Previously on LOST... I mean this FanFic: Calvin and Hobbes are enjoying a lazy summer day... well maybe not so much enjoying as being bored. After trudging off to find something to do, Calvin encounters Susie, and the after brief conversation the two reveal feelings for each other. Suddenly, Susie realized she desperately needs to leave for an unknown reason, and Calvin is left alone... or so he thinks. He turned around to find a wizard by the name of Dumbledore, who explains to him and his parents that Calvin is a wizard, and he's been invited to attend Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Eagerly accepting, Calvin realizes later than going to boarding school in England will force him to leave Susie behind. Upon telling her this, Susie becomes enraged and walks off. In late August Calvin, Hobbes and his family depart for London where they meet Jack, a wizard who will be their guide. Jack explains to Calvin his own role in things, the Ghost department of the ministry, and about the First Wizarding War, which is still fresh in everyone's mind. Finally, the chapter ends with Jack opening the passage into the Leaky Cauldron, welcoming Calvin into the Wizarding World.
A/N: I realize that Hobbes plays a very small role in the last chapter. I'd like to increase it from now on, but the truth is that it's difficult when this is all so dialog based. Hopefully when Jack leaves the picture Hobbes will have much more to say.
"Welcome, Calvin, to the Wizarding World."
Calvin was now shaking with excitement. Ushered on by Jack, he strutted through the hole in the brick wall with Hobbes right at his back. Calvin's parents cautiously duck in as well. Jack took the rear, reclosing the brick wall. Once inside, Jack smiled once again at the look on Calvin's face.
"This is it?" Calvin said, disappointment painted all over his face.
"I'll admit, it's not that grand an entrance, but hey, it IS a great place for a drink." Jack said, stifling back a laugh.
"You DO know Calvin is 11, right?" Hobbes now spoke up.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Jack shrugged.
"Ah, I see the Cappits are here." All the Cappits, Hobbes and Jack all turned to meet the voice. An elderly witch walked quickly over to them and held out a hand to Calvin's father. "My name is Minerva McGonagall, I am the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Pleased to meet you both."
Calvin's father took her hand and shook it, still bewildered by the entire situation. Calvin's mother tried to put on a more confident face, but was still clearly nervous.
"I trust Jack got you here with out too much delay? He's a bit unreliable, that one." Jack rolled his eyes. "Talented," she added upon seeing his reaction, "but unreliable. Anyway, if you like, I'll lead you into a private room I've rented. There are plenty more parents in the exact same situation you are in currently, and I'm explaining the Wizarding World to them. Calvin here will be safe with Jack, who will help him purchase everything on his supply list... assuming he remembered to bring the money I provided him with."
"Right here, Minerva!" Jack called at her.
"Good, now, are you ready to come with me or would you like to say a quick good bye to your son?" Calvin's parents both turned to Calvin, who held back a groan. His mom kissed him on the cheek and told him to be good, and his father told him not to give Jack too much trouble.
"Oh don't worry, I can guarantee I'll have had worse. Come on Calvin, let's get moving."
"Come on Hobbes!" Calvin called back to Hobbes, who had spaced out by this point.
Upon exiting the Leaky Cauldron, Calvin finally saw what he had been waiting for. Diagon Alley was as magnificent as he had imagined. A cobblestone street with colorful roof tops lining it on either side, hundreds of strange looking wizards and witches were walking to and fro shops filled with things Calvin couldn't even dream of.
"So!" Jack said, clearly pleased with the overjoyed look on Calvin's face. "You do have your supply list with you, don't you?"
Calvin nodded and fished around in his pocket. Upon not finding it where it should have been, he turned to Hobbes.
"Uhh... Hobbes? Where did I put the supply list?" Hobbes looked taken aback.
"Don't look at me! I thought you had it!"
Jack groaned. "So you don't have it, do you?"
"Errr... guilty as charged." Calvin said sheepishly. Day one in the Wizarding World and he already screwed up.
"Alright, it's fine. We'll just find another first year and ask to see their list. There should be plenty around here."
"How will we know who's a first year and who just looks young?" Hobbes said worriedly. Jack thought on this a minute, then snapped his fingers.
"Got it. We'll go to Ollivander's."
"Ollivander's?" Calvin questioned, "Is that another shop?"
"It's not just any shop, Calvin, it's the wand shop. And every first year needs to go there to get their wand. We're bound to find some first years there, let's go."
