5 days ago, Ohio

Pierce's POV

The lobby of Pierce hotel in Ohio was crowded and loud like every night. It seemed like everyone did not stay in their rooms at all. The guests seemed to be interested in the new owner of the Ohio branch. Pierce Pierce was trying his best to talk to as many guests as possible.

It was already one o'clock in the morning and he was already tired from his main job at the Embassy. It would be perfectly fine for him to go to bed and leave the guests with other hotel staff members. But tonight was not one of those nights.

They should have been here already. Pierce thought and looked at his watch.

Whitney told him that Brittany and she would arrive by the Floo Network at midnight. They chose the Floo Network because it would be less messy than using a Port Key, and it would take less time than an airplane. Pierce had advised everyone to clear off the fireplace to make some space for his wife and his daughter. It had been one hour and Pierce started to worry that there might be something wrong with the fireplace here, or Whitney and Brittany might be sent to other places.

"May I be excused, Mr. Motta?" Price excused himself from one of the guests, Al Motta, and started to walk towards the fireplace.

Pierce stood directly in front of the fireplace and inspected every detail of it. Nothing seemed to be wrong. There was only one thing to do now.

If they're not showing up in 10 seconds, I'm gonna go there. Pierce made up his mind and told himself.

10, 9, 8…

"Are you okay, Mr. Pierce?" Pierce heard Rory, a bellboy, asked.

Pierce had just realized that it must look strange to stand still in front of a fireplace and did not do anything. He nodded without turning to Rory. He started to count again.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4…

"Here you are. We have not finished talking about my new golf course," Al Motta decided to show up next to Pierce at this moment.

Pierce turned around to reply, but he suddenly realized that most of the guests were in front of the fireplace. He assumed that they thought it was okay to come back to this area now.

"Everyone," Pierce spoke as loud as he could. "I would like to ask you to kindly step away from the fireplace. My wife and daught- ouch!"

Pierce was hit in the back with a big object and fell to the ground. He looked up and found out that the object was a luggage, which continued to fly its way to the guests behind him.

Pierce tried to get up to see if the guests were injured or not, but a familiar voice chimed in.

"Dad!" Brittany was behind him and helped him get up. "I'm so sorry about the luggage."

"It's okay, sweetheart," Pierce turned around and hugged his daughter. "I'm just glad you're finally here. Now, where is your mom?"

"She's-"

There was a whoosh sound and both Pierce and Brittany were knocked down to the ground. It took quite a moment for them to realize that Whitney was on top of them.

"Here's mom," Brittany said brightly even though she almost could not breathe.

The Pierce family decided to take this moment to hug each other. And none of them decided to get up. It was a split second that they thought they were the only three people in the hotel, until they heard "Aw" sound coming from most of the guests.

Pierce got up and introduced his wife and daughter to the guests. He knew that tonight was going to be a really long night.


Now that everything was settled and most of the guests left to their rooms, Pierce turned to his wife.

"You arrived one hour late. I was so worried."

"Didn't we arrive at midnight?" Whitney replied and cocked her head to one side.

"I'm sorry to make you worry, dad. I think it must be the timezone thing. Oh, or we were in the Floo Network for an hour. I swear I saw a cat in there and I tried to save him from dizziness," Brittany rambled.

As usual, Pierce and Whitney smiled adoringly at their daughter.

"It's late now. Why don't you two get some sleep? Tomorrow you have to unpack, you know?" Pierce suggested.

"But I don't want to unpack and pack again to Hogwarts. Can I be in the same clothes until I go there?" Brittany had to ask because she really did not like packing.

"I, for one, wouldn't mind. But I bet Courtney left some clothes in her room as well. You can either wear your own clothes or her clothes," Whitney said and added "Even if you stink, I will still love you."

"That's a good idea! Good night, mom. Good night, dad," Brittany hugged them at the same time and left to Courtney's room, which was her new room.

It was not the first time Brittany was in this room. Courtney's room was a little bigger than hers in London. Most of the furniture was in white. Brittany always thought it was too bright and she would prefer the room to be more colorful. But she would rather not complain now.

I'm gonna be in Hogwarts in 5 days anyway. Brittany thought while stripping down to her underwear.

