Chapter Four

The four transfers had begun to fall into a system of going to Zonko's with the twins, Masaki wandering around Flourish and Blotts with Hermione, the boys joining Harry and Ron at a shop called Quality Quidditch Supplies where they learned all about Ron's favorite team, the Chudley Cannons, and eating an ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. Now, laden down with waterproof fireworks, fanged Frisbees and other pranks, the students made their way, laughing, back to the Leaky Cauldron. There was only one more day until they were due to leave for King's Cross Station. The nine of them sat around the long table in the bar, passing around a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. The general noise of conversation buzzed from the people around them.

"All right, Daisuke, your turn," said Ron, passing Daisuke the box. Daisuke dug around in the box and pulled out a bright blue one. Checking the flavors on the back, he hesitantly bit the tip off of the bean and smiled, popping the rest of it into his mouth.

"Blueberry. And, I believe, my friends, the last safe flavor in the box."

"Let the games begin," said Fred with a grin, taking the box from Daisuke. "Here are the rules, ladies and gentlemen! We will pass the box around and take a bean. You are not allowed to check the flavor on the box. You will get one point for actually eating the thing, and another for guessing the flavor correctly. We'll pass it around clockwise…starting with George."

"What?" George practically shouted as his twin shoved the box into his hands.

"And I forgot to mention, if you refuse to eat it, you're out!" Fred tacked on. George made a face at him.

"Fine."

George carefully selected a jelly bean, spent a good few seconds scrutinizing it before finally, with a shout of, "Just eat it already!" from Fred, flipped it into the air and caught it in his mouth. Immediately, he gagged and choked out the word, "Vomit!" sending everyone into a fit of laughter.

"Gotta swallow it, Georgie!"

George gulped and opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue to show it was gone, and Fred threw a fist in the air.

"Two points to George!" he cheered. George, attempting to scrub his tongue on his sleeve, passed the box to Kaien who had tears in his eyes.

"Oh, jeez. This'll end well," he muttered, taking a gray, foggy-looking bean and eating it. He chewed it for a second or two before pulling a face. "Ugh, soap."

"And two points to the foreign boy! George, you've got some competition," said Fred, smiling mischievously. Evee took the box from Kaien and looked at it.

"I think I'll pass," she said quietly, trying to pass the box to Hermione.

"You sure?" Kaien asked. Evee nodded and handed the box off to Hermione who decided to pass as well, looking back down at the book she had in her lap.

"The game's gettin' easier," said Ron as he picked out a brownish-spotted one. He nibbled a bit off the end and gagged as soon as it hit his tongue. "Earthworm—definitely earthworm!"

He set the rest of the bean down on the table while he tried to get the taste out of his mouth.

"Sorry, Ickle-Ronniekins," said Fred.

"You didn't eat the whole thing," said George.

"You're out!" they chorused. Ron slumped back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. He looked over at Hermione.

"Whatcha reading, Hermione?" he asked.

"Actually, it's the Arithmancy book for this year. It's quite an interesting read really," she explained, although it was obvious she'd lost his attention at the word "Arithmancy".

Harry bit into a liver-flavored bean and spit it back out, mumbling, "That's disgusting!" under his breath. The box went around and around until finally it was down to two. Daisuke and Masaki passed the box back and forth, each jelly bean seeming more disgusting than the last until finally it was Masaki's turn once more. She drew out a bright green jelly bean and popped it into her mouth.

"It's actually not that bad…kinda tastes like green apple…" she said. Soon, however, she began to pull a face, not unlike the one Kaien pulled with his soap jelly bean. "Grass. That is grass."

"That's correct!" said George who'd become a sort of referee of the game since he'd been out. "Now you just need to swallow it."

She did and pushed the box across the table to Daisuke.

"Your turn."

Daisuke fished around in the box, his tongue between his teeth in concentration and retrieved a gray one with black spots all over it. He looked it over before shrugging and tossing it into his mouth. His face was impassive for a few seconds before he suddenly jumped out of his seat shouting, "Pepper! Pepper! GAH!"

He spit out the jelly bean and dashed to the bar, begging for water.

"Our champion, everybody!" the twins announced, pulling Masaki out of her seat. Evidently, most of the crowd had been watching for they cheered with the group of teenagers. Eventually, Tom dispersed the crowd and everyone went up to bed.

Masaki had just found herself extremely comfortable under the thick covers when Ishiin burst into the room, the light from the hall creating a square on the floor. Evee couldn't help but notice the irritated look on her friend's face.

"You girls packed?" Ishiin asked. "We have to get up early tomorrow!"

Masaki growled and pointed at her neatly packed suitcase at the foot of her bed before tunneling deeper into the sheets.

