Ah yes, I have jumped on the bandwagon. I just love Harry Potter cross-overs, especially ones with Hetalia. I just couldn't resist making this and it was so much fun. This is all sorting but it will move on eventually.

1

Arthur Kirkland felt his stomach twist into knots as he sat inside his compartment on the Hogwarts Express. This was his first year going to the Wizarding School and needless to say, he was now the embodiment of nervousness. He would be leaving his family for an entire year to go to a school where he barely knew anyone. It was uncharted territory and truthfully, it was quite frightening.

But despite how nervous he felt, he made sure not to show it. After all, he was a Kirkland; he had to keep a stiff upper-lip and pull through it. Besides, this was for the best and education was very important to him and his family.

The compartment door slid open and Arthur looked up from fidgeting with the tie of his school uniform. Entering were two boys that were about the same age as Arthur and looked almost identical, aside from a few differences.

One was only a few inches taller than the other and had short blonde hair that was parted to the side, a rebellious strand sticking up. His eyes were bright blue and sparkling, shielded by a pair of rectangular glasses.

The other had slightly longer wavy hair with a small curl drooping down from the part of his hair. His eyes, unlike his brother's, were more like a violet and he also wore glasses. He looked around the compartment with a shy expression, holding a polar bear to his chest.

"Hi, mind if we sit here?" the first asked Arthur with a bright smile.

"No, not at all…" Arthur nodded, recognizing that the first blonde had an American accent.

The two boys took a seat, the taller grinning broadly and the shorter staring shyly at Arthur.

"I'm Alfred F. Jones," the tall blonde American said, reaching his hand out for Arthur to shake. "This is my brother, Matthew. What's your name?"

"Arthur Kirkland," the Briton responded, shaking the American's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Right back at'cha," Alfred smiled and Arthur started to sense that maybe, just maybe, this boy would grate on his nerves. "Are you a first-year too?"

"Yes," Arthur replied. "Forgive me for asking, but do you live in Britain?"

"No, I'm from America," Alfred smiled. "Mattie here is from Canada."

"Our parents are divorced," Matthew added softly, almost so soft that Arthur barely heard him.

"Why are you here then?" Arthur asked. "Isn't there a school for wizards and witches in Salem?"

Alfred shrugged. "I don't know. I suspect it's some sort of international exchange thingy cause I saw a Japanese guy earlier! Man, this year's going to be cool…"

"Interesting…" Arthur muttered. "How much do you two know about Hogwarts?"

"Mainly that it's the equivalent of America's magic school in Salem," Matthew replied. "There are four houses called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. All students are sorted into the houses based on their personalities. That's about all that I know."

Arthur looked at Alfred, impressed. "Your brother has done his research."

"We've both been pretty excited," the American beamed. "I hope to get into Gryffindor, cause that's where all the heroes go!"

Arthur arched a thick eyebrow. "I'm sure…"

"Hey, Artie… can I call you Artie?"

"No."

"What house do you want to get into, Artie?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. Apparently, Alfred lacked the ability to listen. "I don't really care either way. My dad was in Gryffindor while my mum was in Ravenclaw. My four older siblings were all in different houses so I don't really have a legacy to follow."

"Oh…" the American looked slightly disappointed and fell quiet.

Finally… Arthur sighed, leaning back in his seat. Some peace and quiet.

But the peace and quiet only lasted for so long, much to the Briton's dismay.

"Hey, wanna play 'I Spy?'" Alfred suddenly asked.

"No." Arthur growled.

"Oh come on!" Alfred whined. "It's fun!" He turned his head to look out the window, spotting random objects. "I spy with my little eye… something green!"

"Grass."

"Wow, you're pretty good at this!" Alfred smiled. "Now it's your turn!"

Arthur, looking rather unimpressed, grunted, "I spy something annoying."

There was a moment of silence and Alfred blinked his baby-blue eyes in confusion. He looked out the window again and frowned.

"I don't see anything out there that looks annoying, Artie…"

"Oh, trust me…" Arthur snorted. "It's closer than you think…"

…

The train ride was unbearably long, especially since Alfred's loud voice was constantly ringing in Arthur's ears for the entire trip. Once the train arrived, Arthur was the first at the compartment door and was out in seconds. However, much to his disappointment, Alfred had found him in due time and the two of them, along with Matthew, rode the first year boats together.

"This is such a huuuuuge lake!" Alfred gasped in excitement. "Mattie told me something about a giant squid living in it! Artie, do you think there's a squid in there?"

"First off, my name is Arthur," the Briton grunted, irritated. "And second, I wouldn't be surprised. There are quite a few magical beings living in Hogwarts and my siblings told me about the squid a few times. Most of the time, however, they were trying to scare me so I don't know how plausible that is."

Alfred blinked in response and then leaned over the boat, looking deep into the murky water.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see the squid!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and shook his head. The eleven-year-old American didn't seem to have much for brains, that was for sure.

In due time, the first year boats reached the shore and the new students were herded inside. They were met at the stairs by an old yet proud-looking woman and she led them to a pair of large doors, going over the basic process of how the houses worked. After that, all of the first years flooded into the Great Hall to begin sorting.

