Chapter 5: Surprise at Hogwarts
Another seven galleons later, along with a quick ushering from the store after being informed of the proper care for a basilisk core wand, the trio found themselves out on the street once more. As promised after the visit to Wands by Gregorovitch, they made their way to Fortescue's. Holly wasn't a very picky eater when it came to her sweets but, due to the rather turbulent day, she decided to go with a strawberry flavored ice cream to mellow everything out. Dudley, being as avid an eater as her uncle, saw that Death By Chocolate was an option on the menu and decided that was the only option. The ensuing sugar coma that had followed had Dudley in such a lethargic state that it took a good half an hour before he was able to move again. Of course, being the dogfather that he was, Sirius went with a chocolate peanut butter combo ice cream. All in all, it was a good way to end Holly and Dudley's trip to Diagon Alley.
After finishing their ice creams, the group egressed the alley the same way they had entered. This time, however, the brick wall formed the archway without needing any prompting as it had been enchanted to do so when someone was exiting the alley. They made their way through the Leaky Cauldron back to the M3 on the street and began the trip back to Surrey, listening to the rock station play the hits of the day. When they finally pulled up to number 4, it was as Sirius had said it would be when they left. Walking into the door, the group could smell the telltale signs of dinner having just been finished. It was something Holly's aunt prided herself on, having dinner ready at the precise moment it needed to be.
"Mom, we're home," Dudley called as Sirius finally caught up with them, having had to extract Holly's trunk from the boot.
"We're in the dining room, dear," Petunia called back from said room, "everyone come along now, dinner is ready."
The family, which had grown to include Sirius as the years had passed by and the elder Dursleys had come to love him as one would love an eccentric cousin, had enjoyed a lovely dinner. Petunia loved being a housewife and, as such, spent her time thinking of new ways to outdo herself when it came to cooking. This definitely showed on her husbands waistline, her son also beginning to follow along in the same department. Holly always ate her fill but rarely went for seconds as she was beginning to become conscious of her looks. Sirius had lamented the fact that she ate as if she couldn't change her appearance to be whatever it was that she wanted it to be, wishing he could do the same.
All in all, the dinner was fantastic. The food was great, a beef wellington that Aunt Petunia had decided to try out on them to see if she could feasibly do it for a dinner party with the neighborhood women. As expected, the conversation was all about the things they had seen from the magical shopping district. Holly had told her uncle about the meeting with her account manager, to which he quipped, "Finally, you understand what I've been working with all of these years."
They glossed over most of the mundane parts of the trip where it was just picking up school uniforms and supplies. Holly did go into great detail about her trunk, telling her uncle, "It's as if there is a whole other house inside of it." This had piqued Vernon's interest and he insisted that Holly give them a tour after dinner was over. Then, the conversation had shifted to the interesting points of the trip.
"Dad," Dudley began excitedly, "Holly's got a black mamba named Kira."
At first, Vernon looked quizzically at his niece as it looked like she was talking to the inside of her shirt. What had happened immediately afterwards had the elder Dursleys doing everything that they could to remain seated and not run from the room as Kira had slithered out from the inner pocket of Holly's new shirt. She did a quick lap around Holly's neck and then went back into the shirt, which looked as if there was nothing inside of it. This display had ended with Vernon muttering, "crazy magicals. Holly, you make sure that ruddy snake stays out of sight whenever we're around, understand?"
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Holly replied, smirking internally at the reaction from her aunt and uncle, "Kira understands she's not to hurt anyone in my family and she can sense that you all are family."
Vernon nodded, deciding the matter was closed as he took a handkerchief from his pants pocket and wiped his forehead as there was some perspiration that had occurred due to the nerves he had from seeing Kira. Petunia was still breathing calming breaths. Deciding to help the matter along, Holly changed topics and told the family all about how she hadn't been able to find a wand that had matched up with her at the first store they had gone to.
"So we had to go to this other store on a side street that had wands which were made by this guy's competitor," Holly continued, "It was there we met Ms. Poppins. Told Dudley to close his mouth and that he wasn't a codfish."
"Hold up," Vernon interrupted, holding up one of his hands, "You met some Disney character at a wand store?"
Sirius had lightly hammered his fist onto his palm, "I knew that woman looked familiar. She definitely looked like the woman who played Mary Poppins. So that must've been where old man Disney had gotten his inspiration from."
