Disclaimer: I have no claim on either of these very fun series. Only a few of the ideas belong to me. The flash-forward, flash-back is catching up to itself so I may drop it permanently. WARNING: NOT BETAD.
I was reading back over the FFN chapters—can anyone tell me why it seems to be dropping words? I get that FFN doesn't like certain symbols, but now it seems to be missing words completely randomly.
Kero didn't have much luck making friends with the wizards' familiars at Hogwarts. The cats and toads were more intelligent than many of those not exposed to constant levels of high magical output, but they didn't stand up to his dazzling wit. The few toads stared at him dully before he gave up and flew a way and the cats were more likely to try and pounce on him than anything.
He missed his video games. He missed daytime television and the cakes Tomoyo-chan always made. He tried hanging out with the owls, but they were too stuffy and proud. As if running messages everywhere was the best thing ever. Huh!
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The platform was filled with people, hugging and shouting and bustling about. The feeling of excitement in the air was like a rising tide, growing higher and heavier with each second of waiting. Sakura felt nervous, sad, and more than a little lost. For all the months of preparation and planning, the idea of being at a school half the world away from her family and friends had never been quite so real before. Even the past week in London had seemed more like a vacation, at the end of which she would be going home.
Instead, here she was, surrounded by people in odd clothing, speaking a strange language and about to board a train alone. A delicate hand slipped into hers and squeezed gently. Looking at Tomoyo's reassuring smile Sakura remembered that she was not truly alone on this adventure. In her pocket, there was a rustling movement, as if the Cards were also trying to comfort their owner. From near the platform's entrance she heard Meiling's strident tones complaining about the crowd. Li would be with his cousin, Sakura knew, and Kero was sleeping in her bag.
Once, these four had been the only ones to share her magical secret. They had supported her through an adventure that had isolated her from everyone else even while she pretended to have a normal life. Now they would be here with her on this new journey. She knew everything would be alright with her friends' help.
As the Li cousins made their way through the crowd, Sakura smiled brightly in response to their warm greetings. If there was a slight sheen of tears in her eyes, everyone seemed to blame it on excitement.
"I'm sure this is going to be so much fun! We'll get to learn magic and spend time with each other every day, just like before." Sakura was practically bouncing as she thought about it. She had sincerely missed her Chinese friends.
Meiling scowled. "I bet they manage to make it boring. Classes, tests, and Auntie Jiang said that don't have any martial arts teachers. I will not have anyone to spar except Syaoran." She straightened up with an imperious glare at a group of girls giggling nervously nearby. "Of course, Syaoran is the best, so it will be fine."
The train ride was uneventful. The Asian students had a compartment to themselves, near the restrooms. Tomoyo and Sakura had used the kitchen in their hotel suite to make bentos for the group, so they waved on the snack trolley when she passed. Sakura regretted it a little; she liked some of the British snacks and she and Kero were always happy to try new sources of sugar, but she was also happy that her friends were enjoying the lunches she had helped make.
A full stomach and the gentle motion of the train made Sakura sleepy. She dozed through most of the train ride, images and ideas skipping through her drowsy conciousness, too ephemeral to be well remembered. Mostly she had impressions of her friends, laughing and playing and of a great castle welcoming them. If, on the edge of her mind there was an occasional flash of black wings and a hint of cold air, she didn't remember it at all.
The boat ride across the lake woke Sakura up thoroughly. If the sheer excitement of almost being to the new school hadn't been enough to wake her, the cold spray hitting her face would have. She could see the castle, rising up on the other shore, impressive and beautiful. She might have found its size a little intimidating but there was such a warm, welcoming feeling rising from it that her nervousness drifted away. It felt almost like coming home. She wondered if it was part of the castle's magic to make people feel this way.
The students disembarked at the castle docks and moved into the entrance hall to await their Sorting. Sakura's nervousness returned full force. She worried that her friends might be put in different Houses, separated and isolated. There must be some way for different Houses to socialize out of class. This year would be unbearable without her friends. She felt Kero shifting in her bag as if to remind her that he, at least, would always be with her.
Sakura put on her determined face and shook away her worries. Everything was sure to be all right, she promised herself. Turning to smile at Meiling, who was kicking impatiently at the floor, Sakura spotted something moving by the wall. No, it was moving through the wall, see-through and floating like a—a ghost! Sakura screamed and threw herself at Tomoyo. Huddling into her friend's protective embrace, Sakura didn't see Li reach for his sword or Meiling settle into a defensive stance in front of her. The ghosts were chuckling at the surprised students and, seeing that they offered no threat, the Li cousins relaxed slightly. Tomoyo did her best to comfort the terrified girl in her arms.
