Chapter Five
Taylor's POV
With a little help from the portraits I passed on the way, I was able to make my way back to the Great Hall. When I got there, not only was I greeted with the sight of hundreds of students sitting at their house tables, but Heromine caught sight of me and flagged me over. When I was close enough, Heromine moved so I could sit next to her. "Taylor, this is Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Nevill Longbottom." she introduced as I sat next to her. Everyone that was introduced gave me a smile and I couldn't help but return it.
"Well, it's nice to see a new face that isn't a first year around here." I heard someone say and I looked to see Harry Potter offering me his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Taylor. I'm-" he started, but I cut him off. "Harry Potter. I'm pretty sure everyone knows who you are. It's nice to meet you too." I said, shaking his hand and he laughed. "Right. Still not used to the whole 'savior' thing." he chuckled and I smiled. "Don't worry. Back home, in America, you weren't as popular." I said and after the odd looks I got, I decided I should elaborate.
"The war wasn't that big of a deal in America until about the last week. That was when Death Eaters decided to show up at our houses and give us summonses to have our 'blood' checked. But just because we weren't effected didn't mean we didn't know what was going on though." I explained and everyone nodded in understanding. "So, what are you?" the boy with fire engine red hair asked. "Ronald!" Heromine and the girl with fire engine red hair yelled at him, causing me to jump.
"That's extremely rude and not to mention personal." Heromine scolded, glaring at Ron. "You can't just ask people about their blood status, Ron." the red haired girl stated. "Ginny and Heromine are right, Ron. That's not something you can just come out and ask someone." Harry jumped in and I blushed. "Honestly, it's not that big of a deal. I'm actually quite proud to be a half-blood. It doesn't bother me at all that my dad's a wizard and my mom's a muggle. I think it gives me a better view than pure-bloods. I get a view of both sides." I said, standing up for the red head. "Not that there's anything wrong with pure-bloods or muggleborns. We had our share of prude pure-bloods back home too." I added, not wanting to offend anyone.
"Not all us pure-bloods are bad." Neville said before smiling. "I don't doubt it." I chuckled and smiled back before someone clinked their glass to get our attention. Looking to the front of the hall, we saw an elderly woman standing next to a stool and sorting hat that I'd been subjected to put on only hours before so I could be sorted. "That's Professor McGonagall. She's Dumbledore's second in command and teaches Transfiguration. She's also head of Gryffindor house." Heromine informed me and I nodded.
Without a word, Professor McGonagall motioned for the doors to opened and the first years filed into the Great Hall. It was kind of amazing to watch these eleven year olds be sorted into the houses they'd be in for seven years.
After the first years were seated at their houses, Professor Dumbledore stood up. The whole hall went silent, waiting for what the headmaster had to say. "Welcome! Welcome! I'm so pleased to see so many old and new faces. As I'm sure most of you know, due to the events of last year, most of our seventh years from last year have returned to complete their schooling. Also, Professor Slughorn will continue with his position as potions master while Professor Snape will continue with his position as defense against the dark arts professor." he said and there was a string of groans throughout the hall, two of the loudest coming from Harry and Ron.
"On a more important note, the lower portion of the dungeons are out of bounds. The potions classroom and Slytherin common room, which is in the upper portion of the dungeons, is the only portion of the dungeons students are allowed. Also, the astronomy tower is still under repairs. Class will go on as scheduled, but I will warn you to be careful. Now, let the feast begin!" he finished and with a wave of his hands, the tables in front of us filled with an assortment of food.
All of a sudden, a blonde haired girl sat down next to me. The odd part, though, was that she was wearing Ravenclaw robes. "Hey, Luna." Neville said and the blonde smiled at him. "Hello, Neville." she said dreamily and then she turned to me. "Hello, Taylor. I'm Luna Lovegood." she said, smiling at me as she offered me her hand. "Um, hi. How did you-" I was about to ask, but she shook her head. "It's all over the school. I must admit, you're quite the popular subject." she said as she began to pile pudding onto her plate.
"So," I asked, trying to change the subject. "when do we get our schedules?" Heromine turned to me and gave me a sympathetic smile. "Tomorrow morning at breakfast." she told me and I smiled.
"Hey, Mione," Ron asked, drawing attention to the red head. "How's it working with Malfoy?" he asked with sneer, throwing a look over our shoulders to the table behind us. Heromine gave him a pointed look and then looked over her shoulder as well. "I don't know. Ever since the war, he's been keeping to himself. Oddly enough, he hasn't said two words to me." she said, picking at her food while she seemed to contemplate something.
For a while there was nothing but small talk around the group until Luna spoke up. "Am I the only one wondering why the lower portion of the dungeons are out of bounds?" she asked and the golden trio exchanged a look. "It does sound a little too familiar, but maybe this time, we should keep to ourselves. I mean, it would be nice to have a somewhat quiet year." Harry said and the other two nodded.
"I agree, Harry. It'd be nice to not get almost killed this year." Heromine said with sigh.
A/N: Sorry for the slight shortness of this chapter, but I thought this was a nice place to leave off until the next chapter. Don't forget to review!