Much to Ciel's delight, there was a tea set in his room. Sebastian made him his morning tea, with a lot of extra honey, which he drank as he watched the sun rise from one of the many windows.

After he finished his tea, Ciel was dressed in his school uniform, white shirt, red and yellow striped tie, black trousers, and black robe with red inner lining, with the Gryffindor crest sewn at the chest. To finish off the look, he put on his pair of dark grey gloves and saw that Sebastian had sewn red and yellow lines around the cuffs to match the rest of the uniform. His butler and his obsession with aesthetics...

Once Ciel was ready, they left their room and went to the Great Hall to have breakfast, not that Ciel needed it, but he had to keep up appearance.

When Ciel entered the Great Hall, he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already there. He joined them and was handed the course schedule for the third years.

"Excited for your first class, Ciel?" George – or was it Fred? – asked.

"Yes. I have a lot to learn." Ciel said.

Ron groaned. "Oh, no. Not another Hermione."

"What do you mean?" Ciel asked. "No, it's fine. I don't want that." He said when Sebastian gestured at the porridge.

"Are you one of those bookworms who's going to spend all your free time studying in the library and finishing your homework within a few hours after you got them?" Ron asked.

"Hey!" Hermione protested.

"I don't know. I mean, I've never been to school before, so I don't know what kind of student I'd be." Ciel said honestly.

"You'll find out soon enough, I'm sure." Harry said.

"We better go now. Look, Divination is at the top of the North Tower. It'd take us at least ten minutes to get there." Ron said.

They quickly finished their breakfast – Ciel mostly just pushed his food around, taking small bites here and there to appear 'eating' – and left to go to their first class.

They walked along the corridors and Ciel tried to remember the way. He had a good sense of direction, but it would take him a while to memorize these hallways.

"There... has... to... be... another... way..." Ron panted as they climbed up the stairs.

If Ciel were still human, he was pretty sure he'd have passed out from exertion. It felt like they had climbed hundreds of steps.

They arrived at an empty area, where there was a lone portrait of a grassy landscape hanging on the wall.

Ron and Hermione argued about where the right direction was, while Harry was looking at the painting. Ciel approached the dark haired boy.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I just like to watch these, the people inside the paintings moving around." Harry said.

"It's fascinating." Ciel said as he eyed the painting too. "But there doesn't seem to be anyone in this one."

Just as he finished speaking, a knight in a suit of armour clanked into the picture, startling the boys slightly.

"A-ha!" The knight bellowed upon seeing them. "Who dared to trespass upon my private lands?! Draw your swords, you dogs!"

"Do not call me a dog." Ciel said automatically.

Ignoring him, the knight drew his sword, which was much too long for him, and brandished it violently, jumping up and down challengingly, which caused him to lose his balance, falling face first onto the grass.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, moving closer to the painting, only to jump back when the knight started yelling at him while trying to get back to his feet. Finally, he gave up, flopped down onto the grass, opened his visor, and wiped his sweat.

Ciel wasn't even going to question the logic of how a painting could sweat.

"We're looking for the North Tower." Harry said. "Do you know the way?"

The knight's demeanour instantly changed. He told them to follow him and led them down the corridor, and up the winding spiral stairs.

Near the top, the knight – Sir Cadogan – bid them farewell before disappearing. They climbed the last of the steps and emerged onto a landing, where most of the class was already gathering. There was no door, but Ron nudged Harry and pointed at the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it.

"Sibyll Trelawney, Divination teacher." Harry read out loud.

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Ciel wondered, looking at the trap door.

As if on cue, the trapdoor suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended right at their feet. The room fell silent as everyone stared at it.

"Great. More steps..." Ciel muttered. "Just how many stairs are there in this place?"

"About 150." Hermione replied.

"Go ahead." Ron said, nudging Harry forward, but the bespectacled boy hesitated.

Ciel sighed. 'Children...' He shook his head slightly as he started climbing the steps first, his butler following closely behind him.

At the top of the steps, Ciel emerged into a circular room filled with little tables, armchairs, and cushions. It didn't look like a traditional classroom, but then again, people didn't usually go through a trapdoor to get into a classroom either.

"Where is she?" Ron asked when he and the rest of the class reached the landing.

Ciel could feel a presence from their right and he was about to answer Ron's question when a voice stopped him.

"Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last." Said a soft voice.