"Don't worry, Sakura-san." Over the week they had spent together in London, Tomoyo had convinced Meiling to use the Japanese girls' given names. "They can't hurt you. Come on, don't be a scaredycat." Meiling was doing her best to comfort her friend as well.
Li and Kero both scowled at the ghosts, then at each other. "Don't worry. It's alright." Sakura peeked out over her shoulder and smiled tremulously at her friends. She would have to get over this fear, since the ghosts were regular residents of the castle.
The Sorting went better than Sakura had feared. Tomoyo had pouted a bit about not being able to tape it but she had had a while to get used to the idea that electronics didn't work at Hogwarts. She would just have to make up for it in the summer. Sakura was somewhat disappointed that Li and Meiling would be in Gryffindor instead of in Hufflepuff. At least she and Tomoyo would be together. The feast was delicious, though the headmaster's speech had seemed a bit odd—maybe it was just because she wasn't used to English yet. She still mixed up some words and of course she didn't know every word in the language.
Kero made a spectacle of himself, but Sakura had been expecting that. Faced with pudding, he just couldn't help but be a little ridiculous. It was one of the things she loved about him even if it was a little embarrassing sometimes. It made her miss home though—normally Touya would have made a snide comment about the "plush's" appetite and there would have been a fight. Or at least a glaring contest.
That little bit of melancholy stayed with Sakura even as she was swept up in the excitement of meeting her new class-mates and seeing her dorm. She went to sleep watching the stars and thinking of her family sitting on their balcony and looking up at the sky as well.
Herbology was their first class after breakfast the next morning. "It's so wonderful we have a class together, Meiling-chan, Li-kun. And since English lessons are tomorrow we'll be able to learn together everyday!" Sakura beamed at her friends as they walked together to the greenhouses.
Tomoyo and Meiling had a quick, quiet conversation on the way down from breakfast. Once they started settling down inside the greenhouse, Meiling pulled Li aside and had a whispered argument with him. A blushing Li sat down by Sakura. "Ah, Kinomoto-san, um…" Meiling kicked him and Tomoyo smiled sweetly at her. Li scowled. "You can call me Syaoran. If you want."
Sakura clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Of course, Syaoran-kun. If you will call me Sakura. It seems like English people do not use family names as much. Why, I don't even know Cecilia-san's family name."
Sakura chattered on, telling Syaoran and Meiling about the Hufflepuff girl that had offered to sponsor the Japanese girls. It seemed that Gryffindor didn't have the same system. Sakura hoped that wouldn't be too much of a problem for the Li cousins. Hogwarts was a confusing place and it was very nice to have someone guide her through all of its strangeness.
Herbology was a very interesting class. Professor Sprout was a nice teacher and the plants were very unusual. While the students were busying studying the plants she set out, the professor pulled Sakura aside and quizzed her about the Woody and Flower cards. Sakura wasn't sure about using them in class—she didn't want the other students to think she was showing off—but she promised to come to the greenhouse when afternoon classes were over to show Professor Sprout what the cards could do.
Kero was invited to the Transfiguration class. He had no qualms about showing off and preened incessantly while the teacher lectured the students about the innate transfiguration abilities of certain animals and exclaimed over the craftsmanship Clow Reed had put into Kero's creation. She asked him to stop by her other classes as well to show them both of his forms. Sakura could barely eat lunch, she was so embarrassed over Kero's behavior.
After lunch, Hufflepuffs had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. Sakura remembered hearing some of her classmates talking about the teacher over breakfast. Was he really a werewolf? They weren't common in Japan, being European in origin, and Sakura had never dealt with one as the Card Mistress. She had read a little about them in her Defense textbook though. It sounded frightening and lonely to be so out of control every month. The book had also said that British ministry had many laws restricting what werewolves were allowed to do and where they were allowed to be. She felt very sorry for them.
The professor was a handsome older man, with long red hair and fierce-looking scars covering her face. Sakura tried not to stare and was embarrassed by the rudeness of her classmates as some of them gaped at him and started whispering furiously among themselves.
"Good morning class. I am Professor Weasley. I will be teaching this class along with Professor Lupin since he is unable to attend class during some parts of the month." Sakura remembered Professor Lupin suddenly. He had helped them at the riot in Diagon Alley—she had completely forgotten to look and see if he was at the teacher's table at the Sorting Feast. She felt really bad about that.
