Disclaimer: When exiting the Hogwarts Express please remember the windows are not meant to be an exit, despite what the twin redheaded devils claim... Well here we are again! I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does.
Chapter 4 Just Harry
"Wake up you freaks!" The shrill voice of Petunia Dursley called though the cupboard door. "It's seven am and breakfast hasn't been started yet!"
Lexi jumped out of bed as quickly as she could. It was hard to believe that she was able to fall asleep after Harry left earlier that morning, but her sheer exhaustion must have caught up with her.
"I'm up!" Lexi called though the door as Aunt Petunia banged on it again. "I'm up!"
"What about the boy?" Aunt Petunia asked as Lexi dressed on the other side of the door.
Lexi was a bit taken aback. Of course Aunt Petunia should know that today Harry left for Hogwarts, like they had talked to Harry about the night before.
"Aunt Petunia," Lexi said when she exited the cupboard. "Harry went to Hogwarts today."
Aunt Petunia hissed upon hearing the word 'Hogwarts' and stomped away with a displeased look on her face. Sighing, Lexi just knew it was going to be a long time without Harry.
~*~
Harry Potter had a wild day, and it wasn't even eleven in the morning. He woke at the crack of dawn to prepare for his journey to Hogwarts. After a long and tearful goodbye with Lexi, Harry walked out of the Dursley home, and everything he had ever known; 'to learn the family business' as Lexi had said. Hogwarts was to be his great adventure, and getting there was merely the first part of his journey.
Harry sat at the bus stop on the corner of Magnolia Crescent for what seemed like hours waiting for one that would take him to London. While Harry was aware that Kings Cross station was merely an hour and half away from Privet Drive by car, Harry did not know the bus schedule so he made sure he was there several hours early.
After taking the Magnolia Crescent bus to the bus terminal for Surrey, Harry had barely enough money to purchase a ticket on a bus to his desired destination. Being seen as a freak for most of his life, Harry was used to people staring at him and giving him weird looks. Harry realized a small, young boy, traveling alone by bus to London would get strange looks, so he thought nothing of it. It was almost normal for Harry.
Waiting at the bus terminal for nearly two hours, Harry was finally able to take a bus that would get him not just to London but to Kings Cross Station in particular. It didn't help that he nearly missed the bus due to the driver's reluctance to take a young boy unaccompanied by an adult. But eventually it was straightened out since Harry had a ticket and the driver could not break company policy by denying him a seat. Although the station manager did warn Harry that he needed to be on his best behavior or he would be forced off the bus regardless of whether or not it was the correct stop.
The trip to the train station was a long and unnerving ride between the glares he received from the bus driver and his own conflicted thoughts about Hogwarts. Even though Lexi was convinced Hogwarts would not turn Harry away, he was not so confident. The thought of having to return to the Dursleys after his less than pleasant farewell was not appealing to Harry.
Yet at ten thirty am Harry finally arrived at Kings Cross Station with his train ticket to go to Hogwarts. The only problem was he was unable to find the platform listed on his ticket. According to the ticket Harry was to meet the Hogwarts Express at precisely eleven am on platform nine and three quarters, but there appeared to be no such platform.
Harry wondered at first if his ticket was simply misprinted, since the security guard at the station had never heard of the Hogwarts Express and thought Harry was simply pulling his leg. After his first encounter, Harry concluded the station staff would be no assistance to him in quest. This would be his first test on his journey to becoming the best wizard he could be.
Harry began roaming up and down the terminals near platform nine looking for any sign or clue of the wizarding world. Yet, not knowing a lot about the wizarding world in general, Harry was unsure what he should be looking for. The only things Harry knew for sure were that the magical school was called Hogwarts, and that the wizarding world used owls to carry their mail.
At ten forty five am Harry was hopelessly looking up and down the terminal and was ready to admit defeat when he saw the thing that would change his life forever. There was a redheaded family rushing down the terminal with an owl on their trolley.
Harry nearly jumped for joy; after tightening the straps of his ruckus Harry rushed over to them and began following the redheaded family in hopes that they would lead him to the Hogwarts Express. It was the only chance Harry had left.
"Packed with muggles," the mother began while shaking her head. "What is the name of the platform for Hogwarts again?"
