Chapter 2 – Going to Hogwarts

Andrew was feeling slightly depressed. Mel had taken the news of him being a wizard fantastically well, but she'd broken down into tears when he said that he had to go away for his education.

He'd been away from the temple on assignments before, but never without his Master, never for the best part of a year. He was going to miss everyone, even Rozwell. Everyone was told about him going away for 'special training' and even the youngest of the Younglings, his constant victims of pranks, had cried. They were going to miss him, some would even miss his pranks after a while.

The only people that actually knew the truth were the Masters and Knights. But right now Andrew didn't have time to worry about that right now, no now he was mentally going through his school list, packing an item or items into his trunk and then ticking that item off the list in his head. Once he was done he closed the lid and looked at the time, it was ten minutes to ten and Andrew was itching for sleep.

He changed into his pyjamas, just a set of tracksuit trousers during the summer, and was just climbing into bed when Jarod knocked on the door, coming in once Andrew called 'come in'.

"Finished packing?" he asked, Andrew nodded silently and laid down. "Mel's asking about coming with us to the station, which in turn has caused her Master to insist on coming too."

That caused Andrew to involuntarily shiver, Master Dela Bailo was a nice enough woman, but she'd gotten in the way of one of his pranks once and he'd never been on excellent terms with her since.

"I sent a note to Dumbledore asking about two more coming to the train station, and possibly to my weekend visits as well," Jarod continued, pretending not to notice Andrew's reaction to the news. "Going by how fast Snowfire is, I think we can expect an answer by morning."

"I understand. Is there anything else Master?" Andrew asked sleepily.

"No young one," Jarod answered, shaking his head gently. "Go to sleep now, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow," he added.

Andrew rolled over and his breathing slowed, indicating that he'd fallen straight to sleep, Jarod smiled, knowing that Andrew was completely packed to go, he stood silently and left his student to rest.

Next Morning

Andrew's alarm clock went off at the usual time of seven in the morning. He looked at the clock, shut off the alarm and turned over to go back to sleep. He briefly noticed the calendar as he did so, or to be more precise, the date.

His eyes snapped back open and he bolted upright, wide awake all of a sudden. He leapt out of bed and started scrambling to get his tunic, trousers and robes on. Once he'd finished realising that his boots were on the wrong feet and correcting the mistake, he shot out of his room, crashing head first into his Master's gut.

"Oof!" Jarod gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. "Good morning to you too young one," he wheezed.

"Forgive me Master, I slept in," Andrew apologised with a bow.

"Do not worry my young Padawan, if anything you're running early, for once," Jarod chuckled. "As I predicted, I have received word from Albus. Mel and Master Bailo will be joining us to the station and coming with me during my weekend visits to Hogwarts as well. It would be easier to gauge how far you have come if you spar against another Padawan and, besides, you and Mel have always been competitive," Jarod explained as they walked, calmly, to breakfast.

At breakfast Andrew calmly ate a bowl of corn flakes, which was laced with sugar. This was followed by a full english breakfast and a mug of mint tea. All of which mounted together to make him more alert.

At half past eight, after spending his last hour talking amongst his fellow knights to be, Jarod and Dela nodded to their Padawans, signalling that it was time to get Andrew's things loaded onto a shuttle, Andrew would fly them there and Dela would drive back.

Andrew stood up, much to the encouraging applause of the breakfast hall and shouts of luck and farewell, and left for his room. Jarod stood waiting outside Andrew's room, offering to take boys trunk, but the young Jedi insisted that he could manage. Andrew picked up his trunk and levitated it all the way from his room to the launch bay.

As soon as they were all strapped into their seats and Andrew had permission to leave, he took off. He thought it was rather pointless to fly to King's Cross station when walking took less than an hour, but pegged it down to his Master wanting to give him a parting gift, one last fly.

"There's no need to rush Andrew," Jarod half-called. "It's only quarter to nine and your train doesn't leave until eleven exactly. So just take a leisurely flight around London," Jarod said with a smile, Andrew returned the smile and was about to really cut loose when Jarod added "but no stunts!" sternly.

One Hour and Forty Five minutes Later

Andrew pushed at his trolley with Mel beside him, they were definitely going to miss each other, but at least they'd get to see each other, if only for weekends.

About a metre behind them Dela was talking with Jarod in hushed tones.

"How long until you think they'll 'notice' each other?" she asked him, referring to their Padawans.

"I'm not so sure they will," Jarod answered with a chuckle. "They're too alike to be truly compatible."

"Perhaps," Dela mused. "You think they feel more like siblings?"

"Harry, HEY HARRY!" Andrew yelled, not giving Jarod time to answer.

The children had just walked out of the elevator at platforms nine and ten, Jarod and Dela opting for the stairs, and seen Harry by himself.

"Hi Andrew, who's this?" Harry asked, referring to Mel.

