Chapter 9: Chapter 6
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!" Hagrid shouts as soon as we start departing the train. Despite the constant chattering of all the Hogwarts students, his voice comes through clear as day. Probably because of his half giant lungs.
"Come on, let's go" I say to the 2 girls, and head over to where all the other first years start accumulating. There's a surprisingly low amount of them, the war probably caused a baby drought and the already low numbers of magical babies were lowered. There's supposed to be about 100 students in each year normally, from what I can see it's only about 40 in each year. And considering Hogwarts is the home of nearly every magical child in the UK, these 300 or so students represent the entirety of the future British wizard population. No wonder so many people seek to control it. Control Hogwarts and you control the future generation, the politicians, the aurors, the head of the families etc.
"Only four to a boa' an' make sure ye don' fall into th' lake" Hagrid says as we reach the black lake
"Here let's take this one" Luna says, grabbing my hand and leading us to an empty boat.
"Hello, do you mind if I sit with you?" A brunette girl comes and asks us, after we've settled down
"Uh yeah sure. My name's Ginny, this are my friends Luna and Alex" she says pointing to us
"Ah, nice to meet you, I'm Mary Cooper" she says, stepping into the boat. "Are all your parents Wizards then?"
"Yep. I'm what people would call a half-blood, and Luna and Ginny are Purebloods" Alex replies as the boat picks up speed
"What does that mean?"
"Purebloods are those whose parents and grandparents on both sides are magical. Half-bloods are.."
"Make sur' to duck!" Hagrid's voice interrupts, making all the first years apart from Me, Ginny and Luna to do so.
"You don't have to," Luna says lightly to Mary. "Hagrid's a half giant, so even fully grown adults don't have to"
"Oh" Mary blushes
"Anyway half-bloods are those who have magical parents, but only magical grandparents on 1 side"
"And then you're what we refer to as a muggle-born, a muggle is a non magical and you're the first in your family line to be born a witch" Luna continues.
"Oh, how did you know I was a muggle-born?"
"The fact you you didn't know about blood status" Ginny replied matter of factly
"Umm, do you know how the sorting ceremony is going to be? I heard some older students saying it's we're going to fight a troll like Harry Potter did last year for the sorting?"
"From what I know Harry did fight a troll last year. But don't worry you won't be. Too many students got injured, so they'll probably change it" Alex replied with a composed face, hearing that Mary's face drained of all colour and she looked aghast
"Pfft. She's just teasing you" Luna replied seeing the horrified face of the girl "It's a quick and painless thing - no grappling with a troll required" she finished smiling warmly at the girl.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Ginny tells Mary as the boats slow down and the castle is in full view "Let's go" she says as the boat comes to a stop at the landing
"Arrigh'! This way" Hagrid shouts, and leads us to the Hogwarts gate" Here they are Professor" he says to Professor McGonagall. She looks similar to what I remember for her to look like in the movies, but younger. Despite being about 70, she looks about 40.It is to be expected, wizards do have a longer life spans after all.
"Thank ye Hagrid" McGonagall replies in her trademark Scottish accent "Come along now, we're headed to the Great Hall for the ceremony, and stick together" and starts leading us
"Now remember when ye go in, you behave yerselves, and I'll call out yer names one by one" she explains once we arrive at the Great Hall.
"I've brought the first years Headmaster" she says to the old man at the other end of the hall, as we step through and all the students fall silent
"Welcome students!" Dumbeldore stood and addressed the new students "From today onwards you all are students of the finest wizard school in the world! Take pride as you start your education. We will start the sorting ceremony, you will be put into one of the four houses, where you will spend the next seven years." he says looking at the four tables one by one
"The house you will be put into will be your family in your time here. You will be supported by the others in your family, and in turn support them when the time comes! Let the sorting ceremony commence!"
