(A/N): Okay, new multichapter fic, with Harry and Hermione not attending Hogwarts, but another school of my own making: Glaciame (pronounce it like Glay-see-aym) XD . Please read it and let me know what you think. If, and I repeat, IF, I have any pairings in this, it will most likely by Harry/Ginny and Hermione/Draco, but as of right now, I don't plan on pairings. Who knows, though, I may end up including them, so I figured I would warn you guys now XD Also, I don't like Ron very much, and so this may reflect in my writing. I won't write any physical Ron-bashing, but there may be some… less than friendly feelings towards the redhead. I also love Gred and Forge, so they are very much included too. Uh, well, I don't know if this is any good, so please, REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! Rated T for later chapters, most likely mild language and violence XD I think haha

Oh yeah, AU, OOC Harry Hermione and pretty much every Harry Potter character, and whatever else you can think of :)

I don't own Harry Potter or those characters, but there are bunch of OCs in here that I made up.

The Transfer

Chapter 1

Hermione Granger smiled reassuringly at her best friend, Harry Potter, as the large carriage jostled along the stony, winding path leading up to the imposing silhouette of the castle in the distance. The two thirteen year olds sat together on one end of a squishy red sofa in one back corner of the spacious vehicle, an undetectable extension charm ensuring that the carriage could hold thirty students and three teachers with plenty of room to spare for all on the journey from London to the highlands of Scotland.

There were several windows in the large, rounded interior, with a large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling to illuminate the whole carriage. There were several large red sofas and armchairs littered around the space and a few bunks attached to the walls, a partitioned room at the back of the room used as storage for their trunks. Everything was coloured in warmth, with a lot of browns, reds and oranges creating a warm, comfortable atmosphere for the students travelling inside, though it was invisible to all but those with magical abilities, so that muggles couldn't see it, or what was pulling it along.

Hermione and Harry were both students at Glaciame Academy for the Gifted, a boarding school located just outside of wizarding London that catered for eleven to eighteen year old witches and wizards, but the school was very select in accepting only those students with great magical potential and drive to succeed.

That school year, Glaciame had agreed to a transfer of sorts between themselves and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, consisting of fourth year Hogwarts students attending Glaciame until Christmas, whilst third year Glaciame students attending Hogwarts until Christmas. After Christmas holidays, the third year Hogwarts students would follow the third year Glaciame students back to Glaciame for the rest of the year, whilst the fourth year Glaciame students would follow Hogwarts students back to Scotland for the rest of the year.

"Everything will be fine, Harry." Hermione assured her friend quietly as they both stared out of the window at the dreary atmosphere that seemed to become denser the closer they got to the castle. Harry turned to his best friend, mustering up a half-hearted smile for her.

"It'll be all 'Boy Who Lived' stuff all over again." He rolled his eyes. "At least these guys here know enough of me that I hate being known as that."

"Probably." Hermione agreed readily. "But there's nothing you can do about that, Harry. Remember; once you've defeated Voldemort, everything will be right again with the Wizarding World."

"It's a lot of pressure to live up to."

"Which is why you offload to me." Hermione reminded him, fidgeting with her grey tie, loosely tied and hanging at her ribs. Glaciame students didn't care much for uniform, and so almost everyone's uniforms were customised. Hermione wore a black and grey checked skater skirt with solid black tights, black suede ankle boots with buckles adorning the sides, a short sleeved white shirt with the top two buttons undone, the grey school tie with a swirled cream coloured G embroidered at the bottom, and a light grey cardigan. Harry wore grey trousers and black trainers with a long sleeved white shirt (sleeves rolled to his elbows), his own grey tie in a similar position to Hermione's and a plain black blazer slung over the back of the sofa behind him. With the school on the outskirts of Wizarding London, it was also close to Muggle communities, and so the uniform resembled that of a muggle school so as to not raise more attention through their (albeit lax) dress code.

Most students dressed similarly to Hermione and Harry, with a few other variations that they felt showed their individuality. Glaciame had once tried to get them to dress uniformly, only to agree in the end that their pupils could express their individuality as long as their school work didn't suffer as a result.

There were four houses in Glaciame; Calida, Frigore, Nix and Solis. Solis was known for its wide variety of do-gooders and perpetually excited people. Calida was known for acting before thinking things through, and consisted mainly of hot-headed, impulsive students. Frigore was known for being level headed and looking at all possibilities before acting upon a situation, whilst also being highly driven to achieve in anything and everything. Nix was known as the house for those who could make the difficult decisions, and seemed to have no fear in anything that they did. Hermione and Harry were both in Nix.

Glaciame had seven different common rooms and sets of dormitories; one for each year. The year had their own common room that they shared, whilst the dormitories that branched off the common room were split according to houses, which served to limit quite a number of house rivalries.