The kids had looked stunned by this revelation. Of course they had seen the Disney movie many times, it was a very popular movie for families of all ages. The situation had been so fantastical at the second wand shop that they had totally forgotten that the woman had looked almost exactly like Julie Andrews had in the movie. But it had to be a coincidence, right?
After Holly had expressed that sentiment, Sirius said, "Oh no, definitely not a coincidence. There's nothing stopping magicals from interacting with muggles so long as they don't reveal they're a magical to them if they aren't supposed to know. The likeness is too uncanny to what Disney had portrayed in his movie. No, this woman must've visited him while he was making the movie and the fellow must've decided that she was what Mary would look like."
With the matter settled, at least in their minds, Holly finally finished the story about getting her matched wand. It was just as well as they had finished dessert, which ended up being more ice cream. After dessert, there was a quick tour of the trunk, which Sirius had brought into the living room. Many comments were made about magicals and their funny business as they went through the four rooms inside. Holly was pretty amazed by the trunk herself, again secretly thanking Sirius for having insisted on getting it as its utility and potential was further showcased.
By the time the family had climbed out of the trunk, it was definitely the children's bedtime. After the day they had gone through, neither Holly nor Dudley had even protested the notion; not that they would have as the two were relatively well behaved and understood that bedtime was bedtime and there were not many negotiations to be had regarding the matter. After a goodbye hug to Sirius and many thanks from Holly for the trip and especially for Kira, the children went up to bed and Sirius bid the elder Dursleys good evening. Vernon and Petunia had bid him a good evening as well, after thanking him for taking the children for the day and ensuring they had come back safe.
The rest of August passed in relative ease for Holly and her family. She had spent a lot of time reading all of her textbooks, as well as some of the extra reading that Sirirus had insisted on getting. When she'd gotten her first mice shipment for Kira, Holly had perused the owl order catalog and saw that there was a book on general snake care, as well as a book on parseltongue. Deciding she wanted to obtain the books, Holly had sent an order back with the owl that delivered the following week's food shipment, enclosing the requisite amount of money with the order. To say she was excited to receive the books that very week was an understatement.
When she wasn't studying her magic books inside her trunk, as she didn't really want to keep climbing in and out of it to retrieve and replace books, Holly was spending time with the family. Dudley, of course, was going to Smeltings in the fall and, therefore, was spending a considerable amount of time with his mates, as Piers would be the only one attending Smeltings with him. However, Dudley was always back an hour or two before dinner in order to hang out with Holly. He was just as enthralled with Kira as Holly was and enjoyed hanging out with them inside Holly's trunk. As much as he, like his mother before him, had wished he was magical, Dudley displayed a fair amount of maturity when it came to accepting the fact he wasn't. In fact, he was really quite happy that he'd been allowed to be included in the secret due to his relation to Holly. Magic was wonderful, and maybe, if he was lucky, he might find a witch one day that his mother would find acceptable that he could marry. That was very far in the distant future, however, and his interest in girls wasn't what it would turn into in a few years.
Vernon and Petunia had definitely arranged for a couple major family outings for that month as part of a going away present for both of the children, as both of them would be boarding at their respective schools and the Dursleys wouldn't see them until Christmas at the earliest. Of course, that meant a trip to the movie theater. And, out of all the movies that were playing, Delirious with John Candy was really the only one Vernon was interested in. It had been a weak month for movie releases but the theater snacks were always worth the price of admission and, surprisingly, the movie was funny, if not a little crass. The other outing they took was a week later, when Vernon had arranged for a day on the English channel of sailing. Vernon and Dudley had taken the opportunity to fish off of the side of the boat, even if they were terrible at it and had caught nothing of note. Meanwhile, Holly and her aunt had done what most women would do on a hot august day on the water, sunbathed. It was a very relaxing day for everyone involved and everyone had gained, to some degree, a certain level of tan.
When 31 August rolled around, Petunia had, once again, outdone herself in regards to dinner. Sirius, of course, had been invited for dinner, as well as to spend the night as he would be the one taking Holly to King's Cross station the next day. This meant that it was the big finale of the summer for the whole family. The evening was quite bittersweet as it was becoming fast apparent that both of the children were growing up and there was nothing anyone could do to slow it down, not that the adults truly wished to as they knew it was the natural way of things. Tomorrow would be the first step on the children's journey to truly morphing into the adults that they would be. Sure, it would be a long journey but the fact remained that it was finally beginning.
