THE NEXT DAY (*GENERAL POV*)

The next day Albus Dumbledore was sat at his desk watching the clock on his wall. It was one minute till nine o'clock and that meant that Minerva's three 'soldiers' would be arriving any minute now.

He smiled when the familiar black hole appeared where the ceiling should be. There was a flash of light and a figure jumped through it landing on the floor in front of his desk. Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly when he saw a young girl who looked to be only 16 years old. She had long, straight, blonde almost white hair that was pulled into a high ponytail and her grey eyes had a dazed look in them. She wore blue denim shorts and dark blue tank top. At first glance, he couldn't understand how this girl was supposed to protect James Potter, and then they saw her body. What showed of her right leg had blotches of darkened red and black, obviously from magical fire, otherwise it could have been healed. But what intrigued him the most was her right shoulder. A large, red and pink bite mark was seen through the tank top strap. He knew immediately that was a werewolf bite.

The girl moved to the left and got in a soldier stance, feet shoulder width apart and hands clasped behind her back as she waited for the other two.

The gap began to move once again and another body dropped through. It was another girl but this time she had long red hair that was also in a ponytail and she had dark green eyes that looked quite cool and collected. She wore blue denim shorts like the other girl but wore a forest green vest top instead. Once again the shock of the girl's age took Dumbledore by surprise since she looked about the same as the other girl. She moved to her right and got into the same stance as the first girl. The red head had a few scars and bruises on her arms and legs but they didn't stand out very well.

Dumbledore braced himself for the final figure and was even more shocked when he saw her. She was obviously about a year older than the other two and had an aura of leadership around her. She was wearing blue, ripped, denim shorts and a black leather jacket over her white vest top. She had a few black and red bruises along with a few light burns on her left leg. She also had a small scar across her right eyebrow and a pale thin jagged scar that went from her left temple down to her left jaw line, but it wasn't very noticeable. She had curly, brown hair that reached below her shoulder blades, her eyes were what stood out though they were bright blue with silver flecks. Anyone could tell that she was a shapeshifter which intrigued Dumbledore a lot. But Dumbledore also noticed that if you looked closely into her eyes, they showed visions of war and death. They told anyone that stared into them of the pain that she has faced and triumphed, leaving the scars to prove the point further.

Only two things were certain about all three girls; all of them know of war and battle, and they were all extremely beautiful. Even Dumbledore knew that.

The black hole sealed up as soon as the third girl had stood up. She smiled at Dumbledore and walked forwards.

"Good morning, sir." Said the brown haired girl as she shook Dumbledore's hand. "I'm Hermione Granger." She said before pointing to the red head. "That's Ginny Weasley and the blonde girl is Luna Lovegood."

"It's a great pleasure to meet you ladies. Minerva has explained everything to me. I'm sure you know everything you need to know." Said Dumbledore.

"Yes. McGonagall has told us our cover stories. I'm keeping my real name as I'm muggle born and Ginny and Luna are just going to change their last names." Said Hermione.

"What did you have in mind?" Asked Dumbledore.

"I'm going to be Ginny West." Said Ginny.

"And I'm going to be Luna Thomas." Said Luna as she smiled at the headmaster.

"Very well. The first thing we need to do is sort you into your houses." Said Dumbledore as he stood up and picked up the sorting hat. "Miss West, you first." Said Dumbledore.

Ginny sat down on the stool and allowed Dumbledore to place the sorting hat on her head. After a minute of silence the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!" Hermione and Luna both looked a little surprised at the decision but shrugged it off.

Luna sat down next as the hat was placed on her head and after a few seconds the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!" Luna smiled at being put into her old house and stood up allowing Hermione to sit down on the stool.

Dumbledore placed the sorting hat on her head and as soon as the hat touched Hermione's head it shouted, "Gryffindor!" Hermione smiled at Dumbledore before she stood up and turned to face Dumbledore who had just put the sorting hat away.

