As the afternoon progressed towards beginning of evening hours, several of their House-Mates at Hogwarts looked in on them to see how they were doing.
Seamus, Dean, and Neville were all in Gryffindor and in their year, and they came to talk about the World Cup, or in Neville's case.
Listen to them talk as he wasn't able to go to the Cup this year.
More than a few girls passed by their opened door, Katie Bell being one of them, Hermione had noticed; none of them stopped to talk, but they all looked in, and she knew who they were looking at. Lucifer had been mentioned in the 'Daily Prophet' again, and he was responsible for the Deaths of many Death Eaters.
Naturally, if any of the dead had kids in Hogwarts, those students couldn't very well call him out, but she had no doubt they now hated him.
She huffed spitefully after the Eighth girl passed them, gawking at her Lucifer, and pulled out 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4,' and started on the Summoning Charm. Neville was still in there, and Ron was showing him miniature figure of Viktor Krum, "We saw him right up close, as well. We were in the Top Box---"
"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley," Draco Malfoy said, appearing in the doorway.
Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through compartment door, which Dean and Seamus left ajar.
"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry said coolly.
"Weasley... What is 'that?" Malfoy asked, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage.
A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the moldy lace cuff very obvious.
Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Draco was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled.
"Look at this!" Malfoy said in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of 'wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety!"
"Eat dung, Mafloy!" Ron said, same color as tdress robes as he snatched them back out of Draco's grip.
He howled with derisive laughter, while his two cronies guffawed stupidly.
"So... going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the 'family' name? There's money involved as well, you know... you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won!" Draco laughed again.
What he saw brought Lucifer's attention from rain on the window, to the conversation going on beside him. 'Plans haven't changed then? But how did they make Karkaroff agree to enter Britain for the Triwizard Tournament'? Shouldn't he be shaking mad right now....?' he thought and turned to put his full attention on Draco.
"What are you talking about?" Ron snapped at him.
"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated in the way you would for a child, "I suppose 'you' will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"
"Either explain what you're going on about, or sod off, Malfoy!" Hermione said angrily, looking up from her book.
"Oh, he doesn't know what's going on," Lucifer said calmly, realising it was time for his girlfriend to learn what's going on in the loop, and had fun while he was at it, "Draco always likes to talk a big game, but he's really quite useless when it comes to actually being helpful."
"Shut up, Morningstar!" Draco said, his brow furrowing, "I know exactly what I'm talking about, but it sounds like none of you do."
"No, see," Lucifer calmly poked Hermione's cheek who pushed her face aside, and sat backwards. It gave freedom to him, who now stood up, "I know you, Draco. I know you can't keep your mouth shut about anything, so if there... was something going on, we'd know about it because you can't stay quiet about it."
"I know what I'm talking about!" Draco started to sound whiny, "There is the 'Triwizard Tournament' going on at Hogwarts because my father told me!"
Lucifer smirked when he saw the look of horror on Draco's face. He casually walked up to him, leaned right up to his face, and said quietly, "Got you," then took a step forward, causing Malfoy to take a step back, "Now get back to where you came from," he took another few steps, backing Draco up to the compartment behind him, which was his own, "before I rip you limb from 'fucking' limb."
Draco, Hermione saw, struggled to quickly open the compartment door he was leaning against and he scurried inside with Crabbe and Goyle entering only after Lucifer walked away from the opened door.
He walked back into his compartment, slid the door shut, and sat back down, his fellow members of their Quartet looked at him in awe.
Neville had seen Lucifer angry, but nowhere near the level he was trying to contain. The poor boy let out a whimper, and Hermione calmed him, saying that he was in no danger.
"Lucifer?" She got his attention, "What's the Triwizard Tournament?"
