Disclaimer: Neither Card Captor Sakura nor Harry Potter belong to me. Other people get the royalties and the credit. Also, my description of the Ministry is based on information from the HP Lexicon, the geekiest–though great–fandom endeavor ever.
Just to remind everyone, each chapter starts and ends in Hogwarts, but the middle of the chapter is a flashback. I realize this might bother some people, but it's how I have everything planned out, sorry. Eventually these flashforwards might evolve into a Kero side-story taking place concurrently with the main story, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, does anyone know if there is a way to add a strikethrough on FFN?
Sakura sat up suddenly, the sudden cold leaving her breathless. She shivered in the grey predawn light. Looking at the other girls, she saw that they were all still asleep and none of them seemed to be affected by the chill in the air. In fact, one red-head had kicked all of her blankets off and seemed perfectly happy in just her light pajamas. Sakura frowned in confusion as she shivered again.
Slowly, so as not to disturb Kero, who was sleeping on a pillow at the foot of her bed, she extracted herself from her blankets and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Carefully sliding her feet into her slippers, she quietly snuck out of the room. The fire was still burning in the common room and she quickly warmed up as she explored the cavernous area. She moved over to look at the paperbacks on the bookshelf. Picking up a fantasy book, she slowly sounded out the English title.
"That one's pretty good." Sakura spun around to find Cecilia, the older girl from the night before, leaning on one of the chairs. "There aren't many fun books in the school library and most of those're wizarding fiction. These ones are Muggle. Kids bring them from home and then leave them here. Same with the games." She said, nodding toward the small table.
"Oh. Are all the books not real? I mean, books that are not true stories." Sakura hesitated, sure that the word she wanted must exist in English, but not sure what it was.
Cecilia smiled at her and held up another book. "I think you mean fiction. Most of them are. The Ravenclaws have more nonfiction but you should find a few histories and biographies here."
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It took considerable time and effort to convince Touya to stay home while Sonomi Daidouji took the girls to London a week early. He had at first insisted that he should go as well to protect them in the strange city. He only grudgingly trusted the school to keep them safe. In the end, his father and Yukito had double-teamed him with classes and finances and he had reluctantly conceded. Sakura still half-expected him to show up there anyway, somehow.
He did skip work to see Sakura off at the airport, canceling two appointments to install high-speed internet in apartments near the university. Fujitaka had also taken a day's vacation to say goodbye to his daughter and help her with her bags. Yukito came as well, accompanied by a large bag of snacks, some of which he gave the girls for the plane. Tomoyo's only immediate family was going with them and she had bid farewell to the mansion's staff earlier. A number of the girls' schoolmates had shown up though. Naoko gave them each a book for the trip and Rika had made little embroidered pillows with sweet-smelling plants tucked inside to help them sleep. Yamazaki crafted an elaborate tale of prehistoric hang-gliders crossing the English Channel from Europe and using Stonehenge as a landing site. Sakura was a little disappointed when Chiharu hauled the smiling boy off while lecturing at him.
They had first-class seats, which were very comfortable and roomy, especially for the two petite girls. It was Sakura's first time on an airplane and she was very excited. For the first hour, she stayed pressed up against the window, watching the world fall away beneath her. As they flew higher and higher, the ground was entirely covered by clouds. They formed a strange land under the plane, white hills and valleys stretching out to the horizon. Sakura could almost believe that if she stepped outside she would bounce from cloud to cloud to the edge of the world.
They had an overnight flight and would arrive in London early in the morning, although because they were flying east to west they would actually arrive before they had left–Sakura found it rather confusing. Sakura hadn't thought she would be able to sleep at all, she was so excited. So when the lights were turned off and the window screens pulled down, she settled down to watch one of the onboard movies. In spite of herself, she never saw the end of the movie and slept through most of the long flight.
She woke from a strange dream just as the plane began its long descent into London's Heathrow airport. Stray images teased at the edges of her consciousness. It felt important, like the dreams she had before, when she was chasing the cards. Those half-remembered visions had warned her and prepared her for more than she could have imagined at the time and so she struggled to remember this dream.
There had been a tree, taller than the sky and wider than her house. Snow had been falling and there was a strange noise that cut through the muffling whiteness and echoed deep into her very bones. And a well . . . with ice all around it . . . Her concentration was broken when Tomoyo leaned over her to lift up the window screen. She was quickly distracted by her first glimpse of the famous island and the dream was mostly forgotten, pushed to the very back of her mind.
