Disclaimer: I wonder what would happen if I said that I did own Harry
Potter and Cardcaptor Sakura...Probably get my ass sued. Oh well. I don't
own them, just so ya know.
A/N: Oooo...Chapter Five. If you read, I will be pleased.
*~*
Chapter Five
Sakura woke early the next morning and opened the hangings of her bed to get up. This was the first time in a long time that she had woken up early by herself...Usually Kero had to fly in her face or something. She shrugged and went to her trunk to dig out some robes for the day. As she pulled them on, she noticed Hermione's hangings stir and saw the girl's hand pull them back. Sakura was just pulling on her shoes when Hermione saw her. "Good morning, Sakura. Why are you up so early?"
"I don't really know that myself," Sakura smiled. "But I'm going down to breakfast..." Sakura paused. She realized that she had no clue how to get around this school.
Hermione noticed and took a guess as to why Sakura had trailed off. "If you wait a few minutes, we could go down to breakfast together. Just remember where we go."
Sakura sat back down on her bed and waited patiently for Hermione to finish getting ready. Then they headed down to the common room. Surprisingly, Syaoran, Ron, and Harry were coming down the stairs at the same time. "Well, this is a surprise," Harry looked amused.
Sakura and Syaoran exchanged looks, and moved together as they left the tower. Syaoran frowned, "Did you wake up really early too?"
"Yes..." Sakura looked puzzled, "Why?"
"Because I think this has something to do with Eriol," Syaoran replied tartly.
Ron turned his head, "Hey, who is this Eriol guy anyway?"
Hermione sighed in exasperation, "Don't you listen to anything I say?"
"Some of the time," he replied honestly.
She rolled her eyes, "Eriol Hiiragizawa is the half reincarnation of Clow Reed. He also lives in London."
"Oh," Ron kept walking. "Well, I reckon that people will be asking about you today, eh?"
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Well, Hogwarts has never had transfer students before. No one noticed yesterday because they were too busy asking people how their summers went, right?" Ron paused at the doors to the great hall. "So brace yourselves for teasing and questions." He grinned at Harry, "It'll be a nice break for you, eh, mate? No one'll be asking you questions, not with these two around."
Harry smiled, "I guess you're right." He pushed the doors open, "Well, let's go."
*~*
Sakura and Syaoran's second look at the hall was just as impressive as the first. Instead of the ceiling being dark as night and full of stars, it was bright with the early morning sun, which gave the house and high tables a slightly different effect than the previous night. Sakura looked curiously at the ceiling, "How'd they change it so fast?"
Hermione glanced up, "Oh, it's enchanted to look like the real sky. Don't worry about it."
"Hmm..." Sakura wished that she could do magic like that. She blinked. That was why she was there. To learn to do tricks like that and to give her a bit more practice at more damage inflicting spells.
As the five of them passed the other tables, people's heads turned. Ron had been right. They were being noticed this morning. Draco was glaring at Syaoran and Sakura as they passed, and while Syaoran glared back, Sakura simply cowered slightly behind him. When they finally sat down at Gryffindor table and began serving themselves, two small boys came scurrying over, "Harry, who're these guys? Why're they here?"
"Hullo Colin," Harry rolled his eyes. "Hullo Dennis. This is Sakura Kinomoto, and this is Syaoran Li," Harry pointed to them in each in turn. "They're transfer students. They're from Japan and China."
The brothers turned their wide eyes on Sakura and Syaoran, who suddenly felt uncomfortable with all this attention. Colin opened his mouth to say something when Ginny came over and glared at Colin and Dennis. "Shove off, you two. You have no right bothering them like this."
Sakura, glancing around, saw everyone in the hall staring at them with interest. Before Sakura could say anything, Ron handed her a piece of parchment, "Course schedule," he said. He looked at theirs as they looked over it themselves, "Hmm...Looks like you've got that we do. Dumbledore must want you two to be Aurors."
"Aurors?" Sakura looked at the tall boy, "What's an Auror?"
"Blimey, I keep forgetting that you two don't know anything about this kind of magic," Ron glanced up at the high table, "Wonder what Dumbledore was thinking...Well, anyway, an Auror is a person who fights dark wizards and that kind of thing."
Harry had been listening keenly, "Yeah, and it's really hard to become an Auror. You guys are lucky that you didn't have to take the O.W.L.s. They're terrible. But you must've had a fair amount of practice at this sort of thing if Dumbledore didn't make you take them. What kinds of stuff have you gone up against?"
