Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi. I'm just borrowing them and I highly recommend the originals!

Harry Potter and the Exchange Students – Chapter 1

Harry Potter looked up as the door to his train car opened. He shifted slightly, comforted by the familiar feel of his wand near his hand. He didn't mean to be suspicious but his experiences on the train to Hogwarts so far hadn't been good. Taunts from Draco Malfoy were, of course, expected, but had already occurred. The last time he'd had an unexpected visit on the train it had been dementors, not something he really wanted to repeat. So he was a little surprised when several older girls he didn't recognize poked their heads into the doorway.

"Hello," the girls with blue, BLUE, hair greeted them softly, an unfamiliar accent adding to the strangeness. "May we join you? Some rather rude boy took over our cabin while we were in the restroom."

"I still say we should have just kicked his albino butt out of it," a tall brunet interjected.

"We talked about this Lita!" a pretty blonde said, rolling her eyes. "We're here as foreign students representing our government. If we get into a fight before we even get to the school it'll reflect poorly on all of us."

"Besides, Meiou-Sensei would get mad at us if we messed things up so quickly," the other blonde, her hair in pigtails, piped up.

Harry blinked a few times as he processed their conversation.

"I'm not sure there is enough space," Hermione said, having had no trouble following their words. "Even if we could bond over desires to hit Draco Malfoy."

"Not a problem," the fifth girl, the one with long black hair, said with a casual wave of her wand. A strangely warm rush of magic passed by them as the carriage was expanded slightly to fit the newcomers.

"Show off!" the pig-tailed girl exclaimed.

"Just because you can't do it," the other girl retorted as they all entered the train car.

"I'm Lita," the tall girl said introducing herself. "There are my friends, Ami (blue hair), Mina (first blonde), Serena (blonde pigtails) and Rei (black hair)."

There was a quick chorus of voices as everyone introduced themselves. He was relieved when they showed no obvious signs of recognizing him, they didn't even take a second look, much less try to see if they could make out the scar under his bangs.

"Were you saying you're exchange students?" Hermione asked excitedly. "Hogwarts A History doesn't mention anything like that."

"Yes," Ami confirmed. "We're going to complete our final year of magic schooling here. Our teacher decided that this would be a good way to learn about other magical cultures and allow us experience acting as diplomats before we come of age."

"Really?" Hermione leaned forward with a spark of joy in her eyes. She did love to learn new things. "How does our schooling differ?"

Ami smiled, recognizing a kindred spirit, "In Japan, and most of Asia, we use an apprentice system. Magic is identified as soon as a child is enrolled in traditional 'muggle' school, they then receive extra classes outside that. If you're lucky you'll enter an apprenticeship with a master. This usually only happen in established magical families unless you're very powerful or talented."

"Extra classes?" Hermione stared. "You get to have BOTH magical and muggle classes?"

"Oh yes. Individual experiences differ of course. 'Purebloods', as you call them, often don't attend muggle school past junior high, what would be 3rd year here. Or they attend schools that offer both classes and will take almost solely magical courses. It's why magicals in Asia tend to be able to blend in with non-magicals easier than other countries."

Harry watched fascinated as Ron's eyes glazed over as soon as the words 'extra classes' came out of Hermione's mouth. He was sort of interested in what they were discussing, but felt he needed to save his friend. He was somewhat thankful when he noticed similar expressions in the faces of the other girls, the one with pigtails, Serena, was almost as bad as Ron.

He leaned forward towards her since she was sitting across from him, "Do you have magical sports? Quidditch is very popular here. I've also heard of something called Quodpot, I think?"

"I don't really play sports," Serena answered. "I like watching them though. Lita plays basketball."

Lita perked up, "We don't have magical team sports like that. We usually play non-magical sports like basketball. We have other athletic activities like archery and kendo. Rei is actually a champion archer. She's also found ways to use magic to augment her skills."

"Oh?" Ron blinked as his eyes came back into focus. "Quidditch is the best!"

Harry smiled as he let the conversations wash over him, sometimes pitching in a little to one or the other. The rest of the train ride went smoothly, the golden trio separating from the Japanese girls as they left the train. The girls were going with the first years, since they were going to be sorted after them.

End - Chapter 1

REVIEWS INSPIRE ME!

So… I've found myself starting several new stories, handwriting them first. I have all sorts of intentions to finish my other stories. I've started new chapters, but am nowhere near finishing a chapter for any of them. This is a story that's been in the back of my mind for years, I hope you all like it. I decided to go with the English versions of their names, it wasn't easy to decide.