How to respond? Now that he was suspicious of Durmstrang's motives, Lucifer couldn't enjoy it as properly, and voiced out the history, "A horrible thing that has caused the death of many students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang, the three 'Wizarding Schools' that always participated in it back when... it was held regularly every five years. It was disbanded because the body count became too high... why the 'fuck' they are restarting the Tournament. All Champions were required to attend the Yule Ball, and they must have a dance partner, as tradition required...." he trailed off.
"Mrs. Weasley said something about there being restrictions this year, what did she mean by that?" Hermione asked him incredulous.
"Probably an age restriction, if I were to guess. Probably only Witches and Wizards 'Seventeen' and older... there was never an age restriction in the past. One year, Durmstrang had a 'twelve year' boy participate, and during the First Task, he died from being inexperienced with magic..."
She gasped loudly upon hearing this,
"This damn tournament should not be brought back, by any stretch of the imagination!" The girl was practically horrified of teaching standards back then, it was all so barbarian.
'If Daphne and Darcy still attended Hogwarts right now, it would have twisted my heart with dread...' The whole compartment went quiet after that, no one knew what to say, and Lucifer had nothing else to add.
They soon changed into School Robes as they neared Hogwarts, and Hermione kept looking at Lucifer's face from down his lap as he read more of his 'Grade 7 Spellbook,' by putting it over her chest.
Using her body as just a table.
She was a little worried about him, given how powerful he was, Lucifer could kill probably anyone in Hogwarts without giving it much thought, but she also knew he was never violent or angry towards someone without reason.
There was the exception for when he was still calming down and lashed out at someone that didn't let him calm down all the way, but that hadn't happened as often as one would've thought.
xxxxxxx
Ginny stamped her foot angrily in her own compartment, no matter how much she wheedled or pleaded during the journey, Luna refused to reveal a thing.
"Secrecy is a Hogwarts tradition, just like the Sorting Ceremony," She excused herself. "If they tell you now, there'll be no surprise later."
"But Hermione knows! Even Ron knows! They didn't tell me when I went to see what Malfoy was yapping," Ginny protested indignantly at her best friend.
"They know what?" Luna looked up from her copy of 'The Quibbler,' puzzled.
Ginny's gaze faltered, unsure how to interpret when the RavenClaw became acting stupidly, "That thing you're keeping from me!"
It only made Luna shake her head, giving the red-head a clumsy gaze, "I don't know for honesty, Lucifer hasn't told me either."
She eyed her sceptically. "Then why aren't you curious at all?"
"Because we'll 'find' out when we get to school," Luna said matter-of-factly.
This left Ginny speechless.
xxxxxx
At last the train stopped at Hogsmeade Station, it was pitch black outside, and Lucifer had missed seeing Rowena perched on the gate, letting the rain pelt her without a care in the world.
When he acknowledged her, she hooted angrily then flew up towards Gryffindor Tower.
"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled suddenly.
"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving, "see yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"
"Oh... I wouldn't 'fancy' crossing the lake in this weather..." Hermione said fervently, shivering as they inched their way to the carriages that were pulled by Thestrals. She walked closer to Lucifer, rubbing her body against his, and generating some heat using such closeness.
The five of them climbed into a carriage and Hermione was so close, she could have just sat down on Lucifer's thighs, with how small the gap literally was. And warm up from the freezing cold rain.
She saw her fingers and saw that tips were off color, but Lucifer on other hand was just being usual.... 'very fine.' She wondered what he did over the summer before she was at Lux.
Lucifer said he had disciplined himself with spells ricocheting off a reflective surface, but what else had he done? She'd have to ask him if she ever remembered too. They soon arrived up at the castle and stepped back out into rain, walking quickly up stairs to escape the cold.
xxxxxx
Upon entering the Castle doors and finding themselves in the Entrance Hall, Ron shook his head, sending the water in it everywhere, "Blimey! If that downpour keeps up, the lake's going to overflow, I'm soaked."
"I hope the 'first-years' will be alri - aagghhh!" Hermione yelled out, getting hit with something, an all new feeling of cold washing through her body as she started shivering again.
