I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them sertainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
For now, the story will update every second Saturday, until I say otherwise.
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Book II: The Journey to Magic
Chapter 14: Journey to Hogwarts, Part I - The Big Day
It was the day of Harry's journey to Hogwarts. Right now it was early morning and while Thomas was busy with making sure that Harry had packed everything properly - he after all knew him - and Sirius was helping him to make sure everything needed was packed - remembering some embarrassing incidents from his time in school where he had forgotten something - Veronica had to take care of something else important.
"Thank you again for taking care of him while we are in London," Veronica thanked Diane while watching Mark being busy with trying to read a Donald Duck comic book. "He still is too young to know the truth. Children his age simply can't keep a secret."
"Oh, it's no problem. Mark is very well-behaved and he loves spending time with the twins. Though, I thought he would be disappointed he couldn't wish Harry a good journey," Diane said.
Veronica sighed. "He was disappointed, but we managed to convince him that he's a bit too small for the crowded platform. This will only get more complicated as time goes on, I hope to tell him rather sooner than later," Veronica admitted. "You'll go through it as well in due time."
"Don't remind me..." Diane was dreading keeping it secret from the twins, especially if their accidental magic kept happening. "It's quite a burden to keep it from them. Sadly, young children are terrible at keeping secrets. They don't even learn how to lie until a certain age."
"I have a feeling something will happen to force our hand rather sooner than later," Veronica said, then saw the car arrive in front of the house. "Ah, there they are."
"I wish I could go. I want to see Harry off like all of us, but sadly ,my children would be unable to keep silent about it, even if it's barely understandable. One wrong word at the wrong place, and it would be trouble."
It was no wonder Diane was unhappy. She had grown very fond of Harry and really wanted to be part of his life. It was times like these when she was reminded how much of a responsibility it was to be the mother of two young children. It was a full-time job, thus why she had to quit at the police. She couldn't even hire a nanny to get back into the job, since it would only take one flare of accidental magic to create an incident. Despite that of course, she for nothing in the world would want to live without her children.
"I'll be back soon," Veronica called to her son, who barely looked up from his comic to acknowledge his mother.
Walking outside, Veronica did notice activity in the house next door, meaning that despite what she had thought, the Dursleys would actually drive Dudley to King's Cross, though she doubted they wanted to set one foot on the platform itself. Harry of course had told her of the truce with Dudley, but after these years she still was doubtful the boy could really change his ways.
Well, I hope I'm proven wrong on that point, she thought, getting into the passenger seat.
"I know Diane isn't happy with having to stay behind," Sirius said from the back seat, knowing his wife too well. "Maybe next year she can accompany us into the station, just not the platform itself."
"She would certainly appreciate it," Veronica agreed.
Sirius then turned his attention to Harry, who had his attention on Hedwig, who was napping in the cage sitting on his lap. "Are you already excited, Harry?"
"Oh yes!" Harry did sound excited, but then took a look at his ticket. "Only... why platform 9¾? Who cooked up such a stupid numbering?"
"I bet some wizard felt the need to give the image that magic folk are weird people," Thomas snarked while driving onto the motorway to London.
"No idea," Sirius admitted. "I never questioned it, but now that you point it out, it looks rather stupid. Calling it platform 9a probably would have been logical... Perhaps it's due to many magic folk not liking logic?"
Harry laughed when hearing that. "Oh boy, tell that one to Hermione. She'll flip!"
"Yes, knowing that girl, she'll be tempted to rip her bushy hair out when being confronted with the prevalent attitude," Sirius agreed, hoping the girl wouldn't actually rip out her hair.
Sirius knew, many wizards and witches lived by the motto 'it's like this because it is like this', ignoring the circular reasoning behind that way of thinking. Scientific study to find out why exactly magic works the way it does was pretty much unheard of. The most that was done was to find out how to get the needed results and not even try to discover the mechanism behind it. It was a very anti-scientific mindset.
...some time later, King's Cross Station...
King's Cross Station was packed as always. Even at a Sunday, it was one of the busiest places in London. That however didn't bother Remus while discreetly helping muggleborn first-year students and their parents with finding the entrance to the platform. He had done so in the previous year as well and realized it was something no one had thought of before.
Thankfully, he would not have to bother with the more conservative parents, as those generally took the route directly onto the platform through one of the floo entrances, as they didn't want to mingle with non-magical people. Perhaps it was better that way, or that would have caused countless incidents due to these people sticking out like a sore thumb.
To think I'm now doing something that should be done by the Ministry... It made him wonder why something so essential had not been done before.
It was all the small things that made it painfully clear how much the magical world loved the status quo. Essentially, nothing was done for change until they had no other choice left. Magical Britain was worse than many other countries about this due to the British Isles not having had any kind of conquest since the Normans. What Dumbledore had already done was downright revolutionary in that context.
"Uncle Remus!"
Ah, there he is! Remus saw Harry arrive together with his guardians and Sirius. "You look really excited that it finally starts. Want to wait for your friends to arrive?"
"You better believe it!" Harry knew Neville would be on the platform itself, his family not taking the non-magical entrance, but the Grangers and Weasleys should arrive at any moment.
"Well, you certainly won't be able to miss them, that's for sure," Remus joked.
It didn't take too long for Harry to see a small horde of redheads arrive. As it turned out, Remus was right; the Weasleys were so distinctive, you couldn't miss them. Harry quickly ran over to greet them and the twins started joking when seeing him.
"Man, Harrykins, that must be a first one!" George laughed.
"Yes, the first time in years there's no mad scramble in the morning. Even Ronnekins got his trunk packed in the evening," Fred added, seeing the humor in it.
"Ha ha, really funny." Ron didn't appreciate the comment.
The twins ignored his reaction. "Now, we want to hurry. Lee Jordan wants to show us something really interesting and we can't wait to see what that is about," George said, eager to go through the barrier.
"Oh no, you won't do so alone!" Mrs. Weasley clearly knew her sons by now and what they were capable of. "Percy will escort you through."
The twins rolled their eyes and Harry couldn't fault them. Ron had told him how insufferable Percy had become ever since getting his Perfect badge. It was one thing to see it as an important duty, after all Uncle Remus had been a Perfect as well, but parading it around like Percy did was something entirely else and bound to annoy those around him. It again made Harry wonder how someone could change so much in a single year.
"Can we go through now? I want to see off my friends."
That of course was Luna, who had come along to see off her friends. Ginny pretty much was present for the same reason. Both girls had known right from the start that they would have to wait a whole year before joining Hogwarts, but it had only hit them for real in recent days. That had not exactly made them happy, but there was little they could do about it.
"We're waiting for Hermione to get here, remember?" Ron reminded Luna, then noticed in the crowd a mass of bushy, brown hair approach them. "Ah, there she is!"
"I swear, the traffic in London is getting worse each year," Mr. Granger grumbled while pushing along Hermione's trunk, a cat carrier with a none too happy Crookshanks sitting atop of it.
