Chapter 35: Welcome to Hogwarts

The carriage was pulling them slowly. Hermione noted that everyone else seemed to be rather quiet too. In fact, no one had said a word since they climbed on. She looked over at Harry who looked rather peaceful, although he was clearly thinking about something.

"That was so weird." Neville eventually noted.

Everyone except for Harry looked over at him.

"What? It was. Did you see how she just jumped at Harry?" His eyes shot to Hermione for a split second.

This seemed to have shaken Harry out of his thoughts as he looked up at Neville too, "Hmm… what happened?"

"Did you know that girl?" Neville asked.

Harry shook his head. "Nope. Never seen her before. It was quite weird wasn't it?"

"Yeah, weird doesn't put it close." Padma added, "I mean… you don't just hug strangers like that. Even if they are the vanquisher of Lord Voldemort."

Hermione was happy to hear Padma call Voldemort by his name. She always believed it stupid to avoid using it.

"I mean… I doubt she knew Hermione is with Harry… but still… hugging someone, and hugging them like that is not something people do to strangers." Padma added.

"I think she did know," Luna informed, making all eyes turn to her.

"What makes you say that?" Padma asked.

"It was something about her eyes. The way she looked at Hermione… sizing her up. I believe it clicked for her straight away." Luna explained.

Padma sighed in defeat, "Well. It looks like you have competition, Hermione."

Harry chuckled, "Hermione doesn't have anything to be worried about." He turned to his girlfriend and smiled. "She knows that I'm hers and only hers."

"Aww, that's so adorable," Hannah added.

Hermione smiled back at him, the tension in her chest stopping slightly. Damn right he's mine! She thought.


Up ahead, closing in towards the gates of Hogwarts, Ginny was leaving Hogsmeade with Maria and the group of seventh-year girls who seemed to be eyeing her more than the Latina who was sat opposite her.

"I don't know about you girls but Harry sure does seem like a snack." Maria giggled. All the other girls turned to her and laughed too.

"Tell me about it." One of the girls hiccupped.

Maria turned to Ginny, "Okay, you told me who he is. Now tell me more about him. What's he like?"

Ginny let her shoulders fall as she looked back down the road of Hogsmeade. She knew Harry would be taking this exact path in a couple minutes.

"He's funny… smart… very caring of others. More than anyone else I've met. And brave. Above all, he's brave." She was trying to hide the bitter and sad tone in her voice, but she knew Maria picked up on it.

The girl gazed at her in wonder, "Something tells me you've been a bit closer to him than just as a friend. Did you date him before?"

Ginny hesitated but nodded her head eventually.

"Well, well, well. Looks like someone's been busy." Maria teased. "How did you break up? Did he leave you or did you catch him with another witch?"

Ginny felt rather offended that Maria wasn't even considering that maybe Ginny decided to leave Harry. But then again, this was Harry Potter they were talking about.

"We split up a while back." Ginny didn't actually know which split up to refer to. Naturally, their relationship ended towards the end of her fifth year after the funeral of Albus Dumbledore. But then there was the whole episode which took place at the Burrow. Ginny felt as if Maria didn't need to know any more than she already did.

"I wonder… did he leave you for someone or just because it wasn't working?" Maria asked.

Ginny shook her head, "We split up because Harry wanted to keep me safe. He was leaving school to fight Voldemort and he didn't want anyone to know about us."

Maria seemed to become more interested by the second. "I don't understand… why didn't you get back together then?"

"Things changed between us. Harry didn't feel the same… I don't think I felt the same either. So we just split up."Ginny finished.

Maria sighed, "I'm sorry. It was insensitive of me to suggest all that stuff."

Ginny shrugged, "It's okay, I guess. You seem to hold quite an interest in him."

Maria smiled, "I won't lie. He really caught my eye. He's a very good looking boy. I mean… he was wearing robes, but I can tell he probably has a very fit body under all those layers. I hope you don't mind me saying that I'm highly interested."

Ginny shrugged, "You don't need to worry about me. You should be worried about someone else though." A small smile crept up on her face.

"Who? The girl that was with him? What's her name again… Hermione, right?"

Ginny nodded.

Maria gave Ginny a smile. There was something about it. She clearly respected Hermione as a good opponent. But it was the kind of face someone makes before revealing an ace right from their sleeve.

"She's with Harry, isn't she?"

Ginny nodded again.

Maria smiled, "Interesting. I must say, judging by you and her, his taste in women is quite… rich."

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Ginny answered.

Maria gazed back at Ginny, "Both of you have the full package. Decent curves, tall, petite. He clearly likes that type. He might've upgraded slightly when it comes to your bums. But everything else is quite similar. Apart from the hair, of course."

Maria was very up-front. She didn't beat around the bush and she clearly wasn't scared about being direct. There was something about her that Ginny liked. She wasn't afraid of speaking her thoughts, but she'd didn't try to insult anyone either. It was quite an exotic mix.

"Hermione might be quite the challenge. But I'll let you girls in on a secret of mine." Maria leaned towards Ginny slightly, which caused all the other girls to lean in too.

"I always get what I want." She smirked at them before flicking her hair and sitting up.

