"Drake, will you actually get lost, I'm trying to concentrate!" Hunter grumbles from his piano.
Draco looks exasperated, "Hunter! I only breathed! Which, by the way, I do subconsciously."
"Yeah well-" THUD "Bloody Jackson, poor guy is getting old." Hunter laughs, he goes to the window to get the bundle of letters off the old eagle owl. "Mum, Dad, Mum, Prongs, Me, Me, You, You and You. Who would be sending us these?"
"Maybe if you gave me the letter we could find out? Dunderhead." Draco gibes and goes to grab for the letters.
Hunter rolls his eyes but holds his arm above his head for Draco to jump for while he shouts to his mother that there's mail. She arrives quickly and only after Draco gets cramp in his foot does he lower his arm.
Hunter opens his first letter and reads the top, "OH MERLIN!" He shouts. "Mum! It's our letters!"
He looks to Draco who is still glaring at him but grinning at the same time, making him look pretty stupid.
"How come I only have two and Dragon has three? Who else would send him one? I have Beauxbatons and Durmstrang."
Draco opens his last letter, and then his face turns sour. "Hogwarts." He spits.
"That makes sense, the English believe Hunter to be missing so a letter wouldn't automatically go to him." Narcissa explains.
Something pulls on Hunters mind and his body fills with dread, "Mother, could they trace Draco's letter here? What if they find me?"
"I doubt it sweetheart; they have no reason to believe that you would be with us. Your father even went as far as to remove your trace from the English system, the only way they could find you would be through someone telling them or picking up on your magical signature." She explains.
Hunter still doesn't look convinced, "How easy is it to check someone's magical signature?"
Narcissa takes a breath, "Stop worrying Hunter, nobody has seen you since you were a one year old baby. It has been ten years, maybe for the first few years people would be looking but now you will just be another boy to non-English people."
The dark-haired boy nods, "Football, Draco?"
"Yeah, sure."
The walk to their rooms to get a ball is quiet, "Do you think we will be in the same friend group Drake?" Hunter asks shyly.
His twin considers this for a minute, "Durmstrang is the biggest wizarding school in the world Hunt, there is no guarantee that we will like the same people." He replies somewhat sadly.
"But we will try right? We'll try to stay together?" Hunter exclaims.
Draco smiles, "Course Hunt, nothing could split us up."
Hunter still isn't convinced, what if they weren't? Would things still be the same at home? Would one of them fall into the wrong crowd? Anything could happen and Hunter hated the uncertainty of it. He didn't know how he'd cope without his Dragon.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Velcome one, velcome all. Ve Velcome you to Durmstrang Institute for gifted Vizards and Vitches." A short man with a thick Bulgarian accent exclaims. He's not small like a dwarf but even James with his five foot six glory would tower over him.
The man then tells all the new students to line up in single order and then follow him. The Durmstrang castle was a bulky structure that spread wider and further back than any other building Hunter had ever seen. The castle would be rather ordinary with its grey bricks and black roofs if it was not for the brightly coloured vines swirling up the rounded towers, reaching higher than the clouds, and the gardens and grounds that stretched for miles encased by mountains and water. The whole scene was picturesque and could have been on a muggle postcard if not for the grand boat that they were arriving on was not rising from the water.
The older years had flooed directly into their dormitories from all the student sites dotted around Europe but the first years had to floo to a building where they would be told all they needed to know. They were told that once they arrived at the school they would be sorted into their houses and given a cape to wear over their uniform in their house colour.
Rules were laid out in front of them and made clear that they must be followed, duels were allowed but a teacher must oversee it and any misbehaviour would be taken note of and punishment distributed. They had each got a map of the castle. They'd not realised how huge the building was. And when they saw it in person it looked even bigger.
Draco and Hunter stuck together but didn't talk; nobody really spoke at all just listened to the man. Eventually he had taken them outside and to the boat which was one of the biggest either of them had seen in their lifetime. The vessel had two masts both with the Durmstrang crest of a double headed eagle and a stag on the sails and dragon figurehead on the front, the whole of the group multiplied by eighteen could fit in and then some.
