AN: I feel as if a few of you will be upset about my flow, but I have read the 'Hogwarts entrance scene' in every damn HP fic I have ever read. ever. I don't dislike it, but I feel like it's just telling you the sky is blue at this point. So, I hope you enjoy what I did here.
Also, I kinda lied. This is a 4 part chap. Jake – Kyle – Jake – Kyle. Why did I do this? I don't remember, I just kinda did. Hope you enjoy.
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Disclaimer: I own stuff, I don't own stuff, and all original content belongs to original owners.
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Chapter 6: The Start Isn't Always Flashy.
Jake – Harry Potter
Setting down his trunk in his new room, Jake plopped down into the desk chair with a sigh. "Hah… that was… eventful."
The famous entrance scene written of in almost every fanfiction of Harry Potter known to men, women, and others, was quite memorable.
Getting off the train in the dark evening air, getting called in by a ten foot tall friendly half giant named Hagrid, riding small wooden boats across the water and coming up on the massive monolith of a Scottish castle where magic had seeped into its stone for a millennia.
There was nothing Jake could say against it, it was something truly special by both the sight and feel of things. The mana was so condensed he felt like he was swimming just by entering its sphere of influence.
He was so amazed by the feeling he didn't go through with his original plan to make a random student fall into the water to get a sight of the friendly squid in the lake. If it was friendly for that matter. Nym wasn't amused when she remembered after, but she was no better than Jake.
There was a charm to the castle and grounds, a charm not cast by an individual but simply by the gathering of so much mana and will. It was like he never knew how to breath before today, existing in a vacuum.
'It must be the effect of the leylines.'
Jake read up about them during his studies. Documented as rivers or veins of mana flowing deep beneath the surface. You couldn't dig to find them; they didn't exist in the physical sense just as a wizards mana core didn't. But where a vein passed one would often find natural treasures, magical or not in the form of minerals, oil, or so on.
They were impossible to track beneath the surface, but here and there around the planet the leylines would come close to the surface and create 'hotspots' on the surface where magical species could make use of it to power things. Many wizards and witches build homes in these spots while magical animals will guard them as forests or caves build around them by magic given enough time.
There were even theories by some that magical beings could form from the pure mana once gathered in high enough quality. It was an interesting theory dismissed by many but it gave Jake ideas of how dungeons worked in other worlds.
Hogwarts was set in one of the truly rare locations where not one, not two, but three leylines crossed and came close enough to the surface.
And the founders used its power to set down some of the most powerful wards of the time that were built on by successive generations of headmasters over a millennia. Not to mention that magic, while not alive in the sense of having an ego, has qualities to it.
Magic is born from mana and will, and the will of a millennia of students and teachers filling the halls with such dense mana gave birth to a place where it feels like everyone is welcome.
Mana supplied by three leylines, magic cast by the most renown masters of their paths, and a millennia of 'will' to mold it created something alive in every sense of the word outside an ego.
'Or maybe it does have an ego? How would I know?' Jake mused to himself in the quiet of his room.
The whole experience was something special for sure, one he didn't think he would ever forget, and one he enjoyed immensely.
Just as his sorting had gone.
It wasn't the entrance into the castle that he would remember clearly. It wasn't the walk with Professor McGonagall guiding them or her words of warning while explaining the house set up. It wasn't the walk into a giant hall with hundreds of students and floating candles. And it certainly wasn't a singing hat that he would remember so well.
No, it was what happened directly after that.
Three hours earlier.
"Ravenclaw!" The talking hat shouted for everyone to hear as the Ravenclaw table clapped politely.
Jake smiled while secretly thankful. 'I'm glad the hat didn't talk into my head. I never liked that aspect of the stories.' The hat had taken all of two seconds to make its announcement.
Jake put the hat down on the bench as the last student to be called up and stepped down to join his table as the prefects smiled at him. It was however when he got close to his seat, and Dumbledore was standing up from his chair at the teachers table to begin his speech, that an angry kitten with all the force of a lioness grabbed him.
"Jake! What the hell is this!"
Jake wasn't even surprised when Nym got off her seat at the Hufflepuff table to charge him. "Nym relax, I told you we were probably going to be in different houses."
His answer didn't appease her as she shook him. "I don't care about that! Besties are supposed to be in the same house! Your breaking the bestie code man! The code!"
Jake was very aware that they were making a scene and decided not to embarrass himself or Nym further. He quickly shushed Nym by putting a hand over her mouth and turned back a bit to the head table where Dumbledore was smiling at them with that trademark twinkly eye of his. "Sorry about that headmaster, please continue."
The headmaster chuckled and nodded calmly. "No need to worry Mr. Walker. An upset friend is a terrible thing. And hm… Andromeda's daughter huh? Understandable."
Jake chuckled at that while Nym glared at the old man but Jake managed to pull her away to sit down at the end of the Ravenclaw table without making another disturbance. There was laughter around but most just ignored it and focused back on the headmaster as he began his welcome speech as the two talked.
"Nym, relax, being in different houses won't mean were not besties." The girl was still glaring at him. "But it's not the same."
Jake sighed. "What's the issue Nym, talk to me."
Nym pouted and looked away. "I wanted to experience everything with you. The dorms, classes, the common room, sneaking into your room at night, quidditch, and all kinds of stuff. We can't do that in different houses."
Jake blinked and held up a finger. "Ok, first of all, where the hell did the idea of sneaking into my room become a normal thing in your mind?"
Nym tilted her head innocently. "Aunt Bella said it's what the cool girls do. Why? Is there something wrong with it?"
Jake sighed a second time as his finger drooped. "I…*sigh*… why don't you write a letter to your mother or aunt Narcissa to ask that question."
