"I'm admittedly a little afraid to speak to them. I've only ever really spoken to Ron out of all of Ginny's brothers, and both of them tell me about the pranks they pull on people. I'd be upset if they ended up dying my hair magenta or something." Luna said matter of factly. Any true hint of fear completely absent from her face.
"From what I've been told, most of the Weasley's are actually really nice. I know Charlie is, and Penelope dates Percy, and I can't imagine she'd handle anyone who wasn't nice." Harry said.
"Perhaps." Luna said, merely kicking her feet. "What houses are you all in?" She asks, looking around.
"Harry, Hermione and I are in Ravenclaw." Padma gestured to the two others who shared the bench.
"I'm a Hufflepuff." Susan said, showing her black and yellow tie.
"Slytherin here." Daphne said nonchalantly.
"Oh, well I'll know someone from every house then, because Ginny will surely be in Gryffindor." Luna said. "I'm a bit nervous about sorting, I think. What if my house is mean to me?"
"We'll make sure that doesn't happen. Your house is supposed to be your family, and regardless of which one you end up in, you'll have one of our friends with you, and we'll make sure everything's okay." Harry said, taking charge for the young girl. Luna reminded him a lot of himself this time last year. He wished someone would have done this for him, so he will for her.
"Oh that's lovely. You don't seem to have any gryffindors though." Luna pointed out.
"My sister's in Gryffindor, as is Neville and Lavender, two of our very good friends. We have another good friend in Hufflepuff and Slytherin as well. The ten of us are part of the Sphinx Club." Padma said.
"Sphinx Club? Do you have a Sphinx? Does it ask you riddles?" Luna asked, her eyes going wide.
"No Sphinx, but the Ravenclaw door tells riddles." Hermione said, speaking up for the first time in this conversation.
"Oh, then I'm definitely going to Ravenclaw. I love riddles." Luna said, her smile getting larger.
The conversation with Luna continued for a few hours for the train ride, where an official invitation to the Sphinx Club was put forward. At Hogwarts station, Luna and the group separated, making her way over to Ginny who was saying goodbye to her brothers. Daphne encouraged Astoria, her younger sister to join the pair on the boat, and that she'll see her after the sorting.
.
As Harry entered Hogwarts again, he felt a wave of emotion hit him, a feeling of being home. At first, Harry felt bad about feeling this feeling, Ted, Andy, and Nym had done so much to make their house feel like home to him. They opened their doors to him when he had no other place to go, and made him a member of their family. Reflecting on it more though, he realized that what made Hogwarts feel like home is that it was where he got to meet his new family, and where he truly made his first friends. Harry held that feeling inside of him, before letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He took his seat at the Ravenclaw table, Padma and Hermione taking theirs at his side, as he awaited the sorting ceremony.
Watching sorting from this side was significantly less stressful, and he felt bad for the poor kids who had to sit there and be gawked at by the student body as they were sorted. He knew however, that the ceremony wasn't truly that bad, and that it would be over shortly.
This year's incoming class was even smaller than the previous years, a mere 30 students compared to the 40 of his year. Harry was only really interested in three of the incoming first-years, Astoria Greengrass, Luna Lovegood, and Ginny Weasley. Two of them being the sisters of friends of his, and the other a friend he made on the train. In some ways, he hoped that they could end up in the same house together, so they could maybe become friends as well. Those thoughts were dashed fairly quickly when Astoria, the first of the three alphabetically, was sorted into Slytherin. Family bias was likely to keep Ginny out of Slytherin, and Luna had already shown a desire for Ravenclaw, so it seemed likely she would end up there. This proved to be correct after her brief time under the sorting hat, which had made her a Ravenclaw. She came and sat across from Harry, where she shot him a smile and watched the remaining sorting. Ginny Weasley was second to last of those being sorted, only an Anton Yaxley after her. Ginny was, like all of her brothers, sorted into Gryffindor. She made her way to the Gryffindor table, where she took her seat next to two other first year Gryffindor students, Colin Creevey and Romilda Vane.
Headmaster Dumbledore then made his way to the center podium, where he briefly raised his wand to his throat and gave a similar speech to what he had done in the previous year.
"As many of you may be aware, we lost our previous defense against the dark arts professor, and as such have replaced him. I am pleased to announce our new instructor Gilderoy Lockhart." Dumbledore said, motioning with his clapping hands towards the new Professor.
Gilderoy had certainly dressed to be noticed today, wearing a bright salmon suit with a deep purple tie that seemed to swirl as you looked at it. While everyone gave polite claps for the new professor, a bright light seemed to shine from behind them, and a distinctive 'ting' sound seemed to emanate from his mouth as he smiled.
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