Lucifer looked up and saw that Peeves was high above them, dropping Water Balloons on people as they passed by. And that wasn't the end of it.
'Bang!'
Another giant red balloon, fat with water, dropped from the ceiling and exploded over Ron's head, drenching him from hair to socks and making an already miserable situation even worse.
"Peeves!" Ron shouted at once, he didn't need to guess.
High above them, Peeves cackled shrilly. One water balloon after another came hurtling down, chaos had erupted in the entrance hall. Students screamed, shoving and scrambling for cover, slipping over one another in the spreading puddles.
"Hahaha!" Draco Malfoy stood beneath a torch bracket, laughing like he'd just won the lottery as Harry and Ron took the brunt of Peeves' attacks, "Weasley, couldn't wait to put on that moldy excuse for dress robes, could you?"
On the train, he'd happened to glimpse the dark green robes Molly had picked out for Ron, and he'd never let Weasely forget it.
Now that humiliation was dragged back into the open, Ron exploded. He lunged for Draco, ready to swing, but the stone floor was slick with water. His foot shot out from under him and he went down hard on both knees with a wet smack.
Draco and his two cronies laughed even louder. Last year, he had mostly clashed with Harry, tried to steer clear of Ron, but it wasn't out of fear, and he certainly wasn't intimidated by the Weasley numbers. What had kept him cautious was Ginny's connection to Lucifer, she had been given new dress robes by him.
But he'd figured it out soon enough, Ginny didn't bother interfering in her brother's squabbles. As long as it didn't involve the 'family' directly, Draco was free to target Ron like old times, however he had been warned thoroughly by Morningstar, when he called Granger that, he didn't really want to, but had to when 'Graham' bastard was there.
And honestly, things were trickier with Harry now, he had a godfather. That alone had given him a spine of steel. Every time Draco tried to pick a fight, it ended in mutual damage.
Neither walked away unscathed.
Ron, on the other hand, was easier prey. Not as quick with magic, terrible with words, and painfully proud. One jab and he'd crack. If Draco didn't squeeze this soft fruit, who would?
"Malfoy, I'll kill you!" Face blazing red, Ron charged again, his fist raised, but Draco shoved Vincent Crabbe forward as a shield and slipped neatly behind him.
Crabbe locked an arm around Ron's neck, and the two of them tumbled to the wet floor in a clumsy heap, Harry tried to fight his way through the crowd to help, but press of bodies was too thick, he couldn't break through.
"PEEVES!" An angry voice rang out in the Entrance Hall, "GET DOWN HERE AT ONCE!" Professor McGonagall yelled, storming outside and nearly slipped herself. Hermione reacted instantly, catching her elbow before she went down.
"Thank you, Miss Granger."
"It's nothing, Professor."
"Not doing nothing!" Peeves however cackled maliciously. "Already wet aren't they?" He asked as he lobbed another water balloon at a few 'fifth-year' Hufflepuff girls, who screamed and made a beeline for the Great Hall.
Lucifer swiftly and with ever thinning patience, whipped his wand out, aimed it up, and the Poltergeist suddenly found himself being dragged down towards them.
Hermione looked at him, then Peeves, then back to him. She had never seen any of the Professors do this with Peeves, and wondered why they hadn't before, unless it was against the rules or something.
Peeves was unable to move in any direction as he 'flailed' about in place, desperately trying to worm his way out of his current situation.
When he was down and in front of McGonagall, she was fuming.
"Peeves, if you continue with this insufferable behavior tonight, I will go and get the Headmaster and we shall see what 'he' has to say about this!"
"S-Sorry, your Deputy Headship. M-Me will be leaving now," Peeves said, and the moment he was able to, zoomed through one of the walls, not reappearing for the night.
"Thank you, Morningstar, I don't think he will return tonight," McGonagall said with a thankful look towards him. With Peeves dealt with, she finally noticed Crabbe and Ron still wrestling on the floor. Hands trembling with fury, she pulled them apart.
