September the first arrived and it was time to leave for Hogwarts. As with previous years, at ten o'clock the Romanovs and Petrovs all Flooed over to the apothecary and then went out through the Leaky Cauldron, where they took cabs to King's Cross Station. The Gryffindor quintet (minus Ron) along with David and Luna found an empty compartment at the end of the Hogwarts Express and settled in it after bidding their parents good-bye. Adam and Leah Rosenberg joined them a minute later, and just as the train was pulling out of the platform, Ron and Ginny showed up, out-of-breath.
"We were running behind," gasped Ginny. "Fred forgot his broom and George forgot his fireworks, so Dad had to drive back so they could get their stuff."
"And Pig kept making a racket," added Ron with a grimace. "Bloody annoying." While he had been happy to finally get an owl, as Sirius had insisted on giving him a pet to make up for Scabbers who had turned out to be Peter Pettigrew, the owl was quite excitable. It didn't help matters that Ginny had named it Pigwidgeon before Ron could come up with a name, and as it now only answered to that, Ron had taken to calling it Pig for short.
Beth and Alex ignored Ron's grumbling, since they knew he wasn't really serious about it. Back when he was six, he had a pet Puffskein that he had sometimes complained about, but had been quite upset when his twin brothers had used it for Bludger practice and so smashed it. He had also complained about Scabbers, but had been worried when the rat was behaving oddly until it turned out that he was really Wormtail. Instead, Beth changed the subject to ask Adam and Leah, "What house do you want to be Sorted in?"
"Ravenclaw," answered Leah promptly. "That was the house our father was in, and Adam and I would fit well there. Not that we're not brave enough for Gryffindor or hard-working enough for Hufflepuff, of course. It's just that we're both bookworms, and treasure knowledge and learning."
"Mum says we inherited our brains from both sides of the family," added Adam. "She's a chemistry teacher at the local comprehensive in our town, by the way."
At that, Alex began wondering if the younger five would end up becoming the 'Ravenclaw quintet'. After all, Luna also wanted to be Ravenclaw, partly because her mother had been in that house. Despite her oddness, she was quite wise, and would fit well in Ravenclaw. David had said that he would like being in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, and could fit well in either house. As for Ginny, she had expressed a wish to be in Gryffindor like the rest of the family, but didn't mind being in Ravenclaw, and could very well ask to be Sorted there so she could be with her friends. It didn't hurt that she was quite intelligent and skilled, and enjoyed reading, though she wasn't quite as passionate about it as Hermione and Beth were.
Hermione and Neville then asked the Rosenberg twins more about their family. Their father had been an Auror, and Esther looked like a younger and feminine version of him, except that she had their mother's sapphire eyes and nose. Adam, on the other hand, took after their mother, except for the fact that he had their father's emerald eyes and hooked nose, which looked somewhat like Professor Snape's nose. Leah, of course, was in the middle, her hair and eye color being a mix of both parents. Her hair, when not done in her usual plait, was wavy, a mix between their father's curliness and their mother's straightness.
Like Beth, Alex, and their cousins, Adam and Leah also had grandparents that survived the Holocaust. Their paternal grandparents had both survived the concentration camps. Their maternal grandfather was a Gentile that had pretended to be a Nazi-sympathizer and used his job as an orderly for a Nazi official in order to gather information for the French Resistance, and he had fallen in love with the daughter of a Jewish family that his family had been hiding. The two had gotten married a few years after the war ended, with him converting to Judaism, and moved to Britain.
At this point the witch with the food trolley came by and they all went out into the corridor to buy some snacks. While Adam and Leah knew about some wizarding sweets like Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, as their father had told their mother about them, others they weren't familiar with. The others proceeded to explain the unfamiliar ones and the ten of them enjoyed the food.
After awhile, the five first-years moved to one side of the compartment and had their own conversation. Leah and Adam were actually quite knowledgeable about the wizarding world, since their mother had told them and Esther about it two years ago and they had read their father's old books. There was only one thing that they were really curious about, and that was the whereabouts of Harry Potter. David stayed silent on that subject, for while he could keep secrets, he wasn't that good at lying. Ginny, on the other hand, simply said, "Well, the wizarding world hasn't any idea as to where he is, and I don't think they'll find out anytime soon. I think he's safe, though, and he'll reveal himself when he's ready."
"I think Harry Potter was taken by Father Christmas's house-elves and is in training to become the next Father Christmas," declared Luna. Alex had to stifle laughter at hearing this, since that had been one of the several theories she had about Harry Potter's whereabouts before learning the truth.
"Luna, you know Father Christmas isn't real," said Ginny, sounding exasperated. "And you know Harry's Muggle relatives said that they didn't want him and left him on the steps of a church in a random town, where a woman saw them and said that she'd adopt him if they didn't want him."
"Then that would mean Harry Potter would be under a different name, and he could be registered as a Muggleborn student!" exclaimed Adam. "So why didn't the Ministry question the Muggleborn boys?"
"They did," replied Beth. "Aunt Maria said that someone from the Ministry went to the three boys in our year that were supposed to be Muggleborn and questioned them and their parents. None of them were adopted and they didn't have the lightning scar or match what Harry is supposed to look like, which is black-haired with green eyes. Dean Thomas, who's in Gryffindor with us, is black, and as for the other two, one has brown hair while the other is a dark blond."
