Chapter II: Fake It Until You Make It

It hadn't taken too long before Elsa felt the hope fading away. As she approached the Hufflepuff table, panic rose again in her belly at the realization that people sat way too close to each other and there was no way around it since the number of chairs seemed to be close to the number of students. Someone might end up touching her, which wasn't something she had been prepared to see happening.

Even if her ice powers weren't dark, they could still hurt people. In the past three years, the girl had been touched only by her parents. Since her magic had been growing more and more out of control, she had started considering it dangerous to be even in the same room as other people. Despite her concerns, both her mother and her father had still been able to soothe her into a hug sometimes, but Elsa never allowed herself in situations in which accidental touching could happen.

This time, however, there was no escape from the fact that she had to sit right beside the other Hufflepuff students. So, clenching her hands in front of her chest, the girl resumed her walk and offered the others the tense smile she usually reserved for her parents' political acquaintances that had insisted on meeting her in the past. To Elsa's immense relief, they turned their attention back to the hat as soon as the next student got sorted.

Elsa herself directed her eyes toward the hat, but she wasn't paying attention. What would she do if people wanted to shake hands with her? So far, her gloves had been a rather safe barrier to her magic, but what would happen if she completely lost control? What if she hurt someone? Would they be able to fix it as easily as Dumbledore had guaranteed they would, back when he first came to visit her in Arendelle? Would the teachers and other students judge her for her lack of control?

Trying not to succumb to panic, Elsa did her best to act natural, clapping whenever someone was sorted to Hufflepuff. It all seemed to last an eternity and the girl couldn't help but hope the feast would be over as soon as possible. Dumbledore had warned her that she would be sharing a dormitory with the other girls in her house and year. Each bed was surrounded by a curtain, however, to give the students some privacy; so, the princess was hopeful that she would be able to put some space between herself and the others once she arrived there.

Finally, Lars Westley was sorted into Ravenclaw and Professor McGonagall took the hat away, putting an end to the ceremony. At that, as if following a script, the Headmaster raised from his seat, his gaze wandering through the hall and arms wide open as if he wished to embrace each and every one of his students. His warm eyes met Elsa's for a moment, making the girl feel a little calmer—Dumbledore seemed to have an aura around him that would always make the girl feel safe.

"Welcome to one more year at Hogwarts. Before you dig into this excellent banquet, I'd like to say a few words. First, meet your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Scamander." A red-haired man in his late early fifties rose from his seat, bending his head and raising one hand in response to the welcome applause he received from the students and the staff.

Watching the new professor, she realized he was rather nervous, his face slightly reddened by the attention. Er han sjenert? Hearing her classmates talking about his reaction, she realized she hadn't been the only one to notice how shy the man was. "It's rather cute, isn't it?" A blonde girl sitting across the table told the brunette beside her.

Dumbledore only restarted speaking when the claps died and the professor was once again sitting, "also, I should warn you that three more items have been added to the banned list— you will find it hanging beside the door of Mr. Filch's office— and that the Dark Forest is off-limits to all of the students." He made a small pause to allow the students to process the information. "Now— shall we dig in?"

Elsa turned to look at the dishes in front of her and was astonished to realize they were now full of all sorts of food. She was relieved to realize that some of it were rather familiar; the girl hadn't been worried about the British eating habits until she had come across the snacks they sold on the train. That had seemed to be a minor concern in comparison to the language barrier and her ability to accidentally freeze things.

Being the crown princess, Elsa had eaten some foreign food before with the children of dignitaries or rulers of other countries. Learning how to please and entertain guests on such occasions, sometimes even going as far as pretending to like a dish, had been one of the first lessons in a princess' curriculum.

The notion that she would have to eat that every day and night while at school hadn't crossed her mind, however, until she was on her way to Hogwarts. The shock of learning about the candies and snacks, so different from what she usually ate at home, came with one more wave of anxiety that she had only been able to put aside as she saw the castle for the first time.

It was, therefore, with a heavy sigh of relief that she reached out to help herself with peas, carrots, mashed potatoes, and a type of roasted meat that seemed to be beef. It was a slow process, considering that she had to be careful not to touch the people beside her and that she had been trained to avoid messes at all costs.

Although she managed to serve herself without issues, people noticed her slowness as they waited for her to finish. Despite her upbringing, the girl had never felt comfortable being the center of attention and flushed furiously when she realized that there were other children watching her.

"Do you have a contagious skin disease or something?" The blonde girl in front of her asked with intense curiosity. The blunt question had been made in such an innocent manner, however, that Elsa wondered if she had understood it correctly or if there was a hidden meaning in the words that, being not British herself, she couldn't grasp. "I mean— it is kind of hot to be wearing gloves, isn't it?"

Oh. The gloves. Of course. No Norwegian would wear gloves in England during the summer— her father had told her that in an attempt to convince her not to wear them at all. After Dumbledore's reassurance that they could take care of repercussions if Elsa lost control over her powers, the King had been trying to talk her into putting them aside while she was at Hogwarts. At that time, the girl hadn't thought much of his comment as she usually felt no cold nor heat. She hadn't realized, though, that people would find it strange.

