We Aren't All That Different

Luna woke up early the next morning, finding herself lying with her head at the bottom end of her bed. Her quilt was only covering her hips and belly: the rest of it lay on the ground. She sat up, yawned and stretched with a moan as she felt the tensed-up muscles in her shoulders. Then she looked out of the window and all thoughts of pain vanished as she saw the fading darkness of the night sky, the moon still faintly visible.

She had always loved the angle from which she could see over the Hogwarts grounds - she could see the roof of one of the greenhouses, the Forbidden Forest and the lake, in all its beauty. Morning mist was hovering over the lake's surface and wafting through the first rows of trees in the Forbidden Forest.

Slowly the sun began to rise over the mountains and sent its first rays of light through the mist, making it gleam. Only the smallest tendrils of orange light were wending their way over the horizon. Luna knelt on her bed, quilt clutched to her chest, paralysed in awe as she looked at this spectacle of nature.

Suddenly a loud snore from one of the beds made her jerk and come back to reality.

Luna shot one more longing look out of the window, then got out of bed. Merlin had fallen out during the night and was now staring up at her accusingly with his two dissimilar eyes. Luna felt a small tinge of guilt upon realizing that that had probably been her fault when she had turned around in her sleep. Carefully she picked him up again, placed him on her pillow and gave him a small kiss, lovingly making sure that he couldn't fall down again.

Quickly she opened her wardrobe. Due to her perfect order, she didn't have to search long to find her favourite underwear, which was red and had a lot of little golden Nifflers on it. It was one purposeful grab into the topmost drawer and she held it in hand. Pulling open the bottom drawer, she took out pairs of socks until she could see her lucky-charm knee-length socks. She wore them only on special occasions: that was why they were at the far back of the drawer. She admired their beautiful green and blue stripes, as she did every time before she wore them, and carefully put the other socks back.

Then Luna brought her lucky-charm socks to her face and inhaled deeply. It might have been her imagination, but she could still smell the faint smell of roses that had always surrounded her mother. Her mother had knitted them for her and had embroidered the two white Ls upon each of them without magic. Throwing them away was out of the question. She would wear these socks whenever she needed luck and the help from her mother, until they'd be made of more holes than actual material. But it was still a long time to go before that happened, and today she would definitely need every ounce of help she could get, so she put them on.

From her bedside table, she took her Butterbeer-cork necklace, tying it carefully around her neck, and her old pocket watch with the two small brooms as hands that showed her that at the moment it wasn't even six o'clock yet. She slipped it into her pocket, and quietly made her way towards the door.

Standing next to the door, with the handle in her hand, she looked around her dormitory. It was definitely amazing how dirty it was. After all, they had been in there for only a few hours, and yet the floor was covered with magazines, clothes, Chocolate Frog wrappers and photos lying scattered all throughout the room. And that was only what she could see in the dim light coming through the window.

Her bed at the far wall was like some stranger in this room, because the floor around it actually was as clean as it had been when she had arrived. Not even her old socks from yesterday were still lying on the floor, because she just couldn't stand waking up in the morning and being greeted by dirty underwear from the day before. Luna shuddered at the thought.

Next to the door, there was a chaotic heap of shoes in different sizes and colours. Her shoes were mixed into it, too, although she had placed them there neatly, standing in pairs the evening before. Obviously the others had had fun mixing them with their shoes.

Luna picked up a small, slim sandal the colour of the sky on a sunny morning in the summer and turned it slowly, admiringly taking in every detail of the shoe, then looked down at her own feet that were not quite as small and slim as the ones that might fit into it. With a small sigh, she grabbed her left boot, which was made of stag leather and was solid, to be true, but by no means as beautiful as the light sandal.

The other boot, however, couldn't be found anywhere in or near the heap. After a few minutes of searching, it became quite clear to her that the others had hidden it. She rolled her eyes; it had never begun this early before, usually they started hiding her things only when a little time had gone by and everybody was acquainted with again. Shrugging slightly, she bent down to pick up one of her other shoes. However, it seemed the others had hidden all her right shoes. She sighed, exasperated. Then she took a blood red trainer she used to wear for flying lessons. She slipped into it, forgetting entirely to tie the laces, and looked down at herself.

The trainer sported a hole in the place where her big toe was, and the stripes of her socks showed through. Fascinated, Luna stared at her right foot for a moment and wiggled her toes, which looked kind of funny with the big toe in its striped dress.

Eventually, she tore her gaze away from the shoe and departed into the corridor. As soon as the door had closed behind her, all warmth disappeared and she shivered. Here it was much colder than in the dormitory, where the heat that ascended from six bodies kept the temperature warm and comfortable. In the corridor, there was only a long stretch of cold stone. Of course, there were candles along the wall in certain places, gleaming softly in their bronze candleholders, but they were not designed to spread warmth. One of them flickered as Luna went by at a quick pace, wanting to escape the coldness as soon as possible.

She noticed that the air was growing steadily warmer as she got closer to the common room, where a fire was roaring in the fireplace, giving off heat. When she opened the door that marked the entrance to the common room, the heat was like a solid wall she suddenly faced in contrast to the icy air in the corridor. She sighed and hurried over to the hearth, warming her hands. It was only then that she noticed the House Elf who was busy tending the fire.

"Good morning," Luna greeted the small creature with a friendly smile. The Elf started and looked round at her.