Sakura and Syaoran exchanged a look. "Too much," Sakura replied. "Even though we haven't had a lot of active threats in a long time, it was hard to get through it. First, I had to collect all the Clow Cards."
"Hey! I helped!" Syaoran exclaimed.
Sakura grinned, "Yeah, you did." He blushed, and she continued, "And then I had to transform them all into Sakura Cards. And the final parts of both of those was hard."
Ginny was listening curiously, "What happened in them?"
"Well, in the first one, I had to defeat Yue, the judge, or else everyone who had been involved with the Clow Cards would lose the memory of the most important person in their lives...and the second one was that if I didn't defeat Eriol's darkness by dawn, everyone would stay asleep forever...and I'd be all alone forever..." Sakura looked down.
"Woah...And how old were you?" Hermione asked.
"Eleven," Sakura replied calmly, finally sitting down and putting food on her plate. "So what are all these classes about?"
Harry and Ron gave Hermione a meaningful look, which she seemed to ignore, but then answered the question, "Well, Defense Against the Dark Arts is very important to being an Auror. That class is about defending yourself against dark magic and creatures. Professor Mizuki will be teaching that. Then there's Potions, and that's all about concocting mixtures that can alter your appearance, put your enemies to sleep, or any number of things. That's taught by Professor Snape." At the mention of this name, Ron and Harry both feigned retching. Hermione smiled slightly and continued, "He's the one up there with the really greasy hair. And there's also Charms, which is just, well, what it sounds like, charming things to make them do different things, like cheering people up, or making things fly. Professor Flitwick teaches that. He's the really tiny one up at the staff table. Then there's Transfiguration, taught by Professor McGonagall, which is a course about transforming things into other things, which is also useful if you want to be an Auror, being able to transform things and such. Then we decided to keep Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Oh goodness!" Hermione glanced at her watch. "We'll be late for our first lesson!"
"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at his schedule. Harry snorted, "Figures. Advanced Potions..."
"Urgh..." Ron replied looking equally disgusted. "Why is it that we always have Snape first day?"
"I don't know but I'm really getting sick of it," Harry replied. "And we're STILL with the Slytherins," he groaned.
"What's so bad about Snape?" Sakura asked innocently.
"Well, the fact that he's a huge prat doesn't help him," Ron said acidly.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, he's the most unfair teacher we have. Last term he was just awful. He hates me because of my dad --" Harry cut off, looking down at his feet. He was remembering what he had seen in the pensive last term about his dad, and how he hadn't always been the hero that he was in Harry's mind. "Anyway, try not to get on the wrong side of Snape, or you'll regret it for the rest of your lives. You already stand out, because you're new."
Syaoran nodded knowingly, "I see. I had a teacher like that in Hong Kong."
Sakura noticed that they were walking down more and more flights of stairs and saw more and more torches lighting the way, "Where is his classroom?"
"It's not a classroom, it's a dungeon," Hermione replied as they turned down a long hall. "Here we are," she stopped in front of one of the dungeons, and Sakura peered inside warily.
Syaoran rolled his eyes and pushed her through the door after Hermione and Ron and Harry followed, sniggering slightly. Syaoran looked around the class, and, to his dislike, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all there. He glared at them and settled in his seat. No sooner had he done this than Professor Snape entered the room and marched straight to the front of the classroom. After a brief glance around, his gaze rested on Sakura and Syaoran. He raised his eyebrows, "I suppose you two are the new students, are you?"
"Yes sir," Sakura and Syaoran replied in unison.
Snape sniffed and turned his eyes to Harry, and they noticed that his lip twitched noticeably when he looked at him. "Well, the only way you could have gotten yourselves here is by getting an E or higher on your O.W.L. for this class. So few of you remain. Well, today we start with potion of intellect. The instructions are on the board, and the necessary supplies are in the store cupboards. Begin," he flicked his wand at the board and the instructions appeared on the blackboard. It took Sakura a second to realize that all her classmates were heading towards the ingredients.
She hurried to collect her ingredients and then returned to her cauldron, where she began to brew the potion. She read and reread the instructions, and then began with the first step. Beside her, Syaoran's brow was furrowed in concentration, and she could've sworn that she heard Ron swear at Snape quietly.
