The personnel of Privet Orphanage were proud to say that it was perfectly normal, thank you very much. Indeed, the orphanage sat right on the line between mildly interesting and dull enough to take note. The staff followed every regulation by the book-nothing less and certainly nothing more. The children there lingered until adopted or simply aged out of the system with no more notice than a few signatures and an empty bed. If there was any variance at Privet Orphanage, it was certainly few and far between. The kind of monotony an institution could take pride in.

Except for one slight blemish named Shouyou Hinata.

Newly eleven year old Hinata could be called many things but none of these included dull, scheduled, or monotonous. If the workers of Privet knew what they were getting into when they opened the door on a drizzly Monday nine years ago to find a baby with orange fluffy har snoozing away in a wicker basket with only a small blanket monogrammed with his name, then the staff would have certainly notified the authorities and sent the babe to another state orphanage. Sure, the scandal of an abandoned baby and a morning of questioning police would have certainly broken the monotony of that particular Monday but, in the long run, the orphanage's order would have certainly been better maintained. Instead, they contacted the authority with complete proper procedure and after no leads were found in the case, gave indication to accept another ward into their dull grey facilities.

From an early age Hinata was...odd. He never lost a toy as a child and, in fact, acquired many that had been lost years ago. The staff would wonder if Hinata was taking the toys from others except for the fact that Hinata always gladly shared any of his prizes with the first child who asked. Things got stranger with age. At age five, Hinata was running from some of the other facility children who took advantage of a lazy teacher to bully those younger or smaller. The worker would later swear that one second Hinata was running and the next he was gone. He would later be found at a park three streets over and proclaiming again and again that he did not know what happened. There were the smaller things, too. Hinata's bruises and cuts always healed faster, his hair seemed to always stay right at the length he perfered, he had an uncanny knack for avoiding teachers when he was in trouble. As a toddler, the workers would put away one of Hinata's favorite toys and turn around to see him holding it. Yes, Hinata was odd. While his easy going good nature should have made him a favorite, his well known oddities put him at odds with both caretakers and the other children.

On a rare sunny morning in late August, a man stood poised to knock on the front door of Privet Orphanage. This man was also odd.

Ittetsu Takeda, Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, loved his job. As a boy, he would imitate his mothers wand movements with common sticks he found on the ground. As a student, he absorbed every iota of knowledged placed in front of him. As a teacher, one of his favorite tasks was introducing the muggleborn children to the wizarding world. Seeing their faces as they realized that they were part of a new and spellbounding world was the truest joy he had as an educator. Which is why this visit made him so anxious.

While most Hogwarts letters to muggleborns were delivered earlier in the summer by an experienced Hogwarts' professor, this particular child's had almost slipped through by clerical error. In fact, if Takeda had not happened to be doing a review of the number of muggleborn wizards over the last two centuries compared to the attendance rate at Hogwarts, Shouyou Hinata name might have entirely slipped through the cracks. Because of the late notice, Takeda had decided to deliver this letter personally.

Takeda knocked twice on the entrance to what was, in Takeda's opinion, a drab if clean state institution. The door was soon opened by a middle aged woman with a tight bun and an austere face.

The woman looked down at Takeda's transfigured black suit and briefcase.

"Ah, you must be the state inspector," she surmised. "You can come right in. Everything is in order and any of my workers would be happy to talk to you. I am the main supervisor for Privet Orphanage, Henrietta Snuck."

She gestured for him to come inside.

"Oh...no, I'm sorry, Ms. Snuck. I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding. My name is Ittetsu Takeda. I'm the Deputy Headmaster of the private school Hogwarts. It's a school for particularly gifted students. I'm here to talk to one of your charges about attending."

Sensing possible recognition for her orphanage, Ms. Snuck immediately jumped.

"Oh my, I'm sorry for the confusion. Of course, come to the main office." She motioned for Takeda to follow her into a sterile looking office right inside the door. "May I offer you any tea? Water?"

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm fine for now," Takeda said, sitting in a plastic chair across from a tidy metal desk where Ms. Snuck sat.

"Now, at Privet, we have a number of gifted children. Which child are you inquiring about?"