"Now that you've been sorted, you will attend 6th year lessons like the other 6th years in your respective houses. You each have your own dormitory which will be shown to you by a house elf once we've finished talking. Now, it's only the 30th of August today and the other students won't be arriving until the 2nd of September so you have plenty of time to get settled. All your belongings were already sent by Minerva yesterday evening, so all your stuff are in your dorms. Just to inform you, all the other teachers know about who you really are so if you need help with anything see me or any of the staff. Also you will need to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get your robes and equipment. I will provide you with a list of things that you will need. Any questions?" Said Dumbledore smiling at the three girls.

"What schools are competing against Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament?" Asked Ginny.

"That would be the 'Durmstrang Institute' from Bulgaria and the 'Salem Wizards Institute' from Massachusetts. They will be arriving during the start of term feast." Said Dumbledore.

"Do you know which one of us you are going to make sure gets selected for the tournament with James?" Asked Hermione.

"I haven't decided yet. And you'll find out which of you it is with the rest of the school so you can look surprised." Said Dumbledore smiling at them.

"Also, as you probably know, I'm a werewolf." Said Luna as she gestured to her bite mark on her shoulder. "So I'll need a place to transform on a full moon and it'll need to be big enough to fit myself, and Hermione and Ginny." Said Luna.

"Of course. There is a large, soundproof secret chamber in the dungeons which is more than big enough. I will show it to you at some point. And why does it need to fit all three of you?" Asked Dumbledore curiously.

"We like to stay with Luna during her transformation, it keeps her wolf form calmer when we're with her. I'll be in my animagous wolf form and Ginny will be in her animagus form which is a fox." Said Hermione.

"Of course." Replied Dumbledore. He was impressed with the loyalty and friendship between these three girls and it reminded him of a certain group of friends known as the marauders who also have a bond of friendship as strong as theirs. "If you have any other questions you can find me and ask me at any time. Now, you should probably be going to your dormitories to get settled in. Kiki! Slinky! Rayna!" Dumbledore called for three house elves. Three house elves appeared in front of him with a pop and bowed.

"Kiki, could you please show Miss West to her private dormitory in Hufflepuff house basement. Slinky, could you show Miss Thomas to her private dormitory in Ravenclaw house tower. And Rayna, could you please show Miss Granger to her private dormitory in Gryffindor house tower. Thank you. Now off you go." Said Dumbledore.

Hermione, Ginny and Luna followed the three house elves out of Dumbledore's office and out into the deserted corridor.

"I'll see you guys in the Great Hall later for dinner." Said Hermione before she followed Rayna down the familiar corridors towards Gryffindor tower. Rayna led Hermione up a flight of stairs and stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady.

"Password?" She asked.

"Pig snout." Replied Rayna.

The portrait swung open and allowed Hermione and Rayna to enter the familiar Gryffindor common room. There was numerous couches, chairs, beenbags and desks scattered around the large room which was decorated in the usual Gryffindor colours; reds, golds and oranges. There were book shelves against the walls and the fireplace was lit, casting a calming orange glow throughout the cosy room.

"This way, Miss." Said Rayna effectively snapping Hermione from her thoughts. Hermione quickly followed Rayna up the girls dormitory stairs. She followed the house elf all the way to the top of the staircase, passing all the other girls' dormitories on the way, until they reached the door at the very top.

"Here we are, Miss." Said Rayna as she pulled out a small key and unlocked the door before swinging it open and allowing Hermione to enter the room first.

There was a large four poster bed off to one side, as well as a sizeable desk where she could study. A bookcase stood against one wall, filled with textbooks all about magic and a lot of muggle books as well. Her trunk sat open at the end of her bed. There was a closet for her to hang her clothes in, and a fireplace with a comfortable looking armchair where she could sit by the fire and read. There was also a door on the far side of the room that led to her own private bathroom that contained a large bath, shower, toilet, sink and plenty of shelves for her bathroom supplies.

