This chapter is worth the read. I've added a couple of scenes that may spark your interest. Give me some feedback after this chapter please.

"They took Mikado. They took him!"

"Calm down Miss. Sonohara," Madam Promfrey said, trying to reassure the sobbing girl beside her. "I'm perfectly sure Dumbledore would find a way to get him back."

But she was only saying this to help her relieve her sorrow and concern; Masaomi Kida knew this perfectly well. His hands, which were heavily bandaged, shook and curled into fists as he thought of the devastating incident. His left eye was obscured by another bandage, this time covered in spots of crimson which trickled down his face. His right eye was unharmed, but was wide with the rash of ferocity.

These were evidences of the hard times he has had getting to the school. It started first with a letter, cheers of excitement, many farewells and tears welling up in his friends eyes, a couple of magical encounters all ending with a trip onto a steam train. It would be the first time he'll ever get to step into a world where magic is the number one priority for survival. Then, all hell broke loose. Sudden outbursts, uproars, emerald and scarlet flashes from every direction, chairs thrown about, bodies strewn across the floorboards, other unbearable noises and this all happened before he was knocked out. It was unexpected and happened so suddenly. After that, he knew that the carnage would have continued.

There were only a couple of injuries, but no casualties, a prefect told him when he was being escorted to the hospital wing. But the entire dining cart was demolished. A couple of students were captured, including his friends Mikado and Saki. He knew he should have fought the urge to stay conscious.

How cowardly of him not to.

He ripped the bandage off his eye and dabbed the blood using a towel. Anri, the girl weeping beside the nurse, was covered in dry blood, which wasn't even hers. Her glasses hung askew on her face as she brushed away the tears with her hand. Her left leg was the main problem; it was twisted in a rather awkward position, bones broken and all, presumably by a spell. She sent him a stolen glance, displaying to him the amount of anxiety enveloped within the ruby irises of her eyes. It might have symbolized a plea for help, but Kida felt as though she was blaming him for the kidnapping. He couldn't blame her; he was the one who led Mikado and Saki to the dining cart. As he wiped the last speckle of blood, the nurse gazed at him, as though she had forgotten he even existed.

"Mr. Kida," she said. "You're free to go, seeing as the blood has been wiped away. I'll inform professor Dumbledore about the incident; he'll do something about those blasted dark wizards and rescue those poor students. Head over to the great hall downstairs; it's behind an open door within the entrance hall."

"What about Anri?" he asked. "Isn't she coming?"

"She just needs time to calm down that's all. She'll join the sorting in a few minutes. Now I'm just going to go and get some more Skele-Gro from the store rooms downstairs. Miss. Sonohara don't go anywhere. The state your leg is in at the moment, I doubt you'll be able to stand up."

She then left the room, shutting the door behind her and leaving the two teenagers by themselves. Anri turned to Kida pleadingly.

"Kida-kun…"

"Save your breath my girl," Masaomi said. "I'll try whatever I can to make sure they get rescued. And if I see one of those hooded bastards again, I'll beat them with my own bare hands."

"No Kida-kun it's not about that," Anri said. "It's just that I don't want you doing anything silly."

"Huh…?"

"I don't want you going after those captors by yourself. Please let professor Dumbledore sought everything out."

"You actually think he's trustworthy enough?" Masaomi said, through gritted teeth.

"Well yes… I mean if everyone else trusts him, then I think we should as well. I mean he does seem to be very wise."

"Even wise people are sometimes untrustworthy."

"But he's more experienced…"

"I don't care if he's an awesome wizard or if he's a smartass!" Kida snapped. "I won't let a stranger go after my friends. Hell, he might be an imposter!" He banged his fist against the wall, causing Anri's heart to jump a little. "If only I hadn't taken him to the restaurant at the back of the train, none of this would have happened."

"Please Kida-kun," Anri said, placing a comforting hand on his right shoulder. "Don't blame yourself."

