Upon the day of the Hogwarts Express trip, Leon arrived at platform nine and three-quarters rather early, hoping to get a cabin all to himself before they all got filled up. Luckily enough, he found exactly what he was looking for, allowing for him to get his things put away without disturbing anyone else. After getting everything put away, he sat down and reached for the pendant around his neck, a gift from his mother that was from his father, finally letting his nervousness wash over him, having not wanted to make his mother worry about him on his first day. The smooth, cold ruby, and the claw of silver surrounding it slowly calmed Leon as he smiled, knowing that even as nervous as he may have been at the time, he would be okay.
Fifteen minutes later, the door to his cabin opened to a girl with brown hair asking, "Hello, do you mind if I sit here?"
Leon looked over and smiled. "I don't mind. Have a seat. My name is Leon Nightingale. It is nice to meet you."
The young brunette came in and sat down, smiling softly at Leon's kind gesture. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Leon. I am Hermione Granger."
"Hermione, huh? That is a pretty name," Leon replied, genuinely loving the sound of the name.
Hermione smiled again, seeming to appreciate the compliment. "Thank you. That is very kind of you to say."
"So, Hermione, are you excited about going to Hogwarts?"
Hermione looked almost shocked by the question. "Of course I am! I'm actually the first of my family to ever be a witch, so I am looking forward to learning all that I can."
Leon was surprised. "Oh, so you are Muggle born, then. You must have been quite shocked to find out magic is real."
Hermione blushed, a tinge embarrassed. "Well, I admit I was a little skeptical at first, but thankfully a kind teacher came and explained everything to me and my parents."
Understanding her predicament a little, Leon nodded. "That makes sense. My family have been witches and wizards as far back as everyone knows, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will answer them as best I can."
Hermione lit up at that, already having so many questions running through her head, but she started with asking about the Hogwarts houses and what they would be like, and how one was sorted. Leon, seeing her excitement, got thrilled as well, and started answering her questions with fervor. Their conversation together lasted nearly the entire train ride, momentarily lapsing due to an incident regarding another first-year's toad, and each learning something new about the wizarding and Muggle worlds respectively. When the trip was nearing its end, Leon shook Hermione's hand and smiled happily.
"No matter what houses we end up in, I hope we can become good friends, Hermione. I have really enjoyed talking with you the past few hours."
Hermione smiled a big, bright smile. "I really liked talking to you as well, Leon, and I hope we get to talk some more while at school. You are my first friend after all, so let's try and do our best to stay in touch."
Leon nodded before excusing himself to go get into his school robes, and when he got back, he smiled, knowing the sorting ceremony was just a short time away. After arriving at the station, the first years were called to the boats by Hagrid, and his size shocked both Hermione and Leon for a moment.
"Oh my, Leon! Do you see how tall he is? He makes my father look like a child!" she exclaimed under her breath, taking in the size of the man before them.
Leon chuckled at the comparison and nodded slightly. "I believe he may be half giant," he began. "It is rare, but not unheard of. I am just surprised that the first person we meet at Hogwarts is half giant. My mum didn't tell me about him. Maybe he is new, or at least my mum didn't know him during her years here at Hogwarts."
Hermione nodded in agreement.
Once they got their minds off the man's astounding height, they followed and got into a boat with several other first years, Leon being in pure awe of the Black Lake and the beautiful stars out above them, not to mention the castle that stood before them. As they get closer, he realized just how large the school and his home away from home really was. After arriving at the school, they were greeted by Professor McGonagall, whom gave her yearly speech before the sorting ceremony, and then it all began.
Leon stood there in the great hall, nervous as can be, waiting for his name to be called, when he heard Hermione's name. He looked up and listened carefully, hoping that they would be sorted into the same house. After a minute of silence, the sorting hat declared that Hermione would be placed into Ravenclaw, which Leon was not surprised about. He thought the hat was right on the money, and she would fit right in with her new house.
It took some time for the hat to get to Leon, and with no doubt in the world, he sat down in front of everyone and waited silently as the hat was placed upon his head. The hat seemed to jolt alive, surprised by him. "Hmmm... A Nightingale... You seem to have much drive to learn, but you are also a very cunning individual. Much like your forefathers, and your mother before you. Well then, with all that cunning and drive, and a proud family heritage such as yours, you must be in Slytherin!"
