The Lovegoods were the owners of the Quibbler, an esoteric magazine that often printed weird conspiracy theories and wild guesses that couldn't be further from the truth. Nobody took the Quibbler seriously, but some saw great entertainment value in it, if your expectation was to read outlandish claims. That they owned a house in the town itself and tried to integrate themselves into the community only added to the picture of a strange family.
Watching Ginny talk to Luna, while the other girl just listened patiently with a slight smile, Molly knew it would be seen as fully in-character for them to send their daughter to a non-magical school. She also was not surprised that the couple was following their example - only in their case it wasn't out of necessity.
"Now, now. You two don't want to be later on your first day, do you?" Mr. Lovegood told the girls.
Some time later, Ginny and Luna were sitting next to each other in the classroom while listening to the teacher welcoming them after the official ceremony. Well, Luna didn't look like she was listening with the slightly dreamy look she had, but Ginny knew better. The blond girl liked to throw off others by appearing disconnected from her surroundings, but in reality she was very observant and intelligent.
Though, that sadly also made it difficult for her to make friends. Ginny knowing her since she could remember was perhaps the main reason why she understood Luna so well. Hopefully, these character traits wouldn't make life too difficult for Luna at school.
Ginny of course did not notice that Luna was observing her friend.
o
The new first years at Hogwarts gaped in fascination at what was waiting for them when Hagrid and McGonagall escorted them into the entrance hall of the castle. They barely listened to the Professor's speech, since, after all, this was for many of them the first time they saw a ghost. To make it even better, this ghost girl seemed to be a student as well when looking at what she was wearing. As soon as the adults had left, their curiosity got the better of them and they bombarded her with questions.
"Easy, easy! I won't go anywhere!" the ghost said. Seeing as it calmed them down, she continued "Hello, I'm Myrtle, and as you can all see, I'm a ghost. I'm here to keep you company until you can enter the great hall. If you have questions, ask me one at a time."
It had taken some persuasion, but the other ghosts had agreed that it would be better to wait in the great hall so that they wouldn't scare the new students, and instead have the now much nicer Myrtle greet the new students. After all, she was someone they could relate to and she didn't look scary at all.
This is a better way at greeting them than that pest Peeves. Thank all goodness he is no longer here. As much as I have decided to better myself, I simply can't get myself to feel sorry for him after decades of him bullying me, Myrtle thought.
The funny thing was, no one had actively aimed to get rid of Peeves. As it turned out, Peeves was a manifestation of some of the castle's magic which had been stuck in some kind of knot. Due to the construction work, this knot somehow got untangled and Peeves just... vanished. No one however was sad about it, considering how much of a disruptive force Peeves had been; if anything, many were relieved that he was gone.
They were right, this feels great, she thought while patiently answering questions. She remembered how confused she had been when she had started school at Hogwarts, thus being helpful felt even better.
Inside the great hall, the older students were waiting.
"You know, Bill, there definitely is more going on than just the new uniforms, though I'm glad they finally got rid of those robes and the hats that no one would wear," Charlie Weasley told his older brother Bill while they both sat at the Gryffindor table.
Bill Weasley could only agree, again checking out his new and very comfortable uniform and the shiny Perfect badge pinned to his uniform jacket. "Yes, I always hated these robes and even went so far to buy some shorts from a Muggle cycling shop, just to feel less drafty down there. Thank all goodness we now have actual trousers. Though some people obviously don't like this change."
Bill's comment clearly was aimed at the children from more conservative - some say outright racist - pure-blood families, who made no secret of how much they disliked the new uniforms. Clearly, they felt offended by the fact that the new uniforms were based on those from Muggle schools. Their bigoted parents after all taught them that people without magic were sub-human.
"Though, you are right. While lots is the same, I noticed that something was wrong with the point hourglasses. They all seemed stuck at half the gems at the bottom," Bill observed. "That, and there seems to be some change with the teachers."
"I know what you mean. There are three new ones; the one that looks like an overweight walrus, the one with the glasses who looks like Percy could look like in thirty years and that nervous witch who looks like she wants to be somewhere else," Charlie observed. "Take three guesses who of them pulled the short stick and got Defense."
Right then the doors opened to start the sorting.
All girls present started whispering when seeing Moaning Myrtle escort the first years inside. Apart from the fact that she somehow now was sporting the new uniform for girls, her presence and calmness was confusing them. Many of them had made bad experiences with her, generally using her bathroom before knowing how awful she was. The girls wondered what this was about.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Want to read more?
The next 60+ chapters are already available on my Patreon!
By joining, you'll get:
📖 Early access to future chapters
📫 polls to shape the story
🎁 Exclusive content for Patreon
🔥 Bonus adult -- themed pictures & scenes you won't find anywhere else(adult only 🤫)
Don't fall behind -- others are already ahead! 👀
👉 Patreon.com/c/Nixerion(please search this link on Google Chrome)