Two things!
1. You do not have to have read/watched the Harry Potter series to understand this story. However, if you haven't read/watched the series and are confused about anything, feel free to ask!
2. This story will be updated once every three days until the final chapter is uploaded. If you wish to read the completed fic, it is available on ao3 (link on my profile).
Journey to Hogwarts
Yukimura Seiichi
Yukimura Seiichi and Sanada Genichirou were proud to say that they were not perfectly normal, thank you very much. At first glance, they looked like the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, but that was as far from the truth as you could get. Despite their age and their ability to easily please any adults around them, they were special, even within the magical community. Both boys were wizards of the brightest kind and they were perfectly happy that way.
On September first, the two young boys made their way through the crowded train station toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Their family lingered several feet behind, the men with their son's trolleys, which held stacks of heavy leather chests and mismatching bags stuffed to the brim with the boys' belongings. Feather quills stuck out of Yukimura's satchel and a small, black, pewter cauldron sat cushioned between two of Sanada's overstuffed bags. To those passing by, they must have looked awfully strange, but the boys were unbothered by strange things and what other people thought of them.
A small girl with the most peculiar blue clutched the sleeve of her mother's blouse. "Why are people staring?" the girl asked quietly.
"Because I'm so good looking," an older boy replied, turning to smile at the young girl, who giggled.
The girl's mother laughed and put an arm around her daughter. "Akiteru, don't go spreading lies."
"That's cold, Mrs. Yukimura," Akiteru said.
Sanada Akiteru was walking between the adults and the two boys, and he pushed his own trolley. He was a handsome boy with dark hair and a hard face, a more matured version of his younger brother Genichirou, who still had a child's face and turned red if you pointed it out. On one of Akiteru's bags was a large, perfectly shined purple badge with a large P, and on top of his chest was a rattling cage that contained an overly vocal owl.
"It's Akiteru's owl—most muggles don't see owls every day like we do," Mrs. Yukimura explained to her daughter as they hurried along. "We can buy you one when you go to school, if you want. We said the same thing to Seiichi, but he said he didn't want one. What was your reason, Seiichi?"
But Yukimura was not listening. He had already seen the platform barrier and ran ahead of Sanada, who hurried to keep up. The two boys stopped in front of the brick barrier and silently stared at it while their families caught up with them.
They had both gone through the platform before when sending off Akiteru to school, but they had never passed through with the intention of boarding the scarlet train on the other side. Yukimura felt like he had been waiting his whole life to board that train and attend the famed school—Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Akiteru was the first to reach the two boys, who were still staring at the barrier between platforms nine and ten with silence looks of awe.
"It's not going to bite you, Gen," Akiteru said to his younger brother with a teasing smile.
"I know that," the younger boy grumbled, a faint dusting of red covering his cheeks. "I've gone through it before…"
Yukimura turned to his childhood friend and smiled brightly, unable to contain his excitement. "Let's go together, then, one right after the other. I can go first if you're scared."
"I'm not scared!"
"Then go before Seiichi," Akiteru said.
The rest of the their family members arrived, though the two families spent so much time together that they as well have been one large family. It certainly felt that way to Yukimura.
"Akiteru, don't you have to board the train early since you're a prefect?" Mrs. Sanada asked with a stern expression.
Prefect. The word made Yukimura and Sanada share an exasperated look.
Since their letters arrived, Akiteru's containing a prefect badge, the two boys had had to suffer through Akiteru's constant bragging that he was a prefect. He constantly teased Sanada, who, according to Akiteru, had a lot to live up to.
Sanada's brother was already a fifth year at school and was part of the family house, Slytherin. It was the house their parents had been in, and their parents before them, and their parents as far back as they have had magic in their blood. They were not a truly pure-blood family like the Yukimura's—some muggles were in the Sanada family tree as well as a few squibs and many half-bloods—but they might as well have been pure-bloods. Their roots grew from magic older than many of the remaining pure-blood families.
And now, on top of all of that, Akiteru was a prefect.
Akiteru looked panicked when he realized his mother was right and he did indeed need to board the train early. He left his trolley with the caged owl for a few short moments, just long enough to nod good-bye to his parents and the Yukimura's, and hug Yukimura's little sister good-bye.
Yukimura knew that his sister thought of Akiteru and Genichirou as her brothers; she was always upset when Akiteru left. Now, Yukimura and Sanada were leaving as well. Yukimura thought that she must be devastated.
