(Disclaimer: I don't own any of the CMBYN or Harry Potter characters, nor do I make any money from this.)
A/N:
Hi there :)
This is an AU in which Elio is a student at Hogwarts and Oliver the art history teacher. There will be some magic, obviously, and the story sort of follows the main events of the CMBYN film. I didn't read the book, so there might be some deviations when it comes to the characters' feelings and actions.
Elio is still 17 in this story, so underage, while Oliver is around 30.
English is not my mother language, so if you find any spelling/grammar mistakes, feel free to tell me.
Any kind of Feedback is always appreciated,
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
"Hogwarts. One of the oldest and well-renowned schools for wizards and witches. Hogwarts has been home to some of the most brightest and famous minds of the whole world… They don't particularly spare with compliments, do they?" Elio said and scrunched his nose at the paper in his hands.
Mr. Perlman looked at him through the rear mirror. A faint smile was playing on his lips and he seemed amused with his son's demeanour. "Shouldn't you know that thing by heart by now?"
But Elio didn't pay any attention to him.
"Just listen to this!", he continued to read from the paper: "…home to some of the most brightest and famous minds of the world, like Albus Dumbledore, defeater of Gellert Grindelwald, awarded order of Merlin first class, blah blah blah, later on Headmaster of Hogwarts. Survivor and defeater of Lord Voldemort: Harry Potter, as well as current Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger." He shook his head. "The list goes on and on. But not a word mentioned about the fact that they also educated Voldemort."
"Well, who would write that into an info letter?" His mother chuckled. "Come, give that to me. You've done enough complaining."
"I'm not complaining! I'm just…analytical. That's all."
Mrs. Perlman rolled her eyes at him. "Just wait and see. Maybe it's not so bad after all."
"I wasn't saying it's bad." Elio mumbled, as he looked out of the car window and watched the passing traffic. London was just as grey and rainy and full of people as he had expected it to be. It didn't do much to lift his already bad mood.
"He's just scared that his nose will be running for the next two years." Mr. Perlman grinned, as he pulled onto the parking area of the Londoner train station.
Elio snorted. "Yeah, right. You do realize that you could be sending me to the outmost part of Scotland? Where ever that blasted school even lies."
"Oh, darling." His mother sighed and tousled his curly dark hair. "I'm sure, there will be enough going on inside the school to let you forget about the bad weather. And it's only two more years after all."
Elio hummed half-hearted. He knew he had to stop with all the complaining. He could already see the first signs of worry in his mother's eyes, although she knew just as much as he did that there was really no reason to worry about him. Elio wasn't afraid of starting at a new school or making new friends. He had never been angry that they were moving around so much. The career of his father had given him the opportunity to experience growing up in many different cultures and it certainly was nothing he regretted. But as exciting the opportunity of his father teaching and researching at the University of Cambridge had sounded in the beginning, Elio still found it rather difficult to feel at home in England. Hogwarts itself sounded exciting, of course, but just the thought of its location, somewhere in Scotland, made his stomach turn.
"I guess, I just have to learn how to forget about Italy." He sighed, when they came to a halt and he climbed out of the car.
Mrs. Perlman put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him with her, while his father loaded his case and owl onto a cart. "You are just idealizing it, dear. And it's about the school anyway, isn't it? Just think about all the new friends you are going to make! And all the different subjects! They even offer an art history class! Remember you were all excited about that?"
Elio had to admit the thought about an art history class in a school where everything else revolved entirely around magic sounded great, to say the least. In his last school in Italy the closest thing to "arts" had been an extracurricular choir course. Which had only been for girls. Yes, art history classes sounded like heaven in comparison.
"So, where is that entry?" Mr. Perlman asked aloud what they were all thinking, when they arrived at the platform.
He was a muggle, just as his wife. But the two, being historians and thus curious about everyone and everything, had quickly come to learn everything about the wizarding world. For a few years now it had been tradition that Elio would send them as many books as he could get his hands on. But now that they were standing on the platform between nine and ten, he was just as lost as they were.
"It says to go through the hidden gate between platform nine and ten." His mother read from the paper.
"Well, there's just a wall!" Mr. Perlman huffed.
"Dear, shouldn't you know by now that in Elio's world, nothing is as it seems?" Mrs. Perlman walked passed him and curiously searched the wall. And to their collective astonishment, her hand disappeared right through the bricks. "I am brilliant." She whispered to herself, before she turned around and waved the two men over to her. "Come on, now! Or Elio's going to miss his train!"
Mr. Perlman shook his head in admiration. "That woman."
He pushed the cart towards the wall and Elio followed, suddenly feeling much more light-hearted than before.
Going through the secret passage was like stepping through any ordinary door, with the only exception that in one moment Elio was marching straight ahead into a wall of bricks and in the next moment he was standing on a different platform. His eyes immediately landed on a scarlet-red locomotive that was blowing thick clouds of white steam into the air. A dizzying amount of people in strange robes and with wands and owl-cages in their hands were swarming the platform like excited bees, and although Elio had felt rather depressed only minutes ago, he could no longer fight the rising excitement in his stomach at the sight of all the wizards and witches around him. Finally, there was some real anticipation for the new school. Maybe this was a new country, a new school, a new chapter in his life. But it was still his world. A world full of magic. He turned to his parents and smiled, because for the first time in weeks he had the feeling that the last two years of school could actually turn out to be quite interesting.