No, Prof. McGonagall doesn't call out the transfers in any particular order, other than that's the way they were written when she received their information. Actually, it's just so I can get Kouichi-kun called last, for dramatic reasons…(slinks into the corner to strangle her muse for never making any sense)

Disclaimer: I don't Harry Potter or the characters of Digimon Frontier. I'm just weird. Oh, and I wrote the Sorting Hat's song. It's mine too.

Chapter 10: The Sorting Hat's Decision

The station was, as usual, unbelievably crowded.

Harry and the others made their way through the throng as best they could. There was a rising din from the crowds around them, catering excitedly to each other. A familiar, deep, voice sounded above them.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Come on now, let's keep it movin'."

Tomoki stumbled, caught in the wave, and ran head-first into something large, shaggy and soft. He sat there, stunned a moment, before he realized that he was half-buried in a large, black moleskin overcoat, and that whoever was wearing it was currently speaking to him.

"Eh, there. Yeh alright? Can't 'ave yeh gettin' hurt a'fore yeh even get up to the school, now can we?"

Tomoki blinked up at the giant, bewildered a moment, then jumped back. "S-Sorry." he sputtered, a bit surprised.

"Don't be. No trouble at all." the giant eyed him. "Never seen yeh before…Firs' year?"

"N-No…" Tomoki gasped, trying to remember. "I-I think I'm s-supposed to be a fourth."

"Yeh one of the Transfers?" Hagrid asked. The boy nodded dumbly, still marveling over the huge man before him. "Thought so. Well, we don't have quite enough boats for your lot as well as these. You'll be headin' over in the carriages with the rest o' the school."

Tomoki stumbled back into the crowd, then stopped to make a hasty bow. "Thank you very much, Mr.…Uh…"

"Hagrid. Fer now, jus' call me Hagrid." the giant winked at him, the turned back into the crowd. "Firs' years! Anymore firs' years? This way now, come on!"

Tomoki hurried to catch up with the others.

He found them at the entrance to the station, staring dumbfounded at the large, black carriages at they rattled down the dirt road. Several others, mostly second years, were doing the same, rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

"W-What's pulling the coaches?" Izumi gasped.

Hermione looked like she was about to answer, then Kouji spoke up. "Who says they're being pulled by anything? Maybe they run on their own, like a car on magic."

The three who had previously been to Hogwarts looked momentarily confused and relieved at the same time. Then Kouichi spoke up, in the same quiet voice as always. "What do you mean, on their own?"

"What do you mean?" Takuya asked as the black carts pulled to a stop in front of them. "Do you see anything pulling these things?"

"Yes." Ron nearly fell over, but the dark-haired transfer was still staring just in front of the first cart. "Those…Those black horse things…With the wings, like Dragons or something…"

His friends looked concerned. "You sure you're feeling okay?" Junpei asked. "Maybe you're seeing things."

Hermione recovered her voice. "Kimura, you can see the thestrals?"

"Can you?" Kouichi looked a bit relieved.

"No…" his face fell a little. "But Harry can."

Now Kouji and the others looked pointedly confused. "You can?"

Harry nodded. "Since last year."

"But why?" Tomoki squinted at the carriages as other students began to climb in. "None of us can see them, so why do you…?"

"Only wizards who have seen death can see the thestrals." Hermione muttered almost ceremonially.

For a moment, Kouichi looked confused, then a slight realization dawned in his eyes. "Oh…" he muttered. "…Grandma."

It wasn't an outright lie, he truly had seen his grandmother's final breaths. But it wasn't what he, or any of the others were thinking about. He'd seen, closer and better than anyone else, what death really was…

"Anyway…" Ron cleared his throat. "Let's get in before everyone leaves us behind. We don't want to be late."

They managed to find two empty carts, where they stumbled on a problem. The carriages were made for four, and as soon as said fourth person entered, the doors slammed shut and it took off. The transfers found this out the hard way, as Kouji tried to get in after Takuya and was knocked back to the ground by the slamming doors.

Izumi leaned out the window and shouted as the twins left behind. "We didn't do it, I swear!"

"Right…" Kouji groaned, as his brother helped him back to his feet.

Harry leaned out of their cart. "One of you can come with us." he called. "We've still got one seat left."

"No thank…" Kouji started, but Kouichi cut him off.

"Kouji, go on." he urged. "There are only a few carts left, who knows if any of them have two places?"

He pointed off where the last three carts were waiting. "See? There's one right here I can get into. And it's going to be, what, a ten-minute ride?"