The boat had travelled underwater to the amazement and fear of all the passengers. Hunter stood close to Draco, not showing any of his emotions on his face, but his brother knew how petrified he was despite how good at hiding emotions he was. Hunter had expressed his fear of being separated from his brother on many occasions before arriving. Draco understood. He was scared too but thought that some separation would do them well, Hunter needed lots of allies.
His mother had spoken to him before hand to keep a watch over his twin, not to be overly protective of him or to take away from Draco's own enjoyment and school work but to just check up on him every once in a while. He knew what his mother meant. Hunter would be in danger if his true identity got out. They had even gone to the lengths of taking a different last name. They were enrolled as Hunter and Draco Lupin rather than Malfoy, which was still dangerous even though it was sparsely know this far East. Father had gone to the Headmaster and spoken to him, he was on Hunter's side, and he would keep their secret.
"What do you think the houses will be like?" Draco whispers to Hunter. Hunter just shrugs, they were almost at the giant doors that lead into the Castle they were a dark wood and seemed to have runes all around them.
The short man turned towards them and stood up a couple steps so he could address the group as a whole. "Ve are about to enter the main hallway, one by one you vill go through a set of tasks to sort you into your house. Relax and don't vorry vot house you are in, they are not competitive." He says.
"Not competitive? What about Quidditch?" Hunter whispers furiously just as the short man opens the doors.
The inside was exactly as expected from a castle, high ceiling, torches held onto the wall by brackets, doors on every wall and a grand set of staircases. They all shuffle in to the wide room. The man who still hasn't introduced himself -or if he had Hunter hadn't heard it- stands next to a door and takes out a bit of paper.
"Aarons, Ivan." The boy steps forward looking indifferent.
Mumbled conversations break out in the hall, Hunter and Draco don't talk though. They inspected their surroundings, as James taught them 'Always find an exit' he had barrelled into their heads. Which was pretty stupid 'cause they just walked through a door. Plus this is school, should they really be on high alert?
"Borisova, Antonia." Is the next name Hunter pays attention too, are they really going that fast?
The man called more names, Hunter tries to memorise faces and names. He fails.
"Hansen, Jakob." H, he had time to prepare himself for what might be in the room. There were still over one hundred kids in the room.
Hunter took a deep breath and closed his eyes, composing himself.
"Krum, Viktor." Made Hunter's eyes snap open, there would only be a few more names until he was called.
Hunter grabbed Draco's arm just as , "Lupin, Hunter" was read out. His dragon nods to him and gives him an encouraging smile. He is always so calm.
Apprehensively, he takes the steps forward towards the door and the man opens it for him. He nods his thanks. Inside the room its dark but lit by candles on a table in the middle, a man sits behind it.
"Hunter, right?" He asks kindly, an American accent pulling his tongue.
Hunter's jerky nod makes him realise he needs to calm down. "Yes, sir."
"Okay Hunter, I'm just going to ask you some simple questions. Most of them are pretty simple but some you may find difficult. Don't panic because of them though, you aren't expected to know every single one of them." Hunter nods. "First question, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
He knew this, Uncle Remus had taught them this. "Nothing sir, they are the same plant. Usually used in wolfsbane potion." Hunter realises that he added the last part out loud; he doesn't want to be a show off.
But the man doesn't look at him like he's a show off, he smiles encouragingly, "Next question, where could I find a bezoar? And what are its uses?"
Grinning, Hunter answers, "In the stomach of a goat sir, it can save you from most poisons." He knows these!
"How many of Gamp's Law's of Elemental Transfiguration can you name?"
He could barely remember any of them, he knows there was three, or was it five. "Erm… food cannot be produced out of thin air… eh…" He tries to concentrate.
"That's fine Hunter, don't worry yourself alright? Let's move on."
Seven questions later and Hunter is more worried than when he came in. He follows the man's instructions and goes through the door at the back but as he goes through it the one that he came in through opens and he turns just in time to see Draco before it shuts on his face.
A woman, with brightly coloured hijab covering her hair and neck, smiles gently towards him. He gives a light grin back. The woman introduces herself in Bulgarian and Hunter is relieved because now he can focus on speaking in the right language rather than worrying. She introduces herself as Layla and asks him to sit; she takes a cloth off of something on the table, uncovering a stack of wooden blocks. She tells him that all he has to do was make a star out of the blocks without any help.
