Note: Once again thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Please leave your comments about anything: criticism, interest, questions in the reviews. I read them all and appreciate them.
Once I Was Seven Years Old
The day was bright and shining once again as Fleur and Hermione played in garden, surrounded by flowers and the fresh scent of the outdoors. Being away from muggle transportation allowed for clear unpolluted skies, hence with just a bit of magic cream made by the apothecary the children could play without parents worrying about sunburn and other harmful ailments. Being from a veela family, there were many times when Fleur's cousins would visit to have a playdate with her and by extension Hermione. Luckily the children got on well with the little brunette in part due to curiosity and if they even thought of trying to be mean Fleur would come down on them like a fury from the depths of Hades' underworld realm.
The thing about the Delacour clan was that veela's only produced females, as such Fleur's cousin were all females. There were some uncles who would come to visit but they were those people who had married into the family.A handful of cousins were around the same age as both Fleur and Hermione, but generally there was quite a few different age groups. Of course, there was Alexa who stayed at the Delacour compound due to helping Eleanor with managing the veela clan alongside Apolline.
There was uncle Hubert and cousin Karoline who visited from time to time. His wife who was Apolline's third cousin had unfortunately passed away in childbirth a few years ago so he had made the decision to stay closer to the Delaour clan for the sake of his daughter. Karoline like her name suggests was small and tiny despite being a year older than Hermione who was turning 7 that year. Karoline was sweet and had a caring nature, she wasn't active like Fleur, her hair fell down in blonde curls made cuter due to it being in a bob. She would always sit and read with Hermione when the little Mori was too tired to play outside or just needed some peace and quiet.
Next, there was Reina. Even at the tender age of 6 she was confident and cheeky. She liked pulling pranks on others and had made it a habit to annoy Hermione, this also meant that she would spend hours hiding from Fleur after one of her many pranks. She couldn't really sit still and gave her mother a lot of grief because of her active nature. Hermione usually tried to avoid the girl as much as possible, but whenever her target locked on to Hermione it was like trying to get a leech of an open wound, difficult and painful.
Then there was Serena and Silene who were non-identical this fact, the veela genes were still strong so they still looked very similar to each other but then again the same could be said about Fleur despite the the pair being her cousin. Silene was older by a few minutes, and had grey eyes unlike Serena who had dark blue only did their eyes differ but so did their hair, Serena's had a red tint whilst her older sisters' was ash blonde. Silene was also slightly fairer than Serena who was more tanned as she was usually found swimming at the pool or beach. Silene enjoyed taking walks around the nearby forest areas and was very athletic like her sister but preferred exercising in the cooling shade of that the trees provided. They were both 9, the same age as Fleur and would invite them out to swim or walk around during the weekends.
Finally, there was Cecilia who had just turned 7 a few months earlier. She was…..well if Hermione had to describe her she was like a fairy. She had bright blonde hair and aquamarine eyes. She was smart and knew very many things that some adults found baffling however, she was always sleepy. She slept everywhere and anywhere. In the garden, in the living, on the floor of the hallway. In fact, she slept so much that her parents had sent her to a mediwitch only to come back with a clean bill of health. Many assume that she just has a slightly lazy disposition which causes her to sleep a lot instead, at least that was what Hermione reasoned the cause to be. That being said, it was very soothing being in the Cecilia's presence and there were quite a number of times whenever the girl sat next to Hermione that she too would doze off into sweet sweet slumber.
Silene and Serena were playing with the group whilst Karoline sat with Cecilia, who was sleeping underneath a tree. Reina was busy plotting her next heist, I mean prank as she stood on her tiptoes to look into the window that lead to the kitchen. It was later in the afternoon by this point when Hermione was called over by Hideyoshi. She waved at Fleur and the others and ran over to her father to see why he had called her over. Hideyoshi was speaking to Fleur's parents, Alexa and Eleanor happily but the conversation had ended when she finally reached the adults.
Breathing heavily from her playing Hermione looked up at the asian man "Did you need something Papa." Hideyoshi simply smiled and held Hermione's hand, in his other hand she saw a portkey. Eyes tearing up she struggled from his grip but he quickly grabbed on to her and lifted her into his arms.