*~*
An hour and a half later, their potions were simmering and pale orange smoke was emitting from most of the cauldrons. Or at least CLOSE to orange. Sakura was very pleased, because hers was the exact same color as Hermione's, and she took up a flask to be graded just like the others were doing. Syaoran's was slightly off, but overall, he was pleased with himself. He flasked a sample and took it up to Snape.
As the five of them left the dungeon, Ron and Harry stared at the two of them. "What?" Sakura asked uncomfortably.
"How is it that it took us five YEARS to be able to make a potion as good as yours, but you could do it the first time you tried?" Ron finally asked.
"I don't know..." Sakura replied honestly. "We just...could..."
Harry shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe it. Well, we've got Charms next. Let's get going."
*~*
The five of them entered a proper classroom this time, and were greeted, once again by the stares of every person in the room. Ron groaned, "Another double period. At least it's with Ravenclaw this time."
Harry and Hermione grinned at one another. They all took their seats, and Professor Flitwick took attendance, "I'd like to welcome two new students to our number today. Miss Sakura Kinomoto and Mr. Syaoran Li. Please make them feel at home in the castle." The tiny man beamed at them. "Today, we will begin with memory charms. This is a very important spell for use on Muggles, and occasionally on fellow witches and wizards. Please open your books to page 10, and begin reading. Halfway through the period, we will begin to try the spell on toads. Begin."
The only sound made for the first 45 minutes of class was the turning of pages as the class read through the proper way to use a memory charm. Syaoran poured over the information, absorbing it as he went. Sakura was having a slightly harder time concentrating, but she tried as hard as she could to understand how the wand movement and spell ("Obliviate") were to be executed.
Sakura couldn't have been happier when Flitwick started handing out toads and wands were taken out. Sakura took out her wand, in some distaste. This whole thing could be done much quicker with the staff. In the back of her mind, she felt the cards' agitation at this new magic. She silently apologized, and began work with her wand.
Syaoran, too, thought that this could be dealt with much faster with a different type of magic, but he went along with it, blundering slightly like everyone else in the room. He looked around and noticed that Ron was particularly wary of using the spell. When Harry noticed Syaoran observing Ron, he quietly explained, "Ron's old wand accidentally backfired on him 4 years ago and caused our old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's memory to be permanently damaged. He didn't remember who he was." On an afterthought, he added, "Of course, he was trying to modify OUR memories, so I don't feel too sorry for him."
The two of them her a little huff of impatience and the looked around to see Hermione, looking slightly peeved. Harry grinned, "Hermione had a crush on Lockhart." Syaoran glanced at her, and she blushed.
*~*
When the class was finally over, they went down to the Great Hall for lunch, and as Sakura sank into a chair, Professor McGonagall walked over to them. "Miss Kinomoto, you have a visitor." Sakura looked slightly taken aback. Who would visit her? "Well, come along then," McGonagall said impatiently. Obediently, Sakura rose and followed her out of the Great Hall, wishing she could just eat.
When they arrived at her office, Sakura heard an unmistakable squeal of delight, and an equally unmistakable chuckle. "Sakura-chan! I'm so happy to see you!!" Tomoyo was hugging her around the neck.
"To-Tomoyo-chan!?" Sakura exclaimed. This was the last person she expected to visit her. Over Tomoyo's shoulder, she saw Eriol smiling slyly. "What're you doing here?"
"You thought you'd just leave me in Japan? Sakura, I'm surprised at you!" Tomoyo stood back and looked critically at Sakura's outfit. "Hmm...This uniform could definitely use some perks, but, as it's a uniform, I guess I can't do anything about it."
Sakura sweatdropped, 'Same old Tomoyo-chan...' she thought. "But Tomoyo, how'd you get here? I thought non-magic people couldn't find this place."
"I brought her. It's quite impossible to ignore her when she comes to visit and asks about you constantly. I finally just brought her here so that I could have so peace," Eriol said. It was the first thing he had said the entire time. Professor McGonagall simply sat at her desk, almost looking amused. "And, you realize that Tomoyo is quite capable of finding a place like this on her own. This place is only protected from normal non- magic people. You and I both know that Tomoyo is much more observant than your average person."
Tomoyo had long since let Sakura go, and was now just beaming at her best friend. "Well, Sakura, are you going to introduce me to all your other friends, or not?"
"Professor?" Sakura asked.
"It's all right. It's a little unusual, but it's quite all right," McGonagall gave her a small smile. "I trust that people will be immensely curious about you, Miss Daidouji."