--
Sakura flipped through her passport, examining the new stamp as they waited to pick up their suitcases. It didn't take long and they managed to get through Customs without any trouble. A driver picked them up outside the airport and took them to their hotel in central London. Sonomi had arranged for a beautiful suite with a view of the river from their balconies. They settled into their rooms, Tomoyo sharing one with Sakura and Sonomi alone in the other.
After a shower and a change of clothes, they went down to the hotel's very elegant dining room for lunch. Tomoyo had insisted Sakura change into a new dress made especially for the occasion. Although she sometimes found Tomoyo's designs a little odd, Sakura was very grateful for the slightly formal, European-style dress and white gloves. It made her feel less out of place among the tidy and refined English diners. Kero was napping in the rooms and had promised to stay there all day–he was very enthusiastic about the entertainment center in the suite's living room.
Lunch was delicious, although Sakura decided she didn't like English tea as much as Japanese. After they were done, they went for a walk around the hotel and the river. There was a small park across the road from the water called the Victoria Embankment Gardens. Statues and flowerbeds bloomed between beautifully green lawns and there were people on every bench, eating their lunches, reading books or newspapers, and simply sitting and watching passers-by. At one end, there was a small stage and plaza surrounded by hedges; chairs filled the plaza and people were busily setting up the stage. There was a flyer posted near the entrance announcing a free concert that evening by a wind orchestra from the United States.
It sounded interesting and they decided to come back to see the performance. It was starting to rain and Sakura discovered that she had forgotten her umbrella at the hotel. She worried that she would ruin the new dress and get soaked until Tomoyo pulled a small umbrella out of her purse.
Smiling gently at her friend, the young girl explained: "I picked this out to match your dress, Sakura-chan." Gratefully accepting the handle, Sakura asked anxiously if Tomoyo had one for herself.
"This one might be big enough for us to share though." She said, looking thoughtfully at the delicately patterned white umbrella.
Tomoyo looked a little disappointed as she pulled a second one out of her purse. "No thank you, I have one for myself as well." Cheering up, she also pulled out a camera. "This way I can tape Sakura in her lovely outfit walking in the rain!"
Sakura blinked. In all the years they had known each other, she had still never quite gotten used to this side of her friend. She was glad to have an excuse not to respond when Sonomi called them over to a statue near the edge of the gardens. The woman smiled at the two girls, her eyes turning a little misty.
"You two look so cute! I remember my darling Nadeshiko used to have an umbrella like that. She looked so pretty, walking in the rain, although she always managed to get mud all over herself."
For once, Tomoyo managed to distract her mother before the inevitable rant about how Sakura's father had stolen Nadeshiko away. "What an interesting statue. Do you know who it is, Mother?" The statue was a man's bust, and clinging to one side was a stone girl. Sakura thought she looked very sad. Then she thought, perhaps the girl had been in love with the man and was eternally mourning his death, and she started to feel rather sad herself.
"Hmmm. I'm not sure who it is. Some wizard or another who also made himself famous with the normal British population, I believe." Sonomi paused and surveyed the area around them. "They could have put it in a less obvious place though." She stepped off the path and moved to the back of the statue. Using a piece of paper from her purse as a guide, she quickly traced a pattern with her finger on the stone. Sakura stared at the statue, waiting for something to happen. There was a small 'click' sound, but nothing seemed to change. She drooped slightly, disappointed that nothing dramatic had occurred.
Sonomi smiled at her and motioned for her to turn around. The greenery-covered fence which separated the gardens from the road now had a small gate in it. Sakura turned to Tomoyo in surprise and then to Sonomi who simply nodded. The two girls, bubbling with excitement, moved to open the gate. At the last minute, Tomoyo stepped back and trained her camera on her friend. Sakura twitched, wanting to be surprised by this but somehow not, and then turned the handle.
Rather than opening out to the road, as it seemed the gate should have to, Sakura found on the other side another beautiful park. Much like the previous gardens, there were bright green lawns dotted with flowerbeds and winding cobbled paths. People were walking around, sitting on scattered benches, chatting, eating, and reading. However, the familiar sights were twisted into strange forms. Rather than wearing suits and dresses, these people had on robes in various colors and some even had tall, pointed hats. On one bench, an elderly lady was scattering bread crumbs, but instead of a crowd of pigeons she was attracting a horde of bright blue squirrels. Behind her, a large ferret was chasing what almost looked like a potato with legs across the grass.