Harry nudged Hermione gently as they got close enough for their first look at the imposing structure that would serve as their home for the next three and a half months. He was worried, and although he could hide it from the rest of the year, he knew that Hermione wasn't fooled whatsoever, though she let it lie for the time being. Sometimes, Harry genuinely wondered how he'd gotten so lucky in having Hermione as his best friend. Together, they'd gotten into more scrapes and danger than they could count, but also together, they'd managed to get out of the terrifying situations each time, though sometimes, they had no idea how they'd managed it with so little damage or repercussions.

Hermione gazed up at the building in awe as the carriage rolled to a slightly jerky halt, the unicorns that had been pulling the vehicle released from their shackles and herded off to a section of the school grounds kept specifically for such a purpose.

The Head of Nix House and one of the Potions teachers, Professor Amelia Jameson, all of five foot tall with long red hair and piercing green eyes, smiled at the two teenagers' enthusiasm for their new surroundings. "Enjoying the new possibilities?" She asked with a smirk. "If you two get any more excited, we'd have to throw the pair of you in Solis." She teased, causing Harry and Hermione to roll their eyes.

"No, ma'am, just hoping things won't be quite as… adventurous." Harry told her with a grin. "You know, after the whole unicorn debacle and possessed zombified people."

"Yeah, we're looking forward to an uneventful time this year." Hermione added as Professor Jameson nodded in understanding.

"Very well, I suppose I can stand you being in my house for a little longer." She teased again before walking over to where the other two teachers that had accompanied the third years stood. On one side of her stood Professor Billius Stulte, a tall, gangly wizard in his late twenties with short dark hair and violet eyes. He was always up for pranks and jokes, though everyone always got their work done for his class, which was Charms. On Professor Jameson's other side stood Professor Francesca Pulsus, a highly driven witch in her mid-thirties with long blonde curls and hazel eyes, who was Head of Frigore and taught Ancient Runes.

Harry and Hermione stood up and grabbed their coats; Harry's being his blazer and Hermione's being a woven black pea coat with a swirled golden H on the collar standing for her name. As the approached the front of the carriage, they were approached by Katherine Minnie and David Gregory, their other close friends along with a girl called Alison Blake, who was talking to someone on the other side of the carriage. Katherine was in Solis, but had a good head on her shoulders despite being incandescently happy at almost all times, and David was in Frigore, and was slightly more subdued than Katherine, though that wasn't difficult to achieve. Alison was in Calida, though apparently only because of her easily flared temper, which caused her to act impulsively on occasion.

"Hey." Katherine beamed at them, causing Harry and Hermione to smile automatically in response to the bubbly blue haired girl; Katherine being a metamorphmagus meant that she had constantly changing hair depending on her moods or inclination.

"Hi, Katie." Hermione greeted, hugging the other girl that was only about an inch or two shorter than Hermione herself. "I didn't think your parents agreed to let you come on this transfer trip."

"They didn't, until I told them that I was going with or without their permission." Katherine returned with a light laugh. "Mum and dad dislike the idea of any of us being surrounded by those idiots they call wizards in this school, but they know we all look out for each other, so they agreed, reluctantly, in the end. What about you three?"

David smiled. "My parents didn't care, just signed the papers without reading them. Mum was working on an antidote with her research department and dad was about to go on another Auror raid."

Harry shrugged. "Mum and dad were fine with it once Hermione and I explained a bit about it all. They read it all and signed it for both of us."

Harry had lived with Hermione and her parents since he was eleven and hadn't wanted to go back to his aunt and uncle's house, fearing what would happen should he return. Daniel and Emilia Granger had welcomed Harry into their home, and even adopted him officially on his twelfth birthday, so that Harry and Hermione were considered brother and sister, though they didn't share the same last name.

"Attention!" Professor Pulsus called out, gaining immediate silence over the third years as they all turned their attention to the teachers. "We are going to enter in just a moment, but please remember that you are representing your entire school here, so show them what we're made of!" She called out, causing the students to yell and cheer in response. "So, Nix, you will be seated at the Gryffindor table. Solis, you will be sat with the Hufflepuff table. Calida, you will be sat with the Ravenclaw table. Frigore, you will be sat with the Slytherin table. Please remain quiet during the announcements and treat Headmaster Dumbledore with the same respect that you treat Headmistress Faere with. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." The students replied in unison, standing in semi-formal lines. Professor Jameson smiled gently at the gathered teenagers.

"Alright then, let's go!" She told them, leading the way out of the carriage. Harry, Hermione, Katherine and David were near the back when Alison rushed over, greeting them with a fleeting smile as she fastened her cream coloured drape collared coat round her, a silver A adorning the collar. Katherine's coat consisted of a grey military style jacket with an emerald coloured K on the collar. David had a similar blazer to Harry's, and both boys had black parka fleece coats in their trunks with their initials on the collars.