"And you say that each year, dear," his wife reminded him.
Hermione ignored the banter between her parents while running to her friends, now glad that her parents had convinced her not to wear the uniform until shortly before arriving. It would have looked weird. "Are all of you excited?! Oh, I can't wait until we are there!"
"Breathe, Hermione, breathe!" Harry joked at seeing her excitement.
"I still wonder how she is doing that," Ginny wondered, guessing Hermione must have a special breathing technique.
"Now that we are all here, let us go through the barrier," Sirius said after watching all this with some amusement.
Watching his friends leave for the moment after saying their goodbyes, Remus sighed. Of course he would be on the platform for when the train would leave, but first he would have to deal with several more latecomers. Speaking of which, he did see the Dursleys enter the station that moment and thanked all goodness that he wouldn't have to interact with the boy's parents, especially since Petunia clearly was busy with explaining to her son how to enter the platform while Vernon looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
The barrier did look like an ordinary brick wall, and Sirius saw the strange looks he got from everyone. "Look, you really can just walk through. If it feels weird, close your eyes while doing so."
The children thought this was strange advice, but did as asked. There was no indicator that they had passed a wall. Just all of a sudden, the noise of the busy railway station was exchanged with the noise of a busy train platform. They opened their eyes and then saw it.
Now, the sight was nothing new to Ron and Ginny, having seeing off their siblings often enough, but the others looked at amazement at the train that was the Hogwarts Express. The massive, red steam locomotive ready for departure was very impressive and the train cars behind it looked like straight out of the late 19th century. It actually looked classy and elegant.
"Wow, what a beauty," Thomas said, having a thing for old steam locomotives. "How comes they even have something like that?"
"Necessity. It's part of the tradition that the students arrive at Hogwarts by non-magical means. That however became difficult and impractical enough by the 19th century that they were forced to make a deal with the non-magical government to streamline the procedure. The Express is the result," Sirius explained.
"Guys!"
That was Neville, who walked over to them. The bodyguards who were trying to act like they were not there were way too obvious as well. It seemed his parents really were careful. They did spot his parents as well - and an older woman who only could be his grandmother. It could only be her, since no one else would wear a vulture on their hat.
"Man, guys, this is really exciting! Part of me feels a bit scared; this is the first time in my life I will be away from home without my parents for a longer time."Though Neville was excited, he clearly felt like he was leaving his comfort zone.
"Neville, won't you introduce me to them?"
Neville sighed when hearing his grandmother. "Gran, these I my friends and their parents. I told you of them."
"Ah, I see..." She gave some general greetings, but it was obvious she felt uncomfortable interacting with them, clearly being from a different generation and mindset. His parents clearly seemed to think so as well and quickly distracted her.
"Sorry... Gran normally is much better about this, but too many people of a lower social circle than hers make her uncomfortable," Neville excused his grandmother's behavior.
"My own father told me, that old people often are like that because they feel the world moved on without them, and they have difficulties with how things have changed," Ian Granger told Neville, having an idea that Augusta Longbottom simply felt uncomfortable with how the world had changed around her.
"We should really get your things into the train... No need to almost have a near-disaster... like we almost had at the start of Charlie's second year;" Arthur Weasley reminded them. Molly did remember it as well and wished she didn't.
Ron then groaned when seeing Percy arrive and Harry understood, why. For some reason Percy saw it fit to already wear his Perfect badge, despite the fact that his duties would only start during the train ride. The others noticed as well, but Ron shook his head. Clearly, this topic would have to wait until they were on their way.
While moving to the closest train car, Harry spotted Fred and George meeting a black boy with dreadlocks, who had to be Lee Jordan. He honestly didn't even want to know what Jordan had in the cardboard box he was showing the twins, especially since the twins seemed to be quite taken by whatever it was when Jordan lifted the lid for a moment and a black, furry leg was seen.
It took some effort, but they did manage with some help to get their trunks into one compartment, then went back out to say goodbye to their families.
"Now, Harry, don't do anything I would have done in my school time... I'm smarter about that now and know I hadn't been the nicest bloke at that time. And please don't use your gift for something that could get you into real trouble, OK?" Sirius told Harry.
Harry saw the serious look Thomas and Veronica gave him and knew that was a strong reminder to listen. Sirius giving him his father's invisibility cloak - which he had gotten back from the Headmaster years ago - for his birthday had been an awesome gift. However, his guardians made it pretty obvious that they would take it away, should he use it for troublemaking and they hear of it.
"I promise, I swear!" He hoped they didn't see his crossed fingers behind his back. He then saw Remus approach. "You made it!"
"Just in time. As soon as we hear the whiste, everyone will make a scramble to get into the train. Harry, I hope you won't get into trouble. I saw it from the outside, and trust me, it's no fun," Remus reminded him.
Hermione at the same time had to endure some last-minute joking by her parents.
"Only promise us you won't shut yourself into the school library. You know, the other students also want to use it," her mother teased her.
"Muuuuum!" Hermione groaned, "This is only little better than you telling me not to eat books."
Her parents laughed in relief how much she right now sounded her age. "Just promise us that your time at Hogwarts will be better than at primary school," her father asked of her.
"Oh, that is easy to promise." After all, it can't get any worse than primary school...
Neville meanwhile knew that his parents would have difficulties to let go of him, which was understandable considering their past. However, it was only made worse for him with their comments when realizing that Luna, while wanting to see off all of her friends, was staying close to him.
"You have to admit, son, that she IS keeping a close eye on you. I bet she's not happy you are out of her sight for a whole year," Mr. Longbottom joked.
Too bad that Luna took it dead serious. "Oh, of course I'm not happy. While I like all my friends, Neville gives me special attention and I am going to miss out on it for an entire year."
Neville looked utterly clueless while his parents had to remind themselves that Luna was a ten-year old girl and thus not yet capable of feeling like that. Problem was that the girl was prone to put her foot into her mouth by saying what she thought without a filter, and thus easily could provoke misunderstandings like right now.
Mrs. Longbottom took Luna aside and whispered into her ear what the implications of that statement were. Luna's expression only changed a bit. "Oh, I understand. Of course both of us are not yet old enough for any of that."
"Dad, what are they talking about?" Neville wondered.
"Son, that's something you'll understand in a few years. Until then, enjoy life," was the only thing his father told him.
Adults are weird, Neville thought.
With the Weasleys meanwhile, Molly Weasley was giving some final instructions to her four sons that were about to leave for Hogwarts.
"Now, Percy, I count on you to make sure these two don't get into trouble. They did enough of that in their first two years and last year they've proven they are not trustworthy in that regard," she told Percy while making sure to keep the twins in her sight.
Fred and George looked pained at the reminder. They would not any time soon forget the fiasco with the Forbidden Forest, due to the security measures Dumbledore built into the age line separating it from the school grounds, and because of their mother's reaction when being notified by the school. They'd had no idea a Howler could be this brutal.
