Dawn smelt sweet in the morning, as it slowly crept into the many towers of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sunlight slowly crept, an uninvited intruder into Gryffindor tower's girls' dormitory, sending rays of light that penetrated the velvety red curtains that hung at each bed, shining into each of its occupant's faces.

Sakura herself blinked, shielding her eyes from the sunlight that was filtering in through the curtains as she stifled a drowsy yawn. Pulling back the curtains, the delicious smell of morning dew wafted into her room, surrounding her bed with the fresh smell of morning as she sniffed at it eagerly.

Morning had never smelt like this in Tomoeda, she noted as she ran to take a look out of the window. The view was simply magnificent! Down below the tower, the wide lake glittered a welcoming blue, reflecting the morning sun's rays while the forest that stretched out in the horizon seemed to be dotted with green everywhere. The sky itself was lit by the very soft red and orange colours that streaked across the sky.

It was oddly quiet in the room, unlike how it had been back in Japan, she reflected. Usually, there was a loud thumping from the room next door (Touya's room), signifying that her brother was up while the sizzling sound came from downstairs, most probably from the kitchen where their father was cooking up some delicious breakfast. Of course, Kero would be the one who would wake her up

She blinked twice now. Talking about Kero, where was that small guardian beast? She had been too sleepy the night before to notice if he had been following her up here, so she had no idea where he was.

"Kero-chan?" she called out tentatively.

"If you want to know where that stuffed toy is, I think I saw him follow the boys up to their dormitory," came Meilin's drowsy voice from behind her curtains. The curtains were pulled aside and there sat Meilin, stretching as she gave a long yawn. Rubbing her eyes to clear it from the last traces of sleep, she gave Sakura a sleepy smile.

"Ohayo, Meilin-chan," Sakura greeted with a bright smile as she watched the girl rub away the last traces of sleep from her eyes. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?"

"Yes," the girl agreed as she stepped beside Sakura to have a look at the wonderful panorama that stretched down below the Gryffindor tower. "And Sakura-chan, you have to stop using Japanese here, or else no one's be able to understand you. It's better if you speak English here, ne?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow in surprise as she blinked. "Hoe? But I can use some basic Japanese terms here, right?"

Meilin herself had to suppress the urge to laugh as she viewed the image of Sakura, dressed in her nightgown with a totally confused look on her face. "I guess so, Sakura-chan. But you have to speak English to the other students, ne?"

Hermione, who had been watching them quite amusedly from the corner of her eye, looked up from the book of spells that she had been studying earlier. "You can speak Japanese to me too, Sakura. I've learned Japanese before, so it's okay."

The girl looked positively radiant at this piece of news as she spoke. "Hoe? Ne, Hermione, honto ni? Sugoi!"

Meilin sighed, watching as Sakura started to babble a long line of Japanese to Hermione who patiently replied in perfect Japanese (with a slight British accent, of course). Teaching Sakura to use English in the school grounds was indeed going to be very difficult

*******

LATER, AT BREAKFAST

Sakura blinked, looking up from her bacon at Li, who was eating with his face away from Kero. Apparently, something had gone wrong in the boys' dormitory (or notthey were always on bad terms, anyway), and Li was apparently very agitated at her sun guardian.

"Ne, Yue-sama, what happened?" she asked her moon guardian, who was watching them eat their breakfast with an impassive expression on his face. He arched a fine eyebrow at her and gazed at Li and Kero carefully, only to receive two death glares from both the boy and his fellow guardian.

"Well, Cerberus ate a little too much yesterday night, so he simply went up to the dormitory and fell asleep. He didn't see the bed that they had made for him (probably was too sleepy), and this morning"

Li snorted, and for the first time, looked up from the breakfast he was eating. Holding a half eaten muffin in his hand, he proceeded to tell the story, with much interruption from an indignant Kero.

"The little stuffed toy here"

"Watch it, Chinese gaki! I'm no stuffed toy and I could take you on any time!"

Shooting an ominous warning glare at Kero, Sakura turned to Li. "Do continue, Li-kun."

