{{Okay, as before, I'm putting fannames for characters in the chapter here, to prevent confusion as they appear in the story.
Liech: Sofia Zwingli, Germania: Aldric Reinhard (and Egypt is Gupta, since I know people forget he has an official name). All other characters all going by their official names of course. Hope you'll all enjoy the second chapter! }}

Chapter 2

The remainder of the train journey went by quickly. Matthew enjoyed conversing with Yeketarina, despite their initial awkwardness. His brother was absent for most of the trip, having run off somewhere in the train. Matthew didn't mind that much, it meant they had quite the royal mountain of candy to enjoy and besides that he was sure that his brother might make a bit of an... odd impression on the girl. After all, she seemed quite timid and kind and his brother.. well, his brother might come off a little hyper there.

In fact, he didn't see his brother again till about five minutes before they were bound to arrive, hurrying into the cabin. At that point he had waved and nodded briefly, then climbed on top of the benches on his side. Hurriedly he had dug through his bags to snatch out his robes, throw them on and run out of the cabin again.

"Was that your brother?" Yekaterina asked, though the answer was quite obvious. She smiled a little, as if Alfred's actions had been a little amusing.

"Yes," Matthew replied. "I wondered when he'd come back for his robes." The announcement for all students to change had been given more than an hour prior.

The train slowly skidded to a halt, chuffing a few clouds of smoke as it arrived at the station. Matthew got up from his seat, holding out one hand to help Yekaterina up.

"Lets go," he smiled, helping her up. She moved timidly still and a little stiffly, but Matthew wasn't very surprised, considering her condition.

The first thing they were greeted by the cold autumn air, the wind quite chilling despite the heavy cloaks they all wore. The second thing that flung itself in their view was Alfred, who nigh-on tackled Matthew, skidding to a halt by holding onto his shoulder.

"Matty! We're going by boat!"

"We are?"

"Yes! All first years go by boat. The older years told me." Alfred proudly stated.

"Then what are the older years doing?"

"They go by carriage or something I think, Matty can you save me a spot on the boat, I got to do something."

"What?" Matthew asked, but his brother had already run off again. He turned to Yekaterina. "So.. I suppose we have to split up here then.."

"Ah?" She blinked a few times, the laughed softly, shaking her head quickly, which also meant her laugh was accompanied by a few more sounds, causing a few turned heads. "No, no, I'm a first year too."

"You are?" Matthew was a little surprised, he hadn't brought it up in the train, but he was quite sure the girl was older, not to mention her noticeable... assets, for somebody in the first year.

"Yes," she smiled still. "Did you think I was older?"

"Actually..." He nodded quickly, a little embarrassed. "Well, we might as well find a boat then." He added, quickly changing the topic. He looked around, he didn't see any lake to speak off.

"F'rst y'rs." A voice commanded, Matthew spun around, looking at straight into the eyes of a rather tall intimidating looking man. "E'vry'ne h're?" The man asked. In the darkness, one couldn't quite make out his eyes, hidden behind reflection of his glasses. The general reaction was one of muted agreement, even when Matthew tried to protest.

"Sir! My brother he.." But his protests fell a little to the background and the man had already turned to move. He threw a quick worried glance over his shoulder, a little concerned, of course he knew his brother would usually be fine, but he also had a tendency to find trouble.
A little hesitantly he followed after the ground keeper.

"'M B'rwald Ox'nstier'a. The gr'nd k'per." The man introduced himself to the silently following group. Matthew tried to count how many people surrounded him, but the dark prevented him from seeing around him very well. The darkness was thick around him, leading him to think that they probably passed through some woods. Even the more chatty clusters of the group had fallen silent as soon as the ground keeper had arrived and Matthew was glad to think he was clearly not the only one intimidated.

As such, it was silent but for their footsteps, and the muted sounds coming from Yekaterina as she walked. He felt for the girl, who embarrassedly held her arms crossed over her chest.

"H'gwarts." Berwald spoke. "It's th're."

It was there indeed. The huge castle rose from across the lake, its many rooms and towers lit against the dark sky. It had something enchanting, Matthew found, like something straight out a fairy tail. Of course, this wasn't that far-fetched, considering it was a school for magic.

"F'r a boat." The man commanded, holding up four fingers. "No m're."

His words snapped Matthew out of the spell and he quickly stepped forwards, giving a quick nod to Yekaterina as they stepped forwards to pick a boat. They entered one of the boats, waiting, Matthew in particular casting glances back, wondering what was taking his brother so long.

"Ah Gupta, there's still enough room in this boat." A soft voice spoke, a petite girl approaching the boat. "Could we join please?" She turned politely to Yekaterina.

"Of course," she smiled softly. "I'm Yekaterina and this is Matthew."

"Matthew?" The blonde girl blinked a few times, staring blankly at him, or rather, passed him till she noticed his presence.

