Hogwarts. The top wizarding school in Japan. Famed for its auror course, and of course the Alma mater of the world's number one wizard- All Might. Midoriya had read its history hundreds of times, studying the moving photographs of the grounds, but even enchanted photographs hadn't prepared him for his first sight of the real thing.
The castle loomed above them, the night sky prickled with stars. It barely felt real. Midoriya swallowed down the lump in his throat. He had no right to be here. He was a squib- one of the twenty percent of people born to wizarding families who had no magical talent. And yet-
"First years, with me!" a familiar voice boomed.
A murmur rippled through the students. All Might? All Might was here, as a teacher at Hogwarts? Even the older students looked interested, stopping to stare and talk to each other as they left the train.
All Might waited, hands on hips, towering above them as the first years crowded round. "This is your first time here," he said, his voice carrying easily. "So we're going to go across the lake." He gestured to the shore of the lake beneath the castle, and sure enough there were boats there, each big enough for two people. "There's an entrance to the castle on the other side. Once we're there, we can start the sorting."
"Hey! Do any of you know anything about the sorting?" asked Uraraka, the girl who had been using the levitation charm on the train, as they walked towards the boats. Her clothes marked her as muggle-born, someone from a non-wizarding family. "Is it some kind of test?"
Midoriya opened his mouth, but the tall boy with the glasses answered first. "My brother wouldn't tell me about it, but he said it was very tough."
"It doesn't matter what sort of test it is," snarled the blond boy, Kacchan, otherwise known as Katsuki Bakugou. "I'm going to beat the shit out of it."
The students began to pair off, two to a boat, and Midoriya looked around him. Kacchan had taken a boat for himself, and was already rowing away. The tall boy with the glasses was primly instructing Uraraka on how to use the oars, and even the awkward boy with the red and white hair seemed to have found a partner. Midoriya looked around him, lost.
"Young Midoriya," All Might called, patting the wooden seat next to him. "There's a space right here."
"Right! Thanks." Midoriya hurried over to All Might's boat, jumping in as the mighty wizard pushed off from the shore, following the boats of the other first years.
"I think you know what's coming next," said All Might, his massive shoulders hunching as he rowed.
"The sorting hat!" Midoriya balled up his fists, barely able to contain his excitement. "The famous hat, crafted by the four founders, working together. It looks into the heart of each wizard and witch, and sorts them into a house according to what it sees there."
"Someone's been reading Hogwarts, a History," said All Might with a smile.
"Actually, that's not in Hogwarts, a History," Midoriya admitted, staring across the fog that had settled on the lake. The castle was obscured from view now, hidden by the cliffs that loomed over them. "It left a lot out, so I read around."
All Might's face fell. "I see."
"Not that Hogwarts, a History isn't an excellent source-" stammered Midoriya, holding his hands up.
All Might nodded, raising a hand to his forehead as he squinted across the lake. "Your friend seems to be in a hurry."
"Kacchan?" Midoriya asked. "Yeah, I guess that's just how he is."
"He should be careful," All Might grumbled. "Agitating the water that much could provoke the giant squid."
"There's a giant squid in the lake?" Midoriya fought the urge to peer down into the black water. None of the books he had found on Hogwarts had mentioned a giant squid. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Never fear," said All Might, and the light from the lantern on the prow of the little boat gleamed as it reflected from his grin. "For I am here."
Much like the castle's exterior, the pictures that Midoriya had seen failed to do justice to its reality. Hundreds of student wizards, dressed in robes like the ones he wore, sat along four long banquet tables, the colours of their robe lining denoting their house.
"Hey-" Uraraka nudged Midoriya in the ribs with her elbow, her voice a stage whisper as she nodded to the front of the hall. "Who's the tired looking guy with the bandages?"
"Oh!" Midoriya squinted up at the stage. "You don't know him? That's-"
Up on the stage at the front of the hall were the prestigious wizards enlisted as Hogwarts teachers. Midoriya recognised each of them. There was Professor Aizawa, antimagic specialist and head of Griffindor house. Professor Kayama, inventor of the aerosolised love potion, head of Ravenclaw house. The list went on.
"Quiet, children," said All Might, and they were.
A large white mouse climbed onto the podium, and Midoriya recognised him as the famous animagus, Professor Nezu, the headmaster of Hogwarts.
The mouse cleared his throat. "If I may say a few words," he said. "Good luck to our newest students on your sorting. Also, the hat has lost its voice, so there will be no customary song. Thank you." He sat back down, to applause from the four tables.