And so, not a minute later, Calvin, Hobbes and Jack were entering a small shop on the corner, filled with shelves upon shelves, all with long thin boxes. They must have wands in them, Calvin thought.
"Just a moment!" came a voice. "There's a bit of a line, my apologies."
Jack nodded at Calvin to take a seat. He did so, next to a red head who looked about his age. She was sitting next to a woman who could've only been his mother, as they shared the same orange hair. Jack, knowing they had found their first year parent, approached her.
"Excuse me, your daughter here wouldn't happen to be in her first year, would she?"
The woman looked up with a perky smile. "Oh yes, she's the last of seven to enter the school. We're very proud of her." Jack was about to congratulate her when the child spoke up.
"Moooomm. Being accepting isn't anything to be proud of; everyone gets accepted unless they're a squib." The girl crossed her arms stubbornly.
"Honestly, I'm always proud of you Ginevra, just li-"
"Moooomm." Jack stifled back a laugh. "I told you not to call me that. I want to be called Ginny."
"Oh I'm sorry dear." She turned back to Jack. "Now, did you want something."
"Yes," Jack began, "I'm supposed to be helping this muggle-born here collect his things, it's his first year as well, but he seems to have forgotten his supply list. Would you please let me copy down what's on it? I've got a pen and parchment right here."
"Oooh, a pen!" Jack tried not to roll his eyes. "You'll have to forgive me, my husband is absolutely fascinated with muggle inventions, can't get enough of them! Now let's see," she began to search through one pocket, then other. At last she found the sheet. "Ah, here it is! Feel free to look at it long as you like; I've memorized it completely by now. Oh, but it looks like there are some new text books in Defense Against the Dark Arts that they haven't asked for before. Looks like we'll be stopping by Flourish and Blotts."
Meanwhile, Calvin grinned at the girl sitting next to him.
"What!" She finally shouted at him.
"Ginevra." He laughed, then looked away.
"Oh sod off!"
"'Sod off'? What are you, British?"
Ginny gave Calvin a look of scrutiny. "Yes, as a matter of fact. We are in London, England, incase you didn't realize."
Calvin bit his lower lip. "Right. I knew that." Ginny rolled her eyes at him.
"Where are you from, anyway?"
"America, land of the free and home of the brave." Ginny rolled her eyes once more.
"NEXT!" A voice came, and a blonde haired boy sitting across from the two got up and walked towards it.
"So, Ginevra, how are things?"
"Please," Ginny looked at him with an expression of not anger, but desperateness, "just call me Ginny. I really just want to be called Ginny..." Calvin instantly felt awful about himself.
"Oh... sorry Ginny." He looked down, therefore unable to see her smirk.
"So," Calvin looked up once more. "How are things, Ginny?"
"Fine until you came along."
Calvin cringed. Hobbes looked over at him a whispered in his ear; "Smooth."
"NEXT!" came the voice once more. Ginny muttered something that Calvin was pretty sure was a 'finally' and walked off, her mother at her back. Jack looked at Calvin.
"Nice smooth talking by the way."
"Yeah, I already got some criticism from Hobbes, don't need any more from you, thanks."
A few minutes later, Ollivander called next once more, and Calvin passed by Ginny and bumped shoulders on his way towards the source of the voice. Ginny turned around and gave him a glare, at which he stuck out his tounge.
"Hello, young master!" Spoke a kindly old man. "My name is Mr. Ollivander. Am I right to assume you are here to purchase your first wand?"
"Uh, yeah, I am. So how does this work?"
"Glad you asked.. er, I'm sorry, what is your name?"
"Calvin Cappit."
"Alright then Calvin, allow me to make some quick measurements." And with a flick of a wand, a measuring tape was wrapping itself around Calvin.
"Is this really necessary for buying a wand?" Calvin questioned.
"Oh yes, quite. Now, take this." Ollivander placed a wand in Calvin's hand. "11 and a half inches, ash wood, unicorn hair core. Go on! Give it a swish!" And Calvin did so. He then looked at Ollivander expectantly, who was shaking his head.
"No, no, that won't do." And with that he took that wand for Calvin and pulled down another. "Let's try this. 11 and three quarters inches, oak wood, unicorn hair."
Once again, Calvin swished the wand. Nothing came of it however, and Ollivander gave a look of disapproval once more.
"Perhaps this... or this, we'll try both. Take this one first." Ollivander handed him a shorter wand. "11 inches, blackthorn, acromantula fang."