Kouji faltered. "Nii-san…"

"We'll be fine." Kouichi smiled. "Now come on, go."

Kouji gave in and climbed into the cart, but he hesitated a moment in the door as his brother approached another carriage. He muttered something to the people inside, seamed to be accepted, and climbed in. The door slammed shut.

Kouji sighed and sat down, as both doors slammed and the carriage took off with the rest of them.

"…A little nervous, are we?" Ron asked with a slight grin.

The black-haired boy leveled a gaze at him. "I get…a little anxious, when we're separated." he muttered curtly. "In case you didn't notice, he's not exactly the social type…"

"Relax." Hermione smiled. "There's no reason to worry. It's not like any of the students are psychopaths…"

"Right…" Ron hissed in Harry's ear. "Any of the students."

. . . . . .

About ten minutes later, they arrived outside the front entrance of Hogwarts. Kouji, unsurprisingly, hovered at the side of the stairs for his brother. Harry sighed, pausing next to him, while Ron and Hermione stopped a slight ways up.

Kouji looked up at him coolly. "You can go on."

"I know." Harry shrugged. "We just want to make sure you two get in okay. It's easy to get lost around here…"

Hermione suddenly frowned. "Oh, dear…"

"What?" Harry turned back and frowned as well.

Kouichi was climbing out of a carriage, followed by two large, burly boys in green-trimmed uniforms, who were accompanying a smaller one with greased, white-blonde hair. He was talking to the transfer with a grin on his pale face, looking very pleased with himself, though Kouichi…as usual…was having trouble responding.

"Malfoy." Ron spat.

Kouji's eyes shot to him. "You know that guy?"

"Too well." Harry muttered.

Kouichi looked up about that time, smiling when he spotted his brother. "Kouji!" he called, and hurried up the steps to join him. "See? I told you we'd all get here okay."

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sauntered up the steps in an odd kind of formation. The two groups eyed each other venomously, with the twins between them looking rather awkward. For a short time, no one said a word.

"Potter! Malfoy!" Prof. McGonagall, in her usual festive green robes, hair tied back in a tight bun, came striding down the steps with her most serious glare in place. "Do not cause trouble here today. Inside. Now."

Malfoy tossed his hair back with a cold, sly smirk, and motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to follow. Prof. McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the twins. "And…you must be the last two transfers." she said quietly. "Follow me, please."

They muttered a quick goodbye to Harry and the others, then followed her into the antechamber where the first years had gathered.

As they entered the Great Hall, Ron looked up at the Head Table, scanning the teachers thoughtfully. "Darn, Snape hasn't gotten sacked yet." he muttered. "Who do you suppose they got for Defense this year?"

"Well, the new teacher is obviously the one." Hermione sighed, brushing her bangs back and scanning the Gryffindor table for a free spot. "I just hope we're not stuck with another ministry flunky this year…"

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed quite suddenly. "It's Tonks!!"

Harry and Hermione both snapped their heads up. He was quite right, the young Morphmagus Auror was sitting just to Snape's right, chatting merrily with Prof. Flitwick. Her hair was currently shoulder-length and curly, a bright shade of lime green, while her eyes, for one reason or another, seamed to be glowing purple.

"She's teaching this year?" Ron muttered as they sat down. "Boy, I have to see how this turns out…"

Hermione frowned and opened her mouth as if to say something, but the door at the back of the room suddenly flew open, and the entire hall went silent.

McGonagall marched forward, carrying a thick roll of parchment and the old, frayed Sorting Hat in her hands. The first years, about thirty of them, filed along behind her in two lines. And at the very end was a rather taller group, the six transfers, who were kind of clustered together in a less organized fashion.

Whispers almost instantly filled the hall. "Who're those guys?"

"They don't look like they're from around here."

"Woah, that blonde is somethin'! What a bod!"

"Aren't they a little old for first years?"

"Oooh, the guy in the back is so cute!!"

"Which one?"

"Him! That long hair…It's just so cool…"

They'd arrived at the front of the Hall. McGonagall conjured a stool forward and set the hat on it, stepping back. For a moment, no one made a sound, but then the long rip around the brim opened at the hat began to sing:

"From times of old I've seen the lot, they've come from far and near,

From over the land and across the sea, their paths have brought them here.

Their differences that make them great, it is my job to see,

So that I may place them where they are supposed to be.

Those who go to Gryffindor should pride themselves as brave,

While for those who work their hardest sweet Hufflepuff does save.

