Author's Note: To go along with Pacific Rim canon, there will be points when Hermann and Newt speak German, to each other or otherwise. Rather than state this every time or try and use a translator, and in turn make many of you translate, I am going to use standard quotation marks for English ( " " ) and a symbol I found that works for German ( ‹‹ ›› ). I don't plan on saying this at the beginning of every chapter, but I will at least do it on chapters where I use heavy German.
There are more spoiler-y notes at the end of the chapter. Thank you to my wonderful beta Aino who is always available to listen to me rant about headcanons and bounce ideas off.
To: Headmistress Minerva McGonagall›
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Scotland
From: Hermann Gottlieb
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Dear Headmistress McGonagall,
I am a student at the Durmstrang Institute and will be commencing my third year this September. I would like to request permission to transfer to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for this coming year. While my siblings all attend Durmstrang and wish to continue to do so, my father will be stationed in London for the foreseeable future, qualifying each of us to study at Hogwarts.
While Durmstrang is an exemplary institution in many regards, it lacks the specialties in Transfiguration and Arithmancy which I wish to pursue. As I will have the necessary location to attend Hogwarts as of this summer, I hope you consider my request to transfer.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Regards,
Hermann Gottlieb
Hermann sealed the letter and attached it to his owl. She ruffled her grey feather, holding out a leg obligingly.
‹‹Meet me in London, Rosalind,›› he said, rubbing his fingers on her head. She hooted softly and flew out the window of their now empty home. She was a smart bird, she would find her way back with ease. His mother had trained all of her owls well. She was born without magic – which he vastly preferred over the term squib – but had a gift with the birds that always hinted at a different manifestation of magic in it of itself.
He looked around the empty room he had been raised in. He picked up the box his father had charmed to hold all of his things and walked downstairs.
Bastien and Dietrich were in the hall from the kitchen to the side door. Bastien sitting on the edge of his trunk, Dietrich leaning against the wall with his broom tucked snuggly against his armpit. Bastien had been packed and ready to start his first year at Durmstrang since May. Now August, he wasn't any less prepared to move, and, much to Father's pleasure, he had no intentions of attending Hogwarts after the relocation.
Hermann still hadn't shared his own plans.
‹‹Didn't father say to pack inconspicuously?›› he asked, setting his cardboard box next to their trunks.
‹‹Didn't the law say you aren't supposed to use magic until you graduate?›› Dietrich retorted.
‹‹Father did the charm,›› Hermann answered dismissively.
‹‹Yes, and you expect me to believe he was prepared for you to put your trunk into that small, beat up box?››
‹‹I expanded on it. I don't see a problem.››
‹‹I could report you.››
‹‹It's not like you have any power.›› Dietrich had graduated in the spring and immediately started working for the Department of Magic Abuse and Misuse. If he was asked to take lunch orders, it was a busy day, and Hermann loved reminding Dietrich about how their father's infamous look of disappointment was no longer trained on himself.
‹‹I will before you graduate. Whether it's me or someone else, you won't slip under the radar forever. Mark my words.››
‹‹Boys, boys, can't we get along for our few hours left together?›› Karla commented as she came down the steps, maintaining her role as the eternal peace keeper of the four. ‹‹Dear Dietrich will be a big boy with his own apartment here in a few hours while we are all still condemned to live under the same roof as Lars Gottlieb for years longer yet.››
‹‹Oh stop complaining, you'll be free in two years. Some of us have more than a single summer left,›› Hermann complained.
Karla walked over to Hermann and put her duffle bag down next to his. She was by far the most connected to the muggle world of all of them. She had also been the closest with their mother, and she had made a point of learning about muggle culture and teaching any of her children who still cared enough to listen – just Hermann and Karla in the end. Hermann had been too young to appreciate it when she died, but he was beginning to realize how caught between the magic of her pureblood family that she wished she had and the obliviousness of the muggles to the magic surrounding them she craved just as much.
It had been 3 years now, and in a way, Karla had taken her place. She didn't mother them, but she insisted on bringing muggle items into the house. She taught Hermann how they worked at night and disassembled them in her free time. She used magic to improve their technology and their technology to improve her magic. Lars hated it. Hermann suspected that was half the pleasure for her.
