Moony & Bambi

Harry waved to Remus until he was out of sight. Then he turned to find somewhere to sit. The three red heads were trying - and failing - to not stare. Harry smiled at the youngest one. 

“I’m Harry Potter,” he said. The kid’s eyebrows disappeared into his fringe. Harry had to resist raising one of his eyebrows. He’d spent so much time with Remus that he had picked up on his sassy attitude. 

“I’m Ron Weasley,” the blue eyed redhead introduced himself.

“We’re Fred and George,” one of the older ones said.

“Identical twins,” Ron explained. 

“Oh. Well, want to go find somewhere to sit?” Harry asked. Ron nodded.

“Sure!”

“We’re going to go see Lee Jordan’s pet spider,” George said. The twins set off, leaving Harry and Ron to find somewhere to sit. They found an empty compartment and claimed it for themselves. They sat down, Ron across from Harry, and were enveloped in an awkward silence.

“Who was that person who was with you?” Ron asked.

“Oh, him? He was friends with my parents. I call him Uncle Moony, but his real name is Remus Lupin,” Harry explained. 

“Do you live with him?”

“No, I live with my mum’s sister and her family. Uncle Moony and Auntie Mary live across the street from us. I stay with them often though.”

“Oh. Okay,” Ron said. He turned to look out the window, yet his eyes kept darting to the lighting bolt scar that crackled across Harry’s face. It was too noticeable to hide with his hair, so Harry just had to let everyone see it, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. Normally Remus made him feel better about it - he had his own scar right across his face - but he wasn’t going to be there to help Harry through it.

“Do you remember how it happened?” Ron asked. 

“No. I was a year old when it happened, so I only remember a bright green light,” Harry said.

“Oh. Well, you probably wouldn’t want to remember it anyway,” Ron guessed.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. 

“What did Lupin give you? I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but notice it,” Ron added hastily when Harry arched an eyebrow. Harry smiled.

“It’s a mirror that lets me talk to him. This one used to belong to my dad.” Harry held up the mirror and fingered the intricate engraving of his father’s name. 

“That’s so cool! So you can talk to him through that and it’ll be faster than owls?” Harry nodded.

Their conversation was interrupted by the blond boy Harry had met in Madam Malkin’s. He looked up the train with a face of discomfort and opened the compartment door.

“Hey, can I sit here? The Purebloods who believe in the blood purity thing are getting annoying,” he said. 

“Sure,” Harry agreed. The boy sat next to Ron.

“Oh, I’m Draco Malfoy by the way,” he said. Ron laughed, covering it badly with a cough. Draco turned to face him. “You’re a Weasley.”

“Yeah. So?”

“Your family seems fun. Father only ever talks about how I must keep the family blood line pure and all that. It’s all so stupid,” Draco groaned. Ron seemed surprised.

“You really think that?” He asked. Draco nodded.

“Yeah. Mother doesn’t care if I make it into any house other than Slytherin. I really want to be like that cousin of hers. I keep forgetting his name!” 

“Um, want to make a truce? Maybe we can become friends?” Ron asked, hopeful. Draco perked up at this.

“Of course! What’re names by the way? I realise that I never asked.”

“I’m Ron Weasley,” Ron said. He seemed pleased to have befriended someone whose family was known for something that Harry had to agree was stupid.

“Harry Potter,” Harry introduced himself.

“How’d I not realise it before! You’ve got a scar and everything! Which looks cool by the way,” Draco said, smacking his face with his hand.

“Thanks,” Harry said. 

The three of them talked for a while longer. They talked about how different their lives were, and about Quidditch - which Harry thought was cool and he began to want to play for his house - and about the houses and subjects. It was quite a pleasant conversation.

A witch pushing a trolley full of candy stopped by. Draco and Harry both bought a bunch of stuff and shared it with Ron, who was happy to be able to eat with friends.

A boy came around asking about a toad, but none of them had seen one.

“Honestly, I would lose it as soon as I could if I was given a toad,” Draco said.

“Me too. Though I brought Scabbers, so I can’t say anything,” Ron said. He pulled an old, fat grey rat out of his pocket.

“At least rats aren’t slimy,” Draco pointed out. Ron shrugged.

“True.” The door opened again, but this time it was a girl.

“Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost his,” she said. 

“If we did see it then we would’ve picked it up and given it back to its owner,” Harry replied truthfully. The girl took in Harry’s scar and her eyes grew wide.

“You’re Harry Potter!” She exclaimed. 

“Does everyone here know me?” Harry asked, exasperated. 

“Pretty much,” Ron confirmed. Harry made a noise that sounded like a dying moose. Not that he actually knew what that sounded like.

“You’re in so many different books!” The girl exclaimed. “Of course, if it was me, I would have found out everything I could!”

“I can find out everything I need to know from Uncle Moony or Auntie Mary. Heck, even Aunt Minnie!” Harry protested. 

“Okay well, I’m Hermione Granger. I’m a Muggle-born, so it was such a surprise when I received my letter,” the girl introduced herself.

“I’m Draco Malfoy,” Draco said.

“I’m Ron Weasley,” Ron said. Just so that they all knew each other.

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m going to go and help Neville find his toad now.” And Hermione Granger walked off.

“That was interesting,” Draco commented.

“No kidding,” Harry mumbled. Draco raised an eyebrow.

“Are you usually sassy?” He asked. Harry shrugged.

“Uncle Moony and Auntie Mary are normally like that. Guess I picked it up over the years,” he replied.

They continued to talk, changing into their robes when Hermione Granger said that they were almost there. The sky was dark, and Harry knew that he’d have to talk to Remus when he could. And send a letter to Mary.

The train stopped, and they filed out onto the platform with the rest of the students. Harry clutched the mirror that had once belonged to his father. It gave him comfort, knowing that his father had gone through this exact thing when he first arrived. His mother, too.

The trio made their way over to where Hagrid was and followed him down a dirt path, stumbling in the dark. Some of the first years were sniffing, probably already homesick. Harry had his mirror and could contact Remus whenever he wanted, which was quite nice.

“Ye’ll get yer first look of Hogwarts soon,” Hagrid called out to them. 

And he was right. 

They rounded a corner and Harry was in awe. Remus was right, the school was a castle. It was a medieval castle, and the lit windows glittered like jewels in the night.

“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called. Ron, Harry, Draco and the toadless boy climbed into the same boat and watched as the school grew closer.

This is it, he thought excitedly.

“Heads down!” Hagrid called. They ducked down, heads brushed by a curtain of ivory. They climbed out onto a shore and walked up to the front steps of the school. Hagrid knocked.

The doors opened at once to reveal a woman he knew very well. He gasped lightly. Ron looked at him as though he was an odd specimen, but Harry ignored him.

“The Firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” Hagrid said. Great. He had to get used to calling Aunt Minnie Professor McGonagall.

“Thank you, Hagrid. Follow me,” she said. The first years followed her through to a chamber. There she stood in front of all of them, who were quieter than mice.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” she said. “The start-of-term-banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because while you’re here your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.”

I hope that I get Gryffindor. After all, Mum and Dad were Gryffindors. So was Uncle Moony and Aunt Mary, Harry thought to himself.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.” She sent a pointed look to Harry.

Thanks, Aunt Minnie, Harry thought sarcastically. Good to know that you’ve got some faith in me.

“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.” She looked around at them all. Harry thought about smoothing down his hair, but that was going to be futile. “I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.” With that, she left. Hermione began to mutter spells under her breath, and Harry sort of wished she wouldn’t. It wasn’t helping any of them.

As the minutes ticked by, Harry grew increasingly nervous. What if he wasn’t put in Gryffindor? What if he didn’t fit in?

He clutched the mirror in his pocket, trying to reassure himself that he was going to be fine. He looked around him. They were all nervous, which was a reassurance. He wasn’t the only one feeling that way. Minerva returned, and Harry took a deep breath.

“Move along now,” she said, “the Sorting Ceremony is about to start. Form a line and follow me.” They lined up. Draco and Ron were behind him, and a guy with sandy hair in front. They walked through the doors, across the hall and through a set of double doors into the Great Hall. Harry was in awe as he walked through the hall.

There were five tables. Four of them followed the length of the room, and each one was packed with students wearing robes with different colours. One of the tables housed people with canary yellow, one had people wearing blue and silver, one of the other ones had green and silver, and then there was the table housing people with red and gold on their robes. The fifth table was facing all four of the tables, and Harry guessed that this was the staff table.