The young girl looked ready to cry when Akiteru stood back up from their hug. Akiteru knelt down to her eye level and said, "I'll make sure to write if you do, okay?"
The girl nodded excitedly. "Okay!"
Akiteru hugged her once more before standing. He grabbed his cart and, sending Sanada a smug smirk, ran straight towards the brick wall. He passed through as if the wall was never there.
"Are you boys ready?" Mr. Yukimura asked. The boys nodded and their fathers came forward their trolleys, which weighed nearly as much as the boys who grasped the handles and pointed them to the barrier.
"Be careful, they're heavy," Mr. Sanada said.
"Best to go at a run," Mr. Yukimura added.
"Don't run into each other on the other side," Mrs. Sanada cautioned.
"We'll be right behind you, boys," Mrs. Yukimura finished with a warm smile.
Yukimura smiled at Sanada and said, "You go first, Genichirou."
Sanada nodded then, with a determined look, took off towards the barrier at a bit of a run, closing his eyes in preparation for impact, before the front of his cart passed through without a problem. The cart disappeared, then the boy.
Yukimura did not wait to follow, running straight at the wall, eyes opened wide as he passed through the enchanted barrier and exited on the other side to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. He nearly drove his cart into Sanada's back, but Yukimura skillfully avoided the collision and slowed to a stop next to his friend.
Sanada stood silently once again, staring, and Yukimura understood why. The Hogwarts Express was right there in front of them and they were finally boarding it. It was a dream Yukimura often had, but now it was finally a reality and he could not believe it.
"We should move before our parents come through," Yukimura said. Sanada nodded in agreement and the two boys, with some difficulty, moved their heavy trolleys to the side.
Their families came through together, one after another, joining their sons and directing them to the loading dock so their things could be placed aboard the train. Prefects directed the process, helping muggle-borns that looked like startled owls and their parents who looked none the wiser. Yukimura saw no sign of Akiteru, though Yukimura was far too busy looking at the train to look for the older boy.
Mrs. Yukimura smiled. "Go ahead and board, Seiichi. Find a compartment with Genichirou. Make some friends."
Yukimura smiled at his mother. "We'll make sure to say good-bye before the train leaves." He turned to Sanada and said, "Let's go."
Sanada nodded. His mother handed him a bag with his and Yukimura's unmarked robes, said, "Watch out for yourself," and kissed his cheek. Sanada blushed as he walked alongside Yukimura, who smiled happily.
The train was larger on the inside than it was on the outside. They passed two Hufflepuffs who were playing Exploding Snap on the floor of a compartment and Gryffindors who were chasing one another down the hallway firing spells. Sparks curled and flew inches from Yukimura's ear and laughter carried down the halls. Ravenclaws played wizards' chess in another compartment, an older student gathering money as the bystanders took bets on who would win.
Despite the chaos, Yukimura and Sanada managed to find an empty compartment and shut the door behind them. Padded seats with faded fabric lined either side of the compartment and a large window with the curtains drawn back overlooked the station below. The room was small yet spacious at the same time, with just enough room to stretch out their legs without bumping if they were sitting on opposite benches. Yukimura was sure that the older students with longer legs did not share the same sentiment.
Yukimura moved to open the window, sticking his upper half out to look for his family. "Genichirou, help me look."
Sanada said nothing, dropped his bag onto one bench, and appeared at Yukimura's side moments later.
As they scanned the platform, the train's whistle blew, high and long, with thick grayish smoke rolling off the front of the train like the metal machine was breathing. Students that had yet to board began to hurry for good-bye kisses, some lingering behind for one more hug, and all at once everyone seemed to rush onto the train with owls and cats in tow.
Unable to spot his family in the chaos, Yukimura frowned. He had wanted to see his sister before leaving. He hoped she would be okay. She was always complaining how lonely she was without Akiteru around. Without him and Sanada there…
"Found you guys!" Akiteru said from the hall. He was now wearing his Slytherin robes along with his prefect badge, which was pinned over his left breast near the house emblem, a twisted silver snake surrounded by emerald green.
Akiteru entered the compartment and, with great difficulty, squeezed his upper half out the window alongside the younger boys, trapping Sanada in-between him and Yukimura. Sanada grunted in discomfort as he moved, shifting in a futile effort to find more space. Akiteru spotted their families instantly in the mob and shouted to get their attention.
