"Oh my gods, Annabeth would love this!" Both Hermione and Draco smiled proudly as Percy gushed- in the most manly way possible- over the architecture of the school. They were on a carriage to Hogwarts after a weird moment where the thestrals bowed to Percy (Apparently he could see them, which meant he must have witnessed death). Hermione was going to ask questions but Draco had averted the conversation to a different topic; one they had been talking about until Percy's outburst.

An extra building had been added further up from the main school and this was where they were heading. The carriages headed up the track and rolled to a stop outside a grand flight of marble stairs leading up to two large ornate doors. Standing on the stairs was- Hermoine presumed- Professor Acturus, the college headmistress.

Professor Acturus waited until all the students had piled out of the carriages before she started speaking. "Good evening, welcome to Hogwarts College of Talented Wizards and Witches. As we have some students who didn't attend Hogwarts School, we-the body of governors and I- decided to rehouse you all. There are four houses: Griffindor for the brave, Ravenclaw for the wise, Hufflepuff for the kind and Slytherin for the ambitious. The school is using the sorting hat, so instead we will be using a simple spell. Now, if you would like to follow me to the Assembly Hall."

The crowd of students followed her into what looked like the Great Hall, but a lot smaller. According to the College brochure Hermoine had previously read, the Assembly Hall was built to accommodate only one year. Each year had an assembly every week: with the first years having theirs on Monday, the second years on Tuesday, and so on. There was a separate canteen on the other side of the building.

There were two lots of rows of seats in the Hall partitioned by a walking path. Each group of rows was split into two; the first group was for Hufflepuffs then Griffindors, and the second group was for Ravenclaw and Slytherin (you could tell my the colours of the seats). In front of the rows was a raised platform where the head of houses and the headmaster sat.

Occupying the head of house seat for Slytherin was a pale, tall woman who Hermione recognised as Emilia Sapporo: a previous Hogwarts student. Ravenclaw was a slightly plump old lady who Draco whispered was Agnes Herald, author or the bestselling textbook A History of Merlin. Griffindor (a wizened old man with a bright smile) and Hufflepuff (a young man clad in all yellow) were entirely unknown to her.

A large ornate chair was placed in the centre of the stage and this was where Professor Acturus stood with her wand in her left hand- a list of names in the other. She tapped her wand on the chair three times to get the attention of the students.

"Right then. Ladies and Gentlemen, I will call you up one at a time and when you are sorted you will go and sit in your appropriate seats." She paused to consult the list, "Ellie Baker!"

A small, freckled girl calmly walked up to the platform and sat in the chair. Acturus muttered the spell and waved her wand with a flourish. The cursive letters shooting out of the wand formed a Slytherin on top of her head. The students clapped as she sat down, her face formed into a beaming grin.

The process repeated itself many times with the majority of students placed in Ravenclaw; Hermoine included. She was a bit surprised at first, but reasoned that the war had probably dampened her adventurous spirit. (Read the A/N to find out the real reason.) Still, it felt unnerving not to sit with the Griffindors. They were her family, and now she had to leave them.

Draco was placed in Slytherin- no surprise there. Slytherin seemed to have a lot of students. Hermoine wondered why.

There were hardly any Griffindors when Percy's name was called. Acturus announced him as 'Perseus', something he did not seem happy about. He sat in the chair with a slouch and like any other student Acturus waved her wand and the letters appeared over Percy's head.

Except they didn't.

A moment passed, and people started to whisper. Percy looked around worriedly.

A minute.

Then, suddenly, the word Griffindor exploded over his head. There was slow clapping as he sat down with the meagre clump of Griffindors.

Once the sorting was complete and the students had settled down Acturus  started giving a speech: "Now that you are in your houses let me properly introduce you to the College. As you leave the hall you will collect a package which will contain a map, your timetable based on your chosen subjects and your room key.

Rooms are underground with the Griffindors on floor -1, Hufflepuffs on -2, Ravenclaws on -3 and Slytherins on -4. You will be sharing a dorm with one other person.

Dinner will be served in an hour at the canteen- you can find the other meal times in your packet. I'll leave you now in the capable hands of your head house. Goodnight!"

As the students got up from their seats Hermoine passed Percy and Draco who seemed like they were having an argument. The former spotted Hermione and called her over. She was surprised- they were hardly friends- but joined them anyway.

"Hey Hermoine, are we the only years here?" The black haired boy asked.

"No, the other years arrived early. Each year arrived an hour before the other, so that each year could be addressed separately and had time to settle in." She answered matter-of- factly, and Draco smirked at Percy. The latter simply rolled his eyes before turning back to Hermione.

"Anyway, what subjects do you have? Let's compare timetables, you're the only people I know here and I want at least one friendly face in my classes." Draco laughed.

"You mean you want someone to talk to so you don't look like a loner. Thanks mate." Percy grinned sheepishly as the three opened their packets and dug out their timetables.

As it turned out, Percy and Draco both shared Psychic Magic and Hermione and Draco had Arithmancy together. All three of them shared Potions, Healing and History of Magic.  Draco laughed when he heard Percy was taking the latter subject.

"What are you taking that for? You'll be bored out of your mind if the teacher is anything like Binns."

"Really? Great. Mum made me take it- said I need to learn more about magic. She's also making me take extra classes so I can catch up. Lucky me." Just then the Griffindor head of house called for all Griffindors to follow him. Percy gave both of them a smile and a nod before disappearing back into the crowd of students.

Draco smiled down at Hermoine. "Well I better go too. See you in healing tomorrow." Then he too was gone, slinking into the shadows.

Hermoine shrugged her shoulders and went to find her head of house. What was that about finding some girl friends?

Word count- 1204

Because a spell was used to sort the students the sorting was done differently. If the sorting hat was used, then your house would depend on what qualities you VALUE the most. With the spell, it simply sorts you according to your abilities. That is why Hermione is in Ravenclaw and Percy in Griffindor (personally I would put him in Hufflepuff but ah well).

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