"I will not disappoint you, mother." His reply sounded a bit stiff and impersonal.
The twins rolled their eyes at this display. Truth to be told, troublemaking had been quite difficult for them at Hogwarts, thanks to how much things had changed. Disrupting lessons or causing bigger disturbances was now very much frowned upon. They've had enough punishments under Filch's watchful eyes to know they should not push it too far.
Ginny meanwhile had some final words for Ron as well. "It still stinks that I have to wait a whole year... Promise you you write to me often and tell me of all the interesting stuff!"
"Gin, why would I not write to you?" Ron asked.
"Because I know you! I know that you don't like writing letters and are terrible at it. If you have trouble, get help for it, but I won't accept you being silent to me." Ginny made it quite obvious this wasn't a request.
"Eh... all right." Ron knew, his sister would know him too well. -triiiiiiiit- That was the whistle to tell everyone to get onboard!
It was a mad scramble as all the children still on the platform ran the doors of the train, though thankfully it wasn't too chaotic. Soon enough Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were looking out of the open window of their compartment, waving their families goodbye while the train started to move. Ginny even tried to run along with the train, before it became too fast and she stopped to wave goodbye.
Watching the departing train, Ginny felt a bit childish that she had run along with the train, but she after all was a child at ten years. Walking back to the others, she felt sad in a strange way. "They've just left, and I'm already missing them..."
"It means you care for them a lot. Be patient, in one year you can join them," Mr. Weasley told his daughter, seeing as some of it was only now hitting her.
"Yes, but I still feel not any less sad..." Part of Ginny knew she was being stupid, but she couldn't help it. She looked to Luna. "Aren't you sad we have to wait an entire year without them?"
Luna's expression didn't change much while she pushed her glasses up her nose. "Of course I am. However, I'm also secure in knowing we will join them in due time."
"Yes, only now does it feel real that they are on their way and for long times of the year no longer part of our lives," Alice Longbottom sighed. "Well, let's better get home."
Watching the Longbottoms and their security move to the floos, the other adults knew it now was time to leave as well.
o
Two men were watching King's Cross from inside a parked car. One of them acted like reading a road map, while the other busied himself with writing something into a notebook. However, they actually never let the doors of the train station out of their sight. Minutes went by, until finally they spotted what they were looking for leaving the train station.
The combined Weasleys, Evans, Grangers as well as Luna, Sirius and Remus left the train station and after some final words went to their respective cars in order to get home. The two men waited until they had all driven away, before finally ending their observations.
"As expected, the children that were tagged as attending this year are now on the way to the school. That's all we wanted to know," the driver said, before starting the engine.
"Good thing there is a strict order to keep as far away as possible. None of us want to snoop into their private lives," the other man remarked while the car drove into the traffic to return to HQ. "When do you think the top will give the green light to approach them?"
"Not yet. I heard there are still concerns we could get ratted out. They want to wait until the situation is right, before they approach them," the driver remarked while the car entered the madness that was traffic in London.
...aboard the Hogwarts Express...
The Hogwarts Express was moving on the train tracks through the urban sprawl that was London towards the north, now being on its way to deliver the students of Hogwarts to the school. No one actually saw the train itself, since it was loaded with enchantments to be invisible to those without magic, but each year it was a nightmare for the Ministry to make sure there wouldn't be an accidental train wreck. After all, other trains also couldn't see the invisible train.
Inside their compartment, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville watched the buildings move by, before Neville finally broke the silence. "Woah, we are really on the way now. I still can't believe it."
"I know, feels a bit surreal, doesn't it?" Hermione remarked, while letting Crookshanks out of the cat carrier. Said cat looked highly offended at that treatment and quickly claimed one of the empty seats for himself.
"I guess we all are excited, though I bet it wears off over the day," Ron remarked while falling into his seat.
"Well, I certainly am excited! Oh, I can't wait for us to arrive." Hermione sounded quite impatient.
"Oh, relax. This will take most of the day, so better find something to occupy your time with," Ron said while leaning back, clearly enjoying that there would be hours of essentially doing nothing at all but lazing around. "I don't worry about school, after all what we learned first year should be a breeze."
"Ron..." Hermione stopped herself when realizing that he was right. "Perhaps after already learning these things, first year really will be a bit too easy."
"Well, I won't complain!" Neville said while searching his trunk for something. "After all what my parents told me about, getting a nice headstart would be great."
That moment the compartment door opened, revealing Fred and George.
"Hey, Ron," George greeted their brother.
"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there," Fred added, giving Ron a mean smile.
"You are doing that on purpose..." Ron grumbled. He waited until the twins were gone. "They know exactly I can't stand these things. Tossers."
Ron's fear of spiders was no secret to them - though it had been Ginny who had told them about it, for which Ron had ignored her almost an entire day until she'd apologized. They did not make fun of his phobia at all, since after all it had come from a seriously traumatic early childhood incident.
Harry then remembered what he wanted to ask Ron. "Eh, Ron, what's the matter with Percy? He seemed even stiffer than normal and really formal with your parents. That says something, considering you told us how insufferable he has become ever since making Perfect."
Ron groaned at the memory. "I didn't tell you everything, but after he paraded around his badge on the platform... It clearly has went to his head and he's now acting like he's a Ministry official. Mum and Dad might be impressed by his act, but the rest of us feel like pulling out our hair. He must think he has to compensate for something... maybe us."
"Why would he see that as a problem?" Harry wondered.
Ron blushed, but trusted his friends. "You know... our family is not exactly well-off. What Percy however really dislikes is Dad not getting any further in the Ministry. I guess he thinks Dad is not ambitious enough and sabotaged himself with his progressive views."
Arthur Weasley never complained about it, even joked that he liked where he was in the Ministry, but the family had no illusions that it were his political views that were blocking his further career path. He must have stepped on too many toes in the Ministry, there was no other explanation for his department slowly being squeezed dead, despite the great need for their services. Percy obviously felt it was Arthur's own fault - perhaps he got the idea at school somehow.
"That's ridiculous! How can he blame your father if he was skipped on promotions?" Hermione protested. What she didn't say was, that she had difficulties to believe that the Ministry would do so knowingly for political reasons.
"For some reason he does. Don't ask me, why." Clearly, Ron didn't want to talk about Percy anymore.
"Oh yes, before I forget...!" Hermione looked through her trunk and fished out a newspaper.
"Since when do you get the Daily Prophet?" Ron asked when seeing the title page.
"It's not mine. My parents got a subscription since they wanted to stay informed about what's going on in the magical world, and I swiped it off the breakfast table." Hermione then snorted. "However, my parents say this reads like a mixture between the Daily Mail and The Sun."
While Ron and Neville looked confused at that statement, Harry understood all too well what Hermione was playing at.
"Here..." Hermione then frowned. "I can't understand Magical Britain's love affair with blackletter. Why do they insist on printing everything in it? It's a pain to read, especially considering how little space they leave between the letters."