"Ah," Takeda replied pulling out a small file from his briefcase. "He's an eleven year old boy named Shouyou Hinata."

The way excitement drained from Ms. Snuck's face was rather off putting for Takeda.

"Hinata? Are you sure? His grades have never been spectacular."

"My school is looking for students gifted in other ways than just academics," Takeda commented politely.

Ms. Snuck looked relatively confused before her face briefly cleared. "Oh, are you one of those schools for at-risk kids, children you're worried might get into legal trouble?"

"No," Takeda retorted, taken aback. "Is Hinata in any kind of legal trouble?"

Ms. Snuck looked confused again. "Ah...no...sorry, it's not any thing like that. Hinata is a perfectly well mannered kid. It's just…" Ms. Snuck looked as if she was getting ready to confide something. "Well, it's just he's rather odd."

Takeda gained a sudden comprehension. "Oh, no, rest assured, Ms. Snuck, odd is exactly what I'm looking for."

Ms. Snuck, if anything, now looked like she was considering Takeda odd.

"Exactly, what type of school is yours, Mr. Takeda?"

Takeda prepared the usual answer. "Hogwarts is a school that looks at special aptitudes children might have in a number of areas. If proficient in variety of fields, the children are invited to private boarding school in the beautiful-"

"Boarding School?!" Ms. Snuck interrupted. "You mean Hinata would be leaving."

"Er, yes if he and your institution accept this offer?" Takeda answered nervously. "Will this be a problem?"

"Problem?" Ms. Snuck laughed. "Of course not, how much will it be?"

"Well, for orphans, Hogwarts normally includes a full stipend for tuition and room and board." Takeda explains.

"Free?!" Ms. Snuck looked possibly the most overjoyed that her face allowed. "I'll take you to see Hinata right now. He's right upstairs."

Feeling as though he was recovering from a confounding curse, Takeda followed the woman out of her office to meet his new student.

ooooooo

Eleven year old Shouyou Hinata was sitting in his room that he shared with two of his few friends, Izumi and Sekimukai.

"But I've got it this time" Hinata began. "As soon as we get to Junior High, we can try out for the school's sports team. Then, we'll be super cool and everyone will want to be friends with us."

"Except for the fact that Privet is never going to pay for us to be on a team," said Izumi, laying on the ground and sighing at the ceiling.

"And the fact that we don't even know a sport we're good at," Sekimukai tiredly agreed from his bed.

Hinata paced the room. "But, we can find that sport! And if we're really, really, really good at it, then the team will make Ms. Snuck let us play."

"I'm pretty sure that Ms. Snuck isn't going to bow to a junior high sports team, Hinata," answered Sekimukai.

"And being that good takes practice and we don't even know what sport." Izumi finished dismally.

"I'll find the sport!" Hinata argued, "And then I'll work hard every night and on break and on the weekend and I'll be the greatest-"

A knock on the door cut off Hinata's impassioned rant. The boys quickly looked around to make sure that everything was in order.

"Izumi, Skimukai," Ms. Snuck called out as she and a petite man with a black suit and briefcase entered the room. "You two go help in the kitchen while Mr. Takeda talks to Hinata."

Hinata paled. Talk to him? Did Hinata do anything? He quickly thought through the last week and couldn't think of anything. Did something bad happened!? Hinata frantically thought about Natsu.

Izumi and Skimukai threw him sympathetic and worried looks as they followed Ms. Snuck out to the kitchen.

"Hello, Hinata," began Takeda, "I'm here to talk to you about-"

"Am I in trouble?" Hinata blurted out suddenly. "Did something happen to my sister, Natsu?"

"No, no, relax, Hinata," Takeda reassured, holding up his hands nervously. "I'm here to talk to you about going to my school."

Takeda waited until Hinata had relaxed some. "Our files didn't show you had a sister."

Hinata put his hand on his chest to keep his heart from pounding out. "Gah...oh, no...I don't officially...we just call ourselves siblings because we have orange hair and she's been here since she was a baby. Wait. Wait! Did you say something about a school?"

Takeda nodded, glad that the boy seemed to be calming down. "Yes, my name is Ittetsu Takeda, I'm a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Hinata had to have misheard. He wondered if he had hit his head recently and broke his brain. Wait, if his brain was broken would he remember hitting his head? "Sorry, sir, I think I misheard you."