Candles floated above the tables, casting a warm, orange glow over the room. The ceiling wasn’t there - or so Harry thought. Hermione whispered that it was bewitched to look like the sky. Harry thought that it was an impressive bit of magic.

They lined up in front of the staff table and an old hat. It was quiet for a moment before a rip near the rim of the hat opened and it burst into song. It explained the different houses, and once it was finished, the entire hall burst into applause. Harry was impressed that it was able to sing. 

“So we’ve just got to try on the hat!” Ron whispered. “I’ll kill Fred. He was going on about wrestling a troll.” Harry held back a laugh. 

Minerva stood by the stall that the hat sat on with a piece of parchment in her hand.

“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she explained. “Abbott, Hannah.” And just like that, the sorting began. Harry’s nerves grew as the line dwindled slowly. When Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor, Ron groaned. Harry rolled his eyes. 

“Malfoy, Draco,” Minerva eventually called. Draco nervously walked up to the hat and put it on. It took ten minutes for the hat to make its decision.

“GRYFFINDOR!” It called out. Draco went and moved to the Gryffindor table, who were clapping for him. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables joined in, if anything to be polite. The Slytherin table was silent, though a few of the first years were clapping for him.

The line was even smaller now. More of the students were sorted, and then it was Harry’s turn.

“Potter, Harry,” Minerva called. Harry walked up to the hat, nerves making his legs like lead. Minerva gave him a look of encouragement, and Harry put the hat on. Nevermind the whispers around the hall.

“Hmm,” a voice said in his ear. He quickly realised that it was the hat talking directly to him. “Difficult. Very Difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting… So where shall I put you?”

Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin. He’d heard plenty of horror stories about that house. Besides, the man who killed his parents was in that house. He didn’t want to get lumped in with that man’s old house.

“Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness, no doubt about that. No? Well if you’re sure - better be GRYFFINDOR!” 

Harry took the hat off and went to join Draco at the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to be in the house that his parents had been in that he didn’t even notice the fact that he was receiving the most applause. Ron’s older brothers were shouting ‘We got Potter! We got Potter!” 

Harry sat down next to Draco and opposite a ghost. The thought chilled him slightly, but he turned to face the front of the hall. Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor, and he sank pale-faced next to Harry. Harry couldn’t help but grin. He had been sorted into the same house that his parents had been, and his friends were in it as well.

The feast passed quickly, and after a warning about certain death for whoever went through the third floor corridor, they were all dismissed off to their dormitories. 

Harry followed Percy Weasley, one of Ron’s older brothers who was a Prefect, up to the Gryffindor common room. It was a cosy room, with many armchairs and a fire. 

Percy directed the boys up a staircase and the girls up another. Harry headed upstairs with the boys in his year and entered a circular room. There were six beds, and their trunks were set at the foot of them. None of them spoke as they changed, and when they sat on their beds, the realised that they weren’t quite tired. 

“What do you guys want to do?” Draco asked.

“Maybe just getting to know each other?” Ron asked. Draco shrugged.

“Sounds like it could be fun,” Harry agreed. 

Harry learned that the other three boys were Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. They talked about the subjects, wondering what each one was going to be like. Harry played with the mirror while they talked.

“Why do you have that?” Dean asked, looking at the mirror confused.

“It lets me talk to my uncle without needing to use an owl,” Harry explained. He flipped it open.
“I want to meet this uncle of yours,” Ron said. 

“Alright then. Uncle Moony?”

“Do you know how late it is?” Remus replied, appearing in the mirror. Harry grinned.

“Sorry,” he apologized. 

“That grin tells me otherwise. How was your day?” 

“It was nice. I’ve made some friends,” Harry told him, looking up at his roommates. 

“I’m glad. House?”

“Gryffindor,” Harry simply replied. 

“Just like your parents,” Remus mused. “They’d be so proud of you.”

“I know,” Harry replied earnestly.

“What’s going on in there?” Percy’s voice called up to them. “It’s getting late.”

“Go to sleep,” Remus ordered. Harry rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Uncle Moony. Night.”

“Night.”

Harry closed the mirror and closed the hangings on his bed. He climbed under the covers and took off his glasses, finally falling asleep.