"Uncle Siri, let's go, we're going to be late," Holly said loudly into her godfather's face as he grumbled himself awake from his position on the bed inside Holly's trunk, once again showcasing another piece of its usefulness.
"What time is it?" Sirius asked, peering blearily at his goddaughter.
"Ten o'clock!" Holly exclaimed, part nervous and part excited. She was never one for being late to anything, especially if it was her first time going somewhere or if it had involved transportation of any sort that had a scheduled departure time.
Sirius chuckled as he sat up on the bed and shook the cobwebs out of his brain, "Not to worry, Holly."
As Sirius stood up and cast a cleaning charm on himself, as well as checked himself over in the mirror that was a part of the attached bathroom in the trunk, Holly asked, "What do you mean not to worry? The train leaves at eleven and we should be getting into the station by no later than ten thirty."
"Just settle down, love," Sirius chided, smoothing out his hair and nodding when he felt he had achieved his signature look, "you seem to be forgetting about magical transportation."
"We're not taking the car?" Holly asked, perplexed.
"Nope," Sirius replied, grinning, "I'm going to show you apparation here in a few minutes. Now go say your goodbyes to your family whilst I get your trunk prepared to go."
Holly climbed out of the trunk, going to do as Sirius said. Her godfather shook his head, grinning, "She's so like the both of you it's not even funny. So thirsty for knowledge and so eager to get to where she's going."
Sirius looked himself over one more time, then climbed out of the trunk and closed it up. Grabbing it in his hand, he descended from the spare bedroom and went into the kitchen, where he saw Holly giving out hugs to all of the Dursleys. It surprised Sirius to no end how much they had become taken with their niece. When Dumbledore had suggested to Sirius that Holly live with the Dursleys, he'd been against it based on how Lily had described her sister's family to them. What a remarkable transformation Holly had been on everyone around her. Sirius had been really impressed with how well the Dursleys had rallied to the situation and had gotten over their aversions to magic, though he was pretty certain the monthly stipend that Ragnok had arranged had helped greatly with that in the beginning. There was no doubt in his mind that now Holly was their daughter in all but name, just as it was with Sirius.
When it came time for the children to say goodbye, it was heartwarming to see them wish each other a good year at school and to see Holly threaten Dudley to keep his grades up. Of course, it went double for Holly when Dudley reminded her to not keep her nose in a book all of the time, to make sure to make some friends, and possibly get outside for some sun. Sirius had no doubt it would take a nuclear bomb to destroy this sibling relationship that had developed due to a series of unfortunate events.
When ten thirty had come upon them, Vernon asked, "Aren't you lot going to be late for this train of yours?"
"Oh, not to worry, Vernon," Sirius said, trademark mischief grin plastered fully onto his face, "I'm about to do some funny business, we'll be there in no time at all."
Vernon harrumphed and bristled his mustache, "I suppose we should let you get to it then, I assume you'll be back for your car?"
"Naturally," Sirius responded, holding his arm out to Holly, "ready then, Holly?"
"Am I ready for what?" Holly asked, looking at his arm sideways, "What are you doing?"
"You need to grab onto my arm so I can apparate us both into the station," Sirius explained, arm still outstretched.
"Okay then," Holly said as she tentatively took hold of his arm, "Goodbye then everyone, see you at christmas."
"Holly, you're going to have to hold on tighter so that you don't get lost mid pop," Sirius said, to which Holly strengthened her grip on his arm, "be back in a bit then."
With those final words, the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube took hold and, after a few seconds, they were suddenly on platform nine and three quarters. Sirius led them off of the apparation point quickly, which was just as well as another family had popped in right behind them.
"Alright there, Holly dear?" Sirius asked, continuing to hold onto his goddaughter just in case she was still feeling disoriented.
"Yeah, I think so," Holly answered, shaking her head, "people enjoy traveling like that?"
"Enjoy is a rather strong word when it comes to apparation," Sirius answered, letting go of Holly, "Out of all the magical forms of travel, it is the least expensive and most convenient when going places you've already been to. Has a pretty good range too, although apparating south england to north scotland does take it to its limits if you're not used to traveling that far like that. I will say you definitely get used to it the more you do it."
