Ron said, several moments later.
"How can you even tell? You've drowned it in gravy," Hermione replied. "Lamb is best enjoyed with mint sauce, right Harry?"
Harry paused, hands centimetres away from the gravy jug. "Er, what's wrong with a bit of gravy?"
Hermione huffed in exasperation but didn't elaborate. "Well, I suppose that must be mad-eye moody there," she said, gesturing to the staff table.
They'd heard about the paranoid auror earlier that summer after Ron's dad had apparently helped him out of a spot of trouble but this was the first time Harry had seen him in person. His face was covered in the most scars Harry had ever seen but what was most striking were his eyes. One was a normal enough beady brown, looking at Professor Sprout, who he seemed to be in conversation with. The other was electric blue and seemed to be surveying the hall.
"What sort of class is he?" Harry asked, unfamiliar with the elaborate pattern across his robes.
"I think he's a druid," Ron answered. "Knows all sorts of nature magic."
Looking more closely, he realised he had seen others in the school dressed similarly. It looked different with Moody though. Harry had thought druids were more peaceful than most, not one of the best dark-wizard catcher's there were.
"Is he really?" Hermione asked. "How does he overcome all the dark wizards he's fought?"
Ron shrugged. "He's really strong, I guess. He can make vines grow out of the ground and tangle enemies up, plus he can cast blessings on himself to give him an edge. Really, his main advantage is probably all the tracking spells he knows so he can always find his foes."
"Are you discussing the awesome powers of a druid?" Ginny, Ron's sister, was a few spaces down but looking in their direction. She had a large grin on her face.
"Moody's a druid, right?" Harry replied, already feeling impressed with their new defence professor.
Ginny briefly glanced over at the staff table. "Yeah, definitely. My friend Luna is another druid and she can be really clever with her magic, even if she's a bit strange."
Ron snorted. "Luna's absolutely crazy, always going on about these weird creatures and her connection to nature." He paused. "She's great company though."
Ginny didn't seem offended by the remarks about her friend. In fact, she was nodding along. "People call her Loony Lovegood, not that she minds. In fact, I've never seen her fazed by anything."
"Hmm, where is she?" Harry asked, looking over Ginny's shoulder for the mysterious friend. Inwardly he wondered if she was really as unaffected as Ginny claimed. He remembered being teased by the other kids at school when he was younger. And in Hogwarts too, actually.
"Oh, she's not in Gryffindor, she in Ravenclaw. She's the one with the long blonde hair… with the leaf chains in her hair," Ginny pointed her out. "Hmm… those sort of suit her."
Her back was to them but Harry could easily identify the druid girl. Just as Ginny said, Luna had somehow attached some long strings of leaves together and tied them into her messy hair. She seemed to be sitting alone, all the other students near her clearly absorbed in their own conversations.
"I don't expect Moody will be anything like her, even if they are both gifted in the same area," Hermione said, looking between the girl and their new teacher.
"No, I can't imagine being taught by someone like Luna," Ginny agreed, before turning, distracted by some other conversation amongst her year mates.
The conversation dwindled as the three of them returned to their meals before it was all replaced by desserts. The food really was delicious, as expected of a Hogwarts feast, though Harry's mind was still on Defence. They'd had a new DADA teacher every year and each year had been very different from the last.
"Defence is still going to be taught to everyone, right?" Harry checked, with a touch of nervousness.
In third year, most students had begun having classes which focused on their speciality, Hermione had had lessons teaching her how to be a good enchantress while Ron had learned the art of being a Spellblade. Harry had had some tedious magical theory lessons where he had been supposed to discover his specialisation. It hadn't worked.
"Yes, learning to defend yourself is still compulsory, even if it's going to become less magic-heavy curses and more dark creature studies or recognising an enemy's abilities," Hermione replied.
"And I'll learn to either get in close and stab them with a sword or run away," Ron muttered.
"Then all I'll get to learn is to run away," Harry said, smiling a touch bitterly.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "And I get to learn to spend hours making items for hypothetical scenarios and running away when they're not enough to do any harm."
Enchanting was a very useful field of magic, just not well-suited to fights at all. Being able to make feather-light trunks or self-inking quills was nice, but at best she could perhaps curse an item and really hope that the enemy was stupid enough to pick it up. Or maybe she could be a close-range fighter like Ron, only less effective as it was apparently very hard to enchant items with multiple effects. Of course, close-range fighters were at the mercy of long-range fighters, which was the majority of wizards naturally.
Harry continued to eat and tried to dismiss his worries. It was nice being at Hogwarts but he knew each year was going to deal with more advanced magic and he wouldn't be able to learn any of it. His friends understood though. Learning to defend themselves wouldn't have been so important if it wasn't for Voldemort and his death eaters after them. He'd prevailed twice so far but he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't enough.
