Chapter 35: First day at school

September 1st, 1991, Hogsmeade Station, 9:45 PM.

As soon as the magical hat finished the announcement, the entirety of the Gryffindors erupted into the loudest applause as ever, with feverish shouts echoing throughout the great hall that almost resembled utter chaos should this be allowed to continue.

"Silence!" The voice of the head of their house, Professor McGonagall. Rendering a quietness never like before.

Amid the only sound of flickering candles and wide-opening eyes, Harry swiftly returned the hat to the professor, put on his hood, and nimbly rejoined Ron's side, not forgetting to give a smile at the cheering Draco sitting with two unfamiliar girls from his house and Hermione sitting across Ron.

"Ehem! Let the feast begin..." The old man in a crimson robe, wearing half-moon glasses, spoke calmly, bringing back the melodious atmosphere to the great hall.

With such a temperament and the position he was in, Harry speculated that the old man was someone of great importance.

"That's our Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore." Noticing Harry's curious gaze, the one sitting beside Hermione explained.

He seemed much older than Harry, with fiery red hair and a distinct temperament of seriousness, dignity, and those ambitions sparkled in his eyes. 

"And welcome to Gryffindor; I'm Percy Weasley, the house's Prefect. If you're wondering about anything, just ask." Percy put on that business smile that Harry's had seen too many times on Ethan's face, still his Dad's did it better.

Harry nodded politely. 'Wait, Percy Weasley?' the boy darted his eye back to Ron, who gave an affirming nod.

"It seems that you have already met my brother, I hope you two can get along well."

"Of course we do!" Ron's said with his chin held high.

Which managed a chuckle out of Percy in amusement before turning back to the feast.

Just when Harry was about to dig in two, certain Gryffindor jumped out of nowhere to his other size, their eyes bore with endless joy and, of course, mischief.

They spoke together in a rather quirky manner. "Hi Harry Potter" x2 

"I'm George," said the one sitting next to Harry. "I'm Fred," said the one next to George.

"We're the Weasley Twin." Each word was said in perfect continuation.

Harry's eye widened in amazement as he shook hands with both of them while Percy rolled his eyes.

They were twins, much identical in appearance except... Harry's squinted eyes as he focused on the twin's hair... 'Wow, the book was right! one of the other's hair was slightly paler than the other.'

The boy smiled inwardly; he couldn't wait to tell Luna about this discovery once he got back.

"We hope our little Ron doesn't trouble you too much," the twin giggled.

"Hey!" Ron retorted while Harry shook his head.

"Anyway, you are truly a lucky boy, Harry. We believed you're going to have quite exciting times ahead," the twin smiled mischievously as they darted their eyes behind Harry.

'Hm!?' It was then that Harry became aware of various gazes drilling at his back, each carrying a hint of temptation.

Slowly turning his head, Harry realised whose gaze those were. They were from girls that were around his age; some came from Gryffindor's table, and some came from a certain girl from Ravenclaw with obvious Asian heritage...

All of which sent shivers down the boy's spine, as in his perception, those eyes were like predators savouring their prey despite their gentle smiles.

Immediately, Harry shrank back, focusing on the feast to get rid of his chilling feeling. The boy wished that Luna was here; her company had always been something so assuring. Harry was already looking forward to hanging out with her next year.

At least the rest of the feast was really refreshing for the boy.

Harry got to know more about Weasley through Ron. Percy, on the other hand, would tell him more about the school, and of course, Hermione would ask various questions that even amazed Percy, and Harry would get a good giggle whenever the twins chimed in with their clever humour.

Still, Harry must admit, the feast wasn't that good compared to Ethan's cooking. The boy was already missed his Dad's dishes and the various spices they brought back from China. 'Hm... Maybe I can ask him to deliver some..."

Soon the feast ended, and then Percy began to guide them to the common house.

Following the Prefect, Harry got to marvel at the grand interior of the castle, with its tall, intricately carved stone walls, spacious hallways, and windows with painted glasses that exuded a sense of elegance.

On top of that, the moving staircase demonstrated the essence of magic within this castle.

'Wow' Harry could help but gulp as he witnessed the spiralling, moving staircase with a hint of fear should he slip his foot.

And then the new Gryffindors finally stop in front of a big picture depicting a plump noble lady. It was the second time that Harry got to experience the magical portrait; the last time was when he was travelling around Europe with Ethan.

After Percy explained the house regulations and such, it was time for them to settle down in their appointed room.

Harry was lucky to be in the room with Ron, that chubby boy with frog who introduced himself as Neville Longbottom. It seemed like, due to their introverted nature, it didn't take long before Harry befriended the boy. 

The other two were Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. Both of whom Ron got along quite well, but for Harry, he was still left out of their conversation. From what Harry could tell, Dean was an open-minded and tolerant individual, while Seamus, the boy, generally appeared good-natured and easy-going, although rather clumsy

Harry hoped that, with time, he could really befriend them.