"Thank you for your hospitality, I hope we can meet again soon" he says quickly as the port key began to shine intensely.
"No ! I don't wanna go. No ! Fleur !" yells Hermione as she reached out for her friend before they wink out to their next destination.
Fleur who had heard Hermione yell turned around only seeing Hermione disappearing as she reached out for her.
Three months later
It was time for Hermione to start school. Her first year as a student at Mahoutokoro was filled with a lot of preparation. She would be spending three years commuting between school and home, before deciding whether she would like to be a day student or a boarder, but that meant that she could not forget any of her school supplies as she would not be able to retrieve them without the giant storm petrels that would take the students to and fro school.
The school had two types of uniforms, a winter and summer uniform. Girls had the option to wear trousers or a skirt. As such, during the winter some girls would wear trousers due to the cold winds that blew into the palace like school located on Minami Iwo Jima, a volcanic island south of Japan in the pacific ocean. The girls would then switch to skirts in the warmer months. For their tops they wore a simple button down with a warm cream coloured cardigan.
They boys had a similar uniform to the girls, which was near identical during the winter except the boys had a simple button down shirt that came with a tie and black younger students under the age of 13 had the option of wearing shorts in the winter and ties were not included in their uniform. Instead, they were given a dark blue coloured ribbon.
Looking at the giant storm petrel that showed up to send her for her first day of school, Hermione looked back to her father anxiously as she gripped her sling bag tighter. "Don't worry 'mione, they're safe. I use to fly on them before I became a boarding student at the school."
Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Hermione carefully got up onto the storm petrel who had crouched down. When she was safely on the creature, holding onto its feather as tightly as possible, she gave a shaky smile to the raven haired man who waved at her encouragingly and with that the bird took off into the skies causing Hermione to screech out in surprise. When the world stopped spinning Hermione opened one of her eyes to see the great expanse of water and skies, as the bird cruised towards the school. Looking around she saw some other storm petrels carrying other students, some were older students who waved at her in a friendly manner whilst others who looked around her age were staring around in wonder and excitement.
Soon they reached the school grounds which stretched across a wide expanse of the island, some of the buildings had light grey roofs making those buildings look akin to Himeji castle found in the Hyogo prefecture of Japan. Other buildings found on the site were tall towers reminiscence of pagoda's found in the country.
"Class A students please make your way to the lobby to collect your robes" a loud voice boomed whilst hovering a sign in midair that showed the students where the lobby was located. Hermione once again looks nervously at the large crowd of people that were arriving on their own storm petrel. She then felt a nudge from her back and looked back at the giant storm petrel that she rode on, it looked at her in before nudging her forward once more. Smiling and thanking the creature with a pet on its head, Hermione stood up tall and squared her shoulders before walking towards the lobby.
Hermione kept her gaze upwards in order to not lose sights of the few signs that were showing her the direction to the lobby, she was concentrating so much that she hadn't seen the person in front of her till they collided. Quickly grabbing on to whoever she had bumped into Hermione apologised "I'm sorry, are you okay?"
"A-ah yes i'm fine" the boy replies. He wasn't wearing a robe so Hermione guessed that he must be a new student as well.
"Are you in Year A?" Hermione asked politely.
"Yeah, I am. I'm guessing you are as well" he says jovially.
Nodding her head in confirmation she replies "Yeah, I am. But what are you still doing here? Aren't we supposed to go to the lobby?"
Scratching the back of his head, the boy sheepishly replied "I uh kinda got lost."
"Oh I see, well I'm going there as well. Do you want to go together?" she asks.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."
They both began their trek, and talked idly on the way like what classes they were interested in, how they felt riding the storm petrel and so on. "Oh by the way, I never got your name. I'm Kobayashi Sora."
"Oh, like the Sky?" Hermione comments.
"No no, mine is written as So like magnificent, and Ra like good."
"So, superb?" Hermione questions.
"Well, its suppose to mean skilled man but yeah" Sora replies.
"Oh well my name Mori Hermione, so I guess the both of us are supposed to like nature" Hermione jokes. (Note: The name kobayashi means small forest, whilst mori is forest. So she's making a pun.)
