The headmaster's office was lit by a number of candles giving the room a gloomy feel as shadows danced wildly along to the beat of the flickering flames. Slightly to his right sat a tall window, it's purple curtains hung to one side letting in a small amount of silver moonlight. The room was alive with the shouts and screams of the hundreds of paints that lined the walls.

"You shouldn't have allowed him to come here Albus!" Phineas Black yelled down at him.

"Phineas please my dear friend. I don't have time to listen to your prejudices." Albus said exhausted. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night and it was looking like he wasn't going to get much this one either.

"How dare you!" Phineas screamed, his painted face reddening. "Yes it is true that I have expressed unsavory opinions of muggle-borns before but now I am honor bound to give you sage council!"

"You put too much faith in that woman Albus." Said Vindictus Viridian. "There hasn't been a true seer in this part of the world for hundreds of years."

That much was true no witch or wizard had been born with the sight in europe for three hundred years."No, she is not wrong about this." Albus whispered softly. "What is your advice Minerva?"

Minerva McGonagall had sat patiently across from him listening for nearly an hour. "I agree with the headmasters, headmaster." She said pointedly. "Him coming here is of great risk to everyone."

Albus let out a sigh, he had hoped that he had at least one ally in this matter. "I am sorry my old friends." Albus said loud enough so all the painting could hear him. "You know I take everything you've have said to heart but can not change my position on this. The boy must come here, you do not understand the power this child holds. We must keep him safe!"

"Safe!" Armando Dippet exclaimed "Safe! You know half of Slytherin house spies for the Dark Lord Albus. You are a fool to think this castle will be enough to stop him should he find out the truth about the boy!"

"The castle will hold."

"Then what about when he's outside these walls? We can not watch over him every minute of every day!"

I agree, Albus thought. He took a deep breath, what he was about to say was surely to get everyone yelling and screaming again. Erasing any trace of sleep that night. "That is why once he is inside these walls he will not be permitted to leave them."

xx

"Seth, really?Scotland? Seth just can't believe it! Scotland?" Caleb said for the fifth time in a row.

"Yep." Seth said with no emotion at all giving his blonde headed friend a look. If he keeps saying the same thing over and over again i'm going to start ignoring him. He kept talking. Caleb never did know when to keep quiet. Seth spat and watched the spittle fall hundreds of feet until he could no longer keep track of exactly he was supposed to be looking at. Around him the cityscape stretched for as far as you could see. New York looked so peaceful from this high. You didn't have to listen to all the unruly muggles honk and curse each other out. Nor deal with the small of the city itself. All you had to do was relax and let the city pass you by.

"And Hogwarts wants us? Us?" He continued, clearly shocked.

"Yep." Will they want me and I forced them to take you, Seth thought.

"Okay, this is going to sound crazy but Seth i'm glad you got us kicked out of the Underground." Caleb said patting him hard on the back.

"The Underground" was the school they went to, Opulentian was it's official name. Which was underground literally. Back when Wizarding schools were first being set up in America, our founders had a hard time finding places to put a whole school away from muggles. Seeing as there were little to no castles in America, underground was the next best thing.

Technically he did get them expelled from school. Seth had got caught selling Dragon-Tear extract, to a couple of seventh years. Cable wasn't directly involved in the sells but he just happened to be with him. They were expelled on the spot.

"Hey we should get going, if we want to Flo on time." Seth reminded his friend.

"Seth i'm really sad we won't get to ride the Hogwarts express." he said mounting his broomstick. Seth did the same. "From what i've heard it's a magical experience. Pun intended." he finished laughing a little.

"Wow you really went there." Seth mock him as he hopped of the building into the afternoon sky.

"Couldn't resist." he said, following suit taking off into the sky.

I'm about to leave my home, even if it wasn't really my home, for the first time. It made him nervous. Hogwarts was both famous and infamous for the things that happened there and the wizard and witches it produced. There were ideological differences as well. Europe was in a state of chaos. A wave of anti muggle sentiment was sweeping the continent. Reports of unspeakable acts had made its way across the ocean. And then there was the Dark Lord himself….

If you aren't with them you're against them. And that was what the young wizard was worried about.