She was also the only one who knew of Hermann's plans to transfer. He didn't doubt she wouldn't do the same if she had more than two years left. It was difficult for her to learn what she wanted at such an anti-muggle school, but it provided her a great opportunity to cause trouble.
‹‹Hopefully it will be sooner. You could always get lucky and graduate early, start your own life.›› Attend another school. It wasn't spoken, but they both knew it was the truth. Lars wouldn't hesitate to ostracize him if he stopped attending Durmstrang. Summer vacation was going to be brutal from here on out.
‹‹I can't even use magic until I'm 17. How could I venture off on my own?››
‹‹Exceptions to every rule.››
‹‹I'm not exceptional.›› Karla choked on her breath at this, trying to hold back laughter. She was about to reply when Lars walked through the footsteps. Dietrich and Bastien had long since started their own conversation, and it too ceased the second they realized his presence.
‹‹I told you to pack inconspicuously,›› Lars said to Karla.
"This is inconspicuous," she replied switching to English to irritate him. He merely rolled his eyes, apparently deciding it was not worth the fight on moving day. "I wasn't sure how we would be traveling, and at least I can explain to wizards that it's a form of magical bag. It'd be much harder to pass off something – say a broomstick – to muggles, don't you think?"
Dietrich shifted uncomfortably when his father's gaze trained on him.
‹‹Yes what do you plan to do about that?›› he asked his eldest son.
‹‹I can disillusion it. That was always the plan for my broom and trunk.›› Bastien nudged him, a nervous look on his face. ‹‹Bastien's too,›› he added. ‹‹He has to go further, but there is really no reason to ask him to repack, Father.››
"Kiss ass," Karla muttered. Hermann cringed, hoping his father wouldn't understand. The four of them spoke far better English than their father, so there was hope.
‹‹We do not speak English in this household,›› he finally snapped. It appeared he missed what she said, but Lars was still going to keep control of the situation.
"Just trying to remain inconspicuous, Father. Fly under the radar. We are moving to England, after all." With that she slipped past him and opened the door.
‹‹We should be going. I get motion sick if we still have to travel in the dark.›› Hermann was relieved when she finally switched to German. He sometimes worried about his sister's fate after her graduation. Lars wouldn't have to put up with her after she turned 17.
‹‹Won't we get there with plenty of time? It isn't that far,›› Bastien chimed up, an expectant smile on his face. He looked between Dietrich and Lars, eager for the praise he lived off.
‹‹Have to drop me off,›› Dietrich said, reaching down to ruffle his hair, ‹‹but you should still be okay.››
His father nodded. He waved his wand, and the curtains in the kitchen flew shut, blocking out the remaining light. Karla held open the door for the four of them, Hermann leaving last. He looked behind them with a small smile. He was done with them. He was truly going to have his chance to be free of Lars this year. He wasn't sure what it would cost him, but surely he would be safe at Hogwarts, the school that accepted not only muggle-borns, but his magicless mother as one in the same.
Karla let the door slam behind them, draping an arm over Hermann's shoulders.
"Onward and forward, little brother. Onward and forward."
Dear Mr. Gottlieb,
I have reviewed your request and am happy to let you know you have been approved to transfer on account of your mother's excellent history with the school.
Enclosed is a list of materials we request every student provides and a train ticket for the Hogwarts Express. You are expected to arrive at Platform 9 and ¾ no later than 11:00 am. The train will not wait for you. Upon your arrival, do not board the boats with the first year students but the carriages. Professor Mori will be waiting for your arrival and to go into more detail on how your situation will be handled.
We look forward to your arrival.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Headmistress
‹‹Absolutely not!›› Lars yelled, pacing cross the kitchen floor of their new home. He kicked one of the empty boxes that had been transported the muggle way. It skidded across the floor to join a large pile of collapsed boxes that still needed to be recycled.
‹‹It's done, Father. I've talked to both schools, and everyone agrees it is for the best. Durmstrang is not where I belong,›› Hermann replied, doing his best to remain calm. He choked back tears. He would not let his father have the satisfaction of that weakness.