"Blaming myself is way too cliché for me," he replied. "I mean how was I supposed to know it was going to happen? I just want to put everything back together you see. I don't want them to suffer on their first day." He clenched his fists as an image of a hooded figure entered his mind. "If I see those shinigami cosplayers again, I'm going to kick their asses!"

"Shinigami cosplayers?"

"Well, they are dressed in black robes and all," Kida explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were wearing skull faced masks. You get these people all the time at conventions. They irritate me a lot, especially the ones with scythes." He drew a deep breath and put his arms up, his hands curling slightly to mime holding a heavy weapon.

"Tremble before me you useless mortals for I am the GOD OF DEATH!" he began with an awfully deep and dominant voice. "Look at the weapon that I hold in my hands. Fear its sharp edge and its engraved hilt. Fear me for I could very well steal your soul. Ah, I hear it growling. Do you hear that mortals, my dearest is hungry for you all! Wait what's that I see? Why is one part of your glasses black and the other part transparent? How dare you! Unsymmetrical objects go completely against my guidelines! You shall be punished! MUHAHAHAHA!"

Anri laughed heartily throughout the speech, his acting finally bringing her sanity back to its rightful spot. At the moment the train invasion was briefly forgotten.

"You okay?" Kida asked, his grin wiping up most of his face.

"I'm much better now," she replied. "I wish I was there too, I bet I would have rolled around the floor with fits of laughter if I ever glimpsed that scene."

"Yeah well it happened ages before I met you. Sadly these guys have become a laughing stock in the cosplay community as their speeches were meant to promote fear not laughter. So they don't do this act anymore. Luckily we still have the Super Sentai gang."

The door suddenly slid open and Madam Promfrey stepped inside.

"What are you still doing here?" she demanded wagging a finger at Kida, who beamed in response.

"Oh just chilling around with my friend here," he replied. "She's a real splendor and I would literally die if I was let out of her sight for more than an hour."

"Well you would have to deal with it then, because look at the time! The sorting ceremony is starting!"

"Oh c'mon just a few more minutes please? Give the girl some proper company."

"Sorry Mr. Kida but I'm afraid the sorting ceremony is just too much of an importance to be fooling around in the hospital wing," Madam Promfrey said. "Everyone else is down there."

"Yeah except Anri's gonna miss it," Kida muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, the school nurse heard his sayings.

"Miss Sonohara is going to be fine," she said, reassuringly. "I just have to feed her some of this potion and she'll ready in approximately 10 minutes."

"I'll be okay Kida-kun," Anri said, giving him one of those rare smiles she always gives whenever she is with Mikado or whenever she is in a good mood. "Please go and enjoy the feast."

Kida couldn't help but agree. "Well so long then," he said as he made his way towards the doorway.

"Wait, I forgot to tell you something!" piped up Anri.

He stopped by the threshold. "What is it?"

"Please don't go wandering off to find Mikado and Saki," she said. "Please."

Kida nodded and gave her one of his cheesiest grins before exiting the hospital wing. Anri's gaze followed him until his silhouette was obscured by the door and her eyes once again filled with tears. Her lip trembled and she looked down, her mind already regretting the fact that she had ever stumbled across this castle.

"Dude what happened to the guy?"

"I heard the bartender did it."

"What, the one who threw the carriage. It's lucky he hasn't been expelled."

"YOU!" A dark haired teenager with tuffs of hair sticking out from his chin stood up from his seating position and pointed. "YOU'RE THE BASTARD WHO THREW MY SISTER OFF THAT BUILDING! YOU JUST WATCH OUT BECAUSE I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"What does fucking mean?"

"Shut up!"

Izaya stared at the man serenely. He was getting used to these things and it never mattered to him because he never suffered any serious consequences. He looked away and moved forwards to the long line of other new students waiting to be sorted and smiled as the person in front of him was none other than his arch enemy Shizuo. He was already out of his bartender outfit and was now dressed in the school's uniform and Izaya couldn't help but utter a giggle. The combination of the black robes and the yellow hair as well as those fancy sunglasses made him look ridiculous; as though he were a combination of the grim reaper and a random comedian.