Nym's eyes narrowed at him but she nodded so he went on. "As for the rest, most of Ravenclaw's classes are paired with Hufflepuff so you don't need to worry there. Dorms are gender separated anyway. Quidditch I was never into and you know that. And common rooms we only need to be in during the last hour of the day so we can just spend time together somewhere else."
Nym pouted again but slowly came around as the food appeared and people began their feast. No one really paid them attention. "Where else can we go?"
Jake smiled and rubbed her head as she swatted at it playfully. "I promise to find us somewhere cool." He had a few idea's.
Her interest got through her anger a bit. "Pinky promise?" Jake chuckled and nodded. "Pinky promise." The two exchanged pinkies and she was all smiles again.
"I'm still mad about this Jake. You better make it up to me." She pointed a finger in his face and he relented. "Sure, sure, because this is obviously my fault."
She nodded imperiously. "I know right." Jake rolled his eyes and they heard a stomach growl. Jake gave Nym a look as she pouted adorably and looked away with a flush on her face.
He laughed and patted her shoulder. "Go eat Nym. I'll get to work on finding our secret hideout." She nodded and got up. "Mn." She looked around quickly and seeing no one paying attention, she quickly gave him a hug and whispered. "Don't leave me alone Jake. We're besties for life. I want to experience everything with you."
She pulled away with a smile at the look on Jakes face and skipped over to her table with a happy smile. Quickly sitting down and not feeling even a bit awkward with the kids her age as she introduced herself.
Meanwhile Jake had a conflicted look on his face. 'Does she even know what those words mean? No, no, she's just my innocent and cute little Nym. Yes. That's how I choose to see this and I'm sticking with it.'
With his mental dilemma over, he turned to meet his housemates that were kind enough not to lean closer to the end of the table to listen in.
He sat next to the blond girl at the end and smiled her way. "Hey, my names Jake Walker, nice to meet you."
Present time.
Jake chuckled to himself at the memory. His little Nym was such a precious girl and didn't take shit from anyone, making her opinion known no matter when or where.
His eyes widened for a slight second. 'My Nym? When did I start thinking like that? Bah, enough thoughts.'
He ignored it and gave his room another look over. After the feast and a death hug by his little pink haired monster, he followed the other first years to the Ravenclaw dorm in one of the spirals of the tower.
It was a small group of first years with an actual familiar name in the mix. The girl he sat next to, Penelope Clearwater.
Jake wasn't one hundred percent sure on her canon age but he thought she was a year older. This time she was in his year and he was thankful for it. It was easier to recognize a name he knew than memorize new ones.
The two of them got acquainted and spent dinner talking about common things they expected from a muggleborns point of view.
The others were only six other students. The majority of his year went to Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Four girls and two guys. Well, five girls and three guys overall.
The year was 1988 and the wizard population was still affected by the last two wars. It wasn't until Harry's generation that the school started picking up in numbers again.
The school as a whole has around just under six hundred students between four houses and seven years.
Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have the largest amount of students with around one hundred and sixty to eighty students each, while Ravenclaw and Slytherin have somewhere around a hundred each.
The numbers weren't exact as Jake only knew them by counting heads during the feast out of curiosity. Still, just those numbers were quite small for the collective magical population of the UK, Ireland, and Scotland.
Some study at home, others go off to schools in other parts of the world, and the rest come to Hogwarts. It's only in the UK that people still believe Hogwarts is a top rated school, but unfortunately the times have not been kind to it.
Jake had previously looked over recently written books on wizarding schools and saw that Hogwarts was at the bottom of the top ten list for scores and electives offered.
The number of students most likely had a large effect in lowering the school revenue, and as a result many of the offered classes were removed. Not to mention the British ministry restricting things that the rest of the world accepted.
It was a bit of a mess, but Jake didn't really care.
'I'm here, in Hogwarts, what else should I care about?' Complaining about things when he barely had any skill in magic in the first place would make him look like the fool.
Once he mastered the school subjects, then he could complain.
He took a look around his room again. A bookshelf, desk and chair, nightstand, dresser, and bed. The furniture was made from old hardwood with a comfortable design and the bed was one of those four poster ones seen in the Harry Potter movies.
Ravenclaws got their own rooms as the house wasn't as packed and Jake was very thankful for it. Rooming with boys his age didn't sound all that fun. He preferred to be cautious on a number of things.
Bathrooms were shared among year groups but that was fine.
He got up and opened up his trunk, deciding to leave his clothes inside for the moment and just remove the school material. Piling up the curriculum's textbooks on the desk, his class tools next to it, and the other nick knacks.
"I'll organize them based on the days classes when I get my schedule tomorrow." Different from most stories he read, the school always gave the day after the start of the year as a free day. It was meant for students to explore and get an idea of where to go so they don't get lost on the way to class's.
The fifth year prefects were supposedly in charge of overseeing the tour. Or at least, that's how Ravenclaw worked.
'It's perfectly possible other houses don't do that.' He remembered how Ron Weasley was late to his first classes. But then again, it could just be that he didn't participate in the tour.
Jake humored himself with such thoughts as he organized his things. He didn't bring anything of particular value that would be enough for someone in his house to attempt to steal.
Well, almost anything. Jake's hand brushed over the silk covering of the old 17th century book on Magic. Uncle refused to take it back until Jake was old enough to stand on his own two feet, as the old man clearly stated.
What he meant by that; Jake could only assume to mean was that he turned eighteen.
He put the book back into his trunk in a locked compartment. The trunk was expanded a bit but it wasn't one of those apartment trunks. The old man wasn't that rich and neither was he interested in buying something unnecessary like that.
The trunk he got Jake was enchanted for durability, a x2 space expansion compared to a usual trunk, locking mechanism, and an extra folded pocket for securing special items.
No need for a featherweight charm seeing as Jake could lift the full trunk without issue. When he mentioned it in the store, the old wolf laughed and slapped his back as he talked about 'building character' as a man.