"Mel, meet Harry Potter, he's starting too, Harry this is Mel Jacobs, you remember I told you about her at Diagon Ally," Andrew announced.

"Oh yeah, sorry about your family, how old were you?" Harry asked, Mel glared at Andrew but answered.

"Six," she growled, now Andrew knew she wasn't happy.

"I was only a year old, or so I'm told," Harry answered, missing Mel's tone, her face softened once she knew that Harry had had a similar experience and she gave an 'alright, you're forgiven' look to Andrew.

Harry was introduced to Master Dela Bailo, she was a tall woman, she and Jarod both stood at six foot exactly, only she was slightly taller due to her heeled boots, she had raven black hair which was kept in a short bun with a couple of bangs to frame her face. Her eyes were an unusual lavender colour which bore deep into your soul and her face gave the impression that she wasn't to be messed with or underestimated.

"Hold on a moment," said Andrew, coming to a stop as they walked down the platforms. "Harry, didn't you say that your aunt and uncle were bringing you here?" he asked, Jarod looked around and noticed a severe lack of Mr Dursley's huge body.

"Well, technically they did bring me here …" started Harry, but the four Jedi around him sensed the truth.

"They just abandoned you here?" asked Dela her face twisting into a look of outrage, Harry simply nodded.

"You know, I could handle your uncle calling me a freak when we first met, but now he's starting to get on my nerves," stated Andrew rather darkly.

They looked around, trying to find platform nine and three quarters, Harry stated that he'd already asked a guard, the man had obviously never heard of Hogwarts and also said that there wasn't even a train leaving at eleven o'clock.

They all started to think that they might as well give up when a family walked by.

Andrew distinctly heard "… packed with muggles of course …" as did Harry, they looked at each other and silently decided to follow them.

The family, all of them with flaming red hair, stopped and so did Harry, Andrew and the other Jedi.

There was one plump woman, four boys of varying heights and a small girl.

"What's the platform number?" the woman, obviously the boys and girl's mother, asked.

"Nine and three quarters!" the girl said, sounding slightly sad "Mum, can't I go …"

"You're not old enough, Ginny now be quiet. Alright, Percy you go first." The woman said.

One of the taller boys, probably the oldest marched towards the wall between the two platforms, but as he got close to it a group of tourists swarmed past. When they all vanished he was gone and Andrew was silently cursing the man that invented tourism for he was obviously the devil's spawn.

"Fred, you next," the woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," he shouted back, both Jarod and Dela chuckled since they could sense the joke. "Honestly, woman, call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," he said and he ran off before his mother could do or say anything, followed closely by his identical twin brother.

Both vanished into thin air and Harry decided to throw caution to the winds.

"Excuse me," he said to the woman while walking up to her, followed closely by the Jedi.

"Hello dear," she said then noticed the second owl in Andrew's possession. "First time going to Hogwarts? Ron's new too." She indicated the last of her sons, he was slightly taller than Andrew, nearly five foot, thin, and gangling. His face was covered in freckles, he had big hands and feet and a large nose.

"Yes," Harry replied "Only … only …"

"We haven't the foggiest idea how to get onto the platform," Andrew finished for him and Harry nodded.

"Not to worry," she said with a smile. "All you have to do, is run straight at that wall," she pointed, "between platforms nine and ten. But whatever you do, don't be scared of crashing into it. If you're nervous then you should do it at a bit of a run." She told Harry to go first and soon he vanished.

Andrew waited for her to go first, but when she didn't he chose to play the gentleman "Ladies first," he said, motioning to the wall.

"Oh thank you, such a gentleman," she said motioning for Ron to go first, she and her daughter followed, then Andrew and Jarod walked through the invisible barrier and onto platform nine and three quarters.

They waited for Mel and Dela to join them before trying to find Harry. Soon they heard that same lady calling for her twin sons, they then saw the small family, Ron was trying to get out of his mother's grasp as she tried to clean something off of his nose. One of the twins said something to make fun of Ron and all the while Mel looked on longingly, thinking of her family, all Andrew could do was place a friendly arm around her shoulders.

As the Jedi continued to walk past the red-haired family they caught some more of their conversation.

"Now you two," said the woman to the twins. "This year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me that you've … you've blown up a toilet or …"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." One of the twins said, looking hurt.

"Great idea though, thanks mum." The other twin added, with an evil grin to match the one now plastered on his twin's face.

"It's not funny." She scolded. "And look after Ron." She added with a sigh.

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us." Said one of the twins

"Shut up," Ron answered.

"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?" said the other.

Andrew knew what was coming and looked at a train window in time to see Harry quickly lean back.

Fred and George described Harry and stated who he was. Young Ginny begged to go onto the train and see him again, but her mother said 'no', Fred wondered aloud if Harry remembered what Voldemort looked like and got a telling off from his mother.

At this point Mel was helping Andrew lift his trunk onto the train as the whistle blew.