Not needing instruction, Calvin swished it around. This time something did happen. A brief exploding noise erupted from the wand tip. Ollivander looked peeved, clearly that wasn't supposed to happen.
"Don't worry, this one will work, I'm sure of it." Ollivander handed him yet another wand. Just holding it, Calvin could feel a tingling sensation. "11 and three quarters inches, cherry wood, demiguise hair core. Go on and swish it."
Calvin gave the wand a slow swish, and as he did he felt a warm breeze surround him. Mr. Ollivander smiled and nodded.
"Your wand has chosen you at last."
After paying Mr. Ollivander and leaving the store, the trio set off for the Second-Hand Robe Shop.
"Why do we need to buy second-hand?" Calvin groaned.
"Because we're on the school's knut, and demiguise hair wands are expensive." Jack said, keeping a steady pace and not adverting his gaze.
"Well it's not my fault that this wand 'chose me'." Calvin gave an irritated look to Jack, who did not turn his head to see it.
"You're right, but we'd probably have to buy second-hand anyway. It doesn't make that much of a difference though. Here we are."
The Calvin and Jack walked into the store, with Hobbes cautiously taking the rear.
"Oh great..." Calvin gave a long drawn out moan. Jack didn't realize why at first, but within seconds the reason was apparent. Not far in front of them was that same red headed girl and her mother, looking at robes.
"Don't worry; we'll just avoid them, c'mon." Jack led Calvin to the other end of the store to look for robes.
"Alright then, who needs help next? How about you?" Calvin saw Ginny look up hopefully, but the lady who had spoken walked over towards him and Jack. Upon seeing them, Ginny's face turned to rage. Calvin gulped and looked away.
"Alright then, let's take some quick measurements." Unlike Ollivander, this woman did not use magic to do so, instead she just took out a cord of measuring tape and did the measurements manually.
"Alright then," she said in the exact same tone as last she spoke the last two times. "try these on, they should fit fine and are just what you need for school. Do make sure they feel comfortable however!"
Calvin began to walk towards the back of the store to a sign which said 'Dressing Rooms', clothes in hand. Once he entered, he saw two stalls, one which had clothes draped over the door, and the other with an open door. After entering the second, he heard the first ones door entering, and a few moments later, the voice of the from the main room.
"Another dressing room is open, if you're ready dear!" Calvin heard footsteps, then the distinct noise of the door swinging open and closed once more.
"So," Calvin recognized this voice as Ginny, "did you just decide to follow us here or something?"
"You wish," Calvin retorted, trying on a winter cloak, "we just happened to need the same things."
"Hmph!" Though Calvin couldn't see Ginny's face, she was definitely agitated. "Well, I'm going to Flourish and Blott's next for my books, so I suggest you go on to Potage's and pick up your cauldron."
At this Calvin had no response, being done trying on his robes, he walked out of the dressing rooms calmly.
"Come on," Calvin said to Jack and Hobbes, not pausing for him to get up, "let's go and get my books next."
After another brief run in with Ginny and her mother at Flourish and Blott's, which went just about as well as the last two, the other supplies were gathered without much event. 1 cauldron was gathered from Potage's Cauldron Shop, a scale, a telescope, a pair of thick gloves and a set of glass phials were all bought from Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment. Finally, a set of quills and two bottles of ink were collected from a shop named Scribbulus Writing Instruments.
"We've still got some time, anything we see along the way that you want to take another look at?" Jack said to Calvin, exiting the quill shop. Calvin turned his head from side to side, looking for something he wanted to inquire about. Finally, a shop next to the quill store caught his eye.
"What's 'Quidditch'?" said Calvin, pointing to the sign over the shop.
"Ah yes, Quidditch. It's a sport, and a damn good one at that. Played on a broomstick." Calvin gave Jack a strange look.
"On a broomstick... you mean like a witches broom? One that flies?"
"Where do you think the stories for flying witches come from, Calvin? Yes, flying broomsticks."
"So... how do you play?"
"Well it's complicated, but the basic rundown of it is trying to get a ball through one three hoops which act as goals. They play it all the time at Hogwarts, so I'm sure you'll see it."
"Do you play?" Calvin asked. Jack gave a hard blink.
"Uh, well, yes. I played chaser, the offense position, for a couple years in school. Wasn't very good, mind you, but I did play."
"So is this what it means when it says first years aren't allowed their own broomsticks?"
Jack thought about this a moment. "Wait, I thought you said you didn't have your supply list?"
"I don't," said Calvin, "I just remember it being on there and thinking that it was strange."