"Well, that's good I suppose then," Holly answered, feeling a bit more stable. It was then that she finally looked around at the platform, seeing the gleaming red engine with the engraving in bold letters HOGWARTS EXPRESS. Smoke was gently rising out of the smokestack in front, steam occasionally hissing from the area around the wheels. It was around that point that Holly had noticed the size of the crowd gathered around the train. The area was packed, as far as train platforms go but it was nowhere near as crowded as it was when walking through Diagon Alley.
"Alright then, Holly," Sirius said, coming about to stand in front of her, "I suppose this is goodbye for a while, though you can call me on your mirror anytime you like. I may not answer but you know why if I don't. The school has owls that you can borrow to send letters. Also, I'm going to give your aunt and uncle a two way mirror that I've linked up to the ones that we have when I go back to pick up my car, so you can call them on it anytime you like as well."
"That will be perfect, Uncle Siri," Holly said, grinning from ear to ear as she hugged him around the waist, "Now I won't need to get a lecture about 'ruddy birds' from Uncle Vernon."
"That was the idea," Sirius said as he handed Holly her trunk, "and before you go, I want you to know that whatever house you get sorted into will be fine with me, my family has had someone in every house. I know I probably don't have to tell you this but just look out for those who think they're better because they are what they would call purebloods. It's a load of rubbish and anyone who is worth knowing won't give a damn about how many generations of magicals you have in your family. I suspect that you'll be able to figure out what's what when it comes to who those people are. Don't be afraid to use your family name to let people know who you are, it might save you a little trouble with those pureblood supremacists. Those people only respect power and prestige, after all, and the Potters have had plenty of both. Oh, and there's also the little thing about you having defeated a Dark Lord when you were a baby."
"Come again?" Holly shook her head in amazement when she had heard the last thing Sirius had said.
Just then the whistle on the express had sounded to warn the platform that it was fifteen minutes to departure. Sirius smiled and said, "We can talk about it at greater length some other time. I had my reasons for not mentioning it until now but I promise you that I will be writing you a letter soon to explain the whole story behind that. Just understand that it wasn't to lie to you but rather let you have as normal a childhood as possible. Now off you go, Holly, and be sure to have a good year."
"I will, Uncle Sirius," Holly said as she walked over and clambered onto the train.
"Oh, one more thing, Holly," Sirius said with a raised voice as the engine was going through pre-departure checks, "Be sure to look up a Neville Longbottom when you get to school."
Holly looked back at her godfather confused, "Why him?"
"He's your godbrother," Sirius all but shouted as the noise level from the engine got louder and the train whistle blasted once again, signifying to the crowd to clear the train.
"My what?" Holly shouted, not sure she had heard what she'd heard. By that point it was too late, as Sirius was backing away from the train and the train began to slowly roll forward. She waved to Sirius for a few seconds before turning and going to find a compartment. Of course, a majority of them were full up, which was precisely why she'd wanted to be early in the first place. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'next year I suppose.'
As she traveled down the train, Holly had finally found a compartment that had only two people in it. Knocking politely on the compartment door, Holly slid it open and asked, "Excuse me, would you mind if I sat with you? Everywhere else seems full."
"Not at all, miss…" the pale boy with the thick irish accent replied.
"Potter, Holly Potter," she answered, stepping into the compartment and setting her trunk on one of the benches.
"No kidding?" the Irish kid asked, surprised, "Lookie here, Dean, we've got a celebrity among us."
Holly raised her eyebrow at the boy, "and you are?"
"Oh, sorry about tha'," the boy responded, "Seamus Finnegan, at your service, my lady."
The boy named Dean, who looked to be of african descent, chimed in, "Seamus here fancies himself a ladies man."
With more confidence than he had a right to, Seamus said, "Damn straight, my mate Dean will have to beat them off with a stick, there's going to be so many of them."
An awkward silence had descended as the three glanced at each other, Mexican standoff style. Then, all at once, the three of them burst out into laughter at the outrageous declaration seamus had made. As Dean got up to help Holly get her trunk into the overhead storage, he said, "You'll have to forgive my leprechaun friend here, he says a lot of things for comedic effect."
"Well," Holly began, face hurting a little from the laughing, "it's a good thing he was only kidding then, wasn't it? I can't imagine many girls being interested in such bold declarations."