"I think I'll join you for lunch, and then go speak to Dumbledore," Eriol added. "Do you mind, Sakura-san?"
"No! Never, Eriol-kun," Sakura beamed, and led her two friends down the corridors, and was still a little uncertain about where she was going. When she was actually lost, she turned to Eriol, "I'm lost..." she admitted.
Eriol smiled good-naturedly, "It's all right. I still remember how to get around here."
Tomoyo sighed, "It's too bad that my video camera won't work here..."
"It doesn't?" Sakura asked curiously.
"No...I read Hogwarts, A History while I was at Eriol's. It was very interesting, but electronic things won't work here. There's too much magic in the air," she replied. "It's a shame to lose all this cuteness, but I suppose it's good enough that I'm here to see it."
Sakura blushed and sweatdropped, and then turned back to Eriol, "Um, Eriol, why can't I just use my staff?"
Eriol raised his eyebrows, "Well, you could. This whole experience is to help you and Li understand other magicks, and to show these students that magic exists in forms other than theirs. You're allowed to use your magic, and the teachers know that. Here we are." Eriol led them down a final staircase into the entrance hall. He pushed the door open. "Now, I believe you're in Gryffindor?"
"Yeah," she replied. She led them to the table.
Syaoran looked amazed at their appearance. "D-daidouji? Hiiragizawa?"
Tomoyo smiled, "Nice to see you again, Li."
Hermione looked up at the mention of the name "Hiiragizawa." As she looked at the two people next to Sakura she said, "Sakura, is this Eriol Hiiragizawa?"
"Er...Yes," Sakura said nervously. "And this is my friend, Tomoyo Daidouji. Tomoyo, Eriol, these are my new friends, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger."
Everyone around them looked around as Hermione leapt to her feet and shook Eriol's hand, "It's amazing to meet you, sir!" She was bubbling with happiness.
Eriol smiled again, "Hello. You may call me Eriol. And you're Hermione?"
"Yes, Eriol," she replied eagerly. "Are you eating with us?"
"Yes, and then I'm meeting with the headmaster," Eriol nodded towards the teacher's table, and everyone looked up there. McGonagall had reappeared, and Dumbledore was staring at the group of Japanese children with interest. Eriol sat down, and Tomoyo and Sakura followed suit.
Sakura grabbed food from the nearest plates, and began to eat with vigor. Tomoyo took some food and began to eat, slightly more daintily than Sakura, but still looking hungry. Eriol ate some, and was done before either of them. When everyone around them finished, Sakura introduced Tomoyo to everyone. "This is Tomoyo Daidouji. She's my best friend from Japan. She's a Muggle."
At that statement, everyone started. "How can a Muggle be here?" "Why's she here?" "What's Muggle life like?" "How'd you get here?" "I thought Muggles couldn't find this place!" "Will she tell anyone?"
Tomoyo smiled, and Sakura explained calmly, "Eriol brought Tomoyo here. She would never tell anyone a secret that needs to be kept. And she's not like most Muggles. She notices a lot. She knows more about me than I know myself. She probably could've found this place even if Eriol hadn't brought her."
Eriol rose from his seat, "While it has been lovely to meet you all," his gaze lingered on Harry, "I must be going. The headmaster is expecting me." People stared as he left. He did have a way of drawing attention to himself. It didn't help that he wasn't wearing robes, but traditional Chinese clothes, that were no doubt elegant, but did make him stick out against the sea of robes.
Tomoyo, dressed in a pale yellow dress stood out too, and she was still getting the odd stare, and some malicious, if they came from the Slytherin table, but Eriol had a way of carrying himself that made people watch him. Harry noticed Malfoy in particular looking at Tomoyo with hatred, and quickly said something. "Um, maybe we should get out of here for now. Like, maybe to the courtyard."
"Sounds good," Ron agreed, glaring at Malfoy. "Come on, guys."
The six of them got up and left the Great Hall, with curious stares following them all the way out.
*~*
Well...that's the end of chapter five. Hee hee...Tomoyo-chan! Are you guys happy now? You didn't really think I forgot about her, did you? So, read (well, you've obviously already read) and review, if you please. Author schpeal:
What will happen next chapter? What will Eriol and Dumbledore talk about? Will Tomoyo stay? Will the Slytherins conspire against our poor, Muggle, Sakura-obsessed girl? Probably. Anyway: Tune in next time for --- (dum dum dum) CHAPTER SIX!!!