"The hat has lost its voice?" One of the other first years, a short boy with tight purple curls, sounded panicked. "What does that mean?"
"I think he's talking about the hat," said Todoroki. Midoriya followed his gaze, and sure enough, on a unassuming stool in front of the stage was a large, battered looking wizard hat. It didn't look very magical at all, but as they watched, the fabric shifted, and the hat gave a quiet, unmistakable cough. "Maybe we have to fight it."
Midoriya's throat felt tight. They had to fight the sorting hat for it to look into their hearts? All Might had given him training with basic wand movements, but he could still barely use magic without it backfiring somehow.
Professor Aizawa stepped up to the podium, a piece of paper in one hand. He squinted down at it, then over at the first years. "Would miss Mina Ashido please step forward and put on the hat," he said.
There was a hush, and a girl with lurid pink skin stepped to the front.
There was a pause, and the mouth on the front of the hat opened again. "GRIFFINDOR!" It announced, grandly. Ashido pulled off the hat, looking relieved, and the table with red lined robes burst into cheers.
The sorting continued. A boy named Aoyama and a froglike girl named Asui went to Hufflepuff, and were greeted by the students in yellow robes at their table. A dark haired boy named Awase went to Griffindor with Ashido.
Aizawa looked down at his list again. "Katsuki Bakugou."
"Stupid hat. I'll show it-" the blond boy muttered, but no sooner had he crammed the hat onto his head it screamed.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Kacchan thrust the hat back onto the stool with disgust. Professor Aizawa paused for a moment as the boy stalked over to the green table, then announced the next name on the list.
"Kojiro Bondo."
"Slytherin!"
"Manga Fukidasi."
"Ravenclaw!"
"Toru Hagakure."
"Hufflepuff!"
"Juzo Honenuki."
"Hufflepuff!"
Midoriya watched as Iida, Kirishima, and a ginger-haired girl named Kendo joined Ashido in Griffindor, and finally it was his turn.
"Izuku Midoriya."
Midoriya swallowed.
All Might smiled down at him. "Good luck, young Midoriya."
Every step seemed like an eternity as he approached the stool, the eyes of the students at all four tables on him. Slowing down his breathing, Midoriya picked up the hat, and pulled it over his head, plunging him into darkness.
Well now, what have we here? The hat's voice inside his head sounded different, less woolly than it had out in the Great Hall. You have a great deal of potential, young man. It's not often that I sit on the head of a first-year and see more than goo between the ears.
The hat couldn't just read his heart, it could read his mind. His secret! It would know-
Oh, don't worry about that. The hat chuckled drily, a sound that echoed in the darkness around Midoriya. I am hundreds of years old, boy. I've seen it all, and more. Though it's strange that One-For-All has been entrusted to one so young.
Midoriya's mind raced. If the hat knew about One-For-All, what else would it know?
Curiosity, is it? The hat mused. Perhaps Ravenclaw would be a good fit.
"No." Midoriya shook his head.
Well then, Hufflepuff? You have a kind heart.
"Please," Midoriya closed his eyes, head down. "I would like to be in the same house… as All Might."
If you're sure? Well then, it better be-
"GRIFFINDOR!" the hat announced, and Midoriya emerged from the darkness to cheering. All Might was beaming, and gave him a thumbs-up from the back of the hall as he joined the other first-years at the Griffindor table.
"Good work!" said the dark-haired boy, Iida, though Midoriya wasn't sure if he had done anything.
"Yeah, this is the best house!" Kirishima slapped Midoriya on the back with a grin as Minoru Mineta and Neito Monoma were inducted into Slytherin in quick succession.
"Indeed it is! Home to seven generations of the Iida family," said Iida, as Hiryu Rin joined Ravenclaw.
A girl with hair that seemed to be made out of ferns, Ibara Shiozaki, joined Hufflepuff, and Aizawa called another name.
"Shoto Todoroki."
Midoriya watched anxiously as the boy with the half-red, half-white hair sat on the stool with the hat over his head, covering his eyes. The hat's mouth moved slowly, and it seemed to mumble to itself. Professor Kayama had leaned over to mutter something to Professor Nezu, who seemed unruffled.
The pink haired girl, Ashido, leaned over, her voice a stage whisper. "He's taking even longer than Midoriya!"
Iida raised his finger to his lips. "Shush! This is an important event!"
"Well then, you're being loud too." Ashido stuck out her tongue.
Finally, the hat cleared its throat, and made a pronouncement on Todoroki's destiny.
"SLYTHERCLAW?!" shouted the hat, to confused applause from the Hufflepuff and Griffindor tables.