"Good morning, Miss," it said in a squeaky voice.

Luna smiled; she liked these friendly little creatures. Slowly, as she felt the heat from the fire spread through her body again, she strolled across the room towards the oak door and stopped to look at the notice board. There were already some notices pinned to it. One jumped out at her immediately, probably because it was written in bright pink ink. It said "Need extra tuition? Contact Hamish McNeil!"

Luna shook her head, slightly amused- she didn't know Hamish too well, but he always wrote in pink ink and also covered all of his school books in pinkish paper to keep them from getting dirty.

Suddenly, she realised she had forgotten something. She sighed and made her way back across the room, into the icy corridor and finally into her dormitory.

She went over to her bed, gave Merlin a small smile and pulled up the quilt so it covered his little body. Luna thought it was her responsibility to take care that he wasn't cold, so it was very important for her to make sure he had a warm bed to sleep in.

Luna drew her school robes out of the wardrobe and picked up her schoolbag. It weighed heavily on her shoulder with all the new schoolbooks in it. Luna noticed a small rip in the leather where they had poked their edges through the material. A Sugar Quill was peering out of the bag and Luna stuffed it back in, carefully making sure it didn't break.

She went back to the door, cautiously trying to avoid stepping on the things lying on the floor, especially the things Audrey had thrown out of her bag the evening before. Luna stopped to look at one of the books that lay scattered on the floor. The Lord of the Rings? That sounded funny, she thought. It was probably a muggle book, because she had never heard of it before.

She continued her way to the door and opened it. It creaked, probably because she had opened it too slowly, and one of the girls lifted her head slightly from her pillow and opened her eyes.

"Whassup?" she asked sleepily.

"It's alright, Audrey," Luna said quietly. "Get back to sleep."

Audrey grumbled quietly and fell asleep again. Luna went out.

By the time she got back into the common room, the Elf had vanished and the floor was clean. The door opened and Luna stepped out into yet another icy corridor. This time, however, it wasn't in Ravenclaw Tower, but in the main part of the school. Luna took a deep breath as she heard the door close behind her with a quiet click. Outside Ravenclaw Tower, Luna always felt better, although she couldn't say why. It was a feeling like a weight was lifted from her chest, making breathing easier.

She stared around aimlessly, thinking about her plan. There was nothing that could possibly make it better, at least in her opinion. It was perfect. Luna smiled, satisfied, and started walking, humming "Weasley is our King" under her breath, tapping the rhythm with her fingers on her school bag. She turned left and stepped into another dark corridor. It didn't look very inviting, but that didn't matter: she had a mission to accomplish, and a dark corridor surely wasn't going to stop her from doing so.

It was a long walk to Professor McGonagall's office, and Luna was slightly out of breath when she got there. She stopped to catch her breath before raising her hand to knock.

Then she hesitated. Should I really tell McGonagall? she thought.

What if her plan was nonsense and her professor wouldn't like it?

What if she wouldn't want to talk to her?

What if- Stop that, Luna, she scolded herself.

Why did this make her so nervous? Normally she wasn't shy and rarely pondered decisions for a long time, so why should she start now?

She knocked resolutely, then stepped back politely and waited for McGonagall to open the door.

She stood there for quite a while and stared around, looking at the portrait of a knight in shining armour who sat in a comfortable-looking chair and snored loudly. She wondered who he was, and found a small sign next to the picture that read "Alpin the Angry, 9^th- century Warrior and Healer" Luna looked at him inquiringly, daring him to wake up. She wondered why he wore armour and not one of the Healer's green robes, but then she supposed he could have been a warrior for the muggles and would therefore have had to wear it.

He had taken off his helmet: it lay on the floor with a small cat sleeping inside it like a bird in a nest. Luna smiled. It looked too cute- the helmet was nearly twice as big as the cat.

One lock of the knight's long reddish-blond hair had fallen into his face and went up and down as he snored. Occasionally, he blinked unconsciously when the hair fell into his eyes. It was a fascinating spectacle and Luna had already forgotten her mission as she continued to watch him snore and his lock flying up and down, her arms clutched around her to save her from the cold.

A tartan carpet was hanging on the wall, the reds and greens difficult to tell apart in the dim light in the portrait. That stirred something in Luna's mind. She looked up and around, confused. Where was she? And why had she come here in the first place?

She noticed the door and remembered. She had wanted to tell McGonagall about her plan - how could she have forgotten?

She knocked again, a bit harder this time. Then she stepped back again and started waiting again.

Again, her Transfiguration teacher did not answer.

"Professor?" she called through the door five minutes later. "Professor McGonagall? Are you in there?"

Then she pressed her ear to the door. Why were professors never there when you needed them?

Eventually, she could hear footsteps inside and quickly went back a few steps again not to look too officious.

The door opened with a creak to reveal her Transfiguration teacher standing in front of her in a tartan dressing gown over a dark nightie. Her hair, normally pulled back in a strict bun, flowed around her shoulders, loose. Luna was surprised at how long it was; she supposed it was probably down to the middle of her back. It looked quite windswept and messy.

Luna couldn't help but stare - she had never seen her Deputy Headmistress in a state like that. It was completely unlike McGonagall's immensely strict nature.

"Yes?" McGonagall snapped irritably. "Miss Lovegood, is there any reason for you to knock at my door like a maniac at the break of dawn? Explain yourself, and make it quick please, or I will have to take points from your House!"

