Addie felt the train come to a slowing stop as she glanced out the window, now nighttime as she and Ren cleaned up the mess of beans and napkins, her notebook showing they had tied with only five tally marks each for scoring. She had gotten to know Ren, found out he was born hermaphrodite and hid under the guise of a girl to keep less attention away from him, and under his Japanese grandmother's tutelage, became a successful apprentice geisha and was admitted into Mahoutokoro with little trouble. He had grown to be almost fearful of people when he was in public, considering his doll like stature and almost feminine voice, but he still worked on his image, wanting to solidify his identity as male.
He had told Addie that Japan was rather free when it came to cross dressing and gender identity, but other countries were not so forgiving. His hope was when he started in Hogwarts, he could become the young man he had wanted to be, and not continue to hide under the fragile doll his grandmother kept him as for most of his childhood. It had gotten to the point his Japanese side of the family refused to see him as male even though he insisted on it, keeping him as "Renka", a female modification to his actual name.
Addie had listened to his story, completely shocked at the new information but she told him she didn't really mind. As long as he was a loyal friend, kind, and helpful, she didn't care if he had three heads or nine arms, let alone if he chose a different gender or sexual orientation. They became quick friends, chatting endlessly throughout the game with the beans when Addie had heard the train whistle going off, signaling their arrival at Hogsmeade, the tiny village laying just outside Hogwarts. The station was only a few miles from the castle, and older students got there by carriages being pulled by strange creatures known as thestrals.
"Says here that thestrals are horselike creatures with large, leather wings, almost skeletal appearance, and bird cries as forms of communication. To see a thestral is to have seen death in front of you, so I guess they appear invisible to most then," Ren explained, holding his favorite textbook: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He adored learning about magical creatures and beasts, having scored the highest in the equivalent class in Mahoutokoro, but instead of beasts, they were called ayakashi or yokai depending on how powerful they were. His fox was even considered yokai since apparently the fox demons were divided into many sub branches, all blessed by a fox goddess named Inari.
"Oh, come on Ren, I found a carriage!" Addie grabbed his hand, running over to a carriage as they climbed on, Ren sitting carefully at the end as several students in Hogwarts robes glanced at the two with confused glances.
"Where are you two from then?" a student asked, bearing the badge of a badger in yellow and black.
"Ah… I'm from Illvermony in America, and Ren is from Mahoutokoro in Japan. We're transfer students here," Addie explained, suddenly getting swarmed with questions as the Hogwarts students became interested.
"W-well, I don't know what house I was sorted into… I don't believe the letter held any such information," Ren squeaked, being interrogated by a couple girls that swooned over his robes.
"So beautiful, are you sure I can't touch?"
"Where on Earth did you get such beautiful clothing? I would love to have it!"
"P-please stop touching, they're my school robes. Please don't touch!" he huffed, suddenly hearing a bark as his fox spirit jumped from the basket, nipping at the girl's hands as its tails flared in anger, defending his master's robes.
"What on Earth is that?!"
"It's his familiar, apparently students in Japan make binding contracts to infant demons once they're sorted into their appropriate houses. What were they again, Ren?" Addie asked, stealing his attention from glaring at the girls as he took a soft breath.
"They're Tanuki, Tengu, Kitsune, and Kappa. They're all native demons to Japan and helped found the school within the island of Iwo Jima… I'm from Kitsune house, so I gained a baby fox when I started learning magic at 11 years old." Ren scooped up his kitsune, hugging him close as he petted the soft golden fur, the fox still snarling at the girls as they backed off, growing quiet as they huddled away from Ren. Addie pouted lightly, glancing to Ren but she noticed he didn't seem to mind losing all the attention, almost smiling that they had finally left him alone.
"So, what classes are you hoping to take this year? You said your name was Addie?" A young man in the same robes asked politely, trying to smooth the awkward silence as she nodded.
"Yeah, umm… I don't really know to be honest. I know I have the core classes, but my electives were sort of all over the place. I know I submitted in for Alchemy and Astronomy but there's no telling if I'll get those classes or not," she admitted, smiling timidly as the student laughed.
"Hey don't worry about it, I'm sure there'll be enough students to want those classes too. I loved Astronomy when I took it last year, the telescopes are amazing! The goal is to try and stay awake all night though," he added, chuckling as he offered a large hand.
"My name's Drew, I'm a Hufflepuff here at Hogwarts." He gently shook Addie's outstretched hand as she smiled, inclining her head.
"Nice to meet you." She smiled, sitting back as she gasped, gently patting Ren's knee as he glanced up towards the direction of her jaw-dropping gaze, widening his eyes. Above the tree tops came a large iron gate, flanked by winged boars guarding the path towards a massive, stone castle, the windows flickering like a wall of lanterns in the darkness as Addie smiled wide.
"It's beautiful…"
"It's terrifying… Are all European castles this scary?" Ren whispered, getting a soft giggle from Addie as she shook her head.
