Author's Note -
Another one 'a these exchange student fics? Is that what is going through your head right now? Well, I know... it is another one. At least it isn't some band of Americans who are all party crazed and preppy sunshine filth (I just insult myself, didn't I?). I wanted something like that, but with a twist. Go ahead and give it a test shot/drive/whatever. :)
Description -
Exchange students from 4 different countries come to Hogwarts for the year, while Harry and 6 others from Hogwarts travel to Australia to participate in the exchange. But Harrys only near-close companion is none other than his rival, Draco Malfoy, and his long-time crush, Cho Chang. Bad luck, huh? Along with his best friend's older brother, Fred Weasley, Harry has to make new friends for the year and try to uncover some secrets here at his replacement school. Oh, aussie's kick ass - g'day, mate! (That pretty much says it all.) :)
Disclaimer -
Anyone who is stupid enough to think that the Harry Potter characters belong to anyone but Rowling should probably leave now before you learn something. The rest of the characters, the ones whom you do not see in the Harry Potter books, belong to me. The countries do not belong to anyone. Except God. And Earth. And mother-nature, etc., etc.
Rating -
You should have read it before you clicked it. If you did, good job; if you didn't, get glasses - R for many reasons that I do not wish to venture into. However, as it doesn't matter what age you are, all you little kids go ahead and read on. Please note however, that the only thing you don't see in R movies these days are... well, I can't exactly think of anything. Can you? It doesn't really match it's rating until later in the story, however.
PART ONE. RULERS OF BEGINNINGS. CHAPTER ONE.
Beth Nyugen, Emily Etincella
*****
He was trying to reach it, but it kept slipping farther and farther away from him... He threw his arm out once more to grab it, but he missed by a foot, and as he fell, it continued to zoom away...
Harry was shaken awake by a nervous looking Ron.
"Harry! Harry, wake up, damnit! Snape is looking at you like he's going to kill you!"
"Uh?" Harry said tonelessly as his glasses fell from his nose and hit the desk with a clink!, making a crack in the left lens.
"Oh sod you, wake up," Ron hissed in a hushed voice. "You might loose us house points!"
Looking up, Harry felt extremely dazed, and embarrassed. He felt himself get hotter, despite the frigid temperature in the dungeons. Snape was, indeed, looking at Harry as if he wanted to do something horribly nasty to him, but that was nothing new. Harry couldn't remember a time Snape didn't look that way.
"Potter, am I boring you, or were you out late last night at a photo shoot and didn't get enough sleep?" Snape asked icily. In his corner, Draco Malfoy and his bulky gang sniggered. Although it wasn't remotely funny, it didn't make a difference to them what the reason was if it gave them an excuse to be rude towards Harry.
"No, Professor," Harry said innocently, as he slipped his glasses back onto his nose, noticing the crack.
Snape squinted his eyes as if expecting to see Harry clearer, then snapped, "Ten points from Gryffindor. Stay awake in my class, Potter," before slipping back behind his desk and continuing to write the ingredients for their next potion on the blackboard, his magic chalk sweeping across the black like it was performing a graceful dance.
Harry shot Snape a look to his back, before removing his glasses again and tapping Hermione on the shoulder, who was sitting straight up in her chair, looking as if she were completely scandalized at what Harry had done, and trying to escape any punishment from Snape for exchanging notes with Lavendar Brown in class, which was very unlike her. She and Lavendar had formed some sort of random friendship over the summer, and Harry knew that it would get her into some kind of trouble if she wasn't careful. He pointed to his glasses and she nodded, waved her wand, and watched as the glasses returned to normal.
"Thanks," Harry whispered, before picking up his quill and turning back towards Snape. He began writing down the ingredients.
*****
"Fucking hell, what was Snape thinking? How am I going to afford 13 makings of snake-skin for one lousy potion? He acts as if we're all the blasted King of England!" Ron roared as they made their way down the corridors, after class. Snape had let them out with a horrid potion assignment that would take days to figure out.
It was their first day back from the summer holidays, and Ron had seemed less embarrassed to talk about his family's lack of money. Hermione was acting strange; she didn't always have her nose buried into a book and wasn't always correcting them of their errors, which was definitely a relief. Well, not always.