"No," Luna said. "I mean, yes. I mean - don't take points from my House; and yes, there is a reason why I am here."

"And that would be?" McGonagall asked, pursing her lips.

"I have a problem-" Luna began, but the Transfiguration Professor interrupted her.

"If you have any problems, please talk to your Head of House. I'm sure Professor Flitwick will be glad to help you. Now, if you will excuse me-"

She made a half-hearted attempt at a friendly smile and pushed her spectacles back up her nose again.

"Good bye." With that, she made to close the door again, but Luna had her foot between door and doorframe.

"It's not the sort of problem I could talk about to Professor Flitwick," she said. "I can talk about it only to you, Professor. May I come in, please?"

Professor McGonagall looked at her for a moment, apparently thinking hard. Then she sighed, looking defeated, and opened the door.

"Kindly come in, Miss Lovegood. I don't suppose you want to discuss whatever it is you want to say here in the corridor. I don't particularly want that, either," she added witheringly, ushering Luna in with her hand and stepping aside to allow the girl access.

Luna smiled. She was relieved that McGonagall was quick on the uptake.

"No, I don't think that would be the appropriate place for a request such as the one I have." With these words, she stepped into the professor's office.

Luna waited for McGonagall to close the door behind her and step behind her desk. Meanwhile, she occupied herself with staring at the red-brown floral carpet that was unbelievably ugly - at least in her eyes - but somehow it fitted McGonagall nevertheless.

Finally, the Deputy Headmistress had closed the door.

"Take a seat, Miss Lovegood," she said and gestured towards the table and chairs that stood next to one of the windows.

"No, thank you, I prefer to remain standing," Luna replied politely.

McGonagall shot her an angry look and Luna corrected herself.

"Well, maybe I would prefer to sit..."

Professor McGonagall stood behind her desk, arms crossed over her chest.

"What is it, Miss Lovegood?"

Luna leaned forwards. "I have an idea."

McGonagall didn't look impressed. "Indeed?" she said, eyebrows raised.

"It concerns what you said yesterday, Professor," Luna continued.

As her teacher didn't react, she explained further. "What you said about improving relations between students of different Houses."

McGonagall nodded and looked mildly interested. "Explain it to me, please."

"All right, I think it is best to start at the beginning," Luna said. "I never really felt comfortable in my House because most people there are too much into books for my taste. I always felt like a Gryffindor, especially after I became friends with some of them last year. Professor Dumbledore said in his speech, 'Of course, I understand no one is going to get new friends in all the other Houses immediately and leave old friends behind.' That made me think- why shouldn't we do exactly that? What stops us doing it?

"The answer is: no one has ever tried it, because our prejudices against other Houses make us sort these people into categories without even knowing them, simply because of their House placement.

"I see the situation here at Hogwarts like a river- half of the people are already drowned in their prejudices and rash opinions and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction. This is where my plan comes in."

Now McGonagall definitely looked interested. She sat down and took a tartan tin out of one of the drawers in her desk.

"Would you like a biscuit, Miss Lovegood?" she asked Luna.

Luna stared at her once more. That was the reaction she had expected least. She could have accepted laughter or eyebrows raised in disbelief, even being thrown out; but a biscuit? She wondered whether all the professors at Hogwarts were weird in their respective ways.

"Miss Lovegood," McGonagall's voice came with a hint of irritation to it, "would you like a biscuit or not? It'd be nice to get an answer to my question."

Luna shrugged, took one and started eating. The biscuit was surprisingly delicious and she grabbed for another one.

Her Transfiguration teacher watched her for a moment. Then, she said, "I have to say I am deeply surprised to see your attitude towards these inter-House prejudices. I also have to admit that I am glad to hear it, because I think you're in the minority with your opinion about Houses and the respective students."

When she noticed Luna move to take another biscuit, she tutted disapprovingly and shot Luna one of her famous strict looks. Luna jerked her hand back.

"However," McGonagall said pointedly, "before I know your 'plan', I can't judge whether or not it is good and fitting for our situation here at Hogwarts. Now, if you would please continue..."

"Of course," Luna said, staring up at her once more, her eyes wide. "By the way, these biscuits are excellent," she added in her dreamy voice. McGonagall looked pleased and suddenly a lot friendlier.

"All right," Luna continued. "Actually, my plan is really, really simple. The only thing we have to do is to organize..."

*

When Luna had told her everything, the Deputy Headmistress murmured something, but Luna didn't understand it.

"What do you think?" she asked eagerly.

"I can't say any more on the subject before I have discussed this with the Headmaster," McGonagall replied, suddenly very strict again. "Thank you very much for sharing your idea, Miss Lovegood."

She stood up and went to the door. Luna wondered what she was doing and kept sitting, waiting for what would happen next.

"Good day, Miss Lovegood," McGonagall said, gesturing her out of the now open door. Luna thought that it was not a very polite way of telling her she was to leave the office, but slowly shuffled out nevertheless.

"Good day, Professor," she said when she was out in the corridor. McGonagall nodded in acknowledgement, then closed her door.

