The Sorting Hat Sings The Blues!
AUTHOR'S NOTES: GGGGGOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEEENNN for not being able to upload for the last 2 weeks, I was having problem with my internet prepaid credits. Oh, and the fact that I was reading "The Order of the Phoenix". It's just so cool, but....well, confusing, to say the least. The only thing I could tell you about it is just that it's WAY too angsty. Hmm, don't worry, the storyline would still go as planned, I wouldn't be affected in any way by the way the Harry Potter novels are coming right along from the 5th to the 7th. Sirius Black is just SOO fine! 3 3 3 In this installment, Asato takes a ride through Hogwarts Express and meets Watari, Hisoka, Tatsumi and Terazuma and Wakaba. Muraki gets a sniveling companion in Oriya (gomen to Oriya fans out there). And FINALLY, the SORTING! Um, would Asato make it to the Quidditch team?! Not if Chibi Suzaku could help IT! Look for it in the next chappies. R/R PLEASE~~~!!!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yami No Matsuei and Harry Potter, as they are owned by their respective authors. Thank you, Youko Matsushita-sensei and J.K. Rowling! Without you my Muggle life would be SOO damn boring. This is dedicated to all the YnM and Harry Potter fans out there with torturous and Touda-flaming love. BTW, gomen for the Sorting Hat song if it falls a little flat. I'm not that good at poetry, anyway...^^;; So no SUING~~~!!!
Yutaka was still grinning at him, Asato couldn't help but grin back.
"Um, OK, by far." Asato blinked. "Hogwarts, too?"
"Well, YEAH, we're not bound for Eton or something, as we're riding the Hogwarts Express," the small pale boy with light brown hair said sarcastically as he came from behind Yutaka and stood beside him. He looked at Asato with unbelieving eyes. "From what side of the world have you been AT, anyway?"
"Um...Japan. Kyoto."
"Me, I'm from Osaka, but I was born in Kyoto," Yutaka said, still smiling easily at Asato. "Bon here's from the Kanagawa region, Hachioji, to be precise."
The small pale young boy had a gargantuan twitch on his forehead. "I've decided that I HATE that name."
"Bon...is that your name...?" Asato asked.
"Of course NOT! I don't know with Yutaka here, but he's calling me THAT ever since he decided that he likes frigging BONBONS!" The gargantuan twitch multiplied into a gazillion tiny ones. "My proper name is Hisoka Kurosaki."
"Kurosaki..."
"You know, they're that old loony family who deals with hotels and shipping," Yutaka said in a rather casual way. "Bon here is supposed to take over the business empire as its 16th (or was it 17th? I stand corrected HERE~~~!!!) head of house by the time he reaches the ripe old age of 20. The way I understand it, his parents are on their way to the Institute because they're starting to see Dark wizards everywhere. Well...that's what Bon says."
"My parents had been loony ever since the day I was BORN, Watari. Grandfather was the only sane one around before Mother finally decided to bludgeon me to death, so there." Hisoka Kurosaki frowned. "Not that I'm proud of having lunatic parents, it's just that they're dead useful when DOM's come round our house and decide to hit on me one time too many."
"They're..."
"Yep, absolutely CRAZY, that's what they are." Hisoka closed the sliding compartment door behind him. "Mind if we join you here? I just can't stand Muraki, he's strutting around as if he owned the place."
"Oh." Asato gestured to the comfortable built-in puffed-up chairs behind him. "Sure. I have plenty of room to spare."
The Hogwarts Express was soon on its way, and Asato, who was seated by the windowsill of their compartment, watched as the people on the platform sped by, until they turned the bend and was soon out of sight.
"I do hope I get into Gryffindor, I hear it's the best house around..."
"I definitely wouldn't want to be put in Slytherin, I just could imagine those upper years hitting on me time and again..." Hisoka muttered.
Asato peeled his eyes away from the neat houses with well-manicured lawns to look at his 2 new friends, who were now busy perusing the parchments they held in their hands. "Uh...Yutaka? What's Gryffindor and Slytherin?"