"There is no King of England, Ron. You should know that." Her bossy tone of voice was the same as ever.
"Well, excuse me for not being a genius, like you," he snapped.
Ron and Hermione's bickering had changed, as well. It had gotten worse. Harry, who had to spend most of the summer with them, was getting sick of it.
"It doesn't take a genius to know that a King does not rule England!"
"Stop it, you two. You're giving me a damned headache," Harry said dryly before Ron could get anything in as reply. They shut their mouths and kept walking, all three looking very annoyed.
As they entered the Great Hall, they were surprised to find it almost completely quiet, with the exception of a few whispers buzzing around. As they took a seat, they turned towards Fred, who was among the whispering crowd.
"What's up?" Ron whispered quickly as his brother whipped around.
"Dumbledore said there was something he needed to announce at dinner tonight."
"Maybe they'll be holding the Triwiazard Tournament again this year," Neville suggested.
"Doubt it," Harry said quickly, shaking his head. "After what happened last time..." He snuck a glance towards Cho, who was sitting, mute, at the Ravenclaw table. "I don't think we could do that again." Gloomy nods followed his short statement.
"Why didn't he just announce it last night? That's when he usually announces the important stuff, on the first day back." Many shrugs followed.
"It must be something important, if he's going to announce it in front of everybody," Ron observed, finally helping himself to some food. "But what could it be?"
*****
"No doubt you have all been waiting to hear my latest bit of news." Dumbledore's voice rang loud and clear through the Great Hall that evening.
Everyone had eaten quickly that night; the word that Dumbledore had an announcement had traveled all through the castle, and everyone was anxiously awaiting.
Many guesses had been made as to what it was about: another shot at the Triwizard Tournament, some sort of ceremony in Cedric's remembrance (this was the idea of a Hufflepuff), cancellation of any further Defense Against the Dark Arts classes at Hogwarts, and a lot of other pointless, would-never-happen ideas. But now, the moment of truth.
"Perhaps you are wondering why I did not make an announcement last night, at the opening ceremony. My apologies go out to all of you, but I was held back in... business. But now that everything is cleared up, I would like to tell you all about what will be happening at Hogwarts this year.
The inner-house Quidditch tournament will, again, be canceled."
This brought a few moans from his anxious crowd, but most still looked excited; they knew something good was coming.
"Instead, we will be having Quidditch matches against the three visiting schools."
A webb of confused murmurs spun it's way around the room, much to Dumbledore's delight. After a few minutes of watching the students hiss at each other, he spoke up again.
"Calm down, calm down." Once the hall was quiet again, he continued. "Since the Triwizard Tournament obviously did not go as planned, we've decided to do something instead this year.
Four wizarding schools, from around different areas of the world, will be sending seven of their finest, most eligible students to Hogwarts for a portion of the year. We will be choosing seven students from Hogwarts to participate as well, and they will travel to our assigned transfer school, which I believe is the Perthtree School of Wizardry, in Perth, Australia."
Dumbledore was once again pleased to see confused faces in the crowd, all ready to burst with questions at any moment.
"We will be selecting according to academic records. If you wish to submit, please come visit Professor McGonagall or I about it. Please remember that you must be at least fifteen years of age to participate.
When I receive more information this, I will be sure to put a note out about it. However, at the time, this is all the information I have for you."
Many students sat, spellbound, staring at Dumbledore for a long time after, not able to find their voices, and too surprised to speak anyway. Dumbledore, however, sat back down, cheerful, and began talking to Professor McGonagall, who was wearing a nervous expression and kept flicking her eyes back out to the students.
Harry noticed that over at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy and his closest friends were all looking pretty smug and laughing heartily as they gulped down their drinks. Harry was sure they all thought they would be accepted, which of course they couldn't, for there were far too many of them.
"I'm definitly entering," Ron said loudly.
"I don't think it's such a good idea, Ron..." Ginny was looking around the table for backup. "It could be dangerous. Besides, I don't think Mum would want you traveling off to some country way down south." She frown.