Check ya later
-- Sakura Kaijuu
A/N: Oooo...Chapter Five. If you read, I will be pleased.
*~*
Chapter Five
Sakura woke early the next morning and opened the hangings of her bed to get up. This was the first time in a long time that she had woken up early by herself...Usually Kero had to fly in her face or something. She shrugged and went to her trunk to dig out some robes for the day. As she pulled them on, she noticed Hermione's hangings stir and saw the girl's hand pull them back. Sakura was just pulling on her shoes when Hermione saw her. "Good morning, Sakura. Why are you up so early?"
"I don't really know that myself," Sakura smiled. "But I'm going down to breakfast..." Sakura paused. She realized that she had no clue how to get around this school.
Hermione noticed and took a guess as to why Sakura had trailed off. "If you wait a few minutes, we could go down to breakfast together. Just remember where we go."
Sakura sat back down on her bed and waited patiently for Hermione to finish getting ready. Then they headed down to the common room. Surprisingly, Syaoran, Ron, and Harry were coming down the stairs at the same time. "Well, this is a surprise," Harry looked amused.
Sakura and Syaoran exchanged looks, and moved together as they left the tower. Syaoran frowned, "Did you wake up really early too?"
"Yes..." Sakura looked puzzled, "Why?"
"Because I think this has something to do with Eriol," Syaoran replied tartly.
Ron turned his head, "Hey, who is this Eriol guy anyway?"
Hermione sighed in exasperation, "Don't you listen to anything I say?"
"Some of the time," he replied honestly.
She rolled her eyes, "Eriol Hiiragizawa is the half reincarnation of Clow Reed. He also lives in London."
"Oh," Ron kept walking. "Well, I reckon that people will be asking about you today, eh?"
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Well, Hogwarts has never had transfer students before. No one noticed yesterday because they were too busy asking people how their summers went, right?" Ron paused at the doors to the great hall. "So brace yourselves for teasing and questions." He grinned at Harry, "It'll be a nice break for you, eh, mate? No one'll be asking you questions, not with these two around."
Harry smiled, "I guess you're right." He pushed the doors open, "Well, let's go."
*~*
Sakura and Syaoran's second look at the hall was just as impressive as the first. Instead of the ceiling being dark as night and full of stars, it was bright with the early morning sun, which gave the house and high tables a slightly different effect than the previous night. Sakura looked curiously at the ceiling, "How'd they change it so fast?"
Hermione glanced up, "Oh, it's enchanted to look like the real sky. Don't worry about it."
"Hmm..." Sakura wished that she could do magic like that. She blinked. That was why she was there. To learn to do tricks like that and to give her a bit more practice at more damage inflicting spells.
As the five of them passed the other tables, people's heads turned. Ron had been right. They were being noticed this morning. Draco was glaring at Syaoran and Sakura as they passed, and while Syaoran glared back, Sakura simply cowered slightly behind him. When they finally sat down at Gryffindor table and began serving themselves, two small boys came scurrying over, "Harry, who're these guys? Why're they here?"
"Hullo Colin," Harry rolled his eyes. "Hullo Dennis. This is Sakura Kinomoto, and this is Syaoran Li," Harry pointed to them in each in turn. "They're transfer students. They're from Japan and China."
The brothers turned their wide eyes on Sakura and Syaoran, who suddenly felt uncomfortable with all this attention. Colin opened his mouth to say something when Ginny came over and glared at Colin and Dennis. "Shove off, you two. You have no right bothering them like this."
Sakura, glancing around, saw everyone in the hall staring at them with interest. Before Sakura could say anything, Ron handed her a piece of parchment, "Course schedule," he said. He looked at theirs as they looked over it themselves, "Hmm...Looks like you've got that we do. Dumbledore must want you two to be Aurors."
"Aurors?" Sakura looked at the tall boy, "What's an Auror?"
"Blimey, I keep forgetting that you two don't know anything about this kind of magic," Ron glanced up at the high table, "Wonder what Dumbledore was thinking...Well, anyway, an Auror is a person who fights dark wizards and that kind of thing."
Harry had been listening keenly, "Yeah, and it's really hard to become an Auror. You guys are lucky that you didn't have to take the O.W.L.s. They're terrible. But you must've had a fair amount of practice at this sort of thing if Dumbledore didn't make you take them. What kinds of stuff have you gone up against?"