The Flo office was actually just an abandoned warehouse, that the Ministry took over. The outside was in total disarray. Broken windows lined the walls beside them crudely drawn figures were spray painted beside them. The inside wasn't anything special. It looked like you would expect any other abandoned warehouse to look. Aside from the brick fireplace that was in the middle of the room, connected to nothing, that is.

"Well, Hello there!" said a man, who must have been hiding because he was nowhere to be seen before. "Come on quickly, we really need to be going if we want to be on time." he continued, taking a pitch of green powder out of his pocket and throwing it into the fireplace. Instantly the fireplace roared to life with a flourish, blowing a small amount of ashe everywhere.

"Now you'll get there right before they sort first years into their houses. You are to wait with the firsts untill you name is called. When your name is called you too will be placed into a house. Do I make myself clear?"

Caleb and Seth nodded. The man stuffed his hand back into his pockets and moved aside. Caleb practically ran into the fireplace. Seth quickly followed him not wanting to be left alone with a stranger for too long.

Stepping in the Floo Network wasn't like using a portkey, but it was still very unpleasant. You were literally being thrown from one fireplace to the next. Seth passed what felt like hundred of fireplaces, before being forcefully thrown out of one. Seth landed hard on his back knocking his head against the stone floor.

Seth rose dazed, his head pounding.

"Can you believe it we're here!" Caleb said gesturing around him.

Looking around there must have been hundreds of people starting their way. Apparently two sixteen year old being thrown out of the fireplace had startled the first years.

"Hey, your mother never told you it's not nice to stare!" Caleb yelled, grabbing the nearest first year and giving him a noogie. He tried to run but the older boy's grip was too much. Caleb tormented him hard for the effort tho. Moments later he was released. The boy quickly took off to the other side of the room with tears in his eyes. The others quickly averted their eyes from fear of being the next noogie victim.

The room was definitely grand. The floor was made of grey stones as was the walls. Paintings of famous wizards were stacked atop each other. Seth recognized a few of them; Thenn the grey, Mars of York, Lady Joanna. They all had a wall of there own at rest as to their identities he had no clue. There were multiple door laid every which way as well. They all seemed to lead to the same place. Looking out any door you would see the same exact thing.

They all lead to the some type of stage that overlook the giant cafeteria, where all the other students currently seat. On the stage was a table where the professors seat and a single chair with some sort of black hat placed on it. Past the stage there were four massive tables and hundreds of students, all dressed in different colors, black, blue, green, and crimson. But still managed to show a sense of unity. By the look of the empty plates on the table they haven't been there long. Everyone was talking loudly to each until a old wizard stood up from his seat. Seth couldn't quite make out what he was saying but it must of been about the first years since they all begin to get into a single file line in front of various doors.

"Hey, you two! Seth Rowan and Caleb Aldaine." yelled someone from seemingly out of nowhere. Turning around a ghost with a throat cut was floating over them."Transfer students will be sorted last just wait until everyone else is done." he said before floating through the ceiling.

"Well you don't see that every-" Seth was interrupted by the applause coming from the cafeteria. Judging for all the nervous jetter coming from the first years, the sorting was moments away.

"Now without further ado, let the sorting begin!" Dumbledore said to massive applauses. The first student, who just happened to be the same kid Caleb gave a noogie to, walked on to the stage. He was visibly shaking as he made his way to the chair with the hat on him. The boy sit there for a moment as the hall went quiet. The silence was almost unbearable as they continued to wait. The clutched the underside of the chair.

To Seth's surprise the ragged black hat jumped to life. Speaking from an apparent rip.

"Hufflepuff!" The hat roared. The nervousness they both felt had melted away as he made his way toward the table furthest away. Food magically appeared on the plates as more and more students got sorted.

After Seth got used to the sorting process it became kinda boring to sit through. Caleb had resigned himself to playing small tricks on unsuspecting first years. He didn't get too much joy out of picking on nervous kids, so Seth tried to keep count of which houses got the most amount of students.

So far Hufflepuff was by far in the lead. From what he had heard about the houses, and the qualities they each valued, it seemed like this year's lot was rather lacklustre. Hours into the sorting it was finally their turn to get sorted into a house.

