For Harry, the time at Hogwarts seemed to fly. He really enjoyed most of his lessons, and was making a lot of friends, he still missed Pastor Jim terribly, and sometimes the friends he had had while he lived with him, but it was better now. He didn't quite know what to think of some of his classes: Charms was his favourite so far, and along with Transfiguration he could see how useful it could be in the future, when they learned to do more complicated things, but so far the spells they were learning weren't of much practical use yet, Herbology was interesting, although it didn't seem that useful for him so far, as while it was a good way to get potion ingredients, you could just buy them, potions was another subject he could see the use of, unfortunately Professor Snape seemed to make it his mission to make it as unpleasant as possible, except for the Slytherins, from what he had heard (they shared that class, and flying, with the Hufflepuffs, and herbology with the Slytherins), Defence against the Dark Arts (DADA) could have been really interesting (and probably the most useful for him, as he wanted to be a hunter) but Professor Quirrel was a terrible teacher, as he stuttered so badly it was hard to follow, didn't explain clearly, and frankly didn't know the subject that well either, while History of Magic and Astronomy seemed both useless and rather boring to him, especially History.

He had gotten to know all of his housemates, but spent most of his time with Michael and Sally, as well as Hermione and Neville. His friendship with Michael had started after their first flying lesson, when Harry had discovered that he absolutely loved flying, and the other boy had introduced him to Quidditch, the two of them had also taken it upon themselves to convince their friends that flying was great, despite the rocky start they had had, when Neville had broken his wrist during their first flying lesson. Someone had commented that there had to be something wrong, as it usually were ravenclaws that were quiet and bookish, and gryffindors who were the sport enthusiasts.

His friendship with Sally had started in a completely different manner, and she didn't spend so much time with the group, instead she and Harry tended to pair up whenever they had to do some practical work, or they went around exploring the castle. She had told Harry that she had always wanted to be an explorer, and discovering magic hadn't changed her global, just maybe the how and where she would do so, just like Harry still wanted to be a hunter, but now intended to use magic for it as well, not that he had told any of his new friends, as far as they knew, his adopted family was a bit peculiar and quite suspicious of magic, but that was it, he told noone they were hunters, and as far as they knew his adopted father had died in a robbery gone wrong.

It didn't seem long before a whole month had passed, and everyone was looking forward to the Halloween Feast that evening. A few of the muggleborn first years were complaining that they wouldn't get to dress up, but apparently that custom wasn't followed in the wizarding world, it was Michael who explained to the group of friends that a lot of British wizards also celebrated the death (or at least disappearance) of Voldemort on this day, while Neville just mumbled something about him and his Gran not celebrating, which led Harry to believe that something might have happened to his parents at about that time.

While Hermione didn't get on so well with the other gryffindor girls, she had gotten to know several of the ravenclaws by hanging around Harry and Michael, which was why, when Padma heard from her sister that she was crying in the bathroom after a cruel comment from Ron Weasley, Sue went to get her, while all the school got to enjoy the sight of an enraged Padma going up to Ron at lunch, slapping him, and telling him he was a pathetic, insensitive prat, and had better apologise to Hermione as soon as possible if he didn't want to get hexed, after which she informed him that the Slytherins might be the ones who used them more often, but the ravenclaws knew a lot of hexes and curses too, and Hermione was their friend. By then Ron's face was the same colour as his hair, and he was painfully aware that about 3/4 of the girls in the school seemed to be glaring at him.

Apparently Hermione had never had any real friends before coming to Hogwarts, and was surprised at so many people taking her side against Ron, it had really cheered her up, to the point she was almost happy it had almost happened, so she was astounded when that evening, right before curfew, Harry and Sally, one of the ravenclaw girls she didn't know so well, but knew was friends with Harry, came to get her for some extra 'cheering up'. Apparently they had spent a lot of time exploring, and discovered several interesting places, such as the kitchens, full of house elves, small cheerful creatures who seemed to love working and were more than happy to give them anything they might want, even if they weren't supposed to be there, then there were a series of secret passages and shortcuts, and they concluded the guided tour by showing her the reason (or perhaps means) of the 'painful death' in the 3rd floor corridor, which was a three headed dog guarding something under a trapdoor, the two explorers had found the dog when they had gotten lost one night, and had later discovered by careful testing that if they opened the door but didn't enter the cerberus wouldn't attack. They concluded the night by organizing a harmless prank on Ron with the help of the house elves.

The next morning, when Ron ate breakfast and turned completely neon green, he first suspected the twins, but it was a simpler prank than their usual ones, so when they denied being the ones responsible (loudly proclaiming to be hurt anyone thought they would do something so unimaginative) he believed him, and it was then confirmed when Hermione, looking a bit guilty, told him that Harry, one of the ravenclaws she hung out with, had said the colour changing potion would last only half an hour. They both decided that now they were even, and Ron discovered that not all ravenclaws were bookworms, sometimes the thirst for knowledge took other forms, like Sally who liked discovering places, or Harry's curiosity about dark creatures and such. Harry was a little strange, but a nice enough guy, and he seemed used to retaliation through pranks, from his older cousins, so even if he wasn't really a prankster like the twins, he would prank someone if he felt they deserved it.

For Neville, Hogwarts had been far better than expected, he had made several friends, and while he wasn't particularly good at practical magic, especially potions, his friendship with Hermione (and some of the ravenclaws, even if to a lesser degree, despite the stereotypes) meant that he at least knew the theory really well, and after Ron made Hermione cry, the other three boys were a lot more accepting about him being friends with the 'bookworms', even if they still kept to themselves when outside the dorm, when they were inside it they always tried to include him, starting with when they started making up more and more crazy theories on how the troll which had gotten in during the Halloween Feast had managed to get past the wards. This new friendship was the reason why he offered Ron to come and stay with him and his grandmother during Christmas, since his parents would be visiting his brother Charlie in Romania, since there wouldn't be anyone else at school except a few 5th and 7th year Ravenclaws studying for the exams, after hearing that Ron had been invited to a friends home, the twins had been quick to get an invitation too, while their brother Per y would stay, to study.

Harry was really looking forward to seeing Bobby and the Winchesters again, at Christmas, so when Professor McGonagall had gone around asking who would be staying at school he immediately had told her he would be returning home, before asking how he would do it, she had told him to ask Flitwick to organize it, but he would probably be taking a portkey again.