When all had settled, it was time for good sleep, as tomorrow would be a big day for him.

So to prevent his anxiousness and excitement from rendering him sleepless, the boy had to use Cogitation.

September 2nd, 1991, Hogwarts, 6:30 PM.

"Ugh... morning, Harry." The red-haired boy struggled to wake up as he was fighting the urge to continue lying in his comfort bed, away from the chilling early morning of autumn. "Hm...You're up early." When Ron finally opened his eyes, he saw that Harry was already in uniform; his jet black was combed, though the unruliness was still visible.

"M-moring Ron." The boy had actually woken up by five thirty in the morning, taken a shower, and spent time dealing with his unruly hair as usual, trying to hide the scar with it.

*Yawn* *Sniff* *Sniff*

"...What time is it, and what is that smell? It's really good!" Harry offered a cup to Ron. "Merlins, it's really good. What innit?"

"O-oolong," Harry said sheepishly at Ron's praise.

Deeply affected by Ethan, Harry also develop the habit of brewing tea in the morning, so the boy had brought a ton of various tea from home. This morning, Harry was sipping oolong tea whilst double checking the things needed for today's class according to the schedule Percy gave out yesterday.

"A-and I-it's s-six thirty." Harry checked the silver pocket watch hanging around his neck.

"Holy, mate, is that a pocket watch?" Ron's eyes bulge with curiosity. "Blimey, this look expensive."

Harry smiled as he caressed the pocket watch. "Dad gave it to me." 

"Cool~"

Afterwards, the two Gryffindor boys headed towards the great hall for breakfast. Harry was dressed neatly in the school uniform and carrying his trusty enchanted satchel, while Ron seemingly gave up tying the cravat. The moment they walked out of the dorm, Harry immediately put on his hood This gave him a questioning look from Ron but soon the boy swiped it off. "Let's go"

On the way they met Hermione, sitting in front of the fireplace of the common room, the bushy-haired girl seemed to also be an early person, and on top of that, a true bookworm, as she could be seen reading a book whilst there were two to three more placed on the coffee table.

"Mental that one," Ron showed an obvious disgrace as he saw how thick those books were. 

"I can hear you, you know." Hermione shot a glare at Ron while Harry giggled on the side.

The Great Hall at this time was rather deserted, as there were very few people from each house either chatting with each other or eating quietly whilst doing their homework. Still, their were some eyes drilling their gaze at Harry, which rendered the boy to duck behind Hermione or Ron.

"Ah, it's time to dig in!" Ron's mouth was on the verge of drooling over all the food.

Seeing such a scene, Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. She and Harry took the seat opposite Ron, watching the red-hair started chomping on the food with amazement. "Oh, the manners."

On the other hand, Harry looked at the dishes with scepticism, especially that glass of deep orange. 'Is this pumpkin?'

"What are you waiting for, Harry? Hm... what kind of drink is this?" Without a thought, the boy immediately took a big sip of that drink.

"Yikes, Merlin's bear! what kind of taste is this?" Ron grimaced as he spat out the drink.

*Clap clap clap*

"Pumpkin Juice," Draco said with a smirk as he took a seat next to Ron. "It's a surprise to see such food...enthusiast like you couldn't even drown it."

"G-good m-morning Draco." Harry waved his hand while Hermione give Draco a welcoming smile.

"Ugh, why are you here, Draco, Slytherin's table is on the other side." Ron pointed at the back whilst entering the starring contest with Draco, again.

"Aw, don't be so cold, Ronald. There are no rules forbidding me to sit here." Draco purposefully used his sly tone towards the irritated Ron.

"True," Hermione confirmed with a nod.

"And beside, we're at a magical school, Ronald. Watch..." Draco looked at the glass of pumpkin juice in Ron's hands

"What the...Did you just cast a spell?" Suddenly, the colour of the juice began to change into a bright red.

"Thank you" The other three show a puzzled expression, wondering why Draco was thanking the air.

Draco just shrugged, showing his bare hand to Ron.

The foodie boy, while keeping an eye out for the smirking Draco, took a sip at the bright red glass.

"Oh, this is Watermelon juice! Okey I gave you this one," Ron said happily as he started chopping the food again.

"What kind of spell is this?" Hermione's eyes shone with contemplation as she tried to figure out the mystery.

For Harry, the moment Draco focused his attention on the pumpkin juice and said thank you afterwards, he could sense a faint gaze pass by, but the boy couldn't pinpoint it.

For the rest of the breakfast, the quartet just chatted, mostly Draco and Ron talking or exchanging subtle mockery; Hermione asked questions or explained long things to Draco and Ron, and Harry was content to quietly listen on the sidelines.

As time went by, the great hall began to fill with student, Various prejudiced look passed by the quartet, wondering why a Slytherin could get along well with three Gryffindor out in the open.

Yet the quartet never batted an eye to that, for those gazed left quickly.

Soon, it was time for the class to begin.