Chapter 12: Off to School

Harry looked around his room one last time checking for anything he had missed. Septima had reassured him that she could always retrieve any belongings that he may forget, but it still felt strange to think she really might not mind doing so. As Harry closed and locked his trunk he thought back over the most amazing summer of his life to date. Not only did he get away from the Dursleys, he had found a home, made two good friends in Luna and Neville, who would both be joining him at Hogwarts, and learned more about his parents than he had thought possible only two months earlier. Aunt Minerva had introduced him to flying which quickly became one of his favorite pastimes, and Uncle Remus had spent several hours telling him stories about his parents' antics at school. A grin crossed his face as he thought of the first birthday party he remembered having, a joint party with Neville that came as a complete surprise for him.

"Harry, are you ready to go?" Septima Vector called as she came to Harry's open bedroom door.

"Yes," he replied quickly standing up again.

"Excellent, let me get that downstairs for you," she added and Harry stepped back out of her way. He grabbed the knapsack left sitting on his bed which held his school robes, a book, and a new pack of exploding snap cards for the train ride. "I have a snack packed for you and your friends downstairs to take in your knapsack since the trolley only really sells candy and pumpkin pasties."

"Thank you, Septima."

"You are welcome, Harry. And I trust you will visit me occasionally and keep in touch while at school," she stated with a smile and ushered for him to precede him out of the room and down the stairs.

"If you want me to," began Harry.

"Of course, I want you to," Septima interrupted to reassure him. "It has been a privilege to get to know you this summer, and although you did have to shuffle around a bit, I hope that you will consider staying with me again sometime. I will also provide you what updates I can on the progress regarding Sirius." Harry remained quiet as they continued down the stairs. Once his snack for the train was packed, along with some butterbeers to share with friends, the two paused by the fireplace which would allow them to floo to Platform 9 ¾.

"Thank you so much for everything, Septima," Harry said in a rush and threw his arms around his future professor. He wanted to hug her now, and not draw attention to himself on the platform.

"Omp, you are getting pretty good at these hugs," Septima stated happily as she returned his hug. Harry blushed slightly as he let go and stepped back. He was getting more used to hugs mostly because of Luna. She insisted that hugs always made people feel better, and Harry tended to agree based on the hugs he had given and received that summer.

"Augusta, Xenophilius, and I agreed on a time and meeting point, so once we get there we should load your trunk and look for them. Stay close to me," she added encouraging Harry to take some floo powder while grabbing some for herself and his trunk. "You first, then I will send your trunk through and follow a moment later." Harry followed her directions, calling out the floo address with confidence and easily stepped into the green flames. He reappeared moments later, stumbling slightly but recovering thanks to some lessons on floo travel earlier in the summer. A barely noticeable flick of his wand swept away the stray soot from his hair and clothes just before his trunk appeared and he dragged it clear of the floo before looking around him in amazement. A large red steam locomotive with the words Hogwarts Express sat on the tracks and Harry marveled at the witches and wizards entering the platform through various floo networks scattered along the wall. Still others came through what appeared to be a solid stone wall near the front of the train. Septima watched Harry taking things in for a moment before re-casting the charm to levitate his trunk.

"Shall we get your trunk loaded and head towards our meeting spot?" Harry turned at Septima's words his eyes sparkling with wonder.

"It's like something out of a book," he said with awe.

"It is indeed," she agreed and the two headed towards the luggage compartment to load his trunk. With magic the process only took a few minutes, and Harry was free to continue looking around at the strange clothes and smiling faces of his future classmates.

"Harry!" Luna called with excitement as the two neared an area of the platform that was set apart from the hustle and bustle near the train. In the next moment, Harry found himself hugged by his exuberant friend who then took his hand and tugged him closer to her father who was talking to Augusta Longbottom. Harry had to bite back a grin at the look on Madam Longbottom's face at whatever Mr. Lovegood was telling her.

"Hello, Luna, Madam Longbottom, Neville, Mr. Lovegood," greeted Harry nodding at each of the individuals and smiling at Neville.

"Good morning, Augusta, Xenophilius, I hope you weren't waiting long," Septima said with a wide smile. 'Poor Augusta,' ran through her thoughts as she caught the last part of Xenophilius's tale of a trip to search out some mythical creature whose name she didn't quite catch.

"Good morning, Septima, Harry," Xenophilius returned their greeting. "I only just had enough time to give Augusta the overview of my upcoming trip."

"Yes, it sounds as if he will be quite busy," Augusta hurriedly interrupted before the man could go into any further details. "I had the elves prepare some snacks for Neville and the others," she added briskly.

"Luna has a basket of plimpie cakes, dirigible plum pudding, and alphabet soup," Xenophilius informed the others. "I know she wanted Neville to try the pudding, so I packed extra of everything." Septima laughed before admitting.

"I packed some snacks for Harry and the others as well. They certainly shouldn't be hungry."

"No, I should say not. Perhaps we should have planned that as well," Augusta remarked with a smile of her own as she took in her grandson and his friends. She felt much better about sending him off to Hogwarts now than she had before Septima Vector and Harry Potter entered their lives earlier that summer.