Sakura and Syaoran exchanged a look. "Too much," Sakura replied. "Even though we haven't had a lot of active threats in a long time, it was hard to get through it. First, I had to collect all the Clow Cards."
"Hey! I helped!" Syaoran exclaimed.
Sakura grinned, "Yeah, you did." He blushed, and she continued, "And then I had to transform them all into Sakura Cards. And the final parts of both of those was hard."
Ginny was listening curiously, "What happened in them?"
"Well, in the first one, I had to defeat Yue, the judge, or else everyone who had been involved with the Clow Cards would lose the memory of the most important person in their lives...and the second one was that if I didn't defeat Eriol's darkness by dawn, everyone would stay asleep forever...and I'd be all alone forever..." Sakura looked down.
"Woah...And how old were you?" Hermione asked.
"Eleven," Sakura replied calmly, finally sitting down and putting food on her plate. "So what are all these classes about?"
Harry and Ron gave Hermione a meaningful look, which she seemed to ignore, but then answered the question, "Well, Defense Against the Dark Arts is very important to being an Auror. That class is about defending yourself against dark magic and creatures. Professor Mizuki will be teaching that. Then there's Potions, and that's all about concocting mixtures that can alter your appearance, put your enemies to sleep, or any number of things. That's taught by Professor Snape." At the mention of this name, Ron and Harry both feigned retching. Hermione smiled slightly and continued, "He's the one up there with the really greasy hair. And there's also Charms, which is just, well, what it sounds like, charming things to make them do different things, like cheering people up, or making things fly. Professor Flitwick teaches that. He's the really tiny one up at the staff table. Then there's Transfiguration, taught by Professor McGonagall, which is a course about transforming things into other things, which is also useful if you want to be an Auror, being able to transform things and such. Then we decided to keep Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Oh goodness!" Hermione glanced at her watch. "We'll be late for our first lesson!"
"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at his schedule. Harry snorted, "Figures. Advanced Potions..."
"Urgh..." Ron replied looking equally disgusted. "Why is it that we always have Snape first day?"
"I don't know but I'm really getting sick of it," Harry replied. "And we're STILL with the Slytherins," he groaned.
"What's so bad about Snape?" Sakura asked innocently.
"Well, the fact that he's a huge prat doesn't help him," Ron said acidly.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, he's the most unfair teacher we have. Last term he was just awful. He hates me because of my dad --" Harry cut off, looking down at his feet. He was remembering what he had seen in the pensive last term about his dad, and how he hadn't always been the hero that he was in Harry's mind. "Anyway, try not to get on the wrong side of Snape, or you'll regret it for the rest of your lives. You already stand out, because you're new."
Syaoran nodded knowingly, "I see. I had a teacher like that in Hong Kong."
Sakura noticed that they were walking down more and more flights of stairs and saw more and more torches lighting the way, "Where is his classroom?"
"It's not a classroom, it's a dungeon," Hermione replied as they turned down a long hall. "Here we are," she stopped in front of one of the dungeons, and Sakura peered inside warily.
Syaoran rolled his eyes and pushed her through the door after Hermione and Ron and Harry followed, sniggering slightly. Syaoran looked around the class, and, to his dislike, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all there. He glared at them and settled in his seat. No sooner had he done this than Professor Snape entered the room and marched straight to the front of the classroom. After a brief glance around, his gaze rested on Sakura and Syaoran. He raised his eyebrows, "I suppose you two are the new students, are you?"
"Yes sir," Sakura and Syaoran replied in unison.
Snape sniffed and turned his eyes to Harry, and they noticed that his lip twitched noticeably when he looked at him. "Well, the only way you could have gotten yourselves here is by getting an E or higher on your O.W.L. for this class. So few of you remain. Well, today we start with potion of intellect. The instructions are on the board, and the necessary supplies are in the store cupboards. Begin," he flicked his wand at the board and the instructions appeared on the blackboard. It took Sakura a second to realize that all her classmates were heading towards the ingredients.
She hurried to collect her ingredients and then returned to her cauldron, where she began to brew the potion. She read and reread the instructions, and then began with the first step. Beside her, Syaoran's brow was furrowed in concentration, and she could've sworn that she heard Ron swear at Snape quietly.
*~*
An hour and a half later, their potions were simmering and pale orange smoke was emitting from most of the cauldrons. Or at least CLOSE to orange. Sakura was very pleased, because hers was the exact same color as Hermione's, and she took up a flask to be graded just like the others were doing. Syaoran's was slightly off, but overall, he was pleased with himself. He flasked a sample and took it up to Snape.