"Here's the key to your room, Miss." Said Rayna as she handed Hermione the small silver key.

"Thank you, Rayna." Said Hermione as she smiled at the small house elf.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Asked Rayna.

"No I'm fine, thank you." Replied Hermione. Rayna nodded and bowed before she disappeared with a pop.

Hermione smiled to herself before she walked over to her trunk and flicked her wand, making all her belongings begin to unpack by itself. Her clothes folded themselves neatly into her trunk or hung themselves up in the wardrobe, her books flew over to the bookshelf or stacked themselves up neatly on her desk and her quills, parchment and ink nestled into her new school bag. Her bathroom products, make-up and towels all flew into the bathroom and organised themselves on her shelves neatly. Hermione picked up her large photo album that held all her memories and put it in her desk draw along with her three large bags of money (both muggle and magic), her mother's jewellery box, her journal and all her other most precious possessions before she locked the draw. Hermione then began to hang photos on the walls of her friends and family. She picked up two pictures that were the most precious to her and placed them on the bed side table. One was a picture of herself, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna and the rest of the Weasley's and the other was of Hermione, her parents, her three cousins and her uncle.

Hermione liked over to her bed and looked at the pile of papers on her bed. The papers consisted of her lesson time table, her Hogwarts letter, her list of necessary books and equipment, a list of term dates and a few other things she needed to know. Hermione picked up the papers and placed them on her desk before she collapsed on to her double bed and closed her eyes. Even though she had only been here for two hours she was already exhausted. She jumped to her feet and decided to go and relax in the common room instead. She left the room, locking it behind her, before descending the girls dormitory stairs and entering the deserted common room. Hermione walked straight over to the nearest bookshelf and picked a random book before walking over to the armchair nearest to the fireplace and sitting down.

Hermione sat in that exact place, reading her book, for a while. She eventually looked at her watch and was shocked to see that it was already 12 o'clock and that meant that it was time for lunch. She placed the book on the table so she could carry on reading it later before she stood up and walked out of the portrait hole.

It only took a few minutes for Hermione to walk down to the Great Hall and as soon as she walked through the doors she saw Ginny and Luna sat at the Gryffindor table. They were the only ones in the Great Hall as the teachers always ate in their office's. Hermione smiled at her two friends and sat down next to Ginny.

"Hey guys." Said Hermione as she helped herself to a ham sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Hey 'Mione. Do you like your room?" Asked Ginny.

"Yeah I love it. But it feels weird having my own room at Hogwarts." Said Hermione. "What about you two?"

"The same as yours I guess. Except that the colour scheme of our rooms will be different; I have yellow, Luna would have blue and Hermione you'd have red." Said Ginny.

"Yeah that's true. My favourite thing about my room is that I have my own bathroom." Said Luna.

"I have to agree with you. I love my bathroom." Said Ginny.

"Oh before I forget. What time are we meeting tomorrow for our trip to Diagon Alley?" Asked Hermione.

"I was thinking nine o'clock." Suggested Ginny.

"Okay we'll meet at nine o'clock in front of Dumbledore's office so we can floo to Diagon Alley." Said Hermione.

"Okay. And what are we actually going to Diagon Alley for?" Asked Luna.

"School books and supplies, robes and I want to buy a broom and maybe a pet. We also need a dress each for the Yule Ball. We could also go to muggle London first and go shopping, you know have a girls day out and get our hair and nails done or something." Said Hermione.

"That's a great idea, 'Mione." Said Ginny.

"Yeah we haven't really had any time together lately." Said Luna.

"Well that's decided then." Said Hermione.

"Right I'm going to go back up to my dorm and relax for a bit. I'll see you in the morning unless I see you before then." Said Ginny.

"Yeah I'm going back to my dorm too." Said Luna.

"Same." Said Hermione.

The three of them stood up and walked out of the Great Hall together before walking in different directions to their respective common rooms.

Hermione spent the next few hours reading in the common room before she decided to call it a day and went to bed.

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