A/N: Merry Christmas everybody! I'm actually a bit happy that I got this chapter out today. Alright! So, from here-on-out it'll be way different from the books. XD Grab some popcorn and look forward to the crap-load of OCs I'm going to throw at you in the next few chapters!
Mistaken
*~Chapter 6~*
The rest of the Sorting, as it turned out, was utterly boring. Ron got Sorted into Gryffindor and the last person, Blaise Zabini, got Sorted into Slytherin. Once Blaise took his seat, an old man stood up at the High Table. Dri growled slightly when he realized it was Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore spread his arms wide and grinned at the student population.
"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin out banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you." Dumbledore sat back down while everyone around the twins clapped and sheered. Ari and Dri shared a look and turned to the other first years.
"That just proves it." Dri started, effectively getting their attention. "Dumbledore is completely nutters."
The Hufflepuff first years laughed nervously and nodded slightly. Food appeared in the empty dishes in front of them before anyone could say anything else, so everyone dug in—eating as much as they could. Ari and Dri occasionally glanced at the High Table, looking at the strange teachers, when they both felt a sharp pain in their foreheads. The twins rubbed their foreheads, frowned, and then started on the dessert that appeared in front of them.
'Okay, that hurt…' Ari stated. Dri frowned even further after eating some pudding.
'It was more of a phantom pain for me…' Dri thought slowly. He looked at Ari through the corner of his eyes. 'But you're right. That did hurt.'
The rest of the Hufflepuff first years finished their desserts before the rest of the desserts and dishes disappeared and Dumbledore stood up.
"Ahem. Just a few more words, now that we are all fed and watered."
'He makes it sound like we're plants.' Dri snorted.
"I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of out older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore had a disturbing twinkle in his eyes as he looked over to the Gryffindor table. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."
"What?" Dri hissed out. The first years looked to him. "What does he mean we can't practice our magic?"
"Quidditch trials," Dumbledore continued, gaining the Hufflepuff first years' attention again before their panic could rise. "Will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor—on the right-hand side—is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
'That was…' Dri started, trying to find words to accurately describe that last announcement.
'Extremely morbid and stupid for him to tell us?' Ari supplied. Dri just nodded. 'Yes, why yes it was.'
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore cried out. The other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed at this announcement. Dumbledore waved his wand and a long ribbon came out of it, forming into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune, and off we go!"
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Dri moaned out before burying his head in his arms, on the table. Ari just watched on in horror as everyone around him blurted out in off-note tunes the 'song' that was floating in the air. Ari was so busy trying to get his ears to not bleed, that he didn't even register the 'song' until the Weasley twins finished singing it.
"Ah, music," Dumbledore sighed out, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bed time. Off you trot!"
Everyone around the first years got up in unison, and the first years in all the houses were left feeling a bit lost until the calls of 'First years! This way!' filled the hall. The Hufflepuff first years stayed seated as they didn't hear anyone calling for Hufflepuff.
"Hello, first years." A quiet and silky male's voice said from behind the twins. The first years, not facing the voice, turned around in their seats to see a tall young man with chin-length white hair and kind, blood-red eyes. "My name is Cyrus Sinclair, and I'm the Hufflepuff Prefect assigned to help you nine find the Hufflepuff Common Room. So follow me. You guys can take all day tomorrow to explore with your mentors."
"Mentors?" Zacharias Smith asked in confusion as he stood up from the table. He was the last Hufflepuff to be Sorted. Cyrus gave a mysterious eye-closed smile to Zacharias before he started walking slowly toward the doors.
"You'll know everything when we get there. So come along, you guys." The nine first years followed quickly behind Cyrus as he led them out the Great Hall doors and toward a set of stairs that were leading down. They passed through a maze of stone corridors, one lone painting of a bowl of fruit, and a very weird bust of a snake skewered by a sword, before they turned a corner and stopped at a still-life painting of a beautiful meadow with a Weeping Willow in the middle of it. Cyrus surprised the first years by giving the painting a loving smile. "Hello, Grandmother Willow."
The branches swayed slightly in the picture, and the whole painting swung out to reveal a passageway. Cyrus motioned for everyone to follow him as he walked into the short passage that would open up into the Hufflepuff Common Room.
