Knock, knock, knock.

St.Owl glanced up from examining her owl yet again. It was her favorite type: a barn owl. She knew a lot about them, and they were just so beautiful.... but she tore her eyes away as someone poked her head in.

All right, now she was most definitely, truly, certainly dreaming.

Because Hermione Granger was staring at her and asking, "Hi.... is it okay if I sit here?"
Well, this would be a good dream while it lasted. "Sure," St.Owl replied. "What's your name?"
For some reason, the girl's face flushed and she looked strangely like she was disappointed. "H-Hermione. Hermione Granger."

"No way! Really?" St.Owl knew plenty of people who would name their child after Hermione, but there must be a very, very, very, very small percentage that they would actually have her last name!

"You don't believe me, do you?" Hermione sighed. She turned to leave.

"Naw, of course I do!" It was a dream, and St.Owl would believe anything, and she would make sure that this dream would be the best she had ever had!

"Cool!" Hermione's face suddenly got a whole lot brighter, and she sat down in the seat across from St.Owl's. "So, what's your name?"
It was St.Owl's turn to flush. "Well- um- don't laugh, uh, but it's-"

"Hang on, let me guess," Hermione said, grinning mischeviously. "It's Luna Lovegood!"
St.Owl laughed. "Of course not! No, it's..... St.Owl."

Kindly, Hermione surpressed any surprise she may have had. Instead, she said, "That explains your owl."

"Oh yeah! Isn't he a beauty?" St.Owl made to stroke him but pulled her hand away at the last second. "Whoops- he bites. I'm calling him Devil Owl, Dev for short. I don't know why, it just seems to work."

The two girls got into a conversation and didn't notice Dev's eyes flash red, or when he opened a mouth full of teeth and a forked tongue and said, "Just you wait, my little girl.... I will introduce you to horrors you have never even seen...."
His imaginary cruel laughter went on for hours.

Thank you so much for Slytherin!

The rest of the ride passed in a blur. St.Owl had been joined by a bunch of people: Dragonrider, Brookiera, Phantom N., and Booksy Owly. Meanwhile, Somebody and Shadowdancer had a silent compartment to themselves the whole ride, and the last compartment was full with third years: Danie, Rose Bud, Sydney, Wren, Joan, and JonhFQ; even Air and Lindsey, fourth years, managed to squeeze themselves in (after putting an Undetactable Extension Charm on the compartment). Everyone in the compartments was having a lot of fun, (except Shadowdancer, who was feeling very bored sitting with this silent stranger) but even so they weren't saddened when the train came to a halt. With hurried good-byes to Brookiera and Phantom, Hermione, Booksy, Dragonrider, and St.Owl made their way towards a slightly elderly Hagrid, not noticing a still-cranky Somebody swishing past them.

After what seemed like hours, the immortal Professor McGonagall led the first years into the hall. 

St.Owl mostly zoned out while she was speaking, ignoring the names like "Atkinson, Karega" and "Bennet, Leah" but she made sure she was paying attention when her friends were Sorted.

"Dragonrider!" McGonagall shouted, then double-checked her list to make sure she'd read the name right. Hermione and St.Owl glanced at each other, stifling giggles. St.Owl knew she wasn't particularly nervous, so she had no problem laughing.

Dragonrider sat on the stool and pulled the Sorting Hat over his head. The Hat paused, obviously thinking, and then shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"
St.Owl watched Brookiera applauding as Dragonrider walked over to the Ravenclaw table, obviously feeling better now that he'd been Sorted.

Very soon, "Granger, Hermione" was called by Professor McGonagall. There were titters along the Tables, and even the Professor looked like she was trying not to laugh. Hermione pulled the cap over her head and waited.

It took less time than Dragonrider. Soon Hermione was walking towards the Gryffindor table happily.

"Owly, Booksy" was Sorted into Hufflepuff.

It was a few more letters before S. St.Owl went back into her daydream-y life.

She was jolted out of this, however, when the strangest name she had ever heard- including hers- was suddenly called.

"Somebody!" shouted McGonagall, who had seemed to have numbed herself to strange names by now.

Somebody waited about three seconds before the Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

And then, finally, St.Owl's name was called.

She sat on the stool and pulled on the Sorting Hat, which promptly dropped over her head.

"Hmm... let's see here..." said the Hat. "There's some bravery there, yes.... lots of chivalry, that's for sure.... hm... prideful too. Quite stubborn... let me see... oh, yes, that's intellect, oh, yes, that's smarts, most definitely.... a little strange, too, aren't you? Tough.... let me see...."

Out of the three qualities you've named, I would choose Ravenclaw, St.Owl thought, and the Hat obviously listened, because it said, "Yes, that's where I was leaning, too... yep, better be RAVENCLAW!"
The word echoed through the Hall as St.Owl walked over to the Ravenclaw table, where she took a seat next to Dragonrider and Brookiera.

The next day, after the start-of-term feast, St.Owl sent a letter to her parents, basically telling them that she's met some nice people, Hogwarts is awesome, and she's a Ravenclaw. Dev didn't seem very happy about his first job, but ever since she got him St.Owl had considered him a very cranky owl.

This made her rather late for her first class, which was Transfiguration with the immortal Professor McGonagall. She started with a speech explaining that Transfiguration was the most difficult form of magic and that she expected everyone to do their best in this class. Then she handed out matches and told the class that their task was to turn the match into a needle. She gave them the incantation and they began.

It was tedius work. Hard as St.Owl urged her match to get pointy, it stayed stubbornly a fire-maker. Next to her, Booksy and Dragonrider weren't having much luck either, but there was a cry of surprise from the seat in front of St.Owl, and Hermione turned around, showing the other three a silvery, pointy match.

McGonagall hurried over and proudly showed the class Hermione's match, then watched the other three as they struggled. She gave them each a few pointers and hustled over to a group of Hufflepuffs who seemed more interested in setting their desks on fire than turning them into pointy weapons.

St.Owl screwed up all her concentration, murmured the incantation, and tapped the end of the match with her wand.

To her pleasant surprise, the pink part suddenly became silver and pointy, and the silver slowly crept up the match until it looked quite a lot like a needle. Containing her glee, St.Owl repeated the action and proudly showed her friends her needle.

By the end of class, Booksy and Dragonrider had also made an impressive change to their needles, and the four paraded outside of class, the only people besides one who had performed the spell successfully.