Two hours of reformating in what I already had later, I am able to finally post this mess! Yay!
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Review Answers!
...no one really asked any qwuestions, but thank you to bLuewErewOlf25, Call-Me-A-Punk-Whatever, Ender the multiverse Detective, Arashi - IV of VI, crazy dragon ninja, deathtocaribou, MangaArtist36, saekdk, renamonreborn, WhiteWhisperingWind, prototype gear, DarkKitsuneFluffy, and Firehedgehog for reviewing!
Six times a year, Platform 9 3/4 at the Kings Cross Station was packed with witches and wizards. Families ran through the pillar that lead to the muggle section of the train station. Parents side-along apparated in, leaving their children to feel disoriented. This time, however, something was different.
This time, Monsters walked among the humans. A child made of green fire was hugging her father, a man made of orange fire. Two proud parents that were akin to armless dinosaurs were leaning over to nuzzle their equally-armless son. And in the middle of the crowd…
"I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO GO TO HOGWARTS WITH MISTRAL, FRISK! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOW THAT YOU WILL DO WELL!" Papyrus was practically vibrating with excitement as he gushed over the small human, who merely watched him with a smile.
"I wish I could go," Undyne said. "I mean, a school of sages? I think I'm better off with my job now, though. WHO ELSE IS GOING TO TRAIN THOSE NERD AURORS, RIGHT?"
Alphys twitched nervously. "Uh, I w-wish I could go, too, but m-my j-job's been going well. I-I can't just l-leave it."
Asgore bowed his head slightly. "Sadly, I must remain at the Ministry of Magic. Hopefully, I will be able to convince the Wizengamot to allow us more rights."
A hand placed itself of Frisk's shoulder. "Do not worry, my child. I will meet you at the school. Oh, I do hope the human children are not too difficult to teach…"
Frisk grinned up at their adoptive mother. A small text box appeared over their head. *You tell Mom that she will do fine.
Toriel crouched down and wrapped her arms around the human. "Thank you for saying that, my child. It truly means a great deal to…see you say that."
"heya." Every head whipped around to see Sans and Mistral walking out from behind one of the many pillars scattered throughout the station. Barely audible over the crowd, Sans was projecting his soul's relaxed theme. Sans grinned smugly at Papyrus. "told ya we wouldn't be late."
Papyrus raised a bony eyebrow. "WHERE IS MISTRAL'S TRUNK?"
"here." Mistral mirrored Sans's grin as he moved over slightly, revealing the trunk sitting on the ground behind him, a cage with a snowy owl in it positioned on top.
Frisk frowned. The text box appeared in front of Mistral. *You ask how Mistral did that.
If anything, Mistral's smile grew. "magic!" he practically sang.
The tallest of the three skeletons squatted until he was able to look Mistral in the eyes. "I…I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU , MISTRAL. YOU ARE GOING TO A NEW PLACE THAT IS FILLED WITH HUMANS, AND YET YOU ARE NOT PANICKING."
Mistral shrugged. "i think i'm in a state of near-permanent terror now. i'm only used to the constant fear. sans is helping a bit, too."
"NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT, YOU ARE FACING YOUR FEAR! THIS IS GOOD PROGRESS, WORTHY OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"
"You're doing great, punk, but do you think you can survive the year?" Undyne asked, trying to remain upbeat, but her worry shining through slightly.
Alphys gave an encouraging smile. "Y-you'll d-do fine, M-Mistral. Her voice wavered at the end, as though she was trying to reassure herself.
"Do not worry, Mistral," Toriel said kindly, "for I shall be waiting for both you and Frisk at Hogwarts."
Frisk nodded in agreement.
"Golly, would you look at the time," Asgore sighed, his eyes fixed on one of the clocks jutting out from the pillars. "The train is going to leave in a few minutes. Mistral, Frisk, you two must board it before it leaves."
Toriel's eyes widened. She crouched down and pulled both children into a hug. "I know that I will see you in a few hours, but it still pains me to have to leave you like this."
"it's fine, toriel," Mistral said softly. "really."
*You tell Mom that you will see her soon.
The second Toriel separated from the two, Undyne swooped in and delivered a spine-crushing hug. A cringe-worthy creak actually did sound from Mistral's spine. "Don't worry. Me and Alphys're coming in about a month to visit. IT'S NON-NEGOTIABLE!"
"U-Undyne means that we'll ask P-Professor D-Dumbledore if we c-can come," Alphys stuttered. She smiled awkwardly before her eyes widened in realization. "Th-that's right! I still h-have your gift!" She reached into her lab coat (which she still wore everywhere) and pulled out a small, hastily-wrapped package. Alphys shoved it into Mistral's hands. "M-make sure you open it on th-the t-train, okay?"