"The Hogwarts Houses," Yutaka replied, looking over a parchment on which showed a colored picture of a small boy with a serious cowlick who kept waving and waving at his unseen audience, grinning so broadly that one could clearly see the gap where his 2 teeth have gone missing. "The Houses are so much like dorms, you know; every Hogwarts student gets initiated into one of them, and they're like your family when you're in Hogwarts. You eat with them, take classes with them, hang around with them if you've got some spare time to kill waiting around for your next class..."
"There are 4, and they are named after the 4 greatest witches and wizards of our time, when magic was considered taboo and aligned with the Dark forces," Hisoka continued, not looking up from the book he was reading. "There's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Better Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw than Slytherin. From what I've read about Slytherin, it's just the worst place to be, for almost all wizards or witches who came from there became part of the Dark wizarding world."
"Dark wizarding world..."
"But Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord, and there was an uneasy peace that settled in," Yutaka said, nodding, as the boy in the parchment started picking on his nose. "It was like a good 5 years of peace before the world came crashing down our ears again as the Death Eaters marched anew. Nobody knew what actually happened, but it was like this: after 5 years of peace and quiet, the Dark World comes crashing into our world again, and now, even Muggles, aside from the Dark wizards, are out for wizard blood loyal to Professor Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix and all of the wizarding community is in terror and chaos."
"Hogwarts, along with some other magical schools of learning, who are loyal to international wizarding and Muggle cooperation, anyway, are considered the safest places in the world, for those seeking protection from them," Hisoka said as he turned a page. "Hogwarts, where Professor Dumbledore's residing, is the safest, in the Council of High Wizardry's standards."
"..." Asato turned chibi puppy, his eyes little beads. "Gee. Where did you guys learn all THAT?"
"My father's an Auror working for the Japanese branch of the Council of High Wizardry. He keeps us posted on the comings and goings in the wizarding world. It's just very unfortunate that there are Snitchers watching the Floo Regulatory Board Channel, we hardly get news from overseas. The last time my father's office bravely sent a man forward, he came back...or what's left of him, anyway...inside half a matchbox."
"My grandfather's one of the directors of the Japanese branch of the Council of High Wizardry, and he's in charge of the Overseas Portal Committee. If we can't use the Floo network, then why don't we use portals, instead? But the portals are still in their early stages of development - they're like Portkeys, only more inconspicuous - some of the Testing Wizards ended up in the Bermuda Triangle and they couldn't get back."
"I see..."
Soon the neat little houses gradually turned into a patchwork of neat little fields, with houses and pockets of trees sandwiched in between them. Asato could hardly believe that the quiet people who lived there hated wizardkind, and were out crying for their blood. As he was pondering this newest question, there came a soft rap on the door, and the 3 of them looked up to see who it was.
A small girl with curly chestnut brown hair and eyes stood there beside a dark blue haired boy, who kept skulking out of their view every so often. "Um, excuse me...could we sit here? The other compartments are filled with girls."
"Uh, sure, OK!" Yutaka grinned. "This compartment's good enough for 8, so come on in!"
The little girl came in, dragging the boy by his collar, then closed the sliding compartment door shut, albeit very painfully, on the boy's left foot.
"OUCH~~~!!!"
"Sorry about that, Hajime-chan..."
Hisoka blinked. "Uh..."
"My name's Wakaba Kannuki, and this here's my cousin, Hajime Terazuma," the little girl said, with a polite little bow. She accidentally let go of the little boy, who gave another yelp as his head hit ground zero.
"OUCH~~~!!!"
"Sorry about that, Hajime-chan..."
Asato stared at Hajime Terazuma, whose eyes, by now, had become little whirling spirals. The reason of his skulking became very apparent as he saw pointed ears sticking out from the confines of his short dark blue hair.
"What happened to him?"
