Chapter Twelve: Travel Trouble and Sorting Feast
September 1st, 1992
The rest of summer break had flown by without much issue. The only noteworthy events were Sirius' wedding to Amelia, and Remus starting to date Dora — though the second would take some getting used to. When the Potters had tried using their floo to go straight to the platform, they found that the floo on the platform's end was "under maintenance." The Potters never heard of such a thing happening on the day the Hogwarts Express left the station, so something was fishy. Herbert asked Vexus to pop the children to the platform, and pretty soon they were saying their goodbyes as the children boarded the train.
Before the train left the station, Harry, Kathy, and Vince were seated with Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Luna. During the train ride, Harry tried keeping his focus on the conversations going on. But his attention drifted from Ron's conversation with Luna and landed on Hermione. When he looked at her, he would blush and buried his nose in the charms book that he was reading. Keeping his emotions in check around her this year would be a tough task. It was one thing doing so in front of her parents during that shopping trip, but this would be an extended effort.
The only thing of note was Malfoy dropping by and trying to get a rise out of Harry, but he sent away his "least favorite cousin" with little issue. Thankfully, no problems arose as the group made their way to the castle, and the older students sat down at their respective tables to wait for the first years to be sorted. Harry didn't pay much attention to the sorting, but a few did stick out to him among the lower years.
"Castile, Magnesite!" "Ravenclaw!" The boy had brown hair like his older brother, but he didn't sport glasses like him. His eyes were hazel unlike his brother's blue.
"Greengrass, Astoria!" "Ravenclaw!" Harry was mildly surprised that she didn't end up in the same house as her sister, but said sister didn't seem to mind at all.
"Lovegood, Luna!" "Ravenclaw!" Harry clapped enthusiastically, knowing that Vince would look out for their mutual cousin. Ron seemed mildly put out that Luna wasn't in Gryffindor, but Harry didn't want to jump to any conclusions.
"Parkinson, Phillip!" "Hufflepuff!" The sorting of the dirty blonde male had some of the Slytherins murmuring, but Pansy looked relieved.
"Weasley, Ginevra!" "Gryffindor!" This one was the least surprising, but Harry clapped just as loudly as the other Lions.
The last one to be sorted was a ginger girl. "Williams, Jessica!" The hat stalled for a few minutes before declaring: "Slytherin!" The Slytherins seemed mildly perturbed as they clapped with little enthusiasm. Harry felt he knew why — Williams was a very non-magical name, so the Snakes probably presumed that she was a newblood. If so, it would be the first time ine had been sorted there in centuries — if not the first time ever.
The announcements during the feast were just the usual warnings about the forbidden forest and banned items. Gilderoy Lockheart was thanked for becoming the new Defense teacher, but that was the only other thing of note. After desert was finished, everyone went to their dorms for the night.
Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get this out. I've decided that a bi-weekly schedule might work better for me. Putting a new spin on second year is going to be a bit harder than I thought. I've got somewhat of an outline, but it might change a bit. That's all I have for now.