"I woke up this morning" Li began, recalling the past events of the morning as he kept a warning death glare on Kero who was on his guard to snap every statement of his.

He had woken up when the sunlight had most irritatingly found its way to his face and had somehow invaded even the darkest, most comfortable corner of his bed. So, he tossed and turned, trying to find somewhere else where the sun had not crept into.

"As if your bed was that comfortable anyway!"

"Kero-chan, be quiet!"

"When I opened my eyes, I found this little stuffed toy on my pillow!"

"You left most of it out," Yue commented dryly as he watched Kero spear another sausage from the dish in front, then ignoring the death glare that was shot at him by the future heir of the Li clan.

"Yes, gaki. Was it me who woke all the others up with a yell? No" Kero added in, eating the sausage with a triumphant look on his face as he spoke. "I might have accidentally fallen asleep on your pillow, but at least I didn't wake everyone else up, ne?"

"A yell?" Sakura spoke, her eyes wide as saucers as she gazed at the two of them. "Hoe"

"Indeed, a yell," Ron commented with a slight yawn. "I think it went something like, 'KERO-CHAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY PILLOW?'. Or something like that, I believe."

"Well, this stuffed animal could have at least paid more attention and found his own bed! Are you on his side?"

Sakura immediately jumped in at this point of the conversation, feeling that a huge fight was going to erupt if she didn't put a stop to it now. "A...Anolet's not fight, ne? Ne, Yue-sama, have you found out who you're assisting yet?"

Yue himself didn't look quite pleased when he answered. "I believe that I shall be assisting Professor Snape ("What?" gasped Harry and Ron as his face darkened), Professor Sinistra, Professor Flitwick and perhaps Kaho-san herself."

"Snape? The Potions teacher?" Hermione gasped as her eyes grew wide. "But you can't be serious!"

"Yue never lies," Sakura sighed as she shot a worried look at her moon guardian before turning to gaze at the Potions master himself who was sitting up at the High Table and was eating his breakfast beside Kaho very quietly indeed. "But do be careful, Yue-sama"

"Yes."

Yue's reply was curt, and Sakura could feel a sense of foreboding as she gazed at her moon guardian anxiously. "What about you, Kero-chan? Who are you assisting?"

"Well" Kero scratched his head, trying to remember what Dumbledore had told him. "Someone called Professor Treloowney, I believe."

"Trelawney," Harry groaned, as he threw a most disapproving gaze at the Divination teacher who was eating her breakfast at the High table with a very faraway look in her eyes. "She keeps predicting my death ("Been doing that for 2 years, and nothing's happened," added in Ron), thinking that I'll die one of these days. She's nothing but a big fake, though," he added, spotting the look of alarm on Sakura's face. "Anyway, do go on. Who else are you assisting?"

"Perhaps Professor Sprout ("You can actually grow things?" sniffed Li) and perhaps Professor McGonagall," Kero added, engaging in another battle of glares with Li. Sakura could only sigh in defeat, and turned around to have a look at the other tables that were filled with students that were chattering to each other.

"I wonder how the others are holding up?"

*******

Touya didn't like the start of this day at all. It hadn't anything to do with this school; it was just that he didn't like to be jumped and glomped on at such an early hour (he would only arrive in school half an hour later usually). To add to his problems, Nakuru didn't seem to show any signs of letting go.

"Touya-kun, would you like a chocolate muffin?" Nakuru chirped, evidently in good spirits as she reached for yet another chocolate covered item. She was gripping him around the shoulders (as always) and smiling up at him as he sighed.

"NO, Nakuru. Now can you please let go of me?" he retorted, trying futilely to shake her off. "Nakuru, LET GO."

She shook her head obstinately, latching onto him even stronger than before as she took a happy bite out of her muffin. "Iie. I had to endure an entire night yesterday without you, so take this as a substitute, ne, Touya-kun?"

He gritted his teeth in reply. What was the world coming to? Before all this, he could at least eat his breakfast in peace. Now, he couldn't even do anything without Nakuru hanging onto him!