"Oh, it was very unfortunate, really. Aunt Reika became so scared of an oni one day, who turned out that he had a really terrible crush on her. He's become a jilted suitor, so to speak, so when Hajime-chan came out, there was not much the elders could do. He put this curse on him, so when a girl touches him even accidentally, he becomes...well...a REALLY big monster." Wakaba Kannuki had a really helplessly cute look on her face. "It's OK if we stay here, yes?"
"The more, the merrier," Yutaka answered. He wiggled out of the way to make some room for the both of them, and Asato went over and sat beside Hisoka. Wakaba got Hajime then plopped him unmercifully down on the cushion, which unfortunately still had Yutaka's book on top of it, and so he got hit on the head again.
"Hey, Wakaba...aren't you a girl?" Asato asked. "How come you could touch him and he doesn't turn into a REALLY big monster?"
"I'm the only one who could successfully put that sealing o-fuda upon him," Wakaba replied, while Hajime was still unconscious, his eyes now turned into little X's. "And...I don't know, I think my own mother put a countercurse on me, so there."
"That's really handy." Yutaka blinked, then he held his hand out to Wakaba. "Oh, before I forget, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Yutaka Watari, and the pale boy with the book is named Bon, and the amethyst-eyed one is Asato Tsuzuki~~~"
"My NAME is not BON~~~!!!"
"I mean, Bon's name is Hisoka Kurosaki."
"Asato TSUZUKI?!" Wakaba turned SD as she stared at Asato with wide, very disbelieving eyes. "I can't believe IT!"
"You better believe it." The sliding door of the compartment opened again, and a boy with dark chestnut hair and blue eyes behind gleaming glasses appeared, staring straight at Asato.
Asato's eyes became little beads. "Uh..."
"I'm here on my father's behalf, Ichiro TATSUMI~~~!!!" The boy glared at him. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he did some mental calculations, putting them down on paper, then handed it over to Asato. "You're one Knut short on the PAPER NAPKINS~~~!!!"
"..." Yutaka had a huge sweatdrop on his forehead. "Self-wiping wipes only cost a Knut, you know, and it's not like the manufacturer would DIE if a Knut accidentally rolled away or something..."
"To you it's a KNUT, to hardworking wizardkind, it costs 3.5 minutes cost of WASTED LABOR~~~!!!" he said passionately. The boy was still glaring at Asato, who by now had become an even more minute chibi puppy. "So hand it OVER! Or do you want me to shake it off of YOU~~~?!"
"..." Wakaba then handed him a small bronze coin on his outstretched hand. "Well...would that suffice?"
"..." The boy quieted right away. "Thanks."
Hisoka was blinking at him. "Now who the heck are you?"
"You're looking at the wizarding world's FIRST HUMAN Gringotts banker," the boy replied, pushing his glasses up his nose so that it gleamed again. "My name is Seiichiro Tatsumi. And a Knut would not go wasted ever AGAIN~~~!!!"
"I don't think I'd want to go back to Gringotts again if he's the banker," Yutaka whispered loudly enough for Asato to hear. "I figured he'd have major heart attacks if we missed a Knut short on the paper napkins AGAIN."
Asato laughed.
"That's NOT a laughing MATTER~~~!!! Self-wiping WIPES are the BASIS for a wizard's everyday grimy TROUBLES~~~!!! They clean, they disinfect, and the Scourgifying Cream took YEARS to perfect, it was known to wipe faces clean and DEVOID of any facial features in its pre-RUNS~~~" Seiichiro Tatsumi went on.
"..." Hisoka sighed and then returned to his book. "Self-wiping wipes advocates. Boy oh boy, now I've REALLY seen it all."
The journey took them 6 hours, considering the many anti-Snitcher charmed tunnels they had to pass through, and, once, one of the Safety Wizard Conductors had to perform a Memory Charm on a Muggle who happened to pass by the side of the railroad tracks, calling to his horse that had somehow managed to fly itself up a tree (a really bad case of a Repellius Charm gone awry, as Yutaka told Asato).
"You have to be really good with fly-by wand shooting, or else you'll have your friend forget why he's up in the railposts dangling down in the first place," Yutaka told him in utter seriousness. Asato had a very strange feeling that Yutaka performed that one and had his own friend hanging down the railposts skimming along the railroad tracks where he came from.