"Ah, yes," Takeda admitted sheepishly. "I might have skipped over some parts. Hinata, would you mind sitting at the desk?"

Hinata went to the small wooden desk in the corner of the room.

"Alright," Takeda started. "First off, magic is very much real. It's just hidden from people who don't have magic. Understand?"

Hinata refrained from nodding out of fear it would worsen possible-now-probable head wound.

"I, as someone with magic, am referred to as a wizard."

"But, if you have magic," Hinata interrupted, "could you show me something cool. Like make my hair turn blue or pull out a rabbit?"

Takeda smiled, pulled out a stick from his jacket, and gestured to the desk next to Hinata. The desk suddenly shrunk down to a third of its size while coarse hair grew out from the wood. A small terrier ran at Hinata's legs, barking and jumping.

"WHOA!" Hinata launched himself at the puppy. "You were like GAAHHHH and then the desk was like SHWAMMMM"

"Not exactly, the words I'm used to," Takeda gave a small smile. "Is it alright if I continue?"

Hinata nodded frantically as the puppy settled into his lap.

"I teach at a school for witches and wizards called Hogwarts. And we would very much like it if you considered attending next year.

"But-t-t," Hinata stuttered disappointed, "I-I can't do magic. How can I go to a magic school?"

Takeda quickly conjured a chair, noting Hinata's wide look of amazement. "Hinata, I want you to think back. Is there any time that something happened around you that was strange or unusual? Something you couldn't describe?"

Hinata thought back to the time he was running from the mean scary older kids. He was scared and wanted to go somewhere safe to play. All of the sudden, he had found himself alone at the park. Privet was convinced he ran away, but Hinata just remembered he was at Privett one minute and then there was a whoosh and he was at the park.

Slowly, Hinata nodded.

"That was magic," Takeda explained, seeing the look of wonder in Hinata's eyes. "And at Hogwarts, we'd teach you how to control it. Would you like that?"

Hinata nodded eagerly.

"Wonderful, now Hogwarts is a boarding school, so you would have to leave later this week. Normally, we'd give you more time, but the-"

"I'd have to leave Privet?" Hinata suddenly yelped.

"Oh...yes, you would. But only for the school year." Judging by the reaction of the Ms. Snuck, Takeda honestly didn't think this would have been a problem for Hinata.

Hinata thought about his friends and Natsu. How would Natsu handle being alone without her big brother?

"What would happen to me if I don't go to Hogwarts?" Hinata asked nervously.

Takeda swallowed, normally this didn't come up in the initial interview. "I'm afraid then, for secrecy's sake, we'd bind your magic and erase your memory of the magical world. Your life would continue like normal."

Hinata felt his stomach roll and almost ran to the bathroom. Get rid of his magic? Erase his memory? Even though he only found out about magic this afternoon, the thought made him feel wrong to the point of nausea.

He loved Natsu, but surely she would be okay for a few months every year, right? And he could still write her. And show her magic whenever he got back.

And a small voice in the back of Hinata's mind whispered maybe she'd do better without all of your oddness around her.

"Hinata?" Takeda prompted, worried about the boy's silence.

"I'll do it." Hinata declared suddenly. "I'll learn magic and be the best wizard I can be. I promise."

Looking into Hinata's eyes, Takeda found a seriousness and determination that was not at all common for a eleven year old. Suddenly, he wondered if Ms. Snuck's odd comment had to do with more than just the magic.

ooooooo

That night, Hinata silently looked out the window by his bed. Mr. Takeda had left with a promise that he would come back tomorrow to take Hinata shopping for his school things. He gave Hinata strict instructions not to tell Ms. Snuck or his friends about what Hogwarts school really taught. Despite this, he snuck Natsu to his room after dinner and told her everything that Mr. Takeda had told him about magic and Hogwarts. Watching her eyes light up at the story, Hinata felt something in his stomach settle. He'd miss Natsu something awful but if he learned magic, maybe they could finally leave Privet and find somewhere they could both be happy. With this and thoughts of desks and puppies in his mind, Hinata closed his eyes to go to sleep.