For that first day of class, Professor Weasley went over what lessons would look like. First year students would skim over some of the most common dangerous creatures as well as basic defensive spells. He also emphasized that while the class was called Defense Against the Dark Arts, what they wanted to teach the students was how to defend themselves in any dangerous situation. The textbook was one of the ones that was only available in English and so Sakura and Tomoyo had bought copies over the summer and started to study ahead of time. It concentrated almost exclusively on European creatures, with only a few short mentions of Japanese kappa or Native American wendigoes. Sakura also noticed that the book never talked about anything other than the human point of view and only listed ways to defeat other beings not how to negotiate them.
Since becoming the true Card Mistress, Sakura had had occasional dealings with some of the supernatural beings living in or near Tomoeda. Over the summer Tomoyo's mother had also taught the girls a bit about the Japanese Wizarding Council and they been able to observe some of the negotiations between the council and a tribe of kappa that had been drowning humans in a river running through a small eastern village. The kappa had been upset about human litter and waste polluting their nesting grounds. The council had conferred with the town's government about upholding stricter environmental standards and had sent in a miko and two sorcerers to help clean up the river. They had also traded a supply of fresh cucumbers for the two children the kappa tribe were holding hostage.
Sakura knew that were some malicious creatures who liked hurting people and would continue to do so for their own pleasure no matter what, just like there were some malicious humans. In cases like that, or for immediate self-defense, she knew that it was important to know how to defeat them. Still, it worried her that the book only seemed to teach students how to subjugate other beings and barely touched on how to treat them with respect so that conflicts didn't happen.
Professor Weasley seemed much better informed than the book though. He did tell the class that the best way to defend themselves was to avoid a conflict and he talked a little bit about his own experiences. Apparently he had once been a curse-breaker for a goblin bank. He told the class about the curses guarding ancient tombs—as well as the other guards such as great sphinxes or giant crocodiles who spoke ancient Egyptian. It was a fascinating class and some of the Professor's stories made Sakura think of her father's archaeological work in Japan. He had that same fascination for ancient civilizations and other, older philosophies of life.
The Hufflepuffs kept chatting about the professor's tales over supper. Cecilia made a point to sit next to Sakura and Tomoyo and ask them a bit about their day while Kero once again went into raptures over the food. Cecilia listened with interest while Sakura told her some of her thoughts and worries about the Defense textbook.
"I suppose you're right about the book. Anyways, most of the books are pretty dry—unless you've got some Ravenclaw in you, you'll find that the teachers are more interesting. Except for the really bad ones." She grinned. "The History of Magic teacher used to be so dull that he put even the Ravenclaws to sleep. Lucky we have a new one now. She's absolutely tops."
"Did the old one leave?" Sakura asked, glad that she wouldn't have to worry about falling asleep in class. That was always so embarrassing!
"Yeah, sort of. He was actually dead but he didn't seem to realize it. One day he woke and realized he was a ghost. He said he'd spent enough of his life teaching students about the Goblin Rebellion and he wanted to spend his afterlife doing something different. At least that's the way I heard it." Another student leaned over to join the conversation.
Sakura had blanched and started trembling part way through his explanation. Tomoyo grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "A g-ghost? Are any of the other teachers…" She trailed off nervously.
Cecilia frowned and patted Sakura on the back. "Don't worry, Professor Binns was the only one. The rest are pretty normal—well, they're all alive anyways."
After dinner the prefects herded the students back to their dorms. Sakura decided that she would try and arrange a time with Meiling and Syaoran the next day to meet in the library. It was nice they had classes together, but she also wanted to spend time with them as friends not just classmates.
She spent the evening playing board games with Tomoyo and the other students and starting her essay for Transfigurations. That night, she dreamed again. A bear-like man loomed over her, his expression fierce—and a little sad. Behind him, the ravens rose in flight, their black wings a harsh contrast against falling snow and their cries tearing at her ears. The man held a sword dripping with blood in one hand and, as she watched, he turned offering it to someone else, someone she could barely see. She moved closer, trying to see the familiar figure more clearly, but she stumbled in the snow, tearing the skin of her palms on burning cold shards of ice. Her blood blended with the snow and a burning branch fell off the dead ash tree into a stagnant pond and the world exploded
Sakura was tired and a little depressed at breakfast the next morning. Tomoyo clucked worriedly over her, making sure she ate and trying to cheer her up.
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It didn't take Kero too long to find the kitchens. He could sniff out pastry and pudding anywhere. When the delicious smells led him to a painting of a basket of fruit, he knew something tricky was going on. He remembered that from Clow Reed's time in England—wizards always liked to be tricky. Now they were hiding the food from him!
He hovered near the ceiling, waiting for someone to come by. Humans, even wizards, rarely looked up. Someone would want into the kitchens, and then he would have his chance!