Jake rolled his eyes fondly at the memory. The old wolf had been building his character since day one. Jake smiled as the years flashed before his eyes.
'So much happened in the blink of an eye.'
His efforts, studies, physical and magical training. Getting mixed up with the Black family and Nym. The hours upon hours of sweat blood and tears in the gym.
The endless hours trying to figure out his Metamorph powers like a blind man defusing a bomb.
All the people he met along the way, the small ones he saw every week going about their own lives like the old veterans at the park, and the bigger ones like the Black sisters beating him like a raw piece of ore on an anvil. Trying to make his hidden edge shine through.
Even the famous Sirius Black made a few appearances offhandedly. The man always being a fun guy to chat with. The poor man taking years to recover from the past with the help of his family, godson, and friends.
Jake had so much to be thankful for, so many people that pushed him along. And now he was finally here, in a place he had been thinking about for so many years. In a place he read about for years more as a fantasy.
Now it was here. And it was real.
Jake felt himself smiling genuinely as it all flashed past.
He finished putting out his clothes for the next day, grabbed his enchanted journal, and laid down in bed in just his briefs. Getting comfortable under the thick sheets and smelling the soft scent of lavender in the cleaned material used for more years than he had probably been alive. 'At least it's washed thoroughly.' You could always trust house elves to do their job well. Jeff never failed to prove that point to him.
Jake stared up at the stone ceiling for a moment in empty minded thought before shaking it off and smirked. 'Time to get things started.'
He opened the journal and turned to a marked page.
[Step 1: Get the map.]
He had read the list a thousand times. Went over it a thousand more. Talked to Kyle about it, or at least parts of it. He knew what to do by heart, he just wanted to read it again. It brought comfort to him. He closed it and put it under his pillow.
Jake pointed his pointer finger toward the door and concentrated for a minute as mana pooled into his right hand, concentrated in the tip of his pointer finger, and began to leak out of the tip and take shape under his conscious effort.
Two balls of light began to form hovering before his finger before he shot them toward the door, locking the door and setting up a simple alarm charm.
With a second point of his finger, much quicker than the charms, a trio of ten inch crude thin pillars of stone rose from the ground before the door as a stopper from it swinging open.
And finally, with a third point, he looked toward the light fixture and snapped his finger, causing the room to darken.
He smirked at the result. 'Glad I could master the light on and light off charm so well. Aunt Bella would be proud.'
With that thought on his mind he let himself drift off into the realm of Morpheus, dreaming of schemes and plans for the future. Aunt Narcissa would be more proud than Bellatrix.
*Line Break*
Kyle – Pokemon
Kyle was panting a bit as he finally set his bag down on the ground and sat on a fallen log. Looking around the clearing he found himself in with a nod, he decided to set down for the day.
"Phew, I think we made some good distance today huh buddy?"
"Ee."
Loki yipped from next to him where he was smelling a particularly interested spot of wet dirt. Kyle smirked at his partner as he scratched him behind his ears much to his joy.
The two had been walking since morning. Once getting far enough on the road, they split off into the woods on a direct path to Sandgem town. The road would have taken a roundabout path onto a highway that he had no interest of using.
The forest was what he wanted to experience for his first day on the road. The temperature was warm, not humid or overbearing as it was the end of summer and early fall.
The walk through the forest was one of great contentment for Kyle. Just closing his eyes and basking in the aura of nature, seemingly drawing him in like a moth to a flame.
He walked as if stepping into the echo of life around him, leaving him in a trance as he moved. Loki, his ever cautious sentinel, had chased away a few Pokemon seemingly interested in his backpack, while others of more friendly natures would occasionally come by, butt against him and run away laughing, or walk with him for a time.
There was something unique about just walking with a few Bidoof and Bidew trailing along in joy, chasing each other and having fun.
Perhaps he was simply used to all the activity after the years on the farm with eevee's running around. Perhaps he just enjoyed their company.
But whatever it was, it was enjoyable, and to Kyle that was enough.
He stretched his arms above him with a content sound. "Mnn, yeah, we did good. I think we should hit the town by tomorrow without rushing." He spoke mostly to himself as Loki was exploring the clearing. A clearing he actually found thanks to a friendly Bidoof.
It was a nice empty patch of grass among the tree's with a small stream to the side, gently flowing along with crystal clear water. The perfect place to set up camp.
He dragged his pack in front of him while he sat and began getting stuff out.
His tent came first. He practiced with it a few times in advance thanks to old memories of camping where he was terrible at setting up a tent. 'Heh, it was like setting up a piece of Ikea furniture back then.'
This tent thankfully was made of better material and easy to set up. A nice two person sized tent with a camouflage design to better blend in.
Once the tent was up, with a curious Loki coming to jump inside and smell everything before running out, he took his boots off and moved his bag in, taking out his sleeping bag, sleeping mat, and some toiletries.
The inside of the tent was spacious with one of those double layer net linings he could pull back to let some air in. Specifically, he got a tent with one on the roof so he could see the stars on warm night. During other weather, it was best to keep it closed to retain the heat.
With his set up in order, he climbed back out making sure not to drag in any dirt as he put his boots back on. Thankfully, the tent came with a little add on for a shoe mat so he had less to worry about.
"Loki, see if you can find anything edible around the campsite, don't go out of visual range ok?"
"Ee!"
His faithful companion called back as he stopped playing and started looking. Kyle had made sure to let him smell and taste various vegetables and plants back at the farm so he could find them again in the wild. Never underestimate an eevee's sense of smell.
Even with his own enhanced senses, he couldn't easily tell the difference between two nearly identical mushrooms. One poisonous and the other nutritious. But Loki could.
Aster had made that point known early on and how it saved her butt a lot in the wild.
He had enough packed dried food to last weeks but there was no need to eat it when he could make a meal from fresh food.
