But since the wannabe bully didn't bother him or anyone else in the compartment, Harry chose to just ignore him. He had other, better, things to do than think about Draco acting weird after all.
The sky was dark when the train pulled up to Hogsmead station, and the students poured out, Ginny and Luna waving goodbye as they went to join Hagrid and the other First Years.
"Where do we go this year?" Ron wondered as Hannah and Susan joined them, the redhead shivering a bit in the cool night air.
"According to Hogwarts, A History, carriages are supposed to take students to the castle," Hermione helpfully supplied.
"Think those are them?" Harry mused, pointing to a row of carriages that was lined up in the distance near the station's platform. Curiously, there didn't appear to be anything pulling them. But then again, the answer to how they moved was probably 'magic.' Likely a charm was responsible.
Yet as they got closer, one of them seemed a bit uneasy.
"What's wrong, Neville?" Hannah asked, watching the boy flinch at the sight of the carriages.
"Y-you don't see them?" he asked nervously, glancing back and forth.
"See what?" Ron asked.
"Th-the things pulling the carriages!" he exclaimed.
"I don't… Neville, there's nothing pulling the carriages," Hermione said in confusion.
The boy looked confused, and hesitantly approached their transportation up to the castle. When they got closer, Harry curiously reached out to where Neville was staring, and to his shock, felt something boney underneath his hand when he tried to investigate.
"There's definitely something there," Harry muttered, to everyone's surprise.
"Careful, Harry! They've got big teeth!" Neville warned him.
"I don't think they'd have something dangerous pull carriages full of students," Hermione said, trying to reassure the pudgy boy.
"You sure about that?" Harry asked dryly. "This is the place where teachers thought it would be a good idea to hide an incredibly valuable item within reach of children."
"Ah, well, I'm sure last year was just a fluke!" Hermione stammered.
"A sickle says she's wrong and that something will definitely happen this year," Ron whispered to Hannah and Susan. The two Hufflepuffs looked offended on behalf of Hermione, but also tellingly didn't take the bet.
"Come on, let's just get on," Harry suggested, looking around. They were one of the last groups to not board the carriages, most of the other students having already done so.
That got them moving, and the party on got, squeezing into the carriage which whisked them off to the castle.
Unlike last year, as returning students Harry and the gang were dropped off at the front entrance, and it was quite impressive. The ancient portcullis had been raised, and the gates were open, allowing entry to the foyer.
Here, they were funneled into the Great Hall, with the symbols of the four Houses on display above the tables.
Sitting down at their respective tables, they didn't have to wait long before the First Years filed in.
"There's not a lot of 'em," an older Gryffindor muttered. Last year, there'd been fifty-one new students. This year, there were only forty, and half were muggleborn. It was a somber reminder of just how much devastation had been caused by Voldemort's civil war.
Then, before the awe-struck First Year students, the Sorting Hat was brought out by Professor McGonagall, and it began to sing.
Long ago, four folk came together, a dream they all shared.
Four were they that fateful day, who built what none before had dared!
Gryffindor the Brave, with sword sharp and biting.
Slytherin the Cunning, with destiny ill-defined.
Hufflepuff the Welcoming, with tables fit to bursting.
Ravenclaw the Wise, with a restless mind.
And so they created Hogwarts, a place to teach and learn!
A home to all who sought the best of what magic could do!
So here comes a new generation, and one by one in turn
Shall you take your place amongst the most true!
Now I may be just a hat but when I'm worn a mirror I will become,
To reflect your truth and show you the path that you will tread.
So don't be glum, my dear young chum,
And pop me on your head.
Then you'll see where you need to be, and what your future is.
The lyrics were odd, and it wasn't very good. Not to mention Harry's guard was immediately up when it mentioned mirrors, but nobody else seemed to pay much attention to it.
Then McGonagall whipped out a scroll and began to read out names, and the Sorting began.
Luna ended up in Ravenclaw, while Ginny, somewhat unsurprisingly, was sorted into Gryffindor, along with a boy named Colin Creevy whose eyes were so wide Harry was worried they might fall out.
In the end, the houses got a fairly even spread of First Years, with Hufflepuff ending up with twelve new students, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw each getting ten, and Slytherin with a mere eight.
Dumbledore said some words. He reminded students that the Forbidden Forest was still forbidden, and Filch had made a new list of banned objects.
"And last but not least, I'm happy to introduce our newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor! Please give a warm welcome to Professor Lockhart!" Dumbledore requested, and a wave of cheering and applause broke out as a young man with wavy blond hair stood up and waved at the crowd from his spot on the teacher's table. The loudest people to welcome the professor were the girls.
"Who's that?" somebody asked, voice almost lost amongst the torrent of noise.
"He's a famous author and adventurer!" an older girl gushed.
"And he's super handsome!" Lavender Brown squealed.
"Hopefully he's better than Quirrell," Dean muttered, to which Harry nodded. He'd read the man's books and hadn't been that impressed with the prose, while Edward had scoffed loudly after flipping through them. Hopefully he taught better than he wrote.
When the girls were finally finished cheering for Professor Lockhart, Dumbledore summoned the feast. Everybody tucked in, cheerfully enjoying the first day back to school.
Then, when it was time to retire for the evening, Harry grinned as they headed up to the tower where the Gryffindor dorm was.
He might be worried about the situation with Edward's divination stuff, but he was excited to be back. Magic was truly amazing, and he was eager to learn more.
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