A couple of people gave Izaya odd looks, but he already had known the reason. One of his arms was in a sling, caking it with bandages and his face sported a black right eye as well as a bruised cheek. And he had Shizuo to thank for it. The strongest man in his hometown had literary pulverized him with the lamppost which collided with his face. He then had a carriage thrown onto his arm, crushing his bones and he was thankful for the concoction which he understood was a healing potion. After having to experience its dreadful taste, he had suddenly wanted revenge. And it was going to begin in public.

Putting on his best grin, he prodded the teenager's back with his good hand and waved merrily. Shizuo craned his neck and all the excitement and anticipation surrounding his face was drained out of him and replaced with a feeling of fury. He scowled at his enemy and pointed a finger at him.

"Don't even think about it," he began.

"Oh calm down my little Shizuo," Izaya teased. "I understand that your mommy will be disappointed to know the fact that you attacked a fellow student in the school. That's why I come in peace."

He extended an arm out. Shizuo stared at him as though someone completely different was standing in front of him at the moment, but his smile forced him to give in. He clutched Izaya's hand and shook it, only to be rebounded by a shockwave that blew him across the hall.

Izaya had just uttered the name of a knockback jinx, in his own head.

At once silence filled the hall as the students all stopped eating, talking and whatever they did when their minds were at ease. Their heads all turned towards the Shizuo who had been knocked into a wall, forming a hefty crack caused by the sheer power of his sturdy body. His glasses fell off, revealing a pair of angry looking eyes. The boy gnashed his teeth as his sunglasses shattered upon impact when it reached the smooth ground.

"YOU BIG SON OF A BITCH!" he yelled in anguish. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU! JUST YOU WAIT SHRIMP!"

The blond haired boy steadily got to his feet and ignoring the ogle looks from the students and the group of staff members hurrying from the podium to restrain him, he sprinted towards his enemy, his fist poised for an attack. Izaya who was not in the mood for any more brutal pain to be inflicted upon him, sidestepped to the left, causing Shizuo to collide with an orangey haired student in front of him. The two of them struggled to get up, writhing like a mass of clothed bears on the ground. Izaya smirked only to be punched in the face by someone else's fist.

"That was the last straw Izaya! Now you're gonna get owned!"

Izaya grinned sinisterly as he was hauled to his feet and was now facing the dark haired boy who had sworn at him earlier. His fist was raised ready to strike, the anger clearly reflected in his eyes and his attacker's lips seemed to coil into an atrocious grin as he was now going to avenge his sister's accident and no one was going to stop him. Izaya was still in good spirits despite the fact that he was going to be landed in the hospital wing again. He had just accomplished a strange feat; he was a muggle and had therefore used a nonverbal spell before even becoming a student. He was probably the first one to do so. He would be famous. The punch went at him as though in slow motion, but his contented thoughts rid him of this. Should he use the spell again? No, he had already inflicted a lot of damage upon the great hall.

"Impedimenta!"

The dark haired man was lifted off his feet before he was able to deliver his knuckle sandwich. He collapsed to the floor, groaning in slight pain and alarm. A wrinkled face witch approached the scene, annoyed and Izaya immediately guessed that it was she who casted the jinx. A black pointy hat was placed upon her head, which he found to be quite amusing, but he resisted the urge to laugh. She had a very stern look upon her wrinkled face, one that even Shizuo himself would find terrifying to stare at.

"How irresponsible!" she barked. "Students attempting to use muggle violence! I've never in my entire lifetime seen such disgusting behavior! Especially from new, exchange students! Is this what they teach you in Japan? You should know better! Kato, Heiwajima, Orihara! Straight to my office after the sorting! Consider yourselves lucky to not be expelled from your first day! Yes you too Orihara. You've obviously done something to them to turn them into a violent bunch."

She went back to her podium, fuming and a white bearded wizard popularly known as Dumbledore nodded to her as she seated herself.