"Nakuru, do let go of Touya."

The familiar voice from behind him rang clear as Nakuru sulkily dropped her grip on him. Spinning around, he found himself face to face with Eriol, who had been watching them for quite some time. A glint of interest shone in his eye as he watched his moon guardian carefully before arching a fine eyebrow.

"I don't want to hear of any trouble from Spinel about your behaviour in class, is that clear, Nakuru?" he spoke, turning to look at Spinel. "Spinel shall be watching you when you enter the classes that he is in."

"Yes, master," she spoke with a pout as she glowered at a triumphant Spinel. Seizing a big chunk of chocolate from her muffin, she grabbed her fellow guardian and proceeded to stuff it into his throat. Spinel choked, trying his best to stop Nakuru from doing so, only to fail miserably as he finally swallowed the chocolate.

This drew a few surprised stares as Spinel leapt onto the table and began prancing up and down, eating all the sweet foods as fast as he could. Tomoyo, who had been sitting beside Eriol, could not help but laugh as she watched Spinel zoom to the Ravenclaw table and begin to eat whatever he could find on their table that had even the least bit of sugar in them.

"You'll have to stop Spinel, Eriol-kun," she spoke at last, unable to stop giggling. "If not, I think he'll be eating the teachers' food too"

"True," Eriol sighed and muttered a few words under his breath. At once, some invisible air currents brought his sugar drunk guardian back to him, who immediately fell asleep in his arms. "Look on the good side, at least he didn't cause as much damage as he did in the fair"

Tomoyo raised an eyebrow as she watched him chuckle at the memory. "You mean the time when all the sweets disappeared at the fair? That was Spinel's doing? I thought it was Kero's!"

"AhSpinel did meet Kero a little earlier, and if I'm not wrong, fed him with some sweets. You've seen the effect of what sugar does to Spinel, I presume?"

"AnoI think Sakura-chan owes an apology to Kero-chan then" Tomoyo replied, sweatdropping as she watched Spinel began to speak in his deep slumber, twitching as he did so. "But you'd better control Nakuru-san. It won't be a good thing if Spinel gets a bad reputation on his first day."

"Don't you worry, Tomoyo-chan. I doubt that Nakuru will do anything during classes. Nakuru may be mischievous ("Understatement," muttered Touya), but she does know how to behave sometimes. Especially during Potions, which she's having"

"Tomorrow," Nakuru ended his sentence for him with a sour look on her face. "I wish I didn't have to actually take Potions. It isn't that compulsory, is it, master?"

"Indeed it is," the reincarnation of Clow Reed spoke as he gazed at Nakuru with a slightly raised eyebrow. "And this time, I want to see some good marks in Potions, Nakuru. Do I make myself clear?"

"Hai," she spoke with a sigh as she hooked her arms around Touya again. "As well I make the best of today, then"

Eriol could only smile and shake his head.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

Sakura scurried up the stairs, now feeling quite lost as she looked from left to right. The corridor beyond her seemed dark and extremely frightening, and she inched away. She shouldn't have left breakfast early, she scolded herself as she gnawed at her bottom lip. Now, she was terribly lost, and had no idea where she was.

"Shouldn't go there, girl. You should know you're not allowed to wander around."

The voice sliced through the silence, making Sakura jump in fright. Spinning around, she came face to face with an old man, who was glaring at her with the most suspicious manner as he studied her. A cat slouched around his ankles, fixing its unwavering stare on her, and Sakura had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach as she bit her lip.

"You're one of those first years who're going to the fifth year, aren't you?" he wheezed, his eyes narrowing dangerously, and she could see a most dreadful glint in them. "Shouldn't get into trouble, you should know, unless you're planning to get kicked out?"

"I" she stammered, searching her brains for any excuse, but it remained obstinately empty, leaving her trembling as Filch moved closer. She could almost see the glimmer in them now as he flashed a crooked smile at her.