"Hey everyone! Shall we go?" Alison asked, linking arms with Hermione and Katherine. Harry and David shared amused looks before following the girls out of the warm carriage into the cold night air.

Once everyone was out of the carriage, the teachers did a quick head count and lead the third year students up the main stairs into the outer hall where they were met by a tall, elderly, stern looking witch with black robes on and rapidly greying hair yanked back into a severe looking bun. The Glaciame students halted about a foot away from the woman, who regarded them all with a harsh stare, though the five friends stood to one side of the grouped students noticed the older witch's eyes widened when she spotted Harry stood between Hermione and Alison, making the two latter teenagers to stand closer to Harry, protectiveness practically oozing from their demeanours.

She cleared her throat. "Good evening, Glaciame students. I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Head, Head of Gryffindor House and teacher of Transfiguration. I believe your teachers have already explained which houses will be seated where. In addition to that, you will be sleeping in the same houses that you will sit with at the Great Feast."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, worried as they'd never been made to split up like that before, and it felt strangely disloyal to wander off to different houses and not stay together. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat again to be heard over the grumbling that had broken out amongst the teenagers.

"Now then, let's get you all settled in at the tables before the new first years arrive." She clapped her hands and the doors behind her opened in time for the visitors to hear a booming, authoritative voice ringing out from the top of the magnificent hall within.

"And here are out guests from the wonderful Glaciame Academy for the Gifted!"

Professors Jameson and Stulte walked ahead of the students, with Professor Pulsus bringing up the rear. Walking in pairs or three in a row, the Glaciame third years walked into the hall, pretending to be confident and uncaring as they moved further into the room and faced everyone's stares. Harry was once again in the middle of Hermione and Alison, with David in a pair with a boy in Solis called Caelum in front of the trio and Katherine behind the three with two other girls called Chlo and Isadora, both of whom were in Solis with her.

Harry usually tried to ignore the stares and whispers that followed him wherever he went. He knew he was considered famous for being able to defeat Lord Voldemort when he was only one year old, hence the 'Boy Who Lived' title, and knew his friends were protective of him, hence the protective circle they'd formed around him even as they were walking into the Great Hall to be sent to different tables than they were used to. At Glaciame, there were several tables and students could sit at whichever they wanted to, so there were both a mix of houses and ages amongst the students.

Professor McGonagall halted before the top table where an elderly man with a long white bead stood in midnight blue robes with silver embroidered stars and moons and twinkling blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles. "Dumbledore." She greeted tersely before moving off back through the hall to await the upcoming first years.

Albus Dumbledore stepped forwards slightly and took in the thirty students stood before him, all looking slightly mutinous and unhappy about being there. His eyes focused on Harry much as Professor McGonagall's had, and Harry felt himself move back so he was half hidden behind Hermione's bushy brunette hair. To her credit, Hermione didn't even flinch, despite feeling the presence of someone behind her, quickly deducing that it must have been Harry behind her, possibly hiding or trying to be inconspicuous.

"Ah, Glaciame students, welcome to Hogwarts!" He opened his arms wide with a smile. "Now then, I assume you know which table you belong at, so I will point out which table is which, and then we can get on with the trivialities needed before we can eat our fill." He told them cheerfully. "So, there is Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." He pointed to each long table in turn. "Please, sit down and let us welcome the new first year students!"

Harry and Hermione sent pleading looks to Professor Jameson, who shook her head regretfully, and so the duo sent apologetic looks to Katherine, Alison and David before making their way to the Gryffindor table, sitting down beside a gangly looking red-haired boy about their age who was incessantly gawping at Harry, opposite two older red-haired boys, clearly twins and the brother of the first redhead, and a plump, blonde curly haired girl that seemed to split her gaze between Harry and the gangly redhead.

Hermione glanced to her free side, as Harry sat on the other side, to another Nix member, a girl with long raven black hair and emerald eyes, who rolled her eyes in response to Hermione's exasperated look, both girls already fed up with the attention focused on the black haired boy on Hermione's other side.

"This is getting ridiculous." The girl muttered, causing Hermione to stifle a grin.

"That it is, Tallulah." Hermione returned under her breath. "Who'll be first to say something?"

"Other side of Harry, I reckon." Tallulah nodded discretely to the person she suspected. Hermione nodded in agreement just as the redhead next to Harry finished gawping in silence and opened his mouth.

"Uh, I'm Ron. Ron Weasley. Sorry, but are you Harry Potter, thee Harry Potter?" Ron asked with wide eyes, never taking his gaze off Harry, making the boy under scrutiny uncomfortable as he shrugged a little.

"Uh yeah, I guess. I'm Harry."

"Do you really have the… you know…?" He trailed off, looking at Harry's long, scruffy fringe longingly.