One thing that Hunter was always good as was mending things, even without magic. He dug straight in and within two minutes he had a three dimensional star sitting in front of him about as big as his head in the place where all the blocks were. Layla smiles and tells him to move on through the next door.
The next room is practically the same as the first one but a different person in the seat. All he has to do is answer a riddle; he is absolutely terrible at riddles.
"What walks on four legs, then on two legs, and finally on three legs?" he asks.
Hunters eyebrows furrow firmly together, he squints his eyes as if it will help him think better. Not know what on earth the answer could be he just says what he would say to James if he had asked the question. "Something other than that candle?" He asks, not firm on his answer.
The lady laughs, "Clever, I would have never thought of something like that." She grins a goofy grin.
The next room is identical to the one he was just in; he has to state what he would do if he were thrown off of his broom midair. He answers that he would cast a cushioning charm. Simple.
What the next door opens up to takes Hunter completely by surprise. He's outside and the sun is high in the sky. A tall, stocky, man approaches him, "Hallo, this is optional before I explain anything.My names Villiam and I vill be supervising you as you run this obstacle course."
Finally, something I know I can do!Hunter thinks. The course proves harder than he initially thought, with having to climb up and back down a thirty foot net. But he finishes. Pretty quickly actually.
"Vell done 'Unter, that vas very impressive. I think that you vill do vell in the next task." He says in a Norwegian accent.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes!This is what Hunter is definitely good at, what he might even be best at. Flying. Eight times around the humungous Quidditch stadium. When Hunter made it back to the Woman timing him he was delighted, no more ecstaticto find out that not only was he the fastest of the whole group of first years but he'd broken a school record!He couldn't believe it, it was like he was floating on a cloud when he joint up with the rest of his classmates.
A woman was standing in front of three groups, she smiled at Hunter as he walked in (these people did seem to smile a lot) and handed him a black cape for his red robes. "Congratulations, Master Lupin, you are now a member of house Dreven, join your house mates over on the right. I am sure they will be impressed by the record you just broke." How did she even know that? She sends him a smirk but nods towards the group.
Hunter nods to all the people already standing there. After a few minutes one of them finally asks what record he broke. He gives a shy smile and tells them all about it. The group goes wild. Completely bonkers. He doesn't really understand why until someone tells him that Dreven is Norwegian for driven, this is the athletic house. Hunter is overjoyed until he remembers and as he remembers the door swings open and in comes Draco who immediately catches Hunters eye and grins. The cape in the woman's hands isn't black, its brown, they aren't in the same house. How? How can they not be? What is he supposed to do now?
He looks at Draco with agony, he needs his brother. A strong hand is slung upon his shoulder and someone asks if he's alright. He turns to see who it is, he can vaguely remember the boy, and his last name was Krum. "Viktor Krum, by the vay." He says.
"Hunter Lupin, and I am fine, it's just a though my twin and I would be in the same house." He explains.
Viktor nods, "Vell, you vill be able to see him, I think. Are you going to try out to one of the teams?" He asks.
"Yeah! I want to be on the house quidditch team!" He exclaims.
Viktor raises an eyebrow, "Do you not know? There are no house quidditch teams, because Dreven would have an unfair advantage."
Scowling deeper as he talks Hunter says, "But if there's no quidditch then what about the amazing league that Durmstrang is known for?"
"If you had let me finish I vas going to say that there are instead six teams that are a mix of each house. It makes it fair."
Eventually the short man comes through the door and stands in front of them all, "Quieten down vould you please." He shouts, "In a moment ve're going to enter the dining hall vere you vill be seated vith the rest of your house, after dinner the Headmaster vill give a speech and the senior pupils vill help you to your dorms. Please follow me."
They all follow into a crazy big room with three circular tables surrounded by an even bigger half circle. The three large tables in the middle had all the pupils from each house seated around it and the half circle had the staff, there were more people at this school than Hunter expected.
He followed Viktor to their table, the one on the far right and sat down, immediately conversation broke out on every table as food appeared and they dug in. On the other side of him was a girl named Katie Petrova who was pretty cool but she did keep placing her hand on Hunters which was a bit weird. He scooted a bit closer to Viktor.