"Nine and three quarters, Mum" piped up the littlest of the redheads. She was a little girl with fiery red hair that was nothing like Lexi's hair before it magically changed. Lexi's was a lot darker where this young girl's hair reminded Harry of fire.
"Alright, here we are, Percy you first." The mother said while standing in front of a pillar between platforms nine and ten.
Harry was completely flabbergasted when he saw the eldest looking boy, with the owl on his trolley, ran at the pillar and disappeared into it. Harry just stood there staring at the pillar with a dumbfounded look on his face as he watched each of the boys run into the pillar followed by the mother and the little girl.
Staring at the pillar for a few more minutes after all the redheads were gone, Harry grabbed forth all his courage and copied the actions of the redheaded family. Mentally preparing himself to crash into the stone pillar Harry was surprised to find himself standing on a platform with a large red steam engine at the dock when he finally opened his eyes.
Harry's breath was taken away. Even though he and Lexi had carefully planned his escape to Hogwarts, there was a part of him that never dreamed it would really happen. Now he couldn't doubt it would happen. He was faced with the reality. He was going to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express, the school his parents went to and he was far away from the Dursleys. The only down side was that Lexi was going to have to wait to join him.
Sucking in a deep breath, and setting back his shoulders, Harry proudly made his way on to the Hogwarts Express. This was his time and he was determined to be the best wizard he could be to make Lexi proud of him.
~*~
After Harry bumbled in loading his trunk onto the luggage cart, Harry boarded the train and found a compartment to himself near the caboose. There were tons of people milling around the corridors of the train and Harry was a bit intimated by the sheer number of people.
Nowhere in Harry's wildest dreams would he imagine that there were such a large number of witches and wizards in the world, let alone who would all go to one school. How did he not know about the wizarding world earlier? Especially after all the weird things he and Lexi had done.
"Mind if I sit here?" the voice of one of the redheaded boys interrupted Harry's thoughts. "Everywhere else is full."
"No, feel free to sit down," Harry nervously answered. What was he supposed to do? No one ever wanted to sit with him at his primary school!
"Name is Ron," the boy said reaching out his hand towards Harry.
"Harry," Harry replied as he took the other boy's hand and shook it; alright, so far so good.
"Are you that famous Harry?" Ron asked with a bit of wonder in his voice.
"No," Harry immediately replied, his face scrunching up in confusion. "Sorry, I'm just Harry; no one special."
"Oh," Ron replied a bit deflated. "I heard the Boy-Who-Lived was coming to Hogwarts this year. His name is Harry too."
Harry just nodded his head in strained interest. He could care less about some famous person.
The only thing Harry was interested in or concerned with was learning more about the magical world. That way he wouldn't so lost or confused once he made it to Hogwarts.
Ron pulled something gray and fat out of his pocket. On closer inspection Harry noticed that it was an extremely fat and balding rat, that almost seemed to be shaking in fear.
"What's that?" Harry asked wondering why the other boy had a rat in his pocket.
"Oh, this is Scabbers," Ron quickly replied. "He's my pet rat. Well, he was Percy's rat first but when he was made prefect, Mum and Dad bought him an owl and I got Scabbers."
The rat definitely looked a bit old and sick in Harry's opinion but he didn't want the other boy to feel bad about his pet.
"He seems nice," Harry replied.
"Nah," Ron said dismissively, "Scabbers has been put through the ringer by my older twin brothers. They are always pulling pranks and testing weird things on animals. Poor Scabbers here has been their favorite test subject."
Harry just raised his eyebrows at Ron's last statement. Ron's brothers didn't seem to be anyone that Harry wanted to cross.
"Do you have a pet?" Ron asked Harry after a few minutes.
"No," Harry quickly replied a bit self-conscious of his lack of material possessions. How was Harry supposed to tell people about not having anything? No personal possessions to speak of, no clothing and especially no magic wand.
Harry's heart began to race as he thought about the consciences of his actions. He left Privet Drive with basically nothing, going to a magic school and hoping for the best. What if they turned him away? Would Aunt Petunia let him back into her home? What would Lexi do if he could never return to her?
~*~
The ride to Hogwarts had initially been uneventful. Ron turned out to be a wealth of information about the wizarding world in general. His whole family was witches and wizards and he lived his whole life knowing about magic.
