Ginny's POV
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The Sorting Hat's voice boomed across the Great Hall, and for a moment, Ginny felt like her heart had stopped completely. Then the sound hit her - cheering, applause, and the thunderous noise of the Gryffindor table erupting in celebration.
Gryffindor, she thought dazedly as she slipped off the stool. I'm actually in Gryffindor.
The walk to the red and gold table felt like a dream. Students were clapping her on the back, calling out welcomes, and she could see her brothers grinning at her from various points along the table. Fred and George were making exaggerated cheering motions, while Percy looked properly pleased in his prefect way. Even Ron gave her a genuine smile and a thumbs up.
"Ginny!" Emma's voice cut through the noise, and she looked down to see her train friend patting the bench beside her. "Over here!"
Ginny hurried over and squeezed in between Emma and Sarah, both of whom had been sorted into Gryffindor as well. Colin had gone to Gryffindor too, though he was sitting further down the table, still looking slightly stunned by the whole experience.
"We're all together!" Sarah said excitedly, grabbing Ginny's hand. "I was so worried we'd end up in different houses."
"I know!" Emma agreed. "When they called my name, all I could think was 'please let me be with my friends.'"
"The Hat barely touched my head," Ginny said, still feeling a bit overwhelmed. "I think it knew immediately."
"That's because you're obviously meant to be a Gryffindor," said a voice from across the table. Ginny looked up to see a older girl with dark hair and a prefect badge smiling at her. "I'm Katie Bell, third year. You must be another Weasley - you've got the look."
"The look?" Ginny asked.
"Red hair and freckles that pairs up only with your family," Katie said with a grin. "Plus, I've seen you around Diagon Alley with your brothers."
AN: So that's the real reason...
An older boy next to Katie leaned forward. "Oliver Wood," he introduced himself. "Quidditch Captain. Any chance you play? We could use some fresh talent."
"I... well, I've played with my brothers at home," Ginny said, feeling suddenly shy. "But I've never played properly."
"That's how everyone starts," Oliver said enthusiastically. "If you're interested, we hold tryouts in the spring for next year's team."
Before Ginny could respond, Professor McGonagall was calling for attention as the last few students were sorted. Then, Dumbledore stood up, his arms spread wide and his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.
"Welcome!" he said, his voice carrying easily through the hall. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
He sat back down, and suddenly the empty golden plates in front of them were filled with food. Not just filled - overflowing. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and mint humbugs.
"Bloody...!," Ron's voice carried from down the table, and Ginny had to agree with the sentiment.
"This is incredible," Emma breathed, loading her plate with roast chicken and potatoes. "I've never seen so much food in one place."
"And it just appeared!" Sarah added, helping herself to carrots. "I know it's magic, but seeing it happen is still amazing."
Ginny was reaching for some roast beef when she noticed the ghosts. A translucent figure in a ruff and tights was floating near the Gryffindor table, chatting with some of the older students.
"That's Nearly Headless Nick," Katie explained, following her gaze. "Our house ghost. He's lovely, though he's a bit sensitive about his execution."
"His execution?" Colin squeaked from down the table.
"Botched beheading," Oliver said casually, cutting into his steak. "Forty-five chops with a blunt axe, and it still didn't come off properly."
"That's..." Emma said weakly, looking a bit green.
"You'll get used to it," an older girl across from them said kindly. "I'm Angelina Johnson, by the way. Fourth year. The magical world takes some adjusting to if you're Muggle-born."
"Are you Muggle-born too?" Emma asked hopefully.
"No, but my best friend is," Angelina said. "She spent her first week asking how everything worked. Drove the portraits mental with questions."
"The portraits answer questions?" Sarah asked excitedly.
"Oh yes," Katie laughed. "Though some of them are more helpful than others. The Fat Lady who guards our common room is lovely, but she does like to sing. And Sir Cadogan is... well, you'll meet him eventually."
As they ate, Ginny found herself relaxing into the warm atmosphere of the Gryffindor table. The older students were kind and welcoming, sharing stories about Hogwarts and offering advice about classes and teachers. The food was incredible - better than any feast at the Burrow, and that was saying something.
"So," Angelina said, turning to Ginny, "what's it like being the first Weasley girl in decades? Must be a lot of pressure."
"It was," Ginny admitted. "I was terrified I wouldn't live up to my brothers. But now... I don't know, I feel like maybe I don't have to be them. Maybe I can just be me."
"Good attitude," Oliver said approvingly. "Your brothers are great, but you're your own person. Speaking of which, Fred and George mentioned you've got quite a temper when provoked."
Ginny felt her cheeks warm. "They told you about that?"
"Only good things," Katie assured her. "They said you hexed them when they tried to steal your diary over the summer."
'That time... it wasn't even intentional'
Author's Mini Note: (think of it as she knowing how magic courses through her and her magic helping her doing a small hex, as she's still within the magic riot range but her magic idealistically completing it).
"They had it coming," Ginny said firmly, which made the older students laugh.