As the five of them left the dungeon, Ron and Harry stared at the two of them. "What?" Sakura asked uncomfortably.
"How is it that it took us five YEARS to be able to make a potion as good as yours, but you could do it the first time you tried?" Ron finally asked.
"I don't know..." Sakura replied honestly. "We just...could..."
Harry shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe it. Well, we've got Charms next. Let's get going."
*~*
The five of them entered a proper classroom this time, and were greeted, once again by the stares of every person in the room. Ron groaned, "Another double period. At least it's with Ravenclaw this time."
Harry and Hermione grinned at one another. They all took their seats, and Professor Flitwick took attendance, "I'd like to welcome two new students to our number today. Miss Sakura Kinomoto and Mr. Syaoran Li. Please make them feel at home in the castle." The tiny man beamed at them. "Today, we will begin with memory charms. This is a very important spell for use on Muggles, and occasionally on fellow witches and wizards. Please open your books to page 10, and begin reading. Halfway through the period, we will begin to try the spell on toads. Begin."
The only sound made for the first 45 minutes of class was the turning of pages as the class read through the proper way to use a memory charm. Syaoran poured over the information, absorbing it as he went. Sakura was having a slightly harder time concentrating, but she tried as hard as she could to understand how the wand movement and spell ("Obliviate") were to be executed.
Sakura couldn't have been happier when Flitwick started handing out toads and wands were taken out. Sakura took out her wand, in some distaste. This whole thing could be done much quicker with the staff. In the back of her mind, she felt the cards' agitation at this new magic. She silently apologized, and began work with her wand.
Syaoran, too, thought that this could be dealt with much faster with a different type of magic, but he went along with it, blundering slightly like everyone else in the room. He looked around and noticed that Ron was particularly wary of using the spell. When Harry noticed Syaoran observing Ron, he quietly explained, "Ron's old wand accidentally backfired on him 4 years ago and caused our old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's memory to be permanently damaged. He didn't remember who he was." On an afterthought, he added, "Of course, he was trying to modify OUR memories, so I don't feel too sorry for him."
The two of them her a little huff of impatience and the looked around to see Hermione, looking slightly peeved. Harry grinned, "Hermione had a crush on Lockhart." Syaoran glanced at her, and she blushed.
*~*
When the class was finally over, they went down to the Great Hall for lunch, and as Sakura sank into a chair, Professor McGonagall walked over to them. "Miss Kinomoto, you have a visitor." Sakura looked slightly taken aback. Who would visit her? "Well, come along then," McGonagall said impatiently. Obediently, Sakura rose and followed her out of the Great Hall, wishing she could just eat.
When they arrived at her office, Sakura heard an unmistakable squeal of delight, and an equally unmistakable chuckle. "Sakura-chan! I'm so happy to see you!!" Tomoyo was hugging her around the neck.
"To-Tomoyo-chan!?" Sakura exclaimed. This was the last person she expected to visit her. Over Tomoyo's shoulder, she saw Eriol smiling slyly. "What're you doing here?"
"You thought you'd just leave me in Japan? Sakura, I'm surprised at you!" Tomoyo stood back and looked critically at Sakura's outfit. "Hmm...This uniform could definitely use some perks, but, as it's a uniform, I guess I can't do anything about it."
Sakura sweatdropped, 'Same old Tomoyo-chan...' she thought. "But Tomoyo, how'd you get here? I thought non-magic people couldn't find this place."
"I brought her. It's quite impossible to ignore her when she comes to visit and asks about you constantly. I finally just brought her here so that I could have so peace," Eriol said. It was the first thing he had said the entire time. Professor McGonagall simply sat at her desk, almost looking amused. "And, you realize that Tomoyo is quite capable of finding a place like this on her own. This place is only protected from normal non- magic people. You and I both know that Tomoyo is much more observant than your average person."
Tomoyo had long since let Sakura go, and was now just beaming at her best friend. "Well, Sakura, are you going to introduce me to all your other friends, or not?"
"Professor?" Sakura asked.
"It's all right. It's a little unusual, but it's quite all right," McGonagall gave her a small smile. "I trust that people will be immensely curious about you, Miss Daidouji."
"I think I'll join you for lunch, and then go speak to Dumbledore," Eriol added. "Do you mind, Sakura-san?"