"Not in my ear," Sanada muttered.
Yukimura's younger sister bounded up to the side of the train, restrained only by her mother's gentle hand on her shoulder. Yukimura smiled and waved at his kid sister.
The train whistle hissed loudly overhead.
"Be good; stay out of trouble," Mrs. Yukimura said.
"When do we ever get into trouble?" Yukimura asked.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of both of them," Akiteru said. "Even if Gen's placed in Hufflepuff."
Yukimura chuckled. That was a funny picture.
"I won't be put in Hufflepuff of all places," Sanada said.
Suddenly, the train jerked forward; Yukimura almost cracked his head against the window. Slowly, the gears turned, spinning and whirring to life as smoke clouded the air, speeding up along with the sound of metal churns. The train was departing and Yukimura had nothing else to say because the excitement of it all left him thoughtless. He was heading to Hogwarts at last. He felt like he was going home, though he had never been there.
Seconds after the platform was out of earshot, Akiteru pulled his head inside and told the two boys he needed to attend a meeting in the first carriage and that he would see them later at the Sorting, if not before then.
Yukimura and Sanada continued to hang out the window and watch as the station disappeared. When the station was nothing more than an indistinguishable dot in the distance, the two boys settled into their seats.
Yukimura turned his head to Sanada to speak, but before the words could be formed, the door to their compartment opened. Yukimura half expected to see Akiteru standing there with a teasing smile, asking if Sanada was crying yet, but instead he saw an unimpressive scrawny boy with an awful haircut that looked like it belonged on one of his sister's dolls. The boy was already dressed in his black robes, which lacked a house sigil, meaning he was a first year like them. His hair was brown and his eyes were closed, which was rather odd even to Yukimura, who had grown up surrounded by oddities.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?" the boy asked.
Yukimura smiled and began to talk before Sanada had the chance to say no. "Of course," Yukimura said. The boy closed the door behind him then sat down next to Sanada. "I'm Yukimura, by the way, pure-blood. That's Sanada. Ignore what everyone says, he's also a pure-blood."
"My name is Yanagi. I'm a half-blood."
"Nice to meet you, Yanagi. How do you see if your eyes are closed?"
"Seiichi," Sanada hissed.
"I'm curious. Would you rather I not ask? I know you're thinking the same thing, Genichirou."
Yanagi smiled. "My eyes aren't actually closed. I'm very sensitive to light so I look down and keep them as close to shut as possible." As he talked, he opened his eyes, which were an ordinary brown but had something about them that caught Yukimura's interest.
Yukimura considered himself to be very good at reading people, at telling if they were special, if they were bound to do great things. He couldn't explain it, but he felt Yanagi was special. Or perhaps the excitement of it all was affecting his judgment. Only time would tell.
"The trolley should have come by now," Sanada said.
"Is your sweet tooth acting up?" Yukimura asked.
"I don't have a sweet tooth."
Yukimura smiled. "Well, I'm hungry too. I'm going to go find the trolley lady. Do you want to come with me?"
"I know you and you're going to get into trouble."
"No?"
"No."
Yukimura looked at Yanagi and asked him the same thing. Unlike Sanada, Yanagi nodded and stood to leave with Yukimura.
The train corridors were much calmer than they had been when they boarded, though students still walked up and down the length of the carts, stopping into compartments to reunite with old friends. Yukimura and Yanagi walked from carriage to carriage in search of the trolley. Towards the front of the train, they saw an elderly woman with a trolley cart talking to what looked like a conductor.
"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Yukimura smiled in the way he knew adults liked, especially older adults that liked to pinch his cheeks and say how he looked so pretty like a girl. He didn't like those adults. He asked, "Can we buy something? I think we missed the trolley."
"Sorry, dear, but a young man bought everything I had to sell."
Yukimura frowned. "Everything?"
"Yes. It was a boy a couple of carts down." The woman pointed in a direction as she spoke.
"Thank you anyways and have a good day."
Yukimura turned around towards the direction the woman had been pointing. He looked into each cart quickly as to not raise suspicion, but long enough to see if there was a trolley's worth pile of sweets inside.
Three carriages and twelve compartments later, Yukimura looked inside a compartment and saw four young boys with a large pile of candy and sweets on one of the two seats. One of the four boys Yukimura knew.