Mistral cocked his head slightly. "uh, sure, alphys."
The fish Monster released Mistral and Frisk. Sans waved lazily to them. "i'll see you two soon. stay outta trouble on the train."
"trouble?" Mistral asked in a fake-hurt tone. "why, by barri…uh…why would you think i'd get in trouble?"
"because lots of people seem to have a bone to pick with monsters," Sans replied.
Papyrus flinched. "I AM GOING TO PRETEND I DID NOT HEAR THAT. BECAUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOW YOU WILL MISS ME. WHILE YOU ARE AT HOGWARTS. WITHOUT US THERE. DEFINITELY."
Mistral blinked. "what?"
"WHAT?"
"…you know what, papyrus? never mind," Mistral said, deciding that it would be easier to just go with it. "i'll miss you, too."
Asgore smiled sadly. He picked up Frisk's trunk and heaved it over his shoulder. "Do you require help with your things, Mistral?"
"nope. i got this." Mistral picked the cage off the trunk, earning a disgruntled hoot from the bird inside. His right pupil went out as his left one grew and turned blue. With a look of intense concentration, he held out his left hand. His trunk began glowing blue as it lifted off the ground.
"where the hell did that come from?" Mistral's eye sockets were dark, but Frisk could tell that he was focused on the flower pot in their hands. Or, rather, the flower in the pot.
Frisk and Mistral had boarded the train without incident, barely managing to find an empty compartment. Once Mistral had gotten their trunks taken care of, Frisk had opened theirs and pulled out…
"Well, howdy to you too, Creepy Dual," Flowey said in his usual sickly-sweet voice.
Mistral's face dropped all emotion, seeming to freeze entirely. "What did you call me?" he asked, no tone or inflection in his voice at all.
Flowey's face darkened. "Oh, yes. I know what you are, Creepy Dual. I didn't realize it while I had your soul, but now I know…you're a half human freak, aren't you, Dual Blood?"
The skeleton stood up without warning before calmly walking for the door. Frisk set down the flower, reaching out to put a hand on their friend's shoulder.
"I do not wish to be in the same room as that…thing," Mistral said. "If you need me for anything, I will be…exploring the train." Mistral yanked his hood up and walked out of the compartment, closing the door in an eerily calm way.
"Well, that went well," Flowey announced, grinning widely.
Frisk glared at him.
Mistral, surprisingly, was able to find another empty compartment fairly quickly. Once inside, he closed and locked the door. He plopped onto the seat, put his feet up, and fell into an uneasy sleep.
"C'mon, Lils, it's Halloween. We're not having any visitors, and it's not like we'll get any trick-or-treaters."
"...I suppose you're right."
"What? Me, actually being right about something?"
"VERY FUNNY, JAMES. YOU KNOW THAT I-"
"Lily, you're beautiful to me no matter what..."
...
"...Lily! He's here! Take Harry and run!"
"NO, PLEASE! NOT HARRY! KILL ME, BUT LET HIM LIVE!"
"Half-human freaks like you and that filth don't deserve to live! Avada kedavra!"
...
"The creature couldn't even handle death properly...no matter. Avada keda-"
The loud sound of something solid hitting glass startled Mistral into falling unceremoniously to the floor. Disgruntled, he got to his feet only to freeze. Glaring murderously through the compartment window was the pale human Mistral had met in Diagonal Alley. He seemed to be yelling something, but the skeleton wasn't able to make it out. Eventually, the human gave up, storming off with two other humans trailing close behind.
Mistral stared blankly at the door for as moment before remembering the package that Alphys had given him. He pulled it out from within his cloak and removed the paper without tearing it to shreads. If it could have, Mistral's mandible would have dropped to the floor. In his skeletal hands, he held a sleek, thin device that he had heard Alphys talking about when she went over to Undyne's house during a piano lesson.
A laptop.
Carefully, Mistral opened the device. A sticky note on the bottom right corner announced his username and temporary password. Since the laptop had automatically lit up when he had opened it, Mistral quickly typed in the required information.
The laptop chimed as a picture of the delta rune appeared as a background. Noticing the Undernet program mandatory for almost all Monster electronics, he to double-clicked on it.
The rather bland Undernet main screen opened, waiting for Mistral to log in. Once on, he saw that ALPHYS had sent him a chat request. He immediately accepted and smirked.
skelemist04: you do know how skeletons usually contact each other, right?
ALPHYS: ...what?