"I'm sure you'll be enjoying your detention as much as you enjoy wandering around where you're not allowed," he growled with a hint of a threat in his voice. "Should do you good- detention should"

Suddenly, there was a sound of tinkering glass from below the stairs, making Filch spin around while Sakura remained frozen on the spot. A little man that seemed to be wearing a bell-covered hat with an orange bow tie swooped through the hall, cackling as he held up something and waved it exuberantly at Filch, who snarled and cursed under his breath.

"PEEVES!" he bellowed, shuffling down the stops as Mrs. Norris obediently followed her master, keeping alongside him as they made their way down the stairs. "You're going to get it this time, Peeves. You come back here!"

Sakura practically let out a relieved sigh as she sank down to her knees. She had been that close to getting detention on her first day at school; what would her father think? Still, she was grateful with that Peeves-

Wait a minute. Was it Peeves that Filch had called that little man? Peeves as in Peeves the poltergeist that Harry and Ron had been telling them about? A shudder came over her as she remembered how the ghost had gazed at Filch with his wicked little black eyes before zooming off, Filch hot at his tail.

"I see that you've seen Peeves for the very first time, Sakura?"

She looked up, and promptly stood up when she saw who it was, almost losing her balance on the steps. Kaho was gazing kindly at her, as she caught the girl's hands and steadied her, just when the staircase let out a load groan and began to glide across the hall.

Grabbing hold of a column, she let out a terrified shriek as the staircase began to move. Why didn't the staircase stay still? Where was it going? Where was it going to take her? She squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to look down as the both of them were brought to the other side of the hall, one that was brightly lit by flaming torches with students walking here and there in the halls.

Kaho smiled inwardly at the sight of Sakura clutching fearfully to the white marble column as it moved across the hall. From her point of view, she could see some students who were waiting for the staircase staring at terrified Sakura who had her eyes shut tightly.

"Sakura, I think that you can open your eyes now," she assured her student softly as she pulled Sakura up by her arm gently. "We've arrived at the Charms corridor. Your next class is here, I do believe."

The brown haired girl opened an eye, gazing around warily (and also drawing weird stares from the students that were clambering up the stairs) before she finally stood on her own, trembling as she did so. Her leaf green eyes roamed around as she took in her surroundings before her line of thoughts were interrupted by a gentle push from Kaho.

"If you don't go now, you'll be late for Charms, Sakura," the red haired teacher rebuked her softly as Sakura looked back at her with a hint of doubt in her eyes. "Your friends will be waiting for you in the classroom, so you should be okay. Just walk down this corridor. The second last class from the end to your right is your Charms classroom. Good luck, Sakura."

The young card mistress nodded, and holding her bag tightly, set off to find her classroom, weaving in and out of the groups of chattering students who filled the corridors. Finally, she arrived in front of a classroom, and took a step in, only to be greeted by Meilin who pulled her in.

"Where did you go, Sakura-chan? Syaoran-kun almost wanted to send out a search party for youhere take this seat," she spoke, pointing at the seat beside her and Li, who blushed furiously at her next words. "Syaoran-kun reserved it specially for you"

Sakura blinked, and flashed him a grateful smile, making him turn from crimson to tomato red, and embarrassed, he turned to look away at Harry and Ron, who were engaged in some deep conversation beside him. It was apparent how red his face was, however, for both the boys stopped in mid conversation and stared at his face curiously.

Sakura, however, didn't seem to notice him blushing, and instead turned to speak to Hermione who was reading a very thick book of what Sakura could only guess to Charms.

"So tell me, Hermione, what do we learn in Charms?" she asked her piercing green eyes looking straight at Hermione. "You've told me that Professor Flitwick is the teacher in charge of Charms. What does he teach?"

"Spells," Hermione said, as she gestured towards her book. "Or rather, as the lesson calls it, charms. This is one of the lessons where our wands come in handy (Sakura immediately drew her wand out of her bag). We are taught all types of spells, like the Disarming Spell and the Summoning Charm. These spells can come in handy when in danger."

"Danger?" Meilin inquired as she blinked. "Why would we be faced with danger?"