While Loki ran around the edges of the clearing, Kyle focused on the firepit. Nothing fancy, just some rocks lined in a circle with a few layers to protect from the wind making the fire spread.
One thing he did bring along was a nice cooking spit. Just a few very thin but strong pieces of metal to place on both sides of the fire with a line going over it. It weighed very little and was collapsible so it could fit in one of the pockets of his pack.
Each pocket digitized things that entered except for the large part so he had to remember where each item went. He left labels for a reason as he was likely to forget.
Getting out the cooking pot and letting it hang from the spit, he set out to get firewood. It wasn't exactly a dry season but it hadn't rained in the last week, so it wasn't hard to find some dried dead wood here and there.
Gathering a bundle of twigs and small sticks, he piled them up, took out his knife, and carved up some splinters to easily ignite.
Then he just threw a large dead piece of wood over the thing and let it slowly catch fire as the smaller flames entered through the cracks in the large piece.
The crackle of wood igniting was music to his ears as smoke drifted off gently.
While that worked, Kyle pulled up the log stump next to the fire and took a moment to relax again. He had a folded up outdoor chair in his pack but there wasn't a need for it.
Just sitting like this, in the wild, on his own with only his Pokemon, it was what everything was about. What all his effort was for.
So he could travel, camp, and be free without worry. The greatest issues he had was lack of knowledge, skill, and body conditioning.
And now he had the first two in spades and the last coming along nicely. He stretched his legs out at that thought. 'Thank god for aura or I would be sore as all hell tomorrow. Not to mention sweaty.'
One of the benefits of being an ice type aura user was that he rarely sweat. His internal temperature was kept cool and fresh. His sisters often complained AND used him as an ice cube on a sweltering day, the damn draconic foxes.
He smiled at the memories of being chased down by a sweaty Iris who wanted to use him to cool off. 'It was fun.' His time at Drake Farms gave him three years of happy and fulfilled memories.
Loki brushing back into the clearing broke him from his thoughts as the fox bounded over with a large smile on his face and a dozen items on his back. "Oh, what did you find there buddy?"
"Ee!" He dropped a light orange vegetable from his mouth and grabbed the items from his back with his teeth to put down as Kyle helped. 'Quite the dexterity there.'
Half a dozen mushrooms, some basil leaves, a bundle of beets, a bit of stinging nettle leaves, and a nice plump squash. "Wow, excellent job Loki!" "Ee!"
He wagged his tail happily and jumped up to nuzzle him happily as Kyle laughed and doted on his partner, he deserved it.
The vegetables were quickly cleaned and thrown in the pot which was also filled with water and left to hang over the fire. He added a can of beef stock to the liquid for some flavor and protein and let it cook on its own for a time.
Meanwhile he got out a tea kettle to heat some water. The stinging nettle, once ground up, made for some wonderful forest tea.
The sun was just setting over the horizon by the time his soup was ready. A couple curious Bidoof's wandered over from the water and played around with Loki while Kyle watched on peacefully.
"Loki, foods ready." Kyle called him over as the sun set fully and the Bidoof went back to their homes. Loki trotted up him happily and laid down by the fire with a happy smile and tired expression.
Kyle laughed at his partner and dished out the soup in two bowls. "Tired yourself out huh? You seemed to be having fun with your new friends." "Ee!"
He set down a bowl for his partner and warned him to be careful of the heat before diving into his own meal. All the while listening to his partner narrate his time out exploring with plentiful amounts of "E." "Ee." And of course. "Eevee."
Kyle just nodded along, obviously getting context from his empathetic link and their shared aura bond, but just let Loki have his moment.
Tasty food, good company, the sounds of a crackling fire, and the natural sounds of crickets and Pokemon in the wild.
How could it get better than that? His aura flared in tune with his inner peace and circled harmonically inside him.
A few curious pairs of eyes from the tree's became his answer. And his first night out in the world was accompanied by a dozen pairs of ears and his partners grand tale under an ocean of twinkling stars.
A gift.
*Line Break*
Jake – Harry Potter
The first day passed in the blink of an eye. Jake didn't see Nym outside of mealtimes much to her annoyance, but she seemed to be getting along with the kids in her age group.
For Jake, the day was a whirlwind of information.
First Professor Flitwick introduced himself formally to the new students after calling them to his office inside the Ravenclaw dorms.
"Welcome to Ravenclaw, the house of knowledge and wisdom! My name is Filius Flitwick but you may refer to me as Professor Flitwick, Head of House, or simply Professor.
I am the current head of this noble house descended from Rowena Ravenclaw herself, and we strive for intellectual improvement." The three feet tall professor proclaimed with an excited tone.
Jake studied the man and noted his difference from the movies. He was a short man, wearing flowing green robes, a green pointed cap, had circular wire thin glasses, and was the holder of quite a magnificent grey mane of hair from the sides of his head down to his chin.
It wasn't the long type that Dumbledore sprouted but more like a lions mane of hair. The man looked like nothing short of a midget Santa Clause.
"As many of you might recognize, I am not indeed fully human. There are many rumors out there but take the truth from my own mouth. I am a half goblin, yes, like the ones you might have seen at Gringotts.
I shall not go into my ancestry but just be aware that it was not some curse or mutation that affected me so. Many students have radical ideas when I don't speak for myself.
And don't take my stature as weakness as well, I was the proud winner of the dueling circuit three years in a row in my prime." The short man laughed happily and patted his slightly extended gut beneath his robe.
He spoke confidently, but not arrogantly. Simply setting his authoritative role down as the head of house without attempting to frighten anyone.
"Further, I am the professor of all the Charms courses for your years here at this school and will be in charge of teaching you the wonders and mysteries of Charms. Never fear to knock on my door if you have a question or concern. Whether it be for your studies or anything on your mind.