Mel quickly threw her arms around Andrew's neck and said goodbye.

Jarod handed Andrew a small disk-shaped device "Use this Holo-com, to contact me when you get off the train, and may the Force be with you," he said as Dela stepped forward.

"I know that this is early, but happy birthday," she said while handing him a small package, he looked at her questioningly and she nodded, indicating that he could open it now. Andrew did so and was pleasantly surprised to find a few boxes of Twinning's mint tea. "Try to make them last the year, consider yourself forgiven, and may the Force be with you," she said while ushering him onto the train.

"Goodbye, and may the Force be with you too." Andrew said tears in his eyes as the train started to pull out.

Andrew noticed Ginny beginning to cry, he sympathized with her, since Mel was too.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls." Said Fred, from a window further up the train.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat." George added, Andrew didn't hear anything else over the sound of his own laughter.

He pulled himself in from the window and started pulling his trunk into the compartment that Harry was already sat in.

"Alright if I join you?" Andrew asked, Harry eagerly motioned to a seat; Andrew levitated his trunk into the luggage rack and sat down. He'd nearly dozed off when the compartment door opened and Ron was stood there.

"Anyone sat there," he asked pointing to the seat next to Andrew, "everywhere else is full."

Andrew gave a half shrug and Harry shook his head, so Ron sat down.

The twins turned up and mentioned someone called Lee Jordan having a large tarantula in the middle of the train. Ron mumbled something and Andrew felt an overwhelming sense of fear coming from him, but said nothing. The twins introduced themselves to Harry and Andrew and were just about to leave when.

"What was with your Dad's clothes?" Ron asked.

At this Andrew was suddenly awake "My Dad?"

"That guy you were with," Fred explained.

"Oh," Andrew said, catching on. "He's not my Dad, he's my Master," the Weasley boys gave him quizzical looks. "I'm a Jedi Padawan," Andrew explained, pulling out his lightsabre and twirling it between his fingers.

"Oh those muggle peacekeepers," George asked and Andrew nodded. "First time I heard of one going to Hogwarts."

"That's funny, same here," Andrew joked, grinning. The twins had a little laugh at that

"Cool, well, see you later," Fred said and they ran off as Andrew put his weapon away.

Ron got into talking to Harry about his scar and Harry asked about Ron's family; Andrew simply excused himself and went back to dozing off.

At some point, about five minutes later, Andrew got another wave of fear and heard a gasp, he sat bolt upright, his lightsabre in his hand, thinking that they were under attack.

"What?" asked Harry, both shocked at Andrew's reflexive speed and Ron's gasp.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Ron said with shock and amazement, once it was explained to Andrew what had happened he put his weapon away, again.

Harry voiced his worry about not knowing anything about the wizarding world, which Andrew agreed with, but Ron told them that loads of students came from the muggle world and most of them learned faster than some from wizarding families.

At about midday a lady opened the door and asked if they wanted anything off the trolley, Ron mumbled something about having sandwiches and Harry shot into the corridor. Andrew remembered that he hadn't brought anything for lunch and slowly stood up too.

He hunted high and low on the trolley and finally found what he was looking for, two packs of plain ham sandwiches; he paid for them and then picked up a bottle of … pumpkin juice?

Ron had come to the door and Andrew held up the bottle and looked at Ron questioningly.

"Give it a try mate, if you don't like it I'll finish it for you, I drink it all the time," Ron said in answer to his unasked question.

So Andrew paid for the juice and went back into the compartment, he tried the juice first and found it to be quite nice, he bought another three and tossed one to Harry and Ron each before downing the rest of his bottle.

"Like it?" Ron asked rhetorically and Andrew nodded with a smirk.

Harry had supplied the chocolates, Andrew the drinks and Ron pointed out what everything was, it was a fair enough exchange.

During the next few minutes Harry opened a Chocolate Frog, Ron assured him that it wasn't a real frog, but he'd want to keep the card, he then went on to explain that each Chocolate Frog came with a famous witch or wizard card, which had a picture of the witch or wizard and a little bit of information on them.

Harry's first card was Dumbledore, it said that he was currently Headmaster of Hogwarts, considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times and that he was most famous for his defeat of someone called Grindelwald in 1945, for discovering the twelve uses of dragon's blood and for his work in alchemy with someone called Nicolas Flamel. It also stated that Dumbledore enjoyed chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Andrew wasn't quite paying attention, his eyes being glued to the card in his own hand. He had gotten the card for Myron Wagtail, lead singer of the 'Weird Sisters' band, who looked rather like a young Freddie Mercury. He was kind of perturbed over moving photographs, but he'd seen, and even done, weirder things in his career as a Jedi.

Soon they were onto the Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. Where Andrew got flavours like mint, chocolate, toe nails, hair, vomit, earwax, strawberry, orange, water, bubble and squeak, sausage, mustard and something that tasted suspiciously of metal.

