CH4

A/N: Oh man, I forgot that Hagrid is supposed to be off with the giants at the beginning of the fifth book. Whoopsie. Thank goodness it doesn't seem like any of you have noticed yet. For the purpose of this story (and not having to rewrite the last chapter), Hagrid managed to get back before term started.

Anything in bold and italics is taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, which is unfortunately not mine, so I will give credit to J K Rowling where it is due. Hopefully that is enough of a disclaimer.

Allen's POV

In the two weeks between our arrival and the start of term, Kanda and I settled into life at Hogwarts. Me more than him I think. Although, the teachers did stop gawping whenever they caught sight of Kanda practicing with Mugen out on the shore of the lake, which was a lot. I managed to find my own way down to the Great Hall for breakfast at the beginning of the second week, only getting lost a little. (Although, getting lost wasn't necessarily a bad thing. One time I found the kitchens, and a bunch of house elves who love to feed people. They had immediately taken a liking to me because of the sheer amount of food I can eat.) I also went down to Hagrid's house for tea and got to meet his giant boarhound, Fang, who tried to eat Timcampy. Tim wouldn't go anywhere near Hagrid after that just in case the massive dog was around.

During that time I did manage to glean some more information from different teachers about the wizarding world and the school, including important facts like there actually was a ceiling in the great hall, and that I would be sorted into one of four houses at the start of term. I knew I didn't want to be a Slytherin, mainly because the head of Slytherin house, Snape, intimidated me a bit.

The last day of the start of term I got my first ever letter by owl post. I ripped open the envelope, wondering just who would be sending me letters. I didn't have any contacts in the wizarding world, and Komui had already informed me by way of golem that he refused to use owl post. I immediately recognized Lavi's handwriting:

Hey Allen (moyashi)

How is life in the magical world? You have to tell me every little detail. What's the school like? What are the wizards like? Have you done any magic yet?

Things are fairly quite around here (as far as the Black Order is concerned). Just one Komurin since you've been gone, which tried to take out the owl Komui was going to use to send you a letter. The bird pooped on his beret, which he wasn't too happy about. Lenalee wrecked the Komurin (just like everyone before it. What number are we up to now? 36?) and saved the owl. Apparently they've become good friends since they can both fly, and Lenalee made Komui allow her to keep it. She's named him Kawaii. Leave it to Lenalee to name a male bird "cute." She's agreed to let me use him to send you letters.

So, how are your Yuu problems coming? Remember, if you give me info, I'll give you advice. (hint hint)

Write back!

Lavi

P.S. Komui says to send Timcampy to him because there are no phones at the school. You can communicate by Tim's recording system.

I shoveled down the rest of my breakfast at an impressive rate and raced off to my room to send a reply, even though the library was closer. I hadn't quite gotten the hang of using a quill yet, so I had a secret stash of normal pens in my trunk (shhh). I sat at the table in the front room to write the letter, the thought hitting me that I would be living in the dorms after today. It was a little intimidating, mostly because it meant I would have to learn my way down to the Great Hall from a different place. I was also worried about what people might think of my innocence. I usually kept it covered, but sharing a room with several other boys, it would be too much work to hide it. Mostly I was excited though. I wanted to meet other wizards and see what they were like.

I started the letter, being sure to try to remember everything. Lavi would kill me if I left out a single detail:

Lavi,

Are you ready? Gramps standing by to record all of this?

Kanda and I got to the school by train. It was a huge red steam engine, which we caught in the usual way. I'm told though that the students don't have to jump onto it from a bridge. It takes them to the school from a disguised platform called Platform 9-3/4. They will be arriving today.

The actual school is a massive, old, stone castle surrounded by huge grounds. It has its own lake and a forest, which they tell me is full of terrifying magical creatures. Right now I'm staying in a private room which is guarded by a tapestry (all of the pictures here move and talk). It is really nice, way fancier than the rooms at the Order. Tonight I'll be moving into a dorm with the other students once I'm sorted into my house. There are four houses which the students are divided into: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own traits, and everyone is sorted into them by which traits match their personality best. The teachers still won't tell me how they do this. They say it would ruin the experience. The Gryffindors are brave, the Hufflepuffs are hard working, the Ravenclaws are smart, and the Slytherins are sly. I would rather not be in Slytherin, it doesn't have a good reputation, but I might just end up there given my poker "skills."