"'Fighting. On the first day of term. Wonderful, just wonderful."
Her lips were thin with anger. First day back and already this, if only they'd pour half this energy into their studies.
"Minerva, what is the meaning of this?" Professor Severus Snape swept out of the Great Hall like a looming bat, eyes landing on Ron with clear, predatory interest, "Weasley," he drawled, lips curling, "is this the only way you can draw 'attention' to yourself?"
Ron's ears burned scarlet, Draco snickered behind him.
"Severus," McGonagall cut in sharply, with a cough, "This was not Mr. Weasley's doing. Peeves caused the flooding."
"Is that so..." Snape sounded disappointed, his dark gaze slid over Ron, "But you were fighting?"
"Yes," Ron shot back stubbornly. "But Crabbe started it. You can't punish just me." For the sake of what dignity he had left, he didn't mention the robes, would rather take detention than be publicly humiliated again.
But Draco saw right through him, eyes flicked sideways, calculating. Then he stepped forward, pushing Crabbe aside. His expression turned remorseful in an instant.
"Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall... this is my fault," Draco said smoothly, "I mocked Weasley's filthy green rag-ah, I mean, his dress robes. They were so dreadfully ugly he lost his temper and tried to hit me."
A rag? Dress robes?
Someone snorted. Then another. Laughter spread like wildfire, echoing through entrance and spilling into Great Hall, more students poured out to see what the commotion was about.
Ron felt the heat surge straight to his skull. For a heartbeat, he wanted nothing more than to pull his wand and hurl the nastiest curse he knew at Draco Malfoy.
As for Draco, he was brimming with joy-so much so that even Lucifer, standing nearby, felt a 'Patronus Charm' would be effortless for the boy, and kept his laughing quiet.
Ron already had his wand out, and Draco had no interest in testing whether Weasley was unhinged enough to take them both down in a blaze of mutual destruction.
"...."
Then, Draco saw Lucifer's shifting expression as he charmed Granger's clothes and felt his heart drop. He assumed he'd gone too far teasing and had annoyed. For the 'first' time, he regretted that little performance.
"Malfoy." Severus Snape fixed him with a cold stare, "Are you truly so idle that another student's clothing choices concern you? Rag or robe, what is it to you?"
"Professor, I-"
"Silence. I have no interest in your excuses." His voice rose, cutting him off with a sneer, "It is the first day of term and you are already causing trouble. I will be speaking to your parents about your behavior."
Professor Minerva McGonagall stared at Snape in visible astonishment. For a split second, she wondered whether a Gryffindor had taken Polyjuice Potion and was impersonating him.
But she remembered his earlier sneer at Ron. No, that was definitely Severus. Had the Sun risen in the west? Snape reprimanding his own student?
"As for you, Weasley," Snape continued, ignoring McGonagall's look and swiveling his glare toward Ron. "Even if Malfoy provoked you, resorting to violence is still your fault. I have decided---"
"Slytherin and Gryffindor will 'each' lose two hundred points."
Hermione's breath hitched, she glared at the boy's which could have petrified on spot for the entire year, even the Hall went dead silent, Snape had delivered the verdict with icy calm, later glanced at McGonagall. "Your own thoughts, Minerva?"
"I..." She faltered for a long while before responding, "Isn't two hundred a bit excessive? And technically...term hasn't even begun. All Houses are at zero...."
"Have you forgotten?" Snape's lips curved faintly. "The school rules were amended over the summer. Negative points are now permitted, and from the moment students step onto the grounds, we are authorized to award or deduct points."
McGonagall did remember. The rule change had indeed passed, she shot Ron a look of pure exasperation. Could these children not, just once, spare her the headache? "Two hundred still seems extreme," She tried to negotiate, "Ordinarily, a fight costs fifty."