At the point where Andrew had decided he didn't trust them any more, he'd just had a vinegar flavoured bean, a round faced boy came in asking about a toad. Harry and Ron hadn't noticed one but Andrew told him that he'd seen one crawling past their door and heading towards the back of the train.

The boy thanked the Jedi and left, Ron then turned him Andrew.

"How come you saw something we didn't," he asked.

"To be honest I didn't tell the whole truth, I didn't see a toad, I sensed one," Andrew answered. "The Force binds all life together, by listening to the Force I know where living things are and if they're a threat to me," Andrew explained.

Ron made a small complaint about his rat and was about to try to turn him yellow when the boy was back, this time with a bushy-haired girl.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said, sounding bossy.

"I'd just told him I saw it going that-away," Andrew said, pointing down the train.

But she was more interested in Ron doing magic, he tried his spell and it didn't work, Andrew wasn't too surprised.

The girl said the spell didn't seem very good and started ranting about random stuff at a fast pace so nobody really caught a word. Once she finished, by saying her name was Hermione Granger, Andrew spoke up.

"You know if you really want him to be yellow I can ask my Master to send me a can of spray paint," Andrew said jokingly.

"Oh now I recognise those robes, you're a Jedi aren't you," Hermione said, and it wasn't a question.

"Padawan actually," Andrew answered, somewhat dryly. "Andrew Payne."

"Ron Weasley," said Ron.

"Harry Potter," Harry added, which caused Hermione to start ranting again. The first time it was about her being muggleborn, the spells she'd practised so far and the fact that she'd learned the set books off by heart.

This time it was how much she knew about Harry, what books he was in and what house she'd like to be in. Suddenly she was gone, as was Neville, and she'd said something about changing and arriving soon.

"… Did anybody catch much of that?" Andrew asked, rather stupidly, only to receive shakes of the head in reply. "Okay," he said then fetched his school robes and changed into his uniform.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," Ron said as Andrew changed into his school robes, Harry asked Ron about what his eldest brothers did now that they were no longer at school, Ron told him that the eldest one, Charlie, was in Romania studying dragons.

"Cool!" Andrew exclaimed as Ron continued to say that his second eldest brother, Bill, was in Africa doing something for Gringotts, which got Ron onto the subject of a break-in at the bank.

Soon enough the topic changed to Quidditch, Ron explained about the four balls, the positions and which balls each player had to worry about. He was just explaining the finer points, Harry sitting and listening intently and Andrew laying on his back in his school robes, when the door opened again.

Andrew knew who one of them was, but looked up to see who the others were, Harry recognised the same boy, it was the one he'd met at Madam Malkin's.

"Is it true?" he asked "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry plainly, Andrew on the other hand was keeping his eyes firmly on the other two boys; they were taller than Ron and at least twice his size, all of that being muscle. The way that they were flanking the blond boy clearly stated that they were a sort of bodyguards.

Andrew had taken down robotic bodyguards before and, by the look of these two, they'd be just as brainless and slow to react.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and Goyle," the boy said carelessly, he wasn't looking at Andrew so one of the others must have been looking at them too. "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron coughed as he tried to cover his laughter, Malfoy looked at Ron and Andrew sensed something, as if Malfoy was trying to hide something, but not from him, Harry or Ron.

"Think my name's funny do you?" he snapped at Ron. "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford." Malfoy turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Malfoy offered his hand to Harry, who looked him calmly in the eye. "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks."

At this, Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles, reading themselves for a beat-down. Andrew however, had other ideas. Using the Force, he knocked Malfoy down to one knee, then leap-frogged over him and kicked his cronies in the face simultaneously. He then drew his lightsaber and pointed it at Crabbe's chest.

Goyle went for Andrew but let out a yelp of pain as Scabbers bit his knuckle and held on for dear life, Goyle started swinging his entire arm around, trying to get Scabbers off, and when he finally did, Scabbers hit the window and promptly fell back to sleep.

Malfoy, quickly realising that he was in the presence of a Jedi, grabbed Goyle and shoved him out of the compartment, deciding to run instead of fight, Andrew deactivated his saber and allowed Crabbe to follow them. Shortly after they left, Hermione turned up, asking what had happened.

"Met Malfoy before have you? Ron asked, picking Scabbers up by his tail, Andrew and Harry told him about their varied encounters with Malfoy in Madam Malkin's.

"I didn't get much from him, but his mother seemed a nasty piece of work," Andrew said with a shrug.

"I've heard about his family, they were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared, said they were bewitched…" Ron started, but Andrew sneezed.

"I'm sorry I'm allergic to bull…" he started.

"Don't finish that word thank you." Said Hermione curtly.

"Can we help you with something?" Ron asked, rather rudely.

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

Ron stated that his rat was fighting and not them; then snapped at her to leave while they got changed and she left.