Ciel turned and saw a woman emerging from the shadow. She was a thin woman with a pair of large glasses that magnified her eyes to several times their actual size and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Countless chains and beads hung around her neck, and her arms and hands were covered with bangles and rings.

"Sit down, my children... Sit down..." The woman said.

"Professor?" Ciel said as the other students spread out to sit down on the armchairs or cushions. "Is it alright if my butler stays during lesson?" He checked.

"Butler?" The woman's eyes moved to Sebastian, who was standing behind Ciel. "Yes, yes, of course. This class is open for anyone, as long as you have an open mind and the desire to learn to see the truth through your Inner Eye."

"Thank you." Ciel simply said.

Ciel chose one of the armchairs and his butler took his place behind his master's chair.

"Why are you still standing?" The woman asked Sebastian.

"I am not one of the students, ma'am." Sebastian said. Did they not just tell her?

"Oh, but everyone is a student here. Everyone could learn something new. Sit down, I insist." She waved her hand at the butler.

Sebastian glanced at Ciel and the boy gave him a nod. The butler lowered himself to his knees by his master's feet and sat back on his heels, his hands resting lightly on his thighs.

"Welcome to Divination. My name is Professor Trelawney." Professor Trelawney said as she sat down in a winged armchair in front of the fire. "You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

Ciel drowned out the rest of the woman's speech and turned his attention to the rest of the room instead. This was his first class, so he didn't have any expectation, per se, but this didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a cross between someone's attic and a tea shop. The curtains were closed, and the lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning in the fireplace was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle, assaulting his heightened sense of smell. The shelves that covered the walls were crammed with feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.

"Master."

Ciel was startled back to the present by his butler's soft voice. He turned to him and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"You are supposed to find a partner. She wants the children to be divided into pairs." Sebastian said. "Please try to pay attention in your classes. This is part of your learning."

Ciel scowled at the jab and looked around for a partner.

"Ciel, do you want to partner up with me?" Hermione asked.

"Sure." Ciel nodded.

The pair left their seats – Ciel gestured at Sebastian to stay where he was – and retrieved the items as per Trelawney's instructions. They retrieved the teacups and went to Trelawney to get them filled. Once their cups were full, they went back to their seats and drank the tea, until only the dregs remained.

Sceptically, and with some amusement, Ciel swirled the cup and turned it upside down. Once it was ready, he and Hermione exchanged cup so that they could 'read' each other's fortune.

When Trelawney looked into Harry's cup a table over, she announced that Harry had a deadly enemy.

"We all know that. Everyone knows about Harry and You-Know-Who." Hermione said.

The professor ignored her and continued to 'read'. She let out a horrified cry as she stared into Harry's cup. "The Grim!"

Ciel frowned, wondering if Grim Reapers were somehow involved in this too, but the professor proceeded to talk about some dog and omens of death.

By now, everyone's attention had turned to Harry. Hermione got up from her seat and went to take a look.

"I don't see it." Hermione said, peering down into the cup.

The professor replied, but Ciel couldn't be bothered to listen to her as he looked into his own cup. It was just a blob of brown substance, with no distinguishable shape.

"If we look at it this way," Ciel showed his butler his cup. "This kind of looks like you. See?"

"Please take your lesson seriously." Sebastian said, but the corner of his mouth lifted in an amused smile.

"I am taking it very seriously." Ciel said seriously, although his visible eye was filled with mirth.

"Clearly." Sebastian said dryly.

Ciel looked into his cup again. "We have eternity and I still consider this as a waste of time..."

When the professor told everyone to pack their books, Ciel put his book inside his bag and got up. "Let's go, Sebastian."

Next was Transfiguration lesson. When they entered the classroom – which looked like a proper classroom, they found that the class had already assembled. Professor McGonagall hadn't arrived yet, so Ciel sat down at the very back of the class, not quite interested in getting involved. His mood had soured and he briefly wondered if he should just forget about the whole thing and leave. He wasn't bound by any contract and as delectable as Dumbledore's soul was, surely it wasn't worth all these troubles. He wasn't even hungry, having just eaten about three years ago.

Being a young demon that he was, Ciel had to feed more often than his butler. Sometimes, Ciel would eat the souls whole, but most of the times, he'd share his meals with his demon. Since Sebastian was bound to him, the butler couldn't make his own contracts and he had to depend on Ciel for food, so the young demon saw this as a way for him to take care of his mate.