And with that, and the yearly song by the hat, the sorting ceremony began. McGonagall started calling out the names of the first years one by one. Colin Creevey was the only other person I recognised by name, by virtue of being the only one being mentioned in canon. After him the mundane born we met at the boat, Mary, was sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Alexandra Knight!" McGonagall called, and with that I headed onto the stool and put the hat on
'Well let's see what we've got here' the hat speaks in my mind 'Yes, yes interesting. Hmm I have no clue what any of this means'
'So what do you do in your free time?' I ask the hat, completely ignoring its confusion at being unable to decipher my surface thoughts
'Well nothing much, it gets quite boring you see. I only get let out once a year.' it replies with a sulk in his voice 'Sorry for this, but I'll have to go deeper into your mind'
'Oh?'
'Yeah, normally surface thoughts are enough. But every once in a while I have to go deeper for the troublesome ones' it says accusingly
'Oh you have no idea how troublesome I really am' I reply mirth fully 'Say, you got a name? It must get annoying to be referred to as a hat'
"Yes, no one ever asks me that. I might even forget it one day. Its Josephat. Never liked thar"
'You're a hat named Josephat? Who ever named you had a sense of humor'
'Why's that?'
'Your name means God Judges'
'Well I like it much more now.' He replies 'I'm sorry but WHAT in Rowena's name is going on inside your head. IT'S A MESS. I keep getting lost, and where the hell are your memories!?'
'No clue. Hey have you got any good stories? You've been around for centuries, you must've seen something interesting. How about Headmaster over there? You sorted him, anything interesting in his head?'
'I didn't look, and even if I did I wouldn't have been able to tell you. Now be quiet I'm trying to work here. Piece of advice learn some Occlumency, it's a mess in here'
'Yeah, I'll look into it. How about something not in his head then? You spend your life in his office, must've seen something interesting'
'Apart from him performing a duet with his bird? Nothing. You know what I give. Just choose a House.'
'That is interesting, any chance of sharing the memory? And ravenclaw is fine'
'No, now off with you'
"RAVENCLAW!"
Before I take him off, I send an image of a dragon burning a mountain of hats just to mess with him
"Eep" and with that I head off to the ravenclaw table, accompanied by an applause.
"Luna Lovegood!" McGonagall calls out as I take a seat at the table
"Hey, I'm Padma. This is Sue Li"
"Hello, I'm Alex Knight. Nice to meet you"
"RAVENCLAW" Josephat shouts sorting Luna, and she skips towards the table and takes a seat next to me
"What did you do to the hat? It seemed really scared" she asks
"Just showed it a big scary dragon"
"Why would it be scared of a dragon, I bet it's seen lots?" Sue Li asks
"Well there might have been lots of fire, and hats involved"
"Only you Alex" she says shaking her head softly "Hi, I'm Luna" she says turning to the two
"Hey, this is Sue Li and I'm Padma. What's with the funny looking glasses?" She asks
"Oh these?" Luna says taking of her purple, winged shaped glasses off her head "These are my spectrespecs. I enchanted them to let me see high concentration of Magic. I'm hoping they'll help me find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack"
I'm pretty sure Luna has been playing the worlds longest hide and seek game.
"I've never heard of them" Padma replies
"Well they're pretty rare, and I'm pretty sure you forget what they look like after you've seen them"
"It sounds made up" Sue replies skeptically
"Made up?" I interrupt with a scoff "We have countless species of dragons, a kraken in the black lake, spiders the size of carriages who can talk, boggarts who can turn into your worst fears and you draw the line at something that makes you forget what they look like? I'd argue that's more normal that most creatures we know off"
"Oh, um I'm sorry" Sue says meekly
"Wait did you says you enchanted them yourself?"
"Yeah, Alex taught me" Yep, just because I chose not to do magic until my core stabalised, doesn't mean I didn't teach Luna and Ginny anything. Strictly speaking they're more skilled in practical magic than me at this point in time.