The headmaster of Hogwarts is an old wizard named Dumbledore. He has long white hair and beard, and always wears these half-circle glasses. He is supposed to be really powerful. Dumbledore is the one who asked for help from the Order.

I've also met another of the teachers named Hagrid, who teaches care of magical creatures and lives in a little hut out on the grounds. (I've visited him before, and his dog, Fang, tried to eat Tim.) Hagrid is absolutely massive. He must be at least eight or nine feet tall. I won't be taking his class though, because students don't get to choose classes until their third year. Hagrid was the one who took Kanda and I to get supplies from this place called Diagon Alley. It's a concealed magical street full of all of these shops with amazing stuff, way too much to describe in one letter.

The one type of magical creature I have met is house elves. They are short with huge eyes and bat-like ears, and wear whatever they can find for clothing (mostly dishtowels and pillow cases). I got lost one day in the castle and found one of them, or actually he found me. His name is Dobby, and apparently he is friends with some of the students, so he helped me out. He took me back to the kitchens, which are behind this painting of a bowl of fruit which opens if you tickle the pear (weird, right?). I have decided I absolutely love house elves. Their favorite pastime is feeding people. I'm pretty sure they like me now too, seeing as I ate so much of their cooking.

Whew, done, and now my hand is cramping. Tell Komui that communicating by Tim is fine, and I'll send him soon.

Allen

PS- I don't have Yuu problems.

Once I was done, I eyed the owl suspiciously. Knowing my luck it would probably try to peck my hand. Tim was wisely hiding; for some reason just about every animal he ever met wanted to eat him. I gave the envelope containing the letter to the owl very cautiously; thankfully no pecks. He must have been trained. I wondered just how Komui got a hold of a real wizard post owl. "Take this to Lavi Bookman, at the Black Order, OK," I told Kawaii, crossing my fingers that the bird somehow understood me and would get the letter to the right person. I took him to the window and opened it for him to fly off.

This done, I decided a visit to the house elves was in order.

My stomach stuffed with good food from the kitchens, I headed down to the entrance hall, wearing my new Hogwarts robes. McGonagall had requested I meet her there before the feast and Sorting. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in her first day of term best.

"Mr. Walker, good. You will wait in here until the Sorting. The other first year students will join you shortly." She led me to a small room off the hall, before leaving again.

It was a plain room, without any furniture or paintings. Before long I could hear many voices chattering on the other side of the door, but they faded away until they were just a dull hum in the background. I assumed the voices must belong to older students, who would already be seated in the Great Hall for the feast.

Only a few moments later I could hear more voices approaching, but these were more hushed and nervous. The door swung open to reveal small, scared looking faces peering around Professor McGonagall curiously. She stood aside and they filed in quietly, until someone spotted me and whispers broke out through the crowd.

McGonagall cleared her throat to recapture their attention, and then made a speech about the Sorting and the houses, and suggested they neaten up. I didn't pay much attention; I had picked up all of the information in bits and pieces in my weeks here. As soon as the door swung shut behind McGonagall, the whispers grew in volume.

"Mr., are you a teacher here?" asked one nervous voice. The crowd of little first years parted like the red seas to show the boy who had spoken. No one wanted to be under my scrutiny if I was a professor.

"No, I'm going to be a student here too. I'm about to be Sorted, just like you," I reassured the frightened boy. "My name is Allen Walker. Nice to meet all of you."

A hint of relief showed on the faces around me. "How old are you?" inquired a girl from somewhere in the crowd.

"I'm fifteen, not all that much older than you."

This seemed to open the floodgates, because suddenly voices were calling out questions from all directions: "Why do you have white hair?" "Do they actually let people start so late?" "Why are you starting so late?" plus many more that I couldn't hear.