Seamus grinned, "I've got to do something to catch their attention, now don't I. After all, his leprechaun comment is a little too close to the truth. It's downright hurtful if you ask me."
With the trunk stowed and everyone seated, Dean spoke up, "Dean Thomas, by the way. I was just explaining to Seamus here the wonders of football."
"Sound's boring to me, everyone running about chasing after one ball that only moves if you kick it," Seamus boldly declared. It was from that point that the argument that they were having before Holly arrived had continued as if it hadn't been interrupted. Holly sat there, watching from her seat by Seamus, observing the whole thing like a tennis match. It was quite comical, almost like watching Dudley and his mates get into a heated debate over their passions.
"Besides, quidditch is much better than football, isn't it, Holly?" Seamus proclaimed, looking to Holly for validation of his statement.
Holly paused for a moment, "Sorry, lads, I don't know much about quidditch as of yet and the only amount of football I've encountered is what I've played during P.E. in primary school. Though, from what my godfather has told me, quidditch does seem to be quite the fascinating sport. To be honest, I'm more interested in the flying aspect of the sport than anything else. I really like speed."
Seamus turned in his seat towards her, "Have you ever flown a broom?"
"No," Holly answered, "But my godfather has access to some sporty cars and has driven me around in them. We've even been to some tracks and he's taken me around them as fast as the car can go, me and my cousin really. We're both into racing cars."
Dean spoke up, "What does your godfather do that he gets that kind of access to racing cars, work for the government?"
Holly smirked, "Something like that."
When the boys looked at her expectantly, Holly elaborated, "So my Uncle Siri works as an auror. Sometimes he's loaned out to the muggle government to work with MI6 for special jobs deemed impossible. As a reward for the work he does for the muggle government, they've gotten him access to racetracks for no fee, as well as advance access to cars that are only in the concept stage and not for public purchase yet."
"And who is Uncle Siri exactly," Seamus asked, a little apprehensive.
'Whelp, looks like I'm going to be dropping names early it seems,' Holly thought, then answered, "Sirius Black."
"No kidding, huh," Seamus asked, "I've heard about him all the way up in Ireland. He's busted up a lot of terrorist organizations on the muggle side of things and his capture record as an auror is outstanding. Hardly anyone escapes from him, relentless as a bounty hunter that one is."
"I wouldn't know," Holly admitted, "he doesn't like to talk about work around me, something about maintaining innocence and all that jazz."
Dean chimed in, "Well, it sounds like he gets into some dangerous situations and maybe just doesn't want you to worry about him."
Holly responded, "yeah, he's said that much as well. I believe him too, it's just hard to tell people about him because he doesn't go over those sorts of things with me."
"Well, you don't need to worry about that, Holly," Seamus said, "his reputation precedes him, the only people who wouldn't know much about him are the muggleborns."
From that point in the conversation, they turned to more pleasant things. Holly learned that Dean was a football fanatic. Had a half hour rant about his favorite team, West Ham if anyone had asked. Seamus loved quidditch, chess, and, for some reason, fire. While they were conversing, Holly had noticed a red haired boy walk by, carrying his trunk. The same boy walked by again a half hour later, and then again a half hour past that. When she brought it up to the boys, they all shrugged.
When the trolley came around, the boys insisted that Holly buy one of everything when she had confided that she'd never had magical candies before. She relented and did as they advised. When she'd gotten onto the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, the boys stopped what they were doing and watched her.
"What, have I got something on my face?" Holly asked, nervous at the amount of attention they were paying to her at that moment.
"Not at all," Dean answered, snickering a little.
"Really," Holly replied, arching an eyebrow at him, "because it seems that I do."
"Forgive Dean," Seamus said, fighting off his own snicker, "It's just, when they say every flavor they mean every flavor. So it's interesting to see what flavor you get because it's your first time."
"I don't think I shall be eating one of them then," Holly said, putting down the package in mock offense.
"Aww, come on, Holly," Dean griped, "we promise we won't laugh too hard if you get a disgusting one."
"Would you eat an ice cream if there was a one percent chance of a turd being in there?" Holly asked, looking at both of them expectantly.
"Well, when you put it that way," Seamus replied, "I suppose not."
Seeing the boys slightly depressed, Holly sighed dramatically, "I suppose I shall indulge you this one time. No matter what I get, you get one bean out of me."