"Ah, well yes. But if you want to learn to fly I believe they still give flying lessons to first years. Even if you don't intend to play, it's a good skill to have..." Jack trailed off, taking a look at his watch. "Well! Look at the time; we'd better get back to the Leaky Cauldron."
Upon reaching the Leaky Cauldron, Calvin found his parents waiting for him in the main entrance. Jack explained to them how things would work on September First. Calvin's parents wanted to sight see in the week and a half until then, but Calvin couldn't wait till that day and listened intently to Jack as he explained.
"I'll be right outside the hotel to drive you to the train station. Once there, I'll lead you to Platform 9 and ¾, it's a bit difficult to locate. Finally, Calvin will get on the train and you two" Jack nodded at Calvin's parents, "will say your good-byes. I'll lead you out and drive you back to the hotel. After that, my time with you all will be done."
Sight seeing with his parents was as boring as Calvin imagined it would be. He may have enjoyed it more had he not been so distracted the entire time. When they were in London viewing the Big Ben, Calvin was wondering what kind of spells he would be learning. While they walked around Stonehenge, Calvin discussed with Hobbes all the cool people they were sure to meet. While they were riding a double-decker bus around London, Calvin was wondering what the classes would be.
Finally the day came. Calvin felt there was no way he would possibly get to sleep. When he finally did, it was very late, and as a result he had some trouble getting up in the morning, despite his excitement. When finally the exited the hotel, Jack was there with a worried look on his face.
"We'd better hurry," he said, helping Mr. and Mrs. Cappit with the luggage. "Don't want to be late for the train."
Even with Jack's quick driving bringing them to the train station in record time, Jack told them they would have to run as fast as possible.
"Here it is," Jack began, though Calvin could see nothing, "the entrance to Platform 9 and ¾."
"Where?" Calvin asked frantically, the train was supposed to be leaving now and he didn't see anything.
"Through this brick wall." Jack chuckled at the ridiculousness of it. "You just have to run into it." And with that, Jack ran into the wall, though what happened was nothing out of the ordinary. Jack bounced right off with a shocked expression.
"It's closed! The barrier is closed! It's never closed, not even on holidays, what's the meaning of this?" Calvin looked to his parents worriedly, who returned his expression. Hobbes as well clearly did not think good of this situation.
"No matter, a simple bit of spell work will reopen it." Jack waved his wand and tapped the bricks, and tested it by pushing his arm through. To Calvin's amazement, his hand was now invisible, as if on the other side of the bricks. "Come on, we haven't any time to waste."
Jack, followed by Calvin and Hobbes, followed by his two parents, raced through the barrier. The sight they beheld the next moment was a sad one. The train was already moving, the back car moving out of sight.
"Uh oh." Hobbes said, all three of the Cappit's put on disappointed faces.
"Oh don't worry," said Jack, though he looked a tad bit worried himself. "I can still get you on the train. Go on, say your good-byes."
Calvin's mother gave him a quick hug and begged him to be good. His father, on the other hand, had a bit more to say.
"Calvin, I'll admit I'm pretty clueless as to what's going on here, but I do realize this is a whole new opportunity to make a name for yourself." Calvin looked up at his Dad, who was looking very serious now. "I want you to think about what kind of person you want to be, because however you act now is going to become who you'll be for the rest of your life." Calvin nodded, impressed by his father's words of wisdom. "Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine."
And with both his parent's having said their good byes, Jack handed them the keys to the car and told them to drive back to the hotel. There was nothing to worry about, he explained, but because Calvin had missed the boarding Jack would need to speak briefly with some people over at the school. His parents nodded, not fully understand but accepting the situation, and left to return to the muggle world.
"So... how do we get on the train?" Calvin asked, still with a worried tone.
"Well first let me handle the luggage." And with the flick of a wand and a pop, the luggage was gone. "Alright, grab my hand." Calvin did so. "By the way... what did you have for breakfast this morning?"
"Um... nothing, we were in such a rush to leave. Why?"
Suddenly, Calvin felt himself being flipped inside-out. It was without a doubt the most unpleasant sensation he had ever felt. A moment later, they were on the back of the train, and Calvin was gagging, though nothing only some saliva came out.
"Grooossss." Jack joked. "Anyway, here we are. You can find yourself a compartment, though I don't suspect any will be empty anymore. Oh, almost forgot." Jack held out a small bag half full with coins to Calvin. "A little gift from me to you, you'll be able to buy something from the food cart with this."
