Nobody submitted any OCs so I had to do all the work lol. Thanks for the follows and favourite, though. That really motivated me :)
P.S: Forgot to mention, people who submit OCs get a shout-out in the start of their OC's first chapter.
Without further ado, we begin!
Finn jumps slightly as the compartment door slides open. A boy walks in.
"'Sup." He drawls casually. "Mind if I sit here?"
"Uh... Nah, go ahead." Finn says after a slight hesitation.
"Thanks. My name's David Garvin." David says casually, sitting down.
"Finn.. Finn Jones."
"Pleased t'meetcha. Hey, what Hogwarts house are you aiming for? Personally, I hope I'm in Slytherin, myself.."
"Gryffindor." Finn replies, shrugging. David seems slightly irritable hearing this but doesn't pursue the subject.
"Any siblings?" He asks curiously. Finn shakes his head.
"I have a sister who's in her fifth year. Prefect, actually. Jaina Garvin. I'm just starting, though."
"Same here." Finn smiles. "Hey, did you hear about that wannabe Death Eater in the newspaper?"
"Yeah, that sucked.. Stupid, really, that people still support you-know-who."
"Yup. Especially as he's been dead for over twenty years."
"Mhm.. Any idea—" David is cut off suddenly as the door slides open once more.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?" The lady asks, smiling. The trolley is laden with food. Finn stands, pulling out several Galleons, and buys most of the stock, sitting back down again with his arms full of sweets, calling a muffled 'thanks' to the trolley lady through a mouthful of chocolate frog. He cocks his head at David.
"'Oo 'ungry?" He asks through more chocolate, then swallows hard.
"Sure." David shrugs lightly, and stands, walking over to sit beside Finn, promptly pulling open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and pulling the first one, an unpleasant lime green, out and eating it without hesitation.
"...Kiwi!"
Finn tries one next, and finds a yellow one. He eyes it apprehensively.
"Bet it's mustard." He mutters, then tries it. He shivers in revulsion.
"Close.. Salad cream." He says, disgusted. David laughs and pulls out a new, orange one.
"Hmm.." He ponders what it could be. "Carrot." He decides, and pops it into his mouth.
"... Correct! Carrot!"
Finn gets another. They continue in this way for two whole packets, though David point-blank refused a disgusting brown one, which Finn tried. It tasted crunchy and brittle and tasteless.
Comfortably filled up, Finn stretches out happily in his seat, David coolly seated beside him, slouching slightly.
"Mm.. Wonder when we'll be at Hogwarts." Finn says thoughtfully. David shrugs.
"Probably soon..." He says vaguely. "Also... What's that heat in your jacket? It's kinda lukewarm."
Finn sits bolt upright. "Uh.. Nothing." He says hesitantly, trying to relax back against the seat.
"C'mon, I won't tell anyone."
"..." He hesitates several seconds. "Promise?"
David nods. Finn thinks, then pulls the box from his jacket.
"It contains an egg. I found out how to hatch Ashwinder eggs — pretty much like this — and once hatched they live lives much longer than ones spawned from magical fires. And.. I didn't mean for it, but.. The Ashwinder bred with a dragon — a common Welsh Green — and.. You have to understand, I didn't mean for it to happen, but... Well.."
David's face is pale. "So that's an Ashwinder-dragon hybrid?"
"Yeah... I just wanted to make sure that it survived, so I brought it with me."
David looks at Finn for a moment as the latter tucks the box back in his jacket.
"You're mad." David finally says. "Taking something so dangerous into a school.. You haven't even seen one of those things after hatching, have you? You don't know what'll happen." David has turned a shade of green now.
"I just..." Finn's voice fails and he gazes away miserably. "Please don't tell anybody."
David struggles. The idea of being caught trying to help a kid hatch a dragon hybrid by anybody is scary enough to him, but he can't help but imagine his sister doing it. He struggles between thoughts.
"...Fine. I won't turn you in. At least, not for now. ...So, is there an Insulation Charm on that box?"
Finn, incredibly relieved at the change of subject, nods. "It was really difficult to perform — Insulation Charms being O.W.L level — but I managed. It's also accompanied with an Undetectable Extension Charm, which my father set up for me."
David looks impressed. "Neat."
And they smile slightly at each other, knowing a bond has formed between them already, linking them as friends.
Finn steps off the Hogwarts Express, followed by David, who casually jumps, though the effect is ruined when he stumbles over the robes that he pulled on in the train.
"Smooth." Finn snorts. He, too, is wearing his robes. David scowls and makes a crude hand gesture at Finn. The latter laughs.
