Chapter 24
29 August 1991 Friday
I can now state with absolute confidence that cats do not like apparating.
I packed up all my stuff last night and this morning and said goodbye to family and neighborhood (UV and I shook hands and he wished me luck at school; AP and I looked at each other funny for a bit then did probably one of the most awkward hugs that ever happened; Dud said "See you at Christmas hols, chump," and punched me in the shoulder, but it was a friendly punch) and Remus came and got me and Tango and we told Hedwig where we were going and let her fly there and we went.
We were early so I could shower and change here and be out of the way of the movers back on Privet Drive and things were pretty chaotic, but Lady Longbottom made time to greet us anyway and then Remus went off to help organize and I went up to the guest suite I used last time and gave my dress robes to the house elf (Max) to shake out or whatever while I got ready.
By the time I got downstairs, people were starting to arrive. Lady Longbottom and Neville were pinned down receiving guests, but I got to wander about and say hi to people after. Millie was one of the first to arrive, and her dress robe was stunning and really suited her. I can't even start to describe the cut, but the color was kind of a bright pink/gold which sounds like it should have been gaudy but went really well with her hair and skin. I told her how great she looked and she thanked me and said that Luna had found it for her way at the back of some rack while Hannah and Susan were busy telling her that she should not wear ruffles. Luna showed up wearing something unearthly looking in shades of sea green and silver and grey, with starfish in her hair. Susan wore cream, Hannah wore white that really showed off her tan, Shack wore something hard to describe in black and flame colors. Neville and I decided we were pretty boring, but Luna said that was fine, because it provided contrast.
After that the others started coming and we met them all and it went pretty well except for a bit of a dust-up between Ron Weasley and Draco, but Neville and I broke that up, explaining that if he insisted on fighting with Draco that Neville and I would have to fight because Draco's family is sworn to me and his is to Neville and both of us are bound as lieges to defend them, and since Ron was the attacker, I got to get in the first punch. Ron was shocked, but we explained it all to him and that since Draco's family was sworn to me and Mr. Malfoy is my regent, they can't be evil anymore even if they want to.
Ron's an awful lot like Draco, really, except less patrician.
There was such a press of people that I didn't really get to know the new ones very well, but at least we've all been introduced and we'll all recognize each other on the train. And I did get to exchange a few words with Morag and Daphne when I danced with them. And Draco introduced me especially to Greg and Chip (Why Chip? Because Dad, Gaffer, and Greatgaffer are all Vincent, so all the usual nicknames are taken.) He and they grew up together, and they're sworn to him rather than his father. I asked if that was usual, and he said it was in his family anyway, the Crabbe and Goyle nearest the age of the Malfoy heir are always sworn to him and attend Hogwarts with him. And a good thing too, Greg said, since they couldn't afford to go otherwise. Most of the kids in the village go to Mrs. Pucey's dame school.
I thought all magical kids went to Hogwarts, but there a lot that don't. There are village schools for the kids who are magical but not quite up to Hogwarts, some people are homeschooled, and there's a bardic academy in Wales. Most of the Gamps go there, and about half of the Burkes, as well as quite a few Ancient families. There's also a yeshiva just for religious Jewish magicals that's known for being the place to study arithmancy.
Anyway, I hung out with them for a while, and Draco introduced me to Pansy and Blaize and Daphne and Morag (or rather presented them to me; he presented everyone to me just as he should have, I'm just not writing it down right) and we made sure everyone had met everyone. I really like Blaize. He's got a wicked sense of humor.
Ernie was still a bit green and scaly, and still really tired, but he thanked me a lot for having invited him, and for writing him the first place. I spent enough time with him that I got his birthday (13 February) and his favorite color (blue) and his favorite food (anything caramel). His favorite musician is his sister, who plays the harpsichord, and he prefers chess to sports. They're Scots, but he doesn't have much accent, and their manor isn't that far from Hogsmeade.
One reason there was such a crush is that all the parents stayed. I wasn't expecting that. It was interesting looking at them all. I didn't realize how many different classes we all were. But the parents all hung out at the far end of the ballroom away from the band except for whichever ones were chaperoning at the time. Percy and Cedric looked in part of the way through and were gobsmacked to see Percy's mom talking with Mrs. Crabbe and Mrs. Goyle.
The Hogwarts professors, or at least all the heads of houses, looked in, too, and Professor Dumbledore came and stayed for the entire time. He looked surprised and pleased and like he was thinking whenever I looked at him. Professor McGonnagle introduced me to Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout and I had a wonderful discussion of agricultural astrology and how much of what I'd already learned about it was useful in a magical context. She said that agricultural astrology is one of the most ancient forms, and predates the statute of secrecy by millennia, so really the only differences between them would be influences of the outer planets, since they were discovered so much more recently.
Professor Snape dropped by to say hello as well, and said that he had been hearing from his various contacts that he should batten down the hatches for a Potter invasion of Slytherin, and I said that that's what Percy and Mr. Malfoy keep telling me. I was leaning toward Hufflepuff myself. He snorted and told me to dream on and bade me good evening until tomorrow.
And it was actually evening already, and everyone was saying goodbye, and Neville and I got lots of hugs, which Lady Longbottom said weren't really proper, but lovely to see nonetheless and that she was much less worried about Neville going off to Hogwarts than she had been.
I don't even remember what lunch was, although I think there was lamb and mint sauce involved at some point. Oh, and animated ice sculptures that served butterbeer and orange squash and something for the adults that I didn't get to try.
While I was walking around, I overheard a really interesting conversation, between two men I didn't know:
"Do you think this is what t'old devil had in mind?"
"D'you think for a second it wasn't? Th' hardcore're all in Azkaban, an' th' rest of us, he's given us a banner to hide under. An' d'you see the Diggory boy running out t' become a Deatheater? Me neither, nor t' Lovegood lass. Face it, if t' Dark Lord comes back, he's comin' back to a very different world from what 'e left. I hope t' boy's up to it."
So do I, gentlemen. So do I.