"In his defence," Andrew started, indicating Malfoy. "There's no chance in hell that he was a follower of Vol.." he cleared his throat. "You-Know-Who. If he's our age then he couldn't have been more than a year old when he attacked Harry."

"You make a fair point," Harry said, conceding that they should give him the benefit of the doubt, just in case they ended up in the same house as Malfoy.

"Not much chance of that," Ron answered. "His family's famous for being in Slytherin."

Andrew let the topic drop and took to staring out the window. After Harry and Ron got into their robes, Ron's were a tad short on him; a voice echoed loudly.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

The trio filled their pockets with whatever sweets were left and joined the crowd in the corridor, Andrew had to run back to his trunk to retrieve his Jedi robes, there were two reasons, one he sensed rain was soon to fall and two, the Holo-com device Jarod gave him was in the pocket.

The train slowed to a stop and people started pushing towards the doors, Andrew went with the flow, pulling his hood up in the process. By keeping his head bent low, his hood obscured his face.

It wasn't until he got off the train that he realised that Harry and Ron were quite a distance from him.

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry?" Andrew heard Hagrid before he saw him; he quickly made his way through the crowd, anyone who didn't know better might have suspected him for an assassin.

"Greetings Hagrid," Andrew said softly from behind the Game Keeper, Hagrid visibly jumped and bent his knees to look at the hooded figure's face.

"Andrew? That you?" he asked, Andrew smiled and nodded.

Hagrid called for more first-years and was about to move off when Andrew asked him to wait a moment. "I have to contact my Master first," he explained while pulling out the device and pressing the button.

Soon the ghostly blue figure of Jarod Cooper flickered into life.

"I have arrived at school Master," Andrew said to the image in his hand.

"Very well young one, be mindful of your feelings and may the Force be with you," he said, his voice slightly distorted, as was his image as raindrops started to fall through it.

"Yes Master, and with you as well," Andrew replied and switching off the device and pocketing it.

Hagrid started leading the way down a path, there was no light on either side of them, Andrew was sorely tempted to pull out his lightsaber in order to gain some light. But he resisted the urge; he didn't think that Hagrid or any of the other first-years would appreciate the gesture.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called to the group behind him, "jus' round this bend here."

There were oooh's and aaah's and, from Andrew and one other first-year, there was a whistle of awe, Hogwarts looked absolutely awesome.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called signalling a fleet of boats sitting by the shore, Harry and Ron were joined by Neville and Hermione, while Andrew was in a boat with three strangers, one of which was the other boy to whistle at the sight of Hogwarts, who kept sliding angry glances at Andrew for some reason.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid from his boat to himself "Right then … FORWARD!"

At his command the fleet set sail, Andrew never cared for water travel and soon felt queasy, he'd much rather be flying over the lake.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as they approached some cliffs, everyone bent their head down as the boats passed under a curtain of ivy, they travelled along a tunnel and stepped out of the boats onto some loose pebbles. Hagrid called Neville back to the boats to give him his toad and then led them up some stairs to a set of oak doors, once he'd checked that everyone was there, and that Neville still had Trevor, he knocked three times on the door.

The door was opened and a tall witch stood there, she had a stern face and looked like she wasn't the type to annoy "(Oh well, so much for pulling pranks here,)" Andrew thought as she instantly reminded him of Master Bailo, the two could have been mother and daughter except for the eyes.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid announced.

"Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here." McGonagall said while pulling the door wide, the entrance hall was large, but nothing on the entrance hall at the Jedi temple. There were no statues here, just some marble steps leading up, stone steps leading down and a few doors. Flame torches lit the room and looking up Andrew had to admit that this hall was taller than the temple's,

Andrew could hear voices and sense many minds coming from an open door to the right and presumed that the rest of the school was already in there.

But McGonagall led them to a chamber off the hall; everyone crowded in and faced her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you can 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." She went on to explain that they would take their classes with their house, sleep in their house dormitories and spend free time in their house common room.

"(Translation, once we're sorted, get along with our house mate or be screwed,)" Andrew thought to himself, thinking back on what Harry had said on the train. McGonagall went on to say that there were four houses, what their names were and the fact that each had its own noble history, she explained that triumphs would earn house points while rule breaking would lose 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," she said, and soon left after mentioning that the sorting would take place in front of the school and that the first years should smarten themselves up.

As everyone started to get nervous over pretty much nothing, the boy that kept giving Andrew angry looks; spoke for the first time.

"So the rumours I heard on the train were true," he said darkly, gaining the attention of Andrew and many others, though Andrew was the only one not to turn and face him.

"What rumours would they be?" Andrew asked politely.

"A Jedi has come to Hogwarts as well." He stated with a hint of venom in his voice.

Andrew turned to him, lowering his hood and removing his damp Jedi robes "Padawan actually, or didn't you notice the braid?" he said, slightly sarcastically.

