Chapter 3! Are you excited? Actually, before you read the story, I have an IMPORTANT NOTE FOR YOU! I'd like to mention that this story was greatly inspired by Reborn at Hogwarts by phoenixyfriend! I've been meaning to put that in for a while now, but I kept forgetting, just like I kept forgetting to mention that no, Susan is not dead. Brook is Susan's elder cousin. There are three Bones siblings— Edgar, Amelia and Susan's parent.

So, go check out RaH (HP x Naruto crossover) and enjoy the chapter! (I hope I didn't forget anything this time...)

When Brook wakes up in a new world, with the old man's words still ringing in his ears, he is terrified. Then, he is fascinated. After that he goes through a whole range of emotions as he grows with his new family.

And there is magic, magic! How amazing! How strange! The first time he saw it, his eyes almost popped out of his head— ah, but he has no eyes! Skull Jo... Oh, he actually has eyes now. Hm... He'll have to re-accustom himself to being truly alive once more.

It's a fascinating new world with a new culture and new abilities (and new music!). His father is a loving man and his mother is very sweet and he has adorable little siblings as well. Admittedly, times would probably even happier than they are now if the world weren't at war, but he's used to such things really, having lived the life of a pirate for over a century.

When his family is killed— massacred by green lights before his very eyes— it is his aunt Amelia who takes him away. Aunt Amelia is a severe woman with more stress lines than laugh lines, but she has kind eyes. She is also more intelligent than most.

At Saint Mungo's when the healers are checking him over after the incident, they tiptoe around him, trying to gently explain to him that his family has "gone away" and that they won't be coming back. They seem alarmed, maybe even scared of the calm way he tells them that he knows his family is dead. A child shouldn't know such things apparently. The nurses are scandalized, but aunt Amelia nods approvingly. The Bones family is a sensible one (they are a family of Hufflepuffs after all) and they face the facts. A true Bones will not shirk from the cold, hard truth. Amelia and Brook both know that he has no need for counseling, but she checks him in anyway to appease the hospital, after the war is over.

Brook has never had a counselor before (pirates don't have time for such things) and frankly, he thinks it's a waste of time after his first appointment.

The mind healer asks him how he's feeling and if he has nightmares and if he knows what happened to his family (good, no, yes). If he likes his aunt Amelia, and does he think about dying or trying to see his parents again (yes and kind of yes, but he tells her no because that would give her the wrong idea).

She, like the rest of the healers, is shocked when he says that he knows they are dead. That he knows they are gone for good. That he really is okay. And Brook definitely knows she is scared when he tells her that he's happy they died quickly and painlessly. Children should not think of such things.

(But better to die in an instantaneous flash of light, than to waste away of hunger and disease, watching your comrades die and their bodies rot all around you.)

He doesn't always stay with his aunt, though he might like to. Amelia Bones is a busy woman, an important woman, and she has little time for child care, easy as it might be to take care of Brook. He spends a lot of time with his other aunt and uncle, and his little cousin Susan, who is only a year old. Though Susan is a joy to be around, her parents are tiring, with the way they treat him like glass and handle him with kid gloves. It's hard to act like a child all the time, especially when you're over a hundred years old (half of which was spent half-dead) and he doesn't always succeed. He knows because they give him odd looks and avoid touching him when they can.

Spending time with Amelia is a lot easier, simply because she doesn't actually spend time with him. Brook hates being alone, hates it with all his heart and always will because of the Florian Triangle, but he hates posturing almost as much. With Amelia, he has to do neither. She lets him sit nearby as she works, gives him vague answers to his chatterbox questions and basically let's him do what he wants. Which is how it should be because he is an adult (an elder!), even when stuck in a child's body.

By the time he is ten, Brook is still being shuffled between his remaining family. Amelia is now the head of the DMLE and Susan is now a bright-eyed, chubby cheeked little ball of sunshine. His birthday is fast approaching, and all people can say to him now is how he's almost eleven, almost time for Hogwarts, almost time to get a wand. He would say that they are even more excited than him, but that would be a lie.

Because he has searched his admittedly small new world for almost eleven years now, without finding his other family (his real family) without any clues. But maybe at Hogwarts, where all children are supposed to go (and they must be his age as well— they have to. He dares not think about possibly having to wait another eighty years to see his nakama).

Dear Mr. Bones,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

Diagon Alley is a familiar sight, as the main wizard shopping district, but it seems almost different this time, alight with a new feel. There is a tangible excitement in the air.

He goes through the standard motions— books, robes, apothecary. He doesn't bother with an owl (or any other pet) because the only person to write to is Susan, and he can use the school owlery for that.

As expected, the most exciting part is the wand. Walking into Ollivander's is like walking into a separate world. The air is different and sunlight filters only weakly through the dusty windows. Ollivander himself is peculiar and delightful, though Brook's uncle seems to find him creepy. Finding his wand doesn't take very long, and Ollivander seems a bit disappointed by this.

He walks back into the bustling alley holding his new wand, 12 inches, alder and unicorn hair ("Quite an unyielding wood, best suited for non-verbal spells..."). It feels alive in his hands, warm not in temperature but in emotion. It is a steady stream of joy, and it almost brings tears to his eyes.

Hogwarts is magnificent. The boat ride across the lake was nostalgic and beautiful, the ghosts in the castle fascinating. He joins the house of black and yellow ("Such loyalty, oh my yes...") like a proper Bones should, and his aunt sends him a book on law enforcement in congratulations. It's almost bizarre how much of a bookworm Brook has become in these eleven years.

Still, it's not quite enough to smother the crushing despair when he doesn't find his nakama in the school. And he knows they aren't there, because he knows the feel of his crewmates well.

But he IS older than the rest, so maybe next year.

(Please, please be here next year.)

"If the King loves music, there is little wrong with the land."

Evil endings are my specialty c: So- tell me your thoughts! Yes, I know it's short, but most of the chapters will be until Luffy/Harry's first year.

And as a last topic, have an update on the fanbase: 32 reviews, 77 favourites, 3 communities and a whopping 114 followers.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT guys. Wow. And that's with only 2 chapters. I feel so loved ;-;