While Neville couldn't comment on it, having grown up with it, Harry understood her too well. Even Ron did so, considering he had learned how to read at a public school. It was bad enough that Remus had even seen the need to teach them how to read blackletter correctly. Not that it made it any less of a pain to read. Thank all goodness they didn't have to write like that.
Harry and Neville looked in surprise at the article in question, while Ron got a look of recognition. "Ah, my Dad talked about that at breakfast. He said the goblins must be quite desperate to involve the Ministry."
"Who would be insane enough to rob Gringotts and actually manage to get away with it?" Harry wondered while reading the article. "This is nasty! The thief only got a recently emptied vault and slit a goblin's throat for it?"
"I know, the goblins waited almost an entire month before they felt they were getting nowhere. I found the date of the robbery interesting; it happened at the same day that Harry and me were busy with buying our school supplies. Oh, it could even have happened while we were in the bank." Hermione looked a little disturbed at the idea they could have been this close to a cold-blooded murderer.
"Can we please not talk about such stuff today?" Neville asked, looking a bit squeamish after reading what happened.
"Well, all right..." Hermione took a rather thick book out of her trunk and started reading it, while Crookshanks hopped up to beside her, finding it more comfortable than the other seat, especially when Hermione started to give him attention with her free hand, causing him to purr.
"You are spoiling that cat..." Harry sighed, especially when Hedwig gave that display a scandalized look, then looked at the title of the book. "And I still wonder how you can read that book. It might be interesting, but the writing style is so incredibly boring. It reads like a law book."
"Really? I think Hogwarts: A History is a really engaging read," Hermione remarked, unable to understand how her friends - and that even included Luna - were utterly annoyed with that book.
"Maybe for people who like to read tax codes," Ron snarked, then tried to ignore the whispered 'Ronald...' coming from Hermione. Seeing it would be unsafe to annoy her anymore, Ron changed topic and turned to Harry and Neville. "It's a bit stupid that we can't join the Quidditch team until next year, nor that we can have our own brooms."
"Oh, keep me out of that! I like to watch Quidditch from the stands, but no way I'll even attempt to play," Neville defended himself, before picking up an issue of the Quibber he had stored in his trunk. "I wouldn't be very good at it anyway."
That was putting it mildly. While Neville certainly had learned how to fly on a broom, it also was not his favorite mode of transportation. The mere idea of letting Neville onto a Quidditch pitch filled everyone with dread for their friend's health. No, Neville was a better spectator when it came to Quidditch and he would be the first person to say so.
Hermione tried to tune out the boys when the topic did turn to Quidditch. She probably would never understand the sheer devotion they put in that sport - though Harry openly admitted he never had watched a single game - and sadly it was not restricted to boys, considering how Ginny was a big fan of it as well.
Elsewhere in the train meanwhile, someone was getting a bit desperate.
Dudley honestly hoped the day would improve while pushing his trunk to find a compartment he could use. It had started in the morning, with his parents again acting outright schizophrenic. While they did drive him to the train station and his mother actually explained to him how to get to the platform, they had refused to go anywhere near it and left very quickly. Thank all goodness Mr. Lupin had been present to guide him where he needed to go, with only little time to spare.
That was not a good start for his journey to the school. To make things worse, he yet had to find a compartment he could use. Most were full, while in some others he'd gotten dark looks that made it clear he wasn't welcome in those. He had a feeling the latter group were people that didn't like him due to where he was coming from.
Here we go again, he thought while knocking on the door of another compartment.
"Yes?" That was the voice of a girl.
Hoping this would go better, Dudley opened the compartment door. Inside sat two girls. The first girl had blond hair and looked a bit pale, her ice-blue eyes watching him in interest. The other girl... Dudley could have sworn she was almost as stocky as him, just a bit smaller, and sported wild dark brown hair. She also was petting a cat that sat on her lap.
Dudley knew he would have to ask first. "Excuse me...? Can I sit in here? All the other compartments are full... eh ... or..."
Both girls looked him over again, before the blond girl spoke. "They didn't want you in there because of your background, right?"
Dudley felt uncomfortable, again realizing how Harry must have felt all these years. "Yes. Eh, so can I...?"
Both girls looked at each other, then the stocky girl snorted. "I can hardly tell him to leave, considering I did ask you if you don't mind me being in your compartment. They take a look at me, and see a freak girl."
The blond girl then made her decision. "Please come in and make yourself comfortable. I'm Daphne Greengrass."
"And I'm Millicent Bulstrode." Millicent then looked at her cat. "And this adorable furball here is Archimedes."
"I'm Dudley Dursley. Thanks, I already feared I would have to stand in the corridor." Dudley was not used to talking to girls, having never done so during his school time and only seldomly during magical preschool. However, these two seemed friendly enough.
"With such a name, everyone knows right away you are muggleborn," Millicent commented. "You already saw how some treated you."
Dudley, while not exactly a social person, did manage to pick up the bitterness in Millicent's voice while putting away his trunk. "Did they get to you as well?"
"Just take a look at me! I'm way too tall and strong for them to see me as a girl. They see me as a freak, as someone they don't want to associate with. Add to it that my mother is a half-blood and even the status of my family as one of the sacred 28 can't save me." Millicent looked like she really need to get this off her chest. "Thankfully, not everyone is so judgmental."
"Thanks, but it perhaps helps that we've known each other for years thanks to our parents. Remember, my family is one of the Sacred 28 as well." Daphne then nodded to Dudley. "Being friends with Millicent taught me not to judge others by such things. Sadly, many in our circles didn't get that lesson." Suddenly the girl paled. "Excuse me for a moment..."
Watching the girl dash out, Dudley gave Millicent a questioning look. "Is something wrong with her?"
Millicent waved it off. "She'd been sick up until two days ago and is still a bit under the weather - that's why she is so pale. Sadly, the potion she needs to take to ensure she won't suffer a relapse makes her prone to suffer from diarrhea for a while. I know she'll hate the opening feast."
"Oh." Dudley felt a bit uncomfortable talking about a girl's health problems. "Uh, why did you ask her if you could be here, if you are friends?"
Millicent looked a bit pained. "Believe it or not, I don't exactly have the greatest confidence considering how often I get rejected. Of course Daphne then reminded me we've been friends for years and I felt stupid."
Dudley had to admit, it sounded rather stupid and decided to drop it. "Are you excited about the school?"
"Yes, of course. After all, I've waited for this all my life." Though deep inside Millicent was not eager to be treated as an outcast for seven years to come. She already had a feeling that she probably would crack under the pressure and fall in line with the jerks, just to get accepted by someone. "How is it for you? I've heard muggleborn students only learn about it during the summer before school."
Dudley was tempted to say he'd known for longer, but kept silent. He felt he owed that to Mr. Lupin, who had been so helpful to him. "Well, I did accept it well enough. It's my parents who have the difficulties..."