Inside, the Common Room was very homey. It was circular, and its theme was earthy colors as well as black and a very light, calm yellow. There was a fireplace on the left, a small bookshelf right beside it—closest to the entrance. Scattered throughout the room was black leather lounge chairs and black leather couches. The few wooden tables to work at were strategically placed around the edges of the room.
The most amazing thing about the room was the many hallways branching off in different directions, all along the back wall. The only art on the black, stone, dungeon walls was of a portrait identical to the one that guarded the common room, which was hung above the fireplace.
Cyrus directed the first years to sit on the long couch facing the fireplace. As soon as they sat down, Hufflepuffs from all upper years appeared through the hallways and sat down all around them. Cyrus just sat down on one arm of the couch when the portrait door swung open. A middle-aged witch came in—she was slightly round and fairly big-boned, but she had a motherly-feel to her. Her light gray hair, which was tied in a loose bun, was obscured by a slightly drooping hat that had soil all along the rim. She stood just in front of the first years and beamed brightly down at them.
"Hello, First Years! My name is Pomona Sprout, and I'll be your Head of House for the rest of your schooling career at Hogwarts." Her voice was kind, but it projected throughout the room, so it was certain that everyone could hear her clearly. "Now, we have a very different House System than any other House at Hogwarts. All first years get a third year mentor to guide them through the years until their third year. Don't be afraid to ask your mentor for help with anything you're struggling in."
Professor Sprout pulled out a scroll of parchment from a pocket in her robes and opened it, looking down it several times.
"Alright, I have a list of all the third years that will be mentors. Third years, line up here, and I'll call up each first year by name and match you up. Once you get your mentor, you will be directed to the dorms you'll be living in for the rest of the year. Now, Hannah Abbott?" Hannah stood up from the couch. Sprout waved her over to stand in front of the row of third years, before consulting the parchment again. Finally, she looked up at the row of third years. "Zack? Oh, yes, there you are. Will you mentor Hannah? Excellent! Alright, now Susan Bones?"
And so it went. Ari and Dri quickly found out that every girl got a guy mentor, and every guy got a girl mentor. While it might not have seemed very logical, Ari and Dri were sure there was a reasonable explanation. When 'Harry Potter' was called, the twins stood up and walked over to Professor Sprout, leaving Zacharias by himself on the couch.
"Hmm…" Sprout looked down at them with a worried expression, turning to the last two third year girls, then back to the twins. "Saki?"
The twins' eyes grew wide as one of the third year girls stepped up and they saw her clearly for the first time. She had long, waist-length crimson hair and slightly darker crimson eyes. She was wearing a Hufflepuff uniform (a white shirt with a black and yellow striped tie, a black and yellow plaid skirt, a black open robe with the Hufflepuff crest on it, knee-length black socks with a thin yellow border on top and black dress shoes.), but the most startling thing about her was her twitching black cat ears on the top of her head and the black cat tail, which was visible below the skirt, that was swinging of its own accord behind her.
"Yes, Professor Pomona?" The girl, Saki, asked before tilting her head to the side. Professor Sprout chuckled lightly.
"Saki, you wouldn't mind being a mentor to both boys, would you? I'm afraid we don't have enough third years to have one first year each." Saki closed her eyes and smiled widely.
"Sure, Professor Pomona!" She turned and looked down at the twins. "Follow me, boys. I'll take you to our room."
Saki took a hold of Dri's hand, pulling him down one of the corridors in the back—thus dragging Ari along as well. They passed a few doors on either side of the hallway, coming to a stop in front of the last door on the right. Saki looked back at the twins, with a grin on her face, before she opened the door.
Inside, the room was very symmetrical. Straight across from the doorway was a window—which was illogical to the twins, since they were obviously in the dungeons—which had a view of the lake with a waning half-moon shining down on it. On either side of the window was a desk and chair with a small lamp in one corner—clearly a space for doing work. After each desk, tucked into the corners of the room, was a simple twin bed with a black décor. At the end of each bed was a trunk on the ground.
