Albus cheerfully played the genial, grandfatherly Headmaster,while on another level he was still thinking about how he could influence Harry Potter. His contacts at the ministry had informed him that Harry was already taking the beginning steps to assume his place on the Wizengamot which was a nuisance. Albus couldn't understand how Harry and his aunt had been so effective at cutting the strings he had put in place years ago to control the Boy-Who-Lived. After all they weren't raised in the magical world, their machinations should have failed against his own. He supposed he owed most of the failures to those annoying, money-grubbing vermin the goblins. If he had allowed them to be the financial trustees instead of sealing the wills perhaps he wouldn't be in his present predicament, hindsight always is 20/20.
He was very disappointed that Remus and the boy hadn't bonded more closely. It was frustrating that dealing with Harry had turned into such a chess match. Albus had found himself having used his pawns to no avail. Hagrid had put himself out of the game by shunning Harry after his sorting. The Weasleys had pretty much done the same, not to mention the way the Weasley twins horribly pranked Harry first year. Although Ron might eventually be of use due to the chess games he and Harry played.
Albus had moved on to his more important pieces, McGonagall as a bishop had been a miserable failure. Remus had only been slightly more effective, at least Harry hadn't routed him completely. Albus would have liked to have Remus back again to teach but his own position with the Board of Governors wasn't quite as unassailable as it once was. There had been a motion to remove him completely for hiring a pedophile and then a werewolf to teach last year, and the attacks that the basilisk had made didn't help. Thankfully all was forgiven when he had proven that, he had no way of knowing about Lockhart and that in addition to a record number of defense OWLs and NEWTs students passing precautions had been taken concerning Remus. What had cemented the continuation of his contract however was the proof that the basilisk was gone and the increase in the Hogwarts coffers.
Albus contemplated whom he could use to influence Harry. Unfortunately the list was woefully short. He had only a small influence with Sirius, but then again Sirius had no influence with Harry anyway so it didn't matter.
He, himself, needed to build ties to the boy, but Harry was less than open to the overtures Albus had made so far. Unfortunately the queen in his little chess match between himself and Harry was shaping up to be Severus, and Severus had already stated to Albus, that ""Playing" him against the boy would be a very bad idea." Severus had come a long way from his "spoiled pampered brat" days when it came to Harry. Unfortunately the change didn't help Albus. How was he to gain Harry's trust so that he could lead the boy into fulfilling the prophecy was his biggest question. He wanted his interaction with Harry to be natural not forced, unfortunately the boy seemed to have other ideas.
....
Minerva McGonagall took her seat at the feast following the sorting and was mostly quiet as she sat thinking. Her summer had been one of quiet reflection, she hadn't done her usual things because at her age being petrified and then un-petrified had left her with stiff aching bones and joints. It had taken Poppy and Severus almost all the summer to fix the problem. But one thing the summer had made clear to her was how close she had come to dying. The only thing between her and death had been the conjured sunglasses of Mr. Potter's suggestion. As such, she owed him a life debt. She found herself suddenly understanding Severus much more clearly: it was an uncomfortable thing to owe a life debt to someone you disliked. She finally had admitted to herself her feelings regarding Mr. Potter. She didn't like him at all. He was too different from her expectations: she had expected a trusting, loving young boy, eager and curious, someone with all the best traits of both his parents. He was anything but what she had expected. He carried the intelligence of his parents, but he tended to be cold not warm. He was cynical, not trusting, and he had a way of looking at people that was cold and calculating. It made her nervous.
Some of her opinion she supposed stemmed from her own guilty conscience. She had failed Lily and James and that failure was hers and hers alone. As such she had resolved to treat Mr. Potter with more respect than she had in the past. Instead of watching him with mistrust, and assuming the worst because of his sorting. She would try to take the things he did and said at face value this year instead of with the suspicion and antipathy of previous years. Perhaps she would see something that would give her hope instead of the fear that she had been living with the last few years.
....
Luna Lovegood sat at the Ravenclaw table. Her summer had been spent developing the blood born magic she had inherited from her mother. Instead of going on a creature search with her father she had spent the summer with her elderly great great aunt, the last living relative she had on her mother's side. Great Aunt Josephine had helped her to train her latent sight and empathy. It was a relief because she was no longer being completely overwhelmed by the things she saw and felt. Last year had been awful.
She supposed it was highly unlikely that she would be widely accepted by her peers this year, last year had made that fairly clear. At least this year she was friends with Ginny again, and there was always Harry.
Aunt Jo had confirmed what she herself knew, Harry would be hers, but it wouldn't be an easy path. Harry would put up a fight like a prize winning salmon, but he would be worth it. The task that lay before him was monumental. Harry desperately needed someone to lighten his load.
Aunt Jo told Luna, "Be his friend, teach him to see with his heart, do what you can to cheer him. He will come to accept the destiny before him and all will be well. But you will have to be patient, it will be long road, Luna. He will fight himself. "
"Will it be worth it, Aunt Jo?"
"Love is always worth it, sweetheart. He will be worth the wait, and the tribulations. You must resist the urge to claim him, let him discover for himself what you can bring to him. Be his friend, the rest will come with time. His life hasn't been an easy one, he has built walls in self-defense to breech them you must-"
"First be his friend."
Luna smiled at the memory. Then she finally saw Harry. She noticed that Harry was wearing a very closed off expression. He had never truly been open but she wondered what hurt had caused him to close so completely. She would have to work at this much harder than she had thought.