Headmaster Hagen gave his speech which was nothing special –welcomed the first years, welcomed back the rest, some rules, hope they have a good year- and then they were off to bed. He still hadn't spoken to Draco, but Viktor was a pretty good substitute. He liked him, he was funny.
A seventh year girl named Tia beckoned for them to follow her through the castle to the Dreven dormitories which were not exactly part of the castle as they soon found out. Corridors and corridors lead them to the back of the castle and out into the grounds where they could see a quidditch pitch behind a cluster of buildings. The one closest to them was the biggest but they walked straight past it, then next one was only one floor and only had a door and no window. Tia opened the door and turned to talk to them, "This is where all the equipment is stored, we have spare brooms, all the balls for quidditch and an assortment of muggle sports equipment. You can use this at any time when you are not in class, you can also take other students in here that are not in Dreven."
She leads them to another building, "This is the gym, you have to book it out so you can use it but it is not for quidditch as it has a too low ceiling to fly but the lines on the floor will change to suit whatever sport you want to play. There are changing rooms in there."
The building they had seen first seems to be the one they are looping back to, it was easily at least five stories high and twice as long as the average house. Inside, Tia explained, was the common room and bedrooms where they would be staying. The rest of the year would already be there. She advised them all to get to know their housemates as these would be the people they would be living with until they leave. "Right you can go in now…wait! I always forget this, you have to buddy up with someone to share a dorm with, they are rooms of two. Girls with girls and boys with boys please."
"Hunter, vould you like to room with me?" Viktor asks.
Hunter nods, "Sure, let's go then." He says with an easy smile. The door opens up to a cozy room with a collection of fires and comfy looking sofa's, there was also bookcases lining the walls and desks in the room adjacent. They waved to some of the older students they had spoken to at dinner and went up to find a room. They decided that one near the bathroom would be a good choice, but not to close. One at the very end of the corridor was what they decided on; it had windows on two of its walls so they got a view of the castle which was pretty cool. A sheet of paper lay on each of the two desks with instructions on how to claim their possessions. All they had to do was touch their wands to a specific piece on the paper and state their name aloud.
A crack sounded and they turned to see their things at the foot of their beds. "Viktor, have you brought a pet?" Hunter asks, he almost forgot about Rocco coming with him.
"I have an owl, but my mother does not seem to like them very much. Have you brou- Ooft." He gets knocked over by Rocco; the dog had grown since he got him when he was eight.
"Rocco!Get off him you great oaf." He laughs as his dog turns his ice blue eyes onto him but does as he's told. "And to answer your almost question, yeah I brought a dog, this is Rocco."
Viktor rolls his eyes, "He is cute, especially up close. Vot breed is he?"
"A Gerbian Shepsky, a mix between a Siberian Husky and a German Shepard. I got him for my eighth birthday." Hunter answers, looking proudly down on Rocco. "I taught him everything myself but he still gets pretty hyper as he's got a spell on him that makes him a puppy for longer so he lives longer. Do you think the others would mind if I took him downstairs?"
Thinking, Viktor pouts his mouth and looks to the side, " I don't think so, do you have a leash for him?" he replies.
Hunter nods and rummages through his things before pulling out the same black lead he got for his birthday and attaching it to Rocco's collar. "Shall we?" He asks, opening the door for his roommate.
"We shall." Viktor says and bows to Hunter as he walks out of the door. They laugh the whole walk down to the common room. But then the chaos starts…
Almost every single person in the room turns around when they reach the bottom of the stairs and Rocco barks at all the new people. Suddenly, instead of everyone sitting down, they are surrounding Hunter and the dog, saying things like 'awww he is soo cute!'and 'I want one, oh my word."After about ten minutes of absolute torturehe and Rocco make it to where Viktor had escaped to when he was surrounded.
"You're finding this funny aren't you?" Hunter grumbles. Viktor's façade cracks and he lets out a hearty laugh and nods furiously. "Well I'm glad one of us is. Cause I'm certainly- oh my god, there's a piano in here!" He cries out with glee, grabbing his friends arm with the hand that wasn't holding Rocco and dragging him over. He plonks himself down, Viktor along with him and casts a muffling charm around them; he didn't want another crowd surrounding him.