"Fair enough," both boys said at the same time.
Holly gave them a cheeky smirk, "You know, it's fun riling you boys up."
Both of them took on a look of mock indignation, Seamus commenting, "We've been had, Thomas."
"Right you are, Finnegan," came the affirmation in return.
Holly grinned at them, picking up the box and dumping the contents into her palm. She spent a few moments looking at them to see which would be the most inoffensive one. Settling on a pink one, she popped it into her mouth. What ensued from that point some would call karma as steam was erupting from her ears. Her tongue felt as though she'd bit into a pepper that came straight from Satan's backside. The boys erupted in laughter.
"Serves you right, Holly," Seamus crowed, tears coming from his eyes, "messing with us lads like that."
After the steam stopped and, surprisingly, her tongue returned to its normal feeling, Holly said, "What in the name of all that is good and holy was that?"
Dean took the box from her and went down the bean colors, "It was hot pink, right?"
"Yeah."
"Carolina Reaper and Ghost peppers," Dean replied, showing her on the box.
"Blegh," Holly succinctly replied.
"Not to worry, Holly," Seamus chimed in, "that one is rather tame."
"What could be worse than that?"
"Ear wax." "Old shoe" the boys said at the same time.
After hearing that, Holly said, "Ok, maybe I got off easy. Still, that's the only one boys, so treasure it."
"Oh, we will," Seamus said, "especially the part when your hair switched between hot pink, orange, and blazing red."
Holly groaned, "You guys saw that?"
"Yeah," Dean said, "what was that?"
"Family secret," Holly replied, "Maybe one day I'll tell you boys."
"I think I have an idea of what it might be," Seamus began, quickly adding after Holly gave him what was becoming a trademark eyebrow raise, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna bother you about it. You'll tell us when you're ready."
"A good answer," Holly replied, nodding.
Just then, the compartment door opened with no warning by a girl with the most outrageously bushy brown hair Holly had ever seen, dressed in her school uniform already. It looked as though the girl who's head it was on was practically a lion. Then she opened her mouth, "Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville seems to have lost one."
Holly really had to resist the urge to get catty with this girl whom she did not know, "Not that we've seen, have we lads?"
"Nope" "No" came the reply from both of them.
"Well, there you have it, Miss…" Holly said, hoping that she would go away rather quickly. First impressions and all.
"Granger, Hermione Granger," the bushy haired girl responded.
"Dean Thomas."
"Seamus Finnegan."
Holly hesitated, not sure how widespread her alleged fame was, "Holly Potter."
"Oh, I know who you are, I've read all about you," Hermione said, sitting down across from Holly, "Of course, the books I've read describe your hair as being black and unruly. You've obviously had it styled seeing as how it's blonde and in loose curls."
"Something like that," Holly had responded, slightly chilly.
Getting up and heading back out into the aisle of the car, the girl continued, "Well I must be off, I still need to help Neville find his toad and I expect we should be arriving soon. You all should probably get changed into your uniforms."
With that, the girl turned and continued down the train, bothering other compartments about the toad. The three of them sat in stunned silence, wondering what had just happened. Even Kira decided to make an appearance, slithering out of Holly's shirt and onto her neck. It was the arrival of Kira that had broken them all out of the stupor of experiencing Hermione Granger for the first time.
"Uh, Holly?" Seamus started, looking sideways at the new arrival.
"Yeah?" Holly turned her head towards Seamus, noticing where he was looking, "Oh, this is Kira. She's my familiar."
"I don't remember seeing snakes on the approved familiar list," Seamus commented, looking towards Dean.
"No, I would've remembered something like that," Dean said, a little disappointed, "I would've gotten one if that was the case."
"Apparently my godfather got me special permission from the school," Holly said a little sheepishly, "Something about due to my abilities to speak to them."
"You're a parselmouth too?" Seamus asked, borderline incredulous.
"Is there something wrong with that?" Holly asked.
"Well," Seamus started, thinking over what he was going to say, "It's just that you-know-who was a parselmouth and he was a really bad wizard."
"Isn't it how one uses the gifts they've been given that makes them good or bad?" Holly countered, raising her eyebrow again.
Seamus and Dean looked at each other and then back at Holly, "I mean, I guess."