"Oh, come on Ginny," Hermione said, buttering some bread. "I might even enter. It sounds like fun. I'd absolutely love to go to a foriegn wizarding school! There must be so many things that are different about our culture than Australia... maybe I should look for the major differences in the library--"
"Always off to the library, you. Why don't you take a break?" Ron said, as he pointed his finger at Hermione.
"I do take a break, Ron," she replied haughtily, but didn't seem to have an argument.
"I'm sure I'll get to go," Fred declared to Angelina and George. "I'm the perfect man for it."
"I think not, Freddy-boy, because I'm going to get that space," his friend, Lee Jordan, said as he hit Katie Bell in the eye with his bacon.
"Ladies, definitely," Angelina interrupted. "I'm probably their first choice."
The three, along with George, erupted into soft laughter.
Harry sighed. "Maybe I'll enter. Who knows? It could be something different... something new, exciting." He looked around the room quickly for Cho, but didn't see her. "Something without--"
"Thinking of entering, Potter?" A familiar voice drawled behind him.
"Get lost, Malfoy," Ron snapped without look up. Draco ignored him.
"Trying to be the best... again? It's never enough for you, is it, Potter?" He took another step and swayed for a second. "Anything comes up, and Potter rushes to the scene. You can't always be the tragic little hero, Potter."
"Go dye your hair, Malfoy," Harry said calmly, not bothering to look at his rival, whose eyes were flashing.
"Beat it, you scrawny ferret," George Weasley piped in, turning towards Draco and cracking his knuckles. Draco, who tried to look calm, was definitely startled by the sudden change in defense and decided to carry on. He, Crabbe and Goyle disappeared into the Slytherin crowd once again.
"'Wonder what schools are coming here," Seamus said.
"Interesting ones, I hope," Dean gave as input. "French people are so dull."
*****
September 3, 0700 hours-
We're having some sort of transfer program at Hogwarts this year. Father never told me anything about it, which is a surprise. Perhaps he was too busy with Lord Voldemort, now that he has risen again. (Bastard.) I hope that Father and I will still have some time to talk even though the Dark Lord is back. I have many things on my mind.
Of course, Pretty-boy Potter is going to sign up for Dumbledore's little transfer trip. He always has to do everything special. If it's different, he has to do it. Why can't he just be like everyone else and blend in with the crowd? That way, I wouldn't have so many damned problems. He can be such a bastard some times, I swear. Always saving the day. Why does he get it so easy? All the damned teachers act special towards Potter because of the whole mess with Voldemort. Hell, it was an accident anyway. Hopefully this year, since the Dark Lord is back, they'll treat him like more of an average student. They have yet to do that at this school. Damn. Unless, of course, he makes it into the program as one of the seven. Which can't happen. I need to go, and ship out of this second-hand school. Perhaps the school in Australia is more keen towards the Dark Arts.
Respectivly,
D. Malfoy
*****
"So, when are we going to enter?" Harry asked, four days after Dumbledore's announcement. Fred and George Wealsey had already entered, and both had come out looking very satisfied. They wouldn't tell anyone what had happened, though, and Harry was starting to get impatient. His patience span had gotten shorter over the summer; listening to Ron and Hermione bicker for hours on end had definitly done something to him.
"We? I didn't really have plans on entering," Ron said as he threw his robe and cloak onto his unmade bed, and walked over to Harry's, before sitting down next to him.
"Why not? It sounds interesting," Harry said as he pulled off his shoes and looked to Ron.
Ron shrugged. "I dunno. Australia sounds... wild. Different."
"Afraid of change, are you?" Harry said, teasingly.
"No, it's not that. It's just... new people. I mean, what if I made it and you didn't? I wouldn't have any friends when I got there, and I'm not exactly the kind of person who can make friends... easily."
Ron sure is admitting a lot to himself. "Oh, hell, come on, Ron."
"I'm serious, Harry. It's hard to make friends. I mean, anybody would be your friend; you're the fucking famous Harry Potter. I mean, even we met because you're Harry Potter. I probably wouldn't have talked to you on the train if Fred and George hadn't said something about you."
"You wouldn't have?" Harry asked, feeling slightly put out.