She opened the closet to look for pajamas and found only the ones in linen dresses. Every time Brittany wore a linen dress to bed, it always ended up rolling up to her waist in the morning.

Brittany shrugged and jumped in bed in her underwear.

What if no one likes me at Hogwarts? What if they rather have Courtney back? What if I can't handle Santana Lopez and the Pentagon students? Brittany thought and drifted off the sleep.


Present, Ohio

Brittany's POV

The Ohio's train station was crowded on Saturday evening. Brittany wondered if it was for the purpose that muggles would not see witches and wizards entering a secret platform.

Brittany pushed her cart forward and followed her parents. She walked pass the platforms one by one. She did not see anything between platforms 9 and 10. She started to worry if there was a mistake.

"Here you are, Mr. Hummel," Pierce suddenly stopped to say hi to a man in a baseball cap.

Brittany almost crashed the cart into her father's back when he said. "This is my daughter, Brittany. And my wife, Whitney."

"Hey, Pierce, how are you? And nice to meet you guys," Mr. Hummel replied casually and shook Whitney's and Brittany's hand.

"Mr. Hummel will show us how to get to the train to Hogwarts. His son, Kurt, also goes there," Pierce said and looked around.

He noticed that Kurt was not here. "Um, where is Kurt?"

"Probably buying some snacks with Rachel and Mercedes. And please, you guys can call me Burt" Burt Hummel replied and turned to Brittany. "So, Brittany, I heard it's your first year here. Believe me, you're going to be fine. My son and his friends are good kids. They're going to take care of you."

"Thank you, Burt. I can't wait to talk to them. Also, I was so worried because there was no platform 9 ¾ like in London. So may I ask how do I get to Hogwarts here?" Brittany could not wait to know any longer.

"Easy. You just get on one of these 15 bogeys," Burt shrugged and pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

Brittany laughed because she thought he was joking. Then she realized he was serious.

"So, Burt, how does it work?" Whitney was concerned.

"You just get on one of the bogeys. At some point on the way, these 15 bogeys will separate themselves from the rest. Then they will go through a portal that will lead you to Hogwarts," Burt explained and turned to Brittany. "So, remember to not walk too far from your bogeys. You do not want to end up being separated from your friend and go to who-know-where."

"Yes, sir. I think I'll just sit tight and make new friends," Brittany replied and smiled.

She noticed a boy and two girls running towards them. They boy wore white pants, and the girls were in white skirts. But their tops were in different colors.

"Hi, Mr. Pierce! And you must be Mrs. Pierce. Nice to meet you," the boy quickly shook Whitney's hand and turned to Brittany. "And you must be Brittany. I'm Kurt. This is Rachel and Mercedes. We're all in the White House!"

Kurt was a handsome boy and he was as tall as Brittany.

He's so cute. His ears are like elves' ears. Brittany could not help but think.

Rachel was tiny and her smile was the biggest smile Brittany had ever seen. Mercedes was quite calm and did not smile as widely as Rachel, but she seemed friendly.

"We heard so much about you. You look just like Courtney! You're gonna be a perfect Yule Ball Queen, or cheerleader, or…" Rachel said excitedly and her list seemed to go on and on.

Except that I'm not smart and perfect like her. Brittany wanted to reply, but she only smiled at Rachel. Her smile weakened gradually as long as the list went on.

"Don't pressure the poor girl, Rachel. Don't worry. You're gonna be fine," Mercedes seemed to notice.

Brittany felt like she had just saved her life.

"Aw, children, look at you getting along with each other already," Whitney joined in and clasped her hands together. "But the train will leave in 5 minutes, so you should get on it now. Brittany, come here. Give me a hug."

Brittany hugged her mom tightly and tried her best not to cry. "See you at Christmas."

Brittany kissed her mom's cheek and turned to hug her dad.

"Dad, don't work too hard, okay? And try to get some sleep."

"You tell yourself, too, sweetie," Pierce told his daughter.

The girls and Kurt said goodbye to everyone and got on the train.

