The Sorting
Eventually, the Knight Bus arrived at their stop. They grabbed Hedgwig's cage and their brooms before they filed out into Hogsmeade. They started walking up towards Hogwarts, noticing they were very early.
They got into the Great Hall and took a rest. It was, after all, a long trek from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. They were surprised to see Professor Snape come bounding through the doors, stalking right towards them.
"How, might I ask, did the two of you manage to get here two hours early?" Professor Snape interrogated. Harry scrunched his nose in worry and Draco had to avert his eyes. Draco had to look for the Gryffindor courage he was sure must be buried there somewhere before he answered.
"Dobby, for some reason, thought it would be hilarious to close the barrier to the King's Cross station. Weasley, Harry, and I were stuck on the muggle side of the station and could not make it to the train on time. Weasley had the bright idea to take his father's flying car. He should be here before the end of the year, if he does not get lost. Harry and I-on the other hand-took the Knight Bus." Draco informed his godfather. Severus scowled.
"You went on the Knight Bus by yourselves?" Severus snarled. "Do you realize how dangerous that is?"
"Well, technically, Remus was there for a time." Harry piped in. Severus rolled his eyes.
"Of course, Lupin. Why am I not surprised?" Severus muttered. He sighed. "Well, you best get along to Gryffindor Tower to unpack your things. You will still be expected to arrive at the feast in a timely manner." Harry and Draco nodded, grabbed their things, and went to the tower.
As they began to unpack, Harry's eyes widened in realization.
"Hey, this will be the year Luna arrives at Hogwarts." Harry told Draco. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Do you mean Loony Lovegood?" Draco clarified. Harry scowled at him.
"Don't call her that! She's a nice person, and a good friend!" Harry defended. Draco sighed.
"I guess." Draco shrugged off as he finished putting away his things. He looked at his watch. It was about time for them to get to the feast. "Come on, Hermione will be here soon. We have to fill her in on what happened."
They scampered down to the Great Hall just as the doors opened and a great many students rushed in. They skimmed the crowd until they saw Hermione's unmistakable bushy hair. When she caught sight of them, she stomped over.
"What did you think you were doing? I was worried sick! I didn't know where you were or if you had gone with Ron in the deathtrap of a car!" Hermione began to rant. Draco stopped her.
"Maybe we need an easier way to communicate with you other than owls." Draco suggested. Hermione huffed.
"That would be great. It would have solved the problem of me not knowing what happened during the summer." Hermione thought for a moment. "What we need is a telephone."
"What's a felly-tone?" Draco asked sincerely. Harry stifled a giggle.
"A telephone is a thing muggles use for instant communication." Harry explained slowly, as if he were talking to a three-year-old. Draco's eyes widened and his mouth dropped in shock.
"They can actually do that?" Draco asked, astonished. Harry and Hermione nodded in unison.
"Hermione, you already made something like that in fifth year, remember?" Harry asked her. She stood there for a moment, thinking, until she remembered the DA.
"You mean, the galleons?" Hermione clarified. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, except, not as easy to lose." Harry added. Hermione thought for another moment.
"Like, a galleon tied to your wrist?" Hermione modified.
"Way to think outside of yet completely squished against the box, Granger." Draco teased as he sat down at the Gryffindor table.
Hermione huffed. "But it still needs to be different than the DA coins. Those only told people the dates and times of the club meetings. These would need to act like walkie-talkies." Hermione thought aloud. Harry made a sweeping motion with his hand.
"There, there's your project this year. I mean, since we don't have to go wandering around the library looking for a beast that can petrify people." Harry pointed out. Hermione smiled.
"Yes, and this time we don't have to steal from Professor Snape to make Polyjuice." Hermione rejoiced. Draco looked at them confused.
"When did the two of you make Polyjuice?" Draco asked, curious. Harry and Hermione shared a look.
"Remember the time Crabbe and Goyle were acting really strange on Christmas?" Harry asked in reply. Draco's eyes widened in realization.