The boy had glasses and a serious look about him that had always reminded Yukimura of Sanada, who also wore a serious expression more often than not. His name was Tezuka and he came from a prominent magical family, though he was not a pure-blood. Yukimura, Sanada and Tezuka attended the same wizarding preparatory school as children, but Tezuka transferred to a larger school several years ago and Yukimura had not seen him since.
The other three boys were new faces to Yukimura. An arrogant-looking boy with new black robes sat with his back to the window and was concentrating on reading the back of a Chocolate Frog card. His intense demeanor disappeared when the boy next to him plucked the card straight from his hand. This second boy had curly blond hair, wore muggle clothes, and had several Jelly Slugs hanging from his mouth.
Yukimura knocked then entered the compartment.
"Hello, Tezuka," Yukimura said, smiling and waving. "Nice to see you again."
"Yukimura," Tezuka said.
"Yukimura?" the arrogant boy said. "From the pure-blood Yukimuras?"
"Yes," Yukimura said. "This is my friend, Yanagi. And who might you be?"
"Atobe Keigo."
That name sounded awfully familiar, but Yukimura could not remember why. It was one of the names his parents would scold him for not recognizing, he was sure of it.
"I'm Akutagawa, but you can just call me Jirou!" the blond boy said, his Jelly Slugs now in his lap. "Are you first years?"
Whether Akutagawa was bouncing with sugar energy or natural energy, Yukimura did not know, but he was certainly and quite literally bouncing.
"Yes, we are," Yanagi answered. "Are you?"
Akutagawa nodded, reaching into the large pile of candy on the seat. Akutagawa picked up a lollipop and offered it to the fourth boy in the compartment, who was sitting next to Tezuka. The boy was rather girlish looking, much like Yukimura was, with thin lips, pale brown hair, and startling blue eyes.
"No, thank you, Jirou," the boy said. Tezuka must have seen where Yukimura was looking because he gently nudged the blue-eyed boy with his elbow. "Ah, my name is Fuji. Nice to meet you both."
Akutagawa loudly unwrapped his lollipop and Yukimura remembered why they had come into his compartment in the first place.
"We were wondering if we could have some sweets," Yukimura said. He reached into his pocket for a small pouch stuffed with gold galleons. "I can pay."
"I already bought it and it's mine," Atobe said.
"You can have my share, Yukimura," Tezuka said. When Atobe glared fixedly at him, Tezuka said, "I told you I don't eat candy when you gave it to me. It'll be a waste to not eat it."
Atobe crossed his arms and pointedly did not looking at either Yukimura or Yanagi.
Yukimura gave Atobe several galleons for the sweets—rather, he had to give them to Tezuka to later give to Atobe, who refused to take them—and stuffed his pockets full of candies and treats and gathered as many as he could into his arms.
They returned to their compartment with their spoils, which they split equally between the three of them. They told Sanada what happened, including seeing Tezuka again.
"I wonder if he'll join his house team," was all Sanada said.
They then began to talk about Hogwarts and what they were looking forward to most. Yanagi was especially anxious about Defense Against the Dark Arts, listing off spells and techniques he hoped they would learn their first year while taking small bites of his Liquorice Wand. Yukimura talked for some length of time about Herbology and the plants he cared for at his home estate then switched topics to Quidditch and his favorite teams. Yanagi had more to say on academics than Quidditch, but Yukimura spoke enough for both of them when it came to Quidditch. Sanada remained silent for most of their conversation, quietly eating Pumpkin Pasties and reading his Chocolate Frog cards.
Yukimura reached into their pile of sweets and opened a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. He smiled at Sanada, who frowned.
"No," Sanada said, and then turned to Yanagi to explain. "Seiichi has a talent for finding the rarest, nastiest flavors."
"Flavors of what?" Yanagi asked.
"I thought you were a half-blood," Yukimura said.
"I am a half-blood."
"I just thought that every magical child had heard of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans."
"My parents didn't let me have sweets."
Yukimura reached into the box, tossed a purple bean in his mouth, and smiled. "Grape."
He offered the box to Sanada, who took it with a sigh and a muttered, "I will regret this." Sanada picked a bean at random and chewed it before he could regret his choice. He swallowed without vomiting, which was a good sign.
"Marshmallow," Sanada said, visibly relieved. He passed the box to Yanagi. "You can usually tell what flavor they are by looking at them long enough, but Seiichi will get mad at you."
"I will not," Yukimura said.
"You called me a pansy when I did it."
"That was Akiteru and it was because you were being a pansy."