Towards the entrance door, on the wall for each side, was two doors side-by-side. One door was a faint yellow while the other was a dark brown, nearly black. Saki pulled the twins inside, shut the door, and then launched herself on top of the bed on the right. She sat up, put her back against the wall, and tilted her head to the side to observe the twins—who were just standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
"So…" Saki drawled, trailing off. There was a slightly awkward silence as no one said anything. Saki sighed and fell forward onto her stomach, rolling over and propping up her chin to sill be looking at the twins. "My name's Sakamoto Itoe, but I prefer to be called Saki. My family is Japanese, and we live in Japan. Mum wanted me to go here for school because she thinks it's a way better education or some rot like that. My okaa-san, my mum, is a pureblood. But my otou-san, my dad, is a muggle. Kaa-san raised me by teaching me all I wanted to know about magic, and tou-san raised me by showing me how to work all the technology we owned. As I'm sure you know by now, I'm a third year. My mentor was Cyrus Sinclair, that prefect who showed you guys in. So, now that you guys know a little about me, why don't you tell me a little about you?"
"Well…" Ari started out, sitting at the edge of the bed on the left. Dri sat down next to him and rolled his eyes as Ari looked at him on how to continue.
"I'm sure you already know that our parents are dead." Dri said bluntly. Saki nodded her face a mask of indifference. "Well, we were raised by muggles. Our mother's sister and her family. Not very pleasant."
"We slept in the cupboard under the stairs for all our life before our Hogwarts letter came." Ari continued on, steeling himself. "But we didn't even know we were wizards until Hagrid came to fetch us under Dumbledore's orders."
"And that's basically it." Dri finished off. Saki raised an eyebrow at the two, hardly batting an eyelash at the mention of 'the cupboard'.
"I highly doubt that both your names are Harry." She gave them a hard stare, totally missing the point of the twins' tale, before pointing abruptly at Ari. "You are now dubbed Harry 1, and you," She pointed at Dri, "are dubbed Harry 2. I will call you such until you decide to give me the names you want to be called. Now, any questions about anything at all?"
"Why do you have cat ears?" Dri asked at the same time that Ari asked, "Where are our pets?"
Dri gave Ari a disbelieving look.
'Really, Ari? The first question you can ask, and you're more worried about our pets?' Ari looked a bit sheepish.
'Well, it was bugging me when I only saw our trunk. I miss Azira and Hedwig.' Dri rolled his eyes and focused back on Saki, who was staring at them in amusement.
"Well, I have cat ears because I'm a Metamorphamagus. That is to say, I can change my appearance at will. See, watch." Saki sat up and wrinkled her nose. The twins watched on in fascination as Saki's nose turned into a bird's beak, a pig's snout, and back to her regular nose before her hair abruptly shrunk to chin-length and changed an alarming shade of neon green before lengthening and changing back to her 'normal' crimson color. Saki grinned at the twins. "Metamorphamagi are part of the Pureblood bloodlines. I got my abilities from Okaa-san's nee-chan. That is to say, her sister. My aunt. And as for your pets, well, if you have an owl, they should be in the owlry. Anything else is free to roam the Hufflepuff house, so they should be back once they're done exploring. I think Nyx is hunting right now, but we should be able to see her later tonight or tomorrow morning."
"Nyx?" Ari asked. Saki grinned and lay back down on her stomach.
"Yeah, Nyx. She's my pet snake." Dri frowned a bit.
"What happened to 'no pets other than an owl, a cat, and a toad'?" He asked incredulously. Saki laughed loudly, throwing her head back.
"Well, I would have one of those, but Nyx is a family pet. You know the Weasley's?" The twins nodded slowly. "Well, Percy Weasley made prefect this year, so his parents gave Percy's pet rat to the son that started this year. Since their rat is part of the family, the first year was allowed to have something other than the recommended three."
"I guess that makes sense…" Ari muttered. He looked back over to Saki. "So... Why is it that all of the first years got their opposite gender as a mentor? Wouldn't that cause some problems?"
"Well… I suppose sometimes it does…" Saki tilted her head to the side and grinned wickedly. "Like when you walk in on the other while changing or coming out of the shower. Awkward. But, most of the time, the mentors can get along really well with their first years. So it's not as much a problem as you'd believe it is. If it ever got to be such a huge problem, then either the mentor or the younger year can inform Professor Pomona, and she'll deal with it."
"Also," Dri started with a frown, "why do you call her Professor Pomona? I thought her name was Professor Sprout."
"Oh, I always call my teachers by their first names!" Saki exclaimed with a large smile on her face. The twins furrowed their eyebrows.