‹‹Gottliebs belong at Durmstrang. They have for generations.››
‹‹And Renalds belong at Hogwarts. Everyone in Mother's family attended–››
‹‹You are a Gottlieb, not a Renald,›› Lars interrupted. ‹‹You know nothing about your mother or her family. You know nothing about Hogwarts. You belong where people can keep an eye on you.››
‹‹I know that Stacker Pentecost is one of the most revolutionary transfigurists to walk the planet. He has done more research than anyone else. He can help me.››
‹‹Help you?››
‹‹You need to accept that I can do this. Please, Father. I want to learn to control it.››
‹‹You told me you had it under control.››
‹‹I can do better. I have to learn.››
‹‹Learn to be a freak?›› Lars's eyes held fury and he took a step towards Hermann.
‹‹Learn to be a metamorphagi, to take advantage of my powers instead of fearing them.››
‹‹You talk about your gifts, but you are a freak, a mistake. You shouldn't be like this. Normal wizards can't change their looks at will.››
‹‹Mother wasn't a normal witch!››
‹‹Your mother wasn't a witch at all! You are a mutation and an embarrassment to the Gottlieb name. Just like her.››
The cabinets behind them exploded, dozens of plates, teacups, and bowls flying at his father. He deflected them with ease, and Hermann raised his hands to protect his face.
‹‹You can't even control your magic. You can't–››
‹‹I can't control it because I spend all of my energy choking down what is a part of me. I am going to Hogwarts and I am going to actually learn. I will learn from the best, from those who took in my freak of a mother and taught her she could be accepted.››
‹‹You think they accepted her? They shunned her. She cleaned the owleries. She didn't take classes.››
‹‹Things change.››
‹‹Not that much.›› Lars took a step towards Hermann who immediately took a step back. ‹‹You go. You'll see. Things never change. Maybe this is a lesson you need to teach yourself.››
‹‹She wasn't a freak. Say it. You've changed in the past three years. You think Dietrich is the only one who remembers, but Karla and I remember the day. We saw what you did. I don't care if she volunteered. Karla is right. You killed her. You killed her, but you once loved her. You once loved all of us.››
‹‹You have no idea what you are talking about.›› Lars grabbed his arm, digging his fingers into the flesh above his elbow. ‹‹You have no idea what I went through.››
‹‹You murdered my mother trying to bring out her magic. Karla told me you came to accept her lack of magic, but it always bothered you, didn't it?›› Hermann challenged. He could be hurtful. He had learned from the best. ‹‹You live with that, though. You call me a freak. You keep pushing me away, pushing all of us away, and you will see that Karla and I? We're all you have left of her. Dietrich is your son through and through, and Bastien? Maybe he will come to his own. Maybe he will continue to follow Dietrich. But you have lost us.››
Lars released his arm and shoved him away, but Hermann kept standing. His eyes were burning again, but not out of a threat of crying, rather changing shape and color to be brown and friendly like his mother's over cold and blue like his father's.
‹‹Do you even remember what I look like? How you told me to change when she died? I wasn't a freak then.››
‹‹You don't deserve to live in my house,›› he snapped.
‹‹Tomorrow at 11 I'm gone then. I'll ask Karla to come. She's the only one who will be able to figure out muggle transportation anyway. No one else cares.››
Hermann walked up stairs, collapsing against the railing, the adrenaline flooding out of him. Karla walked over and sat next to him.
"You're braver than I am."
"I'm dumber than you are," he replied. "I have years to spend here still."
"You can spend summers with me," she offered, leaning against his shoulder. "Until then, we have each other."
"Maybe nine and a half months will be long enough for him to forget."
"He doesn't forget." Hermann nodded, and they sat there in silence for a moment, listening to their father working downstairs, the tinkle of repairing china by magic, the slam of cabinet doors as he put them away by hand.
"I've missed those eyes," Karla whispered, closing her own. "Oh how I have missed those eyes."
Author's Note: So I will be mixing Pacific Rim characters and Harry Potter characters. There will be names you recognize from both, but as this falls between the Golden Trio and Next Generation, it will primarily be professors or relatives used from the HP universe.
That being said, this is primarily going to focus on Newt and Hermann. Newt identifies as genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns and Hermann identifies as bigender but does not yet to label himself as such. Also, Hermann has yet to sustain his injury. I'm not ignoring it, I swear. I just have plans for it.
I have two more chapters written and one will go up this weekend. I hope to establish a regular schedule once my classes settle down a bit.