"That is so cool…" Alfred said in awe as he looked up at the ceiling, which had been charmed to look like the night sky. Candles floated above everyone's head, obviously charmed as well.

"You're from a Muggle family, are you?" Arthur asked. "This sort of thing is normal for me… But I have to admit, they know how to decorate."

"Muggle?" Alfred asked. "What's a muggle?"

"Non-magical folk," the Briton responded. "People who don't use magic."

"Oh, then yeah," Alfred said. "My parents don't use magic at all. So yeah, they're… what's that word again?"

"Muggles. They're muggles."

"What does make me?"

"Muggle-born. Unfortunately, certain people like to refer to muggle-born people in harsh, discriminatory names."

"Like what?"

Before Arthur could respond, the sorting began. Everyone fell quiet and listened carefully as students were called up and sorted. The two waited patiently for their turns, taking note of the students that were being called up.

"Beilschmidt, Ludwig!"

A tall blonde boy with a serious expression walked up and sat on the stool, showing no nervousness as the hat was placed on his head. The hat seemed to mutter to itself for a bit until resting on a decision.

"Slytherin!"

A loud cheer erupted from the Slytherin table, where an albino second year had gotten to his feet and was waving his arms in the air out of excitement. The blonde stalked over to the table and forced the albino, most likely his older brother, to sit back down.

"Bonnefoy, Francis!"

A boy with wavy blonde hair took a seat proudly, smirking confidently as the hat was placed on his head.

"Slytherin!"

Arthur watched in disgust as Francis strutted over to the table, making sure to flounce as much as he could.

"He's French…" the Briton growled.

"How do you know?" the American asked.

"I can just sense the French dripping off of him…"

The two then turned their attention back to the front as another student was called.

"Braginski, Ivan!"

A cheerful-looking boy with silvery hair and a scarf wrapped around his neck then took a seat on the stool, smiling happily to himself. The hat had barely touched his head when it cried out the name of the house,

"Slytherin!"

"Did you see that?" Alfred gasped, his mouth hanging open like a dead fish. "It barely touched him!"

"Shush," the Briton whispered. "Just keep watching."

After a short wait, another name was called.

"Honda, Kiku!"

A small, timid Japanese boy emerged from the crowd and took a seat, immediately being deemed a Ravenclaw. It wasn't soon after that Alfred was called up and he raced away with a bright smile on his face after wishing Arthur luck. As expected, Alfred was placed in Gryffindor and the hyper American raced off to the house's table.

"Kirkland, Arthur!"

Arthur almost felt like his heart had jumped into his mouth. He slowly walked up to the stool and sat down, trying not to fidget as the hat was placed on his head. He flinched (although he would never admit it later in life) when it started moving around and thinking of what house to put the Briton in. It kept mumbling to itself, going back and forth with three of the houses, not really knowing what to set on. After having a good debate with itself, the hat finally chose a house.

"Ravenclaw!"

Arthur let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and proudly made his way to the Ravenclaw table. He took a seat next to Kiku Honda and turned to the Japanese boy, smiling in greeting.

"Hello, my name's Arthur Kirkland."

"I am Kiku Honda," the boy greeted. "Hajimemashite."

"Do you know why there's a bunch of new students from outside the country?" Arthur asked. "I met with an American earlier and I was wondering…"

"I do not know either, Kirkland-san," Kiku responded as the sorting went on. "I believe it may be some sort of exchange program but I was never informed of why I came here."

"Well, in any case, I'm still excited to be making new friends," Arthur smiled. "Maybe this year, I'll learn more than magic."

Kiku smiled back at the Briton, though his smile was small and soft.

"Potter, Harry!"

The entire hall fell silent and Arthur twisted himself around so that he was facing the sorting area. A small, fragile looking boy with scruffy black hair and round-rimmed glasses timidly approached the stool, sitting on it carefully. Could it be the Boy-Who-Lived?

"I can't believe it…" Arthur whispered to Kiku. "The Boy-Who-Lived at this very school…"

"I never would have guessed it either, Kirkland-san," Kiku muttered. "I've only heard stories about him. I never imagined that I would see him. Where I live, he's akin to a legend…"

"A real legend, at that," Arthur breathed, watching as the shy boy had the hat placed on his head. "I wonder where it will put him…"

"Who can say?" the Japanese boy asked. "Though, I can just feel the anticipation building in here…"

Arthur nodded and watched as the hat struggled to find a house for the dark-haired boy. In fact, it seemed like it was taking longer than when Arthur had been sitting under the hat. Everyone watched in silence as the hat muttered to itself, trying hard to make a decision. Then, without warning, it yelled out…

"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table erupted with applause and cheers as the great Harry Potter went to join their ranks. Arthur could also see Alfred cheering along with the others of his house, even though he probably didn't know much about the story of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"I'm looking forward to this year," Arthur smiled to Kiku as the sorting went on.

"Why is that?"

"Because I get the feeling that things are going to grow very interesting…"

So the hat taking a while to choose what house Artie goes in is basically how I was when trying to settle on a house for him. I had NO idea what to do with Artie. I had three choices: Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. He has qualities from those three houses so it made it really hard to choose. But I settled on Ravenclaw because I see Arthur as a very intellectual person. =) Hope you enjoyed this! Hopefully, there shall be more to come!