As Ravenclaw's, your health is my responsibility, and I will not stand for anything less than the best of myself. So please, never fear my door." He looked around at the eight new students to make sure they understood before smiling and continuing.
"Wonderful! Now, as first years, I have scheduled for the prefects to show you the castle. Not the whole castle I mean, that would be beyond them, even me perhaps!" When he laughed, his aura seemed to set the young students at ease. "The castle is ancient and mysterious for many reasons, perhaps you may find some of them in your stay here." He gave them a jovial look that got some excited whispers.
"For today, I simply wanted to introduce myself and make sure your all situated nicely into your rooms. At the end of the day, I will have your class schedules posted on your doors, do not worry I am the one who made the room assignments so I know whose is whose.
Across the hall from my office, you will find the house library. Different from Hogwarts library as I am the one who is organizing the books. You will find second hand books I have found of all the subjects you will have classes on. It's my belief that you can learn many things from the words of others, even if they are not directly what you want to know.
Take from the wisdom of countless others what you can, seek answers from others and yourself, pile on your knowledge as high as you can, and compress it to form wisdom. Do so, and you will find your future is limitless in what you can achieve.
As the motto of our house goes, 'Wit beyond measure, is man's greatest treasure.'
Further, the house library has books organized for each year, so I recommend you don't jump years until you are confident in your knowledge. Often times, jumping without being ready will lead to a few vital steps being skipped, and injuries can become quite common. Take my word for that from personal experience." Jake took notice of the numerous scars and rough patches on the man's hands as he made it clearly visible to see.
"A last note for you before I release you. While I encourage the house rivalry and believe competition is a wonderful thing, I shall enforce that it is a healthy competition that I respect.
I do not wish to hear that anyone attempts to sabotage other houses or fight for such reasons. Some of your past seniors have taken things much far too far, and I do not wish to see it again. We are all students of Hogwarts in the end.
Even if I am slightly biased to my own house!" He ended with a laugh that Jake was beginning to see as a characteristic trait of his.
He stood up from his chair, not that anyone could tell he was sitting behind his desk and waved his wand as ravens made of light and showers of sparks erupted around the room. "And welcome once more to Ravenclaw!"
Jake thought the man was a bit loopy but in the best of ways. A teacher who truly wanted the best for their students and hoped to see them bloom. Jake liked the guy, and it was one of the main reasons he wanted to join this house over the others.
Snape was Snape, McGonagall was rigid, and Sprout was passive. But Flitwick was a man who cared for students and wasn't afraid to hear them speak and stand up for them if they had been wronged. Perhaps he was letting his meta-knowledge get to his head, already seen as how Flitwick didn't look like he imagined he would.
But that wasn't his concern at the moment, he was already in his ideal house.
The following tour around the castle was informative. The Prefects were not cold, but obviously had the attitude of a common fifteen year old talking to a group of eleven year old's. They were dismissive at worst.
However, they did show the group the best ways to reach the classrooms to their knowledge.
Hogwarts have seven floors, with only the three main towers of the Headmasters office, Ravenclaw dorm, and Astronomy tower going above them. A few shorter towers existed but had less proper use.
There was the east wing, the west wing, the dungeons beneath the earth, the center of the castle where the entrance and dining hall were, the greenhouses behind the castle, and the quidditch stadium further beyond the greenhouses. Not to mention the dozens of small courtyards, intersections, and all kinds of spaces spread among the castle.
Potions courses were in the dungeons. Transfiguration was on the first floor east wing. Defense Against the Dark Arts was on the second floor west wing. History of Magic was on the third floor east wing. Herbology was in the greenhouses. Charms was on the third floor west wing. And Astronomy was in the Astronomy tower, whose entrance was on the sixth floor east wing.
It was a solid mess of chaos that Jake wanted to hit someone over the head for organizing. There were hundreds of empty and dusty classrooms through the castle, and yet they decided to split each class into completely different areas. Were they trying to make the most of a giant castle or something?
And the castle itself is constantly in movement from almost a hundred and fifty moving staircases, to moving walls, and even to moving doors! The entire thing was a madhouse and Jake loved it.
At the very least, when Jake returned in the evening and got his schedule, he learned that Astronomy was only held once a week in the evening, and flying classes were held once every Friday.
But for the rest, he had three to five classes a day from Monday to Friday. Days with less classes were double periods of the same class. The weekend was free time for students, or in reality the time that should be spent on homework or studies.
In third year, students gain at least two extra classes with their electives. And quidditch players take up a lot of time from their schedule to train.
The first two years were for students to gain a solid foundation and get acclimatized to the castle and it's work flow. And Jake was grateful for it simply because of how much free time they were given.
Thankfully, Jake managed to achieve the first of his goals by getting one of the prefects to point out Filches office to him. The Weasley twins wouldn't enter until the following year, so he had time to act. He also confirmed that Filch was indeed a squib and unable to use magic. On closer inspection of the man when he passed by, Jake was able to see exactly what made him a squib.
The 'mana core' that every other magical has was twisted and mishappen. The connection between soul and body was nonexistent. With a mishappen core and twisted channel, nothing could flow.
Mana existed in his soul, but his body was unable to access it. Jake wondered if there was a way to heal the broken channel, but it was just an errant thought. He had no plans in the short term to help heal squibs, but it wasn't a bad idea eventually.
Not because he truly cared about them, but because it would give him a deeper understanding of the mana core, and the channel between soul and body. He felt it would give him a deeper understanding of his own abilities.
But for the moment, it was just another bullet point on his growing list.
The first day came and went, and Jake found himself in his first class of the year. Ironically being Transfiguration, just like the books and movies, as well as being his best subject at the moment.
The class, like many others, was shared with the Hufflepuffs, meaning Nym was trying to both squeeze every second of his experience so far out of him while at the same time telling him about her every second.
It would have been adorable if the cat on the professors desk would stop staring at them with a look of annoyance.