"It's just the Western culture. Illvermony looked more like an academy than a castle. I hear the appearances all change around the world, blending in with the country's background of architecture and culture," Addie explained, pointing up at the castle as she started listing various terms for the towers and castle structures while Ren tried to remember the terms, almost pouting.
"My English isn't that good…"
"Your English is actually really good, I'm just a nerd when it comes to medieval castles," Addie admitted, blushing lightly as Ren chuckled. He found Addie's energy contagious, her smiles and giggles uplifting while her nose would crinkle, reflecting all the freckles across her cheeks. He found her… what was the word, adorable? Cute? He didn't quite have the right word yet, but he definitely liked her, feeling absolutely lucky that she was his first friend he met on this trip.
The carriages finally stopped in front of a pair of large bronze doors as Ren and Addie hopped off the carriage carefully, Ren holding his kitsune in his arms as the other students hopped off while Drew pinned on a silver badge reading PREFECT.
"Come on, I'll show you to the Great Hall, and you can get sorted before the first years arrive! It's a new rule they introduced after the huge battle in 1998, they discovered all the different magical schools and they all worked together to create a transferring network for all witches and wizards worldwide. This way, please," Drew added, leading the way to the Great Hall as Ren and Addie followed closely, both gasping as they looked up at the moving portraits and swinging staircases, the ghosts drifting along as Ren squealed, hiding behind Addie who tried to talk to every single ghost on the way up, gaining a look of stun on each of the deceased faces. Drew laughed, shooing them up the stairs and away from the ghosts as they came to the first floor, going down the hall as they opened a second pair of engraved bronze doors, swinging open to reveal a cavernous room filled with four long tables, stained glass windows circling around the room, and the ceiling displaying a beautiful, clear night sky with floating carved candles. Addie gaped, swirling around in circles as Ren pushed her to follow Drew, trying to keep her focused as Drew led them up to a stool capped with a large, ratty hat.
"This is the Sorting Hat, he's in charge of sorting all of our students into their appropriate houses. Kind of like Mahoutokoro and Illvermony, we have four houses too: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, my house! Well, all you have to do is sit on the stool, let the deputy headmistress place the hat on your head and he determines your house!" Drew explained, puffing his chest in pride as McGonagall strode up to them, wearing beautiful emerald green robes as she offered a smile.
"Welcome to Hogwarts Ms. Vannes and Mr. Parker. I do hope you enjoy your time here at Hogwarts, like all of our students, and come to call it a home. Now, Mr. Parker, you first please," she replied, holding up the hat as Ren gulped, going over as he sat on the stool, shivering as the hat settled on his head, suddenly ripping a seam as it moved like a mouth.
"Let's see… such curiosity strives in this one! Hmm… cultural, humble, modest, ah but there's ambition. Quite the prankster too! Hmm.. I place you in Slytherin house!" The table on the far right of the room from where they were standing clapped happily, cheering as Ren felt the hat lift off his head, getting up as he bowed to McGonagall, smiling timidly to Addie and Drew as he went over to the table, sitting down as the students talked to him quietly, introducing themselves.
"Now Ms. Vannes, your turn." Addie went over to the stool, sitting down as she nibbled her lip, feeling Marshmallow nuzzle from inside her robe pocket as she sighed, taking slow deep breaths as the Sorting Hat finally began to speak.
"Well, well, well… Quite a unique mind this one! Very wild, but calculative, almost a natural born genius! So many inventive ideas and curious riddles, I can happily say Ravenclaw is the house for you!" Addie smiled brightly as the table next to Ren's clapped, cheering as she hopped over, sitting next to the students.
"Now that you're sorted, the first years will be coming any second. The Sorting Hat usually gives a big speech or even sings! Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Lysandre Lovegood! My mom was Luna, from the Battle of Hogwarts," a young man with brilliantly white blond hair and sparkling grey eyes offered a hand, shaking Addie's enthusiastically.
"Umm, thank you? Ah… Lysandre was it?" Addie smiled, relaxing slowly as she glanced over to Ren, trying to check on him as she heard the doors booming open once more, admitting in a flood of tiny students coming in, looking around the Great Hall with the same bulging eyes Addie and Ren expressed when they first came in. She smiled, watching the procedure happen as McGonagall unrolled the thick scroll in her hand, about to announce names when the Sorting Hat cleared his throat, beginning to sing a song about the founders.
"So it's Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff, right? They were the founders?" Lysandre nodded, tucking a bang of white blond hair behind his ear.
"Yup, all four founded the school, though Salazar wanted the school to only have pureblooded families attend Hogwarts. The other three didn't agree and it caused problems, if we honestly just stayed pure, we would've died out. The Muggles helped us stay alive and carry on the magical name even!"
"Yeah, my school was founded by a pureblood witch, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, and her No-Maj husband."
"No-Maj?" Lysandre asked, tilting his head like a cat as Addie giggled.
