Edited as of 11/14/14
Eyes of Gold
The next morning, Maka woke up refreshed and early. Even once she got to the Common Room, only a few people were up. Kid was still cleaning, but appeared to have gone to bed at some point- he was wearing robes instead of his Academy uniform. Kid had somehow escaped the asymmetry of the colored Gryffindor crest on the left side of his robes. Instead, at the collar of his robes was his small metal skull, fashioned on like a tie. On Maka's uniform, the crest had been replaced with a patch with a picture of Lord Death's mask.
Maka alerted Kid to her presence by snapping her fingers in front of his face, eliciting a look of annoyance over being treated as a common dog. Tidbits of speech trailed to them from a group of young girls by the window. The lone speaker had long red hair which swayed and whipped as she emphatically explained her idea to her sleepy friends. She used wild gestures to get her point across, her emotions shifting without reason between joy and sadness, making it impossible for Maka to piece together any summary if anyone had asked one from her. Maka paid no mind to them, and proceeded to drag Kid away from the fireplace, breaking his security-blanket-like hold on his cleaning rag with a sudden yank.
Out the door she walked, the door closing behind them. At first Maka whirled around, alarmed, until she saw the pink-clothed lady and recalled that the painting had sentience. Kid stopped to figure out her reason for her sudden action, but she continued without a word, leaving him to catch up.
Maka lost herself in the scenery around her. Paintings lined the ancient stone walls, stacked side by side and up frame by frame. Each depicted a unique scene or portrait, painted in oils, acrylics and watercolor, done on board or canvas. Some depicted a regal visage, others a simple gathering around a table. Most whispered amongst themselves, casting glances to the two wandering foreigners. Several talked openly about the lack of a House crest. It was by an astounding miracle that none commented on Kid's hair. It was at some point that Maka realized they were lost.
Maka turned to ask Kid if he knew where they might be, but found him walking at a faster pace than she, stopping at every frame to straighten it, giving much insight as to how he might have been distracted from mentally mapping their path.
"Excuse me," Maka asked politely of a portrait, putting aside her frustration at the absurd circumstance, "But do you know the way to the Great Hall?" Kid reached for the painting- Maka slapped his hand away.
Eventually they found their way to the Great Hall. By that time, the majority of students had finished breakfast and gone to class. The girl from earlier arrived at the same time as them, and gasped, evidently realizing how long her speech had gone on. She ran up and down the Hufflepuff table, looking for something, but ended up sitting down at the Gryffindor table, dejected.
Maka and Kid sat with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry looked up from his eggs to hand them both a slip a paper, explaining, "We held onto these for you."
A few words of thanks from the two polite students, and they looked over their new schedules, Maka's tongue clicking as she reviewed each period. History of Magic declared itself as first priority, starting in a short time that morning. Maka almost groaned, but instead covered up her dejection with a light breakfast. "When we're done eating, can you show us to the History of Magic classroom?"
"Of course," chirped Hermione. "When we have time, could you tell me what to expect of the new class?"
"That's a secret," Kid cut in, the answer automatic since Hermione had started asking the moment it had been revealed Hogwarts had a new class.
Maka had no clues as to what Stein and Mary would teach these kids, and even though her curiosity was bubbling over, the temptation of a surprise was too good, even if it turned out Stein would be teaching them how to vivisect endangered magical creatures. Maka wasn't sure why she felt so lighthearted this day; any other day she would probably be pestering just as much to find out what was in store for them. When they finished their breakfast, Maka glanced around the Hall to find, to her disappointment, none of her friends.
The trio led them to their first class, taught by the ghost teacher, Professor Binns. Maka had seen more ghosts at dinner and breakfast, so she was more fascinated with watching than worrying how it was there.
The ghost launched into a lecture. Slowly, with all deliberate speed, the class got out note-taking supplies. After a few minutes wrapping her head around the words, Maka discovered the professor was talking about some sort of magical war. Maka tried to concentrate, but lost track quickly. She looked around the rest of the class. Hermione dutifully took notes like mad, whipping her head up and down between teacher and paper. Harry and Ron played hangman on a loose scrap of parchment. Several others played cards, slept, or read. Even Kid seemed to have trouble concentrating.
Giving up on the class, Maka whispered to Kid, "How are ghosts here? I mean, what are they? They're not souls like I know them."
Kid gave up his notes with a final sigh, not directed to Maka, but to the lecture. Whispering quietly, he explained, "They lived at one point or another, but their souls have already moved on to the afterlife. Ghosts are an 'echo' of their souls, acting out the souls' subconscious. In Patty's words, they're sleepwalking..."
The bell rang: Binns floated back through the chalkboard, students yawned and checked schedules, and much groaning was had after this last action.
"So how was your first History of Magic class here?" Hermione asked the Meisters, as they collected their books and yawned their way out the door. She shot Harry and Ron filthy looks and threatened, in a whisper, to refuse to let them see her notes. They evidently hadn't hidden their hangman game well enough.
"The material is interesting, but Binns isn't the best professor to teach it," Kid said, ignoring the boys' pleas to Hermione not to indulge in her threat.
"I'm sure our next class will be more immersive," Maka added. A dark-haired girl turned a corner toward them, and once she spotted them, her steps hesitated and she shied away.