"Definitely a Gryffindor," Angelina grinned.
The conversation flowed easily as they worked their way through the feast. Ginny learned about the different professors (Professor Snape was apparently just as awful as her brothers had warned, but Professor Flitwick was lovely), about the house point system (Gryffindor was currently in second place), and about all the secret passages and hidden rooms throughout the castle.
"There's so much to explore," Sarah said wonderingly. "How do you learn it all?"
"Seven years," Oliver said simply. "And even then, some people never find all the secrets. The castle is always full of mysteries even to those already graduated."
When the main course finally vanished, it was replaced by dessert - blocks of ice cream in every flavor imaginable, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, and rice pudding.
"I'm going to explode," Emma groaned, but she still reached for a slice of treacle tart.
"You'll learn to pace yourself," Katie advised. "The house elves love to spoil us, but you don't have to eat everything at once."
Finally, when the last dessert plate had been cleared, Dumbledore stood up again waving his hand making all food vanish. He gave them a few notices (the Forbidden Forest was forbidden, magic was not to be used in the corridors, and Quidditch trials would be held in the second week of term), and then it was time for bed.
"First years, follow me!" Percy called out, his prefect badge glinting in the candlelight. "Come along, don't dawdle!"
Ginny exchanged amused glances with Emma and Sarah as they followed Percy out of the Great Hall. Trusting her brother to take his prefect duties so seriously as always.
"The staircases move," Percy was explaining to the group of nervous first-years trailing behind him. "So pay attention to where you're going. Don't wander off alone until you learn the layout."
They climbed staircase after staircase, portraits calling out greetings and advice as they passed. Some of the staircases tried to trick them moving places, but with the guidance of Percy they all eventually kept pace.
"Here we are," Percy announced as they stopped in front of a portrait of a very fat lady in a pink silk dress. "The password is 'fortuna major,' but it changes regularly. You'll be told the new password by a prefect when it changes."
"Fortuna major," he said clearly to the portrait, and she smiled and swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.
The Gryffindor common room was everything Ginny had imagined and more. Cozy and warm, with comfortable armchairs gathered around a crackling fire, tables for studying, and windows that looked out over the grounds. The walls were decorated with tapestries in red and gold, and there was a definite feeling of home about the place.
"Boys' dormitories are up those stairs," Percy said, pointing to the left. "Girls' are up those stairs to the right. Your belongings have already been taken up. Breakfast is from seven to nine in the Great Hall. Classes begin at nine sharp tomorrow morning. Any questions?"
Colin raised his hand tentatively. "What if we get lost?"
"Ask a portrait for directions," Percy said patiently. "Most of them are helpful, though avoid Sir Cadogan if you can - he'll send you on a quest instead of giving you proper directions. Now, off to bed. You'll need your rest."
Ginny followed Emma and Sarah up the spiral staircase to the girls' dormitories. Their room was on the first floor, a cozy circular space with four four-poster beds draped in red velvet. Their trunks were indeed waiting for them, and Ginny was delighted to find her things already unpacked and put away.
"This is amazing," Emma said, running her hand along the hangings of her bed. "It's like something out of a fairy tale."
"Look at the view," Sarah called from the window. They gathered around to look out at the moonlit grounds of Hogwarts - the lake glimmering in the distance, the Forbidden Forest dark and mysterious beyond the edge of the lawn.
"I can't believe we actually live here now," Ginny said softly.
Their fourth roommate turned out to be a quiet girl named Fay Dunbar, who seemed nice but was clearly exhausted by the day's excitement. After they'd all changed into their nightgowns and brushed their teeth (the bathroom was just down the hall and was thankfully normal, though the taps were shaped like various magical creatures), Emma and Sarah settled into their beds with tired but happy sighs.
Ginny waited until she heard their breathing deepen into sleep before pulling out her diary. She had so much to tell Tom, and she was practically bursting with excitement about everything that had happened.
Tom's POV
I felt the diary opening and sensed Ginny's practically vibrating excitement. Her magical signature was brighter than I'd ever felt it - happiness and accomplishment and pure joy all mixed together.
Tom! she wrote, her handwriting a bit messier than usual in her enthusiasm. I'm at Hogwarts! I'm actually here, in Gryffindor tower, writing to you from my four-poster bed!
Congratulations! I wrote back, feeling a genuine surge of happiness for her. Gryffindor, just like you hoped! How was the sorting? Were you nervous?
Terrified! But the Hat barely took a second to decide. It was like it knew immediately where I belonged. And Tom, the feast was incredible! There was so much food, and it just appeared on the plates, and there were ghosts floating around like it was perfectly normal!
She went on to describe the evening in vivid detail - the older students who had welcomed her, the stories they'd shared, the amazing food, and how comfortable she'd felt almost immediately.
It sounds perfect, I wrote. I'm so happy for you, Ginny. You deserve to feel like you belong.
The weird thing is, I do feel like I belong. Not because I'm a Weasley, but because I'm me. Does that make sense?