Sonomi sat on one of the benches to look at some paperwork while the girls went to explore the hidden gardens. There were statues out on the main lawns and others hidden in groves or behind fountains—winged horses and imposing griffins were interspersed with prominent wizards and witches. One statue, which actually blocked a side path lined with tall hedges, was a golden sphinx with blank eyes. At the back of the path, Sakura could just see a small door set in a stone wall. She wondered where it led, but there was no way around the large statue and she had to give up on finding out.
On the far side of the park, the girls found a large pond. By now, the rain had stopped and there was even a tiny bit of sunshine glowing behind thinning grey clouds. Waterlilies floated on the dark green water and large koi swarmed over to where the girls stood on a small, elegantly arched bridge. Sakura had a few crackers in her handbag and they crumbled these into the water before turning back toward where Sonomi was waiting. As they left, a small orange fish darted out of the melee, long legs trailing behind it. Strangely, they seemed to be tied in a knot.
They left the wizarding park just in time to catch some of the musical performance outside. It was a little chilly and had started to drizzle again so they didn't stay long. They had a nice dinner at the hotel and went to bed fairly early, exhausted after the long day and still a bit jet lagged. The girls stumbled into their room and slept soundly through the night. The next morning, Tomoyo pulled out another dress for Sakura, who was glad she hadn't packed more of her own clothes. She would never have gotten the chance to wear them.
Their second day in Britain was spent visiting the English centers of government like Westminster and the wizarding Ministry. Kero came with them this time, tucked into Sakura's backpack with a little space unzipped so that he could peek out. He wanted to ride outside of the bag but Sakura had pointed out he would have to act like a stuffed animal the entire time. He was perfectly capable of doing so but it wasn't much fun. He protested that she let him fly around Tokyo and he was rarely spotted but when she wavered Sonomi vetoed the idea. The European wizards had very strict rules about normal people—"Muggles"—seeing any form of magic. Grumbling under his breath, Kero had flown into the open bag to sulk. He had cheered up immensely when Tomoyo promised him a piece of cake when they returned to the hotel if he was good while they were out.
They went to the Palace first, to see the famous guards before heading down to the river area. Parliament was suitably impressive and they took a multitude of pictures of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. The stone architecture was dark and ancient looking and Sakura was fascinated by the many complex carvings and sculptures on the walls and doors. She was also more than a little creeped out when she realized that the big carved boxes in the church were actually tombs with bodies inside. She shivered and hoped desperately that there weren't any ghosts haunting the church.
Afterwards, they had lunch at a small café before heading to the wizarding Ministry. Sakura was surprised and disappointed, especially after the grandeur of Parliament and the Palace, to be walking on a small, dirty street. None of the buildings in the area were at all impressive and she couldn't imagine where the Ministry could be. Surely it wasn't one of these small, rather shabby office buildings? Sonomi stopped by a bright red telephone booth. The glass was cracked and there were various pieces of paper sticking to it, flyers that had been torn down or rotted away, leaving only the taped edges fluttering against the dirty booth. The two girls crowded into the booth with Sonomi while she dialed a number. There was a small ringing noise that was cut short by a female voice asking them to state their business.
"Sonomi Daidouji, Japanese delegate, escorting Tomoyo Daidouji and Sakura Kinomoto to register as international students at Hogwarts. Also, registering one Cerberus as a magical guardian." Sakura wrinkled her nose at her name, she still found the custom of giving the family name last very odd. It made much more sense to identify your family first and it was more polite.
Three silver badges popped out and they attached them to the front of their dresses as the booth dropped down like a lift into a large atrium. There were golden fireplaces lining either side of the great hall with people appearing and disappearing in them, their rapid footsteps echoing on the dark wood floor. In the middle of the hall, there was a large fountain with golden statues; a small group of people was gathering near it. As Sonomi and the girls walked briskly past them, Sakura saw a few pulling signs out of their robes. Most of them looked a bit tattered and worn and when Sakura tried to see what the signs said she was distracted by movement at the edge of her vision. Looking up to see what it was, she was enthralled by the golden symbols that flowed and wiggled across the rich blue ceiling.