"No, it are— is a family tradition." It was easier, she realized, to lie in her broken version of the English language than it would have been in Norwegian. Elsa had no clue why, but, although there was a hint of curiosity in her mind, she was too focused on trying to interact with the other children without making a mess of herself to pay attention to her mind's curious behavior.

"That is mean, though," a voice coming from Elsa's left stated, making her flinch in concern. Had she offended her classmates? Was it because she hadn't greeted and introduced herself first? How could have she forgotten that? What would her parents have said if they had seen her at that moment? They would be angry, for sure; as they had been when, a few months before the accident that had changed their lives, Anna had pointed out that the Danish ambassador had "fake hair".

Elsa's thoughts were interrupted, however, at the sight of the blonde girl's cheek reddening. "I'm sorry. I was curious, that's all." As the princess was too shocked to reply, the other seemed to take the silence as a sign of disapproval and grow even more uncomfortable. "My mum— well, she's always saying I should think before saying things. I am Arcadia, by the way, Adie for short."

"'Must be a mum thing, 'cause mine also says this sort of stuff all the time to me," the person sitting beside Elsa— much to her surprise, a pink-haired girl—replied with a groan and the blonde, Adie, seemed to relax a little at the sound. "I'm Tonks. You're Elsa, right?" Without a warning, she took Elsa's hand to shake it. Before the princess could feel fright, though, it was over as the other was already retreating.

"Ja—" the princess was too astonished by the variety of emotions and situations that had been passing in the past few seconds to even consider replying to the other two in English. Her hands were visibly shaking, but Elsa was too astonished for a moment to try and make them stop. No stranger had ever touched or talked to her so unceremoniously; even Dumbledore had treated her with a level of deference—not as much as the tutors her parents had hired before, but much more than the other Hufflepuff girls were showing.

It had been agreed that, while it wasn't properly a secret, her royal background shouldn't be common knowledge among the other students. Dumbledore had told the King and Queen of Arendelle that the people in the wizarding world didn't always comprehend the non-magical government. Even those who did understand it, however, wouldn't answer to it since Wizards and Witches had their own sort of government.

A few weeks after Dumbledore's visit, the monarchs of Arendelle received the visit of both the Arendellian Ministers for Magic Tharald Lund and his British counterpart Millicent Bagnold. Elsa never learned exactly what they had been discussing with the King and the Queen before she was called to meet them since all of the adults ceased to talk when she walked into the throne room and her parents had told her she was too young to fully understand the conversation.

Elsa was intelligent and had enough political instruction, however, to figure that there had been a firm understanding between all the parts that it would be better if the crown princess had her magical education far from Arendelle. It didn't take long before she realized that the heir to the Arendellian throne studying magic in a Scandinavian country could cause some political conflicts in both the wizarding and the non-magical world.

It was no wonder, then, that Tonks and Adie had been treating Elsa in such an informal manner. There was no way they would know they had been speaking to the future Queen of Arendelle—if they did allow her to inherit the crown, in the first place. If the insistence of Minister Lund for her to study at a foreign magic school was any indication of the political nightmare that she had become, Elsa was certain that she would be encouraged to abdicate.

"You're not from here, are you?" Adie asked again, sending an apologetic glance to the other two girls that expressed the internal conflict between her curiosity and her desire to respect people's boundaries. It was a rather familiar gesture to Elsa, who had seen it whenever Anna woke her up in the middle of the night to invite her to play or talk. The warmth that followed this realization made the girl come to the conclusion that she actually liked Adie.

"I am from Arendelle. It is North from Norway." Even as she spoke the words, the girl already knew the phrasing wasn't quite right. Her knowledge in foreign languages was above average in comparison to people of her own age, but there was a long way to go, however, before she could be considered fluent in them. Optimistic, the King had told her she spoke as well as any native in no time and, while the girl had trouble believing him, she hoped he was right. As they were, her English pronunciation and wording would attract too much attention, which was the last thing Elsa wanted.

She also didn't want to make friends. Between her ice magic and status as royalty, there was much that Elsa felt compelled to hide from her peers. The closer they were to her, the harder it would be to keep this information to herself and the more likely she would hurt them—and herself. Although she liked the way Adie reminded her of Anna, even though Tonks had been nice enough to come to rescue her, becoming friends with them could make her life even more difficult than it already was.

How was she sorted into Hufflepuff, anyway, when all she had done in the past three years was lying to the person she loved the most? What had gone through the hat's mind to place her in the house that valued honesty and fair play, when her intentions from even before she had first set foot in the castle had been to hide who she was? Was it because the hat had thought she belonged to nowhere at all and Hufflepuff was the one to accept people who didn't fit in the houses? That would make sense.

In terror, Elsa realized her gloves had started feeling small due to the thick layer of ice between her fingers and the fabric. Between Tonks' touch, Adie's questions, and the knowledge of her self-imposed isolation—as well as the trouble it could cause to her—, the princess was the closest she had been to losing control ever since the few days after the accident with Anna. She had never liked being under the spotlight, but it was even worst when she was far away from everything and everyone she knew.