"Oh," Yanagi said suddenly. His face had turned a startling shade of green.
"What flavor did you get?" Yukimura asked.
Yanagi sounded hesitant, "Soap?"
When Yanagi spoke, small white bubbles came out of his mouth. Yukimura was the first to laugh, but the other two were not far behind. Yanagi's laughter filled their compartment with tiny bubbles.
They ate candy until they were full and sated and were surrounded by a sizeable mountain of colorful trash. Yukimura found that talking to Yanagi was easy and enjoyable, and he had secretly begun to hope that the three of them would be placed into the same house.
Yukimura and Yanagi were in the middle of discussing wizards' chess strategies when they heard a knock on their compartment door. A female Slytherin prefect that reminded Yukimura of Fuji opened the door to their compartment.
"We'll be at Hogsmeade Station soon," the prefect told them. "Either find a bathroom and change into your robes or lock the door and change in here."
"We will," Yukimura said with a reassuring smile.
The prefect nodded, seemingly pleased with Yukimura's simple response and smile, as many adults were, and left their compartment to find the next group of first years.
"Do you mind if Genichirou and I change in here?" Yukimura asked Yanagi, though he looked at Sanada to see if his friend was alright with that. Even though Sanada would deny it if you asked him, he was shy and Yukimura had no intentions of putting his friend into an uncomfortable situation.
Sanada nodded subtly just as Yanagi answered, "Not at all."
Yukimura stood, locking the door, and pulled his change of robes from the bag Sanada had brought along. Sanada shifted his eyes to Yanagi hesitantly then, burning red for what Yukimura swore was the hundredth time that day, he lifted his shirt over his head. Yanagi politely averted his eyes, staring at what must have been a very fascinating spot on the wall.
The black robes were heavy and Yukimura's fingers kept slipping on the buttons of his shirt. Sanada seemed to struggle just as much if his muttered words were any indication of his progress. Yukimura's tie was currently in a knotted, ugly mess around his collar and looked nothing like it should. Yukimura frowned at his tie, glancing at Yanagi's for reference, and wondered if the boy used some kind of magic to make it look so perfect. Yukimura turned to Sanada, who had his tie perfectly done as well.
"My mom made Akiteru show me," Sanada said. He glanced at Yanagi and added, "My brother is a prefect for Slytherin."
"Prefect?" Yanagi questioned.
"Students with extra responsibility and power, like the girl who just came in. My brother was just excited about being able to use some secret bathroom."
How could a half-blood not know what a Hogwarts prefect was? Yukimura wondered if Yanagi's parents were separated and his muggle parent raised him, or if he was raised by muggles all together for some strange reason. It was also possible that Yanagi's family was not from this area and his parents attended another wizarding school.
"Genichirou, will you show me how to do my tie?"
"It's always weird to hear you ask for me help on something," Sanada said, probably more to himself than Yukimura, who smiled and thanked him for his help.
Sanada struggled slightly with Yukimura's tie. His entire face was scrunched together like he had just eaten something sour, but Yukimura knew that meant Sanada was concentrating very hard. Several failed attempts later Yukimura had a semi-presentable tie.
But before Sanada and Yukimura could even sit back down, there was loud, heavy banging on the door.
"What is it now?" Yanagi asked.
"At least things are interesting," Yukimura said, smiling.
Sanada opened the door to their compartment and two first years in black robes rushed inside without saying anything. There was a tall lanky black boy with no hair who had a panicked look about him. The other boy was considerably shorter and had startling red hair that reminded Yukimura of a chili-flavored Bertie Bott's bean.
Once inside, the two boys forcibly closed the compartment door and the black boy peered outside by moving the curtains slightly. They were both panting heavily.
"Are you alright?" Yukimura asked with a concerned frown. "Do you want me to find a prefect?"
The black boy got a panicked look—more panicked than before, at least—that resembled a centaur in headlights. "No," he said quickly. "Anything but another prefect."
"What happened?"
The redhead grinned wickedly. "I'm a bloody genius is what happened."
"Bloody idiot," the black boy snapped. "He looked like he was going to kill us."
"I told you I could do it and you didn't believe me. I'm a genius."
"You hexed a prefect!"
Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi shared a silent look then whipped their heads back to the two boys. Yukimura was eager to hear more. Even Sanada seemed to crane forward to make sure he heard every word.