The witch with the lunch cart came by some time later, and in addition to sweets and other confectionery Asato had almost emptied his pockets off (and to which Seiichiro was telling him off again for wasted money), there were also some self-cooking lunch plates which came in student-friendly prices and set luncheons. Asato chose for himself a steak plate, a tall pitcher of pumpkin juice for everybody else (the pitcher keeps refilling itself), and a small sack of sweets and other confectionery (Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Ginger Newts, Lemon Quills, Chocolate Frogs, Apple Crumbling Crumbles, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Jelly Snitches, and Tooting Truffles).
At last the train was slowing down, and Asato could see wild stretches of scenery whizzing outside as he stood up with the rest of his newfound friends.
"First years this way please," a tall blond girl was saying. "Move along!"
"What about our~~~" Asato began.
"From what I heard, the wizards from the Hogwarts Castle would take care of all our belongings," Hisoka told him. "So no need to worry."
The Hogwarts Express was one complete bedlam as the students all around them pulled on their respective robes and climbed down the steps into Hogsmeade Station.
"Firs' years! Firs' years, this way please!" a booming voice called out in the confusion.
"That's us," Yutaka said, pushing Asato along. "Come on, we're going to miss the trip!"
They followed the nervous throng of other first years, and soon emerged at the edge of a lake.
"No more'n four to a boat!" a giant of a man was calling out to them.
But Asato wasn't listening to him for he, along with the other first years, were looking out onto the great big black lake (it was early nighttime, anyway) and the huge castle that was sitting majestically atop a huge mountain that towered over pretty much everything else.
"Everyone in?" The giant man nodded. "Right then - FORWARD~~~!!!"
Asato almost fell into the water, wherein Kazutaka caught him, with a small pleasant smile on his face. Both of them were riding on a small boat with an ornate lamp front, gliding smoothly across the glassy surface of the lake, with no means of any external means of making it move like so (^^;;). A hundred boats like theirs were also cruising the lake with the same mode of locomotion, the giant man riding up front and holding a lantern aloft. Asato turned into a huge stone block, while Yutaka was talking to Hisoka up front, and Hisoka was glaring right at Kazutaka.
"Easy does it, Tsuzuki-san," Kazutaka whispered, smiling. "I do believe Fate has brought me here. Isn't it so, Tsuzuki-san?"
Asato decided that falling headlong into the waters that skimmed on either side of the boat he was on was much more welcoming than Kazutaka Muraki.
He was hoping Kazutaka would NOT get into the House he's going to be Sorted in.
He would really die if that were just the case.
Professor Minerva McGonagall peered at them severely through her square-rimmed glasses.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet would be beginning shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you would all be sorted into your respective houses. Now, the Sorting is a very important ceremony, for because, while you are here, the Houses you would be all sorted into would become your family while staying at Hogwarts. You would have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin; each house has its own noble history, and has produced several outstanding witches and wizards. Throughout the term, while you are here at Hogwarts..."
SD Asato was rubbing his forehead, as he was trying to take in all the translated words into his head (by means of his Translate-A-Scribe stone lent to him by Number Nine), and it was giving him a major headache. He saw Yutaka, Hisoka, Wakaba, Hajime (who was trying in vain not to get too close to any female around him), Seiichiro, Kazutaka, and another small brown haired boy beside him listening to the old woman up front in rapt attention, as if they understood perfectly what she was saying. Then, after a few more jumbled words, Professor McGonagall then led them in, and Asato tried not to look too nervous, frightened, and confused all at the same time.
"Professor McGonagall says that when we're about to be sorted a little while later, we'll all just come forward when she calls out our names from the rolled parchment she's holding and hold the Sorting Hat over our heads," Yutaka whispered, as a round-faced man went down the center of the magnificent, floating candlelit hall, holding a three-legged stool on which sat a very sorry looking pointed wizard's hat.
SD Asato looked at him, round-eyed. "You...you understand what she just said...?"
