Magic.
It is neither legend nor fairy tale, but instead a technology of the people since before remembrance.
At the turn of the 20th century, humans possessing special powers efficiently stopped a group of terrorists from committing a nuclear act of terror. And this was only the first verifiable account.
Slowly, the human race realized that this supernatural power was mere happenstance of genetic mutation, and became dubbed "magic." While it was thought this power could never be systematized as technology, this thought too was changed.
And then, the worst fears of the scientific community were realized; the temperatures of the earth plummeted. Humanity was jeopardized as food and material supplies dwindled. The world plunged in it's Third War.
Those countries' magicians who were able to effectively control their ability became invaluable tools.
Even then, this magic required innate talent to be able to master. After the war ended and humanity found peace, tensions still remained. Nine schools were established throughout the world for each country to nurture the much-desired talents in the genetically-gifted youth.
In the year 2091, the world remains locked in a race to nurture magic technicians.
One such magic school is First High, located somewhere in Scotland.
While the skill of magic was a genetic capability, the intake of students into the prestigious school still remained a hundred a year.
With such emphasis on military use, very few magicians fell into the pursuit of teaching, and so two separate Courses were established within the school.
Students within the 1st Course received extensive practical magical training from what few teachers were to be had, and were all but guaranteed entrance into the World Magic University. The Blooms.
Even having had to pass rigorous entrance exams to gain placement, half of each year's students were relegated to the 2nd Course, where they did not receive practical lessons. The Weeds.
The pursuit of magic was highly talent-driven.
Harshly competence-oriented.
Two freshman within the school were not necessarily equal.
Even if they were blood siblings.
Outside of the school auditorium, before the entrance ceremony.
A young man and woman stood arguing, wearing fresh new uniforms. Yet, there was a difference between them.
"Why aren't you the representative, brother? Didn't you top the entrance exams? By all standards, you should be the incoming representative, not me!" A delicate symbol of spiralling dragon wings graced her sleeves and chest.
Course 1.
"Putting aside how you got the scores to know such a thing, it's obvious that as a Magic High School they would put more weight on practical skills than paper tests. And you know the extent of my practical skills." No such symbol was present of his uniform.
Course 2.
Even physically, the two siblings were nothing alike.
The sister held an ethereal beauty that surpassed all others. Darker-than-ink black hair fell in gentle curls around a heart-shaped face, two locks of which were held by ice-like clips on either side of her face, framing emerald eyes. She held no match in looks.
The brother had no such quality. In comparison to his sister, no one would pick him out of a crowd if asked to pick the most beautiful.
"W-But? There is no match for you in your studies. Even in magi-"
"Hazel, that is enough." The brother silenced her in a strong voice.
"I- I'm sorry, brother. Please forgive me." Hazel bowed her head in shame. Her brother sighed and gently caressed her cheek. Yes, the two were exceedingly close.
"You are more than entitled to hold the position of representative," her brother said, "And even if you were to back out of the address, there is no chance I would be chosen in your stead." With a shrug of his shoulders, his shoulder came into view. With no insignia.
"Now, go and wow them with the charming young poise I know so well." Hazel giggled and practically vibrated with joy at the compliment.
"Of course, beloved brother!" She happily headed into the auditorium for preparation.
Leaving her brother at a loss with what to with himself until the ceremony began. The joys of having to arrive early.
With nothing to do and no way to access any main academic buildings until the identification cards were handed out after the ceremony, he headed towards the cafeteria.
"What is that Weed doing here?"
"He must be pretty naive to think that's going to help him, hah."
Yes, he was a "Weed," the term given to Course 2 students by those in the 1st Course. As hard as it was to gain entrance in the school in the first place, there was still prejudice among the user themselves.
As wonderful as Magic was, sometimes it was as horrible. Sometimes, it would fail on its user for a multitude of reasons and the ensuing distrust against magic would make it impossible for that user to every use it again.
Over their course of study within the school, sometimes incidents would happen. But there was a hard quota the school had to produce each year, and so students were pulled from the second course to take their place.
They were reserves, simply put. They were useless until then as far as the school was concerned, and this seeped down to the students.
Spares
When it was a decent time to enter the auditorium and find a seat, the young man closed the display he was reading from and made to leave from his spot.
"Ah, is that a screen-type display you were using? How strange. Most use a virtual display these days." A voice from behind him spoke up. Calmly, he turned around to see who had spoken.
A young woman stood on the path. A breeze picked up and blew a strand of her dark brown hair into her face, which she proceeded to tuck behind an ear.
"Virtual displays aren't allowed here at the school. Regardless of that, I find it more advantageous to read upon this style display."
"Aha, how silly of me for forgetting that. I suppose it's not that odd; I too prefer a screen-type to a virtual display when reading. Forgive me for being rude. I'm the student council president here at First High, Cho Saegusa." She smiled warmly, even when he knew she had caught sight of the lack of wings on his sleeve.
A number, huh. Which means she was a member of one of the most prestigious magic families in the world. Each family traditionally had number in their name, more often than not of Asian origin as that was the origination of the family system that all magicians abided by,
"It is a pleasure to meet you, President Saegusa. I am Hadrian Potter."
"That Potter, huh. There was quite a furor among the teachers after the exams about you, Mr. Potter. Any relation to Hazel Potter?"
"She is my younger sister."
"Twins? How wonderful!"
"No, we are not twins. She is ten months my junior; I was born in October, whereas she born in the following late August, just a few days shy of being a grade lower than me."