Jake was quick to catch on and covered Nym's mouth with a hand as he whispered. "Nym, focus on the professors desk."
She gave him a glare over his hand but did so and he released her. "What? It's just a cat." Jake rolled his eyes and flicked her forehead. "Ow, why?!" "Look closer will you."
Her glare was strong but she still did ask asked. Nym didn't have the mana sensitivity of Jake but she was still a fully bonified Metamorphagus and could recognize her own after spending so long around Jake. She quickly began to feel there was something off about the cat. "Why does it feel kind of like us? While at the same time like it's not? Half of us? A quarter? Jake, what the hell is that cat?"
Their voices were low so no one overhead them as they sat in the back, but before Jake could answer, the bell signaling the start of class went off and the cat moved.
In a flare of mana to Jake's senses, the cat leaped off the desk and morphed in almost a literal blink of an eye into a stern faced older witch. "The correct term Ms. Tonks, is an Animagus." She sent the two a look before turning back to the class.
'She has sharp ears.' Jake mused.
"Welcome to the start of your Transfiguration courses. My name is Professor McGonagall and I shall be your teacher for the following seven years of your time in this school."
She waved her wand at her desk and it transformed into a living pig.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
She waved her wand again and the pig returned to being a desk.
"I do not condone silliness and expect the best of each of you. Study well, practice hard, and perform to your best, that is all I can ask of you."
She swept her strict eyes over the class before waving her wand a third time, causing the chalk board at the back of the room to expand in size.
"As this is our introductory class, I will begin with the very basics. Practical work will begin in two weeks' time. Those who do not put in the effort to learn what I teach will quickly fall behind. So do not dally, Transfiguration shall be a core subject of your life as a wizard or witch, it may very well be the most important subject for any accomplished magic user." She spoke confidently but Jake felt she was a tad biased to her own subject. Not that he mentioned it.
She waved her hand at the blackboard and gave out instructions. "Before you is the Transfiguration alphabet. It coordinates with the English alphabet; each letter meets a different shape.
When a transfiguration spell calls for a specific wand movement, it will give you a letter. These letters tell you how to move your wand while casting.
So make sure you understand the alphabet to the best of your ability. You may begin copying it down. I expect four inches of parchment used by the end of the class."
She moved behind her desk and sat down while the class kept looking ahead. "Well?! I said not to dally!" The class quickly got into order as everyone pulled out their parchment and quill and began copying down the alphabet from the board.
Meanwhile Jake was internally groaning. 'Why is half of education repetition?' He withheld a sigh and got to work.
Thankfully, this was already covered in his workbooks before school. While he might have already understood the true meaning behind wand movements and their inherent uselessness, he couldn't afford to show that.
In truth, it wasn't himself who discovered it, but Bellatrix who didn't understand a limiter between advanced and basic subjects that told him of it. He just confirmed what he was told in private.
That didn't mean he could get out of the grunt work though. 'Stupid shit.' He grumbled and wrote away. The only sound in the class being the moving of quills on parchment and the occasion steps of McGonagall walking around and making corrections.
It was going to be a long year.
*Line Break*
Kyle – Pokemon
Sleeping out under the stars in a cozy sleeping bag and with Loki curled up on his chest was one of the best rests Kyle had in a long time. Being so in tune with nature seemed to amplify his rejuvenation and when the sun rose the next morning, he was up and ready to move.
The slight morning chill was broken as Kyle and Loki huffed and grunted during their morning exercises.
"*Huff* One more lap buddy. Then we'll call it and get some grub." "Ee!"
The two were keeping it light as they still had a long day ahead of them but were making sure to keep to a disciplined schedule.
On the farm, the two had less time to train full force as they had their duties. Loki often helped out with corralling the young Eevee.
But even so, two and half years allowed them enough time to get going. For Kyle, his workouts were partially inspired by a character he admired from anime. Rock Lee.
He started off with five laps around the clearing to get the blood pumping. Then used tree branches for pull ups. Sit ups. Pushups. Squats. And one hundred tree punches and kicks with each limb.
At first, Kyle was just going for as many as he could, but some tips from Jake changed his routine. Instead of maxing the number he could go, Kyle focused on control and slowness.
When you do a pushup, you control your body and do it sloooowww with proper form. Feel all the muscles moving, control the body and don't let gravity control you.
Kyle really hated Jake for making him experience this.
Just by focusing on proper form and moving slow, the number of reps he could do dropped heavily, but the results were much better. Now Kyle switches off weekly between max reps and control reps.
He was improving his bases all around, and Loki was matching his enthusiasm.
For over two years, Kyle had been giving Loki drills to build up his already impressive physical stats. Loki was built stronger than most of his kind as an alpha Pokemon thanks to Kyle infusing his egg with aura. The continuous use of bathing in aura while he grew up also worked to give him one of the best physiques his sisters had ever seen for a young Eevee.
So Kyle aimed to maximize his bases and set Loki on pushing those limits. And to be fair, seeing an adorable fluff ball do squats is greatly amusing.
But a Pokemon has a much higher threshold than humans. Their aura is constantly empowering them. Loki wouldn't be done in by just physical exertion.
So Kyle incorporated his move pool into his routine. Loki knew eight moves at the moment.
Covet, Tackle, Helping Hand, Growl, Tail Whip, Sand-Attack, Quick-Attack, and Swift.
Helping Hand was an interesting move. The move could be learned by almost any Pokemon, and yet, so few every truly used it.
What does it do? Well that's the fascinating part. Kyle observed its effects and 'saw' how Loki shared a portion of his own Normal type aura with another.
The Normal type aura was then absorbed or converted into another type by the recipient. If the target was a Normal type, they gained a major boost to their own aura. But if they were another type, the boost was minor as half the aura was spent converting it.