The feast soon came to an end and Dumbledore stood up once more. Dumbledore was a great wizard, an Alchemist, someone who specialised in changing the nature of things.
"I hope you all enjoyed the feast, now that we're all fed and watered, a few notices to begin the year."
"Firstly, you may have noticed we have a new change in staff. Professor Moody has agreed to take over the position as Defence against the Dark Arts, and most of you should soon be having classes with him." Dumbledore gestured to Moody, who was still scanning the room, he did raise his head slightly at Dumbledore's announcement.
"Secondly a reminder that the forbidden forest is still out of bounds to all students." Harry quietly resolved to try and keep that promise this year, even if the dementors had been removed.
"Finally, I must inform you that all Quidditch is cancelled this year-"
Dumbledore paused at the groans and shock from the assembled students. Harry felt dismayed himself, glancing at Ron and Hermione in alarm. Quidditch was the one thing he really exceled at in school and he had been looking forward to flying again. Further down the Gryffindor table Fred and George were calling out large complaints and Harry was tempted to join in.
"Yes, yes, it will be back next year. The reason behind this decision is because I am proud to announce that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard tournament this year."
The complaints died away and everyone became transfixed. Harry had never heard of the tournament before but suddenly he was sure that this was what Charlie and Bill had been hinting about at the Quidditch world cup.
"The Triwizard tournament has been held many times over the years but had been cancelled due to some unfortunate deaths. This will be another attempt to bring it back with some new safety features.
"The Triwizard tournament is a tournament between the three premier wizarding schools in Europe, Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Each school will choose a champion to compete in five dangerous tasks to test their skills. As well as eternal glory, the winner will receive 1000 galleons in prize money."
Dumbledore then explained how the champion would be chosen on Halloween, when the other schools would arrive. Hogwarts was going to be looking its best to impress the other schools. It sounded incredible though only for the very best wizards. When Dumbledore announced that only those 17 or older could compete, he was met with some groans but Harry privately felt relieved. He wouldn't have to worry about competing at all.
Dumbledore added that there would be other events occurring during the tournament besides the task and it would be a great chance to meet some of the students from other schools and Harry felt rather cheered. He wasn't sure what the other events would be, but the whole thing sounded exciting. An ancient tournament being revived and someone chosen to be Hogwarts Champion.
Soon Dumbledore dismissed everyone for bed and Harry walked back with Ron and Hermione, listening to the latter talk about how interesting it would be to meet other schools and how she was going to the library to look up more information about the Triwizard tournament. Ron was gently poking fun at her, but she didn't seem to notice.
The prefects soon gave them the new password and Harry gratefully trudged up Gryffindor tower to find his bed. There was no place that felt more like home to him. The new first years' gasps of amazement at everything they saw was nostalgic to listen to, he was sure in that within a few weeks it would feel like home to them too.
In his dormitory, his trunk had already arrived, as had his roommates. Neville was sorting out his stuff while Dean and Seamus chattered to each other; he was amused to see green banners from the Quidditch world cup being hung around their beds. Beside him, Ron was admiring his tiny Krum figurine, having placed it on his bedside.
Harry ignored the others to collapse into his four-poster bed, looking forward to sleeping soundly tonight. His mind briefly flickered to the nightmare he'd had over the summer, of Voldemort's plan to kill him, and the snake who had killed the muggle man. Then there was the Dark Mark appearing at the Quidditch world cup for the first time in years. He tried to put it out of his mind. He was safe at Hogwarts now.
"You okay, Harry?"
Harry started, realising he'd been staring at the floor, and quickly shook his head. "I'm fine, Ron." He answered, but his tone sounded unconvincing, even to him. "Just thinking about the Triwizard Tournament," he lied.
Ron relaxed. "Yeah. 1000 galleons, eternal glory. Wish we could compete. Maybe we're rubbish at magic, but I reckon we could pull it off anyway. We found the Chamber of Secrets, didn't we?"
"Hermione helped," Harry pointed out.
"True. She'd probably think it was a stupid idea," Ron replied solemnly. Then he grinned. "Until she saw all the enchantments we'd be facing and get distracted trying to solve all the tasks herself."
Hermione really did love puzzles and mysteries and challenges. Harry had no idea what the tasks were going to be but no doubt Hermione would love them. He quickly said good night to Ron though, as Ron looked like he might be willing to stay up all night discussing the tournament if he let him.
He had a busy year ahead of him.
Thanks for reading! I'm aware that these beginning chapters have been mostly recapping events from book 4. I wanted to establish what's the same, as well as what's different but I feel like differences will become more apparent in the following chapters. The pace should pick up too.
I hope the dialogue between Harry, Ron and Hermione sounds good. And I hope the specialities thing makes sense.
Feel free to leave a review. Cheers!