A little later Daphne returned, grimacing while rubbing her sore butt. "Owww... I HATE this!" She carefully sat down again. "If you two buy something from the trolley, please don't make a show of it. That would be plain cruel to me."
"Why didn't you come to school a few days later if you feel so unwell?" Dudley asked.
"I would have loved to do so, as do my parents. Alas, the rules are very inflexible. Should I not be present at the sorting, I would have to wait a whole year before I could enter Hogwarts. That's why I'm here and not at home in bed." Daphne obviously was not thrilled she had to travel in her condition.
"It's stupid. As soon as you are sorted, the school nurse is going to except you from lessons for a few days. All this does is to make you miserable," Millicent remarked. "Eh, Dudley, could you help me get her trunk into the luggage rack?"
"No problem. You look really strong, you know? That should be a breeze for us." He missed the little blush Millicent sported while they put the trunk away. Clearly, she didn't get many compliments.
They are accepting me without any questions asked. Somehow I have the feeling things are looking up, Dudley thought when they were done and really introduced themselves to each other.
These girls didn't treat him any different from other kids and he actually found it fun talking with them. That was a surprise to him, after basically not interacting with girls his age at all for his whole life. Sure, other boys probably would laugh at him that he befriended two girls, but he didn't care. It just felt too good to have a fresh start with no baggage from his past.
o
Several hours had went by since the start of the journey, and by now the Hogwarts Express was moving through the English countryside on its way north towards Scotland. It was noontime and the witch manning the food trolley had just passed the compartment of the four friends. They certainly took this chance to buy some things from the trolley, despite their parents having packed lunches for them.
"Ron, really?" Hermione looked a bit flustered when Ron offered her a chocolate frog.
"I know your parents are big on avoiding sweets, so a small sin at times can't hurt, right?" Ron told her, knowing how Hermione led a practically chocolate-free life due to the fact that both her parents were dentists.
"Well, I..." Hermione was torn, but then gave in. Like many girls she had a weakness for chocolate and it being the forbidden fruit won out. "Alright, but just one." Opening the box, she shrieked when the chocolate frog hopped out, before quickly taking hold of it. She blushed at her reaction. "Not one word..."
"Oh, we wouldn't dare," Harry promised.
"No, Crookshanks, this is not for you," Hermione reminded her cat, who had eyed the chocolate frog in her hand. She waited until the movement of the frog stopped before eating it, being too disturbed by the idea of eating something that still moved. "Tasty, but I don't understand why they enchant them to hop around. Isn't that rather pointless and only gets it dirty?"
"It's mainly just for fun. Though of course it's annoying when these hop where you don't want them to," Neville remarked, remembering when one of those had jumped into the fireplace.
Hermione then noticed something else in the box and pulled out a card. Ron noticed as well. "Oh, these come with cards of famous wizards and witches. I collect those, got 500 already - many of those doubles and triples - but still haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."
"Oh, no thanks, I'm not into that." Hermione then gave the card to Harry. "Here, maybe you want to collect those."
Harry took a look at the card. "Funny, the Headmaster looks younger on this than when I met him. I wonder when they even made this photo."
There was silence for a moment, before Hermione asked "You met the Headmaster?"
"Two times. The first time was when he was a guest at the wedding of Uncle Sirius and Diane. The other time..." Harry was not exactly keen on remembering that incident. "It was after I got attacked by that dementor and he wanted to make sure I'm all right."
No one knew what to say about that, since they had collectively decided to not pester Harry about something that horrible. Harry for his part shrugged, then put the card into his trunk. After all, now that he got the idea, collecting these cards sounded like fun and the idea was not too different from sticker albums of football teams.
Turning their attention back to their lunch and treats, Harry gave Ron a nod. "Ron, thanks for telling me to not buy those beans."
"No thanks needed. Now that I'm smarter about it, I wonder why Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are so popular if half of them taste like absolute crap. Perhaps its for masochists?"
Ron had lost his flavor for those beans after Fred and George had forced him to eat several horrible ones in a row. Of course their mother had tanned the twins' hides for doing that to him, but the damage was done. He would never again touch these things even with a ten-feet pole and wanted to spare others suffering from them.
Whatever the others wanted to answer to that was never known, when their compartment door was opened.
To their surprise, Harry and Hermione did recognize the rude boy from the clothing shop, only he was not alone now. Flanking him were two boys that resembled shaved gorillas: big, strong and not particularly bright judging by their dimwitted expression. Hell, Harry thought Dudley looked like Einstein compared to them. The blond boy, clearly the leader of the group, looked around until his eyes fell on Harry. This time he did look closer and spotted the faint scar on Harry's forehead.
"So it is true what they said; Harry Potter is on this train," he finally said.
"Yes, and?" Harry was weary after their previous encounter.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
"Yes, and?" Harry repeated, feeling it was best to see where this was going.
If Malfoy seemed taken aback by this lack of reaction, he didn't show it. "You'll soon find out 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."
Now Harry finally couldn't stand it anymore. "Oh really, then you must have looked into the mirror to see the wrong kind. I do remember how you treated us like trash because you thought we are from non-magical families, but now you want to cozy up to me - now that you know who I am. Oh no, you better get lost. I already have real friends and don't need false ones."
Draco looked like he'd been slapped by these words, clearly not having expected this reaction. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. Look at you, hanging out with a dirt-poor Weasley, a fat coward who is a shame for all pure-bloods and a girl of dirty blood."
"YOU!" Ron looked ready to explode, jumping out of his seat, while Neville looked shocked and Hermione had paled at this insult hurled against her.
Thankfully, before it could come to worse... "What's going on here?!"
That was Percy, already in uniform, doing his round as a Perfect, and he had spotted Draco and his followers. Now, while Malfoy was a jerk, he quickly realized that getting into a argument with a Perfect even before the start of school would be bad, so he decided to make a quick retreat.
"Nothing, just greeting fellow first-years." The three boys then left.
Percy gave the four friends an unreadable look, before concentrating on Ron. "Ron, did something happen?"
Ron tried not to look too angry. "Only that that was Malfoy Jr. making clear what he thinks of us."
Percy tried to show no emotion, but a tiny bit of dislike seeped through. "Well then, I am continuing my round."
As soon as Percy was gone, Ron let out a growl of anger. "That tosser Malfoy! He's just like his father, Dad was right about that family!"
Hermione still was a bit shocked, but realized she lacked context. "Ron, who are the Malfoys?"
Ron snorted. "I've heard enough about them from Dad. They were You-Know-Who's biggest supporters, but as soon as the big man bit the dust, that jerk's father claimed he'd done all of it under mind control and got away with it. Sure... Dad says Malfoy's father needs no excuse to be a monster."
"My parents also think the elder Malfoys are the worst scum, but they have money and thus influence. Looks like Draco wants to continue the family trade," Neville remarked.
"Wait a minute, now I remember that name! Sirius mentioned it when describing what happened to the Blacks," Harry now remembered. "He said the youngest sister of Andromeda Tonks married some Malfoy guy."
