Ch. 2: Exchange students
Entering the Great Hall, Harry noticed that the Gryffindor table was longer and that the very end, the closest to the teacher's table, was occupied by four students. He exchanged surprised glances with Ron, who also noticed the four people, sitting almost unnaturally straight and looking distinctively uncomfortable.
Most of the students must have noticed the same, because they hushed upon entering the Great Hall and only whispers hissed in the huge room.
'They must be the exchange students,' Hermione whispered as they took their own places at the table.
'Exchange students?' Ron asked, making Hermione roll her eyes and ask if he didn't even read the letter from school. Harry blinked at her, remembering that the letter did mention something about exchange students from the Four Great Dukedoms. He dismissed that paragraph as Dumbledore's typical silliness. After all, who called their country of city "Four Great Dukedoms"? However, now that he looked at the four teenagers, he realised that somebody did and that Dumbledore hasn't been joking.
'They picked a terrible time to visit,' Ron muttered and Harry was immediately reminded about the horror of the previous year and Cedric's death. He swallowed nervously, grateful for the exchange students who took most of the attention away from him.
'I read a bit about this "Four Great Dukedoms",' Hermione whispered. 'It seems that they are four wizarding families who decided to stop all contact with the rest of the wizarding community a hundred years ago. I wonder why they would want to send their kids to school now of all the times.'
'Aren't they supposed to be dark wizards?' Ron asked. Hermione scolded him for repeating fairy tales. 'Wasn't it you who said that there's a grain of truth in every fairy tale?' Ron countered with a grin, surprising Hermione. Harry snickered and asked to be told the fairy tales about the Four Great Dukedoms, since he hasn't heard any. However, before Ron could tell him, the Sorting started and then the Headmaster stood up to deliver his speech.
'Welcome back, my dear students and teachers, welcome for the first time the new students and new teachers. It's wonderful to see you all here,' he said. 'I have the pleasure to introduce you your new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Cain Kruspe, who has kindly agreed to fill in for one year, until we find a permanent teacher.'
'It's not like there has been a permanent teacher previously,' Ron muttered, earning a couple of nods from the students who heard him. Whispers in the Hall suggested that more people commented on the teacher.
'Furthermore, this year for the first time in a long time, a new obligatory subject is introduced,' the Headmaster announced, creating a stunned silence. Harry stared in shock, because nothing in their letter said anything about getting more books. 'As an experiment in cooperation with the Four Great Dukedoms, I would like to welcome Professor Reim Lunettes, who will be teaching you about the Core of Magic.'
'The Core of Magic?' Harry repeated, looking at Hermione questioningly. However, for the first time, it seemed like the Gryffindor know-it-all did not know something. She said that she had never heard about the Core of Magic and wondered why they were not told to buy books on the subject. She looked distinctly unhappy that she has not been able to prepare in advance.
'Together with Professor Lunettes, four students have arrived from the Four Great Dukedoms,' Dumbledore continued, gesturing towards the four strangers at the Gryffindor table. 'They will follow a special curriculum, since their education so far has not been the same. They will not be Sorted into any of the Houses, but I would like you all to welcome them and ensure that they enjoy their stay at Hogwarts.'
'If they don't belong to any of the Houses, how will they be punished if they do something wrong?' Ron asked, looking at the four sourly.
'I think that, as ambassadors of their country, they will behave,' Hermione pointed out immediately, while Dumbledore talked about the benefits of scholar exchange and the unrivalled opportunity to learn something new that opened to both sides.
'Do you think they will join our dormitory, since they have joined our table?' Harry asked as the thought occurred to him. Hermione and Ron looked at him in momentary surprise, before Ron shrugged and Hermione cast another careful look at the group of four exchange students, who were still sitting rather stiffly at the table.
'It would make sense, no? Otherwise they will never meet anybody,' she muttered. 'But wouldn't Dumbledore say something about it in that case?' she asked, because the Headmaster finished talking about the guests and went on about how the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds.
'Well then,' Dumbledore paused. 'The only thing left to say is: enjoy the feast!' he said and the food appeared on the tables. Harry didn't miss how the exchange students jumped on their seats, just like the first-years. He watched how the only girl out of the four immediately reached out for the chicken, while the three boys eyed the food with some suspicion.
Shrugging, he focused on his friends and the conversations around him. Neville has been to Europe for a trip and was talking about the new plants he's seen, while Ginny was bragging to another girl how she managed to transfigure a dress. Harry grinned: it felt good to be back in Hogwarts.
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Sitting in the corner of the common room, on the evening of the first day of classes, Harry realised that he hasn't seen the exchange students at all during the day. Not only did they not attend the classes with them, which was understandable, since they couldn't quite jump into fifth year, but also they did not show up for meals in the Great Hall.
'Say, do you think that those exchange students have a separate dining room?' he asked Ron and Hermione, who were sitting next to him. However, before either of them managed to say anything, a voice Harry didn't recognise answered his question.
'We actually do, sort of,' it said and Harry nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. The owner of the voice, a blond-haired boy that looked to be his age, laughed. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you so badly. We were wondering if we could join you,' he added, a smile still on his face and in his brilliantly green eyes. Harry noticed that the other three were standing behind him, looking less welcoming.
'Sure,' Harry replied when the shock of being approached by the exchange students passed. After all, he figured, they probably wanted to get to know the "famous Harry Potter", he reasoned with irony.
'My name is Oz Vessalius,' the blond said, then turned to his companions. 'This is Alice Rainsworth,' he introduced the dark haired girl who had the weirdest eye colour ever: violet. She looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione with some interest, but did not acknowledge being introduced. 'This is Leo Barma,' Oz pointed to black haired boy with dark, blue eyes, who nodded at them with a somewhat absent smile. 'And this is Elliot Nightray,' Oz pointed to the last and tallest of them all, blond haired boy with blue eyes, who nodded rather stiffly.