The boy scoffed "Even without that robe you stick out like a sore thumb, Jedi," he spat. "I can smell your kind a mile off!"

"Might I ask who you are exactly?" Andrew asked, getting slightly annoyed.

"Jax Starr, Sith Apprentice," he said with pride.

"Andrew Payne, Jedi Padawan," replied Andrew, offering his hand politely, Starr glanced at it with disgust.

"As if I'd want to be associated with Jedi scum!" he snapped pulling something metallic from beneath his robes, Andrew knew full well what it was and pulled his hand back before it was sliced off.

Starr activated his lightsaber, he was a Shien fighter, he held his weapon in a reverse grip which made the blade ignite to his right as he held it up expecting Andrew to strike first. Poor Neville nearly got hit in the head, but he'd backed away in time.

Andrew however was a Djem So fighter, he stood knees bent slightly, pulled his lightsaber from his school robes and activated it, holding the weapon before him, pointing straight at Starr, he too waited for his opponent to attack first.

There was a scream in the back of the room and both combatants placed their weapon away at his side as about twenty ghosts entered the room through the back wall. Andrew was surprised, since he didn't sense them coming, however he'd seen force spirits before and knew that these ghosts could do nothing more to him than make him feel a tad cold by drifting through him.

The ghosts seemed to be arguing, one that Andrew recognised as a monk was saying that they should forgive someone whereas another ghost wearing a ruff and tights was saying that someone named Peeves was giving them a bad name.

"I say what are you all doing here?" the tights wearing ghost asked as he noticed the first-years.

"New students!" shouted the large monk happily with a smile. "About to be sorted, I suppose?" there were a few nods and he continued. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" he said "My old house you know."

"Move along now," called Professor McGonagall as she returned. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." After the ghosts left McGonagall had them all line up, Andrew ended up behind Hermione with Neville behind him.

They followed McGonagall into the Great Hall, the room was lit by thousands of candles which were floating in the air, there were four very long tables, the rest of the students were sitting along either side of them; each table was laid out with golden plates and goblets, all of which were currently empty.

There was yet one more table at the top of the Hall, Andrew noticed Professor Dumbledore straight away and nodded respectively and he nodded back, Andrew presumed that all of the other adults at this table were the teachers.

McGonagall led the first-years to line up in front of the teachers table, facing the other students, Andrew noticed that the ceiling was completely black except for a lot of stars, next to him Hermione said "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in 'Hogwarts, a History'," in a low whisper.

Andrew watched in solemn silence as McGonagall placed a four legged stool before the first-years and placed a hat upon it, in all honesty Andrew was convinced that the hat was ready to completely fall apart at any second.

As Andrew started to wonder what they, the first-years, had to do he noticed everyone staring at the hat, he decided it was best to keep an eye on it too as a rip opened like a mouth and it began to sing.

It sang of itself, how it was the smartest hat in existence, Andrew couldn't really disagree since he'd never encountered a talking hat before, let alone one that could sing. He became slightly worried when it said that there wasn't anything in his head that it couldn't see. However its explanation of each house was interesting.

"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 folk 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!"

Andrew was one of the first to start applauding as the hat finished singing, it took a bow and then became quite still.

"(I wonder which house I'll end up in, hope it isn't Slytherin,)" Andrew thought while trying to shut out all the small fears and worries of the first-years around him.

McGonagall stepped forward with a piece of parchment, stating that once someone's name was called, they were to place the hat on their head and sit on the stool.

"Abbott, Hannah!" was called first, she had blonde hair that was done up into pigtails, she stumbled out of the line, put on the hat, which covered her eyes, and sat down.

After a small while the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" causing the table on the far left to cheer and clap, Andrew noticed that their school robes were lined with yellow and had a sort of coat of arms over the left-hand chest, it was mostly yellow with a black badger on it.

Hannah went over to that table and took a seat.

"Bones, Susan!" McGonagall called, she too became a Hufflepuff, "Boot, Terry!" he was made a Ravenclaw, their robes were lined with blue and their badge was blue with a bronze raven on it. He walked to the table on the immediate left from where the stool was.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" also went to Ravenclaw, and "Brown, Lavender" went to Gryffindor, theirs was the table on the immediate right, their robes were lined with red and their badge was red with a golden lion on it.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" became the first Slytherin, table on the far right, and their robes were lined with green and the badge was green with a silver snake on it.

By now, Andrew had the layout of the room in his mind. Standing at the teacher's table, looking out at the students and going from left to right, the tables were Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and then Slytherin.

Next was "Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" who was sorted into …

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Andrew started to notice how some people, like himself, would take a while to be sorted by the hat, whereas others would barely have the hat touch their head before being sorted.

"Granger, Hermione!" she ran to the stool and eagerly jammed the hat onto her head, Andrew could sense the hat feeling offended at such rough treatment and couldn't help but smirk.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Andrew glanced at Ron and saw that he wasn't happy and his smirk turned to a small grin.