At that moment I was saved by Professor McGonagall appearing once again to lead us out to the Great Hall. I strategically situated myself at the back of the line, hoping to draw as little attention to myself as possible. I knew this wouldn't happen, with my white hair, curse mark and the fact that I was at least a head taller than the biggest of the other first years, but I could hope.

As we passed first through the entrance hall, and then into the Great Hall, the other students wore expressions of awe. They couldn't stop staring everywhere with their wide, nervous eyes. When they caught sight of the ceiling in the Great Hall, all eyes went immediately up, which resulted in a few stumbles. No one actually tripped, but they would always recover their footing and look around with flaming faces and try to shrink into their robes. However, no one noticed them. All eyes were fixed on me, and I could only guess that all whispers were about the strange, tall first year with white hair.

Although, some whispers might also be directed at Kanda, who was sitting at the head table with the other teachers and scowling out across the Hall. He was in his robes. I wondered who had been recruited to force him to wear them, and just how the hell they had succeeded. I had a terrible sneaking suspicion that magic had been involved.

I was distracted from staring at Kanda when I saw Professor McGonagall place something in front of the teacher's table out of the corner of my eye. It was a stool bearing an old, tattered looking hat. Somehow, we would be sorted using this hat. I was feeling a bit nervous, which was strange.

A rip in the hat had opened and started singing. I figured I should be concerned that a hat was singing, but I had seen enough strange things in my few weeks here that it didn't faze me. Once the song was over, McGonagall started calling out names. The first girl stumbled up to the stool, sat, and put the hat on her head. It was big enough that it fell over her eyes. After only a few seconds, it called out, "GRYFFINDOR"!

The girl was then allowed to go and take her seat, much to her relief, and the next person was called up. The Sorting continued in this manner, with the names progressing in alphabetic order by last name. Consequently, I was almost the last person called. When McGonagall called "Walker, Allen," and I walked toward the stool, the whispers burst out again and the butterflies stirred. I looked up at the teachers table, and saw Kanda staring at me, which did absolutely nothing for my nerves. I sat on the stool and put the hat on my head.

"Very interesting," said a voice in my ear that I could only assume was the hat. "You're a bit old for Sorting, aren't you? Ah well, the founders of this school wanted all wizards to be educated so I doubt they'd mind the age. Although, you're not a wizard either. You can do magic, yes, but you're not a wizard by birth. And a curse as well! But it's not my place to ask questions, I'm just here to put you in a house. Let's see, where should you go… you are certainly no stranger to hard work, and have a dash of cunning too. Hm, but yes, you have a dose of loyalty and courage that Godric Gryffindor himself would have been proud of." Then aloud, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

I lifted the hat from my head and walked to my new table, thankful that I could finally sit down and maybe escape the stares. A few more first years were sorted into their houses. Once McGonagall took away the hat, Dumbledore stood.

"Welcome all of you to a new year at Hogwarts. I can hear growling stomachs, so I won't keep you from our wonderful food. Dig in."

At that, piles of food appeared on the serving dishes in front of us. I had seen this before, so I wasn't surprised, but many of the other first years around me were taken aback for a moment. That soon passed and they dug in with gusto. I joined them, and piled my plate high. Despite eating plenty courtesy of the house elves only a few hours ago, I was hungry again. This gained me a few more stares, but at least my eating habits were something I was used to being stared at for.

After every single plate had been cleared of both dinner and dessert, Dumbledore rose again. "Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students—and a few of our older students ought to know by now too.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."

At this point, he was interrupted by Professor Umbridge, a tiny woman who had a face which was unfortunately a bit like a frog's, and liked pink… a lot. I had met her already, and I can't say I'm particularly fond of her. I tried to listen to her speech out of courtesy, but after a few moments, I couldn't help but tune her out.

When she was done, Dumbledore took the floor again and picked up as if he hadn't been interrupted. "I have a final piece of information I will impart to you before releasing you to your beds. This term, we have two guests joining us at Hogwarts. They are from an organization of men and women called exorcists. They have agreed to come to Hogwarts to both teach us and learn from us. Mr. Walker and Professor Kanda, will you please stand." I stood, feeling all eyes gravitating back to me once again. "As I'm sure you have all assumed, Professor Kanda will be one of your teachers. He will be in charge of a new class required of all students. Mr. Allen Walker will be joining your ranks as a fellow student. Please make them feel welcome. Thank you for your attention. You may now leave."