'I'm Harry Potter,' Harry said, slightly surprised when the exchange students showed no sign of recognition. 'Those are Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley,' he added pointing to his friends.
'It's pleasure to meet you,' Hermione commented as the four settled down. 'It was a surprise to find out that there would be exchange students joining us this year,' she added. Unwillingly, Harry thought back to the previous year, when the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were visiting.
'It was kind of a surprise for us as well,' Oz replied. 'I mean, we only found out in the summer that we would be coming here,' he explained. Was he going to be the only one who will talk?
'So you guys really have a dining room?' Ron asked. 'And how did you get into the common room anyway, if you're not in the Gryffindor House?'
'Ronald!' Hermione hissed because Ron's questions and tone could easily be mistaken for unfriendly. However, Oz only grinned and explained that their dormitory was, in a way, a part of the Gryffindor tower and, while they had their own entrance, they could go to the common room from their own, little common area.
'We didn't really know how the students here would be towards us, since we have been told that the interactions between the wizarding community and the Dukedoms have never been easy,' Oz explained at Ron's incredulous look. 'So we have asked to have the possibility to eat separately, just in case, since we have to stay here for the whole year.'
'Normally we just have to deal with our differences,' Ron muttered, unhappy. Hermione looked as though she was going to have a heart attack and Harry wondered what it was that she had read about their guests. He had to admit that the special treatment was annoying when he had to endure the unfriendliness of the students just the previous year. This year didn't seem like it would be better, with all the talking of how he was lying about Voldemort's return.
'So are you all the same age?' Harry asked, mainly to change the topic. Oz told him that he and Leo were fifteen, Elliot was sixteen and Alice thirteen and asked about their age. Once he got an answer, he asked about the school and subjects.
'Didn't you do anything yet?' Hermione asked at the last question.
'We only had an introduction to Charms today and tomorrow we're going to have an introduction to Potions,' Oz replied promptly. 'The Headmaster decided that we better do a subject a day in the beginning and like that the teachers would be able to decide with which year we should have a certain lesson or if we should even follow a special course in some cases.'
'So you didn't study any of those things yet?' Harry asked with some surprise. Oz glanced at his friends before saying that their usage of magic was much different from that taught in the school.
'Will we learn about it from Professor Lunettes?' Hermione asked eagerly.
'Professor Lunettes? Uh, yeah, exactly,' Oz replied. 'He's going to give you an introduction to the theory of magic that is what we base our knowledge on,' he added.
'This is absolutely fascinating,' Hermione continued the topic with a gleam in her eyes. 'I couldn't find a single mention of the Core of Magic in any of the books in the library. Alright, in any of the books that I checked today,' she amended with an exasperated expression. Oz giggled a bit and apologised.
'So what do you guys think about Potions?' he asked. 'The Charms today were rather pleasant and we're hoping that all the teachers are so nice.'
'Are all the teachers so small?' Alice asked bluntly, surprising Harry as much by her tone as by the fact that she actually spoke up. He was starting to wonder if Oz forced the other three to socialise, because they definitely didn't seem like they were enjoying themselves.
'No, it's just Flitwick,' Ron told her with a laugh, before announcing that Snape, the Potions professor, was probably the most disagreeable person on the whole planet and that he felt sorry for them to have to spend the whole day with him.
'He cannot be worse than Hatter,' Alice muttered, earning a giggle from Oz and questioning glances from Harry, Ron and Hermione.
'If we're on the topic of the Hatter,' Elliot spoke up, surprising everybody. 'We better go back before Raven complains about curfew,' he added, putting stress on "Raven" for some bizarre reason. Not that "Hatter" and "Raven" were not bizarre subjects for a phrase to start with.
'You're just sour that Raven gets to order you around,' Alice growled and scowled when Elliot asked her if she wasn't sour for the same reason.
'Who is Raven?' Harry asked, unable to stop himself. Elliot and Alice looked as though they had forgotten that they were not alone and regretted talking. Leo rolled his eyes at them.
'Raven and Hatter are our, uh, sort of bodyguards,' Oz said hesitantly. 'They take their job very seriously also, or at least Raven does.'
'And Hatter is simply mad?' Hermione asked with a laugh. Harry laughed as well at the reference to a fairy tale, but he realised that the four students stiffened at the question, before Oz regained his composure and grinned.
'Mad Hatter indeed,' he said with a laugh that sounded somewhat artificial. 'And we really should go,' he added. The other three got up immediately.
'See you tomorrow?' Harry ventured, undaunted by the attitude of the exchange students. He was sure that Dumbledore put them in Gryffindor for a reason and he wasn't going to disappoint the Headmaster by being unwelcoming.
'See you tomorrow,' Oz answered with a grin, while the other three turned around and left with a mere "good night". Oz winced.
'I'm overwhelmed by the enthusiasm,' Ron muttered, earning a glare from Hermione and a sad smile from Oz.
'Don't hold it against them. Please understand, this is a difficult situation for us,' he said seriously. 'Not only as the heirs of the Four Great Dukedoms, but also as the ambassadors of our land, there is a lot of pressure that rests on our shoulders in relation to this, eh, scholar exchange,' he explained. Harry immediately felt sorry for him, disregarding the part about those four being the future rulers of their land for the moment.
'We hope that you will find time to enjoy this exchange,' Hermione assured Oz, who welcomed her statement with a nod and a smile. Harry nodded eagerly, adding that he was happy they ended up in Gryffindor, so that they could get to know them better.
'We do hope to enjoy it as well,' Oz assured them. 'After all, it's not often that we get away from most of the guards and all the servants, not to mention our parents,' he laughed and left, following the other three.