ALPHYS: oh no don't answer that
skelemist04: by boney express
skelemist04: thanks for the laptop, btw
ALPHYS: no problem. just check in sometimes and tell me how its working
skelemist04: sure thing
The two chatted for a little longer before Alphys said she had to go. Once his friend had logged out, Mistral began scanning the list of friends he had online. Nope, they weren't on. He closed his laptop and slid it back into his cloak.
A sharp rap on the door made his skull whip around to face it. A fermale human with extremely bushy hair was gesticulating wildly. Cautiously, he got up and unlocked the door. "yes?"
The human seemed to speak without breathing. "Excuse me, have you seen a toad? Another first year, Neville's lost one."
"nope."
She huffed. "Can you speak more than one word sentences?"
"yes."
Shed waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "Why does it seem that most wizards won't even look at me, let alone speak?"
Mistral cringed, not that the human could see more than his pupil lights shrinking slightly. "sages don't s-seem very open to o-outsiders. at least they aren't after y-you b-because you look d-different. now, if you n-need me, i w-will be t-taking a n-nap." At the look she gave him, Mistral sighed. "look, there's a k-kid farther along in a c-compartment with a f-flower with a f-f-face. tell them m-mistral sent you, and they'll h-help."
The human blinked. "Thank you, but how do you know he will do it?"
"they c-currently owe me a f-favor." With that, Mistral silently closed the door in the humans face.
"Hello. I've been looking for another student's toad, and someone named Mistral told me to ask you for help."
...
"Are...are you speaking in sign language? I'm sorry, I've tried to learn it, but haven't had the time lately.
...
"...the kid says they'll help you."
"Wait, are you really a talking flower? Are you sentient?"
"Mistral, seriously?!"
As the train began to slow down, Mistral cracked his eye sockets open. He was already wearing his robes, which Papyrus had painted several gray, horizontal stripes on, so he merely stood up and began heading for the door. The skeleton kept his cloak on,his hood up, and his hands gripping the inside of the cloak, despite the fact that it wasn't part of the uniform.
The train stopped with a low hiss, and a voice announced that everyone was supposed to leave their luggage on the train. With a nod to the dissemboded voice, Mistral hopped off the train. In the distance, he could see a tall figure waving a bell and yelling, "Firs' years, firs' years over here!"
Misty?
The skeleton jumped as Frisk's not-voice echoed in his skull. "jeez, frisk. don't sneak up on me like that."
Frisk sped up so they could walk with him. I'm really sorry about Flowey! I didn't know he knew!
"s'fine, frisk. you didn't know the creepy psycho flower would set me off like that. so did you help out that human?"
Deciding not to question the nickname, Frisk nodded. I did, but Flowey decided to translate for me.
Mistral scowled at the mention of the flower. "where is that creep, anyway?"
I put him back in my trunk. He'll be fine.
"'Scuse me," the tall human with the bell said, startling Mistral, "but ye can' be wearin' yer cloak. S'against the rules."
Mistral's orbs vanished entirely under his hood. His voice dangerously low, he growled, "if you want my cloak, you will have to break my soul in two and take it from my settling dust. i will not take it off willingly, and i will put up a fight. got it, human?" Not waiting for an answer, Mistral grabbed Frisk's arm and yanked then into one of the many empty boats set up behind the man. They were closely followed by Monster Kid (whose robes had no arm holes) and a reluctant,fire monster.
Mistral's pupil lights glowed warmly as he held out a hand for the fire monster. "it's ok, fire girl. look." He stood up and firmly stomped his foot. The boat didn't even sway. "see? it won't tip. you won't get hurt."
~...I don't know, Mistral...~ the girl said in a series of crackles and hisses.
"c'mon, you trust me, right?" Mistral asked, his left hand yanking down his hood to reveal a confident smirk, a look Frisk had never seen on Mistral before.
Hesitantly, Fire Girl reached out and let the skeleton help her into the boat. Once she was settled, the man with the lantern yelled, "Everyone in? Right then! FORWARD!"
With a whimper, Fire Girl latched onto the person next to her, which happened to be Monster Kid, as the boats advanced through the glassy water. The dinosaur-like monster awkwardly angled his head in an attempt at a hug.
Doesn't she have a name?
Mistral frowned, confused at the human's question. "no, she's not old enough to. why?"
Frisk signed rapidly. Aren't monsters named at birth?
The skeleton stated uncomprehendingly at them for a moment before laughing uproariously. "what would give you that crazy idea?"
But humans are named at birth! And you have a name!
Mistral wiped a pale green tear from his eye socket. "yeah, i have a name, because i'm a skeleton."
What do you mean?
