Advance Arrangement
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.


Harry and Bobby arrived early on platform nine and three quarters, accompanied by their parents in their Unspeakable guises.

"Do you remember how to cast the charm to enlarge your compartment?" Their mother cast them a questioning look.

"Yes…"

"… Don't worry, Mum…"

"… We'll be fine."

Just then, the first of their friends arrived, and Harry boarded the train together with Draco, Susan and Blub, while Bobby waited on the platform for the rest of their friends.

Thirty minutes, before the train was due to leave, Neville, Draco, Daphne, Ron, Susan, Blub, Jane, Kengo, Nina, Toni, Dudley, Bobby and Harry were comfortably gathered in a magically enlarged compartment, chattering about the beginning of their first Hogwarts year in absolute excitement.

Paws and Claws were comfortably nestled in the twins' laps.

"Will everyone look down at us, because we're goblins?"

"Because we're not humans?" Kengo and Jane looked at their friends in apparent concern.

"I don't think so." Susan was the first to reply.

"But if they do…"

"… we'll tell them what they deserve."

Their friends laughed, noticing from the twins' expressions that they meant what they said.

"You're scary." Dudley smirked.

"No, we're not…"

"… but if anyone angers our friends…"

"… they'll learn to fear our wrath."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Are you going to go all Mini Unspeakables to them?"

The twins grinned. "We've learned a lot about Defence…"

"… that's true…"

"… but no one is supposed to know…"

"… that we're Mini Unspeakables…"

"… so please keep this to yourselves."

Their friends promised to keep the twins' secret, just when the sweets trolley came by and the group became efficiently distracted.

From time to time, the Weasley twins and even their brother Percy came to visit the group, and the train ride was much fun. However, Harry and Bobby secretly wondered why they had to take the train instead of simply stepping through the fireplace.

'We could have spent the afternoon at Hogwarts…'

'… exploring the castle together with our friends,' they thought to each other.

They knew better, however, when they were sitting in a boat together with Jane and Kengo, the goblin twins, and experienced a first view onto the castle, which looked simply breath taking from the boat.

"This looks totally amazing." Jane was the first to comment.

"I wonder if we'll ever find our way around that big castle though," her brother added.

"The Weasley twins told us…"

"… that it wouldn't be a problem…"

"… We'll just have to see…"

"… that we'll all get together into the same house."

HP

Ten minutes later, Hagrid led them into the castle, where they met their Granny Minerva, who was now Professor McGonagall to them. The professor appeared very strict, and Harry and Bobby, who had known her from when they had been very small, decided to try to never get onto her bad side. The professor held a small monologue about the houses, before she guided them into the Great Hall and motioned them to wait for a moment.

"The ceiling was charmed to look like the sky by Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the founders of Hogwarts."

Harry and Bobby turned around and saw a girl with bushy brown hair. However, they refrained from commenting on the matter, even if they thought that while beautiful it was not such a big deal, considering that the ceilings in their igloo at home were charmed in the same way.

They came to stand in the middle of the Great Hall right in front of the high table. In the centre of the table, an old wizard with a long, white beard, was seated.

'He must be the headmaster,' Bobby thought to Harry, who returned an unobtrusive nod, while he let his eyes wander to the left side, from where their Uncle Severus cast them a barely noticeable smirk.

'I hope we'll get into Granny Minerva's or Uncle Severus' house,' Harry thought back.

'Yeah, together with the Weasley twins; that would be cool.'

They finished their private conversation and looked up, when Professor McGonagall called "Hannah Abbot" from her list of first-years.

Hannah headed to the stool indicated by the professor and sat down, only to have the Sorting Hat be placed onto her head. An instant later, the Hat called out, "Hufflepuff."

Under huge applause from all four house-tables, Hannah headed to the Hufflepuff table.

A moment later, Susan as the first of their group was called to the Sorting Hat.

"Slytherin," the Hat shouted into the Great Hall the instant it touched her head, and Susan made her way over to the Slytherin table, accompanied by huge applause.

"From this year onwards, we have decided to accept five students per year who are not humans. Please note that they are equally intelligent, magically gifted and able to follow rules as any of our human students. If any student harasses them because of their heritage, please note that this student will be expelled immediately." Turning back to her list, she called out, "Buckbean, Jane."

Harry and Bobby observed how Jane headed over to the Slytherin table, while the students at the house tables politely clapped their hands. She took the empty seat next to Susan, where her twin brother joined her less than two minutes later.

The twins looked at Draco in surprise, when he suddenly began to chuckle. "Crabbe in Hufflepuff. That's really funny. His father will kill him."

"And why would that be?" Bobby whispered back.

"Because his and Goyle's parents are really bigoted purebloods. According to my mother, my father was one as well, but she said he changed because of my influence." Draco let out a small snort, when Goyle was sorted into Hufflepuff as well.

'I wonder if the Hat's going to send all Death Eater children to Hufflepuff,' Harry thought to Bobby.

'Well, if so, then Draco will go there as well,' his brother thought back.

However, Neville was sent to the Slytherin table, where Draco joined him a few minutes later.

Theodore Nott went to Gryffindor, just before Professor McGonagall called out, "Potter, Bobby."

Harry and Bobby walked up to the stool together, and with a flick of Harry's hand, the stool was enlarged for the two of them to comfortably sit together. From the corners of their eyes, they noticed how the professor rolled her eyes in apparent annoyance. However, she did not comment, and they merely returned a soft smile.

"Mr. Harry Potter, it is not your turn yet," the headmaster called out; however, neither of the twins showed any reaction to the old wizard's words.

The Hat simply enlarged its brim, so that he fit over both their heads. 'Another couple of stubborn twins,' a small voice thought straight into their minds. 'It's you who have caused this whole mess for me to have to sort students into houses, where they don't belong. Oh well, that will be…'

The strain of thought suddenly stopped, before the Hat shouted for everyone to hear. "Slytherin and Slytherin."

tbc...

Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please continue feeding my muse. Any ideas, suggestions or opinions are welcome.