Chuckling lightly Sora replies "that's so bad."
"But you can't deny laughing a bit" Hermione says cheekily.
They line up and pick up their robes currently coloured pink. The robes are enchanted to grow along with their wearer. The robes change colour to indicate the wearer's scholastic progress and all robes begin with a pale pink colour similar to the cherry blossoms that bloomed in Spring. They would then turn gold if the student ended up with top grades in every subject though only a handful of students were able to achieve such a colour. Hideyoshi was only one subject off from attaining the same gold robes, confirming to Hermione the academic strength of Mahoutokoros' pupils. In fact, if a student broke the International Statute of Secrecy, or betrayed the Japanese Wizards Code by practising dark magic their uniform would turn white. The student would then be immediately expelled and would face trial at the Japanese Ministry of Magic. Safe to say, the system had worked since it has been hundreds of years since any student from Mahoutokoro practised dark magic.
Each colour symbolises different specialisations and sometimes lends itself to helping students figure out their career paths in the future. Students wearing a green robe were known for their healing ability, that is to say their proficiency in Potions, Herbology and Charms. Those who wore red were skilled in Alchemy, Arithmancy and Transfigurations. Many of those students later went on to become Alchemist or Magical engineers, creators of flying cars and the cloaking system that turn objects invisible.
The scholars wore blue and were experts in all things academic, though this meant that they lacked experience in some classes such as Defence Against the Dark Arts and the like. However, those who donned blue robes were best at Ancient Runes, History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. The somewhat opposite of the blues were the purple robed students. They were known for their strong sixth sense and excelled in the art of Clairvoyance, Divinity, Astrology and Ghoul Studies. Many of them were whimsical and did things at their own pace, much to the chagrin of many people but they were good to have around as they could sense malicious intent miles away.
Although mistaken to be orange, the cacao brown robes belonged to what many dubbed to be the 'sealer' division. These were students were smart as the blue's but not quite as straight laced. These students were more often than not enamored with the creation of Runes and Sealing Magic. Sealing Magic was an umbrella term for Banishment, Binding, Sealing and so on. As such, students of this art tended to become curse breakers. Due to the nature of the magic, many such students also had tattoos on their bodies from Insertion and Removal Magic, which protected them when they were learning.
Finally, there were those students who wore black robes. Some argue that those who wore the dark colour were part of the cream of the crop of Mahoutokoro. They were not the best like those who wore the highly praised golden robes but if you wore black robes you were very close to attaining the prized colour. Some students who graduated with black robes found themselves in the Ministry's Policing Department or as an Unspeakable.
For students studying in Mahoutokoro, there was a mandatory after school activity that the students were expected to take part in. Whether it was archery, kendo, tea ceremony or duelling, there were many activities available for students as it was used to foster social interaction and create strong bonds between them.
Everywhere, students were chattering excitedly as they awaited for Headmaster Yakumo to address the students for the start of the year assembly. At the front of the hall sat the new students all of whom were acting awkward as they introduced themselves to each other. Sora and Hermione took a seat up front next to a girl with a distinct hazelnut hair, who was introducing herself to the person next to her with a cheery look on her face. "...so i'm super excited for care of magical creatures. Youkai's are awesome plus they can be super cute especially the ones that take of your house…" The girl babbles on until the a small light comes whizzing from the back of the hall startling the crowd into silence.
Looking up at the stage where the light evaporated stood the headmaster in his regal but small body. Clearing his throat he booms " WELCOME STUDENTS BOTH NEW AND RETURNING TO ANOTHER YEAR AT MAHOUTOKORO!" The opening statement garnered the expected claps and shouts of glee from the audience. "I think we can all agree that this year is starting on a high note with our country's national winning team, The Toyohashi Tengu's, winning the Quidditch World Cup." The cheers become even louder and Headmaster Yakumo raises his hand to calm the crowd. "I hope everyone enjoyed their ride on the storm petrels. I know I say this every year but please remember not to antagonise them as they will and have thrown students into the sea, and when I say antagonise I mean you Miss Ito. Don't think I didn't see how you tried to make your storm petrel fly upside down."
