HSWW And Us Chapter 1, a harry potter fanfic

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (And Us)
Chapter One

"There's going to be a Hufflepuff in the family!" Kei's father shouted excitedly. "No, Kei, it's not a birthday invitation. It's your letter for school! Don't you see, this your booklist here, and this man Dumbledore will be your Headmaster."

Kei looked skeptical, and she had every right to be. Two years ago, her father had insisted her older brother be sent to study in America. Since then, all his emails were brief and vague. Apparently schools overseas didn't understand the concept of Algebra either, replacing it with something Takeo had once called "Arithmancy". The fact was that Kei didn't trust her father's opinion of higher education. Her mother had already picked out her new school. It was close by, and had a great reputation. Her mother was a teacher, born and raised in London. She was highly educated and certainly knew her own field. Why she had fallen in love with the computer programmer from Okinawa, no one knew.

Almost as if summoned by the threat to her master plan, her mother appeared in the den. "Mr. Dalton will be her Headmaster, Dear. You have the name wrong. And what's a 'huffalump'? If it's another computer I won't have it. Our electric bill is bad enough as it is."

The showdown had begun. There was a wizard wooed by technology versus a hysterical muggle mother. Kei didn't understand half the words they used. Some of them may have been curse words. In the end, the three of them were in agreement to go to a pub to go shopping. "Mum, how do you go shopping in a pub? Is it an online cafe?"
"I don't pretend to know, Kei. We'll just humor him, alright?"

And while the women of the Fujimi family exchanged stereotypes about men, Mr. Fujimi was on the computer. Unlike his daughter, he talked to his son nearly every day. 'E-Avis' was the slang in the States. Times were different these days. Mr. Fujimi had been forced to quit school to pursue his love for muggle tech, while his son had the opportunity to combine the two. Only in America, though. The Ministry was much too stubborn to allow such things. "Online Magic Classes". When you said it out loud, it did sound a bit ridiculous. The fact was that Mr. Fujimi now had to find a way to convince his wife not only that magic existed, but also that it was safe to send their daughter to a school that taught it. He was a much smarter man than he seemed. The best way to explain it all, was to go shopping.

"I just need to check the bank first, ladies." It didn't matter what he said. He had just moved a brick wall with a stick. They were in shock. He nudged them into the street and pointed to a large building at the end of a bustling street. "Look. Bank. I'd given most of my savings to Devlin before I left." He continued once he secured their attention and got them moving. "Devlin Whitehorn was a Ravenclaw… going to use math to make brooms. Stratus, Cirrus, Nimbus... it was something like that. I was never into quidditch."

"What's kwiddish?", Kei asked. She was trying to make a mental note of every new word her father said. Hufflepoof (or was it 'puff') had been his house at Hog's Warts. He had never liked the Slithings and the Raven's Claws were snobby. The Gryphon's Doors were all full of themselves and got into trouble too often. He'd gotten a bad case of Total Petrify in his second year, and scorgification never works on clothes as well as it does on towels.

"It's a game. You'll learn all about it, I'm sure." But once again, the two females weren't listening. They had just met their first magical creature: goblins. Her mother's eyes widened close to the point of popping out (which was possible if you knew the right curse, according to her father). Kei's eyes were wide as well, but hers were filled with wonderment. They looked like tiny old men with long ears and noses. Her father guided them to a teller, where Kei's excitement suddenly exploded. "My mom's a MOOGLE!" she announced proudly to the uninterested creature. "I never met a... a you before! My name is Kei, what's yours?"

It didn't take long for them to decide that Kei and her mother should leave the bank in favor of waiting on the steps outside. The two enjoyed looking around their general vicinity, pointing at odd items in shop windows and giggling at people's strange clothes. As a result, they were much calmer when Mr. Fujimi found them. He handed a bag the size of a lunch pail to each of them. Kei was shocked at the bag's material. It was soft yet strong, was it a type of leather? Her mother immediately noticed the weight. "This... is... gold?" she gasped.
"Ah, yes well... as it turns out we have just become independently wealthy. I guess Devlin was good to his 10 promise and his brooms sell for quite a bit. Now I don't know if there's been inflation or what-not since I was a student so I pulled out double of what I would have needed as a kid. That should last you all year. I know you're a smart little spender, and that should apply to Galleons as well."

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping, with many interruptions for explanations and time for Kei's mother to calm her nerves. Potion kits with plants and powders. Books with titles that included words like "Transfiguration" and "Gramatica". Clothes that matched what most of the other shoppers were wearing. When they had finished checking off the list of required items, they moved on to what was optional. A pet.

"Frogs, rats, birds of prey… and what is this?" Mrs. Fujimi exclaimed pointing to a little blue woman with translucent wings. "Don't tell me faeries exist because I think I'll just ask a random person to start pinching me until I wake up."
"Of course it's not a faerie, Dear. That's a pixie. There's really quite a difference. And why they're being sold to students I have no idea…" It was decided in the end that Kei should have an owl. She browsed the selection and soon fell in love with a somber Hawk Owl. His chest was white with black bars while his back and wings were black with white spots. He reminded her of a mixed up zebra. "Is it safe?" She asked her father tentatively. He assured her it was, so she tested her choice by giving the bird a gentle hug. The sales clerk laughed as the owl ruffled its feathers in confusion. "Nightwind" was paid for and became an official member of the family. He would stay at the store until he could go to Hogwarts, though, as Kei's mother had put her foot down against illegally having a protected species in the house.

As evening approached, they ate a meal at a small restaurant in the Alley. "At least the food's all the same, Mum!" Kei said as she polished off a sweet potato. Her father laughed quietly under his breath, having just bought his daughter a bag of Every Flavor Beans. And he knew full well that there were a few dirt flavored ones in there. Mr. Fujimi had never been prouder of his family. His wife had become a hundred times more accepting in the course of a day, and his daughter… his daughter was looking excitedly forward into a future she couldn't even begin to imagine.

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