Four of them sat together on each side of a table. Kurt pours all the snacks out of his back and told everyone they could eat anything. He took off his blue jacket and started to tie a grey tie around his neck. Mercedes and Rachel also took off their jackets. But instead of a grey tie, Rachel had a white bow around her neck and white headband on her head. And Mercedes put on a grey blazer.

Brittany was confused if this was their uniform because she did not have many white clothes.

I should have asked Courtney more about the House and many things. Why am I so stupid?

Brittany guessed she must have looked so puzzled because Kurt explained to her.

"Whities can wear anything in white or grey to present our House. It was less strict than in UK Hogwarts, I guess. You can wear a grey shoe and a white shoe at the same time. Nobody cares."

"We call ourselves Whities. The Pentagon people are the Pents. Santana Lopez once said it was shorten from 'serpent', but I think she just made it up," Rachel added.

Santana Lopez. This name again. I want to know how she looks like.

"So, which one is Santana? Courtney told me to stay away from her," Brittany asked her new friends.

"She's not here. All the Prefects go to school earlier than us to prepare for new semesters," Mercedes replied.

"But did she kill someone, though? I hope it's just a rumour."

"Nobody knows. Even Quinn doesn't know," Rachel put her hands up in the air like she could not care less.

"Who is Quinn? Sorry. I think I ask you guys too many questions," Brittany did not want to bore her new friends with all the questions.

"I'm Quinn," a blonde girl dressed in black showed up.

She was in a black shirt, black blazer and black skirt. The only thing that was not in black was the golden 'F' pin on her chest.

"Brittany, this is Quinn Fabray. She's the traitor of the Pentagon. She's Santana's best friend, so Santana doesn't care if she goes around and be friends with us, Whities," Rachel stood up and introduced Quinn in the most formal manner.

"All good, Rachel. Except the traitor part," Quinn nodded approvingly. "So what did you guys talk about? And wow, you are another Courtney."

This is worse than "You look just like Courtney". Brittany thought

"We were talking about that Santana rumour," Kurt told Quinn.

"Oh, that rumour," Quinn said. "I asked her once one night and she got quiet and said she had to do something. She left the dorm and did not come back the whole night. When I saw her again, she was already in the Great Hall, having breakfast."

"That's all you know? Aren't you her best friend?" Mercedes asked.

"She doesn't want to tell me. Why should I push her? Also, she's already under the pressure of being the first half-muggle Prefect of the Pentagon," Quinn tried her best to defend her best friend.

"Can you at least ask her to be nicer to us? She put mud in my cocoa last year and it sort of ruined my vocal cord for a week," Rachel made a face like she was in pain.

"I'll try, but no promises. I gotta go. Good luck with the election, you guys," Quinn waved at them and walked away elegantly.

"So, what election?" Brittany asked.

"Election for Prefect, of course. Since Courtney is gone, we need a new Prefect in sixth year. Kurt and I will apply for it," Rachel seemed to be very excited about this.

"So you mean I don't have to be Prefect instead of Courtney? She said we exchanged everything, so I assumed…"

"You can apply if you want. Just submit your name to Headmaster Figgins within the first week," Mercedes explained.

"Nah, if you guys are applying for it, I don't want to be your competitor," Brittany told Kurt and Rachel.

She was a Prefect for Hufflepuff before, so she was not worried if she had to be a Prefect again. But if Kurt and Rachel wanted to be one, she would rather step away.

"We wouldn't mind, really," Kurt told her. "But of course, it would be great to have fewer competitors. So far there are me, Rachel and Jacob Ben Israel, and you can write down anyone's name on the ballot, which I don't think many people do that. So I think I have a good chance of winning. No offense, Rach."

Rachel jokingly glared at Kurt. "If you win, I would feel like I win too. Because I love you so much, Kurt."

"Aw," Kurt hugged Rachel.

Mercedes smiled at them and shook her head.

Four of them had a good time talking and having snacks. Brittany noticed some Whities and Pents walk pass them. The Whities smiled at them and the Pents glare at them. Brittany had a feeling that the Pents glared at her especially and she did not like this fact.

What did I do to already have enemies on the first day at school? I hate when people don't get along. What if things will be like this forever?

Brittany shook off the thought and got back to the conversation with her friends. She had made three new friends today and they were great. She told herself that everything was going to be okay.