*

Two days passed and nothing happened. Luna was not surprised to learn that her plan would not come into force immediately; after all, the staff had to discuss the matter and choose fitting students. However, she couldn't quite suppress a feeling of slight unease that filled her. Not that she had any doubts about her plan- she knew it was perfect. However, she couldn't wait to see what would happen with it and whether the staff would actually carry it or just decide it was nonsense and not manageable. She was surprised about herself, because she normally wasn't curious or eager when important events approached, but was as calm as always.

Then again, she had never made a suggestion like this, ever; not to anybody, especially not her Headmaster and all her professors. She had never let someone else see her thoughts and emotions about a topic she was interested in. But now she had opened herself and had shown them her private thoughts on House unity.

Eventually, when she thought she couldn't stand any more waiting and suspense and unease, it happened.

After dinner, Dumbledore stood up and looked like he wanted to say something. Luna stared up at him with huge eyes, a queasy feeling spreading in her stomach. She wanted him to look at her, to confirm to her he was going to say what she thought he was going to say. However, he didn't look at her but at his fingers, which for some reason, seemed to be very interesting to him.

Maybe he had dirt under his fingernails, Luna thought. She knew that it felt terrible and she couldn't stop staring at it all the time, either. That was one of the reasons why Herbology wasn't one of her favourite subjects.

Suddenly he looked up and directly at her. He gave her a bright smile and winked. Luna breathed out. She hadn't even realised she had been holding her breath.

"... something to tell you," she heard Dumbledore's voice.

Oh no, she had missed the beginning of his speech. She concentrated on the Headmaster and forbade her thoughts to wander off again.

"I am sure most of you will remember what Professor McGonagall and I said at the beginning of this school year. For those of you who have a bad long-term memory, I'll sum it up again: we are determined to improve inter-House relations and we want to change your attitudes towards each other. We want you to try to understand each other better and not just put people into categories because of their Houses."

He looked down at his students and smiled a little, giving them time to let that sink in. Luna could feel fervour in the air around her. The students were eager to learn what the Headmaster wanted to tell them.

"Now our aims are clear, I am pleased to tell you that a student has contacted us with a most brilliant plan for which I, on behalf of the whole staff, thank this student wholeheartedly. But I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer, so I shall tell you what it is about : the basic principle is very simple. It's all about student exchanges."

A staccato of mutters swept through the Great Hall.

"However," Dumbledore continued in his calm voice, "no student is going to leave this school and no foreign students are going to attend Hogwarts, as this would be of no use in our struggle for House unity. The exchanges will take place between our four Houses.

That means that one student from each House will go to each other House. So each House will receive three exchange students, and send out three."

"This will last until the Christmas holidays. In the new term everything will revert to normal with everybody back in his or her own House. If everything works, we'll continue this experiment with different groups of students in the next term, as well.

"To give everyone a fair chance, we - that is to say, the staff - have decided to draw lots as to who is going to change House. To make it possible for everyone of you to see, the ceremony will take place in thirty minutes at the Quidditch pitch. Every one of you is invited to watch it, but you're not forced to do so."

He smiled a little, then sat down again, conjuring up a bowl of pudding. With a delighted expression, he started to eat, seemingly oblivious to the noise around him and the heated discussions that started throughout the Hall.

Some people went outside to the pitch immediately, trying to get the 'best seats'. Luna decided to go to her dormitory first and get her cloak. The sun was already setting, and she hated being cold.

*

When she arrived at the Quidditch pitch, the stands were already full of people. Luna slowly climbed up the stairs to the Ravenclaw stand and got herself a seat in one of the front rows, decidedly ignoring the sharp comments about her pushing to the front. After all, this was her plan - she had every right to know what was going on. And if she was to change House, she should be able to hear it.

Luna had barely settled down, when the teachers came marching onto the Quidditch pitch, led by the Headmaster. Even Professor Trelawney and Firenze had come out with the staff. Trelawney looked positively frozen, despite her warm, woollen cloak.

Every one of the professors held their wand in hand and carried something that looked like a huge bubble at the wand-tip. The bubbles the four Heads of Houses carried were coloured brightly in their respective colour. Snape's face looked even more ill than it usually did in the dark green light of his bubble. The orbs of the 'impartial' professors were an intense white that hurt in the eyes when you looked at it for too long.

A little behind the staff, Mr Filch came shuffling along, accompanied by his cat. Luna wondered briefly what he had to do with it, but maybe Dumbledore didn't want him to feel excluded.

The convoy stopped and Dumbledore stepped in front of the body. He was the only one who didn't carry a bubble, Luna suddenly noticed. Instead, a wonderful phoenix was sitting on his shoulder. It was a magnificent image. The sun was setting and blinding them all with its last bright rays. Against the light, the dark silhouettes of the professors and the bright bubbles looked like they'd been painted by an artist. Luna sighed happily; she loved magical ceremonies.

She saw Dumbledore say something and point his wand to his throat, and suddenly his voice boomed over the field, clearly audible.

"I am pleased that so many of you found their way to this ceremony and therefore demonstrate your interest in House unity."

Luna looked around and found that Dumbledore was right; even Slytherin House was nearly complete. Still, most of them wore faces that were obviously meant to show indifference and superiority. Luna found it funny how they all pretended to have walked in there by accident.

"Let me explain the rules for you," the Headmaster continued. "We decided to exclude two groups of students. For one, the first years, who will have to get used to Hogwarts and life at our school in their first term and thus are unsuitable to our exchange. The other group are the seventh years, who will have to study long and hard to achieve top marks on their NEWTs. I hope both groups respect this decision and aren't disappointed that they aren't included in this unique event.