From Ron, Harry learned that the wizarding world hid itself away from the "muggle" world, better known as the non-magical world. A long time ago when witches and wizards were persecuted by muggles, it was decided that the safest thing for all magical beings was to be hidden from the muggle world. Harry found this very fascinating especially since if it were not for his Hogwarts' letter, he would never had learned about the wizarding world at all.
According to Ron, there were three types of witches and wizards. There were purebloods, like Ron whose whole family was composed of witches and wizards for generations. Half-bloods were witches and wizards who had one parent that was a pureblood and the other was either a muggle or a muggleborn witch or wizard. The last type of wizard was a muggleborn, which Ron said Harry was. That was a wizard or witch who was born to muggles and raised in the muggle world until they got their Hogwarts' letter.
While Harry believed his parents were a witch and a wizard due to his aunt's words the previous evening, Harry did not know for sure. Harry could only guess as to what he may actually be or what his parents were. He just wished there was some way to learn more about his family, since it seemed from Aunt Petunia that they had been a part of the wizarding world.
Also from Ron, Harry was able to learn a lot about Hogwarts. Ron was one of seven children and had five older brothers that either attended Hogwarts or already graduated from it. He was able to give Harry some information about the professors and setup of the school. Most of the professors were rather fair and balanced, except for Professor Snape who taught potions. He hated all students that were not members of his house.
Hogwarts was divided into four school houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, into which students were sorted, based on how brave, loyal, smart or evil they were. Each house had a different teacher that was their head of house and was responsible for this students and their welfare while they were at Hogwarts.
The minute Ron mentioned the concept behind the heads of house; Harry felt some of his worry and nervousness seep away from him. If these professors were responsible for the welfare of their students then it was quite possible that Harry's head of house would be able to assist him in gathering the supplies that he needed for school.
Harry was extremely grateful for all the information Ron was able to share with him since it gave him a good idea about what to expect when he arrived at Hogwarts and about the wizarding world in general. Unfortunately, nothing Ron could have said or done would have prepared Harry for what happened next.
While the two boys were sharing Ron's corned beef sandwiches, due to the fact that Harry did not know how long the train ride to Hogwarts was and had not packed any food to eat, a young witch entered their compartment.
"Has anyone seen a toad?" the young witch asked. "A boy by the name of Neville has lost one."
"Sorry," Ron replied. "Haven't seen one, but if I had one I'd try to lose it. Toads aren't the coolest pets to have."
The witch had apparently taken offense to Ron's comment since she immediately snapped, "Is that your rat?" At Ron's nod, she continued, "then you're one to talk, rats aren't even on the Hogwarts' approved list of pets."
"Now wait a minute," Ron began to argue back, but luckily for all involved, Harry interrupted.
"I'm sure Ron didn't mean to offend you, Miss?" Harry asked with a pleading look on his face since the witch did not tell him her name.
"Hermione Granger," the witch automatically responded. "And you are?"
"Harry Potter," Harry said while holding out his hand to shake hers. However at the same moment Harry said his name, Ron let out a curse word while Hermione sucked in her breath.
"You're the Harry Potter?" Hermione asked extremely rapidly. "As in the Harry Potter that defeated the dark wizard," continued Hermione without allowing Harry a chance to respond. "Lord Voldemort I believe his name was. I read all about you in Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Blimey, Harry why didn't you tell me you were the Harry Potter?" Ron asked with a disgusted look on his face. "I even asked you if you were him and you said no! Why did you let me prattle on the fool about stuff you already knew?"
Harry for his part was completely dumbfounded. He didn't know how to react to what Hermione and Ron were saying.
"What are you both talking about?" Harry asked the confusion evident in his tone.
"You're a real prat if you think you can play me like that again." Ron said while standing up with Scabbers and marching out the door.
"That wasn't very nice." Hermione said with narrowing eyes. "Pretending you didn't know who you are."
"Honestly Hermione, I don't know what you are talking about." Harry said in a pleading tone.
Hermione merely huffed in disgust and stomped out of the room as well, leaving Harry once again all alone. Harry banged his head against the cool glass of the window of the train. He really thought that Ron may be his first friend, but that wasn't meant to be. He really wished he knew what Ron and Hermione were talking about.