"That was YOU?" Draco almost shouted. "I always thought they were acting weird because they ate too much. Which, now that I think about it, doesn't make sense since they are a pair of bottomless empty pits." Draco muttered under his breath. Harry was about to say more when Hermione shushed them.
"The sorting is about to begin." She informed her friends.
"Oh, good! We'll actually get to see Luna's sorting this time around!" Harry rejoiced. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Luna this, Luna that. Everything's about Luna. What's that all about?" Draco asked Hermione. She snickered.
"He's had a huge crush on her since fifth year." She teased. Harry looked indignant.
"I do not." Harry argued, oblivious to his actual feelings. Hermione mouthed, "Do too" over his head toward Draco, who then snickered.
Once the sorting was complete and Luna, Colin, and Ginny had all been placed in their houses (Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Gryffindor respectively), the feast began.
"We should invite Luna into our group." Harry suggested in-between mouthfuls of food. Draco considered this.
"And what? Tell her we're time travelers?" Draco joked. Harry looked thoughtful. Draco cocked his head when he realized Harry was actually considering it. "No, Harry."
"Why not? She'll believe us. I'll be surprised if she didn't somehow already know. She has a weird, uncanny ability for that sort of thing." Harry argued. "Besides, no one would believe her if she told them the truth."
"Yes, but it's not necessary she knows. You just want to tell her because you want to date her." Draco retorted. Harry huffed.
"I do not have a crush on Luna, Draco. I want to tell her because she will be important to us in the future. She's a brilliant witch, if not a little loopy. We need her." Harry emphasized.
"Maybe, but that does not mean we need to talk to her about it right now." Hermione put in, trying to defuse the situation. "I think we should take at least a few weeks and think about it. I agree she is a brilliant witch and she will be important to us in the future. However, we cannot make decisions based off of impulses. We did that last time and look where it got us." Hermione pointed out. Harry and Draco both sighed, but agreed.
"That doesn't mean I can't befriend her." Harry huffed. Hermione shrugged.
"Of course not. Go befriend her. She was picked on a lot until she became our friend. Maybe she'll have a better experience if she's close friends with the great Harry Potter." Hermione agreed. Harry looked mollified at this and turned to finish his food.
After dinner, Harry, Draco, and Hermione went back to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione began her research on communicators and Harry read over his potions essay one more time. Draco decided to play around with his wand a little bit.
Suddenly, they heard a great crash. Everyone in the common room jumped to their feet and ran toward the window, searching for whatever had made that great sound. Harry and Hermione looked at one another, realizing what they had just heard. Harry decided he wanted to sneak out and see Professor Snape ream Ron out for flying a muggle contraption throughout muggle London. He grabbed his invisibility cloak and quickly made for the Great Hall and the Front Entrance.
Harry arrived just in time to hear Snape continue on his rant.
"Of all the stupid, ignorant, Gryffindor things you could have done, you took a flying car and drove it all throughout muggle London?" Professor Snape began. Ron flinched with every word uttered from the professor's mouth.
"But the barrier was closed!" Ron defended. "How was I supposed to get here without taking my dad's car?"
"That, Mr. Weasley, is exactly the question you will be answering in essays for the next few weeks you have detention with me." Professor Snape almost purred. Ron moaned.
"But you're not my head of house." Ron pointed out disrespectfully.
"You're right, but I agree with Professor Snape. You will be spending the next three weeks in nightly detention with your potions professor answering the question, 'What could I have done other than steal my father's flying muggle car and drive it all the way to Hogwarts?' If you finish that five foot scroll early, I am sure Professor Snape would gladly give you some other tasks for you to complete, as well." Professor McGonagall explained. Ron was about to put up more of a fight when he saw the serious look in his professors' eyes. He nodded his head in understanding, slumped his shoulders, and walked off toward Hogwarts and his common room. Harry had to smile. At least he was not stuck with Professor Lockhart this time around.