It was a fascinating discovery on Kyles part, as the move had dozens of implications. Aura was responsible for everything a Pokemon could do, including their resilience, healing factor, and move pool. When a Pokemon fainted during battle, it was because their aura was used up in defending themselves. Which is why most Pokemon only gather superficial injuries from them, as well as why the league attempts to keep people fighting in similar strength ranges.
If you were to think of aura from RWBY, then two similar ranged fighters could dish out dozens of attacks and wear down the others aura. If you were much stronger than your foe, a single attack could pop their aura like a bubble and cripple them.
Type advantages and how clean of a hit and where hit play a key role as well in how damaging a move is and how much aura is spent in protection.
So the move Helping Hand technically recovered something like 1/5th of the aura of a normal type, and 1/10th for others. It even worked on Kyle himself much to his joy and he was in the process of learning to do it himself.
Covet, Tail Whip, and Growl were moves that Loki couldn't train without a proper foe. While they walked in the wild, if any Pokemon was approaching with hostility, Loki would often use the ladder two moves on them to scare them off.
Covet however was a move Loki was born with, and conveniently became a reason for his name. The little trickster loved to use it, coming up all cute and adorable looking one minute, and getting sharp eyes and stealing your food the next.
In the games, Covet was specified toward held items, but in real life it's just a Pokemon getting you to lower your guard and snatching your stuff. Loki made a hell of a mess when he was born, and Kyle was running out doing damage control because of it.
Nothing shattered Kyles poor fragile heart like the teary eyed gaze of a baby Eevee who had their snack stolen. Loki often apologized after said fact, saying something about it just being a joke, but he was a baby at the time and didn't understand.
As he grew older, he only used the move on Kyle and the older eevelutions for humor. He never targeted his younger species members and often gave the stolen snacks to them. He was a real big softie at heart.
Anyway, in a real battle, it's a move where you get them to lower their guard, steal their item, and blindside attack them when their guard is down. And Loki is very good at using it.
As for his other four moves, Kyle incorporated them into his work outs. While Loki runs laps, he would burst into a white light and zoom ahead with Quick-Attack for short bursts. When he turned a corner, he would use his tail to slash at the soil and send a spray of Sand-Attack at a designated target. When he jumped into the air, he would spin and send a volley of Swift at a designated target. And finally, when he finished each lap, he would glow white and slam his little body into the target in a brutal Tackle attack.
Loki often had to change targets.
Kyle didn't have him start this way, but it progressed to such a stage. And they combined move practice with physical exercise. They were aiming for a tankier build over a more agility focused build while in Eevee form and would expand when he evolved.
And speaking of evolution, Kyle and Loki already spoke about it and had an ideal path he wanted to follow.
Kyle took into nature his own abilities, his future challenges, and the long term future when he leaves the Pokemon world, and asked himself: "How can I make the most of what I have?"
He only had six Pokemon slots after all so he couldn't catch everything he wanted.
Does he go the dragon route? Gather the best of the best and overpower everything?
Does he go his old playstyle route? Get the most balanced team to face all challenges?
There were dozens of options to pick from, and in the end, he made the choice of sticking to his advantages as they had the best long term gains.
He was an ice type aura user, so he would go the route of ice and water. Loki already proved to him that Pokemon could be affected long term by sharing his own aura with them, so Kyle wanted to form a team based around his element.
He currently had a list with twenty three options on it that he discussed in length with both Jake and his sisters, split into three tiers of value, and he would take whatever comes his way. He wasn't exactly in a rush, but if an opportunity presented itself, he would take it.
Tier one was for Pokemon he would catch without hesitation. Tier two was for Pokemon that he would want to see have specific characteristics to catch. And tier three was for Pokemon that could collaborate well with him but had to have unique talents or traits as well as personality.
Loki's future form, as well as the new partner waiting for him at Rowans lab, were among the tier one options he had so Kyle thought he was off to a good start.
He really lucked out with Sylveon's evolution, otherwise, the Pokemon he was heading over to get would be a pipe dream for the near future, or if ever considering his party limit.
Kyle didn't want to catch a fully evolved Pokemon, he wanted to catch them early on to build a strong bond that would last the test of time.
Pokemon matured much faster than humans, and depending on the species, lived much longer lives than humans as well. Most likely due to aura.
Kyle wasn't even sure what his lifespan would look like with his aura constantly growing stronger. He read that some champion level Pokemon have been recorded to have lived for hundreds of years.
But no matter how old they could get, if he wanted to form a bond thicker than blood, he would have to start early with his teammates. Meaning that while he wasn't trying to rush, he still wanted to get his team of six caught within his first year.
They would experience the world together, and face whatever came their way. But first, he had to finish his morning workout.
The sun was fully risen when the duo finished their training and got packed up after a hearty breakfast of grains, oats, and berries with the leftover stinging nettle leaves for tea.
Cleaning up went faster than getting settled thanks to Kyle's habit of putting things back after using them. It was best to be able to move at a moment's notice when out in the wild as you never knew when something would jump out at you.
Just as the duo didn't expect to be jumped by a boy his age after walking for a few hours.
"Hey! You there!" Kyle blinked the sun out of his eyes and looked ahead to see a boy his age sitting in the middle of the path on a chair. Kyle approached and pointed a finger at Loki in question.
The boy growled and got up. "No not him! Well, technically him but…no! Damn it, you threw me off. Are you a novice trainer?"
Kyle nodded, no need to mention he only had a temporary license on him. "I am." He kept his answer short and the boy smiled. "Great! The names Kevin, and I challenge you to a Pokemon match!"
Kyle wasn't sure what to feel from his first official trainer challenge. Excitement? Joy? Pride? There were a lot of thoughts he had on it, but in the end, he just kind of felt meh about it.