Harry was left on his own for an hour before the compartment door swung open again. When it first opened Harry had hoped that it was either Ron or Hermione coming back to apologize once they realized they had mistaken Harry for someone else. However, rather quickly Harry realized the person who opened the compartment door was not a potential friend, but something else entirely.
"I heard on the train that the Harry Potter was in this compartment," a snide voice called out.
Harry thought the grand show this blond haired boy was making was rather pointless considering he was the only person currently occupying the compartment. This boy obviously had Harry confused with someone else just as Ron did earlier.
"I'm sorry," Harry said after making a quick decision. "You've been misinformed. I'm just Harry; nobody famous and nobody important."
"I should hope you're not," the blond hair boy said as his face curled up in a sneer. "There is no way the Boy-Who-Lived would look as dreadful and trashy as you."
Without giving his name, the boy and two other boys who looked like miniature apes, that Harry finally noticed went stomping out of the compartment. Harry sighed as he realized that while he may have escaped the Dursleys; there were people like Dudley everywhere.
~*~
"Stupid Lexi Potter is all by her little self," the nasal tones of Dudley Dursley rang from behind Lexi as she weeded out the flowerbed.
Aunt Petunia was off her game today, so she didn't assign Lexi any chores. But Lexi knew if it wasn't done today it would be worse when she had to do it the next day with dozen of other things Aunt Petunia assigned her.
"Poor stupid Lexi Potter," Dudley continued to sing to himself.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" Lexi asked barely able to contain her anger. "Do you have brainless followers to order around or something? Or perhaps you should pack for school; don't you leave for term tomorrow?"
"No you stupid bint," Dudley said, his irritation at her words evident in his tone. "I don't leave for another three days, and the guys are shopping for their school supplies. Mum already got me mine."
"My mistake," Lexi said continuing with her weeding. When Dudley continued to stare at her while she weeded, Lexi began to get nervous. Dudley wouldn't dare do something to her in the yard would he? Aunt Petunia would be furious if he did considering the neighbors might see him beating her up.
"Are you just going to stare at me all day?" Lexi finally asked unable to take the continuous stares.
"He can't protect you from me anymore," Dudley calmly replied. "Harry is gone and we're gonna have some fun with you."
Lexi silently vowed to herself when Dudley walked away that she would not leave the Dursleys' home until after Dudley went off to school. It was only three days. There wasn't much he could do to her in that time, right?
~*~
The rest of Harry's train ride was spent in silence while Harry battled within himself about whether or not he made the right decision in coming to Hogwarts. If Harry was truthful with himself, he would have realized that he was constantly reflecting back upon his decision since he made it. He was uncomfortable in going against what he was used to and what he had known. Especially Harry was upset with parting from Lexi. For as long as he remembered, Lexi was the only person who loved him, who cared about him, and who depended on him. He felt he was being selfish by going off to Hogwarts on some great adventure, only to leave her behind.
"We have now arrived at Hogsmead station," a loud voice came out of nowhere. Harry had not seen a P.A. system or speakers anywhere on the train. "Please leave all your luggage and pets on the train, while exiting from the nearest and safest exit. Windows are not considered the safest exit on this train. Please use the doors."
From somewhere down the train car, Harry could hear twin voices complaining and whining at the conductor's last statement. Even in Harry's down mood he couldn't help but laugh at the antics of the other students.
"Thank you for riding the Hogwarts Express," the disembodied voice continued. "Enjoy your school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
A large rumble came across the Hogwarts Express. Initially alarmed, Harry belatedly realized the noise he was hearing were all the other students exiting their compartments. Grabbing his ruckus, even though the conductor asked him to leave it on the train, Harry opened his compartment door, to feel as if he had entered the past.
All the other students were wearing very stiff looking robes over a very formal school uniform. Harry nearly ran back into his compartment when he realized that he stuck out like a sore thumb. Keeping his head down, to prevent making eye contact with anyone else or to see the other student's disgusted faces, Harry rushed out of the nearest car exit; Only to have Harry collide with what felt like a solid brick wall.
With no other option Harry pick himself off the ground and looked at what he collided with. It was really wasn't a what, but a who, Harry had collided with. Looking up, Harry had to crane his neck to look at the face of the man he had run into.
"You need to watch w'ere ya gonin'" the man said as Harry continued to look up at him in wonder. "Goodness," the man admonished. "W'ere is ya're uniform?"
