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She need not have worried, as Harry was certain nothing could be further from the truth. For starters, Harry would be by her side, and he knew that his friends would accept her for the simple fact that he did. That by itself should be recommendation enough for her to form friendships of her own. In addition, she had already made the acquaintance of several of her fellow students, and the Weasley twins were in her year as well, and should smooth her transition and help her gain acceptance of the others in their year.
The only concern was where she would end up sorted—thus far Professor Dumbledore had not made any mention of how or when she would be placed in a house. Even so Harry was certain she would end up with him in Gryffindor, though he knew she would do well in Ravenclaw, with her intelligence. Gryffindor, however, made the most sense, as there she would find greater acceptance than anywhere else.
The conversation for the first part of the journey was pleasant and animated. Ron and Ginny had joined them in their compartment, along with Luna and Neville, and though it made for a slightly cramped compartment, the company was good, and none of the friends saw fit to complain. The Weasley twins had stopped in to say hello as the train left, but they immediately left to search for their partner in crime, Lee Jordan, no doubt discussing the mayhem they were likely to create in this their final year at the school. Harry did not doubt that whatever they had in mind, it would not be dull!
About a half hour into the journey, the party was interrupted by the train's loudspeaker.
"Your attention please: All prefects will now assemble in the prefects' car for the prefects' meeting."
As the only two prefects in the compartment, Harry and Hermione immediately grabbed their school robes.
"You know, I've always wondered how the loudspeaker works, when wizards don't know about Muggle electronics, much less have the ability or interest to make them," Harry said absently as he pulled his robes on over his head.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You'd know if you had taken Runes, Harry."
"It's all done with Runes?"
"It's like the lights and other devices you saw at my home, Harry," Fleur chimed in. "The microphone they are using has a modified Sonorus charm which instead of amplifying the sound, transmits it to a set of similar runes in each compartment. Those runes then amplify the sound."
"That's pretty ingenious," said Harry after a moment's thought.
Fleur smiled. "Thank you, Harry. The Muggles do have some marvelous things, but I dare say the magical world has its share of innovations."
"Sounds interesting." Harry then turned to Hermione who was busily tying her hair up in a French braid. "I never knew runes were so versatile. Do you feel like tutoring me this year?"
Startled, Hermione's hands stilled in the middle of her efforts and she peered at him with some disbelief. "You actually want to learn Runes?"
"Yeah mate," Ron chimed in. "Why would you want to torture yourself with more studying, Harry? We're already taking a couple of electives."
"Two electives we chose specifically because we thought they were easy," said Harry with a roll of his eyes.
"And what's wrong with that?" Ron demanded.
"Nothing at all, Ron, if that's what you want to do. For myself, I figure I've skived off a little too much—I've got an insane madman after me, and I doubt he'll want to play Quidditch to the death when we finally meet."
The comment prompted giggles from his companions, though Ron appeared to be alternating between amusement at the thought, and indignation at the way Harry spoke of his favorite sport.
"I think I need to be a little more studious and serious, Ron," said Harry, hoping to avoid offending Ron with his conciliatory words. "Otherwise, I'll never be ready to face him. I know he's coming after me. He won't stop until one of us is gone—of that I am certain."
"And you think Runes is going to help?"
Ron's voice held a certain amount of sarcasm, prompting Harry to consciously hold his temper in. This was Ron, after all, and though he was smart enough and was a good friend, studious he would never be. The important thing right now, was to make certain Ron did not say anything to upset Hermione like he was prone to at times like these—he was working up to a comment about how he preferred that his best friend not become like the resident bookworm, if Harry were to guess.
"Not Runes, specifically," Harry admitted. "But I think a little extra effort in general would be good, and like I said—it sounds interesting.
"Well, how about it?" he continued, turning to Hermione.
Though her expression was suspicious, Hermione appeared pleased at Harry's interest. "Sure Harry, if you'd like."
"I promise, Hermione."
Hermione responded to his grin in like manner before she became all business. "We better go, Harry."
Nodding, Harry followed her from the compartment.
The prefects' meeting was not exactly what Harry would call scintillating—but then again, he supposed it wasn't supposed to be. It was important, however, and Harry paid close attention to the instructions given by the head students—Roger Davies from Ravenclaw, who he remembered was Fleur's date from the Yule Ball, and Samantha Dewhurst, a pretty blond from Hufflepuff. The fact that Hermione was listening intently was not a surprise—Harry fully expected her to take her duties as seriously as she did anything else. Knowing she expected the same from him, and wanting to live up to his newfound maturity, Harry was determined to emulate her.
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