"But Weasley and Malfoy are repeat offenders," he said smoothly. "If the penalty isn't severe, they will only grow bolder. And do not forget, in two months..."
He didn't finish, didn't need to. Professor McGonagall's face shifted, in two months, Delegations from other magical schools would arrive at Hogwarts. If they witnessed students behaving like this, it would be mortifying, "Very well. Two hundred points each."
Her stern gaze swept over Draco and Ron, who both looked like scolded children, "You will also serve detention starting tomorrow. Seven o'clock in my office. Now move along, all of you, Inside!" She turned sharply and marched into the Great Hall which looked as amazing as ever, with usual decorations that came with Start of Term feast.
Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds upon hundreds of candles that floated high above the tables. A lot of Whispering began to ring through the Great Hall after a few students from each House saw them, particularly Ron, Malfoy for House Points, and Lucifer too.
Because of the 'Daily Prophet' writing about him in the World Cup, he was now just as famous, if not more so than Harry it seemed.
Meanwhile, McGonagal's mood was abysmal. The revised rules allowed negative scores, and on the very first day she had approved a two hundred point deduction. 'Was Gryffindor about to become the first House in Hogwarts history to finish the year below zero?'
The thought nearly made her faint.
Draco slipped into the Great Hall unharmed. Lucifer was, deep in thought, cause his Potions Master hadn't been swapped just yet, which explained why he didn't wake up in the Underworld like others.
Snape, for his part, was confused.
Moments earlier, he'd reached the same conclusion as Draco. He'd assumed Lucifer's displeasure stemmed from Ginny Weasely's connection to the situation and the boy had crossed a line.
Out of consideration for Narcissa, Snape had redirected the blame before things escalated. Of course, a large part of it was sheer pettiness, he still remembered the broken door of his house and Lucifer's remark about it. The only retaliation left to him was deducting points.
As for the.... loss? With Lucifer around, Slytherin would earn them back in no time. Gryffindor, however, might never climb out of this crater. Even if they crawled back into positive territory, the House Cup would be a distant dream.
'Eliminating a rival' right at the starting line, Snape practically glided as he walked.
Term hadn't even properly begun, the feast not yet served, and he had already pulled off a double strike against two Houses. The younger students were whispering that they'd witnessed history.
Professor Snape deducting points from Slytherin. That was about as likely as McGonagall 'blatantly favoring' her own students.
The Gryffindors, meanwhile, looked like the sky had fallen. The rules had just changed, and they were already in the red. How were they supposed to survive the year like this?
Still, a few brilliant minds already started thinking outside the box. If you couldn't be 'first' in points... you could always aim for first in negative.
Make history from the bottom up, it was still first place in a way.
The Quartet, along with Neville, went and sat down at Gryffindor table beside Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, commonly referred to as Nearly Headless Nick, in all his pearly white, semi-transparent glory.
He was dressed in his usual doublet, but it had a particularly large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking extra festive, and insuring that his head didn't wobble too much from the little thread of skin and muscle tissue still holding it up.
"Good evening!" He said, beaming at them.
"Says who?" Harry asked, clearly in a bad mood after Gryffindor's face was gone, "Hope they hurry up with the Sorting, I'm starving."
"Hiya Harry," A highly excited and breathless voice called down the table. Colin Creevey came bounding down the table to talk to his Hero.
"Hi, Colin," he replied warily.
"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!" The boy said excitedly.
"Er - that's good," Harry said.
"He's really excited too! I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?" Colin was bursting with excitement that he should in all honesty not have this 'late into the day', Lucifer thought, but he said nothing.
Unknowingly to him, when he had passed over the Great Hall to sit at the House's dining table, almost everyone instinctively 'lowered' their heads, Pansy had practically buried her face in the table, and dared not meet Morningstar's gaze, even by mistake.