Ciel was only half-listening as Professor McGonagall talked about Animagi and then, as a demonstration, she turned herself into a tabby cat.

Ciel glanced sharply at his demon, warning him silently to stay put. The older demon's eyes were fixed on the cat, but he did stay where he was, standing behind Ciel's chair.

Professor McGonagall turned back into herself and looked at the class. "Really? What's the matter with you today? Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation has not gotten a single applause."

Everybody's heads turned toward Harry, but nobody said anything.

"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, where we had to read the tea leaves and..." Hermione spoke up.

"Ah, yes, of course." McGonagall said. "Tell me, which one of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone looked at her in shock.

"Every year, without fail, Professor Trelawney has prophesied that at least one student from every class would be dying. I've yet to see her prophecies come into fruition. Let me guess," McGonagall fixed her eyes on Harry. "Mr. Potter, is it your turn this time?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. "But..."

"Until you're actually dead, I expect you to still pay attention in my class and hand in your homework." McGonagall said.

And just like that, Ciel's respect for this woman increased tenfold. He grinned widely as the rest of the class laughed and the ice was broken. Everyone's mood was lifted and the class proceeded with everyone paying attention, even Ciel.

After Transfiguration, everyone went to lunch and Ciel made up some excuses to skip lunch. Instead, he went to the library, already thinking about the kind of books that he could find in a place like this.

The library didn't disappoint. It was huge and filled with rows upon rows of shelves overflowing with books of all sizes and shapes. After browsing for a few minutes, Ciel could tell that this would easily be his favourite part of the school. He could see himself coming here at nights, when it was quiet, and he could curl up in one of the armchairs to read to his heart's content. Unfortunately, he knew there was a curfew, so he'd have to ask Dumbledore to give him a special permission to do this.

Or he could just sneak out at nights. He could easily do that if he wanted to. Blending in with the shadow was easy for a demon. Nobody would even know he was here, not unless he wanted them to.

"Look at these books, Sebastian!" Ciel whispered-shouted as he looked around in wonder, a wide smile across his face. "I can spend hours and hours in here!"

Sebastian returned his smile just as widely. "Yes, you would very much like that, would you not, my young lord?"

Ciel nodded enthusiastically. There were only three things in the world that could make him truly happy: sweets, books, and Sebastian.

Ciel had always put up an appearance in front of others, a haughty and cold demeanour, befitting that of an earl that he had been in the past and a demon that he currently was. But when he was alone with his butler, he had no reason to hide, to pretend, or to hold anything back. His smiles and laughter were far and rare in between, but they all belonged to his demon.

It took them years to be where they were today. There were a lot of resentment and hostility at first, but slowly, as they came to terms with their situation, as they accepted it, they started to heal together, before finally, about forty years after Ciel became a demon, they admitted their feelings for each other and took their relationship to the next level.

That was over fifty years ago. Now, they were happy together and were very much in love with each other.

After lunch, Ciel and his new friends headed outside for their first Care of Magical Creatures class. He noted that there was a tension in the air. Ron and Hermione weren't talking to each other and Harry was quiet as well. He wondered if something had happened at lunch.

They walked across the field, down the slope that headed to Hagrid's house. Once they got there, Ciel realized it was more of a hut than an actual house.

They reached the hut and saw that they were sharing the class with the Slytherin students and they could see Malfoy and his gang up ahead.

Ciel saw Hagrid standing in front of his hut, with a massive dog by his feet. He could hear his demon mutter something about dogs, but the older demon was otherwise quiet.

"C'mon, now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" Hagrid said before leading them around to the back.

Ciel didn't have the chance to ask about Sebastian, but Hagrid didn't seem to mind, so he said nothing.

Five minutes later, they reached their destination. It was some sort of an animal pen, but it was empty.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid said and waited until everyone did. "That's it, make sure yeh can see… Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books…"

"How?" Malfoy asked and Ciel had the same question.

Ciel held his schoolbag open at Sebastian. "You take it out."

Sebastian reached into the bag and took out the book that was wrapped tightly in leather strap.

"Hasn'... Hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked in disappointment.

Everyone shook their head.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em." Hagrid said. "Look…" He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it. The book immediately tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quietly in his hand.

Ciel turned to look at his own copy and said, "You do it. I'm not touching that thing."

"You wish for me to be bitten by this thing?" Sebastian asked in mock hurt. "My, my… How very cruel of you, Master."

Before Ciel could reply, he heard a snort and turned to see Malfoy scoffing at them.