"…But why?" Ari asked. Saki just kept on grinning.
"Because that's their names, silly!" Ari and Dri gave Saki a highly weirded-out look.
"O-kay…." Ari tilted his head to the left and looked a bit thoughtful on what to ask next. "So, what are the rules we should follow?"
"In this room?" Saki clarified. Ari nodded, leaning against Dri. Saki looked thoughtful herself for a moment. "Well, I don't really care what you do. If you need help with homework—or anything at all, really—I'll help you guys. You can practice in here without a problem. Um… Breakfast is open in the Great Hall starting at six in the morning. Normally first class starts at eight and every class is about an hour long. That is, unless you have a double class. In which case, it would be two hours instead of one. Lunch is from twelve to one, and then the afternoon classes start. Dinner starts at six and goes to seven, and we need to be in our Common Room by ten—in our rooms by ten-thirty."
Saki got up from her bed and walked over to the two doors next to the foot of her bed. She opened the closest door, the faint yellow one, to reveal a lavish bathroom.
"This is my bathroom and yours is next to your bed. We can change and stuff in there, or here, I don't really care." She closed the bathroom door and opened the dark brown door next to it. "This is the closet, and I'm pretty sure the House elves already put all your clothes into it. In your trunk should just be your school supplies and anything else you brought to school that isn't clothes."
Saki disappeared into the closet for a minute, coming back out in a completely different outfit. Instead of her standard school skirt, she was wearing short black shorts. Replacing her school shirt was a tight black tank-top that showed a bit of stomach when Saki stretched upward. Her tie was replaced with a simple black choker and, as she closed the door, the twins noticed she was barefoot. Saki smiled at the two before a brush appeared out of thin air.
She grabbed the brush and sat down, her cat ears disappearing as she brushed her hair back. Saki held her hair together in one hand before reaching into the drawer of the desk next to her bed, pulling out a thin ponytail holder and holding it in her mouth. The twins watched in awe as she swiftly braided her hair, took the ponytail holder from her mouth, and then tied the end of her braid together with it, her cat ears reappearing in the process.
"You'd best change into your pajamas." Saki stated with a grin. Her grin faded as she stared at the twins. "Hmm… I just realized… Do you two want me to conjure another bed? Or are you fine with sleeping next to each other?"
"It's fine." Dri stated, dragging Ari over to the closet. They disappeared in the depths, leaving the door open, and appeared a minute later in too-long shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Ari closed the door behind them before Dri guided Ari to the bed once more. "We're used to sleeping in one bed."
Saki frowned hard at the twins, staring at their outfits. She shook her head slightly and walked over to her trunk, opening it to rummage through its contents.
"I'm so getting you two better clothes for Christmas." She muttered loud enough for the twins to hear. "Now, where is it? I know I put it in here some—Aha! There it is!"
Saki stood up with a thin black rectangle, as large as a school notebook, and she carried it over to her desk, setting it down lovingly. Ari tilted her head and stood up as Saki sat down at the desk. Ari crossed the room and put his chin on Saki's left shoulder.
"What's that?" Dri asked, standing next to Ari. Saki opened the rectangle, revealing a black screen on the top half, and an assortment of computer keys on the bottom half.
"It's the newest computer from Japan. A laptop." Saki stated simply, pressing a button nearest the screen in the middle, making the black screen light up. Saki smirked. "It's even fully Americanized."
"A… Laptop?" Ari asked incredulously. Dri furrowed his eyebrows.
"But I thought magic and muggle technology weren't compatible…" Saki laughed merrily.
"Well, normally it isn't, but this was made by my mother. She's a wiz with technology." Saki gave the twins a sideways glance. "And now, to introduce you two to the internet!"
Japanese to English Translations:
Okaa-san – Most commonly used formal form of mother.
Kaa-san – A more informal use of mother.
Otou-san – Most commonly used formal form of father.
Tou-san – A more informal use of father.
Nee-chan – The general term for sister.
A/N: Yeah, I know, it's totally short... But it's something, right? Now, since I'm a total nerd for anything Japanese, of course I'd make Saki (aka, me) a Japanese Half-blood! -laughs- and as such, I'll be providing translations at the end of each chapter if I use any Japanese terms. XD If Saki doesn't explain them to the clueless twins first. Anyways, till next time!
~Saki