Calvin thanked Jack, who a moment later was gone with yet another pop. He picked up one of his bags, Hobbes taking the other, and began to search for a compartment. The first one he looked into was filled with boys much older than he, the next only girls. A few more misses followed, when finally he found a compartment, which contained a lone girl, he felt comfortable entering. Upon entering, the face of the brunette who Calvin noticed looked not much older than himself shot up with a hopeful look, then back down again looking discouraged.
"Er, can I sit here?" Calvin asked tentatively.
"Of course, sorry, I just haven't seen either of my friends. I expected them to be here by now."
"Well... maybe they missed the train?" Calvin suggested, hoping it didn't worry the girl further.
"I suppose it's possible. They'll probably find someone to apparate them to Hogsmeade if that's the case."
"Or they could apparate them onto the train..." Calvin suggested. The girl shook her head.
"Well, I suppose it's possible, but it takes a very good apparator to get onto a moving object like a train." The girl now looked up at Calvin, "I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Hermione Granger, and you are?"
"Calvin, Calvin Cappit. This is my first year."
Hermione looked over at Hobbes, and in an instant her eyes went wide. "Are you... are you a zoomagi?" Hobbes blinked.
"I have no idea what that is, I'm afraid." Hobbes responded.
"I'm a muggle-born." Calvin explained, "And Hobbes has been living with me for most of his life. We don't really know most of the wizarding lingo."
"Oh, well I'm a muggle-born myself." Hermione said, "Anyway, a zoomagi is an animal which is normally non-magical, but takes on sentient traits due to magic. Muggles usually mistake them for either a normal animal or a completely fake one."
"That sounds about right." Calvin nodded. Hobbes looked rather pleased with himself. Hermione though had a scrutinizing look.
"They're also extremely rare, and most tend to be dangerous." Hobbes twiddled his thumbs innocently. They're so rare in fact that the Ministry of Magic requires all of them to be registered, and decides whether they should be registered as beasts or not on a case by case basis." Hermione finished, looking worriedly at Calvin. "You're a muggle-born, so I doubt you've had him registered. Am I right?" Calvin nodded nervously.
"So how do I go about registering him?"
"I'm not exactly sure, I'd say you should talk to you're Head of House, or maybe Dumbledore." Hermione suggested.
"Well... okay... who's my Head of House?" Calvin asked, hoping this wasn't something he was already expected to know.
"Oh! I'm sorry! You're a first year, you haven't been sorted yet! How silly of me."
"Sorted?"
"Don't worry, you'll find out all about that soon enough, I will give you one piece of advice however."
"What's that?" Calvin asked eagerly.
"Whatever you do," Hermione smiled, "don't end up in Slytherin."
Calvin was about to ask what this meant, but someone came running through the door at that very moment.
"Have you seen Trevor?" the boy said frantically. Hermione shook her head.
"Sorry Neville, I haven't."
"Well keep an eye out, please." The boy raced out of the compartment, leaving Calvin and Hobbes with a confused expression.
"That's Neville." Hermione chuckled, "He's in my year, we're second years by the way. He's always losing things, including his pet toad Trevor."
Calvin chuckled. From there the conversation shifted to their muggle lives, Hermione was particularly interested when Calvin said he was from America. Calvin learned Hermione's parents were dentists, and that she had, like him, only learned she was a witch at the age of 11. Next Hermione explained to him a number of wizarding things, such as the Ministry and more about Quidditch. He was particularly interested when she told him on a tangent about Zonko's and wizarding pranks. After awhile, Hermione informed him that they would be arriving soon, and it would be wise to change into their school robes at this point. Another ten or so minutes later, the train started to slow, and before he knew it, everyone was getting off.
"I hope you find your friends." Calvin called to Hermione as they exited the train.
"Oh I'm sure they'll turn up somewhere." Hermione called back.
"FIRST YEARS O'ER HERE!" came a loud voice. Taking his que, Calvin set of in search of the voices source. In his search he looked up and spotted a massive castle across a lake. It had towers which shot up like rockets and was illuminated beautifully by the star light. He looked to his left to find a massive man with a great beard grinning down at him.
"Welcome to Hogwarts."
A/N: So I realize I've ended two chapters in a row now with a welcome to some place. It's only coincidence, in case you were wondering.
REVIEW, PLEASE. I've been alerted that I was blocking anonymous reviews last chapter, so I've turned that feature off, now you have no excuse!