"Alright then," Holly said, nodding her head as if the matter was closed, "Is Kira going to be a problem for you boys then?"
Both of them shook their heads at the same time, to which Holly smiled, "Splendid. Now, either I can wait in the aisle while you two change or vice versa."
"Seamus and I can wait in the aisle first," Dean said, jumping to his feet.
"Yeah," Seamus succinctly agreed, the two of them leaving the compartment.
Holly closed the door and drew all the curtains. She then pulled down her trunk, hissing to Kira, ~It'sss kind of fun watching you ssscare people.~
~It'sss fun to ssscare people that are bigger than you~ Kira agreed.
It was dark out by the time they reached Hogsmeade station, an announcement having come over the train PA stating that they would leave their luggage on the train as it would be taken up to the castle for them. Holly, Seamus, and Dean exited the train onto the platform, the Scottish air having cooled since the sun had gone down. Down the platform was a giant of a man hollering, "Firs' years! Firs' years this way please."
Like the rest of the first year students, Holly, Seamus, and Dean crowded up around the giant man. When it seemed like there were no more coming, the giant man commanded them to follow him down a trail leading away from the station. It was several minutes of walking through the nearby forest before the group of students found themselves in front of a lake. Off to each side of the dock was eleven boats, to which the giant man said, "No more than four to a boat."
Of course, he had taken up one boat all by his lonesome. The rest of the students divided up into groups of four. Once everyone was situated, the giant man said, "Forward." The boats then proceeded to move, almost as if they knew what their route was and where it would end because there were no paddles.
"Alrigh' then, you're about to get your first look at Hogwarts," the giant warned, to which Holly was grateful because she had heard from her godfather that the view was something not to be missed. As they had come around the bend in the shoreline, the entire group audibly gasped. There she was, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The castle was magnificent, with light pouring out of all of the windows that they could see. It was very well lit, which made the view all that more spectacular. Once again, the feeling of home washed over Holly as the boats pulled up to the docks that were underneath the school.
As everyone was getting out of the boats, the giant man called out, "Is one of you missing a toad?"
The man held out his hand, which did indeed bear a toad. A pudgy looking boy ran up to the man, calling, "Trevor!"
Holly smirked to herself, finding the name of the toad as well as the boy's reaction to it being found a little adorable. Don't get it twisted, you'd never find her being that excited over a toad, however, it was nice to see that people found joy in all sorts of things. As the giggling had died down from the discovery of the toad, the giant man led them up a few flights of stairs before approaching the steps which lead to a different entrance to the great hall, at the top of which was a stern looking woman whom Holly had the distinct impression you did not want to cross. She was clad in emerald green robes, with a matching witch's hat.
The giant man gave a little bow to the witch, "The firs' years, Professor McGonnagal."
Professor McGonnagal nodded at the giant man, "Thank you, Hagrid, I shall take them from here."
As Hagrid walked past the professor into the great hall, Professor McGonnagal continued in her Scottish accent, "Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few moments, you will walk into the great hall and be sorted into your house. Your houses will be like your family while you are here at the school, as well as after you finish school if you so choose. For those of you who may not know, the four houses are as follows: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Many great wizards and witches have come from all of these houses, and each have their own unique qualities that they encourage. While you are here at school, you will be awarded house points for any accomplishments that you make as well as lose points for any rule breaking and other such activities.
"The sorting will begin shortly, so I suggest you smarten yourselves up," Professor McGonnagal said, concluding her speech and returning into the great hall. The first years stood there in an awkward silence.
That is until a platinum blonde haired boy decided to break the silence, "So it's true then, it seems that Holly Potter has come to Hogwarts."
The entire group of first years turned their attention to the boy, who was leaning up against the wall of the staircase. Holly looked at this boy, curious as to what his angle was for making this grand statement. Dean and Seamus, who stood nearby, looked at Holly, which internally made her groan because now the blonde knew for sure who she was. Pushing off of the wall, the boy made his way over to her, two other boys flanking him.
"This is Crabbe and Goyle," the boy said, indicating to the boys flanking him, "and I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
Holly looked over this boy, now knowing exactly who he was. She had heard about him several times from Sirius and Aunt Andromeda. His family was stupid wealthy, and it seemed like he was aware of it. She noticed the heir ring on his finger and decided that would be how she would like to establish the relationship, "Well met, Heir Malfoy. Indeed, I am Holly Potter, heir to House Potter."