Next was Neville Longbottom the hat took a very long while to decide with him, but he too was sent to Gryffindor. Andrew couldn't help but feel sorry for him though, he'd fallen over going to the stool and, to add insult to injury, he'd forgotten to take the hat off and had to run back to give it to "MacDougal, Morag", much to the laughter of all but the few that felt the same as him.

Malfoy walked towards the hat, looking as though he owned the place, when his name was called and Andrew could distinctly see Dumbledore's beard through the gap between the hat and Malfoy's head when it screamed "SLYTHERIN!" he left the stool to join Crabbe and Goyle, who'd already been sorted into Slytherin, looking exceedingly proud of himself.

Several people went by; two twin girls were surprisingly split into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and before long …

"Payne, Andrew!" McGonagall called and Andrew walked forward calmly, he placed the hat on his head and sat down calmly.

"Hmm, interesting," said the hat in Andrew's ear. "Very interesting. Plenty of courage, not a bad mind either, definitely talented … but where do I put you?"

'I honestly don't mind, as long as it's not Slytherin, I'm not evil,' Andrew thought in reply.

"Oh don't worry about that, Slytherin's definitely not the house for you, I can see your memories, after all, you have placed another's safety before your own more times than I can count, so you'd be best in … GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted and the Gryffindor table erupted with cheers as Andrew made the hat float into McGonagall's hand and Force leapt to the table, taking a seat next to Fred Weasley.

Right after Andrew, came...

"Potter, Harry!"

Andrew wasn't impressed with the whispers that he could hear breaking out around the hall, he could sense Harry's nerves flying into overdrive and it was making him feel queasy.

The hat was placed on Harry's head, covering his eyes, a good minute or two later the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and Andrew was nearly deafened by the resounding roar from the Gryffindors. He didn't even realise that he was joining in, the eldest Weasley, who happened to be a prefect, got up and shook Harry's hand, the Weasley twins yelled "We got Potter! We got Potter!", the ghost in the ruff and tights gave Harry a pat on the shoulder, making him shiver slightly and Andrew just gave Harry a pat on the back, knowing that he didn't want much fuss.

Andrew turned back to the Sorting as "Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw, "Starr, Jax" was placed into Slytherin, which, given the look of the rest of them, didn't surprise Andrew in the slightest. Ron was sorted into Gryffindor, much to the approval of his brothers, and "Zabini, Blaise" was placed into Slytherin. McGonagall rolled up the parchment and took the hat away.

Dumbledore stood up from his chair, his arms wide and the biggest smile Andrew had ever seen on any face, plastered to his.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" as he sat back down the Hall was filled with applause and cheers, and a few laughs.

"Is he … a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy, unsure if he was being rude or not.

"Mad?" said Percy incredulously. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes."

"Well a wise man once said, 'the difference between genius and insanity is measured only by success," Andrew said, referring to a muggle film he'd once watched.

"Precisely, potatoes Harry?" Percy asked, Harry's mouth fell open as he surveyed the table. Andrew brought a little of everything, save for the ketchup, to his plate with the help of the Force, filling his pockets with the mint humbugs rather than putting them on his plate.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly as he watched everyone eat.

"Can't you …" Harry started, but Andrew knew the answer before it was spoken; he had conversed with Force Spirits before.

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years, I don't need to of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself?" said the ghost "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"By the Force, that's a mouthful isn't it?" Andrew said in shock.

"I know, that's why everybody calls him Nearly Headless Nick," Ron explained. "My brothers told me about you." He said to the ghost.

"I would preferyou to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy …" he started, sounding annoyed, but Seamus Finnigan cut in.

"Nearly Headless?" he asked with a thick Irish accent, "How can you be nearlyheadless?"

"You had to ask?" said Andrew, covering his eyes.

Nick looked somewhat upset and simply said "Like this," then he pulled on his left ear and his head fell onto his shoulder, showing that someone had tried to behead him, but did a very bad job of it. He flipped his head back into position and changed the topic of conversation, the House Championship, apparently Slytherin had gone the past six years with winning the cup.

"Well, we'll just have to change that this year won't we?" Andrew stated much to Nick's approval.

When the pudding arrived Andrew then chose to be slightly picky, only choosing strawberry ice cream, jam doughnuts and strawberries. Harry grabbed a treacle tart and the talk moved to families.

Seamus was half muggle, on his dad's side, and half wizard, thanks to his mother. Neville was brought up by his Grandmother, and for years his family were convinced that he was a muggle. It wasn't until he was eight that he showed magic, his uncle had 'accidentally' dropped him from an upstairs window but thankfully Neville had bounced all the way down the garden and into the road, unharmed.

Hermione however was talking to Percy, about lessons typically. Suddenly Harry said "Ouch!" and slapped a hand to his forehead.