"Well, probably not. But I'm glad I did, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten to know you so well, and I couldn't survive in this damned up world without you." He smiled at Harry, hoping he'd make a recovery. Harry smiled slightly back, before Ron continued. "See, you've always had it easy. You'd have friends no matter what. But... nobody wants to be friends with some idiot redhead," he finished.
Harry reached out punched Ron on the shoulder, emitting a small "ow!" from him. "Ron, don't say those kind of things. That's fucked, alright? I'm sure there are plenty of people you'd love to have you as a friend. I'm sure as hell."
Ron shook his head, clearly not convinced. "How sure, exactly, is hell, Harry?"
"Look. We can both go down and apply. If you make it and I don't, you can decide whether or not you want to go. I wouldn't mind, either way." Ron looked Harry in the eyes, slightly annoyed.
"Alright, damnit, I'll do it."
"We'll do it. Right now."
"Right now? Why right now?"
"The sooner the better."
Ron sighed. "Alright, let me get my robes back on..." Ron went over to his bed, and Harry pulled on his shoes again. When they were both ready, they started out to Dumbledore's office.
*****
It had been annoying. Everyday this year, Harry Potter seemed to be getting more and more attractive to every girl at Hogwarts. Everything that he did seemed to be the talk of the day.
"I just loved the way Harry did that twist on his broom at Quidditch practice last night, didn't you, Hermione?"
"Yeah, right," she mumbled sarcastically, her nose buried in a book.
She had never thought that Harry was that attractive. Sure, he had a nice face, he was nice, he could be funny, but he didn't seem like the attractive kind. He didn't look as if he wanted to be attractive.
"It can happen between friends, romance." Hermione heard Parvati Patil once say to Lavendar. "I bet Hermione is really for Harry, but just too shy to admit it. I've read about this kind of thing before..."
"Parvati Patil, why, you actually read something?" Hermione snapped with fake surprise, turning red. The nerve of her. God. Parvati stuck her nose in the air and waltzed away.
Hermione hadn't talked to Parvati since then; she hadn't thought about what she had said until then, either.
It can happen between friends, romance.
Hermione didn't want to ever fall in love. She wanted to be a sucessful, rich, educated woman with a wonderful past and powerful future, and she didn't want to have to worry about anybody else except herself and her friends. She didn't want to get married, or have kids.
She didn't expect to ever feel differently. But she did. And it wasn't Harry that she felt for, even though it should have been. Every girl felt for Harry. But she did feel towards this friend.
But she had an unspeakable feeling for another friend, and she hated it.
*****
"Mr. Potter. Well, what a surprise," Dumbledore said gleefully as Harry walked into his office and sat down. "I thought you might try to enter." He turned around in his chair and reached down to a drawer. Pulling it open, he call edit, as if speaking to someone inside the droor, "Harry Potter, please!" Suddenly, a thick envelope stuffed with parchment popped out of the droor, and Dumbledore caught it in mid-flight. "Here we are... study marks and teacher's notes... let's skip Professor Snape's..." he shuffled papers around. "Well, Harry, I see here that you are a very acceptable student." He was scanning an incredibly full parchment; it must have been at least five feet long. "How are your study habits?"
"Erm... decent?" Dumbledore smiled.
"I'm sure they are." He set the paper down, clearly not very interested in it's contents. "Harry, I would strongly push you towards this opportunity. It would be a good learning experience, and it would also be a nice barrier between..." Dumbledore trailed off, looking guarded. Harry knew what he would say, and the thought had passed through his mind earlier.
It definitely would be harder for Voldemort to get to Harry while he was thousands of miles away.
Dumbledore noticed that Harry knew what he was thinking, so he continued. When he spoke this time, however, it was in a soft, strong, steady voice. "But Harry-- there are many things at that school which are beyond our magic. Some things I don't even understand. It's very Dark Magic, Harry. It's very dangerous."
"So... why are you sending students there if it's dangerous? That doesn't make sense... Professor." Harry wasn't quite sure why Dumbledore was telling him this, but he knew there must be a reason.
"It isn't dangerous for them, Harry. It's dangerous for you."
"Me?" He hid his sudden itch of fear. "What's special about me, besides the obvious?"