"No! Never, Eriol-kun," Sakura beamed, and led her two friends down the corridors, and was still a little uncertain about where she was going. When she was actually lost, she turned to Eriol, "I'm lost..." she admitted.
Eriol smiled good-naturedly, "It's all right. I still remember how to get around here."
Tomoyo sighed, "It's too bad that my video camera won't work here..."
"It doesn't?" Sakura asked curiously.
"No...I read Hogwarts, A History while I was at Eriol's. It was very interesting, but electronic things won't work here. There's too much magic in the air," she replied. "It's a shame to lose all this cuteness, but I suppose it's good enough that I'm here to see it."
Sakura blushed and sweatdropped, and then turned back to Eriol, "Um, Eriol, why can't I just use my staff?"
Eriol raised his eyebrows, "Well, you could. This whole experience is to help you and Li understand other magicks, and to show these students that magic exists in forms other than theirs. You're allowed to use your magic, and the teachers know that. Here we are." Eriol led them down a final staircase into the entrance hall. He pushed the door open. "Now, I believe you're in Gryffindor?"
"Yeah," she replied. She led them to the table.
Syaoran looked amazed at their appearance. "D-daidouji? Hiiragizawa?"
Tomoyo smiled, "Nice to see you again, Li."
Hermione looked up at the mention of the name "Hiiragizawa." As she looked at the two people next to Sakura she said, "Sakura, is this Eriol Hiiragizawa?"
"Er...Yes," Sakura said nervously. "And this is my friend, Tomoyo Daidouji. Tomoyo, Eriol, these are my new friends, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger."
Everyone around them looked around as Hermione leapt to her feet and shook Eriol's hand, "It's amazing to meet you, sir!" She was bubbling with happiness.
Eriol smiled again, "Hello. You may call me Eriol. And you're Hermione?"
"Yes, Eriol," she replied eagerly. "Are you eating with us?"
"Yes, and then I'm meeting with the headmaster," Eriol nodded towards the teacher's table, and everyone looked up there. McGonagall had reappeared, and Dumbledore was staring at the group of Japanese children with interest. Eriol sat down, and Tomoyo and Sakura followed suit.
Sakura grabbed food from the nearest plates, and began to eat with vigor. Tomoyo took some food and began to eat, slightly more daintily than Sakura, but still looking hungry. Eriol ate some, and was done before either of them. When everyone around them finished, Sakura introduced Tomoyo to everyone. "This is Tomoyo Daidouji. She's my best friend from Japan. She's a Muggle."
At that statement, everyone started. "How can a Muggle be here?" "Why's she here?" "What's Muggle life like?" "How'd you get here?" "I thought Muggles couldn't find this place!" "Will she tell anyone?"
Tomoyo smiled, and Sakura explained calmly, "Eriol brought Tomoyo here. She would never tell anyone a secret that needs to be kept. And she's not like most Muggles. She notices a lot. She knows more about me than I know myself. She probably could've found this place even if Eriol hadn't brought her."
Eriol rose from his seat, "While it has been lovely to meet you all," his gaze lingered on Harry, "I must be going. The headmaster is expecting me." People stared as he left. He did have a way of drawing attention to himself. It didn't help that he wasn't wearing robes, but traditional Chinese clothes, that were no doubt elegant, but did make him stick out against the sea of robes.
Tomoyo, dressed in a pale yellow dress stood out too, and she was still getting the odd stare, and some malicious, if they came from the Slytherin table, but Eriol had a way of carrying himself that made people watch him. Harry noticed Malfoy in particular looking at Tomoyo with hatred, and quickly said something. "Um, maybe we should get out of here for now. Like, maybe to the courtyard."
"Sounds good," Ron agreed, glaring at Malfoy. "Come on, guys."
The six of them got up and left the Great Hall, with curious stares following them all the way out.
*~*
Well...that's the end of chapter five. Hee hee...Tomoyo-chan! Are you guys happy now? You didn't really think I forgot about her, did you? So, read (well, you've obviously already read) and review, if you please. Author schpeal:
What will happen next chapter? What will Eriol and Dumbledore talk about? Will Tomoyo stay? Will the Slytherins conspire against our poor, Muggle, Sakura-obsessed girl? Probably. Anyway: Tune in next time for --- (dum dum dum) CHAPTER SIX!!!
Check ya later
-- Sakura Kaijuu