"Hey, those English courses were really major dendrite busters, but yeah, it really paid off," Yutaka told him. He blinked at Asato. "You...don't?"
Asato gave a panicky little nod.
Yutaka was horrified. "But...but I'm SURE they'll...High Priest Konoe will..."
At that precise instant, the whole hall quieted, and Asato heard somebody clear his throat and started to sing in a croaky little voice.
"A long time ago, in the days of yore,
When life was simple it was really more of a bore,
There came wizards and witches four,
Who thought that magical learning would really make wizard understanding soar.
Brave Gryffindor,
Brave and filled with chivalry and candor;
Patient Hufflepuff,
Saw learning from seeming bits and fluff;
Wise Ravenclaw,
Whose wisdom was sought and saw;
Cunning Slytherin,
Whose sly and crafty ways earned him win.
Now these noble wizards and witches,
Saw magical learning as a way for errant switches,
For Muggles to differentiate the Darkness from their kind,
To mend the rifts and strengthen the ties that bind;
So they all set out and created Hogwarts School,
Where learning is learned and magic is a tool.
And so after they created this magnificent edifice,
They set out to create me, and as they, I aim to please;
To put each student in his or her place,
Was a task that I unerringly had to face.
So then put me on, don't be scared,
There are a lot of others more who dared and who fared;
To be, to be not,
To be sought, or left to rot;
It's all in your mind, you hear,
So put me on, and receive a lot of smiles and cheer,
For I'm the sentient Sorting Hat...
For that is fair...and that is THAT!"
The quiet audience broke into marvelous applause, and they cheered and they whistled. Asato stared at the pointed wizard's hat he had seen earlier. It can't BE...he can't be the one...
"Wow, I never realized I would be hearing a Sorting Hat song in my entire life," Hisoka said, awestruck. The Sorting Hat was clearing its throat every so often as if he just delivered a heart-stopping aria.
"The...that HAT was just...SINGING?" SD Asato asked incredulously.
"Yes...isn't he wonderful?" Wakaba was jotting down the lyrics on a piece of parchment she had managed to filch out of her robe. She smiled. "I'm planning to collect all the Sorting Hat lyrics and we'll release them in a Japanese version! What do you think, Asato-san?"
"Uh..."
Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long scroll of parchment. "When I call out your name, come forward, put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."
The audience quieted again.
"Ashley, Connor!"
A small boy with unnaturally straight light blond hair came forward and sat with the hat on top of his head.
"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!" shouted the hat.
One of the tables in front of them erupted in cheers as Connor Ashley went towards their table and sat with the rest of them.
"Atkins, Lisa!"
"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"
Lisa Atkins joined the Ravenclaw table, where she was greeted with more cheers.
Professor McGonagall continued reading names from her parchment, the faces of Asato's fellow first years becoming more and more nervous, and as "Bowman, Kyle!" became "GRYFFINDOR!", Asato looked at his other companions, and found them as agitated and as uneasy as he was.
"Bryce, Marion" became the first Slytherin, and Asato turned to look at the Slytherin table as some of them stood up and clapped their newest member on the back. They were a rather unpleasant-looking lot.
"Carson, Melissa!"
"HUFFLEPUFF~~~!!!"
"Hey, Yutaka...what if...the Sorting Hat can't make up its...mind? You know, when a student puts it on top of his head?" Asato asked.
"I don't know. Go back to the Muggle world, I guess?" Yutaka replied.
Professor McGonagall went on, then cleared her throat as she came upon the next name on the list.
"Falcrest, Elene!"
There was a soft murmur from among the surrounding tables as some of the older years (all of them guys) craned their necks to look at the next person to be sorted.
"Falcrest, did she say?"
"The FALCREST!"
"She can't be here?!"
Asato turned to look. A small girl came from the far side of their first year contingent and walked over to the stool where the Sorting Hat lay in wait. She then picked it up and put it on her head, which was a size too big, then waited for the Sorting Hat's judgment.
"I can't believe she's actually here..."
