Hello, world, I live! I know it's been a while and I only have 2 rewritten chapters up after all that, but I think I'm sort of making progress, and I'm somehow managing to balance school too, so that's good. Anyway, I thought I'd get this up. This, world, is why I ship DenUkr. I am sorry for that, but it oddly fits. Anywho, grazie to everyone who reviewed chapter 8, the AN, and/or the rewrites, namely Iricelli, Crazy Awesome Neko, Equality4Puppies, WeirdCornChip, Zantetsuken Reverse, xXNaidaXx, cherrygemini, Lyndana, Cookie05, forever-sweet, and ShrapnelGirl! Holy adjectives, there are a lot of you now, though I'm certainly not complaining~ :-) I don't own Hetalia or Harry Potter, for if I did I would actually have money and wouldn't be going all Switzerland on every little purchase.
Chapter 9
By the time Turkey is sorted into Slytherin, Spain is already bored, not to mention very disappointed that Romano isn't in the same house. Oh, well. At least I have Veneziano!
Chatter builds up over the nations' arrival, and a couple of girls lean over and engage Spain in conversation. He is caught in a discussion of the history of magic in Spain for a short time before Professor McGonagall calls the room to attention again. "To assist in policing the increased number of students, I am appointing two Prefects from among them: fifth years Arthur Kirkland and Lukas Bondevik. But now that that is finished, I would like to invite you to enjoy the feast. Welcome to Hogwarts!"
The crowd of students cheers, and Spain joins in enthusiastically, only cutting himself off when heaping plates of food appear in the center of the table. His goblet fills of its own accord with thick orange liquid. Spain is serving himself from a rather out-of-place bowl of paella when a piercing scream cuts off all conversation.
"What's wrong, boy? You look as if you've seen a ghost," a hollow voice says loudly from the Gryffindor table. Spain twists around to look. A semitransparent grinning head sits on America's plate. America himself has fallen back off the bench and is just staring at it, squeaking.
"Hello, Sir Nicholas," the girl next to Switzerland calls.
"Ah, hello, Ravenna! Good to see you again!" the ghostly head greets, and it flies up out of the table, the rest of its body following. "What's wrong with this lad?"
Britain stands up and hustles over to pull America off the floor. "I'm sorry, Sir Nicholas, he's phobic of ghosts. Muggle-born, you see; you're the first one who has ever… popped out at him like that."
The rest of the conversation is lost to Spain as chatter picks up amongst the other students again, but he quickly learns that there is a ghost for every house and then some. "Alfred's going to have issues," Latvia remarks from somewhere nearby, voicing every nation's thoughts at that moment. For the rest of dinner, however, nothing is much more interesting to Spain than the paella and flirting.
After supper, Spain and the rest of the Hufflepuffs are herded to the basement and then through a passageway to their common room. The first word that comes to Spain's mind to describe it is "cozy." It is dimly lit only from a huge fireplace, and there are more than enough giant overstuffed yellow and black couches and chairs for the entire House. A seventh-year boy ushers the gawking Spain through a round door in the wall into a lengthy tunnel that split off at random points, gesturing him toward one in particular before turning off at another. Opening another round door at the end, Spain arrives at his dormitory.
He throws himself on top of a fluffy bed, ready to sleep (those girls were sweet, but one can only stand so much in a day), before realizing that he doesn't even know where he is going the next morning. A quick check of his schedule, found conveniently in a trunk at the foot of his bed, proves the first class to be Care of Magical Creatures at 9:35. Sleeping in and learning magic? This is going to be a fun year!
-/|\-
"'Scuse me... move it... geez, idiots, I'm late..."
"Ow!" Ukraine says as she falls to the floor, Denmark faceplanting next to her. The other students stream past unconcernedly as the two pick themselves up, Ukraine's cheeks bright red. "I'm sorry! I was thinking of something else and didn't get out of your way..." She hangs her head.
"Nah, it's okay. I'm just late for Divination. My bad."
"Eh? Divination? I'm going there too. We still have nine minutes before class starts. Want to walk with me? I'm getting rather lost..."
"Nine minutes? I'm gonna kill that stupid Emil! He said I had two minutes to get up to that freakin' tower!"
Ukraine smiles pityingly and grasps his arm. "Come on, I think it's this way."
-/|\-
"Um... a zebra?"
"It says here that zebras indicate international travel," Ukraine reads. Denmark just cracks up, earning him several odd stares.
"Is something particularly funny about Ms. Braginskaya's future, Mr. Køhler?" the teacher asks, gliding over.
"No, I just saw a zebra in those leaf things. International travel," he explains, giggling again.
"Oh? A zebra? Interesting. Now what does Ms. Braginskaya think your cup has to say about your future?"
"I haven't done his yet," Ukraine admits, blushing.
The teacher rolls her eyes and picks up Denmark's cup. "Hm... curious... a declaration of love, first off. Pity it isn't for you. Do you have any close relatives or friends that it might be for?"
"Uh... maybe?"
"Well, you have some time to figure out whom, dear; whomever it's for, it's no closer than the end of the year. Now, this chain here next to this onion? Those mean you'll be embarrassed by the release of a secret. Oh, and this symbol represents disaster. Be careful. Your leaves aren't all for you, but you're involved. Now, one more question." She pauses for a moment before tilting her head at Denmark in mild confusion. "How exactly does one manage to see a zebra in a clump of tea leaves?"