"You mean that impossible bigoted woman from the clothing store, Draco's mother, is Sirius' cousin?" Hermione shook her head. "She's nothing like Mrs. Tonks, who is so incredibly nice."
Ron, who had been told of the incident, whistled. "What a family..."
In a different compartment meanwhile, things still were relaxed.
Dudley - still having some coins Remus had given him - and Millicent had been able to buy some small things from the trolley without it being awkward, since Daphne had decided to take a little nap, so that she wouldn't be tired at the train's arrival. This also meant the two of them could eat their lunch without problem, since the other girl was asleep.
"You know, I never talked with someone from a non-magical background, and my mother doesn't count, as she grew up in a magical household," Millicent remarked while disposing of the wrapping papers of their lunch. "If you believe some of the more radical conservatives, you would think people without magic are little more than dumb animals."
Dudley snorted "That like my parents in reverse, who have a huge hatred of magic and called our magical neighbor a freak for as long as I can remember."
"Kind of strange how things are so different, yet also so alike," Millicent mused while carefully licking her acid pop.
"I honestly don't understand how you can lick something with acid in it," Dudley remarked while eating the piece of ordinary candy he had bought. "That's freaking insane."
"Oh, you need to know how exactly to lick it, then it's not dangerous. Though, now that you say it, makes me wonder why they sell it to children," Millicent wondered.
Dudley had to admit, he actually was getting along great with these two girls. Unlike these other children who had dismissed him right away, they eagerly asked him questions about the non-magical world. It seemed, they had grown up so ignorant that they were very eager to finally hear a first-hand account. It was kind of comical to see their reactions to things he found mundane.
Of course the girls were interesting to him as well.
Both of them came from rather prominent magical families, but both their families got the scorn of other old families in recent years, which was bound to make their school life difficult. Daphne's family had tried to keep out of that war mess, which got them the enmity of the more conservative families. As for Millicent, the fact that her mother was not of 'approved stock' basically got them blacklisted by those conservative circles.
Their peace was disrupted when the compartment door slammed open, causing Daphne to wake up.
Draco and his cronies stood in the door. Draco took in the compartment's occupants and snorted. "Honestly, Greengrass, Bulstrode, it's like you intentionally want to ruin any chance your families got to be re-accepted by hanging out with such refuse."
"We know exactly where your family stands, Malfoy." Daphne already felt crappy enough, so this additional headache was unwelcome. "If your father has such a problem with it, he should take it to our parents instead of sending you to accost us."
"Typical of a Greengrass. I shiiiiaauuutsch!" Draco yelped and jumped back, seeing that Millicent's cat Archimedes had clawed his leg. "Little beast!"
"Leave. You are not welcome here." Dudley made sure to show off his height and muscles. Surprisingly, Millicent did the same.
Draco was very tempted to give them a lesson, but these two were in the same weight class as Crabbe and Goyle, so there was a good chance this could end ugly for them. He decided to cut his losses. "Well, you are not worth the trouble."
"What a wanker," Dudley said as soon as the door was closed. "You know him?"
"I wish we wouldn't. His family is really important, so despite the standing of our families we came into contact with him," Millicent said, rolling her eyes while picking up Archimedes. "Better keep your distance from him, he's a spiteful little toad and can become incredibly petty."
"Oh yes, but considering he's always saying 'my father' when trying to get what he wants, you can guess his favorite tactic." Daphne then leaned back, hoping she could get some more shut-eye.
The Hogwarts Express moved on, now having reached the hills of Scotland.
Hermione sighed when closing the door of the loo behind her, now feeling much better. She'd made some bad experiences with toilets in trains, but this one actually was quite clean. Looking out of the window, she could see a huge city in the distance and spotted some buildings that told her that city was Glasgow. However, they were passing the city from a distance.
An hour or two at best now, she thought.
Turning around, she just started her way back to her compartment, when... "Oh, sorry!"
She had literally walked into another girl on accident. However, when looking to the girl, Hermione was taken aback. For an eleven-year old girl, she sported an alarming expression of growing disdain, framed by her dark-brown hair, when looking at Hermione's attire and her dental braces. These gray eyes seemed to judge her and Hermione was reminded of the incident with Draco in Diagon Alley.
"You are one of those, aren't you? No magical background at all; why is the school still inviting the likes of you?" the girl finally said, making it clear what she was thinking about Hermione.
Having already been confronted with Draco insulting her, Hermione took this a bit better and didn't look like a deer in the headlights. "What is it to you? Are you afraid that I'm smarter than you while your precious blood is no help at all?"
The girl's eyes narrowed. "You dare to mock my magical heritage? Big talk from someone with metal in her mouth."
Hermione knew she should stop, but the girl insulting her removable orthodontic braces - her parents understood fixed ones would be impractical with her going to boarding school - hurt too much after other insults about her teeth over the years. Being called a 'beaver face' by others had not exactly helped her confidence.
"You are a dying breed anyway, halving yourselves with each generation. I see no need to carter to your inflated ego." Hermione knew it was spiteful, but right now she didn't care.
The girl gave her a look of cold fury. "You just made yourself an enemy. You won't enjoy your stay at Hogwarts, I'll make sure of that."
Watching the girl leave, Hermione couldn't help but worry what the girl - she didn't even know her name - was implying she would do.
...at the early evening...
"Come on, Hermione... we didn't take that long," Ron moaned.
"No, a girl needs more time to change clothes than a boy does, so deal with it," Hermione told him through the closed compartment door.
They were now close to Hogwarts and there had been an announcement to change into uniforms and to leave luggage and pets behind, as they would be transported to the castle. While the boys had changed into their uniforms with Hermione waiting outside the compartment, it now was her turn. Of course, to Ron's dismay, Hermione did need a bit longer, but he should have expected that. Finally, the door opened and the boys had to admit Hermione looked good in her uniform, though it was a bit weird to see her wear a skirt, as she didn't do so often.
They had put their trunks down and placed their pets on top of them, though Hermione did not close the door of the cat carrier. "Now, Crookshanks, if you stay there until you are brought to our dorm, I won't close the door."
Said cat of course couldn't talk, but in a month she had learned to understand his intentions, and saw that he wouldn't mind sitting in the carrier as long as the door stayed open. That was a contrast to Hedwig, who decided to just take a nap in her cage and not let this all bother her in the slightest. It was at times amusing how much personality these two showed.
They arrived only minutes later, the sky by now purple. The weather was good enough they didn't need their overcoats. The students flooded out and Harry and Hermione got a surprise when seeing Hagrid being busy with calling the first year students to him, while the older years made their way to horseless carriages some distance away. Neville seemed to stiffen for some reason, before before looking away from the carriages.
"Oh, hello Mr. Hagrid!" Hermione greeted the big man while they walked to him.