He shrugged and looked at Loki on his bag. "You up for it buddy?" Loki nodded his furry head and jumped down with a cry of "Ee!" as Kyle turned to the boy. "Well, there's your answer. One on one?"
Kevin shot him a thumbs up and quickly moved his chair out of the way. A novice match means anyone with two or less badges. The leagues marked up general ranks for trainers to keep trainers more or less in similar wave length of strength so their Pokemon don't cripple or kill each other.
Gym's use the ranking to estimate which rank of Pokemon they should use to challenge a trainer.
The general ranks are Novice, Apprentice, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, and Ace.
Novice – Two or less badges.
Apprentice – 3rd or 4th badge.
Intermediate – 5th or 6th badge.
Advanced – 7th or 8th badge.
Expert – A league challenging trainer. Someone who got eight badges and challenged the league.
Ace – Someone who made it to the top sixty-four of a league competition.
There are unofficial ranks for higher level finalists and the champions, but those people have usually worked for years to get to where they were and retire or are gobbled up by organizations like the league, the rangers, the police, large companies, criminal groups, and so on.
In the leagues ranks, an Ace trainer is usually a field captain, the lowest ranking true member of the league. They have their own ranks that lead up to the Champion, the elite four under them, and the elite four trainees under them.
It's an entire hierarchy and system that had run since the leagues founding. And it worked, so no one tried to change it.
The life of a trainer is not one that can easily last the test of time without making a connection to some group and get responsibilities in the process. But that's just a part of life, isn't it?
Kyle assumed so, even if his gut nagged at him at the thought. It was like a tick at the back of his head. One he couldn't make go away, so he ignored it for the time being to focus on the present.
"Let's go! Buneary!" Kevin shouted from across the path as he tossed up a pokeball. The ball cracked open and a red light shot down forming into a Buneary. "Bun!"
Kyle idly ignored the pokeball moving back to Kevins hand with the return function; something he knew only happened because of a receiver on the trainers pokeball belt; and examined the foe.
It was too far to feel with his aura, but his sight was enhanced enough to look it over. 'It's young, but the muscles in its legs are pronounced, showing they have been training recently, and the minor scuff marks show they hadn't been back to a Pokecenter in a few days at least.'
"You got this Loki. I'll let you start things off." "Ee!" The two were in sync in aura and mind as Loki moved. Kyle knew how fast Pokemon matches went and decided on a strategy of letting his team adapt as they go while relying on their training. If he caught something, he would make commands, but otherwise he felt his voice was slower than them acting.
Loki glowed white and vanished from view for a moment as he charged his foe. "Defense Curl!" Kevin shouted out but Buneary only responded to his voice at the same time Loki reached it. Buneary cried out as it was hit hard dead on and flew backwards. "Buneary!"
Loki stopped and didn't press his advantage with worry but that was his mistake as Buneary got back up and hopped right at him. "Good job Buneary! Use pound!"
"Evade and counter!" Kyle shouted back but Buneary scored a glancing blow with its powerful ears as Loki absorbed the damage and dove to the side, sending out a Sand Attack with its tail that only managed to hit the side of Buneary's face.
'We need to work on aim.' Kyle thought as Kevin shouted. "Defense curl and shake it off your face Buneary!"
"Attack!" Kyle didn't want to waist a chance again and Loki was of the same mind, jumping back in with a hard tackle that sent them both in different directions, but Loki wasn't making the same mistake and used the counter force to spin, sending out a string of Swift at the falling Buneary.
The lock on move hit dead center, adding on to the damage from the tackle and making Buneary hit the ground hard, out like a light. "Buneary! No!" Kevin cried out but couldn't change the outcome and quickly recalled his partner.
Meanwhile Kyle was all smiles as Loki charged him with happy yips. "Ee! Eev!" "Haha good job buddy, I'm proud of you. We won our first real match." The feeling rang true in him and gave him a small sense of pride, but less than he would have originally thought.
The two shared their moment as aura flowed between them and Kyle was feeling the overwhelming joy coming from his partner over the empathetic link. Kevin came over with a depressed look. "Congrats on your win." He held out two hundred poke dollar bills to him, the equivalent of two US dollars, but Kyle shook his head. "Thank you and you can keep it. I'm still a temporary trainer so I wouldn't feel right."
Each rank had a corresponding pay out for trainers during challenges. It was a way to motivate and help financially support trainers who didn't have any support.
Kevin blinked and lowered his arm. "Really? Damn, I can't believe I lost to a total newbie; your Eevee is crazy strong." Kyle smiled at that and scratched Loki's ear. "Thanks, we trained a lot. How much farther is it to Sandgem town?"
Kevin shrugged and pointed the way Kyle was originally going. "About an hour and a half that way. There are a few more novice trainers on the road. I had to come this far out to catch anyone coming this way before them." Kyle nodded. "Thanks for the help. It was a nice battle. You going to head back to town?"
Kevin shook his head. "Nah, you gave us some good hits but Buneary will bounce back from this. We have had worse; a potion should fix him up real good. Thanks again and best of luck." He waved and walked off into the tree line where Kyle could make out a campsite.
He looked down at Loki who caught his breath and was looking around for more things to fight. "Haha, got your blood pumping huh? We can see about a few more fights if you can manage it. He did say there were more on the road ahead."
"Ee!" Loki called back and jumped up to his perch while pawing at his head as if to say "Mush!" and Kyle laughed as he got moving. Loki enjoyed the fight and wanted more, and Kyle wasn't going to deny that from him.
'But why don't I feel the same excitement?' Kyle mused as he walked on ahead. Sandgem town was upon them.
Chapter end.
AN: thoughts? I admit I don't think I ever wrote a poke battle before this chapter. As in a real poke on poke battle instead of just using Pokemon in fight scenes. So I'm not sure how it turned out, but they are beginner trainers and stuff.
And I was trying to imagine how life for Jake would be when I wrote it.