"Letting a lowly servant get away with that kind of language, Phantomhive? My father would've given at least twenty lashes if any of our servants dared to speak that way. But I suppose not everyone knows how to put a servant in his place. I'll have my father talk to Dumbledore about bringing our servants to school and I'll show you how to properly teach them a lesson in manners and respect."

"For one, I'm not your father." Ciel said coldly, angry that this boy had dared to speak about his butler in such way. "I don't need you to tell me how to discipline my butler. Your help is neither wanted nor welcomed."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. "How dare you! Do you know who I am?!"

"A spoiled brat who can't do anything without his cronies or his father? Yes, I definitely know who you are." Ciel sneered.

Everyone around them stared open-mouthed at Ciel. Even Hagrid was stunned into silence, seemingly forgetting that he was supposed to be in charge here.

Malfoy turned red in the face. "You… You one eyed mudblood!"

A few people gasped at those words.

Ciel didn't even know what a mudblood was, but he didn't care. He was much too old to be bothered with some petty insults. "And this one eyed mudblood is so much better than you could ever dream to be."

Malfoy took out his wand, pointed it at Ciel, and opened his mouth, but before he could utter a sound, he was tackled to the ground.

"My young master enjoys a good verbal sparring, but please remember to keep your wand to yourself, Mr. Malfoy." Sebastian said, the warning was clear in his voice.

Malfoy's eyes widened in shock. "Get your hands off me, servant! How dare you!" He struggled to push Sebastian off him, but the man didn't even budge.

"Let him go, Sebastian." Ciel said calmly. "He's not worth your time nor energy. Come."

Sebastian got up and obediently went back to his master's side.

Malfoy got up and dusted himself off. "My father will hear about this!"

"My point exactly." Ciel said with a smirk.

Malfoy realized that he had walked right into that one. He turned away and pretended that Ciel wasn't there.

"Righ' then." Hagrid, who suddenly remembered that he was in charge, said. "So, uh, so yeh've got yer books an'... an'... now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em." He hastily walked away and disappeared into the forest.

Ron clapped Ciel on the shoulder and grinned. "You really showed him, huh? I've never seen anyone stand up to him like that, well, other than Harry that is." He said in hushed voice, glancing at Malfoy, who had decided to move away from the group.

"Look!" Someone said and pointed at the other side of the pen.

Ciel turned to look and he stared at the dozen or so 'creatures' that were making their way towards the students. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with steel-colored beaks and large orange eyes. The claws on their front legs were deadly looking. They each had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these chains were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the pen behind the creatures.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, tethering the end of the chains to the fence. "Beau'iful, aren' they? Come a wee closer everyone!"

Everyone was understandably hesitant about coming closer. After a short while though, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ciel did.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud." Hagrid said. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

"Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move." Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt. Right, who wants ter go first?"

Nobody moved.

"I'll do it." Ciel said and stepped forward. He had never seen anything quite like it before and he was curious. He had seen his fair share of extraordinary things. Sebastian's magnificent black wings was at the very top of his list – and they would always stay there, but this creature might be quite high on that list too.

"Good man, Mr. Phantomhive!" Hagrid said, grinning widely. "Now, remember, wait fer him ter make the firs' move. Right, let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

Ciel handed his bag over to Sebastian before jumping over the fence. He could feel the other students watching him and as always, his butler was watching too, ready to react if something were to happen.

Ciel approached the creature – Buckbeak? – slowly and carefully. He could feel the creature's uneasiness, but he pressed on.

"Easy now, Mr. Phantomhive." Hagrid said quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink. Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much."

Ciel kept eye contact with the creature until Buckbeak turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Ciel with one fierce orange eye.

"Tha's it." Hagrid said somewhat excitedly. "Now, bow."

Ciel did as he was told and bowed. When he straightened up, Buckbeak bent its scaly front knees and sank into a bow.

"Well done, Mr. Phantomhive! Very well done!" Hagrid cried so excitedly that Ciel thought he was going to start clapping. "Now yer can touch him! Pat his beak! Go on…"

Ciel took a few steps forward and reached out his hand to touch the Hippogriff. He patted the large beak tentatively and Buckbeak closed his eyes, as if enjoying it.

"Like that, don't you…" Ciel whispered, a rare soft smile spread across his face. Behind him, the rest of the class broke into applause.

"Right, Mr. Phantomhive, wha' do yer think abou' ridin' him?"