"Ginerva Molly Wesley" McGonagall says, finally getting to Ginny, who's the last on the list. Surprisingly she also gets sorted into Ravenclaw
"Hey! I was so nervous, the hat couldn't decide between Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." she says sitting next us
"Look at Ron, he can't believe a Weasley isn't in the Lions Den" Luna says pointing at Ron, who just stares towards us disbelievingly. I just smile and wave at him
"Hi, I'm Padma and this is Sue Li" Padma says to Ginny
"You know, you should've just held off the introductions until the end" I point out
"Yeahhh, we were committed to it"
"Ahem" Dumbeldore voice washes over the Great Hall, quietening the students "Once again, I welcome all the first years to Hogwarts. Before we start the feast I have a few notices and warnings. As always magic in the corridors is forbidden for all students, unless you're a prefect. Students are also to make sure they're in there dorms before curfew. The forbidden forrest is just that, forbidden, for all students" he says looking at all the tables.
"Mr Filch has also posted a list of all forbidden items, which includes anything from Zonko's. He has also asked for any information on the prank black market" at that the students chuckle "He is also thinking of locking the broom closets when not in use" Groans from the older students propogate through the hall "But luckily I convinced him that they are constantly in use, so you're welcome! And with that let the feast begin!"
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"My name is Penelope Clearwater, and I'm the prefect for Ravenclaw"
"And I'm Robert Hilliard, also a prefect"
"Now make sure to stick together and remember how we get to the Dorms from the hall. And be careful of the stairs" Penelope says to the us, which only numbers 8 this year.
The stairs were in all honestly less magical and more annoying. The prefect had to actually grab one of the boys to stop him from getting to close to the edge
"Here's our dormitory. Unlike the other houses, students of Ravenclaw are required to answer a riddle to gain entry"
"Well that's stupid" I interrupted, and the entire entrouge, apart from Ginny and Luna, look at me strangely
"Well if you think the riddles are too hard for you, maybe you're not a good fit for Ravenclaw"
I can feel both Luna and Ginny surpressing a laughter at that statement
"It's not that. How does the painting choose what riddle to ask?"
"Why does that matter l?"
"Well it either chooses from a collection of riddles, in which case it is bound to repeat them. Then it's not testing intellect, it's testing your memorising ability. On the other hand if it's made to never repeat a riddle then it's eventually going to get to such hard riddles that no one can answer them"
"I don't think it'll ever get to that point" Penelope replies
"Sigh, it's not even that. It doesn't even have to be a hard riddle, just an unknown one. Hey painting, let me ask you a riddle" I say looking at the painting
"Okay?" it replies unsurdly
"You guys feel free to play along" I address the other " I am taken from a mine, and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost everybody. What am I?"
I can see everyone straining themselves trying to figure it out. I see Luna smiling, she definitely knows but opts to stay quite. Ginny seems like she's almost figured it out.
"I don't know" the painting replies
"It's a pencil lead"
"What's that?" One of the first year asks
"It's a writing instrument that the mundanes use. Of course wizards would've never known the answers because they all use quills. Since I know the answer does that mean I'm smarter than all wizards? Of course not" Well I probably am "it just means they've never seen a pencil. Ignorance is not stupidity. Well deliberate ignorance is. Look my point is this riddle thing inconvenient at best, stupid at worst"
"Uhh, I'll bring it up with the professors in the prefect meeting" Robert says "Merlin, it's just a door" he continues in a whisper audible to all.
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"So here's your dorm. You four girls will be rooming together" Penelope says to Mary and us three. "Professor Flitwick will give you your schedules at the morning feast tomorrow. You have the rest of the day today to get settled in" She says leaving us to in the room
A/N had trouble writing this chapter since I kept wanting to jump later in the plot, but it was needed. As a side note I may have made it harder on my self by putting Alex in the same year as Luna. Did you know Rowling only names 3 students in Luna's year? Luna, Colin and Ginny. Mary is an OC, not sure I'll do anything with her. I needed to put her there since there are normally 4-5 girls that room together. Made Mary as an OC, and put Ginny in to pad the count. Which is reasonable imo, Alex underestimates the effect she had on Ginny.
I also put her in Luna's year, because I didn't want to deal with Harry's's first year. And since second year won't happen at all because Alex has the diary, well it should be over quick. I will put some things for Alex to do.
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