"Still, how delightful to be attending the same school."
"Yes. If you would excuse me, I must find a seat for the ceremony." He replied, almost cooly. Cho had a look of shock for a moment at his flat expression, before it changed to thought.
"Potter, huh."
Relatively quickly, Hadrian found a seat in the balcony section, beside a girl with glasses. Within the past century, the need for prescriptions lenses due to flawed eyesight was eliminated.
There was one valid reason why someone would need the lenses, beyond aesthetic pleasure.
Magic was the manipulation of Eidos through psions that existed within the Idea Dimension. These psions often manifested physically as pushions that a select few were sensitive too.
By the thickness of this girl's glasses, she must have had a particularly high sensitivity.
"Is the seat next to you taken?" Hadrian asked her. She blushed furiously but nodded her head.
"G-go ahead. I'm Luna Lovegood, a 1st year, 2nd Course student."
"Hadrian Potter. Thank you." Luna nervously played with the decoration in her hair, fidgeting slightly.
"Ah, would you look! An open seat. See Ron, I told you we'd be able to find one." Luna squeaked as if she had been about to say something. Hadrian looked at her briefly before turning bland green eyes on the new young woman. Wild red hair was cut to chin length, and no emblem was on her sleeve just like his and Luna's.
The girl collapsed into the chair next to Hadrian and pulled another person down next to her.
"Ginerva Prewett, but Ginny is fine."
"Goodness, Prewett, we just met. Don't act like we're… siblings or something. I'm Ron Weasley by the way."
"Hadrian Potter."
"L-Luna Lovegood. Nice to meet you."
"Luna, Luna, well met! And Hadrian, that's just too stuffy for a man of your… stature?" Ginny peered at Hadrian, pulling at his sleeve for a moment. Luna blushed further while Ron looked put-out by her forward behavior.
"I think it kind of fits him." Luna said shyly, playing with her silken skirt.
Ron gave her a pained look as well, whereas Hadrian merely looked at her neutrally.
"Har… har, Harold? No. Harry. There we go! I'll call you Harry from now on. That makes us instant friends!" Ron just palmed his face all the harder.
The lights dimmed then, and their attention was pulled to the stage, highlighted with spotlights.
Cho stepped out onto the stage, all dignified like her position called for. Light applause filled the auditorium.
"Welcome to the beginning of your career here at First High. I hope these years will be productive for you, and that you won't get caught up in any trouble during that time."
With a glance across the gathered students, even among those of Course 2, she delved into her speech.
"I appreciate your attention. I would now like to introduce to you your class representative, Miss Hazel Potter." Further applause, and Hazel stepped onto the stage.
"Woah," Was the general reaction of the audience.
"Thank you, President Saegusa and members of the student government. I am honored to represent all of the incoming students. On such a brilliant autumn day, as the leaves begin to turn new shades…"
Harry felt a warmth suffuse him, a rare feeling.
After the entrance ceremony, the students were allowed to explore the grounds and familiarize themselves for the rest of the afternoon. Hadrian walked with Luna, Ginny and Ron as they approached their classroom.
Ron stretched and rolled his shoulders.
"Ah, that went on forever. Thank goodness we just have homeroom in a little while. I don't think my back could stand any more sitting."
"But it was very elegant, don't you think? It really reminded me that we're finally students here." Luna said, still very quiet.
"Speaking of, Harry…"
"Brother!"
A call from down the hallway.
Hadrian turned to catch his sister, which he did without even having to step back to counter the added weight.
"What is the Bloom doing with those Weeds?"
"They look so comfortable with each other!" Hazel and Hadrian were oblivious to this, however.
"Ron, Luna, Ginny, this is my sister Hazel." Hazel smiled gently and bowed her head in greeting.
"It is a pleasure to meet any friends of my brother."
"Siblings?" Ron asked, bewildered.
"Yup!" Hazel said happily, the two of them presenting the picture of a couple in love, hearts practically glowing around them. Luna squeaked.
"Ah, Hazel, I thought you might be around here." The group turned back in their original direction of travel to see the President standing in the hallway, a group of older students with her. The murmurings increased in the hallway.
"Today was just an introduction. Why don't you stop by the student council office tomorrow for lunch? Your brother is more than welcome, too."
"Of course! You can expect us then." Cho smiled, then turned and walked with her contingent back the way they had appeared.
"This is going to be an interesting year, isn't it?" Luna asked, just recovering from earlier. Ginny nodded emphatically, eyes solely upon the still embracing brother and sister.
"Of course."
And there you have it. There's still quite a bit of magical dynamics to explore for people not familiar with 'The Irregular at Magic High School,' and quite a bit of characterization that will be built upon as the story progresses.
I considered moving the relative time of the events of Mahouka back a century or so, but the technology limitations were too great in comparison to moving the Potter timeline forward a century. Plus, it would be hard to squeeze in the dynamic of global cooling and World War Three into forty decades (both of which are canon events in Mahouka).
I have a general idea where I'm headed with this through what will take the place of the Triwizard Tournament, which will be plenty of material to work with. Timeline-wise, Harry and co. are 14-15, and regardless of that the Triwizard Tournament-replacement will occur in this first year, fair warning. Given the time gap between the enrollment arc and that… well, you'll just have to wait and see!
If you have any suggestions on further character swaps, please feel free to drop a review! Drop a review even if you don't have a suggestion, too 3