"What?" Ciel turned in surprise. It was one thing to pet it, it was another thing to ride this thing.

"I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him." Hagrid said with a big smile.

"Alright." Ciel said. What was the worst that could happen anyway? "How do I do that?"

"Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint here." Hagrid showed him. "An' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that..."

Ciel climbed onto Buckbeak's back as instructed and seated himself comfortably. He was still trying to figure out where he should put his hands at when Hagrid slapped the Hippogriff hindleg.

Ciel yelped in surprise as the creature spread its wings wide and took off, soaring into the sky. If it weren't for his quick demonic reflexes, Ciel would've been thrown off its back.

Once he had regained his balance, he straightened up to look at his surrounding in amazement. The Hippogriff flew high into the sky and took Ciel around the castle grounds, across the field, and the lake, creating waves of water behind them.

"This is awesome!" Ciel shouted as laughter bubbled up in his chest. He could feel the cool wind hitting his face and blowing at his hair. He could smell the air too. There was no smell of piss, smoke, or rubbish, just the smell of fresh air, with a hint of grass, water, and leaves. He felt so… free.

The Hippogriff stopped in mid-air and Ciel looked around, just enjoying the view. "You know…" He said, patting the creature's neck. "Perhaps coming here isn't that bad of an idea."

Buckbeak glanced up at him and taking a risk, Ciel let his eyes shift colour and the creature let out a soft whine, lowering its eyes in a gesture of submission.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." Ciel said soothingly and leaned down. "Thank you. For letting me do this… Now, let's get back down there, shall we?" He gently tugged and Buckbeak flew down, landing in the pen.

Hagrid was beside himself with excitement as he helped Ciel hop down from Buckbeak's back. Ciel walked back to his waiting butler and saw Harry stepping forward to take his turn. He too, got to ride Buckbeak and came back down after a minute or so.

The rest of the class quickly followed suit and before long, everyone was busy bowing and patting the Hippogriffs.

"Enjoying yourself, Master?" Sebastian asked. They were the only people standing by the fence. "Did you learn something up there?"

Ciel knew Sebastian was trying to teach him something. His brows furrowed together as he tried to figure out the meaning behind the older demon's question. "They… submit to us."

"Correct. Bow or no bow, they recognize our nature and would submit to us. Such is the nature of most, if not all beasts of this world."

"And you couldn't have told me that earlier? I was so nervous that it was going to trample me or something." Ciel said, but he was smiling.

"You would not be learning anything if I had to tell you everything, would you now?" Sebastian asked lightly.

Ciel chuckled. "Even when I'm already in school, I'm still learning from you the most."

Their quiet moments were interrupted when they heard a commotion.

"Looks like Mr. Malfoy has just gotten his lesson in manners and respect." Sebastian said in amusement when they saw the blonde on the ground, clutching at his bleeding arm.

"Heh." Ciel snorted. "It's long due, I'd say."

The class had to be cut short as Hagrid brought the injured Malfoy to the infirmary. Students from both houses were shouting at each other as they climbed the slope back to the castle, each side blaming the other.

"Your classes for today are over, Master. How about we seek out the good headmaster to get you that permission to go to the library after hours?" Sebastian suggested when they reached the entrance hall.

"Good idea." Ciel nodded. He told the rest of the group that he needed to speak with Dumbledore and then went to the headmaster's office, hoping that he wouldn't get lost in the maze of corridors and hallways.

After dinner, Ciel bid his friends good night and went back to his own room. Sebastian drew him a bath and they talked about their first day at Hogwarts.

"It was… interesting, to say the least." Ciel said.

"It looks like we'll be here for indefinite amount of time, until Voldemort decided to reveal himself." Sebastian said as he rinsed the soap from Ciel's hair.

Ciel shook his head to shake off the excess water from his hair. "I hope he will soon. Then we can be done with this and leave."

"Missing home already? How very unlike you…"

"Not really. That place is just a house. Well, it's home, but..." Ciel titled his face up to look at his butler upside down. "Home is where you are. It doesn't matter where we are, the house or this castle, a five-star hotel or a backwater motel, as long as I'm with you, I'm home."

Sebastian bent his head down to place a gentle kiss on Ciel's forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too…" Ciel said and reached to cup the older demon's cheek in his hand. "Always and forever."

"Always and forever." Sebastian agreed before claiming Ciel's lips in a kiss.