Leon smiled proudly and got up, walking over to the Slytherin table, hearing many cheers but ignoring them all as he eyed his friend across the way. They wouldn't be in the same house after all, which saddened Leon a tad, but surely, he could still find time to talk to her.
He noticed the anticipation in the room when he heard a familiar name being called: Harry Potter. Alas, his other friend, the first friend he'd made that would be in his year, was also sorted into a different house; Harry had been sorted into Gryffindor after a long, drawn-out silence.
After that, the rest of the sorting ceremony went without a hitch. Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, gave his yearly speech, but Leon wasn't fully paying attention to what he said. He was mainly focused on the fact that the two friends he made were in separate houses from him, and trying to drown out some of the chatter at the Slytherin table. Some of the other first-years were already turning out to be right prats, and he didn't exactly care for the fact that he'd be living and studying with such arrogant people.
Once the speech was over, and everyone was ready to eat, Leon went to find Hermione at the Ravenclaw table, needing to have a moment away from his new house and be with familiar company. When he found her, he boldly took a seat right beside her, saying, "Congratulations on your sorting into Ravenclaw, Hermione."
Hermione smiled sadly. "Thank you," she replied. "Though I suppose this means we'll be in separate houses now. I heard you be sorted into Slytherin."
Leon nodded, but before he could speak, Hermione added, "But that's all right! We'll still have chances to talk outside of class, so it'll be fine. Let's just make the most of our studies and learn all we can!"
Seeing her so excited, Leon smiled. She belongs in Ravenclaw, he thought to himself. She'll do great things.
They chatted a bit longer, even though several pairs of eyes were on them the entire time, and as the evening meal finished, Leon headed back to his table to follow the prefects of his house back to their common room.
And so the rest of the night went in silence. Leon kept to himself for the most part, feeling exhausted after a long day on the train, and tucked into bed early, after writing a quick letter to his mother detailing how everything went that day. And soon after he settled into bed, he was fast asleep.
When Leon woke up in the morning, he went to go get breakfast in the great hall, so he would have the energy to make it through the day of classes. He looked at his schedule and realized he had potions with the Gryffindors first. This gave Leon a bit more of an energy boost, since he liked potion making and he wanted to see what the class had to offer, not to mention the fact that he knew Harry would be in class with him as a Gryffindor, so maybe he could say hi when there was an opportunity.
Eventually, after breakfast was over, Leon made it to potions class, having gotten a little lost. He was almost late for class, which would not have made for a good first day in his eyes, since his first class was with his head of house. He'd heard rumors about Professor Snape, and he did not want to tarnish the Slytherin's reputation right on his first day.
Soon after sitting down, Snape came in and seemingly glided across the classroom, his cloak making him look like a vampire. Leon thought briefly that Snape might have been an actual vampire, but then realized he had seen him in the sunlight at breakfast not even thirty minutes prior, so he put that line of thought out of his brain and got out his quill and parchment, ready to take notes at a moment's notice.
What came as a shock to Leon is when Snape started asking Harry questions that he was sure were meant to make an example of him, since Harry was raised by muggles. He was going to say something to defend Harry, but realized it would do no good to anger his professor or cause a scene, so he bit his tongue and started taking notes.
Aside from the ridiculing of Harry by Snape, the potions class actually went by rather well. It was very enlightening to learn from a potions master and not just a book. After class, Leon checked on Harry, apologizing for not standing up for him, and let him know that if he needed any help in potions that he would be fully willing to help him. Harry nodded and thanked Leon, taking comfort in having someone he could call friend by his side, even if in a different house.
The rest of that week went about the same: uneventful except for when Leon and Hermione had classes together. Realizing that Slytherins and Ravenclaws shared a few classes together excited him, and the two end up learning a fair bit more than what the books could teach, without the practical aspect available to them. The two continued getting closer as friends, slowly becoming best friends as more and more time passed, and eventually Leon introduced Harry and Hermione, which led to them becoming friends and the three of them forming a sort of study group together, where they would meet in the library and chat.
By the time October came around, the trio became virtually inseparable. They had friends in their own separate houses, but it wasn't quite the same as the three of them. In between classes, after class, during meals, they would be seen together. This did obviously come with some level of teasing, and some not-so-savory words from the Slytherin house behind Leon's back, but they did not allow it to bother them, as they were best friends, and Leon's small world was growing and changing more than he ever thought it could.