Laughs could be heard all around as a black haired students, who looked rather unassuming with a gentle face stood up. Her skin pallor was so white it looked almost translucent and she looked like the good girl sort, though that image was quickly shattered when the girl grinned and called out "Living life on the edge Sir !"
Yakumo sighs in exasperation but a hint of a smile could be seen as he cleared his throat "Back to the matter at hand. Students will be receiving their schedules in their bags after the this ends so please do bear that in mind. I expect the older students to help the new ones navigate through the castle and its numerous halls. Bullying will not be tolerated, and students may explore the different extracurricular activities available this week. On that note, try-out for quidditch, duelling, mounted archery and so on will also begin at the end of this week." And with that the speech came to a close and student began checking their bags for their class schedules and made their way to the appropriate classrooms.
"Hmm, my first class is Charms. What about yours?" Sora asks Hermione as he glances through his class schedule.
"Oh, I have Potions first then Care of Magical Creatures" Hermione says slightly disappointed at not being in the same class as he new friend.
Out of nowhere a blur of brown injects between the two "Did you say potions?! I have that too, wanna go together !" The girl that had sat next to the two earlier had apparently overheard their conversation and was eager to have a make as many friends as possible.
Sora stares at the girl in confusion, one eyebrow raised while Hermione smiled politely at the girl and replied "sure, it will be good to know someone in class." She then turns to Sora and says "I guess i'll see you later?"
Nodding his head, Sora replies "Yeah, I have Care of Magical Creatures later so i'll see you then."
As they split up Hermione turns and calls out "Don't get lost !" Sora merely waved his hand without looking back as he walked confidently down the hall.
As Hermione watches him go off, a soft tug breaks her from her staring. "We better get going as well" the hazelnut haired girl says as she grips Hermione's hand and guides her to the potions' classroom.
"Ummm, are you sure we're going the right way" Hermione asks.
"Hmmm, oh yeah. I came early and got to explore a bit. No worries." The girl then looks over her shoulder to Hermione "My name is Martinez Sakura, or Sakura Martinez depending on where you're from. But you can just call me Sakura."
"O-oh right. Uh my name is Mori Hermione. Nice to meet you" Hermione replies in a slightly awkward fashion.
"Really ? You don't look mixed or anything so when I saw you I thought you were an international student." Sakura says as they turn right into a crowded hallway.
Nodding her head in acknowledgment the brunette explains "That's probably because I was adopted."
"I see, that makes sense. You don't see a lot of people with my hair or skin tone around japan unless their from overseas. My dad's from argentina and my mums japanese, hence" she gestures to her tanned skin and grey eyes.
"I guess we're gonna stick out a bit huh" the little witch says resigned.
"Yeah but it's okay, I think the exchange program really helps students get used to people who look differently from them" Sakura reassures Hermione by tightening her grip slightly in comfort.
Hermione furrows her eyebrows in confusion "Exchange Program ?" she asks confused.
Blinking back at the other girl sakura clarifies "Yeah, you know. The exchange program that sends kids to koldovstoretz, beauxbaton etc for a year."
"Oh my merlin, how did I not know about this !?"
Shrugging Sakura grins "Well, I mean it happens only like every 2 or 3 years. Plus I only know about it cause my older brother whose like in Year 5 got to go to Castelobruxo 2 years ago."
The two continue talking until they reached the classroom. They then took a seat next to each other in the middle of the classroom on one of the island tables, each holding a cauldron and several appliances used for potion making. "Settle down children, it is time to start the class. Our school is known for producing many great potions masters and I intend to continue that tradition in all of you. You may call me Professor Takahashi, I hope to see many of you wearing the colour green by the time the year finishes. Class A - D (basically age 7-10) will lean towards a more theory based potions class giving you more time for extracurriculars. I hope you will all take the chance to participate in various activities, and anyone of you who intends to join the duelling or quidditch club. Well... the skele-gro potion will be to your interest i'm sure." he ends his declaration with a small joke, easing the tension of the students around him.