For Ravenclaw, the cleverest are placed above the rest,

While sly and cunning Slytherin finds ambition far the best.

So weather you came from the farthest shore, or a place that's right near by,

Just slip on this old Sorting Hat, and your place I will decide."

The school clapped and cheered as the hat fell quiet. Harry felt very relieved that the Sorting Hat did not see fit to 'warn' them this year. Maybe they'd fixed whatever was the problem.

McGonagall strode forward and picked it up, unrolling the parchment and announcing the first new student.

Harry pulled his eyes off Tonk's new hairstyle to focus on the Sorting. The Transfers remained separate from the others, all more than a little nervous. Not that he blamed them, the entire school was staring, even through the cheers…

The Great Hall burst into applause as the last First Year took his place at the Hufflepuff table. Prof. Dumbledore stood, brushing off his long beard, and beamed merrily at his school before speaking.

"Before we continue on tonight, there is a bit more sorting to be done." he announced in a loud-yet-gently-quiet voice. "As some of you may have discovered on the train, we have several exchange students this year, joining us from the Shibuya Shrine of Tokyo, Japan." He beamed at the six lined in front of him. "Their instructors have recommended each of them with high praise, and I trust you will make them all welcome. Professor McGonagall?"

The women nodded, stepping forward once more with a new piece of parchment. She unrolled it, holding it up to the light a moment. "Entering Fourth Year." she announced. "Himi, Tomoki!"

The smallest student gulped, hurrying forward to climb up on the stool. The hat slipped down over his ears, catching on his nose instead and making a few people in the hall laugh. He sat there a moment in silence, and then…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The farthest table cheered as Prof. McGonagall helped him get the hat off, then as the smaller boy dashed over. A couple of fourth-year boys started up a conversation.

"Entering Sixth Year!" McGonagall continued. "Kanbara, Takuya!"

"Here we go." the boy whispered in a self-pep-talk, going forward.

The hat barely touched his head before it shouted. "GRYFFINDOR!"

The far table cheered again. Takuya hurried over, taking a place between Tomoki and Dean Thomas.

"Orimoto, Izumi!"

The blonde girl sat a few moments, then was proclaimed a "RAVENCLAW!"

The blue-robed table cheered as she hurried over. Harry noticed Cho Chang lean over to pat her on the shoulder.

"Minamoto, Kouji!" the twins exchanged glances of encouragement, and the younger of the two went to sit. Several girls in the hall squealed and whispered to each other excitedly.

He sat there for almost two minutes before it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Kouji went to sit between Harry and Dean, carefully avoiding both Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil to do so.

"Kimura, Kouichi!"

Ron and Harry exchanged confused glances. Why did the twins have different last names? They didn't think long, though, turning back to the front as the hat slipped over the quiet boy's eyes. Kouji was glaring at the hat, as though daring it to try and put his brother somewhere else.

Kouichi sat there a moment, hearing a gentle "Hm…Hm…" in his ear. After a moment, the sound turned into words.

"My my…Such interesting lives you transfers lead." the hat chuckled. "And difficult, your case is…I haven't had this kind of challenge in years. And a True Dark as well? Ah, such a rare sight in these parts. There's only one other in the school now…"

Kouichi held his breath, shifting a bit. The hat chuckled and continued. "Now, where to put you, where to put you? Your brother went to Gryffindor, and I'll admit that you are brave…Risking, and even sacrificing your own life in defense of your friends? Noble, indeed…But no. Gryffindor is not for you…Ravenclaw, perhaps? You are quite clever, uniquely so, along with your friend there…But no…Hufflepuff? Certainly not, silence, for whatever reason, does not live well there. Besides, you need encouragement, a fuel to your fire to spark the ambition within I sense that you have pressed dormant. And then there is the matter of the other True…yes, I think it's for the best."

"What…?" Kouichi whispered. This was taking so long, none of the others had been here this amount of time. "Where…?"

"A word of care, Kouichi Kimura." the hat whispered. "Just because you are the Darkness, does not mean you must hide in your brother's shadow."

Kouichi's eyes widened, but before he could say another word the hat gave another great announcement…

"SLYTHERIN!!"

TBC…

…Please don't hurt me. I have reasons for doing this, I swear…

Oh, and I know someone will ask why only Kouichi could see the thestrals, when they all watched him 'die' in the Digital World, and it's very simple: The entire time he was there, I think he was already dead. Remember, he was a spirit the whole time, and force great enough to pull the spirit from the body could most certainly be death…