"I hope that all issues are settled now. Now, let it begin." With these words, he raised his arms and four huge pots appeared out of nowhere. There was a collective gasp from the stands at this spectacle.

"Fawkes will prove for us whether everything is all right and every student's name is in these vessels." He gave the phoenix on his shoulder a small nod and the bird fluttered to the pots that were hovering in mid air. He landed on the rim of the first pan and bent his head over it. It looked like he was listening to something inside it, although there was complete silence throughout the stadium. After a while, he fluttered to the next one and the first vessel started to glow red. There was a quiet "Oooh..." from some girls near Luna.

Fawkes listened to every one of the pots and they all started to gleam - one in red, one in yellow, one in blue and one in green, symbolising the four Houses.

"Thank you, Fawkes," Dumbledore said as the phoenix headed for his shoulder again. "It seems that everything is all right," he continued and then half-turned towards the silent line of teachers behind them. None of them had moved at all, they just stood there stock-still, holding the bubbles over their wands. Mr Filch, at the very end of the line, looked a little lost, because he was in complete silence. He didn't carry a wand with an orb. Luna wondered again why he was there.

At that moment, Dumbledore announced, "And now, I ask you to applaud for Mr Filch, who will be drawing the lots from our four marvellous vessels."

With a sour face, Mr Filch slowly walked towards Dumbledore, who seemed to be enjoying himself like he hadn't for ages. "To make sure Mr Filch doesn't cheat - not that he would, of course - I'll have to bandage his eyes." He made a flourish movement with his hand and suddenly, he was holding a turquoise bandage. He showed it to everyone and then turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor," he said, "would you be so kind as to show the students that, wearing this, Mr Filch will have no opportunity to see anything?"

McGonagall took the bandage in her hands and proved it by holding it up against the light, so all the students could see it was solid. With a serious face, she gave it back to the Headmaster and nodded. "Solid velvet," he announced and looked proud. "From Norway; very fine material."

Then, finally, he tied it around Filch's head and then suddenly whipped out his wand, pointing it at his face. Filch didn't even jerk, and Dumbledore seemed content.

The Headmaster steered the Caretaker towards the first, red pot. "Please be so kind and draw the first three lots, Argus," he said and his blue eyes twinkled with joy.

Filch rummaged around in the pot a little and then drew out three small pieces of parchment, who glowed red and looked like embers from the distance. "Thank you," Dumbledore said and unrolled them.

"I shall announce the first students to change House," he said. There was complete silence - one could have easily heard a pin drop. Everybody seemed to be holding their breath.

Luna wondered whether they would pick her to change House. She desperately hoped so. In fact, she was even kind of disappointed that they had decided to draw lots. She would have found it much more fair if it had been for certain that she would be one of the 'Exchange' students.

After all, it had been her plan. It would be terrible to have to stay in her own House. Ravenclaw was very boring and she really wanted to be out of reach of her dorm mates for a while. She would love to be in Gryffindor; it seemed so different! More importantly, there were people she liked: Ginny, Harry, Ron, Neville... it would be wonderful to share a common room with them and be able to talk every evening.

Hufflepuff would still be all right. Most Hufflepuffs were really nice people and there was Tessa Dugan, a really nice girl from her year, who was in the Charms Club with her. So Hufflepuff wouldn't be that bad, either.

And Slytherin... well, Slytherin was Slytherin. She didn't really want to go there and prayed that, should she change House, it wouldn't be Slytherin.

She had never had much contact with Slytherins: they were withdrawn from the others and liked to keep to themselves, which was a pity, actually.

She knew she was being hypocritical, because it wasn't fair to simply categorise all Slytherins as future Death Eaters. There had to be nice people in Slytherin, as well. After all, they were Sorted there because they were ambitious, not because they were evil.

She still didn't want to go there, though. Nobody seemed to really like them and Luna thought that there had to be reasons for that, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to know them.

Dumbledore lengthened the silence a bit more to intensify the suspense, it seemed. Finally, he cleared his throat and began to speak again. "From Gryffindor House, Mr Colin Creevey will go to Hufflepuff, Miss Natalie MacDonald will go to Ravenclaw and Mr Neville Longbottom will go to Slytherin."

Applause rang out around the stands and Luna wondered why the name 'Natalie MacDonald' sounded familiar. Luna tried desperately to remember it, but somehow the thought kept slipping away from her. Sighing, she gave up. Maybe she'd remember later. There were a few jeers from the Slytherins at the mention of Neville's name - Luna supposed they were looking forward to teasing him.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had manoeuvred Filch to the next pot, glowing green. Again, he handed the Headmaster three pieces of parchment.

"From Slytherin House," Dumbledore declared, "Mr Jeremy Stamp will go to Gryffindor, Miss Estella James will go to Ravenclaw and Mr Draco Malfoy will go to Hufflepuff."

Luna thought she had heard a slight smile in the headmaster's voice, but she wasn't sure about it.

Somebody over at the Gryffindor table laughed loudly. A lot of people were looking over to the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy sat and was, if that was possible, even paler than usual. He had a look of terrible fury on his face.