The redhead looked out into the hall. "He's passing by! We're safe." He turned to the black boy and said, "See? I told you it would be fine."
"I hate you. I've known you for a few hours, and I hate you."
"C'mon, don't say that. Hate is such a strong word. Besides, it was a good hex, wasn't it?"
Yukimura was even more curious now and again asked, "What happened?"
It was the redheaded boy who spoke. "Jackal here didn't believe me when I said I could do a Bat-Bogey Hex. So I took out my wand and because I'm a genius, I cast the hex."
"He cast it right as the prefect came in to tell us something," Jackal said. "I thought he was going to hex my legs off!"
"But he didn't, so it's all good. Oh, and I'm Marui, in case you were wondering what the name of Hogwarts' newest—"
"If you say genius, I'll hex you," Jackal cut in.
Amused, Yukimura extended his hand to Marui. "I'm Yukimura, pure-blood. That's Sanada, also pure-blood, and Yanagi, half-blood."
Marui did not take his hand. "Blood status isn't that important to me."
Yukimura was taken aback. It was not important to him either, not really. He had been raised tolerant of muggle-borns and squibs and everything in-between. It was simply that that was how he was taught to introduce himself and that he was to be proud of his heritage. Was there anything wrong with that?
"I'm sorry if it sounded like I care about that," Yukimura said truthfully, lowering his hand to his side. "I don't. Honestly."
"Then why'd you mention it?"
"I… don't know."
Marui squinted intently at him for a brief moment then shrugged easily. "Okay. We're cool, then. Jackal's cool, too."
"I'm right here," Jackal said. "I can speak for myself."
Marui ignored him. "Is it okay if we hang out here? That prefect is out for my head. Sure hope I'm not placed into Ravenclaw with him. Jackal, you'd take a hex for me, wouldn't you?"
"No," Jackal replied flatly.
"You can stay in here," Yukimura said. Yanagi nodded in agreement and Sanada did not oppose, which Yukimura knew was as close to agreeing as he would come.
Marui glanced at the pile of trash and sweets. "Wait. Are you the jerks who bought the entire trolley?"
"No," Yukimura said. "Would you like some? I think we have a few things left."
If Marui drooled anymore than he did, he would have flooded the compartment.
When the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station, everyone was ordered to leave the train and step onto a tiny platform. After being stuffed inside the train for so long, the cool autumn air was refreshing. It was completely dark outside and every star in sky was clearly visible above their heads. Prefects held their wands high, illuminating the station with a simple spell.
On the platform, there was a voice calling out, "First years with me! Everyone else follow the prefects to the carriages."
Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, Marui, and Jackal stuck closely together as they walked through the crowd of students towards the voice. Prefects helped direct first years and older returning students to where they needed to go. They passed a Ravenclaw prefect with tissues shoved up his nose and Marui made a distressed sound.
"That's the Ravenclaw I hexed," Marui said, grabbing Jackal by the robes. "We've got to run. See you guys at the Sorting!"
Yukimura smiled and waved pleasantly as Marui and Jackal dodged their way through the crowd of first years, disappearing from sight.
Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi continued forward until they were at the front of a group of first years that had gathered around two older students with badges that read Head Boy and Head Girl.
Yukimura looked to see if there was anyone he recognized around him and saw Fuji and Tezuka walking towards them.
"Tezuka," Sanada said.
"Sanada," Tezuka said.
Yukimura smiled at Fuji and told him, "They've always been like this."
The Head Boy raised his voice again, "First years, follow me!" and began to walk away from the station in the opposite direction of the older students. The Head Girl stayed behind to shepherd the first years along.
As they walked, Yukimura leaned over to Sanada and asked, "Wasn't a professor supposed to take us across on the boats?"
Sanada shrugged slightly, looking rather confused. "I thought so too."
Fuji cleared his throat. Yukimura and Sanada turned to look at him. "My sister is a sixth year prefect for Slytherin," he said, "and she told me the professor who used to take students across went on a trip to Romania a few years ago and no one has heard from him since. I wonder if he was attacked by some wild creature…"
They were led to the edge of the Great Lake where dozens of small boats with hanging lanterns were sitting in the water. There were no oars and Yanagi asked how they were supposed to get across the lake.
One by one, students began to pile into the boats. Yukimura and the others stepped into a boat together. Once full, the boat shoved off into the dark water of the lake, moving silently across the dark surface. Hogwarts Castle stood in the distance.