"Thank you Mrs. McGonagall," he said. "Let the sorting ceremony begin!"

The wrinkled face witch grabbed a nearby stool and placed it in front of the podiums. A pointy hat was also perched on the stool and began to sing the most boring and pointless song Izaya has ever heard. Masaomi Kida approached the line and stared at it curiosity; he had never in his entire life seen something like this occur. He had seen headless motorbike riders, cursed swords, said riders forging a weapon out of midair using a shady dust like substance, but he had never experienced a talking hat before. Its mouth opened and closed just like a human being will and Kida for once thought whether it was a special effect or whether it was being controlled by strings like a puppet. The sorting hat finished his song and a round of applause was followed with Dumbledore clapping the loudest. Then McGonagall stepped to the front, unrolling a parchment and began to make an announcement.

"When I call out your name," he said. "You will be placed upon this stool and you will put the hat on. The hat will decide which house you will be placed in. Whether its Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw!"

An aura of suspense was surrounding the first years. McGonagall drew in a deep breath and said: "YUMASAKI, WALKER!"

A light brownish haired boy nervously stepped forwards and sat on the stool, the hat awkwardly placed upon his head. It took it a moment for it to finally shout: "HUFFLEPUFF!"

He stumbled towards the Hufflepuff table who cheered him on and congratulating him on being a new member of their house.

"KARISAWA, ERIKA!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

A black haired girl joined the table where she hugged Walker. The two of them were best friends back in Ikebukuro.

"KISHITANI SHINRA!"

A boy who's hair looks like a layer of chocolate and was wearing spectacles, advanced to the stool and sat down. McGonagall lowered the hat and the moment it touched the hem of his hair, it cried out "RAVENCLAW!" Shinra gave her a wink before striding off to his house table.

"HEIWAJIMA SHIZUO!"

Shizuo accepted his next turn. He sat fretfully on the stool as the hat was placed onto his head. As he waited for its response, it spoke to him through his mind.

"Hmmm, a hard one you are. You have the strengths, skills and bravery of a Gryffindor. But then again the Slytherins would benefit from it. However your mind is equal to that of an average Hufflepuff. But then again, I would be delighted to not offend you and instead place you in GRYFFINDOR!"

The reaction to him was mixed; some clapped at their first arrival while others winced and followed suit unwillingly for they saw what he did with the carriages and that dark-haired boy. Izaya leered at him and waved mockingly. He was however unaware that he was next in line.

"ORIHARA IZAYA!"

He briskly made his way to the seat and waited for the hat to be dropped upon him. Once it was comfortable upon his head, it began to speak in a sonorous voice.

"Ahh now you are one very complex individual."

What do you mean, Izaya thought.

"You are smart and have very quick reflexes. You would be a great addition to the Ravenclaw house with all these traits. But, then again most of your plans are somewhat sinister and most of your daily life is concerned with rivalry. You have also committed many hideous deeds in the past. SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table erupted with a round of applause. Izaya was satisfied with the hat's choice and he danced towards the table, unaware that a certain dark, long-haired professor was watching him with his gloomy beady eyes. The man with the tuffs of hair plastered onto his chin was appointed as a Slytherin as well and as he walked to the table uncertainly, but Izaya knew that he would have so much fun. The orangey haired teen that was Shizuo collided with a moment ago was made a Hufflepuff.

"KIDA MASAOMI!"

Kida dug his hands into his pocket and sat on the stool. The hat fell on his head, literary blocking out his vision and it began to speak.

"Hmmm, a gang member. You would definitely be beneficial towards the Slytherins. But then again, you have a knack for ideas, whether they are wonderful or absurd, a common trait of the Ravenclaws. But then again, the Hufflepuffs have a great sense of humor. Well, I've made my decision. GRYFFINDOR!"