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth as both Harry and Ron flashed her warning looks. "Oh! Nothingmy tongue must have slipped. They might come in handy for exams, I mean"

Sakura and Meilin both exchanged questioning looks, as many questions popped up in their mind. Their line of thoughts was broken, however, when a short (and I mean very short) man entered the classroom. He was carrying a BIG pile of books, and Sakura recognized him as the Professor Flitwick that Hermione had pointed out to her during the start-of-term banquet. Still, she hadn't thought of him to be that short

Behind him, a tall, silver haired man who hovered about an inch off the ground glided into the classroom, ignoring the admiring sighs that came from half the girls in the class. Sakura sensed that Yue was displeased, yet she could see that he kept his own opinion strictly to himself.

However, she couldn't deny the fact that Yue certainly had a fair number of admirers. Whispers rose up around her as excited girl huddled in groups as they kept their shining eyes on her moon guardian. Parvati Patil herself seemed to goggle at the mere sight of him.

"Have you seen anyone as handsome as him?"

"Do you think he'll go out with me?"

Sakura sweatdropped. It seemed as if Yue was gong to have a very busy year indeed

She turned her attention back to Professor Flitwick who seemed totally oblivious about the murmurs that were circling the class about his new teaching assistant as he piled each book that he had brought in one on top of each other. One by one, he painstakingly towered them up, and at last, when it was tall enough. He climbed up and stood on the very top book.

"Good morning, students. Before I start the class, I'd like to introduce you to one of the new teaching assistants- Yue. He shall be helping me with the classes from now on."

The card mistress could only shrug as she watched Yue give a slight bow and retreat behind Professor Flitwick, who cleared his throat. "As you are aware, students, we have three special new students in this classroom at this very moment: Sakura Kinomoto, Li Syaoran and Li Meilin. Although their age are equivalent to those of first years (Sakura turned fiery red at this statement), their powers are equal to those of you in this class."

They, too, were applauded, and Professor Flitwick proceeded to do the roll call as he did before every single class.

Looking at the teacher that was standing on the pile of books that tethered dangerously off the edge, Sakura called out "Present!" as her name was mentioned as she wondered how the others were coming along in their classes. Were they enjoying their classes too?

It looked as if they had a long way to go, she thought as she watched Professor Flitwick put away his register. Indeed, a very long way

Author's note:

Well, there's Chapter 4 done! *stretches* I can't express how grateful I am for your wonderful reviews (really! ^_^). I know this chapter might be a little shorter than the others, but I've been busy (it's true! There are so many things going on: Christmas, New Year and stuff like that). I can promise you, though, that the next chapter will be much, MUCH longer than this one, as to make up for my laziness this time, ok? Anyway, the old rule stays: if I don't get at least 7 reviews for the story, I won't post at all. I'm really, really sorry about this, but do spend at least a few minutes to tell me what you think about my story! I would like to point out, though (for one of the reviewers asked me this question), that Tomoyo does have magical powers, at least in my story. This is because I plan to incorporate E+T in my story (and yes, S+S too), so don't ask any more questions about that, ok? Anyway, until next time, ja ne~! Domo arigato!

Japanese words:

Ohayo - An informal version of the phrase "Ohayo Gozaimasu", which nevertheless, means "Good Morning".

Ne - Has two meanings: one which when is put at the beginning of a sentence means "Hey!". For example, "Ne, Sakura!". However, when it is placed at the end of the sentence, it means "Right?". For example, "It is difficult, ne?"

Honto ni - Really?

Sugoi - Wonderful or amazing.

Gaki - Brat

Ano - Usually means "Uh" or "Er"

Iie - No

Hai - Yes

Ja ne - Goodbye, or Sayonara

Domo arigato - This is again, an informal version of the phrases "Domo Arigato Gozaimasu" and "Domo Arigato Gozaimashita", which nevertheless, mean "Thank you".

-chan - Honorific for someone of status lower to yourself, and term of endearment for family and friends. Used mostly for females and is very informal. Is to be added at the end of the name

-kun - Mr. (junior), master, boy. Similar to chan, but mostly applied to males. Is to be added at the end of the name.