It Wasn't The Nargles

Chapter 3- It Wasn't The Nargles

This part is just a short little blurb, I've got plenty more exciting ideas on the way, but for now I'm still just trying to set the tone, so if you find this chapter a tad dull, please bare with me and soon there will be some more action packed and romantic scenes. Promise!

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This year no carriages awaited the students as they got off the train, they were sorted based on houses and made to walk to the school. The first years being the last to go, led by Filtch rather than Hagrid, who didn't appear to be anywhere in sight.

As she was separated from her friends, Luna couldn't help but notice the look of concern in their faces, and even more so, couldn't help but have the same feeling. But none the less she followed orders and joined her fellow Ravenclaws in a group as they walked off behind the Slytherins who all chatted together quite happily.

As they walked there was little to hear aside from the sound of footsteps, the distant laughter of Pansy Parkinson, and little sniffles coming from Cho Chang. Luna skipped along with the group, humming quietly a tune that her mother used to sing to her, for the first time since she had started at Hogwarts, her house mates all walked a little closer to her, glad to have this one shining beacon of hope. Many of the younger students, who didn't know why exactly it was that they were all being quiet and afraid, took this as a cue to resume conversations, and soon the whole house was alive with chatter and even the occasional giggle.

For that little while it took for the students to walk to the castle, it seemed as though things were almost normal, there was no fear. That lasted as long as it took for them to reach the gates, where stood a rather grotesque looking man and woman. The group of all the students blended together once again, despite the frantic attempted herding by Filtch, and soon Luna was reunited with her friends once again.

Luna smiled and spoke about a conversation she had had with a first year on the way up, Ginny listened intently, glad of the distraction, and Neville stood alert, peering over the heads of his classmates to try and see what was going on. This turned out to be unnecessary as the crowds around them shrank back, pushing the trio forward towards the pair that stood to greet them.

Seeing that they were intended to pass through, Neville stepped ahead of his companions and tried to do just so, his way was quickly blocked by the man that's face seemed almost disfigured. The woman in a shrill, yet hallowing and commanding tone questioned;

"Name?"

Seeing his friends all watching him, waiting for him to respond, added a certain boldness to his voice.

"Neville Longbottom."

The pair exchanged a glance and Neville could now see what he presumed to be a family resemblance between them. The woman after looking down at her list, proclaimed to her brother;

"This one's pure."

The man gave Neville a look up and down, an expression of distaste on his face, before slowly stepping out of his path. "Get moving then boy! Don't want dinner to be cold!"

Neville saw a smirk exchanged between the two as he walked past. He turned back once inside the gate to watch and ensure his friends got through without any trouble, but much to his surprise and displeasure, he saw no one, just the empty gateway, and couldn't hear a single thing but the release of a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Time seemed to pass incredibly slowly in that moment of his lonesomeness, he could feel the sweat gathering on his palms as anxiety took him over; would everyone make it through alright? Luna was a pureblood, but her father had been stirring up some trouble over the summer with his magazine, and Ginny, she was pureblood too, but it was a well known fact that the Weasleys were "blood traitors". Would Seamus be able to keep his mouth shut long enough to avoid trouble? How about the others, there hadn't been any muggleborns amongst the crowd, had there? While these thoughts all ran through his head he continued to stare at the gate, where he knew that all his classmates must be, until finally he saw a small black shoe, with striped socks underneath it appear before him. This appendage was soon followed by a leg, a torso, another leg, two arms and a head. A head adorned with radish earrings.

After a few more moments, came Ginny, then Seamus, then Lavender, Cho, and Colin, the rest of the student body soon following and together they all made their way into their beloved castle and poured into the great hall.