"I'm sorry," Harry stammered. "I don't-"
But before Harry could continue he was cut off. "Of 'ourse ya don't have time to change naw. Yo're must be a firsty, fo'ow me to the boats."
Harry, not really understanding what the man had been saying, did as he prompted and followed the man, with several other children his age, to a series of boats.
"'our to a boat," the man called and all the children climbed on to the boats. Harry hesitated and the man once again prompted Harry, but this time it was to join the man on his boat.
Since there was no one moving the oars on the boat, so Harry believed it must be magic. As the boats, moved across the lake and around a bend, Harry caught a glimpse of the most beautiful sight of his life. A large ancient looking castle, all lit up stood out in the distance, under the full moon. To Harry there was nothing more glorious, or magical that he had ever seen in his life.
"Beautyful aint it," asked the giant of a man, as he turned his gaze towards Harry.
All Harry could do was nod in agreement. Staring at the castle, he realized he did it. Harry Potter had made it to Hogwarts. He would give anything in the world to have Lexi sitting next to him at that very moment.
~*~
Once they reached an in cove around the base of the castle, all of the children exited the boats, and followed the giant of a man up the steps and into the room. The man held Harry back to wait at the door way while all the other children followed the man into the room. A few minutes later, the man returned with a stern older witch wearing emerald robes.
"'ere he is, Professor McGonagall," the man said. "I thought perhaps you could help him."
"Dear me," the woman said in a tick Scottish brogue. "What happened to you Mr.?"
"Potter," Harry quickly supplied. "Harry Potter."
But before Harry could continue Professor McGonagall let out a hiss while the man was yelling about Merlin's saggy balls.
"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall basically yelled. "What is the meaning of this? Where are your school robes?"
"I'm sorry; I was unable to purchase any robes as well as any school supplies." Harry said as quickly as he could without stuttering, as he pulled his Hogwarts letter out of his pocket. His cheeks were turning red with shame. "I really wanted to but I was unable to-"
"Oh my!" Professor McGonagall startled voice interrupted Harry. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Potter, this was entirely my fault. I thought when you had no problems receiving and replying to your Hogwarts' letter that you would have no problems with accessing the magical world."
Harry just stared at her. The professor thought his lack of school supplies was a result of her negligence rather than the Dursleys' unreasonable behavior. He couldn't let his future professor think this was her fault in anyway.
"But professor, I don't have any money!" Harry quickly yelled to dispel Professor McGonagall's blame. "But I did receive a letter! I do belong here, even if I don't have any supplies."
"Of course you wouldn't," McGonagall replied. "If your aunt and uncle had no means to access Diagon Alley, how would they convert muggle money to wizarding currency? I'll have to ask Professor Dumbledore if there is some way for you to access your parents' vault."
Harry gaping at the professor was definitely suffering from an information overload. Who was this Professor Dumbledore and why would this man have the means to access anything that belonged to Harry?
"Goodness," Professor McGonagall said after glancing at her watch. "The sorting should start any minute. We need to get you presentable to meet your peers."
Suddenly, the professor pulled a wooden stick out of her sleeve and gave it a swish. Harry's baggy pants and grey shirt had been turned into a perfect replica of a Hogwarts uniform.
"My clothing!" Harry cried out in distress. His birthday shirt was gone! What did she do to his present from Lexi?
"Don't be alarmed Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said in her no nonsense tone of voice. "This is merely a simple transfiguration. The articles of clothing will transform back into their original form overnight tonight." Seeing Harry's disbelieving look she continued, "You have my word on that as a Hogwarts' professor."
Harry reluctantly dropped the issue; vowing to bring it back up if his grey shirt was not returned to its proper form in the morning.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Hagrid," the woman stiffly said.
"Yo're welcome pro'essor," the giant man called Hagrid responded before turning to Harry. "I'ven't seen ya since you were a babe 'arry. It was good to see ya again."
Harry meekly nodded before the large man lumbered though the door and out of sight.
"Come along Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall said in a no nonsense tone of voice. "You may have missed my welcoming to Hogwarts, but you don't want to be late for your own sorting."
At once Harry followed the stern professor out the door and to the hall holding his fellow students. Harry quickly slid into the back of the room as quietly as he could. Years of trying to be hidden from the Dursleys came in handy as it seemed that nobody noticed his entrance.