"I'm going to tell my fa-" he said loudly and stopped mid sentence. Luna wondered why, but then she remembered a man that had looked rather like Draco Malfoy in the Department of Mysteries. If that had been his father, he was probably in prison now.

So, that cleared up why he wasn't going to tell his father. For his threat he earned even more laughter from the Gryffindor table. His cheeks got some colour again and he shot lethal glares in their direction.

"The next House is Hufflepuff," Dumbledore, who had performed the usual ceremony with Filch in the meantime, stated over the noise, and slowly the laughter faded. "From Hufflepuff House, Miss Rose Zeller will go to Ravenclaw, Miss Eleanor Branstone will go to Gryffindor and Mr Zacharias Smith will go to Slytherin."

A smattering of polite applause sounded for a few moments. Luna wasn't too interested in either of them. She dimly remembered Rose Zeller to be one of the girls that had a lot of pretty pink hair ribbons but no brains.

Filch drew the last lots from the remaining blue pot and Dumbledore looked at them. "Last but not least," he said, "from Ravenclaw House, Mr Seth Cavalier will go to Ravenclaw, Miss Amy Pickering will go to Gryffindor and Miss Luna Lovegood will go to Slytherin."

A young girl who sat close to Luna stared up at the High Table in disbelief. Then she threw her arms around a girl next to her and started crying.

Oops, Luna thought. Amy obviously wasn't too pleased with her situation. However, it couldn't be changed now and she was sure the second year would settle down in Gryffindor after a while and make new friends there.

Only then, she realised what the last name had been. Luna sat there in shock. Slytherin. A few people were pointing and laughing at her, but she barely noticed them. So it had happened. She would be in Slytherin for the next three months.

Jonas, a boy in her year who was sitting next to her, nudged her in the ribs. "Hey, Luna, Slytherin. What d'you think? Won't be too bad, I suppose, or will it?" He gave her a sympathetic grin, and Luna was surprised. Jonas had rarely talked to her before. Still, it felt good to have an understanding person next to her.

Luna shrugged. She wasn't quite sure yet how this news felt. At the moment, it was a rather neutral feeling. Of course, it wasn't Gryffindor, but on the other hand, at least Neville was there, too, and she would have at least one familiar face there.

Luna decided Slytherin surely couldn't be as bad as the rumours claimed.

Suddenly a boy shouted, "What about Quidditch?" A lot of other voices started to murmur, as well, sounding outraged.

Dumbledore silenced them by raising his hands. They all looked at him expectantly. "I assure you all that we are thinking of how to address this problem, and will inform you of our decision as soon as it is made."

There was a cacophonous chorus of angry voices, filled with outrage. Luna wondered why. Certainly, Quidditch was kind of nice to watch, but that was all. She could easily live without it. What was their problem?

*

They all went back to school slowly, gossiping about the exchanges and the effect they would have on the everyday life of the school. McGonagall was waiting near the doors and gestured all the exchanges into a small room that lay next to the Great Hall. It was more like a chamber, actually, but it had a fireplace and was warm and cosy. With all the students and the professor in there it was quite cramped, but Luna did her best to make herself comfortable near the fireplace. She liked it warm and her hands were icy, too, so a place next to the fire seemed to be the best solution.

"Please listen carefully because I do not wish to repeat myself," McGonagall started, wearing her severity just as she wore her glasses. "Every one of you has one hour and thirty minutes exactly to pack your things and say goodbye to your friends."

When Amy, the Ravenclaw Luna had noticed before, started crying again, McGonagall shot her one of her famous strict looks and the girl gulped and stopped sobbing.

"I am sure," their professor continued, still looking at Amy, "that this time is enough to say goodbye to all of your friends. After all, they are not gone forever, they are here in this school and you can see them in your free time if you wish to. Now we have cleared that up, please allow me to continue with the future events that await you."

Luna's hands were really warm by now and she felt a bit dizzy. At the far end of the room she saw Neville, who was standing next to a blond boy who was talking very fast and very quietly. Neville seemed desperate and obviously tried to listen to McGonagall's words, but the younger boy did not stop talking. Slowly Luna walked over to him, carefully trying to avoid bumping into any of the other students, all of whom were turned towards the door, where McGonagall was standing and still speaking.

"Prefects from your host Houses will be waiting for you in the Entrance Hall. They are going to be your mentors for the next three months and they will lead you to your new common rooms and show you your dormitories and washrooms. Should you have any questions concerning the exchange, your hostHouse or anything related to these topics, please feel free to ask them; they will be glad to help you."

Meanwhile, Luna had reached Neville and the other boy and smiled at Neville.

"Hello," she said and smiled.

Neville looked relieved and smiled back at her.

"Sorry, could you please leave us alone for a moment?" Luna said to the blond boy and looked at him expectantly.

"S- Sure," the boy said and went away with a disappointed expression.

"Thanks," Neville muttered.

They both grinned and Luna had time to look at him a bit closer. Although they had gone through the Department of Mysteries together, they still felt rather like strangers.

He had nice eyes, she thought. Very warm, although there was something beneath that she couldn't quite identify. Slowly, they changed into a pair of bright blue eyes under a bunch of red hair. She shook her head, not quite believing what she had just witnessed, and the image vanished.

"...main purpose of this exchange is that you get to know each other a bit better," McGonagall's voice penetrated her thoughts.

Oh, not again, she thought. Why did her attention keep lapsing? Now she had missed something again. That was the second time in one evening. She scolded herself silently and resolved to pay closer attention.