He then made his way to their table and sat down. He observed the sorting carefully and discovered that Ryo Takiguchi became a Ravenclaw, Saburo Togusa became a Gryffindor and Kyohei Kadota was also appointed a Slytherin. Then came Anri Sonohara who was announced as a Gryffindor. She sat next to Kida, a smile directed to him. After more sorting was done, the hat and stool was taken off and Dumbledore began yet another speech introducing some new teachers to the crowd (which Kida and Izaya both fell asleep through because of the first teacher's rather boring and pointless speech) before the tables were magically laden with food, including some Japanese cuisine for the exchange students. A transparent ghost glided next to Kida, who was helping himself to a bowl of steaming hot ramen.

"That is good?" he asked. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah it is," Kida replied. "It's really popular back in Ikebukuro. I remember when we used to be treated to one during field trips. But really expensive too. You can have some if you want; just added some spices to flavor it by the way."

"I wish I could but I can't," the ghost said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sir Nicolas de Minsy-Porpington, resident ghost at Gryffindor tower and the one who will always be willing to help you brave younglings."

"In other words he called Nearly Headless Nick," a dark haired boy with a thick Irish accent said.

The ghost sighed. "Well judging by the dreadful length of my name, it is unlikely anyone would ever be able to remember it. So people have been making up nicknames. You may prefer to call me Nick, but adding the nearly headless at the beginning is sure to lessen confusion if there's actually someone else that's called Nick."

"Why nearly headless?" a first year asked.

Nearly Headless Nick pulled his head sideways as a response and to everyone's surprise it fell upon his shoulder, a long thin thread of skin being the only thing keeping it from completely detaching from his transparent stump.

You see," he explained. "Someone obviously failed to completely behead me and as a result I am stuck in this ridiculous form." He paused and tipped his head back on to his neck. "So where was I again? Oh yes I remember now I was talking about the bloody soup you call… err what is it you call it again?"

"Ramen," Kida replied.

"Ahh yes, ramen. Since I'm a ghost I cannot touch solid objects and my hands would go through this bowl of ramen and you would get a nasty shock. I believe you Gryffindors do not need a demonstration do you?"

Suddenly the chit chat was broken up by a loud racket by the Slytherin table. A irritated Shizuo was depicted holding a large bowl of hot sharkfin soup over a giggling Izaya. The bartender trainee was covered from head to toe in what looks like a bizarre combination of cranberry and mustard.

"Do you know those two?" Nick pointed towards Izaya and Shizuo, whose fist was raised tensely.

"Oh they're Shizuo and Izaya," Kida replied. "They get into fights almost all the time so you needn't worry about them. It's practically part of their everyday life."

"Ahh. They kind of remind of something."

"What is it?"

"Well to be precise, the dark-haired one reminds of the ingredient sugar and the blond-haired one is spice. This is because the dark-haired one is sweet and at times dangerous just like sugar while the blond-haired individual is like spice; hot-tempered and mean-spirited. I noticed their behavior before the sorting ceremony. It's just a classic theory of mine."

Kida nodded. Although it was of no importance whatsoever, the ghost's theory may prove useful to him at a later date. However his mind was fixed upon a plate laden with sushi of every different flavor, but the thought would come back to him eventually.

Meanwhile back at the Slytherin table…

"That mudblood is getting on my nerves," Draco Malfoy scowled as Izaya delightedly told the other Slytherins the crazy antics he has done back in Ikebokuro. "Look at him lounging around like an imbecile. What a show off."

"What's wrong Malfie," Izaya teased. "Still mad about my broomstick bashing business. Well I don't know what to say about that because it's all your girlfriends fault. If she hadn't tipped me off that time, your broom might have been spared from my vengeful grasp. I guess you should ask her for an apology."

"If anyone deserves to owe him an apology it's you Orihara," Pansy said, furiously. "You be careful of what you say around here or good ole Lucius will have you strung up the whomping willow by your own buttocks."

"Oh threatening me right now?" Izaya said. "I'm sorry miss whoever you are, but I'm not one bit scared by those threats you imposed on me."

This is going a long year, thought Malfoy as Pansy grabbed the Japanese by the collar on his shirt, gritting her teeth and her fist aiming straight for his forehead.