Taking out a piece of chalk, the Professor begins his lesson writing out the questions 'What is potions?' 'Why is it important?' 'Why do you need to know it?' Turning around he looks at the students around him, "How many of you have had dragonpox?" At the question ⅔ of the class raise their hands. Nodding his head he continues "As most of you remember, dragonpox would cause red bumps to appear on your skin also known as boils, correct." Once again the class nods in confirmation. Professor Takahashi then proceeds to hold up a blue vial "Your parents would then give you something that looked like what is in this vial to cure your boils." He then gestures to the questions written on the board once more. "Now then, can any of you answer one of these three questions?"
Many hesitant hands raise, and the potions master pick on a scrawny boy located in the back of the class. "U-um potions is important because it can make us feel better when we're sick."
Nodding his head in acceptance the professor says "Well, that is true. Potions is used widely in the medical field. But moving on, why do you need to know potions specifically if there are many mediwizards and mediwitches who can help you when you're sick."
The questions causes many hands to drop, leaving only a few stragglers to answer his query. One such person was Hermione who held up her hand in a determined manner. Professor Takahashi's eyes then land on the brunette and gestures for her to answer "We need to know potions because when we get tired and can't use spells to get better potions help us c-conserve energy."
Blinking in surprise, Professor Takahashi goes through his register "Thank you Miss….." he looks down at his register again "Mori." He then looks at Hermione, her eyes shining with pride and curiosity "any relations to Mori Hideyoshi?"
Hermione smiles brightly "Yes, he's my dad !"
Professor Takahashi then smiles and chuckles lightly "Ah, I see. It makes sense now. Well Miss Mori, you are right. Potions is a method to conserve energy, there are some things that even spellwork cannot solve so researchers turn to potions, alchemy or even runes to solve their problems be it medical or otherwise."
He then points at the first question asking the class "So what is potions." This time not a single hand was raised. The professor pushes his glasses up and begins writing on the blackboard 'Potions is concerned with the uses and effects of natural products.' He then turns to the class once more to explain "Natural products are things that occur in the natural world. For example, the woods to make your wands are natural products because they come from certain trees that emit magical properties."
1 and a half hours later
"Ok class, thank you for your attention. Good work today. I shall see you all on wednesday."
The students rise, thank the teacher and bow as per the usual codes of conduct in classrooms and leave. Sakura claps Hermione on the shoulder "What classes do you have after lunch Hermione?"
Hermione checks her schedules once more to be sure and replies "I have magical theory then flying class."
Pouting Sakura says "Eeeeeh, no way. I have charms then magical theory." An idea the pops up in the tanned girls mind "Let's have lunch together..oh with your other friend as well of course."
"Sure, no problem. I'll tell Sora about it in class" Hermione says before she waves off Sakura who runs to her next class.
Hermione then turns towards an older student waiting to enter the potions class and shyly asks him for directions to Care of Magical Creatures. She then walks out of the building to the garden area of the school grounds. She spots Sora in the distance and runs over to him, they both begin to chat about their previous classes. Then out of nowhere a plume of fire erupts from the grounds causing students to scream. Amidst the screaming the sounds of laughter could be heard from one of the tree branches. A woman with white fox ears and nine tails stood looking down at the students before taking a huge leap of faith and lands in the middle of the garden. "Hey Kids, welcome to your first care of magical creatures class. I am Kaguya, you can call me Kaguya-sensei, and I am a nine-tailed fox yokai" she announces with a mischievous grin gracing her beautiful face. Hermione's jaw drops in a comedic manner and her eyes bug out at the the strangeness of the situation. The youkai professor, waves her hand in nonchalance "Who better to teach you about magical creatures than a magical creature herself, am I right."
She the gestures for all the children to take a seat on the grass and she takes a seat on a large flat boulder located in front of the group. "Some of you may have come across youkai's before, and some of you may have not. The giant storm petrel that you flew on for example, are not youkai's but are under the definition of a magical creature, and are cared for by the students and schools carers."
"This class is not just about testing your knowledge on the subject of magical creatures but also how to conduct yourself with other magical folks who are non-human" Kaguya explains earning nods of understanding from the group of children. "I am one such example, as are many others who are yokai or have creature blood running through their veins." She then brings out pictures of monster like creatures to show the class "many muggles believe that we are demons or monsters but that is a biased view. There are those who do cause trouble for people but, the same could be said for many humans magical or muggle."