"Well, look who we have here! And, ah, there you are Harry, together with more of your friends." The big man looked excited to see Harry with more of his friends. "Oh, and a Weasley. Hopefully your brothers make less trouble than last year."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked while Hagrid led the children down to the shore of the lake, the castle towering on a hill on the other side of the lake.
"They thought themselves smart enough last year to try and get around the security to enter the Forbidden Forest." Hagrid chuckled while shaking his head. "Turns out they weren't smart enough and they got in serious trouble for it."
Ron did remember the especially explosive howler his mother had written at spring and now knew what this was about, while everyone entered the boats with which they would cross the lake. Since it was four per boat, all four of them fit in nicely. It took a bit, but crossing the lake was a peaceful affair since there was next to no wind and no rain.
After reaching an underground harbor, Hagrid, while illuminated by torches, told everyone "Now follow me, but be mindful of your step!"
Ascending to the castle itself, they finally found themselves in the entrance hall of Hogwarts, where Professor McGonagall already waited for them to explain about the houses and that the sorting would start soon. Of course not many put attention to her, instead being fascinated by Myrtle, who would escort them into the great hall once it was time.
As soon as the adults were gone, she was bombarded with questions. Of course she had expected that, as it happened every year. "Easy, one at a time," she laughed. "I'm Myrtle, and I'm here to keep you company until it's time to sort you. I'm eager to answer your questions."
"Are you really a ghost?" one girl asked.
"Completely. I was once a student until... something happened to me." Myrtle clearly had learned that she shouldn't go into too much detail about her demise with children that age.
Some of the usual questions followed, and Myrtle never got tired of those, until one boy asked her "Uhm, how does the sorting work? No one wanted to tell me."
There were some snickers from some children. Malfoy and his cronies were especially obnoxious about it, but Myrtle tried to ignore them. "Really impatient, aren't you? I'm not allowed to reveal it, but be assured it's harmless and you don't have to do some kind of feat for it."
Sighs of relief came from several children, causing others to wonder what kind of rumors were circulating about the sorting. A few more minutes passed with Myrtle patiently answering more questions
Finally, the doors opened. "Ah, it is time! Now, follow me in an orderly fashion, please," Myrtle called, before leading them inside.
The sight of the great hall certainly was breathtaking when they entered.
They'd already known about the enchanted ceiling, but seeing it in action was something else. The hundreds of hovering candles gave the whole hall a warm and welcoming atmosphere. They also imagined the tall, huge gothic windows had to look great at daylight. Finally, there were the four really long tables at which the students sat, clearly one for each house. Each of the tables held about somewhat less than a hundred students.
At the head of the hall - the place they were walking to - were the tables of the faculty, with all the teachers watching them with interest. Hagrid really stood out there, due to his sheer height. And there, in front of the faculty tables, was the stool for the sorting.
Dumbledore rose when seeing the new students arrive. Myrtle hovered in front of him, looking pleased. "Here they are, Headmaster, our new first years. They are all very eager and can't wait for the sorting to start." Myrtle giggled when seeing some of the children blush, before flying to the other ghosts.
The new first-years barely listened to what the Headmaster and McGonagall had to say, though some were baffled they had to put on a hat to determine which house they would join. When the hat was sat onto the stool and then started to sing - though a bit off-key but it was a nice song - all of them were fascinated and couldn't wait for the sorting to start.
Then it finally did, when the first student in alphabetical order was told by McGonagall to come forward and put on the hat, which was a girl named Hannah Abbott. After some moments, the hat declared her to be a Hufflepuff, much to the joy of that house, and her tie changed colors accordingly to that house.
It took only little time before it was Millicent's turn. So she put the hat on and waited.
"Oh, you poor girl. You are indeed very ambitious to show everyone you are more than what you appear to be. It's a bit sad that the house that fits you best sadly has elements that won't be friendly to you."
If Millicent was surprised, she didn't show it. Please, I'm already nervous enough.
"Pardon me. Of course you will be a good Slytherin!"
Millicent went to the Slytherin table and the sorting went on and before long it was Dudley's turn.
"Oh, now this is a truly exciting story! There are only few students who can claim to have gained magic well into their childhood. Now, where to put you?"
Dudley felt the hat take a closer look at him and felt embarrassed that he wouldn't have any secrets from it.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm under an oath of confidentiality; no one can make me reveal the secrets of the students. ... Oh, now, sadly I hve to admit that you are not exactly the bravest person, and your past would disqualify you for Hufflepuff, though you are trying. Also not Ravenclaw, considering your grades..."
Unwittingly, Dudley remembered meeting Daphne and Millicent.
"Well, that house would fit you, considering how you want to prove your parents wrong. But are you sure? Slytherin has become not the healthiest environment for those from a non-magical background. There is a good reason why I didn't put any of them, even though they would have been a fit, into that house for the past three decades."
I don't care! I can defend myself! And should they try anything with Millicent, they'll learn not to mess with me! Dudley challenged the hat.
"Oh, quite some courage and compassion, but you indeed have the drive and believe me, you can be quite sneaky. Therefore, you can find your luck in Slytherin!"
There was mostly stunned silence, since no muggleborn had made it into Slytherin in decades, especially the Slytherins themselves - and that especially went for those from the more notorious families - were downright shocked. Harry also was a bit surprised. However, he didn't want to show it, since even after two years, he had not told his friends that Dudley was his cousin, nor of their past. To them Dudley was just one face of many and Harry preferred it to be that way. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn't help the way he felt about it.
Then suddenly there was applause, coming from Millicent. She knew this would single her out, but she didn't care while Dudley sat down beside her. "To be honest, I didn't expect that," she admitted to him.
"Well, I don't mind, though considering the company we could get..." Millicent knew what Dudley meant with that.
The sorting went on, and before long, it was Hermione's turn. She hoped the hat would make a good choice.
"Now, you are certainly a most eager girl, Ms. Granger, considering all those questions you want to ask me." Hermione blushed and the hat laughed. "Don't worry, dear, I'm not offended. Now let's see... Oh, VERY interesting."
What is interesting? Hermione couldn't help but to ask.
"Oh, it's that most would have sorted you just by the first look. However, I'm not most, as I take a closer look and see what's hidden." Hermione couldn't help it, but think about yesterday and her friends talking about how they could end up in different houses. The hat noticed it. "Oho, now that is... Oh, this truly is a game changer."
Game changer? All of a sudden Hermione felt afraid.
"Now, don't be afraid, you WILL be sorted today, that's for sure, but could you please turn to your left so that you face the Headmaster?"
Hermione wondered what this was about, but did as told.
"Headmaster, while I WILL sort this student, there are special circumstances at work. And no, she has done nothing wrong. Please let her stand by the staff table until the sorting is done, before I resolve the situation," the hat said aloud.
Everyone was confused. Something like that had never happened before, at least in living memory. While Hermione was a bit nervous, the hat had reassured her that she had done nothing wrong and would be sorted tonight.
