Slytherin's Heir

Chapter Thirteen ~ What A Welcoming

Once they were onboard the train, Hermione and Ron dashed off to the Prefects carriage, leaving him with a salty Harry and Ron's little sister, who joined them once they were on the train.

"Don't worry Harry. I'm sure there's a reason behind it and that there will be plenty more opportunities in the future." Percy tried consoling the wizard but all he got in return was a huff.

"Percy's right, Harry. It's not the end of the world." agreed Ginny.

In an attempt to at least distract the wizard, Percy asked, "So what's Hogwarts like?"

Harry brightened slightly, thinking of what he considered to be home. "Well, the school is basically this big castle, it's full of ghosts and moving staircases and all these cool places. You get sorted into one of four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. There's also a lake-"

"A lake?" Percy asked excitedly, perking up at the mention of water.

Ginny laughed. "You pick the most commonly found thing to get excited about."

Percy ignored her comment, more interested in learning more about it. "Do you know what's in it?"

Harry scratched the back of his neck. "Well uh... there's this giant squid, and there's these merfolk, but they're not all that friendly. I don't know. It's water. There's fish... and stuff..." Percy looked like a kid on Christmas. That was soo going to be one of his first stops.

"Which house do you think you'll be in, Percy?" Ginny asked as she pulled open the door to a carriage. Inside were people that Percy didn't recognise, however the other two seemed to. "Hello Neville, hello Luna." Ginny stepped inside, sitting beside Luna. Harry looked a little apprehensive before sitting beside Neville. Percy followed suit, sitting next to Harry.

"Hello Ginny." Luna smiled. "Hello Harry." Her eyes then found Percy's and her head tilted to the side.

"Who's that Harry?" Neville inquired.

"I'm Percy." Percy said, holding out his hand to shake, and after a moment of hesitance, Neville took his hand. Luna willingly took his hand before retreating back to her magazine which was... upside-down?

"Percy's in our year," Harry explained. "He came from America."

"Really? Why'd you come so late?"

Percy hesitated until he recalled what he'd been told to say. "I'm new to all of this but I think... I never got a letter, so I never ended up going."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't heard why Percy was there yet either until just then. "Really? Because those owls hounded me with letters until I came to Hogwarts."

Percy merely shrugged.

Neville, who quickly lost interest in the current conversation brought out a plant and started rambling about it and it was Percy who turned away from that conversation, leaving the other two boys and Ginny to talk.

Percy quickly learned that Luna wasn't overly helpful in a conversation and her answers were about as vague and meaningless to him as those of a Hypnos child. Those were some hard conversations to keep going.

He was just about to give up when he was sprayed with gunk. He cringed back, frantically wiping it from his eyes. He could faintly see through his blurred vision that it had come from Neville's plant.

Suddenly, the gunk disappeared and Percy blinked in surprise, lowering his hands. Ginny sat opposite him with a wand in her hands. Clearly she'd used a spell to clean everything up.

Percy grinned. "I cannot wait to learn how to do that." It would make cleaning up after a Stoll prank so much easier. Or, if Fred and George were anything like he was used to, he'd be needing it sooner.