"Ah, now, the more the merrier I always say. The kids will be quite the hit with all that food," Xenophilius stated putting his arm around Luna and pulling her into his side a bit. "I will miss you my little moon child," he said placing a kiss on the top of her head and enjoying the moment to hold her close. Luna returned his hug.

"I will miss you as well, Neville, dear. Study hard and stay out of trouble," Augusta added sternly placing a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Yes, Gran," he replied quietly. He was happy to have friends, and excited to learn magic. After so many years of being friendless and worried he was a squib, the young man was enjoying learning everything he could and spending time with his new friends.

"I hope to see each of you during the year, so please do not be strangers," Septima added including all three children in her remarks.

"I will be keeping in touch with Septima as well," Augusta warned, "so I will find out if you are misbehaving or doing poorly."

"And Septima has kindly agreed to provide advice and assistance to you, Luna dear, if you need it, especially as any owls may take a while to find me at times."

"My door is also open for you as well, Neville, if you need assistance with anything," Septima added wanting to encourage the other boy to come to her if he needed help as well. She had grown quite fond of the shy boy as well as the small blonde girl. With final hugs goodbye, the three soon found themselves boarding the train and looking for a compartment, each with a small knapsack of belongings over their shoulders.

"This one is perfect," Luna declared after the trio had passed several compartments. Harry and Neville followed her in taking the seat across from the small girl used to following her suggestions on certain things. Harry looked out the window and had to admit that the compartment did have an excellent view of the platform that was slowly growing fuller as more people arrived.

"I like to people watch sometimes," Luna revealed as if she had heard Harry's remark about the view of the platform as she too looked out at the growing crowd of magicals. Sometimes Harry wondered if Luna could hear his thoughts. Septima had explained that Luna was probably just very perceptive.

"I think I still prefer plants to people most days," Neville remarked, "except you guys, of course."

"Thank you, Neville," Luna returned with a smile. "I like you, too." Harry laughed at Neville's blush.

"Thanks, mate, and I know what you mean. Plants generally aren't mean or bullies."

"Not everyone is mean or a bully though," Luna added eternally optimistic. "I feel really lucky to have you both as friends."

"I feel like the lucky one," Neville stated softly.

"So do I," Harry commented. "I was lost until you approached me in the bookstore that day, Luna."

"I was waiting for Harry to make fun of me when we met," Neville revealed thinking back to that day.

"I was just hoping you weren't planning on beating me up," Harry returned with a laugh.

"We do have a challenge ahead though," Luna stated injecting a note of seriousness into the lighthearted reminiscing. "It's certainly possible that we will be sorted into different houses."

Both Harry and Neville's smiles faded at the remark. It was a topic the trio hadn't addressed, and had in fact, deliberately avoided.

"You and Harry will probably both go to Ravenclaw," Neville finally said breaking the silence that had descended in the compartment despite the increasing noise from the platform and the hallway outside their compartment door.

"I thought that the two of you may go to Gryffindor," Luna countered with a slight shrug of her shoulders. Harry bit his lip nervously revealing a fear of his.

"I'm worried that Neville will go to Gryffindor, you will go to Ravenclaw, Luna, and I will end up in Slytherin. The possibility is there."

"And we will all still be friends, regardless," Luna stated in an attempt to reassure them all.

"That would be the most difficult because Slytherin and Gryffindor don't tend to get along," Neville reminded the others worried about being divided from his friends.

"But I know you, Neville, and you wouldn't turn your back on a friend," Luna stated unequivocally.

"That makes him sound like a Huffelpuff," said Harry with a smile trying to lighten the mood.

"He's got those qualities, too," Luna returned with another shrug of her shoulders.

"Can't we just request to all be in the same house?" Harry wanted to know hoping that the others may have a better idea on that point. None of the books he read revealed exactly how the sorting took place or whether or not one could choose which house you wanted.

"We could ask. I don't know how the final determination is made, but then again, shouldn't we want to be in the house that fits us best?" Luna stated intrigued by the idea. She had always just assumed that she would be in Ravenclaw, but now what she wanted most was to be with her friends.

"My mum was a Huffelpuff and my dad was a Gryffindor," Neville stated, "So it is

possible to have friends and date people in other houses."

"Let's stop worrying about it then," Harry stated trying to shake off his own concerns. "Whatever happens, I'm not turning my back on you guys because you're my friends."

"Agreed," Luna and Neville stated together and the trio burst into laughter which helped to relieve the tension of the conversation. A whistle blew startling the three who laughed again, and took in the final stragglers as they hugged and waved goodbye to their families. Moments later the train pulled from the station and the three settled into discussing the last weeks of summer and what they had done since the last time they saw each other.

Author's Note: Thank you to those who have stuck around, reviewed, and/or favorite this story. I have been working on it off and on for some time. This chapter was completed awhile ago, and I am debating making it the end of this story since it gets them to school. However, I also know it is missing details such as what does Dumbledore know and what happened with Amelia's look into Sirius's imprisonment. I have some written on the beginning of the school year, but my muse has shifted to other things for awhile now. Let me know what you think as reviews are always helpful to encourage writing.