"Move along now," the sharp voice of Professor McGonagall echoed across the room which immediately began to quiet down. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. Form a line," Professor McGonagall said as she gestured to the spot where she wanted them to start lining up, "And follow me."
All of the students moved as one to line up for the Sorting Ceremony. As Harry moved to enter the line he caught a glare from Ron. Harry just sighed, things were moving way too fast from him and he didn't know how to slow it down any.
Once the line was formed, Professor McGonagall led the first year students into the hall where the rest of the school population was waiting. As the first years walked into the hall, Harry couldn't help but overhear the other students' speculation over what the sorting process entailed. There was so much going on for Harry that he had not even considered anything about his life at Hogwarts. He had been taking everything minute by minute.
Looking around the hall, Harry realized that Hogwarts was a lot larger than he had anticipated on the train. There were four tables laid out along the length of the room. Each of the different tables had banners with different symbols on them hanging over the tables. Harry quickly realized that those different logos must represent the different houses within Hogwarts; and that the students sitting at the different tables must be members of the particular house they sat under.
An old hat was placed on a stool in the middle of the room by Professor McGonagall. Before Harry knew it, the hat sprung to life and began singing a song about the different houses at Hogwarts. Harry was quite relieved to learn that the sorting consisted of placing a hat on his head and having it decide where you should go to spend the rest of the year.
Once the hat concluded, Professor McGonagall called students forward one by one to be sorted into different houses. Hermione Granger was the first name Harry recognized and she was sorted into Gryffindor, so was the boy she mentioned on the train: Neville Longbottom. The pale blond haired boy, whose name was Draco Malfoy, was sorted into Slytherin house. Harry really never considered which house he wanted to be sorted into. But one thing Harry did know for sure was that he wanted to be as far away from Draco Malfoy as possible.
Before long, Professor McGonagall called out the name "Potter, Harry" and the whole room broke out into whispers. Harry looked around for some other boy by the name of Harry Potter, yet he didn't see anyone. Realizing he was the only Harry Potter, he step forward to the sorting hat and placed it on his head.
"Ah, the legendary Harry Potter," a voice said in his head. "I thought I'd be seeing you this year."
A cold chill spread down Harry's spine. This was not what he was expecting.
"I'm not sure what you mean, I'm just Harry." Harry thought back to the hat.
"Just Harry," the hat questioned. "You're the savior of the wizarding world. How could you ever be just Harry?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Harry was basically screaming at the hat now. "I didn't even know I was a wizard until a few weeks ago!"
"By Merlin!" The hat exclaimed. "I would never believe you wouldn't even know your own story if I wasn't able to see inside your head."
"What story?" Harry prompted. He was determined to know why everyone acted so weird around him.
"Well, I'm not sure if I'm the one who should be telling you," the hat began. "But it all started with a dark wizard who was known throughout the world as Lord Voldemort…"
~*~
A/N: Once again a chapter has come to an end. Let me please thank everyone that has reviewed, and to zephy for being a wonderful beta. Every comment has been greatly welcomed; positive comments and criticism alike. Let me make a special shout out to swanpride and passionismywriting for their indept questions that really made me reflect whether or not certain points were clear enough in the story. I believe this story is a bit better for the them making me think more about certain points!
Just in general, remember these kids range between eleven (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) and nine (Lexi). Somethings may seem stupid or a bit immature or not clearly thought through but for the most part that was intentional on my part since they are kids and not perfect. Harry not arriving with school supplies for Hogwarts is an example of that. He is embarassed to admit the Dursleys won't provide it for him and Lexi seemed to think everything would work out, so he will too simply because he wants that to happen.
Please remember, if you leave me a review I will attempt to reply to you (if it's signed). Picky, I would be flattered if you logged in to review for my story. ;) As for what Dumbledore is like, what the Weasleys will do, and the wizarding world's reaction to Lexi... that would be spoiling the story. You'll have to just wait and see. Most of your questions should be answered fairly quickly and the one that isn't will be answered by the end of year two.
I know people are not going to like Ron and Hermione's reaction earlier in the chapter. Remember they are just kids and all will eventually be well, it just might take a while for one person in particular. I guess I just gave you all a spoiler of things to come. Better stop while I'm still relatively tight lipped!
Foria
Next Chapter: Welcome to the Wizarding World