Perfect sense. That's exactly how Hogwarts should feel.
What was your sorting like? Were you nervous?
I thought back to my own sorting, accessing those old memories. Actually, yeah, I was pretty nervous. The Hat took forever with me - kept muttering about ambition and cleverness and ruthlessness. I think it was trying to decide between Slytherin and Ravenclaw.
What made it choose Slytherin?
Probably because I told it I wanted to be somewhere I could learn everything about magic, especially the advanced stuff. Slytherin has always been good at teaching students to push boundaries (AN: dark magic... cough*).
That sounds like you. Always wanting to learn more. But wait, Ravenclaw limits the studies of it's students?
Speaking of which, how are you feeling about classes starting tomorrow?
Oh, I feel super excited! Though also a bit nervous. What if I'm behind everyone else? What if I don't understand the theory?
You'll be fine. Trust me, most first-years know way less than you do. Plus, you've got a secret weapon.
You?
Me. I can help you with homework, explain anything you don't understand, even teach you spells that aren't in the curriculum. You're going to do amazing.
Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you.
Good thing you'll never have to find out. Now, tell me about your roommates. Are they nice?
Emma and Sarah from the train, plus a girl named Fay who seems sweet but quiet. I think we're going to get along really well. Oh, and Tom?
Yeah?
Oliver Wood - he's the Quidditch Captain - asked if I play! He said they hold tryouts in the spring for next year's team.
That's fantastic! Are you going to try out?
Maybe. I love flying, and I'm actually pretty good. The twins always said I was better than Ron, though that's not exactly hard.
You should definitely try out. Quidditch is great fun, and being on the team is a good way to make friends across different years.
Were you on the Quidditch team?
No, I was too busy with other things. Kind of wish I had tried out though - it looks like fun.
Well, if I make the team, I'll tell you all about it.
I'd like that. Hey, can I tell you something?
Of course.
You don't really look like a typical wizard's kid, you know.
Ginny paused in her writing. What do you mean?
I mean, you look too... vibrant? Most wizard kids I knew were all pale and stuffy-looking.
Aw thank you.
I'm just saying, you don't have that proper wizarding family look. Too much color in your cheeks, too much mischief in your eyes. Very un-aristocratic.
Good! Hahahaha, I'd hate to look like those stuck-up pure-blood families.
[Ginny writing 'hahahaha'.... xd...(I don't put images here, pls help if you'd like seeing one)]
See, that's what I mean. You've got that wild, outdoorsy thing going on. Like you'd rather be flying around on a broomstick than sitting primly in some stuffy parlor.
Well, yeah. Flying is fun.
So yeah, it's very... refreshingly uncivilized of you.
Uncivilized? I think that might actually be a compliment coming from you.
Don't let it go to your head. I'm just saying you don't look like you'd bore me to tears with proper etiquette.
Yes, yes, thank you mister Tom for your high praise indeed.
You're welcome. Now, you should probably get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.
I know, but I don't want to stop writing. I'm too excited to sleep.
Trust me, you'll need your energy for tomorrow. First day of classes is always exhausting.
Okay, okay. But Tom?
Yeah?
Thank you for everything. For helping me feel confident, for being my friend, for being here when I needed someone to talk to. I couldn't have made it this far without you.
You could have, but I'm glad you didn't have to. Sweet dreams, Ginny. Tomorrow's going to be amazing.
Ginny's POV
As Ginny closed the diary and tucked it safely in her bedside table, she felt a warm glow of contentment. She found herself smiling at how easily she'd joked back with Tom about being uncivilized - just a few days ago she'd been too nervous to even write in the diary, and now they were teasing each other like old friends. Her first day at Hogwarts had been everything she'd dreamed of and more. She was in Gryffindor with her friends, she'd been welcomed by the older students, and she had Tom to rely on.
She settled back into her comfortable four-poster bed, listening to the soft breathing of her roommates and the distant sounds of the castle settling around them. Through her window, she could see the moon reflecting on the lake and the gentle swaying of the trees in the Forbidden Forest.
It feels like home, she thought drowsily.
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Author's Note: Tadaaa!!! Another chapter!
So I found out sometimes I'm using names I remember from the show subconsciously and well I'm not gonna check for each and every one of them, so once again I ask of you dear readers if you find one let me know and I'll change it as... I don't really remember properly I part believe its me finding a name fit for the story based on canon names but I also added a weird slytherin girl last time, I dunno honestly.
Also I may or may not be writing this sleep deprived so I may... confuse the names I see when I look up for names of prefects and others, so If I make a mistake for one of those of other years yk? like idk last time in my drafts I mixed Hermione unconsciously into her stopping the pixies from Lockhart (yeah tried using that plot as rumor but did it as if Ginny and her were in the same class, that's how badly I was. So yeah, don't expect much from your tired author)
So after ranting it out I feel better. Hope you guys enjoy it and have a nice day.
I need to update other stories first so I'll probably come back next week or somewhere in between as I love writing this ff.
God bless ya'll.