"I'm packed too, Mr. Kurosaki," said Evee with a sheepish grin. Masaki made an odd noise that sounded a bit like the Frankenstein monster from under her blankets and rolled over to glare at Ishiin. Getting the message she was sending, Ishiin backed slowly out of the room, shutting the door behind him and Evee heard Masaki burrowing her way back under the covers once more as the former's eyes adjusted to the sudden dark. She couldn't help but be excited as she fully realized what tomorrow held in store. They had only seen a small portion of the magical world and Evee couldn't wait to see more.

BREAK

The next morning was hectic to say the least. Weasleys were running left and right, Kaien and Daisuke had managed to switch shoes even though Daisuke's were two sizes bigger, Masaki refused to wake up until ten minutes before they had to leave, Evee couldn't find her jacket and Hermione and Ginny spent around an hour trying to coax Crookshanks out from under a dresser and into his basket. Finally, they were out the door and settling into the ministry cars Arthur had been able to borrow, on their way to King's Cross Station. They arrived at the station with fifteen minutes to spare and, after saying goodbye to the Weasley parents, the nine of them plus Ishiin and Renji went through the barrier (Daisuke and Kaien had played with it a few times until Masaki pulled them through) and boarded the train. They went their separate ways, Renji and Ishiin going to the teachers' car, the Weasley twins saying something about their friend having an acromantula (whatever that was), and leaving Harry, Ron and Hermione to share a compartment with Kaien, Evee, Masaki and Daisuke.

"Come on, we'll show you how to play Exploding Snap," said Harry as they entered one. It was a little cramped, but not uncomfortable.

"So, tell us, what was your old school like?" asked Hermione. Daisuke was the first to answer.

"Honestly, it's more like a military school. The students work their way up the ranks, so a lot of the older students are called lieutenants and the teachers are called captains. There's one who's a pretty young captain, but he's just short. Our school only has six years instead of seven, so that's a bit different too."

Evee added on, "Each captain specializes in something. Younger students aren't allowed around one because he's kind of dangerous."

Kaien took Evee's pause as an opportunity to continue.

"We actually have an extra class with a different kind of magic than the stuff you learn here."

"Really?" Hermione asked, looking fascinated. Masaki nodded, looking pointedly at Kaien. He looked sheepish for mentioning Kido and Masaki continued.

"I'd show you, but I'm not sure if it's against our school rules or not."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure it's for the best," said Hermione.

"So, what was that you were saying about Exploding Snap?" Evee asked. Harry pulled the cards out of his bag and Ron explained the point of the game. Eventually, they ran out of cards and Daisuke brought up another topic.

"We, um—we heard Madame Malkin say something exciting was going to happen this year, but she didn't say what it was…do you three have any idea?"

His three friends nodded in agreement, leaning forward, but all fell back into their seats as the trio in front of them shook their heads.

"Mum and Percy said the same thing," said Ron. "They won't tell either."

The door to their compartment opened and a tall boy with blond hair and a pointed face stood in the doorway, flanked by two large boys.

"So, Potter, thinking of putting your name in?" the blond one asked. Harry just looked confused.

"What?"

The boy looked amused.

"You don't know?" he laughed. The other two boys chuckled stupidly behind him when he turned and muttered, "He doesn't know!"

He turned back to Harry. "Well, I suppose I'm just wasting my time here—see you at school then, Potty, Weasel."

The boy's gray eyes glanced over the transfers before he left, shutting the door behind him with a loud snap.

"Who was that?" Kaien asked.

"Nobody," said Ron bitterly. "Just ignore him."

The next two hours passed in awkward silence which was broken by Hermione saying that they were almost there and should change into their robes. Finally, the train stopped with a small lurch and Evee started to pull her trunk down.

"Oh, you can just leave it," said Hermione. "They'll get it up to your dormitory after the feast."

"Oh…ok then…" Evee pushed her trunk back into place and they filed out of the compartment and into the rest of the crowd. Daisuke and Masaki were the last out and Daisuke pulled at his robes, muttering, "These are so awkward compared to our other ones!" to his friend.

Harry, Ron and Hermione led the others to the carriages and they rode along the dirt street for what felt like ten minutes before they finally saw it. The Hogwarts castle loomed over the grounds, silhouetted against the night sky. Kaien whistled in amazement and the carriages jerked to a stop. McGonagall walked purposefully over to them.

"Potter, Weasley and Granger, you may go ahead to the castle. The transfers need to wait with the rest of the first years."

The trio nodded and started the miniature hike up the grounds to the castle doors. McGonagall waited a few minutes, looking for something in the distance. When it seemed she had spotted it, she led the four up the grounds to the front doors where they waited in the Entrance Hall with the eleven year old wizards who were staring both at the large castle and grounds around them as well as the teenagers standing among them. The professor gave a small speech, instructing them to wait until further notice. At last, the enormous double doors opened and the crowd flooded orderly inside.