With these final words, the volume went up several notches and students began to file out. I stood with the group of first years who were all looking lost and still rather intimidated. "First years, this way!" called a voice over the clamor. The source was a girl about my age with bushy brown hair wearing a pin with a 'P' on it on her robes. Standing beside her and also wearing a badge was a tall boy with bright red hair, almost as bright as Lavi's, and a face full of freckles. The group started forward, but there was a lot of backtracking as all of the younger students tried not to be first in the line. I took up the front; I couldn't quite see what they were afraid of, but it might be that they were much younger than the Prefects.

Once we reached the pair, I could tell the boy was looking at me, more specifically my white hair. "Wow mate, how old are you?" he asked me.

"Ron! That's not very polite," the girl chided. "I'm Hermione Granger, nice to meet you," she then said to me, extending her hand.

I shook it, then looked at Ron and said, "I'm fifteen."

"Same as us." Ron then extended his hand to shake as well.

"Alright, this way now!" Hermione called over the heads of the first years and began leading the line toward the doors. Once we were out of the Great Hall and had a bit more room to maneuver, Ron dropped back to walk beside me. "Why is your hair white? And how did you get that scar?" he whispered, most likely so he wouldn't get scolded again.

Apparently he didn't do a good job of this, because Hermione said, "Ron, its obviously charmed," then addressing me, "You should change it back. Unnatural hair colors aren't allowed. If it's not back to normal by the morning, I'll have to tell Professor McGonagall."

"You wouldn't!" exclaimed Ron. "You're evil, threatening to turn a kid in on his first night! Plus he's an exorcist. Maybe all exorcists are required to have white hair."

"Professor Kanda didn't have white hair. His was black." A light blush had appeared on Hermione's face, and all I could think was oh, no.

To divert her from this train of thought, I said, "My hair isn't charmed white. It's natural."

Ron stopped walking. The first year behind him ran into his back, causing an immediate pile up.

"It's not that strange, Ron. In the muggle world there are people with white hair and red eyes called Albinos. Come on, you're holding up the line."

"But he doesn't have red eyes." Ron started moving again. He dropped the topic, only to ask, "How did you get that scar?"

"Ron!" Ron shut up. However, it seemed that Hermione was just as curious because a few moments later she said, "Are the exorcists like the exorcists from Christianity?"

"Sort of. We're not exactly the same. We don't get rid of demons. Well, their called Akuma, which is the Japanese word for 'demon,' but they're really kind of like war machines. But yes, we are under the command of the Vatican."

"Er, what is all that?" said Ron, looking very confused.

Ron didn't get his explanation because at that moment we came to a stop in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress. I realized that I hadn't paid any attention to the way up to the Gryffindor dorms, ensuring I would get insanely lost the next morning as per usual. Maybe I could find this pair of prefects again and get directions. "Password?" she asked. "Mimbulus Mimbletonia," Hermione told her and the frame swung forward to reveal the entrance to a magnificent common room. It had a roaring fire in a grate and a large collection of plush armchairs and tables. Everything was draped in red and gold. Ron showed us the boys' dormitories and our room. All of our things had been brought up, I suspected by house elves, and placed at the foot of our beds. I found my trunk, which was not hard to pick out from the others. The other three boys rooming with me kept on glancing at me quickly and looking away. Normally, I would reassure them that I'm not really that scary, but I was too tired. I went to the bathroom and changed into pajamas; the boys were too intimidated to follow, which was fine. If they saw my arm, they probably would be even more scared. I climbed into my bed and drew the heavy red curtains around it, and promptly fell asleep.

A/N: Sorry this one is only from Allen's point of view. But I wanted to do his sorting from his perspective, and I couldn't exactly do Gryffindor tower from Kanda's POV.

I hope you liked it anyway.

Reviews welcome as always.