Malfoy smirked, quite pleased with how the interaction was going, "You're going to find that some families are better than others and I can help you there."
"She doesn't need your help figuring that out," a red haired boy called out from the crowd, pushing his way over to where they were. Holly recognized him as the boy from the train who had passed by her compartment three times before giving up.
Looking the boy over with disdain on his face, Malfoy smirked again, "No need to ask who you are. Red hair and hand-me-down robes? You must be a Weasley."
Holly looked over the entire interaction, confused by the whole thing. Deciding to try to defuse the situation, she said, "Look, I'm not sure what's going on here. I don't really know any of you and I'd like to take the opportunity to actually interact with everyone before I start deciding what I think about everyone."
"Fair enough, Heir Potter," Malfoy responded, turning to walk back to the wall, "just don't take too long deciding."
Holly was saved from answering when Professor McGonnagal reappeared, saying, "Let's go, students, it's time for the sorting. Now, line up in two rows and let us proceed."
The first years did exactly that and Professor McGonnagal led the procession through the double doors and into the great hall. As they walked down the middle of the four tables, which Holly assumed were lined up by house, she heard one of the students say, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."
Holly looked up at the ceiling and it did indeed look like the night sky. She thought to herself, 'magic is wonderful.'
Finally, the entourage reached the front of the great hall. Professor McGonnagal indicated that they should fan out, to which the students complied. While they fanned out, the professor disappeared into a room off to the side of the head table. Once the students were situated, Professor McGonnagal returned, bearing a stool and a ratty looking wizard's hat. Setting the hat down on top of the stool, she took a step back and proceeded to watch the hat. At first, the first years looked at the hat perplexed. That was, until the hat seemed to come alive and part of the hat folded in on itself to form a mouth. It was at that point that the situation had officially become weird, as the hat had begun to sing.
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry,
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means,
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The great hall erupted into applause as the hat took a bow to each of the four tables, then sat waiting for the first student to come up. Professor McGonnagal then unrolled a scroll, saying, "When I call your name, you will come forward and take a seat. I shall place the sorting hat on your head. Abbot, Hannah."
With that, the sorting was off, with Hannah being sorted into Hufflepuff. Holly was only half paying attention as she was thinking over the words of the song. She was drawn out of her musings when she heard the name, "Longbottom, Neville."
'Ah, the boy who had lost the toad,' Holly thought, as Neville nervously approached the stool and sat upon it. The look of relief when the hat proclaimed "Gryffindor" was definitely visible on the boy's face, so much so that he had run from the stool with the hat still on his head. After some laughter, and a look of embarrassment, Neville returned the hat to Professor McGonnagal.
When "Malfoy, Draco" was called, Holly watched with amusement as the boy who thought he was all that strutted up to the stool and sat down. The hat barely grazed his hair when it had exclaimed, "Slytherin."
Holly was once again drawn from her musings when her own name was called, "Potter, Holly."
The whole hall had at once begun whispering as she walked up to the stool and sat down. As the hat was being lowered onto her head, you could almost hear a pin drop as the whole hall had become deadly silent. Then the voice in her head began, 'Hmmm… difficult, difficult. Plenty of courage in you, not a bad thing there; loyalty to those who have earned it, another good trait. Definitely hungry for knowledge, almost relentlessly so. And there it is, a thirst to prove yourself.'
The hat paused, almost thinking itself, then continued, 'I see that the winds of change have definitely been at work in your life. Oh, and a parselmouth to boot. You would almost do perfectly in Slytherin… and yet, it seems that destiny would have me place you elsewhere. It's really odd, you would fit perfectly in every house and yet it wouldn't do to place you anywhere else but…'
"GRYFFINDOR," the hat proclaimed, to which the table all the way on the left of the hall erupted in cheers and applause.
A/N: And there we have it folks, the sorting is all finished up. Still a lot of AU building to do but I think we can start hammering out some of the big events of the story finally. I wasn't planning on updating this early but I had a weather day for work and decided to work on the story. Hope y'all like it, fair warning, there may be some bashing in this story but I will try not to go overboard on it. It's mostly for the effect of changing pairings and making different parts of the story in regards to relationships make sense due to the Harry/Holly change. As always, review if you think I deserve it.
Disclaimer: Don't own harry potter.