Mistral glanced over his shoulder to make sure the others were busy before trying to dodge the question. "most creatures are born with a blank slate of a soul, their magic's completely undeveloped. only monsters can check souls, so only they can scan older souls for their true name. remember snowdrake?"
Nod.
"he used to be called snow kid, 'cause of how he was a snowbird. snowy vanished for about a week and bam! he was bigger and allowed to start mock fighting. and he won't tell me what happened!"
Frisk frowned. It seemed like Mistral was a dead end for that. Deciding to change the subject, they asked, What makes skeletons different?
Mistral swiftly yanked up his hood. "ohheylookslikewe'rehereguesswegottastoptalkingnowletsgo!" Sure enough, the little boats were pulling themselves onto a shoreline inside as...when had they gotten into a cave? The skeleton bolted faster than Fire Girl, whose flames were flickering a slight yellow.
Monster Kid grinned at Frisk. " Yo! Don't worry about Mistral! Skeletons can go on and on about others, but they don't really like to talk about themselves!"
*You say that Papyrus is a skeleton.
"Yeah, but Papyrus is the Great Papyrus!" Monster Kid argued. "He's too cool to not talk about himself!"
Frisk nodded, a smile set on their face. How could they argue with that logic?
"Everyone here? You there, you still got yer toad?"
...
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
"What are you even doing here, monster?"
Mistral ignored the jeering voice in favor of continuing his trek. He knew he had heard that particular voice before, but where?
"Look at your betters when they are speaking to you, skeleton!"
Immediately, the skeleton turned his skull to face the speaker, an extremely pale human with equally pale hair. "what is it, human?" he asked, his pupils mere pinpricks within his hood.
The human looked shocked for a moment before quickly regaining his composure. "You can't learn magic, skeleton. You can't even use a bloody wand! Why is your kind even here?"
Under Mistral's hood, nothing was visible. "i am here because my brothers asked me to be here. why are you here?"
The human scowled. "I am here because my mother doesn't want me going abroad to Durmstrang! Durmstrang is much better than Hogwarts. My father wanted me to go to Durmstrang, naturally, bu-what are you laughing at?!"
Mistral was chuckling humorlessly as memories of many, many disagreements flitted through his skull. "enjoy what you have while you have it," he advised sagely. "you never know when it will all be ripped away." He sped up, leaving the human speechless.
...
"Crabbe? Goyle? What the bloody hell just happened?"
"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."
Mistral smiled softly, having seen the light green the human's soul had cast off from the moment she had laid eyes on the first years. There was no doubt in his mind that Monster Kid and Fire Girl had seen it as well. The human...no, the woman, obviously cared for them already. She wanted them to do well.
Suddenly, several humans began screaming. He followed their terrified gazes upward to see...beings that shouldn't have existed. "it's true," Mistral said in awe. "human souls can survive after death..." Ghosts were currently hovering over the first years.
The one that looked like a plump monk was speaking. "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance - "
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?" a ghost wearing a nobleman's garb interrupted. "He gives us all a bad name sand you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"
All was silent. A text box appeared in the air in front of the ghosts. *You say that you are all first years and were told to wait.
The Friar, as well as a few other ghosts, gasped. "I haven't seen silent magic on that scale in years! Who was that?"
Frisk, who was in the back of the group, proudly raised their hand.
"Move along now," a voice called from the door forward. Professor McGonagall was standing, waiting fort the first years. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. Now, form a line and follow me."
The first years nervously followed the professor into the next room. Every single one of them was stunned by the room.
Four dining tables ran the length of the giant room; a fifth stood at the far end. Hundreds of students filled the room, illuminated by thee light of thousands of floating candles. At the far table, a group of humans dressed in different colored robes sat. Toriel sat on the far end, wearing her usual purple robe. Two empty places on the other side of the table peaked Mistral's curiosity for only a moment before his eye sockets caught a glimpse of the ceiling. A veil of stars glittered in darkness, high enough above the soft candlelight to be easily spotted. So lost in the majesty of the stars above he became that he almost didn't pull his head out of the clouds until McGonagall cleared her throat.
Said professor was standing next to a stool with a ragged hat perched atop it. She held a partially-unrolled scroll in he'd hands. "When I call your name," she explained, "you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"
A blonde, female human stepped forward, following McGonagall's instructions. She sat for a moment before the hat called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
The students at a single table cheered, announcing them as the Hufflepuff house. Mistral thought he saw several areas of the human's robe turn black and yellow.
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
McGonagall steadily went down the list until shed finally reached, "Dreemurr, Frisk!"
A huge grin on their face, Frisk confidently walked up and placed the hat on their head. It sat there for about five minutes in complete silence before calling, "GRYFFINDOR!". The grin still present, they took off the hat and placed it back on the stool.
