Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just the garden gnomes on my lawn.
Chapter 2: Arrival
Hermione showed up to the dock. Her ticket told her to leave from dock thirteen on the ship MMS Merlin at 11 o'clock exactly. To get on board, she must only show her ticket. Hermione found dock eleven and dock twelve, but no dock thirteen. When she asked a sailor about dock thirteen, he yelled at her for mentioning the unlucky number. Feeling rather discouraged, Hermione walked back to dock twelve. She stood facing the sea from the end of the dock when a person tapped her shoulder. She turned to face the dockmaster.
"Are you lost young lady? From what I heard you are looking for dock thirteen. Are you?" Even though he was old, his voice was young and pleasant. His blue clothes hung loosely on his frail looking body.
"Yes. I'm trying to get on the ship for MICM." Hermione hoped he would have some clue of what she was talking about. She reached for her wand in case she might need it.
"May I see your ticket please?"
Hermione handed him her boarding ticket. It was a lamented piece of paper with a picture of a wand on it. Touching the wand were a unicorn's horn, a phoenix claw, and a dragon claw. The dockmaster took it, looked at it, nodded his head, and said, "Follow me Miss Granger."
Hermione followed the dock master along several lengths of a ship, until she came to a rowboat. The dockmaster yelled at a sleeping man dressed like a sailor, "Oy!"
"Aye?"
"This young lass is going to MICM. Get her there."
"Aye sir. Miss?" He looked at her and helped her into the boat. He was middle-aged, and his muscles showed beneath the cloth of his striped sailor shirt. He took a hold on the oars and began rowing out to sea.
"What's your name lass?" he asked.
"My name is Hermione Granger."
"Do you by any chance know a lad by the name of Ron Wesley?"
"I know a Ron Weasley, if that's who you mean."
"Yeah, that's the lad."
"Yes, why?"
"He just got on board before you showed up."
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked. She began searching the water for a ship of any kind, but they were the only ones she could see.
"Lookin' for the ship lass?" There was a smile on his face, and a chuckle in his voice.
"Yes, where is it?"
"Many students ask that their first year. See, we use a common port of muggles to impress all of our students." The sailor took a whistle on a chain from inside his shirt, and sounded it's shrill cry three times. It was answered by a boat horn blasting twice. Then it came into view. It was incredible. It reminded Hermione of the luxury cruise liners on TV. It was a large, sleek, white ship with a unicorn at the bow of the ship. The sails were painted with dragons and phoenixes, and a flag flew from the mast. A ladder was lowered over the side, and the sailor beckoned Hermione to climb up. She turned to pick up her bags, and noticed that the sailor had a wand in his hand.
"Let me get those for you." He spoke very eloquently now. And he seemed to have suddenly become regal. With a flick of his wand her bags floated over the side, and once again he invited her to climb the ladder. When she reached the top two sailors offered her their hands to help her over.
"Welcome aboard the MMS Merlin miss," one sailor said. He was dressed slightly better than the other one who helped her up.
Once on deck she looked around, many students were on board in casual or swim wear. The wizard that had rowed her to the ship swung his legs on deck.
"Welcome back skipper," the welcoming sailor said.
"Thank you Mr. Gwen."
"Shall we depart sir?" Mr. Gwen asked.
"Ay Mr. Gwen. Miss Granger here was the last on our list to get aboard. And, remarkably enough, we will be leaving ahead of schedule." The captain took his navy blue coat, hat, and medals and put them on. Now he looked like a sea captain. He walked over to Hermione, and bowed slightly. Not knowing what to think she stood there.
"Sorry if I startled you Miss Granger. I like being the first one to see the new students. My name is Captain Meno, not to be confused with my grandfather Nemo, and I am the Aquatics Professor at school."
"You are a captain and a professor?" Hermione's head was spinning.
"Yes. I've always had a passion for the sea. I hope you'll be taking my class, I'd like someone as intelligent as you in there."
"Thank you. Where's Ron?"
"Oh, I believe he's over by the pool talking to a Harry Potter."
"Thank you captain."
"You're very welcome Miss Granger."
Hermione walked slowly along the deck until she found the pool. It was a modest outdoor pool, and had enough water to allow for a diving board. She saw many faces that she didn't know, and a few she did. She quickly found Ron in his swimming trunks tanning himself next to Harry. A girl directly to Harry's right was deep in conversation with him, and as Hermione came closer she saw that it was Lavender Brown.
"Hi Hermione," Lavender said.
Ron sat up faster than he should have, and gave his head a blood rush. He got up and gave Hermione a quick kiss, before leading her back over to where he was sitting. He had put on a little muscle after working for a conventional farm and playing Quidditch with the Gryffindor house team. Harry too had put on some muscle, and for the first time Hermione noticed that he actually was darker than Ron.
"How are you Hermione?" Harry asked. Lavender tried to divert his attention back to herself. She was sitting in a strapless two piece, and was doing very well in keeping Harry's attention. Ever since Harry had vested Voldemort, girls just wouldn't leave him alone, and Lavender was no exception.
"Oh isn't this precious?" came an all too familiar voice.
Every looked to see Draco Malfoy, with a girl leaning on his bare shoulder. They were both dressed for a fun time at the pool, and looked kinda cute together.
"What's precious?" Harry asked. He didn't have to put up with anything from Draco now. He could kick his ass, and he would if Malfoy gave him any trouble.
"Just the three of you still being as close as you always have been. Do you enjoy having your three-some?"
The girl leaning on his shoulder, stood away from him and slapped him hard.
"Shut that mouth, or I'll slap it shut!"
"You know I'm just playing around. Harry, Ron, and Hermione; can you all accept an apology of an insufferable prick like me?"