After the already second surprise that evening, everyone now only waited for the next shore to drop. So it took only little attention that Daphne was sorted into Syltherin, but then the hat spoke up yet again. "Madame Pomfrey, Ms. Greengrass is not well. I'm very disappointed that the rules force sick students to attend the sorting or having to wait for another year."
Madame Pomfrey muttered about writing to the Board of Governors about this while leading Daphne away. The sorting then went on, and before long it now was Neville's turn. He already was resigned to become a Hufflepuff while putting on the head.
"So sure you are about where I will put you, Mr. Longbottom?" the hat asked, having heard the thought. "You should not give so much on what others think of you. I have the most experience with seeing the hidden qualities of a person."
Oh, I'm sorry, Neville thought on reflex.
"No need to apologize, junior. Now... hmmm, just as I thought. You certainly have made interesting friends. ... Mhhh, and a little knight in shining armor, considering how you chased that dog away before it could bite the girl." The hat was amused when feeling Neville's embarrassment. "Oh, you'll be sorted as well, don't worry... just not yet. Please turn me to the Headmaster," the hat instructed.
"Headmaster, the same as for Ms. Granger goes for this student. He is to wait beside her until the sorting is done."
Now there was massive confusion and the older students had never experienced the hat becoming so talkative during the sorting. It seemed, the teachers didn't, either. The sorting proceeded, but many were by now distracted by all the strangeness surrounding it. The only really interesting thing was, how the hat barely touched Malfoy's hair before it immediately proclaimed him to be a Slytherin. That had to be a record for the fastest sorting, though the hat had sounded a bit shocked at whatever it had seen.
Hermione gulped when Pansy Parkinson was called forward, recognizing her as the girl from the train whose enmity she'd gained. Pansy for her part gave Hermione a dark look, clearly feeling Hermione did not deserve the extra attention the hat was giving her. The hat needed only a mere ten seconds, before declaring Pansy to be a Slytherin.
Finally, it was Harry's turn, and only now did many realize that the boy with glasses actually was the Harry Potter. Everyone had expected to see a highly visible scar, so this came literally out of nowhere. That at once started the whispers, many students now openly wondering how many more surprises this sorting would bring, with Harry Potter now being about to be sorted.
Harry ignored all that while putting on the hat and then waiting for what would happen next.
"Hello, Mr. Potter. After two of your friends, I was really looking forward to you. Now, let's take a look first... Oh! ... Now you certainly would have been quite difficult to sort normally, as you are a person with many different sides. Yes, quite difficult under normal circumstances."
Uh, what does that exactly mean? Harry wondered, suddenly thinking back to Dudley being sorted into Slytherin.
"Oh, don't worry. I would never put you into a house where you would be in constant danger." That was ominous of the hat to say. "You are certainly a very complicated young man, with a past no one would wish on someone your age."
Harry had a feeling where this was going. Does it mean the same for me as for my friends?
"Most certainly. Like with your friends, my final decision has to wait for the moment. Do not worry, you will not have to wait for too long. Now, would you please...?"
Harry did as told, allowing the hat again address Dumbledore. "Now, Headmaster, I know I'm raising the anticipation a bit high, but for the time being, Mr. Potter will join his friends until the sorting is done. Just be patient, please."
Now the whispering really exploded. That Harry Potter himself was held back for sorting by the hat had opened the floodgates and McGonagall had to produce several loud bangs with her wand in order to get things back into order, reminding everyone that it was disrespectful to all those students that still needed to be sorted.
The sorting then proceeded.
Ron still cursed that due to alphabetical order, he would be at the very end of the list, as this only made him more nervous. And indeed, when he finally was called, only one other student was left.
Oh man, I feel like I'm getting sick. After his friends got singled out like that, he was nervous for several reasons.
"Oh my goodness, Mr. Weasley, please calm down! No need to panic!" The hat clearly had had its share of panicked students over the years.
Easier said than done! They all are getting special attention. What if I don't...? Ron was starting to panic.
"Stop! I will tell you right away you will stand beside your friends!" That calmed Ron down. "Now that you are more willing to listen... You are certainly better than you think you are. Why are you still putting yourself down despite what you already accomplished in your young life?"
Is it that hard to guess? Before his mind's eye Ron saw the accomplishments of his brothers.
"You are your own person, and don't sell yourself cheap. You've already started to prove to everyone your mettle, and you'll see in time it's about more than just chess, though that one will certainly be quite lucrative. Now you already know what to do, so please."
Dumbledore by now felt the hat was trolling him. "Now, and Mr. Wesley will stand by his friends as well. Don't worry, my decision will be revealed soon," the hat told him, clearly feeling a bit amused.
Thankfully, only one more student had to be sorted, and Blaise Zabini was sent to Slytherin, before Dumbledore addressed the hat. "Now, great Sorting Hat, you have certainly made it a very memorable evening."
"Thank you, Headmaster. However, we are not done yet. I will not reveal my decision until everyone for this year was under me. Therefore I will now pull the Inclusive! Two students, who should be here, are not present."
That caused massive unrest, many having no idea what the Inclusive actually was. Those who did know suddenly found themselves with many listeners while they explained. Dumbledore of course knew as well what the Inclusive was, even though he himself had only witnessed it once in his life. Essentially, the Sorting Hat had the right to demand someone to be sorted, though it generally only reserved that right for extreme cases where the students in question had been hindered from attending by shady means.
It was an ancient right, granted to the hat by the founders to make sure there wouldn't be foul play involved in keeping students away from the school. After the first few centuries however, the hat rarely pulled the Inclusive, thus why most had forgotten it actually did exist in the first place. However, to have it pulled twice at the same sorting...
Dumbledore was a bit taken aback, but then asked the big question. "According to the book, every student for this year is present."
"Oh, I know. The two missing students were supposed to attend next year, but my decision is made. Due to special circumstances, which I will not reveal, these two students will be sorted today and start school this year. They can certainly take it."
Dumbledore knew he had to give in. "Then, who are these two students? We will contact their families as fast as possible."
"Certainly. The students in question are Ginevra Weasley and Luna Lovegood."
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"Journey to Hogwarts, Part II - Six for Hogwarts"
Notes:
Here the notes.
And thus starts the second book, which will include the first three years at Hogwarts. Originally, this was only intended to be one chapter, but it ballooned up so much, that I finally had to split it into two chapters. Shows you that even planning ahead can go wrong.
As you can see, I tried my very best to adapt the train ride from canon into something new, while still giving all the needed information. Of course we meet Draco, him being his charming self. What is new is Dudley's story. I wanted him to make friends that are not the usual suspects and hope I gave a good reason why the families of Daphne and Millicent are not that well-regarded in pureblood circles.
What is entirely new however is Hermione running afoul of Pansy Parkinson on the train, and thus earning Pansy's enmity. I always felt she was under-utilized in canon. While her role in first year will be limited, it will grow with the story.
Now, the sorting. HAHAHAHA! I really BET you didn't see THAT coming, do you?!