"The FALCREST?!"
Asato blinked. "Sorry. Who's...the Falcrest?"
"A member of the legendary Cambridge Chevaliers team," Yutaka replied, his eyes widening. "Her father, anyway. From what I've heard, they're extremely wealthy, and aside from being a very excellent Quidditch player, Lawrence Falcrest was also known as a very good Auror, along with Harry Potter, himself. Mr. Falcrest and his wife, together with Harry Potter, Hermione Weasley, Ronald Weasley, and a couple of other Aurors, comprise the best Auror team the Council of High Wizardry has EVER known."
"O...K..."
"Harry Potter's Mr. Falcrest's teammate on the Cambridge Chevaliers team, too, before the accident," Yutaka continued. "Mr. Falcrest's eldest son, Kieran, died in a freak accident...he was Captain of the Gryffindor House Team, the youngest as he was admitted on his second year...and they said he was the best Captain Gryffindor ever had, after Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson. A Death Eater managed to escape through the Gryffindor House's Cloakers' protection and...well...things got REALLY bad. If Kieran were alive right now, he'd be around 15. Mr. Falcrest had sworn off Quidditch ever since, and he's devoted most of his time trying to try catch the Death Eaters who had so selfishly taken his only son's life away. There were rumors that went around, saying that he was planning to take his youngest daughter to Coventree...their family started the wizarding university, by the way, by means of their noble ancestors...but now, Elene Falcrest's here, and I guess he sort of bounced right up again after 2 years."
"I see..."
The Sorting Hat declared Elene Falcrest as a Gryffindor, and among mixed applause and whisperings, she took her place at their table, where several guys began pestering her with autograph requests almost at once. Asato felt for her. It must be real hard for Elene, as she was here, and she was to live at the dormitory where her older brother had died 2 years ago.
"Ferguson, Dylan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF~~~!!!"
"Finnigan, Eilie!"
"GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!"
"I think I'm going to be SICK," Hajime whispered, wherein Wakaba patted him gently on the back. Asato turned to look at him, and indeed, he looked a little green. Hisoka was peering intently at the other first years who were being Sorted, while Seiichiro was looking around them, looking for anybody who might be wasting Self-Wiping Wipes 500 meters around his vicinity.
"Fawcett, William!"
"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"
"I wonder if we get a separate room for ourselves? Or is it a spin-a-win sort of thing?" Yutaka wondered, as "Gates, Seymour" became a Slytherin.
"I have no idea," Asato replied.
There came "Giles, Herbert"...then "Hart" and "Hartley"..."Ipsen", "Ilham" and "Iverson"...then "Johnson", then "Jurgen", then...
"Kannuki, Wakaba!"
There were whispers as some of the students in their respective House tables looked over at the small young girl as she leaned towards Hajime.
"Sorry about this, Hajime-chan...try to keep out of harm's way, will you?" Wakaba told her cousin as she looked at him anxiously.
"OK..." Hajime said weakly. He then went over to where Asato, Yutaka, and Seiichiro were huddled together and squeezed himself in far away from any girl. Wakaba took one last look at her cousin, became satisfied, then made her way towards the stool, whispers going out like little fires hissing all over the place.
"I heard there was a Japanese contingent, I thought it was only a rumor, and now I guess they're here..."
"How did they manage to escape Snitcher detection?"
"Unbelievable! I can't believe they're ACTUALLY here..."
Elene Falcrest, Asato noticed, blinked, then looked over at where Wakaba was now sitting with the Sorting Hat on her head, an interested expression on her face.
The Sorting Hat took a full minute to decide, until it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!"
There was scattered applause as some of the people on the other tables started whispering furiously. Wakaba put the Sorting Hat graciously on the stool then went over to the Gryffindor table, who welcomed her with very thunderous applause.
"Just what we need, a backlash..." Yutaka fumed.
Asato blinked. "Huh?"
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat then went on. There was "Karchowski" and "Kerchovsky" then finally...
"Kurosaki, Hisoka!"