There was a change in the atmosphere and Ginny was feeling slightly hot. She looked at Maria and was thrown off. She wasn't doing anything in particular. Just smiling at all of them, revealing her perfect pearly white teeth. At that moment, she looked like the goddess of beauty. Everything about her was perfect.

"My God… she's a Veela!" One of the girls squealed in shock.


The carriage eventually pulled to a stop at the gates of Hogwarts. Harry was glad to see that 'stop and search' was no longer a thing now that the war ended. They proceeded through the gates and were welcomed inside by Mr Filch who seemed to be in a much better mood than Harry has ever seen him.

Harry swayed slightly closer to Hermione, hoping that she would understand what he was trying to do. Luckily, she understood almost straight away as she smiled and wrapped her arm securely around his.

"Aww… look at the two lovebirds." Padma teased.

Harry hardly heard her as he was too busy admiring the view of the castle from here. Almost every single window was lit up, making the castle stand out brightly in the night. It reminded him of his first year when he swam towards the castle by boat.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded, although he looked back at her and smiled, "I've seen better."

She giggled quietly, running her hand over his arm. Harry knew that Hermione felt somewhat uncomfortable about Maria and what she did back at the station. He'd be lying if he said that it didn't make him equally as uncomfortable. He decided that showering Hermione with compliments would remind her that he had eyes only for her. Afterall, Hermione was one in a billion, and he wanted her to know it.

Stepping inside the castle felt strange, but he couldn't help also feeling nostalgic. Everything was fixed and back to its original form. In fact, Hogwarts looked even cleaner than usual. It was nice to see that fixing the castle also refreshed it slightly.

"Harry, what do you want to do with the wand?" Hermione asked him.

"Is it in your handbag?"

Hermione nodded, revealing the handbag from under her robes. She carried that thing pretty much at all times these days.

"Keep it for now," Harry answered.

They continued through to the great hall. It looked better than ever. The roof was mirroring the night sky as always. All eyes were looking right at them. Of course, being the last ones in the great hall didn't help the stares, but no one needed a reminder of who was walking down the great hall right now. Even the teachers were glaring.

"Is that him?" Harry heard a quiet whisper somewhere behind him. "With Hermione Granger?" another added.

Harry could feel Hermione's hold tighten slightly. He knew that she was slightly worried about what people would say. Afterall, when she left the castle in May, she was holding Ron's arm, not Harry's.

The prefect group started to split up as everyone made their way to their designated house tables. This left Harry, Hermione and Neville. They made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down.

Just like every other year, before the feast could start, there had to be a sorting. It was usually McGonagall who brought the new students inside the great hall. However, she was comfortably sat in the headmaster's chair. Harry wondered who got that job now.

To everyone's surprise, Hagrid appeared at the doorway soon after, leading the first years through the hall. He winked at Harry and Hermione as he passed, clearly appreciating their impressed expressions. Harry desperately wished he could witness Hagrid introducing the school's houses. It must've been an amazing introduction.

After the sorting hat sang it's annual poetic chorale, sorting was able to finally begin. Harry smiled as he looked at all the nervous faces. They all reminded him of his own face when he was sorted. Fortunately, he treasured the memory as it always reminded him about his contrast to Voldemort. It showed that he was different and that made him happy.

Eventually, whispers all quieted down as the Headmistress made her way to the front. The famous spot where Dumbledore stood all those years. Harry wondered how her speeches would compare to the former Headmaster's.

"Welcome… to another year at Hogwarts!" Professor McGonagall announced. "I can't explain how happy I am to see all of you here. Our presence here today is the precise evidence that light will always win over dark!" She continued, making small gestures and circling around the stand.

"As all of you know… last year, Hogwarts was attacked by Voldemort himself. We fought as hard as we could to protect the castle. It was expected that we would lose loved ones. And we have. We lost many of them that day. But we still fought despite the odds. Thanks to our bravery, power and strength, we now unite here once again.

However, we would not be here if not for certain particular individuals. We lost some of them that day. They were brave people. They fought for all of us and they sacrificed their own lives so that we could be here right now. Some of them, however, are here right now. I would like all those people to stand. You know who you are." The headmistress instructed.

Harry feared something like this would take place. People started to stand up. Harry could recognise a lot of them. They were all in seventh year. All staff members stood too. Harry knew that he had to stand whether he liked it or not. Eventually, the three of them stood up. Harry could see Ginny too, she was a not too far down the table, he could also see Maria sitting down next to her. If there was a chance that someone didn't spot Harry when he walked in, now they'd definitely be aware of his presence.

"Now I'd like all of us to have a massive round of applause!" McGonagall called.

Everyone in the hall started clapping. Harry could hear some cheers and whistles too. Someone even started a chant saying "Thank you!". It was highly uncomfortable, although everyone else seemed to be okay with it.

"We're still here!" McGonagall exclaimed at them as the cheering quieted down.

She allowed the cheering to continue for a moment before she raised her hands, asking for silence as the room fell quiet. Hary was happy to see that she received the same respect and authority that Dumbledore did.

"Now that we're done properly welcoming our heroes. I'd like to run over a couple of things. Of course, we have a new Defence against the dark arts teacher. It was hard persuading him to come to Hogwarts, so I hope all of you give him a warm welcome!" The headmistress informed.

Harry looked over at the staff table, and he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

"Professor Aberforth Dumbledore!" McGonagall announced.