"Then maybe Harry Potter's relatives lied about what happened?" asked Leah.
"They were questioned under Veritserum," responded Neville. "That's the strongest Truth Potion in existence. However, they don't remember the town, or what the woman looked like, except that she was probably bundled up, since it was the middle of November and quite cold out."
"Oh," said Leah, looking disappointed. "I wish Harry could be found. He sounds very interesting and I would love to get to know someone famous and see what they're like underneath all the fame."
The Gryffindor quintet exchanged looks. While Adam and Leah were trustworthy, Alex wasn't about to reveal his secret to every trustworthy person he met. He supposed he might change his mind later, if the two became close friends to him like Ginny, Luna, and David were, or the five formed another quintet that was as close as the Gryffindor quintet, but for now he was staying silent.
David immediately changed the subject to ask how the Rosenbergs practiced Judaism compared to Aunt Sarah's family. The twins answered, and then the five first-years talked exclusively between themselves. Hermione began reading one of the Lockhart books, Alex and Ron started a chess match, Neville took out his Herbology journal and leafed through it, and Beth started rereading Anne of Windy Poplars, her favorite book in the Anne of Green Gables series, because there was a character named Elizabeth in it. After she had first read the book, she had done what the character did and felt like a different version of her name every day for a year before deciding to just go with 'Beth' like the character in Little Women.
The afternoon passed and the Hogwarts Express arrived at the station. The first-years headed to where Hagrid was calling them, in order to cross the lake in boats to reach the castle. The other students headed for the carriages, where Neville stopped and asked, "What are those winged creatures pulling the carriages?"
"What are you talking about?" replied Alex. "There's nothing there, Neville. Unless you mean the invisible horses that Vera thinks are pulling the carriages."
"But I can see them!" protested Neville. "They've got leathery wings and look sort of like large horses except skeletal and-"
"Oh, that's a thestral," interrupted Beth. "They're a type of winged horse, and only those that have seen someone die can see them. I read all about them. I believe you can see them because you saw your grandfather die, Neville. If Luna were here, she'd see them too, since she saw her mother die."
"Oh," said Neville in understanding. The Gryffindor quintet then got in a carriage, not saying anything more .
When they arrived at the castle, everyone got out and went inside to the Great Hall. After the students were all settled in, Professor McGonagall brought in the first-years. The Sorting Hat started singing a new song about the four houses and their qualities. When it finished, everyone clapped and then McGonagall started calling the first-years one-by-one alphabetically to be Sorted. Atkins, Eric was Sorted into Hufflepuff, Baddock, Louise was in Slytherin, and Bollings, Agatha and Carson, Barry in Ravenclaw. Creevy, Colin, a rather mousy and excited-looking boy clutching a camera, was Sorted into Gryffindor.
Several names later, Luna was called up. She calmly drifted over to the stool and sat down, serenely placing the Sorting Hat on her head. After almost an entire minute, it declared her to be in Ravenclaw. With a small smile on her face, she set the Hat back on the stool and took a seat at the Ravenclaw table. A few more names later, David's name was called. He looked nervous as he sat down on the stool and placed the Hat on his head. Alex could see David's lips moving, as if he was having silent conversation with the Hat. After a minute, it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" With a huge grin on his face, David removed it and then ran to the Ravenclaw table, where he took a seat next to Luna.
Adam Rosenberg was next to be called. The Hat was on his head for no more than five seconds before declaring him a Ravenclaw also. The same happened for his twin Leah, and the two walked over to the Ravenclaw table together and took seats on Luna's other side. The last name to be called was Ginny's. She appeared to be having a silent argument with the Sorting Hat before it finally shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaw table burst into applause as Ginny took a seat next to David, while a number of other students and most of the teachers looked rather surprised that a Weasley was in Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor. Percy, Fred, and George looked rather stunned at the fact. Ron wasn't, but that was simply because he knew his sister well enough to know that she wanted to be in the same house as her friends. Besides, why shouldn't the first Weasley female born in seven generations also be the first Weasley to get Sorted into a house other than Gryffindor?
Professor Dumbledore then stood up and welcomed everyone. After that, the feast appeared and everyone started eating. When Percy wondered out loud why Ginny was in Ravenclaw, George, who had recovered from his shock, responded, "How thick are you, Perce? It's obvious that she wanted to be in the same house as her friends."
Fred added, "We almost did the same thing. We asked the Sorting Hat if it would put us in Slytherin so we could be with Ivan, but it said it we were better suited for Gryffindor, though our loyalty to our friend also made us suited for Hufflepuff."
"We decided not to argue against the Hat," finished George, "especially when we knew that being in separate houses wouldn't hurt our friendship any. Ivan's not evil, and never will be, even if he is in a house that produces lots of Dark wizards and witches."
When the feast was over, Professor Dumbledore stood up to make his announcements. Gilderoy Lockhart was introduced as the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. A number of the girls looked delighted, quite clearly having something of a crush on him. Quidditch tryouts would start next week, the Forbidden Forest was still forbidden, magic was not allowed in the corridors, and Filch's list of banned items had lengthened. After that was the singing of the school song and then everyone went up to their respective common rooms.
In the dorm room, Alex said hi to Dean and Seamus and asked how their summers were before he changed into his pyjamas, brushed his teeth, and went to bed.