"Sorry, Muggle in American. We call them No-Majs, but it's the same thing. Heck, I'm Muggle born since both of my parents never went to any of the wizarding schools, but we have friends who had, so that's how my parents knew about them. My mom was so happy when I got my letter to attend Illvermony," she giggled, recalling the memory of finding her mom dancing around the house, singing at the top of her lungs until she finally insisted on reading her letter.
"Which school did your friend transfer from? The headmistress said Mahoutokoro? What's that?"
"Mahoutokoro is located in Minami Iwo-Jima, one of the islands in Japan thought to be uninhabitable. He's from there, but I guess his English dad remarried and they moved to England, so this is his new school. Apparently how it works is they first get admitted at seven years old! From seven to 11 years old, they learn manners, courtesy, dance and speech, small classes. At 11 years old, they can finally begin learning magic and gain their Shinigami, or familiar, and are sorted into their own houses. They can choose to live there, or still travel home on top of a massive bird. I can't recall what species, I see it with cranes…" Addie muttered, showing a picture in her small book: A History of Magical Schools. Lysandre nodded, humming softly as he read threw the article, nodding.
"Ahh, so their robes reflect how well they're doing, but if they turn white, they committed a terrible crime and are promptly expelled. Explains why his has every other color but white. How fascinating," he hummed, glancing up as the students were finished sorting, McGonagall dismissing the students as food suddenly appeared on the tables, overflowing the dishes and goblets with fresh food and drinks as Addie's stomach growled.
"It smells like my dad's cooking…! How is that?"
"House elves make the food, but they are very good at guessing what each student wants. Guess they figured you would love steak and white cheddar mashed potatoes. Only sad thing is, we can't have alcohol, even if you are of legal age. We normally get water, pumpkin juice, tea, or coffee," Lysandre explained, gulping down his fresh goblet of pumpkin juice. Addie hummed, looking at the orange juice as she pouted.
"Rather have Earl Grey with lemon…" Her voice trailed off as a teacup appeared, filled with perfectly steeped Earl Gray, a slice of lemon on the side, and even three packets of sugar as she smiled, fixing her tea as she began to eat hungrily, quickly clearing her plate. She nearly filled it up when Lysandre stopped her hand, counting down to zero as the dishes cleared themselves away, her teacup refilling as desserts appeared.
"Always have room for dessert, excellent mind food," Lysandre commented, reaching for English sticky toffee pudding as Addie immediately snatched some tarts off a nearby plate and scoops of vanilla ice cream.
"Amazing… I think I'm going to love it here," she said, eating happily as the night went on with gentle chatter, an eventual speech of school rules, and finally everyone standing as they sang the Hogwarts school song, Addie and Ren staying quiet as they learned the lyrics first before joining in at the last verse. The prefects immediately took charge, shooing their own classmates out the hall and leading them towards their common room, Addie turning to wave to Ren as the Slytherins headed down the stairs instead of up.
"Don't worry, he'll be okay. Slytherins really aren't all that bad, couple of my friends are Slytherins," Lysandre chimed in, taking Addie's hand as they headed up to a tall, winding bronze staircase, stopping at a large door fitted with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. The prefect picked up the knocker, banging it on the door as its mouth began to move slowly.
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
"What…?" Addie's brow furrowed, her mind reeling as Lysandre sighed.
"Of course, it would give us this as our password tonight. Our knocker doesn't have a set password, it asks a question, and if you can answer it with a viable solution, it'll open for you. Great way to collaborate and meet people, terrible if you're desperate to get something or in this case, go to bed after a full supper and a long train ride," Lysandre whined, trying to figure it out as Addie walked over to the knocker.
"They both have feathers! A raven is a bird, naturally covered in feathers, while a writing desk would have a quill made from the feather of a bird," Addie answered, nibbling her lip as all the Ravenclaws went quiet as the door swung open, revealing a beautiful room surrounded by wide, bay windows overlooking the grounds of the school. The prefect led everyone in, making sure everyone was inside the common room as they gave a quick speech, giving advice, and informing them of their Head of House, a partial goblin and professor named Flitwick, and their House Ghost: the Grey Lady.
Addie yawned as they were finally shown up the stairs into their rooms, her eyes bugging as she noticed the four poster beds in beautiful sky blue sheets surrounding a warm furnace, and her trunk already set up next to her bed, brand new robes with the new badge embroidered onto it, a fresh scarf, and her books and supplies neatly stacked on the writing desk. On top lay her schedule for the year as she picked it up before changing into her favorite pair of Batman fuzzy pajamas, crawling into bed as Marshmallow popped up, licking her nose as it snuggled to her neck, quickly snoring to sleep as she read over the schedule.
"Let's see… Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts… odd I thought they discontinued it. Transfiguration, oh Charms! Let's see, oh good, Alchemy is on there, Care of Magical Creatures afterwards with Herbology and Astronomy. Fascinating, sounds like a fun day, huh Marsh?" she giggled at the tiny puppy's muffled yawn, snuggling up as she promptly fell asleep, listening to the winds singing around the tower's windows, lulling all the students to a peaceful sleep.