He begins to play, closing his eyes and letting the music take over for him. Immediately he feels more relaxed and takes a deep breath, he hears gasps and opens his eyes lazily. Only to open them wide. He'd dropped the charm and everyone had heard him play.
A deep red splashes on his cheeks as the whole common room claps their hands. A girl comes up to him and smiles, saying "That is one vay to make a lasting expression, Hunter is it?" He nods, "Ida Nilsen, nice to meet you." Then she walks away, and everyone else goes back to what they were doing.
Hunter continues to play after Viktor nudged him a few times while wiggling his eyebrows and nodding towards the piano. Hunter had just rolled his eyes. His hand started getting cramp after a while so he stopped and glared at Viktor's pout.
"You play so good, Hunter, you have to play for me all the time now." Viktor states, "No buts."
They make their way back to the couch they were sitting on and chat about their families, Viktor didn't have much family that he had met, he was an only child and so was his father, his mother had a brother though but they fell out of touch before he was born so he'd never met him or even knew if he had any cousins. He declared that he wanted to come to Hunters house over the holidays when he told him he had Draco and Tonks to play with, and he was envious of Hunter having practically three god fathers. Shyly, he admitted that he had actually never seen a baby up close when Hunter said that his Aunt Addy was having a baby –she had told the boys just before they left for school.
"Well it's okay though because you can come over all the time during the holidays, we have too much room for even the seven of us anyway so you could stay!"
Viktor casts a tempus, wow they'd been talking for ages, they decide to head up to bed. Hunter felt a bit cruel for taking Rocco off his comfy seat on a boys lap.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
At long last Hunter got to speak to Draco at breakfast the next morning. Apparently they didn't need to sit with their house mates for casual meals. No need to say but Hunter was practically on his brother knee the second he figured it out. Viktor was, of course, dragged by the arm but he didn't mind, he liked Hunters over-excited personality.
"Draco, Viktor. Viktor, Draco. Good formalities are done. What house are you in?" Hunter says quickly.
His brother just smiled at the raven haired Malfoy- Lupin- he mentally corrects and picked at his nails. "Fokusert, the smart house."
Hunter snorts, "I'm not surprised, have you organized your bookcase yet?"
"Don't be a smartass Hunt." He sneers playfully.
Hunter raises his brows, "I'mthe smartass? Did you not just say you were in the smart house?" Draco just pushes his brother's head to the side lightly and messes with his hair. "Anyway, how did you housemates react to Jack?" He asks.
"They didn't really react to him; he's not like Rocco who looks friendly in his body language. Jack looks scary and doesn't really like people. He's actually a pretty big softy really." Draco says fondly.
The bacon here was really good in Hunters opinion so he started scoffing it, while doing so the other two boys on either side of him started talking, "How are you fitting in at Fokusert Draco?" Viktor asks.
Draco scratches the back of his neck, "I'm a bit mixed, don't get me wrong it's great there but I miss Hunter more than I thought I would. It's really quiet there. My roommates are pretty funny though."
"Mates? Waya mean mates?" Hunter asks through a mouthful of bacon.
His brother gives him a horrified look, "You actually disgust me. And by mates I mean exactly what I said, my four roommates, do you not have to share or something?"
"Just two of us, ve only have little rooms though." Viktor fills in.
Dragon nods, "It could be so we can share books with each other, there's a big bookcase in each room. It's actually massive, bigger than the ones in the den Hunt." He exclaims.
"First years! Over here first years please." A burly man calls from the middle of the room. He has a stack of paper in his hands.
The trio gets up and makes their way over to him and he casts a spell on the papers and three float towards them. Looking down on it they realize that it's their timetables. First he has Magical History. Great. An absolute joy this will be. Hunter peeks over Viktor's shoulder to see that he has it too, Draco on the other hand has Potions first.
"That is sounfair. We aren't even in the same classes. I have to go through historyyet you get to have potions, it's ridiculous." He moans, but then remembers and nudges Viktor, "At least if I'm suffering then you're suffering too."