At the other end of the hall, they came to a large golden gate. On one side was a small security booth where a man collected their wands before they headed into a hall full of lifts. They went down first to level five which had a large sign emblazoned with "Department of International Magical Cooperation." This seemed like any normal office building until Sakura realized that the windows which seemed to look out over a series of sunlit gardens couldn't possibly do so since they were underground. Then Tomoyo pointed out that a man in one of the paintings was actually moving around in his flat library and Sakura's eyes widened to impossible proportions.
It took them a little bit of time to fill out all the required paperwork although the stack was considerably shortened since the Headmaster of Hogwarts had taken care of a number of legalities before they even left Japan. Even so, Sakura was relieved to be done, until she realized that they had to take care of Kero's registration as well. For this, they went up a level to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Since he was a unique creation of Clow's, he obviously didn't fit into any of the normal categories of allowed magical pets. Sakura had to fill out a special form, with help from Sonomi, detailing exactly what he was and what he could do. Eventually they did manage to get him registered as a magical guardian attached to Sakura and allowed to go wherever she did. Kero did not help this process at all, choosing instead to argue with the witch at the counter and protest every question on the form as "private information." Sakura finally had to threaten to not feed him for a week.
In the end, they managed to get back to the atrium where they collected their wands and headed out. As they passed the fountain, Sakura saw that the people who had been setting up earlier were now being hustled away by a group of official-looking wizards. This time, she managed to get a look at some of the signs. There were "Werewolves are people too!" and "Dwarves demand equal pay!" as well as "End Now Discrimination" written vertically along side a small sign with "Demi-human" on it. Sakura paused, trying to see more of what was going on when she was distracted by a loud shout.
"Kinomoto!" Turning around, Sakura saw a short girl with long black hair barreling toward her, dragging a startled boy behind her.
"Meiling-chan, Li-kun, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, shocked to see her friends in London months after waving them goodbye as they left for Hong Kong.
"Are you going to school here as well?" chimed in Tomoyo, smiling as she hugged Meiling welcomingly. Li bowed politely to Sakura, blushing a little as he straightened his rumpled clothing. She beamed back at him, always happy to see her dear friends. He smiled back at her before turning to bow to Sonomi and Tomoyo.
"Yes, we are both attending the Hogwarts school of magic." He said stiffly as Meiling enveloped Sakura in a hug.
"Meiling-chan? But I thought she didn't have any magic?" Sakura tilted her head thoughtfully.
Li flicked his eyes at his cousin before returning his gaze to Sakura. "She didn't."
Sakura's confusion was interrupted when Sonomi reminded them that she hadn't been introduced to the Chinese children, although Tomoyo had spoken about them before. Introductions were quickly made and the group decided to go to dinner together.
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Kero stretched out his paws, yawning loudly. Glancing lazily up to head of the bed, he was surprised to see Sakura gone. Still very sleepy himself, he pushed off the bed and hovered for a minute staring at the empty sheets, befuddled. Slowly turning to view the entire room, he saw that only one bed was still occupied. Yawning again, his mouth open wide enough to almost swallow his entire face, he floated blearily down stairs and into the common room of the Hufflepuff dorm.
Sakura and Tomoyo sat on one of the couches near the fire talking to an older blonde sitting opposite them.
"Is there a music room within the school?" Asked Tomoyo. One of her biggest regrets on leaving her school in Japan was not being able to participate in the choir. She hoped there was an equivalent in Hogwarts.
Cecilia laughed. "To hear people talk about it, you'd think quidditch was the only extracurricular club there was. They're the only ones with official school recognition like competitions anyway. But there are some other clubs, like the music club. I'm part of a knitting group myself." She nodded toward a large bulletin board on one wall. "Unofficial groups like that get to advertise on the boards but they don't get announced at dinner. A lot of them have a professor who helps them get materials, find a meeting place and stuff like that but it's not required. Look around and find something. Can't just focus on classwork all the time or life would be too boring, huh?"
Sakura giggled as the older girl winked at her. She liked Cecilia, although she talked so fast that it was hard to follow her English at times. It was nice that she was willing to be so helpful about the strange school. She hoped that the other first years were getting as much help. Cecilia had explained that the Hufflepuffs generally had an older student help out specific first-years for the first couple of weeks to get settled and then she had volunteered to be Sakura and Tomoyo's sponsor. She was really a very nice person.