-/|\-
The Charms classroom is easier to find than the Divination tower, for which Ukraine is grateful. She and Denmark had been receiving some odd, nearly threatening glances from the other students in the halls, and she doesn't particularly enjoy such attention.
The staircases luckily turn in their favor, and the two are the first from their class to get to the room. America is at the front, being lectured on behavior by the teacher, apparently having been in the class prior. Someone sighs from next to Ukraine, who whirls around to identify the source, almost hitting Canada with her "large tracts of land." He blushes and stutters an apology as he backs away toward his brother, whose scolding has been finished, and they leave the room together.
"Well, don't just stand there; sit down, you two," orders the professor in a friendly tone. He is extremely short, but has a kind smile. His brown hair and mustache are streaked with gray and a small pair of glasses perch on his nose. Ukraine does as directed, sitting at a table in the front of the room, Denmark mindlessly following. "Now, I believe you two are some of the... exchange students in my class? Well, you plus Mr. Roderich Edelstein of my own house?"
"Yes," affirms Ukraine. "He may be late; he tends to get lost easily, and this castle is huge."
"That's fine. I quite understand. I'm Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw. I hear you have had rather minimal training, so if you're stuck on something, don't be afraid to ask, though I expect you to be trying to catch up."
"Yes, sir," Ukraine says, Denmark echoing a second later.
The little professor smiles sincerely and turns his attention to the next student entering. "Good day, Ms. Waverly! How was your summer?"
"Fine, Professor. Yours?"
"Just wonderful. Will you finally be joining the orchestra this year? We really could use that magnificent flute of yours."
The girl blushes and sits down at the unoccupied table next to the nations'. "No thank you, Professor. Not this year." She dips her head slightly, raven hair shielding her face from further view. Flitwick arches his eyebrows but says nothing, instead opting to turn around and magically write on the chalkboard with his wand.
More students file in and choose desks next to their housemates. The two unfilled chairs at the raven-haired girl's table are quickly occupied by the first two other Ravenclaws that come through the door. Austria, predictably, is the last student in the room, so he has to sit next to Ukraine. They can both feel the unwelcoming stares of the Gryffindors behind them and busy themselves taking out their books and wands. Denmark just sits there obliviously, doodling on the corner of the table.
Finally Professor Flitwick calls the class to order. "Good morning, class! It's so nice to see all of you returning to work toward your Charms NEWT. Let's start off the year fun, shall we? Aguamenti!" He flicked his wand, shooting a jet of water in a high arc above their heads and into the top of a stack of pots on a back table. "The size and focus of the stream is, as always, a matter of concentration," he explains, changing the jet to fine mist that showed a rainbow in the light from the windows. "Well, go on. Work with the others at your table. Grab a pot and give it a try."
Austria gets a pot from the back table and gives the spell a go, but nothing comes out of his wand, so he backs up and lets Ukraine try. All she gets is a spurt of mist. Denmark, however, gets a nice-sized stream of water on his first attempt.
"Well done, Mr. Køhler! Five points to Slytherin for getting it first!" Professor Flitwick calls, and Ukraine and Austria congratulate Denmark appropriately. The rest of the room breaks out in whispers Ukraine can't help but hear even as she goes back to practicing.
"What are they even doing together?"
"Don't they know...?"
"Quite odd, a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw. And a Slytherin, of all things."
"Must be 'cause they're new."
"Katyusha, it's your turn to try," Austria says, snapping her back into focus.
"Right, sorry, aguamenti." Nothing, not even mist. Austria frowns.
"Are you concentrating?"
"Oh, probably not enough. You get back to it and I'll be right there."
"Alright… aguamenti!"
Everyone manages the water-making charm that lesson but Ukraine, who leaves the room hanging her head as others giggle and chatter around her. Is it her fault they don't approve?
Yes, I'm well aware that I'm overusing aguamenti. I used it in the earlier chapters and then looked on the wiki, only to find that aguamenti is the first charm taught in sixth year. Oops. More variety coming up soon, I promise! Paella would indeed be severely out-of-place in Hogwarts, because it's basically a Spanish seafood stew with a bunch of expensive spices. It's really good.
Anyway, to answer some questions:
1. Verena, mentioned in the rewrite of chapter one, is Switzerland's gun. He would name it, wouldn't he?
2. Sealand... I don't want to deal with Sealand right now. He'll appear at some point, but not anytime soon.
3. I put Sve in Hufflepuff for two reasons. One, he's very protective and not averse to hard work, characteristics of classic Hufflepuffs. Two, I wanted a 'Puff Nordic (what? Hufflepuffs can be awesome and BA too! Not to mention good finders!).
4. As for Britain and Gryffindor versus Slytherin, that shall be explained in time.
Okay, so... I have another order of business, but this is awkward; I've never asked for such a thing before. So I'll just say it. If anyone out there can actually draw competently and has nothing better to do, could you make a cover art for this? It's just that I don't like having randomly jacked Estonia's picture, and, well, I want something, because this story is really important to me. It doesn't have to be immediate... but PM me if you're interested, and thank you, arigatou, gracias, merci, you are Prussian awesome.
Review at least, please? You guys are epic already. *Hugs and/or gives paella* Oh! and check out Globus by xXNaidaXx if you haven't. I'm sorta-kinda betaing/co-writing it, and it would still be awesome (albeit grammatically horrible) even if I weren't, so yeah. And thanks for reading this epically long AN.
¡Gracias! ¡Hasta luego!