"Good luck with that," Harry groaned, oblivious to the nervous girl. "We have Potions next."
Kid grimaced. "I had a few weeks of tutoring in Potions. I dropped it when I learned it wouldn't be of much use to me."
"Hey, I don't have as much experience as that. What's wrong with Potions anyway?"
"Snapeteaches it," Ron said, spitting the name. "He hates us, especially Harry."
"He's horrible," Harry agreed, nodding.
Hermione hesitated to speak badly of a professor. "I admit he's biased, but..."
"He hates Gryffindors," Harry stressed to the Meisters.
"Why?" Maka asked, visions going through her head of scalpels flying at high speeds and a certain man with a screw loose.
Harry shrugged. "He goes after me the most. He almost never takes any points from Slytherin. He's a Death Eater, but Dumbledore says he's innocent."
The two nodded in interest. "So where's Potions class?" Maka asked, noting they had been going down the levels in the castle.
"The dungeons," Harry supplied. "It's like he does everything he can to make us think he's evil."
"What's he like?"
"He's a greasy old bat-"
Ron was cut off with a loud explosion. A rainbow of sparkles burst forth from a room several feet in front of them, accompanied by shouts and a distant laughing voice. A dominating voice yelled, "Out! Out! Fifty points from Slytherin! Class dismissed!"
Third-year students raced out the door, hair splotched with light blue. A flushed Gryffindor ran back in, coming out with a pile of books as though chased by a bat, the tail end of his robes fizzing like soda. The raucous laughter still came from within. Within seconds, the source of the laughter emerged running, blue hair looking spikier than usual with raging shouts following him.
He ran right out to Kid and Maka shouting, "Potions class is awesome!"
"Mr Star!" The last shout was given, then a shuddering sigh.
Hermione gaped. Maka stared and snickered. Kid stared, no doubt ruffled by the lack of symmetry. Ron and Harry were less subtle in their amusement.
"Blimey, look at his hair!" Ron choked out, falling over himself with laughter. Harry spluttered on his laughter, a mix of shock, horror, and humour at Snape's blue-spotted hair.
The professor pointed to them with a disgusting sneer. "Twenty points from Gryffindor!" He stalked back in the classroom, his robe billowing, an effect that was much dampened by the hem stained blue.
A third-year poked his head from behind the group, having hid there. "I've never seen Snape take points from his own House before. Everyone will be talking about it for the rest of the year!"
After a boring class of reading about theory concerning when to use defensive spells, the Golden Trio plus two trudged back to the Great Hall, Ron's rumbling stomach constantly reminding them of their destination. Harry joined them soon after the class let out, grumbling that he had detention in answer to Hermione's worried glance. Kid and Maka had somehow remained silent all through Professor Umbrage's lecture, even when her tirade was pointedly aimed at insulting them. It would not be good to get in any teacher's bad graces. Of course, that was now a moot point since Blackstar decided to sabotage as much work as possible in Potions class.
Soul's soul popped up in the Great Hall to Maka's senses, cheering her up despite their most recent class. She stepped toward the Hufflepuff table, a greeting to Soul on her lips. That died as the red-haired girl from earlier breezed past her, the soft chant of, "Soul, Soul, Soul, Soul," stopping her in her tracks.
The tiny girl bounced with positive anxiety as her eyes tore up and down the Hufflepuff table, stopping as her excitement finally peaked with a squeak. She tipped herself up on tiptoes, and nearly fell over before bouncing again. She ran up to Soul, attacking him with a hug that emptied his lungs and dropped the fork from his hand.
"Soul!" the girl squealed, the Hufflepuff table watching with grins. The Academy students watched with wide eyes and gaping mouths, struck dumb by the display. "I've missed you so much, big brother!"
Hermione, oblivious to the shocked stares, commented, "I didn't know Alana was Soul's sister. Why didn't you say anything?"
Vivasection: Dissection of a living creature under heavy anesthesia. Charles Darwin, growing senile in his old age, heavily supported the idea, but it was outlawed.
The 'Academy uniform' is just their normal clothing. In Soul Eater NOT, Maka explains to Tsugumi that the DWMA has a uniform, but the uniform is chosen from a selection of over 400 tops and bottoms, and a casual top can be paired with a uniform bottom. In short, it's very customizable and pretty much just a convoluted way of instilling a proper dress code. The headmaster of the school is Kid's father, so of course Kid can wear whatever he likes (along with his weapons). So instead of using DWMA, I'll just use Academy since it would be less of a hassle to say.
The "all deliberate speed" is a quote from a law passed in the USA that told Southern schools to desegregate with "all deliberate speed". They complied at a deliberate speed of very slow.
At breakfast, Ron says that the day is Monday in the book, but on a calendar of September, 1995, September second is a Tuesday. Since there are plot points that rely heavily on the date, I'll be following the calendar, but I know this is gonna mess me up someday. And nowhere did it mention when lunch was; it was just dinner after DADA. EDIT: IT MESSED ME UP! Changes have been made on the 'Tuesday' gaff for future chapters.
Alana the OC: I told you something would happen with Soul. This was a character who'd been planned since the start of the story. She is, indeed, Soul's sister. I had all of my information written out in notebook, the name, appearance, personality...at least I thought I did. I can't find the information anymore. So I improvised, and made up on the spot everything that was missing, even her name.