Hermione turned to look at Ron, who looked as though he had just been flashed by a hundred watt light, and then turned to Harry. He looked at Hermione questioningly, and then back at Malfoy. "Why should we?"
"Because I never really meant anything I said about you guys. I was just jealous of Ron and you Harry. And I had my own personal agenda in mind for Hermione."
The girl by his side whispered in his ear, and Malfoy turned to her and said, "Well, at least I'm honest." She nodded her head as if content.
"You were jealous of me?" Ron asked. "I mean I can understand being jealous of Harry, but why me?"
"You were fifteen points up from me on all of our year rankings, and Hermione liked you."
"Hello! Am I a ghost here or something?" the girl asked.
"I'm sorry. Everyone this is Maria Morris, my girlfriend. We got our letters early so we toured the grounds and met there, and we've been going out ever since. She keeps me in line," Malfoy joked.
"Well, Malfoy, I suppose I can accept your apology," Hermione said. She didn't mind a kid lookin' as good as Draco did having a secret crush on her, even if it was over.
"Well can you start calling me Draco? I get so tired of being called Malfoy. We'll get enough of our last names from the teachers. Well, Maria and I are going to go play water volleyball with her friends. Want to come?"
Harry nodded his head, and Ron looked at Hermione to see if they wanted to play. Hermione thought for minute, took out her wand, and changed her clothes into a light red two-piece. "Let's go!"
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When the ship docked on the island all of the students walked down the ramp to see a magnificent island. The brochure Hermione had looked at was right. There were mountains, and the island was secluded. She rubbed her shoulder; she had gotten a sun burn playing volleyball. She felt a hand on hers and turned to find Captain Meno. He gave her a vial.
"This is a good potion to cure that right up, and is scented with palm trees." Hermione opened the lid, and sure enough, palm trees wafted from the vial. Captain Meno nodded to her, and walked to the front of all the students, and cleared his throat. He was an average age man with slightly brown hair, and a tan to make him look like a tree.
"Not all of you know me, so I'll introduce myself. My name is Captain Meno, and I will now escort you to the main hall, called the Grubbery. Just a brief history of the college; Merlin himself built it and hand picked students to train under him personally. We as your teachers will follow his base curriculum, and you will have your elective classes. You will also have the opportunity to compete for the Magical Cups we host. There is the Unicorn Cup; for girls only, the Dragon Cup; for boys only, and then the Phoenix Cup. The Phoenix Cup is awarded to one individual who excels in all their activities. The winners of the cups get a bag of galleons, and special privileges. Now, to the Grubbery for the welcoming feast, and opening remarks. Follow me please."
Captain Meno lead a wake through a forest to a majestic castle. It looked just like one out of a fairy tale, and many of the students stopped in awe of it, before proceeding on. Meno stopped in front of the doors, and turned to face the crowd.
"When you go inside, you will find an empty table. You are to go to that table and stand by a seat, do not sit until told. Tradition is very important here. Now, let's go in."
Captain Meno pushed open the doors, and strode towards the front of the students already there. There will six tables, and the one on the far left was the one for them. The teacher's table was empty, and Meno walked to right in front of it, stopped, and turned around. After all the students were by a chair waiting, he motioned he was ready to speak.
"Students; your teachers."
The teachers filled past them in a parade of rainbows. Each teacher wore a color different from the rest, and the leader of them all wore bright pink robes, and stopped to shake Meno's hand. The teachers walked around to their individual places, and looked at the man with the bright pink robes. He stood in front of his chair, and waited for a moment.
"Welcome one and all to Merlin's International College of Magic. I am Tyson Zelgrave, the Headmaster here. I would like to acknowledge all the teachers that make this school possible." He paused to allow for applause. "I would also like to thank the students for showing true daring in accepting our challenge for themselves." This time the applauding pause was longer and louder. He put his hand up for silence. "And finally for the schools that send us their best: Deux Batons from France, Durmastrange from Germany, Hogwarts from England, Espiritus Tontos from Spain, and Connecticut Yankee in the United States of America. I look forward to a good year. Let us eat." Zelgrave took his seat, and all of the other teachers did so. Once all the teachers were seated, all the students sat down, and the food appeared on their plates. Just like Hogwarts, the plates were instantly refilled whenever even close to running out of food. At the end of dessert, a large assortment of pies, Zelgrave stood up to speak again.
"Rookies will please follow Professor/Captain Meno to your dormitory. Before you go, I would like to bore you with my usual speech. After curfew, the dormitories are locked, and no one but a teacher gets in or out. As you progress through the years here, your name will change as well. As first years you are rookies, and you will progress to novices, amateurs, apprentices, journeymen, and finally masters in your field. We have three in-school competitions that everyone participates in: the Unicorn, Dragon, and Phoenix Cups. You will be judged on class grade, conduct, and what your teacher believes of your abilities. You will also be judged on how well you get along with your fellow students, respond to challenges, and also how active you are in all of our circles. Now, good night, good sleep, and good luck. Your trunks are by your beds, and your school maps will be laying on your pillow." Zelgrave motioned to Meno, and Meno stood up, and lead all of the rookies to their dormitory. After explaining whom was to bunk with whom, he left them and magically locked the door. Hermione was bunking with Maria, and two other girls named Cheyenne Smith and Jean Bell. Harry was bunking with Draco, Ron, and a boy named Neal Ricker. And after Draco and Ron kissing their girlfriends good-night, everyone went to bed, dreaming of the exciting day tomorrow.
N/A: Tell me what you think of my story. I want this one to be so different from my other one, for one thing it's going to be PG-13, instead of PG. So like always, give me a review. Even if you think it sucks and that I should be drug out into the street and nuked for destroying the Harry Potter story tell me. I want to know what you think.