"You have powerful blood, Harry. Your family goes a long way back... and they weren't all from England. There are many places your family has been. Like Australia."
Harry shook his head. "So... some ancient ancestor of mine went to this school... which makes it dangerous?"
Dumbledore's voice returned to it's normal pitch as he said, "Well, never mind that now, Harry. It's isn't important now, anyway, and I doubt you'd understand. I'll talk to you about all that... later. I'll be sure to talk to Professor McGonagall about you entering. Good day."
Harry was confused, and slightly mad. That was too quick. He isn't just going to leave me with that, is he? "Professor--"
"I can't tell you anymore about it now, Harry." He opened the droor again and threw Harry's files back inside. "Please tell Mr. Weasley to come in, now," he said as Harry got up. The boy nodded, not bothering to hide his annoyment, and walked out of the room. Dumbledore rubbed his eyes behind his spectacles, and sighed.
"Exhausting," he muttered.
*****
It had been a week since Harry applied when Lavendar Brown ran up to Harry and practically dragged him down to the entrance hall. A large note was posted, with people crowded around it, all pushing and shoving, trying to get a better look. When Harry finally made his way through and got a good look at it, he was able to read, in turns, what it said.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is proud to announce that they will be partnering up with Perthtree School of Wizardry, of Perth, Australia, for the magicians exchange program. Seven wizards from Hogwarts will join with witches and wizards from all around. The countries and schools besides Hogwarts that will be at Perthtree are Cordoba Magic Center, of Madrid, Spain, Khandyn Academy, of Chengdu, China, and Bantu School of Magic for the Young, of Alexandria, Egypt. The schools traveling to Hogwarts are Mahajanga Academy of Magic, of Mahajanga, Madagascar, Greater Sunda Magic Teaching, of Jakarta, Java, St. Peters School of The Greater Magic, of St. Petersburg, Russia, and The English Magic Academy for the Gifted, of Wales, England.
The students chosen to travel to Australia will be announced tonight at seven o'clock in the Great Hall.
"Isn't it wonderful? Do you think you've made it?" Lavendar squealed, clinging onto Harry's arm.
"I don't really care if I do or not," Harry said, thinking back to what Dumbledore had said to him.
"Wouldn't it be exciting, though, to be picked? I've always wanted to go to Australia..."
When Lavendar had finally let Harry off, he went to find Ron and Hermione.
"Have you heard the good news?" They were playing chess on the grounds, by the lake.
"You mean the note? Yeah," Ron said bitterly, and moved his bishop by Hermione's queen.
"That was a stupid move, Ron."
"Stuff it, Hermione."
"What's troubling you, Ron?" Harry asked, sounding much like a psych. as he sat down next to the players.
"Hermione didn't enter," he said, and threw her a dirty look.
"Oh, get over it, Ron, I didn't want to go. I was reading up on it, and it sounds dang--"
"You're always reading up! Just take a break and go out on a limb every once in awhile, seriously." He sighed in frustration as Hermione knocked over his king, angry.
"Check mate. And shut up. It's my choice. Why do you care so much, anyway?"
Harry thought he saw Ron's ears go slightly pink.
"It's just... never mind." He got off the grass and brushed himself off. "So, Harry, do you think you made it? I mean, Dumbledore did say that he was going to push for it, because..." he said, acting as if Hermione had suddenly disappeared into thin air.
Harry nodded. "I don't know. It would be safer if I made it, but just imagine what the press would say about me going. I'm sure Rita Skeeter, if she could, would have a wonderful time writing something about how I cheated to win or some eqauly cracked story. Like Malfoy. I wonder sometimes if they're related..." He smiled at Hermione, who was grinning evilly.
"What do we have this afternoon?" She asked as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"I believe it's... double potions," Ron said with a scowl.
"Great," Harry said sarcastically. "Just what I need. Snape again."
*****
It's the regular deal for this. If you find it interesting, tell me, and I'll continue. If you think it's awful writing and a horrible story line, tell me, and I'll keep the rest to myself. Thanks.
To all of you Fidelity readers, this is Beth, and I'm sorry it's taking me so long to get chapter six up! I'm almost finished... sorry for the long wait.