"If it doesn't happen voluntarily, we will have to help you, which is exactly what is happening at the moment: we are helping you to make new acquaintances and stop thinking in black and white; we want you to be able to look at people not only on the surface, but to become curious as to what is lying beneath, leaving aside their House.

"We will, of course, be observing your behaviour and will also contact the prefects in your new Houses and maybe even some of your new room-mates to learn about your attitude towards the others. You are acting as ambassadors, representing each of your Houses, and we expect you all to act in ways befitting such a position. If you are found to be lacking, the Headmaster and I will be extremely disappointed in you. Be warned that we will take action to rectify this as needed."

She gave a wry smile and looked to one corner of the room. A lot of heads turned, too, and Luna couldn't suppress her curiosity either. There, hidden in the shadows, was Draco Malfoy, his pale face and light blond hair clearly visible in the dark. His face, bearing its usual smirk, seemed like a mask to Luna. His whole body language showed indifference to what happened in this room, arms crossed over his chest and one foot leaning against the wall casually.

However, Luna thought, he looked surprisingly small and weak without his two gorilla friends standing either side of him.

"Any questions?" McGonagall asked the room. A few shook their heads and murmured something, so she nodded and told them they were free to go and pack their things.

Luna waved at Neville and went out of the room with the others.

*

Slowly, she walked towards Ravenclaw Tower without really thinking about where she was going. She still felt warm inside from the fire that she had stood next to, but it was slowly beginning to wear off.

Outside, the days were still warm and sunny. After all, it was only the beginning of September. But here, inside the castle, it was cold. Luna shivered. One could think it was December and not September, but of course the thick walls were to blame - they held the high temperatures off.

Luna tried to remember where the Slytherins lived. Wasn't it some kind of dungeon? She shivered again, in expectation of the cold down there, where she would have to live for three months.

Don't complain, she told herself and noted a slightly angry tone in her inner voice. After all, she had been the one who had come up with the plan. Of course, she hadn't thought of things like the temperature in the different common rooms. Especially because she hadn't even considered ending up in Slytherin.

I should have, she thought. Because now look where it led. She sighed. Probably the best thing to do would be to write to her father and ask him to send her some more jumpers and long underwear.

When she reached the oak door, it was grumbling again and bleated at some younger Ravenclaws who were standing in front of it without any seeming ambition to get in. One spotted Luna and hopped up and down excitedly.

His blond hair hopped up and down with him. It looked quite weird and Luna couldn't help but stare at it for a moment.

"Pardon?" she said and looked at him as she realised he had asked her something, silently berating herself for another lapse in attention.

"Do you know the password?" he repeated, still looking excited, his little face turned up to her expectantly.

"It's bookworm," Luna told the small boy, who couldn't be older than eleven.

"Oh, thank you," he said and smiled. "You are really nice!" He turned back to the rest of the group. "The password is 'Bookworm'," he announced and beamed. Then he marched towards the door, straightened up and shouted at the door.

"Bookworm!"

The door swung open and grumbled, "I'm not deaf, idiot boy. Just because I'm made of wood doesn't mean I don't have ears! Now go on, or do you think I don't have anything better to do than to hang open here?"

For a moment the boy looked like he was about to answer, but then he lowered his head and gestured his friends to follow him, his shoulders drooping.

Luna felt sorry for the boy. It was his first week at Hogwarts and the door was as unfriendly as ever, without showing the slightest bit of consideration for his feelings. He probably didn't feel very at home in Ravenclaw at the moment. Poor boy.

"Hello, Miss, do you want to get in or not?" the door barked suddenly. "Because it's not very comfortable like this, you know?"

"Do you think what you did to the poor boy was right?" she asked back, ignoring the door's demand. "It's only his first week here at Hogwarts and already you make him feel like he's not wanted here. That's not very nice, you know."

"Why should I care about him?" the door grumbled. "He doesn't care about me, does he?"

"He probably would, were you not so frosty," Luna shot back. "But if you continue to behave like that towards students, I'm not surprised nobody in Ravenclaw likes you." With that she threw her hair back over her shoulder and marched into the common room, the door closing itself behind her with a loud thud.

The common room was wonderfully warm in contrast to the icy cold corridor. She sighed gratefully and felt the warmth infusing every part of her and smoothing away her goose-pimples. She gave a happy shiver.

In one corner she could see the blond boy sitting dejectedly in an armchair. She smiled at him and waved, and a small smile crossed his face.

She turned left and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitories and counted them, as she always did. This was one of her habits; she had been doing it ever since her first day at Hogwarts. By now, she knew the number of steps by heart, but she still did it because she had gotten so used to it. She felt slightly sad, realising that this would be something that she would miss while she was away.

39, 40, 41, 42, she counted and then she was there. 42 is the answer to all your questions, she thought and smiled as she remembered, as every time, the article of some weirdo in The Quibbler a few years ago.

Opposite her, there was yet another oak door, but at least this one couldn't talk. Or, if it could, it never did, for which Luna was profoundly grateful. She pushed down the door handle and stepped in.

All of her dorm-mates were sitting on one bed in a close circle. They all stopped talking the moment she walked in, so Luna was quite certain they had been talking about her, most likely for the entire time she hadn't been there. One of them whispered something to her neighbour and they both started to giggle.