Viktor grins, "Sorry, but I love History. If you actually pay attention you could be surprised by how interesting it can be."
Scowling, he grumbles, "You sound like my Father."
They had been walking for a bit when Draco pipes up that he this is where he needs to stay which deepens Hunter's scowl. There are practically sparks in his eyes he's that irrationally angry.
About half their classmates were already seated when they arrive so they choose some seats beside a blond haired boy. Ten minutes later the rest of the class had arrived and the teacher stormed through the door, dressed in pure black with bright ginger hair.He looks to be in as bad a mood as me.Thinks Hunter sullenly.
Class goes by without a hitch until halfway when Hunter loses the little bit of interest that he had kept for Viktor's sake. He plays with the corner of his paper, resting his head against his arm. Before he realizes him there, a book is slammed on the table, narrowly missing his fingers.
"Is this boring you Master…?" The teacher asks, Hunter had already forgotten his name.
He raises an eyebrow, "Lupin, sir."
The teacher pinches his lips together and sniffs, "Ah, the record breaker." He starts, "It would do you well to only break records and not rulesMaster Lupin, I will be watching."
The ever present scowl on Hunters face deepens, hadn't he been buzzing about school last week? Why was he so grumpy all of a sudden? He actually tried to concentrate when his professor started talking to his class again. They were talking about Goblin Wars or something boring like that when he heard his name.
"… as Hunter Lupin thinks this is, yes you can all blame him."
Viktor sniggers beside him, "Vell, he certainly doesn't like you."
"What is he saying I should be blamed for? I was daydreaming." Hunter questions.
His friend rolls his eyes playfully, "God will I ever be able to get you to pay attention? We have to do textbook work because of you. Thanks for that by the way."
Hunter's eye twitches. His scowl turns to a sneer and he gives the Professor the death stare. Viktor nudges him and shakes his head. He rolls his eyes and tries to read the textbook. But he can feel the teacher's eyes on his back.
Whipping around he makes eye contact with the ginger haired man. "Lupin!" He shouts, "Are we going to have a problem?"
Hunter shuffles around in his seat mumbling, "I don't bloody know, you tell me." His hands shake in rage, he's not even sure why he's mad, he'd had tutors like this Professor before and never got this riled up.
"Hunt, calm yourself please, your eyes look like their sparking." Viktor tries.
Something snaps inside Hunter at that little comment, "NO!" He bellows, overcome with rage. It happens so fast that he can barely register it. A window cracks and the fires and candles around the room fare violently, making the room hot.
A hand violently grabs his elbow and drags him to the hall and then apparates, Hunter getting queasy when the sucked into a tube feeling takes over, to the Headmaster's office, or at least a room where the Headmaster is seated.
"Professor Berg, what brings you and Master Lupin here?" He asks, not at all unkindly but there is a hint of scepticism in his body language.
Berg sneers at him, "This boydecided he would take his anger out on my classroom. Broke my window he did." He explains to the headmaster. "Accidental magic it seems."
"And Professor Berg, why would a bit of accidental magic bring you here? I think you are perfectly capable of handling this by yourself, are you not?" Inquires Hagen. "Just leave Master Lupin with me, Professor and get back to you class."
"Good day Headmaster."
The man turns back to Hunter, calculating how he will respond with his eyes. "So Hunter would you like to give your turn of events?"
Hunter explains everything, being on edge, trying to focus in history, not being able to focus on history and finally losing his temper. Hagen sighs.
"What I believe, Master Malfoy –I feel it's safe to call you that in private- is I need to call your mother in." He says. Hunter's eyes widen, no, anything but his mother.
He tries to argue, "Sir, if I may, I believe that would be highly unneeded! I think detention would be a better option?" The old man raises a hand to shush him.
"Oh don't worry boy, you will still get the detention you so want and deserve but I am calling your mother in for another reason." He tells Hunter. "Please wait a moment."
Hunter watches as he crosses the large room to a cosy fireplace on the wall, he does all the necessary procedures you need to do to access the Manor's floo. The longer he takes doing this the worse Hunter's anxiety gets. After a long while a tall, darkly cloaked woman steps through and as soon as she does she makes eye contact with him.
"Hello Mother." Hunter sighs.