There were even more mutinous whispers. Asato had no idea what was going on, but Hisoka went bravely forward, jammed the Sorting Hat on top of his head, then was declared a Gryffindor a few seconds later. He joined the Gryffindor table amidst thunderous applause.
Asato blinked. What was happening?
He didn't have time to think as the Sorting went on. "Larson, Sarah" became a Hufflepuff, then "Lawson", "Leroy," and "Lourson"..."Malfoy", "McKinnon", "McLarsen" and...
"Muraki, Kazutaka!"
"SLYTHERIN~~~~!!!" the Sorting Hat shouted before Kazutaka could even take a step towards the stool where the Sorting Hat was placed. There were several more mutinous whispers, and Yutaka was blinking.
"Gosh, the Sorting Hat could feel his evil even from this far off..." he whispered, as Kazutaka took his place at the Slytherin table. Asato looked over at where he sat and Kazutaka gave him a small languid wink.
He shuddered.
"Murray, Edwin!"
"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"
"Yutaka, do these people hate us?" Asato asked as "Neal, Stacey" became a Hufflepuff.
"..." Yutaka just bit his lip. "Father said we'd be seeing something like this, but I had no idea it would turn out this BAD..."
"Why?"
"Let's just say that we're not exactly welcome here, in any sense," Yutaka replied as "Northridge, Gregory" became a Gryffindor.
"?"
"Oriya, Mibu!"
"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"
The small brown-haired boy Kazutaka was with went towards the Ravenclaw table.
"Orwell, Michael!"
"RAVENCLAW~~~!!!"
Asato was still thinking this over when Yutaka nudged Asato.
"What?"
"Do you have any plans trying out for Quidditch?"
"Qui...Quidditch...?" Asato blinked, then bit his lip. "Uh...I don't know...well, are you?"
"I'm planning TO, but then again this backlash would be working against me..." Yutaka replied as "Oswell, Miranda" became a Ravenclaw. He nodded. "I'm planning to try out for a Keeper, or a Chaser. I didn't waste catching all those spoiled pomegranates at the house for nothing..."
"Spoiled...pomegranates..."
There came "Park", "Perkins", "Perry", "Phillipos", "Portman" and "Pucelli"...then "Quincy"...then "Ramsey", "Randell", "Reynolds", "Richards" and "Rothschield"..."Salley", "Samuel", "Seton", "Surtsey"...and finally...
"Tatsumi, Seiichiro!"
Seiichiro went purposefully towards the stool, then giving Asato a death glare (or it seemed like it), put the Sorting Hat above his head then waited for the verdict.
The Sorting Hat looked as if it was having a hard time where to put Seiichiro until it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!" after 4 whole minutes.
"Gee, I guess the Sorting Hat was having a hard time to decide if the Knuts were working for or against him," Yutaka said, stifling his laughter so that it came out as a muffled snort.
"Terazuma, Hajime!"
Hajime scuttled to the relative safety of the stool before he could make any female skin contact (almost sending Asato and Yutaka flying out of the way) then put the Sorting Hat on top of his head.
"GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!"
Hajime scuttled to where his cousin was seated then sat beside her, then realized too late that he was seated very close beside Hisoka (who sat at his other side). There was general chaos when Hajime turned into that huge monster and several female Gryffindors screamed and got out of the way, and some of the teachers stood up when they saw that Hajime was getting way out of hand.
"No, Hajime-chan!" Wakaba yelled as her now monstrous cousin stood up to wreck havoc at the other tables. Yutaka was wide-eyed as the general chaos that resulted went on around them, sending some teachers rolling up their sleeves and getting their wands from beneath their robes, and their Stunning Spells ricocheted all around them (Stunning ancient Argus Filch, who croaked and fell over, along with a now somewhat skeletal Mrs. Norris and some students in the ensuing confusion) because of Hajime's spell-resistant monster form, until Wakaba finally managed to calm Hajime down by means of putting a sealing o-fuda on his forehead.
"I thought Hajime could only NOT touch females?" Asato asked, as Wakaba and Hajime were sent straight to the hospital ward (along with some of the Stunned victims) after the rather hair-raising experience.