She knew full well her 'father' had participated in that night's rally. Thank Merlin, they'd escaped with Draco's father before being caught, otherwise. The thought of Theodore's and Everett's 'father's' gruesome fates still made her nauseous, whereas Nott looked delighted his old man was finally gone, and simply went to live with his best friend Zabini.
As for Nicole Everett now fatherless she didn't dare harbour resentment towards Lucifer either. Her uncle had made it clear: 'survival was paramount now.' The Everett bloodline must continue. Only with sufficient power could revenge even be considered.
Had even Granger known Everett's thoughts, she'd likely have scoffed. Looking like 'that' and still thinking about continuing the bloodline?
........
"Er - yeah, alright," Harry smiled and turned back to his friends and Nick, "Brothers and Sisters usually get in the same House, don't they?" He asked them.
"Not necessarily," Hermione said, taking over the conversation, while messing with her brown curls, to see if there were any strands left, after a balloon popped on her head, "take Parvati and Padma, they are twins, but Padma is in Ravenclaw."
"It is bizarre, though, that they weren't both in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," Lucifer said thoughtfully, knowing how Weasely Twins were like a single person with divided souls, he looked up and down the table, noticing a lot of empty seats at each, "Going to be a lot of new First Years, it seems."
"Where's the new Defense teacher?" Harry asked aloud.
"Maybe they couldn't get anyone?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"If that was the case, the Ministry would've appointed someone themselves," Lucifer who had a real foothold of learning about Wizard, said ominously, "but only in the event of Dumbledore incapable of 'finding' someone himself."
"That's good to know," Hermione said, having learned something new. She looked at Harry and saw him continuing to scan the table, but didn't understand why.
xxxxxx
Up at the staff table, Professors Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick had just heard the news. Both were trying very hard not to smile too widely.
Joy had practically fallen from the sky.
Whether Gryffindor sank or swam didn't concern them much. Even if nothing happened now, there was a whole year left for Gryffindor to lose points. Sooner or later, it would happen.
But Slytherin tumbling into a pit on day one? That was glorious. They'd been suppressed by Snakes for six straight years, then Gryffindor pulled the dirty rug of snatching away Harry Potter, lions won the House Cup for three straight years at Hogwarts, rivaling the 'impossible' record of who knew how many centuries ago, but they were sure it was one.
This year had been shaping up to make it a historic 'fourth' consecutive championship. And now Snape himself had handed them a blow.
They couldn't exactly burst out laughing in front of their colleagues, so celebrated quietly instead. The two professors raised their champagne glasses at the same time and clinked them together lightly.
"Pomona, it's wonderful to see you again."
"Likewise, Filius."
At the center of the table, Albus Dumbledore watched them with twitching lips. The term hadn't even started, and they were already popping champagne?
Points could be deducted, yes. But they could also be earned, even he wouldn't dare 'fiddle' behind scenes and stack the deck for Harry. They'd better not get their hopes up too high.
At the Gryffindor table, Lucifer sat distracted, his brows drawn tight as he sank deeper into thought. For a fleeting moment, he even considered giving Hermione 'Sleekeazy's Hair Potion', lest she go bald.
"Oh hurry up!" Ron was moaning impatiently, "I could eat a Hippogriff..."
If there was one thing he loved, it was food, to the point where Hermione found it somewhat repulsive the way he ate and the habit he had of talking with his mouth full.
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell, Professor McGonagall was leading a longer than usual line of 'First-Years' up to the front of the Hall.
Hermione noticed how absolutely drenched the new students looked. 'Did they end up swimming across the lake?' She thought to herself.
They were all shivering with a combination of being cold and being nervous. A scrawny boy wore Hagrid's moleskin coat, looking tremendously distraught.
Upon learning they'd have to wear some bizarre hat to determine which house they'd spend the next seven years in, 'first-years' expressions grew even more distressed. This pleased many second-years, Hermione Granger immensely. They felt much better about things now.