More names were called, including "Grillby, Fire Girl!" the Ravenclaw and "Larry, Monster Kid!" the Hufflepuff. Finally, they got to the P's. "Pianissimo, Mistral!"
Hesitating for only a moment, Mistral stepped forward and, leaving his hood up, placed the hat on his head. A quiert voice in the back of his skull whispered, "Let's see here...a great love of learning, to the point of fishing books out of the dump..."
Mistral chuckled nervously at that memory.
"You're loyal, all right, but only to those you trust. Not a problem, but your trust isn't easily given..."
Memories of fearing his parents' intentions skimmed on the surface of Mistral's mind.
"My, not very ambitious, are we? Well, not unless it's for someone else..."
Tracking down Frisk, wanting them to pay for what they did to Papyrus, and what they would do to Sans.
"Ah, bravery far outweighs the others, to the point of idiocy..."
Mistral flinched. Not backing down as he faced them despite knowing how they had just killed an evolved version of the strongest monster in the underground.
"And for that, I think you would be best suited for GRYFFINDOR!". The skeleton took off the hat and slowly made his way over to Frisk.
" Potter, Harry!"
Whispers broke out in the crowd, all about 'Potter, Harry'. No one stepped forward, so McGonagall called out the name again. Nothing happened besides an increase in whispers, so the professor reluctantly moved on.
Within a few minutes, the last of the first years had been seated. The old human at the center of the table, who Mistral recognized as Bumbles, stood up. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like tho say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" He took a bow. "Thank you."
The room burst into applause as he sat down. Mistral saw movement and was stunned at the sheer amount that had phased through the table. He frowned before tapping the arm of a badge-wearing human next to him. "e-excuse me?" he asked nervously.
The human stared at him. "Yes?"
Mistral looked at his empty plate in embarrassment. "uh...how much magic is infused into this food?"
"Sorry?" the human said, confused.
"h-how much m-magic is in the f-food?" he asked again, more nervous than before.
"Um...to my knowledge, magic is used to prepare the food, but-"
Mistral swore softly, knowing that, despite not being there, Sans would be able to hear him if he spoke too loudly. Seeing the human turn back to his food, Mistral pushed away his plate and glass and pressed his skull against the table.
Misty? Said skeleton looked to his right to see Frisk holding out a plate of spaghetti. Papyrus's spaghetti. Take it.
His eye sockets widened. "a-are you sure?" Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to accept the plate, but he automatically held back.
Frisk nodded firmly. You didn't eat on the train, and it's nearly impossible for me to eat Papyrus's spaghetti.
Hesitantly, as if expecting it to be ripped away at any second, Mistral took the spaghetti and placed it in front of him. Once he saw that Frisk wasn't planning on taking the food back, he began scarfing it down. He smiled sadly as he ate, the flavor bringing back memories of-
"WOWIE! I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU LIKED MY SPAGHETTI THAT MUCH, BROTHER!"
Mistral froze, his fork halfway into his mouth. Slowly, his pupil lights landed on Frisk. They nodded.
"THAT MEANS THAT I NEED TO COOK FOR YOU MORE OFTEN, THEN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD NEVER KEEP YOU FROM YOUR FAVORI-OOF!"
The youngest of the skeleton brothers had practically sprung up from the long bench against the table, propelling himself backward into the exposed spine of Papyrus. He mumbled something incomprehensible as he hugged Papyrus.
Grinning widely, Papyrus patted Mistral's back. "I APOLOGIZE, BUT THE QUEEN WISHED FOR IT TO BE A SURPRISE...AND SANS DECIDED TO TAKE HIS TIME GETTING READY..." He glared in the direction of the room's exit.
"hey, you said it started at 7." Sans sauntered over to them, looking pleased with himself. Immediately, he was yanked into the hug as well. "aww, you really mist us, didn't you?"
Mistral laughed. "it's pretty sansational to see you two. why are you even here?"
"THAT IS THE GREATEST PART OR THE SURPRISE!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS-"
"and me."
"-AND SANS ARE GOING TO BE TEACHING!"
Everyone in the Great Hall (save Frisk, Toriel, and Dumbledore) watched the exchange in pure confusion.
Sorry about the rushed ending, but a certain pair of skeletons decided that they had to appear THIS chapter and Frisk was being more observant than expected, so...terrible ending is terrible.
Ron was supposed to make an appearance, but...meh.
As for why Frisk and Mistral are in Gryffindor (along with me being lazy), is actually somewhat explainable. Frisk had to be brave to stand up to monsters like Undyne...and Flowey/Asriel...
Don't kill me for my terrible writing!