"Elsa? Are you okay?" The princess looked up to face a growing frown on Tonks' face. By her expression, it was clear that she had been far too distracted to notice the other girls' previous words to her. Adie, the princess noticed with the corner of her eyes, was watching her carefully.

Clenching her hands, Elsa tried to control the flow of emotions rushing through her body and the magic flooding from the tip of her fingers. Conceal, don't feel, her father's words were grounding and calming even when she spoke them inside her own mind. To other people, the mantra might have sounded cold-hearted and unhelpful, but, to the princess, it meant pretending everything was fine until it was, faking control and self-restraint to the point it came naturally to her.

"I am sorry. What said you?" Elsa tried not to worry if Tonks or Adie would end up asking her what she had been thinking about. Overthinking would always work against her; it only served for her to suffer twice. Conceal, don't feel. Hide your fears under a mask of confidence, don't panic. Fake it until you make it.

Much to her relief, Tonks made no comment about her distraction. "Not much, actually. I was saying that I haven't heard about it," the pink-haired shrugged and offered Elsa a kind smile before turning to Adie. "What about you, Adie? Where are you from?" The princess sighed, feeling her body relax when the other blonde started telling them about her childhood in Cornwall.

Elsa was smart enough to know that Tonks had diverged the focus of the conversation from her to Adie on purpose. The pink-haired girl had noticed she was uncomfortable with the attention and had distracted the other girl with a topic that would keep her from inquiring further on the princess' background and mannerisms. It was a very insightful approach from an eleven-year-old, one that adult politicians and ambassadors had often failed to master.

Paying half-attention to the conversation around her, Elsa tried to eat some of the food on her plate. Adie's parents, she found out soon enough, were both magical, although her mother was a muggle-born; the girl had two younger siblings: a brother and a sister. Tonks, on the other hand, had been raised as an only child in Somerset by her magical parents.

Every time Adie turned to Elsa and opened her mouth to inquire about something, Tonks intervened before the question was made. After a few minutes of tension, the princess finally started relaxing and the food became more and more delicious. The conversation around her was friendly, the first-years getting to know each other or asking questions to older students. Elsa was beginning to understand how one's house became their family when they were at school.

It was funny how different these people were. While the school tried to assemble them and label them, it took only a couple of hours for Elsa to realize they couldn't be more distinct and start questioning the whole notion of sorting students into a house. As informative as the book was, "Hogwarts, a History" had failed to point out the problems that this system could cause. People, the princess concluded, were too complex to fit labels.

Despite her deep thoughts and criticism, however, Elsa did appreciate what she was eating. The flavors were rather unfamiliar, but the contrast to what she usually had at home hadn't been unwelcome. The princess wasn't picky, but foreign dishes were sometimes unpalatable; so, the knowledge that the food in Hogwarts was actually tasty was a relief. One less thing to worry about.

Finally, the girl set her fork back on her plate, wondering when they would be allowed to the dormitories. Her belly full and her mind as relaxed as it could be when she was surrounded by hundreds of people, Elsa was starting to feel drowsy. It had been a long and difficult day, but things didn't turn out as bad as she had first thought they would. After all, she hadn't cursed anybody.

In a few weeks, her parents' Council would find a way to remove her from Hogwarts and Elsa would be back to where she belonged. All she had to do until then was to keep her head low: stay away from trouble, draw no attention to herself, make no friends, keep control over her magic. Be patient, calm, and sober. Smart. Conceal, don't feel.

Author's note:

Hello, again!

I'd like to, first

There are certain things I'd like to point out. Sorry if it turns out to be a long note! x_x

Elsa's speech: she is an upper-intermediate English student. This means that she can understand and speak well, but has to think before phrasing things. Being nervous in this chapter, she made a lot of mistakes, but I hope it is still readable. Also, she does have a very strong accent. This will start growing more subtle in the following chapters since she will become more fluent.

The Norwegian phrase "Er han sjenert?" means "Is he shy?".

Second, there is this awesome game called "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery". Although I love it and will always recommend people to check it out, I won't be using any characters or plot-lines in this fic. I will stick to the canon in the books and movies since it's more common knowledge.

Finally, Professor Scamander, if you are wondering, is Newt and Tina's son. I haven't found anything on him, but I will keep looking in case

Thank you all for reading this and I hope to see you again!

First of all, thank you very much to all of you who followed, favorited, and/or sent reviews to this story. You make my day!

AU Over Canon: I don't think Elsa is better off without Anna, honestly. I realize their relationship isn't perfect and they make a lot of mistakes along the way (Anna pressuring Elsa, Elsa pushing Anna away), but they make a pretty good team and are good for each other, in the end.

Guest: I can promise you that this is not Frozen 1 all over again. I will stick to their canonic personalities and struggles, but the plot is completely different.

Luna White: Thank you very much! No worries, I don't have any other fic in this account yet. I'm glad you liked the hat's pick! The fandom usually places Elsa is in Slytherin or Ravenclaw and both make some sense to me, but I definitely think she's a better fit in Hufflepuff. My native language is Brazilian Portuguese and the reason I'm learning Norwegian is that I really, really love learning languages and this is a beautiful one.