"Oh, for crying out loud." Harry rolled his eyes and roughly pulled up his fringe, giving everyone at the Gryffindor table a view of his lightning shaped scar. "There you go now stop asking." He then turned away from Ron and back to Hermione, scowling at her stifled laughter. "'Mione, please stop that. You know I hate all that. Oh, hey Lu." Harry greeted Tallulah over Hermione's head, who grinned in response.

"Hey Harry. How were your holidays?" Tallulah returned.

"Oh they were good, thanks Lu. Mum and dad took us to France for a couple of weeks, which was fun. What were your hols like?"

"Good. My grandma took me flying to Spain and showed me a couple of wizarding towns there. It was good, even if mum disapproved." Tallulah snorted, showing her feelings on that subject clearly as Hermione finally calmed down back to her usual serene state and smiled at both Harry and Tallulah.

"That sounds like a wonderful time, Lu." Hermione commented mildly. "What were the towns like?"

Tallulah frowned a little. "They were similar to Diagon Alley and Rura Lane, I guess." She told them, the latter being the closest wizarding town to Glaciame, a place that the students were permitted to travel to whenever they wanted, though they had to go in pairs at the very least if they were below third year.

"Hey, did you really defeat You-Know-Who?" Ron interrupted, making all three stare at him incredulously. One of the redheaded twins flicked his wand, throwing a silencing charm at his younger brother whilst the other looked apologetically at Harry, Hermione and Tallulah.

"Sorry about that. Our little brother doesn't know when to shut up sometimes." He told them. "I'm Fred Weasley, by the way. This is my twin, George." He gestured to the boy beside him who had silenced Ron for them, who waved with a grin.

"Hey, I thought I was Fred today."

"No, I'm Fred today."

"Compromise?"

"Fine." Fred sighed dramatically, before turning back to the three Nix students before him. "Hi, I'm Gred, this is Forge. We're the Pranksters."

"Nice to know." Hermione told them, her eyes quickly taking in the minute differences between the twins so she would be able to tell them apart, knowing that Harry and Tallulah were doing the same. George opened his mouth but was interrupted by the doors to the Great Hall opening and a bunch of scared looking eleven year olds scuttled in behind Professor McGonagall.

The Sorting Hat was placed on a stool in front of the top table and burst into song the moment the first years halted before it, singing about school pride and forming ties with others, as well as performing to the best of any and all abilities. The Glaciame third years looked on in amazement as the Hat sorted the students into houses. At their school, spells were performed on each student, showing their personalities and which house they'd be best within, nothing as dramatic or entertaining as the Sorting Hat.

Once the last first year had been sorted, Professor Dumbledore stood once more and gave a few notices out, such as the Forest being forbidden to all students, and that there was a list of forbidden items posted in each common room before announcing that they could eat.

Looking back at the table and finding it full of every kind of food they could imagine, Harry and Hermione exchanged amused glances and took a few pieces from the platters around them, ensuring that they displayed correct table manners at all times, as all the Glaciame third years did, conscious of the warnings they'd received about representing their school, much to the amusement of the Hogwarts students.

Finally, long after everyone had ate until they were full and then some, Professor Dumbledore dismissed the hall and everyone stood, eager to get to their dormitories as quickly as possible. Fred and George approached the Nix third years and offered to show them the way, an offer that was accepted warily due to the knowledge that they were pranksters.

However, Fred and George showed them straight to the Gryffindor common room, though they did pause every now and then to show the new students where some secret passages and shortcuts were located, with the customary warning to watch out for the caretaker, Mr Filch, and his cat, Mrs Norris.

Entering the Gryffindor common room, the eight students looked around with blank faces, refusing to show how happy they were with their new surroundings, as the common room was pretty similar to their common room at their own school. Fred glanced at a notice on the noticeboard. "Alright, Hermione, Tallulah and Chlo, you three are with Lavender and Parvati and. Uh, Alicia and Georgiana, you two are in the dorm next to the first three, with Fay, Alice and Daniella. Harry, Darren and Sean, you three are in a dorm with Ron, Neville and Dean."

George pointed to two sets of staircases at the far end of the common room. "Left hand side is the boys', right hand side is the girls'. Boys, don't even bother trying to go to the girls' rooms. It won't work, believe me."

Fred clapped the nearest two on their shoulders, just happening to be Harry and Chlo. "Well kiddies, if you have any need for pranks or fooling about, please, don't hesitate to ask."

The Weasley twins drifted away to another part of the common room. The eight third years shared a look. Well, if nothing else, at least their time at Hogwarts wouldn't be dull, they decided as they all made their separate ways for the night, Harry and Hermione saying a silent good night at the staircases before they were dragged up the separate staircases to their new rooms. All eight fell asleep quickly, eager to see what the morning would bring.

To Be Continued?