Ch. 30

But now?

Now was different. For one thing, he was pretty sure that Neville was going to Gryffindor and the last thing he wanted was to spend the next seven years sleeping in the same room at that prat. Or have to listen to Ron snore with that bellow set of lungs of his. Still, he didn't want to leave his friend alone with that sort of crowd if he could help it.

Ravenclaw? Certainly he was smarter than any of the other incoming first years, but he didn't have a love to devour a book. It was more a necessary chore rather than a love of books. He did it because he needed to, not because he wanted to. If he could, he'd rather read a nice fiction book like he used to back in his primary school. Textbooks were so dry.

That left Hufflepuff. Only, did he consider himself Hufflepuff material? He was certainly loyal, but not like he used to be. His loyalties were mostly to himself and what he considered important. Sure the school was important, but he wasn't loyal like he had once been. Harry was certain that there was no way he could summon Fawkes like he had during his second year. He wasn't that loyal to Hogwarts or Dumbledore. He was loyal to his family because they were inside his definition of what was important to be loyal to. Hogwarts Express? Outside. Leon (knucklehead that he was): inside. McGonagall? Outside, but nearly in. Flitwick? Same. Binns? Outside. Sirius, Remus, dad? All inside.

Hermione? Inside. He quickly thought of his friend. He'd missed her over the past year and wanted her back. He had a chance to set something right with her. But that still didn't answer her question.

"Harry? I'm sorry if I'm pestering you for answers. You don't have to tell me, that's all right," she stated, getting up.

Harry put his hand over hers, motioning for her to sit back up. "I don't think you're pestering me, Hermione. I was just thinking how I wanted to answer your question. My parents were both in Gryffindor."

"So you want to be in Gryffindor then?" Hermione asked in genuine curiosity.

"Not if I have to deal with Neville Longbottom for seven years, I don't. And since his parents' are from Gryffindor as well, I'm thinking that's where he wants to go."

"So then which of the other houses holds your interest?" Pam asked, curious.

"I'm really not sure. There's pros and cons to every house.

"Remember, Harry," Edward continued, "silver and green are girly colors. Blue, I'm not so sure about, red and gold are good."

Harry grinned at his new friend and nodded. "I think I'll just let the hat decide."

"Hat?" Hermione's face took on a very confused look like she was trying to connect the dots logically from A to B to C but suddenly dot B fell under the wheels of the Express and got sliced up on the way to Bath or Bristol.

"A living hat - kinda. It's how you get sorted into a house. The staff puts a hat on our heads that is sentient. The hat then proceeds to rifle through your head and figures out which of the houses is best for you."

"A hat that reads your mind?" Hermione was aghast. "I'm not sure I like something that can read my mind."

"Tell me about it," Harry commiserated. "I went about learning occulmancy so I wouldn't have anything but my own thoughts going through my head and here I have to let this hat have free access."

Hermione wasn't sure what occulmancy was but was sure it wouldn't be too hard when she got around to learning it herself. After all, if a boy her own age could learn it, she was certain she could too. At most it would take… what… a couple weeks? She'd have to ask Harry about it later.

"You're serious, right? A hat. That's all the test is: a personality quiz given by a hat?" Pam asked, wanting to make sure she wasn't getting pranked.

"Yup. Pretty much."

"No magical test of having to pull a rabbit out of a hat or pour milk down a paper cone and have it disappear, right? Nothing to have happen with a wand, right?" Hermione put in.

"Not that I'm aware of," Harry replied truthfully. "Why? Where'd you get that idea?"

Hermione shook her head slowly and looked down. "It was something I overheard," she admitted.

"Overheard from who?" Harry questioned.

Sigh "I caught a couple first years talking with that awful Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley earlier. They said it was a test. Except that Weasley said his brothers had told him he had to wrestle a troll and depending on how you did meant you went to a specific house. If you were missing a limb or finger you went to Hufflepuffs and all that rot. Honestly, how could I have been that stupid to fall for that?"

Harry chuckled and rubbed Hermione's back. "Hermione, you're not stupid. Let me ask: when you were a child, did you believe in fairies, unicorns, and winged horses?"

Sheepishly, she answered, "Yes. But to be honest, I was really young and my father enjoyed reading me many fantasy novels."

"All right," Harry agreed. "Now that you are here, now, on this train, do you believe in fairies, unicorns, and winged horses?"

"Huh? Well, no. Those were made up for fiction."

"Pam? How about you? You believe in them?"

"Of course. But then again, I'm a pureblood so I know about things like that."

"Hermione, it's like Pam said, all three exist. Just maybe not in the same context you read about. For instance, tell me about the fairies you imagined."

"They're small, winged people like Tinkerbell in Peter Pan . They have magical abilities and are awfully nice to young boys and girls."

....

Read ahead by more than 60 chapters on my p@treon.

Link: pa*treon.com/GalaxyWonder (Remove the *)

Free members an get up to 2 free chapters.

Have a great day....