"O-oh! I'm really sorry, I didn't notice you. But there's still enough room for two extra, right?"
Matthew paused for a moment. He still didn't see his brother anywhere and he felt a little guilty not to save him a spot. On the other hand, there was also a rather valid chance that his brother had hopped off to who knew where, or had gotten lost, or had already picked another boat and forgotten all about him, or knee deep in trouble he was quite sure he'd get the blame for later, or... he remembered he still had to reply. "It's fine, we can still fit two." He smiled.

"Thank you Matthew," the girl smiled brightly, clapping her hands together, motioning for Gupta to follow her. She sat down in the boat quietly, straightening her robes out over her lap. "I'm Sofia Zwingli, it's a pleasure to meet you both."

The boy that was with her followed silently, nodding quietly at them as he stepped into the boat. "Gupta." He said blankly, looking between the two of them. He didn't speak any further, keeping still on his spot.

Further conversation had to wait, as with a little shake the boats parted from the lake's edge towards the castle.

Sofia attempted to start up conversation again. "So have you all thought ab-" Her attempts however, were cut short by a loud yell.

"YEEE-HAW!"

It was a sound he recognized all too well, he turned his gaze, not particularly eager to see what was happening.

What was happening of course, was his brother. Surfing on top of a suit case. Not alone, mind, though Matthew could not make out who the other student was in the dark.

"Isn't that your?"

"Yes... yes, it is." Matthew tried to look away.

Alfred was speeding across the water surface with his companion, in what was going to inevitably lead into them crashing into the water or the edge on the other side. Or, as he observed, both suitcases stopping dead in their tracks, tossing the two boys unceremoniously into the ice cold waters.

A short moment later both of them were levitated out, dripping still, before a rather annoyed looking Berwald.

"Y'r n'me?"

Neither of them replied, both of them still seemed a little giggly after the trip.
"Y'r n'me." Berwald stated with a little more urgently, making both of them fall silent instantaneously.

"Im Yong Soo..."

Alfred muttered something, followed by a small chuckle, Matthew couldn't quite make out what it was, even despite the whole lake having fallen silent to listen in. He was however, promptly dropped into the lake again.

"N' ly'ng."

"Alfred F Jones..." He muttered, being lifted up again.

"'N d'nt ev'n 'ave a house to de'uct po'nts y't." The ground keeper shook his head, dropping Alfred in his boat, which wobbled dangerously for a moment. Yong Soo soon joined him in the boat, snickering a little still, despite the situation.

The boats slowly resumed on their way, silent conversations starting to form on each boat, most discussion of what just happened.

They arrived in the little in castle harbour, each boat emptying its student load inside. Despite the earlier silence, the excitement was now nearly tangible, as the students started to huddle together, chattering as they walked the last stretch towards the castle.

"Matty! Did you see me there?" Alfred smiled broadly, still dripping wet.

"I think everybody did." Matthew noted, not very keen to sticking to that topic.

"So have you heard what we are doing next?"

"I suppose we'll probably head into - "

"I heard we're getting this test."

"Oh?" Matthew just confirmed, knowing he probably wouldn't get a word in between once his brother started talking.

"Yes, and if you're heroic and such, you'll end up in the good houses, otherwise you'll be put with all stupid houses."

"So - "

"I think I should be in Gryffindor, I was talking to this other kid on the train and I heard that all the strong, awesome, heroic people are in there. Also- " He hushed his voice a little. "To totally watch out for Slytherin, those guys are like, completely unheroic and lame, ."

"I'm not sure if it works that way..." Matthew started, knowing his words went largely ignored.
"My brother is in Gryffindor," Sofia piped in, smiling softly. "But I think all houses are good, they just split them up so they fit people best."

They reached a set of large doors, accompanied by an equally tall man, wearing a stern somewhat annoyed gaze. Matthew made a brief note to himself that there were certainly a lot of tall blonde men at Hogwarts. This one set himself apart by the fact that it was quite noticeably long, reaching down to his shoulders.

"What took so long?"

"S'm st'dents f'll in the w'ter." Berwald gestured towards Alfred and Yong Soo.

The elder man frowned and shook his head. "We're running late." He turned to the students, staring down at them.

"My name is Aldric Reinhard." The man spoke briskly at the students. "We're running short on time, so I'll make it short. All first year students, you'll be sorted into one of the four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. During the year you'll be competing for points, the house with most points gets the house cup at the end of the year."

He nodded briefly at Berwald. "Make your way into the Great Hall when you're called upon for the sorting ceremony." With that, he turned and disappeared through the doors.

"Don't think he ever smiles, do you Matty? Ey!"

Matthew had poked him roughly in his side, so he could turn to Yekaterina, who giggled softly.
"Wait? Did your boobs just make a noise?" Alfred continued.

"I think you still got water in your ears Alfred." Matthew replied, defending the quickly flustered Yekaterina.

"Oh well, but did you hear that? I told you we'd be sorted now, what house do you hope to be in?"

"I don't think I can really judge yet, I haven't really hea-"

"I'm pretty sure I'll land in Gryffindor, in fact-"

The door swung open again. "All first year students, please make your way into the Great Hall."