Luna didn't care. She kept telling herself that. I don't care. I don't care. It was like some sort of mantra, and it helped her. They could have continued to gossip about her and it wouldn't have disturbed her. She stopped for a moment and waited for them to continue. But they didn't, so Luna shrugged.

"Hi," she said in the direction of the crowded bed and, when no answer came, went over to her own bed and gave Merlin a quick kiss on the forehead.

"It's time to go, Merlin," she told him in a quiet voice. "We're moving. It's going to be quite cold for the next three months, but I'll always put you under the quilt so you'll stay cosy and warm, all right?"

He didn't answer, but she still thought he accepted her offer.

With one foot, she pulled her trunk next to the bed and kicked it open, humming cheerfully. Now the first shock had worn off, she kind of looked forward to joining Slytherin. It was going to be something new; something different; an adventure. She'd be getting away from her dorm-mates; these shallow girls who were always eating Chocolate Frogs and gossiping too much.

On the other hand, of course - this was Slytherin. Although she didn't believe the prejudices and all the gossip about how all Slytherins were evil and most of them were Death Eaters and all these things, some of it had still managed to settle down in her mind. Which was inevitable, she reasoned, if you heard it every day, conscious or not. After a while, some of it is always going to stick.

This left Luna with a bit of an uneasy feeling in her stomach when she thought about the next three months. What if they really were the way everybody portrayed them? What if they were going to bully and hex and injure her? What if mobbing was in fashion there?

It was different here in Ravenclaw. Of course they were mobbing her here, too. Or they would, if she actually cared anymore. But that was exactly the problem. Ravenclaws were always psychological with their insults and gossiping; they never really showed it openly. And, most important, they never used physical violence.

What if Slytherins didn't care about being psychological? What if they liked physical violence?

Stop that, she told herself sternly and forbade any other dark thoughts. And after all, she still had Neville; he would surely help her. And the boy from Hufflepuff whose name she had forgotten. Surely he'd help her, too?

Of course, Lovegood. Now, shut up and start packing.

Finally, all her things were packed neatly inside the trunk. She hated disorder and mess; therefore her jumpers lay folded edge on edge, as well as her trousers, skirts and underwear. She went to the door to collect her shoes and her cloak and felt the stares of the other girls on her back. When she returned, she heard Carmella singing quietly: "Loony loony Lovegood, she's a weirdo, loony loony Lovegood..."

Audrey looked up and for a moment Luna thought she had seen sympathy in her eyes. "Carmella," she said. "You're so good at potions, and I didn't understand a word of what Snape was telling us today about the Draught of Peace and now I'm completely lost. 'The properties of moonstone and its uses in potions-making'? Could you help me with that?"

"Of course," Carmella replied, stretching her long limbs and getting off the bed, too. "Agatha," she added in a demanding tone. "You come with us, you screwed up your potion too." She grabbed for her bag and threw it over her shoulder, motioning her head in direction of the door as if to show Agatha where she had to go.

As Luna walked past her, Carmella stopped her. "Bye, Lovegood," she said in a nasty tone and smirked. "Have fun in Slytherin. I heard there are some very friendly people there." She snarled and opened the door, which creaked loudly.

"Pandora, Bianca," she addressed the two girls remaining on the bed. "You coming, too? We don't want to disturb Loony in her packing, do we?"

They giggled and grabbed their schoolbags too, leaving through the door, but not without shooting Luna looks of curiosity mingled with dislike. Luna went back to her trunk and placed her boots on top of all of her other things. The footsteps of the other girls became quieter and quieter and soon she couldn't hear them anymore at all. Luna breathed out loud.

Finally.

Suddenly, she heard someone clear their throat apprehensively behind her. Luna started and turned around. Audrey still stood in the doorway and looked at her uncertainly. She looked to the floor and held her book and her quill pressed tightly against her chest like an anchor.

"I... erm... just wanted to say goodbye," she said and looked up, throwing Luna a timid smile. "And good luck in Slytherin."

Luna felt a smile spreading on her face. "Thanks, Audrey," she said. "That's really nice."

The other girl smiled, turned around and closed the door behind her.

Still smiling, Luna turned back to her trunk and put her folded cloak next to the boots. Then she looked at her bedside table. There they were; her most valued possessions: three small photos in golden frames.

She took the first one and looked at it. Her mother smiled up at her, a small blonde girl sitting on her hip. The woman waved with her free hand and kissed the small girl on the forehead. Luna opened the drawer of the bedside table and took out a piece of material. Carefully she wrapped the photo in it and laid it on top of her cloak.

The next photo. It was her parents' wedding. They were smiling and waving, and around them were all their friends and relatives. Professor Flitwick was standing in the first row, too, looking up at the happy couple. Luna wrapped it, too, and laid it next to the first one.

The last photo showed the three of them, her father, her mother and herself, at home. Sultan, their cat, was lying on his red pillow next to the small Luna. It was the last photo that showed them together - only a few weeks later, her mother had died. Luna sighed and studied the people in the photo a bit longer. She smiled sadly and wrapped it into material like the others.

She closed her trunk and jammed Merlin The Teddy under her right arm. With her free hand, she pulled the heavy trunk towards the door. She looked back once more, saw the bronze chandeliers gleaming in the dwindling sunlight and closed the door.

She smiled as made her way down the stairs.