2. Arrival

On the day of arrival, Naruto sagged in his seat. They had been sitting on the bus all night and the otherwise energetic, hyperactive boy was bored out of his mind. He silently mused that, if the bus did not stop soon, he would have to take his own life in order to survive. Not much later, the bus did stop, and although he had seemed half asleep and even depressed, Naruto immediately jumped out of his seat and was out of the bus before the doors had fully opened. Completely forgetting his things, he raced around the whole camp, anxious to let out all his contained energy at last. Relieved to see there was no one there, he happily found a big tree and climbed straight to the top where he had a clear view of the camp in its whole. Or, at least that was what he thought, and the area he had in sight was big enough by itself to hold at least two hundred without being crowded. Content with being alone and the certainty that his things would be taken care of – they had been told that their belongings would be taken to their rooms, and as things looked, that promise would be kept. He was also glad they were the only class yet there. The last thing he needed was a bunch of people babbling in languages he couldn't understand.

All the pupils looked in astonishment around them. Not only did this wagon move all by itself; it did so without as much as a spark of magic. The only ones not awestruck by this unfathomable fact, either tried to hide it, or tried at least to look as though they weren't bored out of their minds. Among these were Hermione, and her friend, Harry. They both had a hard time understanding what their muggle-loving, but absolutely lost on the subject red-headed friend found so interesting in a bus. Nearly half an hour had the both of them sagging in their seats, the half of the time they did not spend alongside Ron, goggling out the window to see if they were yet there. They were. As the bus stopped at the parking lot, the few muggleborn sighed with relief. They not only knew what a bus was, but they also had a limit as to how long they could be amused by looking at their fellow classmates' astonished looks at the normality of the muggle world. And bus trips are boring. Anyone knows that.

As they got out of the bus, no one blinked when told their belongings would be taken care of. That is, since they were already used to that from Hogwarts. A few looked a little puzzled that they didn't have the chance to look around their rooms, though, especially some of the girls. In any case they all eventually got around to exploring the campsite.

Caleb sighed. All the students, not most, but all, were fast asleep in their seats. If it had not been for that the camp was less than five minutes away, he would probably still be sleeping himself. When the bus stopped, all the pupils woke at once, as if on cue. Not that any of them did anything past that, though, that would have been a greater shock for him, by now. All of them just simply got off the bus and started for what looked like the main building. Not a one of them seemed phased in the least by their surroundings or the other pupils in them. Before long, they had managed to – all by themselves – bring their belongings to their rooms, and, for some of them, go back out and start exploring with less than half the interest they should. Or at least that was correct for most of them. Jolie and Anna, Caleb observed, had not gotten their daily amount of chalk. For Anna, that was a good thing, and Jolie, too, really, but the latter was so energetic she could not have stayed still for her life. The same went for her twin brother. Caleb considered finding some glue for him, but decided that actually getting out their energy for once could be good for both of them. He glanced at the older students from their school. Luckily, those had not been too much affected by the younger pupils, he noted, even if it was more usual for a teacher to be anxious about older students having a bad impact on the younger ones, but his class was quite an exception, as he saw it. Probably it had been a good idea to divide the grades in the bus trip.

Naruto, being still in the tree crown he had selected earlier, became aware of voices below him, apparently students from one of the other schools, and looked down to see if he would have to greet them, or if they had not seen him yet. Hoping for the last. Sakura could deal with it anyways. She was more of a people person than he was, and always had been. For evidence, one could just look at the amount of friends each of them had; it could not exactly be called a difficult calculation, if a calculation at all. He had been more than a little surprised earlier, when she had climbed up to him and said; - Hi! Is this tree roomy enough for two?, In a cheery, almost friendly voice. For her to actually be genuinely friendly towards him was more than he thought possible, by now, but that did not mean he could not appreciate what little he could get, especially when he did not have too many people being friendly with him in the first place. Now, just as he expected, she bent down to greet the two girls walking along the path right underneath the tree. Curious, he looked down at the two, hanging himself by his legs from a tree branch. What had caught his attention was their clothing: they were both wearing some kind of black robes, that he figured must be their school uniform, although he could not quite imagine a whole school full of people dressed in that manner. Also, he thought it resembled the hokage's robes slightly, which made it just the more curious to him. By what he could make out of what they said to Sakura, they apparently were from Hogwarts-something, but he could not quite make it out properly. – Who were they? He asked Sakura once she bent back up into the tree. Naruto himself was still hanging head-down. – Oh, they were magicians! How cool is that? She exclaimed. – Uh… Naruto mumbled, not quite sure if to believe her or not. Apparently seeing his doubtful expression, Sakura slapped him right in the face. – Hey! I didn't make that up, you know! Now's a fine time to start BELIEVING other people's words! Taken aback, Naruto almost fell from his branch. – Watch it! I didn't say I didn't believe you, it's just that it's not such an easy claim to believe, he said, carefully lowering himself to a branch on about the same level as the one Sakura was on. – Am I not allowed to show some doubt when being confronted with such dubious allegations? He looked at her intently. – Sure. Just don't blame that allegation on me. – Sure. Again, Naruto hurled himself up to a branch higher up, to continue his slumber. Amazing how bus trips can have that effect on you…

Hermione had, as always, managed to bring more books than all of the other students put together, and was now carrying a specifically big and heavy example around, trying to find a suitable spot to sit down and read. Both of her best friends had given up on her the moment she had unpacked the book, which managed somehow to look dusty, even if there was not a speck of dust either in Hermione's suitcase, nor in the room. That, along with his curiosity, was the final drop that made Ron go out to explore the campsite. Harry, being bored out of his mind by the bus trip, was all too happy to follow him; finally having something to do was not against him in the least. Hermione, on her side, was content that she could sit down and read without interruption. When she laid the book down on the grass beside her to take a break from the reading, she saw Lavender and Parvati stop under a tree and looking up, as if talking to someone sitting hidden between the branches. After a few moments, they started walking towards her, and soon reached the spot under a somewhat smaller tree that she had chosen for her quiet place to read. – Hi, Hermione. What are you reading? Lavender asked politely. – Oh, it's the new version of 'Ancient Magical Creatures and Potion Making' complete with formulas and spells, Hermione answered contently. She was quite proud of having been able to purchase a copy of it. – … New? Lavender asked hesitantly. – Yes, or rather, the newer version of it. The last revision was made by the author personally, and he died almost three hundred years ago. The book is still very relevant, though, since it is the most thorough elaboration of its kind, came the quick reply. – Oh, interesting… Lavender trailed off. – Did you know there were ninjas here? They're two of them sitting in that tree over there, Parvati said and pointed at the tree the two of them had stopped beneath earlier. – They told us their whole school only educates ninjas, isn't that strange? What if someone were to choose a different career… Parvati actually seemed genuinely puzzled by this. Hermione looked at her with half interest. – Interesting… Now, would you mind telling me where the dining-hall is, if you have been there? – Sure, it's in the main building, around that corner there. Lavender pointed at the corner of a nearby building. – Thanks, Hermione said, and smiled, before she rose and walked towards that same corner.