A hand shoots up into the air and a girl with glasses asks "How is meeting yokai different from other people ?"
"Well, if you were to go to another country you would learn that people there would have different customs. In japan, we may bow to others but in europe some people may greet each other with a hug or a kiss on the cheek. So interactions between yokais may differ in a similar way" Kaguya says as her tails lazily sway from side to side.
Sora then raises his hand and asks "Do the yokai's also have a ministry?"
Holding her chin in a thinking pose Kaguya replies, choosing her words carefully "In a sense, but we do not have a system of government per say. We have a handful of clans that govern different parts of japan and work in partnership with the Japanese , they specifically take care of yokai's well-being and will be deal with any problems caused by yokais."
A boy sitting near Hermione then asks "Where do yokai's live?"
Kaguya smiles at the children's enthusiasm "Yokai's live in many different places. Some yokai's like the Zashiki Warashi live in people's houses and bring good luck to the household. Some lives in rivers and lakes whilst other may decide to live in the snowy tops of mount in all yokai's can be found anywhere if one looks hard enough."
The white haired fox yokai then stands up "Well, that's enough of questions for today. But please feel free to read up and ask me more on the subject at a later date. Right now, i'm gonna teach you some actions you can use to communicate with your storm petrel." Then out of nowhere a shadow is cast over the students and said bird flies down to stand next to the teacher. "Each student who has come here has a personal storm petrel that take them to and fro school. As such, we teach students how to take care of their birds and communicate with them. Because Mahoutokoro has a ten year school system, many students end up growing very close to their storm petrel and adopt them."
The professor strokes the birds head causing it to happily chirp "Storm petrel then come back to the school to lay their eggs and their children are cared for by the schools creature carers. Once they are old enough they will then be taught and sent out to collect students from their houses and how to stay hidden from muggles as they fly." The children nod along to her lessons, some try to take notes by lying on the soft ground that only make their notes look sloppy due to the uneven surfacing. A loud gong sounds across the courtyard and the students look around in confusion to the amusement of their professor. "Well, that's the lunch bell everyone, make sure to read pages 2 to 10 of your textbook for tomorrow."
On the way to the dining hall, Sora and Hermione saw Sakura up ahead. Hermione was about to call out to the girl when she noticed something strange about the person the tanned girl was talking to, or rather it was a one-way shouting match. As the duo got closer they could hear the boy say "go back to your own country you gaijin (foreigner)."
Sakura's head was bowed and she looked about ready to cry 'b-but i-i am Japanese" she tried to explain.
"LIAR ! Japanese people don't have dark skin like yours" he shouted ridiculing her.
Having heard enough, Hermione immediately stomped her away over to the boy getting between him and Sakura. "Hey, who do you think you are ! What do you even know about Sakura" Hermione said tersely, eyeing the boy in anger.
"Oh it's another gaijin. I guess your kind have to stick together" the boy replies with a smirk. "Well if you want to defend each other so much then go ahead" he says taking out his wand about to hex both brunettes. Sora was about to run over to the two girls when a flash of black passes him, keeping him in his tracks.
"That's quite enough" a voice then rings across the hall. A hand holds can be seen gripping the boys hand holding his wand "What do you think you're doing" Professor Takahashi asks rhetorically, looking down sharply at the boy.
"A-ah P-professor, I can explain" the boy stutters out.
"Explain that you were about to attack two of your juniors, on their first day no less. Yes, you can explain everything to me in detention later Mr Ono." Looking around the hallway, the Professor pushes up his glasses "All right shows over, go and have your lunch everyone." He then shifts his gaze to Hermione, Sakura and Sora who were now all standing together "Please come to the staff room later, I would like to discuss what just occurred with you all including Mr Ono here."
The trio nod their head in agreement as does the other boy albeit reluctantly. After the such an event, all of them were ready for a good meal and some well-deserved rest. With school, friends and activities now underway, things were going to be lot more dramatic for the little seven year old.