Hogwarts Again
The days at the Burrow flew by, and too soon, much too soon, the day to return to Hogwarts came.
For the first time, neither Aelurus, Sciurus nor Catulus were looking forward to returning to the place they considered a home.
Despite Mrs Weasley's many many warnings to pack their things and get ready the day before, the morning afterwards was a cluster of rushing around, eating breakfast and looking for things.
Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Mr. Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car.
The BlackLights didn't know how ten people, eight large trunks, three owls (Hedwig, Hermes and Cat's owl Sapphire) were going to fit in one Ford Angela.
They were, of course, considering without the special features Mr Weasley had added.
"Not a word to Molly, he whispered to them as he opened the trunk and showed them how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily.
When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Ron, Fred, Hermione, Crystalline, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said,
"Muggles do know more than we give them credit for, don't they?"
She and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?"
Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Hermione, Crystalline and Harry turning back for a last look at the house.
They'd barely had time to wonder when they'd be able to see the house they had spent the happiest months of their lives in again when they had to get back into the car.
George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks.
Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick.
They had almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary.
By the time she had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high.
Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife.
"Molly, dear--"
"No , Arthur --"
"No one would see - this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed - that'd get us up in the air - then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser--"
"I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight--"
They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station.
The tricky part was getting onto platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn't visible to the Muggle eye.
What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten.
It didn't hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that none of the Muggles noticed you vanishing.
They all made their way through the barrier in twos and threes.
***
They had finally found a compartment and were settling in, when the compartment door slid open.
Thankfully though, it wasn't Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, but Ginny Weasley, accompanied by three other girls.
One of them had dirty blonde hair and light slivery eyes.
She was wearing a necklace made from butter beer cocks and dangling from her ears were what looked like radishes. She was peculiar to say at least.
The other girl had shoulder-length messy black hair with purple streaks and violet eyes. She had a bored look on her face.
The third girl had long wavy brown hair, tied up in a french braid bun. She had amber eyes and she held herself gracefully.
"Can we sit here", Ginny asked.
"Sure", Hermione said, cutting off Ron's protest.
"Who are you three?", Crystalline asked.
"I am Harmony, Harmony Fawley, pleasure to meet you", the girl with amber eyes introduced.
"Hello, I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood", the odd girl said dreamily.
"I'm Skylar, Skylar Visten, care to introduce yourselves", the girl with purple highlights shrugged.
"Crystalline Gray, pleasure to meet you", Catulus said with a sharp nod, her perfect pureblood mask on.
"I am Hermione Granger, lovely to meet you", Sciurus smirked.
"I'm Ronald Weasley, but I go by Ron. Ginny's youngest older brother"
"That's contradictory", Luna pleasantly pointed out.
"It really is", Crystalline and Harry smiled at the younger girl.
"And I'm Harry Potter", said Aelurus, bracing himself for their reactions.
He wasn't disappointed, as Harmony and Skylar gasped, though Luna looked completely unfazed.
"Nice to meet you Harry, Ron, Hermione, Crystalline", she pleasantly greeted.
The four of them were liking Luna more and more by the minute.
"Anyway, how do people get sorted? The other first years don't know and anyone older, including our parents and siblings refuse to tell us", Skylar asked.
"Sorry, but it's tradition that the first-years don't know how they get sorted, though it hurts a lot", Harry said, even grimacing to play the part.
The four second-years internally smirked when the first-years exchanged fearful and nervous looks.
"They have these tests, to see which house we fit in the most", Hermione added, enjoying the sight of fear in the rapidly paling girls.
***
Hermione and Harry spent rest of the journey telling the Luna, Ginny, Harmony and Skylar tales about how dreadful the sorting was, making sure to keep them believable enough.
Harmony and Skylar seemed petrified, though Skylar tried to hide it while Luna hadn't seemed to have believed their lies from the beginning while Ginny had caught on.
"You know, you two are positively wicked", Crystalline said, as the BlackLights made their way towards the carriages.
"Yeah, those blighters must be terrified", Ron added.
Harry and Hermione though just laughed.
"Not our fault that they're so gullible, other than Lovegood. That girl was quite the smart cookie, despite her eccentricity", Harry said.
"And our fiery little Weaslette too. I think growing up with Fred and George smartened her up", Hermione said.
"Skylar will probably be a lion, Harmony a badger. Luna will most likely go to Ravenclaw while Ginny is a toss up between Slytherin and Gryffindor", Crystalline said.
"I hope Gin goes to Slytherin. I'd like to have my little sister in my house.
Besides, she was curious about the snake pit", Ron said.
"I hope she goes there too", Crystalline said, while Harry and Hermione nodded.
The castle was within their sight now, grand and mystical as always.
The four of them exchanged smiles.
They were at Hogwarts once again.......