"I guess he also can't touch males who look too feminine, as well. Bon didn't get that 'DOM Pick of the Month Award' ever since he learned how to walk for nothing," Yutaka mused as the shaken students went back to their respective tables, those at the Gryffindor table now giving Hisoka a wide berth. Hisoka didn't seem too perturbed about it.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat (albeit nervously this time) then looked at the parchment she held in her hands (which were by now shaking slightly).
"Tsuzuki, Asato!"
At his name there came an even more restless furor. Asato looked at the students, who were all busy whispering furiously amongst themselves, then he looked over at Yutaka, who nodded at him.
"Go on, don't mind them."
Asato nodded then timidly went over where the stool was, and put the Sorting Hat on top of his head.
"That fiend!"
"The nerve!"
"He shouldn't be allowed in, I wonder what Dumbledore's up to, again..."
"What's he doing here, anyway?!"
Asato gulped then waited for the verdict.
"Lots of courage...my, and LOTS of talent," said the small voice in his ear. "You're going to be great, boy, I tell you...you have enough power by means of your Guardians...and yes, they will certainly look upon you with both awe and fear..."
Asato kept unusually quiet.
"Yet underneath your innocence lies a beast lurking in wait. Yes, it is very hard indeed." The Sorting Hat paused. "Now where shall I put you?"
***Anywhere as long as it's not with Kazutaka Muraki...*** he thought fervently.
"Not with him, eh? But then, both of you would do great things, VERY great things..." The Sorting Hat nodded. "If that is the case my little friend, then not with him shall I put you. Go on then, take the path you choose...and to greatness, may it lead you. You are so much like that boy I Sorted a long time ago...if not with Slytherin, then you go ahead and be with GRYFFINDOR~~~!!!"
It shouted the last word to the throng of expectant faces, and there were whispers as Asato stood up and went to the Gryffindor table, who greeted him with a rather lukewarm applause. He took great care not to sit beside Seiichiro, who was giving him a look, then sat right beside Hisoka.
"Welcome to the club," Hisoka muttered.
Asato didn't know what to say to this, so he just shrugged then looked over at the table at the end of the room where the teachers all sat. He saw the giant of a man who took them right across the black lake earlier, then the round faced man who brought the Sorting Hat in on a stool, a man and a woman talking close together, a woman who was staring at the throng with very wide eyes, then a very old man with snow white hair, who sat beside a silver-haired man who looked awfully familiar...
Then Yutaka plopped right beside him as he was declared a Gryffindor, along with a red-haired boy with brown eyes toting a thick pocketbook. He sat beside Elene.
"Hey! What do you know...we're all part of the club!" Yutaka whispered as "Yates, Vincent" was declared a Ravenclaw.
"I don't think it's such a good idea with you hanging around here in Gryffindor, Yutaka," Hisoka muttered back.
"Hey, Bon, how could you even think THAT?!"
"My name is NOT BON~~~!!!"
The round faced man came down again, got the Sorting Hat and its stool, then the whole room quieted. Asato looked up at the ceiling and saw that they were all sitting underneath a canopy of floating candles under a brilliant starry sky.
"Oh, I didn't know that we're outside," Asato mused.
"It's enchanted to look like the skies outside," Hisoka answered him. "I've read about it in Hogwarts, A Revised History ."
"I see..."
The very old man in the center of the table got up, helped by the familiar silver-haired man in all silver, and Asato was struck by the mere gravity of his presence that sent the entire room into complete silence.
The ancient man smiled, and his clear blue eyes twinkled.
And at that precise instant, Asato knew that he was home at last.
*************
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yeesh, this is my LONGEST chappie ever. Expect major upheavals in the upcoming chappies. And do I hear Harry Potter, Quidditch teacher?! Cha-CHING~~~!!! 8D Wait a minute, is Oriya his surname or is it MIBU?! ^^;; In any case, whatever place he has on the roll call, he'd still be Ravenclaw.