"You alright?" Andrew asked quietly.

"What is it?" asked Percy.

"N-nothing, I'm fine," Harry replied "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?"

Percy was slightly taken aback that Harry knew Quirrell already, but told him that it was the Potions Master, Professor Snape, apparently he really wanted the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, which was being held by Quirrell.

Once the puddings had vanished, Dumbledore stood up again, it was impressive how everyone seemed to immediately quiet down, Dumbledore cleared his throat, unnecessarily, and spoke.

"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." He said, looking pointedly at Fred and George. "I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Dumbledore finished and a few people laughed, Harry included, though Andrew frowned in thought.

"He's not serious?" Harry asked Percy in a whisper.

"I sensed no deception from him," Andrew answered.

"It's odd though, normally if a place is forbidden he gives a reason for it, like the forest having dangerous beasts living in it, I would have thought that he'd at least have told us prefects," added Percy.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school anthem!" cried Dumbledore, the other teachers didn't look too impressed, Dumbledore made the words appear where everyone could see them. "Everyone pick their favourite tune, and off we go!"

It was the most ridiculous thing Andrew had ever experienced, he sang along too, but there was absolutely no rhythm, since no two people had picked the same tune, Fred and George being the only exception who were doing a funeral march.

After everyone had finished singing they were sent to bed, the Gryffindor first-years following Percy, through the crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall.

Harry and Ron seemed to be lagging behind Andrew, like them he was tired and full of food, but unlike them he was also on a sugar rush from having ten humbugs in the past minute.

For some reason they came to a halt, there were several walking sticks floating in mid-air, Percy took a tentative step towards them and the started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," he whispered to the first-years. "A poltergeist." Andrew stepped towards the sticks and they threw themselves at him too.

Andrew sighed. "Child's play," he said sounding board, he pulled his lightsabre out and slashed the sticks into twigs, then used the Force to throw the pieces, while putting his weapon away, at the only presence that Andrew could feel, but not see.

"OUCH!"

"Peeves; show yourself!" Percy commanded.

There was a rude sound, much like a balloon when the air was let out of it, a small pop and a little blue man with wicked dark eyes and a big mouth appeared, he was sitting cross-legged in the air, clutching what was left of the walking sticks.

He might have looked like a Jedi who was deep in meditation, thanks to the crossed legs and the floating, excepting that he was up-side-down.

"Ooooooh!" he said while cackling "Ickle firsties! What fun!"

"Go away Peeves or the Bloody Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" shouted Percy, the poltergeist stuck his tongue out and vanished, dropping his sticks on Neville, but Andrew stopped them from hitting him.

"Nice work there Andrew," Percy said politely, the Jedi just shrugged and continued to follow as they heard Peeves rattling coats of armour as he flew off.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," Percy told them as they walked. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can really control him, he won't even listen to us Prefects. Here we are."

At the end of the corridor they were now walking along was a portrait of a rather large woman in a pink silk dress, she asked for a password, which Percy said was 'Caput Draconis', and swung forward to reveal a very large hole. They all scrambled through, Andrew giving Neville a 'Force leg up', and found a very welcoming, round room full of squashy armchairs.

They were directed to their dormitories, the boys climbed the spiral staircase and found a room with six four poster beds, each with velvet red curtains. They got changed into their bed clothes, their trunks had already been brought up, and got into bed. Ron mentioned how good the food was, Harry fell asleep at once and Andrew knew that he wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon, so he decided to meditate for an hour or two to relax.

He sat comfortably on his bed, cross-legged, closed his eyes and breathed deeply and calmly, just as Jarod had taught him. While he meditated, various objects lifted out of their positions, Harry's shoes, Ron's robes, Seamus' wand; small things, nothing more.

He was thinking over the events of the day, in all honesty he shouldn't have held his weapon at Crabbe's chest, but when he thought about it … he knew that doing nothing would have caused harm to his new friends.

Soon he was sensing what his room mates were dreaming, Ron was dreaming about food, Dean about football, Seamus about his family, Neville about being a gardener and Harry was close to waking from a mild nightmare. Andrew quickly placed all the objects he'd moved back to their homes and stopped meditating. If someone disturbed him, he would've dropped everything and he was just starting to lift a few trunks, the noise would've woken at least one person up.

Harry awoke with a start, sweating and shaking, but being half asleep, his mind was weakened.

"Relax," Andrew said, drifting a hand in his direction and Harry's breathing returned to normal. "You want to go back to sleep, and not remember any of this" he said with another wave of his hand.

Harry quietly repeated Andrew's words, though saying 'I' and not 'you', and turned over to go back to sleep.

Andrew quietly chuckled to himself, that was his first successful attempt at a mind trick, but then again, he was certain he'd have never tricked Harry so easily if he were wide awake. Now feeling tired, Andrew joined his room mates in dreamland.