"Now, in a rather rare event we have two transfer students joining us this year." Dumbledore said as he stood up. Whispers began to float around the room."You are to make them feel at home and show them the wonders of our great school." he finished turning to a witch, who Seth learned was Professor Mcgonagall, as she looked at the list from which she read names from. Caleb's name came first alphabetically, so Seth knew he wasn't going to be called but he was nervous all the same. Caleb was called. He made his way to the middle of the stage with a smile on his face and his head held high. The hat was placed on his head and roared to life.

"Oh, An American. I don't get to pick their brains very often. Emmm now let's see where to put you. Slytherin is out of the question, you wouldn't survive over there. No you're far too naive. But that leaves the other three houses up for grabs. Lets dive deeper into your brain shall we, lets see what makes you, you." The Sorting Hat paused for a while.

"Ravenclaw!" The Sorting Hat yelled. Caleb got up from the chair looking pretty pleased with himself as made his way toward his fellow housemates. Seth barely noticed his name being called to the stage. As Seth slowly made my way to the center of the stage, he finally got a good look at the whole student body. It was like looking at a sea of people, and all of them were looking back at you. He was about to look away, when a fiery head of red hair caught his full attention. It was a shade so red that it couldn't possibly have been her real hair. After what felt like an eternity Seth finally made it to the Sorting Hat.

The moment the hat was placed on his head his senses seemed to dull. The world was no longer as bright nor loud. His vision contracted until he was only able to make us shapes. His brain felt as if it was being squeezed by some hand. "Hmmm I get to pick another American's brain, what did I do to deserve this Headmaster?" The hat asked, earning a smile from the headmaster.

"Consider it a gift." Dumbledore chuckled.

"Noted, now back to the matter at hand. What houses should you be placed into." He went silent for what felt like hours. The squeezing on his head intensified. Seth closed his teeth together. He had a feeling that it was looking deeper into the minds of the "Americans" than it was with the other students.

"You would make a fine Gryffindor." the Sorting Hat said thoughtfully "I haven't seen someone this stupidly brave and cause so much trouble since our very own Marauders." He finished, causing the whole Gryffindor table to cheer, as four boy stood and waved. "Yet there's more to you." The hat continued causing everyone to fall silent again. "Yes you're braver than most but you're also cunning. Slytherin would be a good home for you. You'll have no problem using people to get what you want." Again the hat paused "You have used people to get what you want." he whispered.

"No, I haven't seen someone this cunning since Tom…" He whispered so low that at first Seth thought only he had heard him but judging for the grasps that came from the professors, Seth wasn't. He didn't know who this "Tom" person was but Seth knew being compared to him wasn't a good thing. The Sorting hat remained silent for a little while longer.

"Well, if I only decided on the person's qualities this would be an easier decision. Slytherin would have gained another member. But if i'm being honest, the same could be said about Gryffindor. So in an rather rare event I will allow you to choose the house you would like to be in. Will it be the brave Gryffindors or the cunning Slytherins. The mighty lion or the ambitious Snake. The decision is all yours."

The whole cafeteria was dead silent.

"Gryffindor." Seth Whispered to the hat and the hat screamed it for all the cafeteria to hear. Like with all the students before him the room erupted into cheers. As Seth made his way to the table Caleb came running up to me putting me in a headlock.

"You had me worried there for a second. If you would have been placed into Slytherin I don't think we could have been friends anymore." he said laughing punching me in the arm before making his way back to the Ravenclaw table. Seth looked around at his own table, looking for a place to seat. Everyone was too busy stuffing their face to be bothered with the new kid. Seth was about to just down at the end of the table, until Seth locked eyes with a certain redhead. Seth was about to make his way toward, when an arm was thrown around his shoulders. Taken by surprise Seth quickly turned around to see who is was.

It was one of the famous "Marauders". Seth didn't know his name but he was tall, easily 6'2, and had long black hair that reached his shoulders.

"Trust me you don't want to be with that one, feisty she is. Ain't that right James?" The Marauder said calling to his friend.

"Wait, what Sirius?" said A boy with jet hair and glass, who was too busy stuffing his face to pay attention to us.

"Oh nothing, we were just talking about Lily." Sirius said nonchalantly

"What about lily." James said looking down the table at the redhead.

"Just that one day she'll came to her senses and realize she madly in love with you." Sirius said laughing as he took his seat next to James.