Professor McGonagall placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first-years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty, patched Wizard's hat, who sat there in silence, no one saying a word or making a sound as they awaited the words that it had to say. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:
'A thousand years or more ago,
When I was newly sewn,
There lived four witches and wizards of renown,
Whose names are still well known:
Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,
Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,
They hatched a daring plan
To educate young sorcerers
Thus Hogwarts School began.
Now each of these four founders
Formed their own house, for each
Did value different virtues
In the ones they had to teach.
By Gryffindor, the bravest were
Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divide
Their favorites from the throng,
Yet how to pick the worthy ones
When they were dead and gone?
'It was Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head,
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug about your ears,
I've never yet been wrong,
I'll have a look inside your mind
And tell where you belong!
The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished, "That's not song it sang when it sorted us," Harry said after the applause died down.
"Well, you did miss the Sorting the past two years, remember?" Lucifer roughly pointed out to him. 'This was a big day of the year, so Adrian always put its heart into it. The lyrics changed every time, though theme stayed roughly the same: praise the founders, then praise itself....'
Professor McGonagall began unrolling large scroll of parchment that had the names of the new students on it.
"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," She said to the first-years, "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table."
She began to call out names, and when it got to Colin's brother, Dennis, the Hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Lucifer clapped a little at his joining of the House. It was always nice to see some new First Years for Gryffindor.
"Colin!" Dennis yelled as he got closer to his brother, "Colin, I fell in! Something massive in the water pushed me back into the boat!"
"Cool!" Colin had said, sounding just as excited, "It must have been the Giant Squid!"
"Wow," Dennis said, proving that he and Colin were definitely brothers.
The Sorting continued on, with many students going to each House, and within ten or fifteen seconds, most were sorted. This year went unusually smoothly, no hatstalls or drawn-out debates.
"Oh, hurry up!" Ron groaned in famished agony.
"Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food," Nick said, clapping for newest Gryffindor so far.
They bickered for a moment while Lucifer looked at the First-Years, and his eyes wandered back to the Gryffindor Table. He saw Katie Bell talking with one of her friends in Fifth Year. She was one of Gryffindor's Chaser's on their Quidditch Team, and someone he called a friend.
He looked back up and saw McGonagall pick up the Hat and Stool, carrying them off. In less than half an hour, it was over.
By then, the older students were starving, staring mournfully at their empty plates just like Ron. It wasn't until she came back that Dumbledore got to his feet, who was smiling around at all of them, his arms opened wide in welcome, "I have only two words to say to you," he said in his usual deep voice as it echoed around the Great Hall, "Tuck in!"
Food appeared instantly, steaming and fragrant. Students piled their plates high, while the ghosts hovered nearby, watching with wistful expressions, trying to remember what flavors had once tasted like.
Nick too watched mournfully, as he wasn't able to eat anything being a Ghost and all.
"Aaah, 'at's be'er," Ron said with a mouth full of mashed potatoes.
Lucifer looked up at him just as he was about to put his bite into his mouth, "How about you wait to fully chew your food before talking?"
Ron didn't get to respond, though, as Nick spoke next.
"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," he said with a sigh, "There was trouble in the Kitchens earlier."
"Why? Wha' 'appened?" Harry asked, also with a full mouth.
"I swear to fucking Helga, if either of you talk with a 'full' mouth once again, I'm shoveling food down your throats until you stop breathing," Lucifer said in a tone that meant he wasn't playing around.
"Peeves, of course," Nick continued, unfazed, and shaking his head.
"The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast, well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council, the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance, he always is---but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."
"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something, then Lucifer put him in his place... so what did he do in the Kitchens?" Ron asked, going for another bite of food.
"Oh, the usual," Nick said with a shrug, "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits-"
The next thing Lucifer knew, Hermione had knocked over her goblet of Pumpkin Juice, which began to spread over the tablecloth, but he non-verbally, and wandlessly used 'Scourgify' to clean it up.
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Author's Note
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