"Firs'-years! Firs'-years to me!" Calls the giant hulk of Rubeus Hagrid. Finn looks at David, then walks over, accompanied by David.
Hagrid looks around at the small huddle of children. "Alrigh', now, four ter a boat!" He hollers, then climbs into one which shudders violently under his weight.
Finn and David leap into a boat. The box drops towards the water, dislodged from Finn's grip, and he cries out. David's hand blurs and he grabs it, handing it to Finn, who stares in awe for a moment before taking it.
"You could be a Seeker on a Quidditch team, reflexes like that."
"Maybe." David replies with a laugh as a small, shy-looking girl climbs into the boat. "I've always liked Quidditch."
"Yeah... I'm kinda crap on a broom, myself. Can barely fly. Though I never practised."
"Oh well."
Soon, the boats start. One person is missing. Their boat is close to the back out of the entirety of the boats, and they can see Hagrid in his boat, a lantern guiding him and all the first-years. Finn sits down, pulling his case forward and depositing into it the box. The trunk looks too small to even hold the box but the box goes down for a while, in Finn's hand. He stretches, then looks at the shy girl.
"Hi." He says lightly. She looks up, eyes wide, cheeks pink. Her brown hair hangs around her face prettily, curled perfectly, generally in contrast to the hair messily framing Finn's face. Her eyes are a gentle hazel colour.
"H-Hi." She squeaks slightly. "I'm.. I'm Emily Blake. Who're you?"
"Finn — Finn Jones."
"Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Finn smiles. He thinks about what else to talk about. Before he can say anything more, David, having leaned too far, fell into the water with a hard splash.
Finn bolts to the edge of the boat, peering into the water in time to see David sinking like a stone. The boats continue onwards, propelled by magic. Only a few people had noticed David fall in, Hagrid not among them.
Finn pulls off his robes, revealing his casual clothes beneath them. He pulls off his shirt, takes a breath, and dives into the water.
It's colder than he expected, and he almost opens his mouth to shout in surprise, but stops himself. He can still see David in the murky depths. He powers downwards, lungs already burning, sight dulling at the edges...
Just as he nearly blacks out, he feels something — a tentacle — wrap around him and thrust him onto the boat, where he lands awkwardly, nearly landing on Emily. David is pushed up, too. He's not breathing.
Finn scrambles to him, and without hesitation places him so he's facing the edge of the boat before squeezing his stomach.
David, at the squeeze, vomits into the water. Finn starts to try again, then stops as he realises David's okay. Bits of the food David ate on the Hogwarts Express, half-digested, float in the water.
"What happened?" David coughs.
"You fell in." Finn replies nonchalantly as he pulls his shirt and robes on.
"Oh." David frowns. "How did I get out?"
"Giant squid." Finn replies, and sits back down, stretching slightly.
"...Wait, what about the egg? Where—"
"Relax. The box is in my trunk." Says Finn, indicating the case to one side, reading, in small writing on the front, Finn S. Jones.
"It can't fit." David replies dubiously.
"Undetectable Extension Charm. Dad's great at it. It's huge in there."
Emily sits in silence, listening curiously. Finn sits up, opens the case and leans into it, his upper body vanishing inside. A little bit later, he comes out, holding a copy of Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Kicking the case shut nonchalantly, Finn opens the book and begins to read. David raises an eyebrow.
"Looking for more dangerous stuff to hatch?" He mutters to Finn, so only he can hear. Finn grins in reply.
"I'd love a Lethifold." He chuckles softly. It isn't a joke — he's fascinated by Lethifolds.
"They think my grandfather was killed by one of them."
"Ah.. Sorry to hear that."
"No problem." David looks up at Hogwarts and nearly falls into the water again in amazement.
The castle is huge and captivating. Finn looks up, also enthralled, though he hides it well. He closes the book, replaces it into his case, then pulls his wand out, muttering an incantation. Steam billows out. He aims it at his trousers, which dry, and then dries David off, before blowing on the tip of the wand and putting it back.
"Why didn't you do that earlier?" Frowns David. Finn simply shrugs.
The castle. Even more incredible up close, they ascend the steps. Finn neatly walks up the steps as though the trunk weighed nothing. Emily watches him out of the corner of her eye — which is no longer hazel, but green.
Rubeus Hagrid looks around, then pounds on the doors three times with a hand the size of a dustbin lid. The doors are soon opened by Minerva McGonagall She looks around at them for a moment with green, calm eyes.
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She says, radiating an air of authority. "I am the Headmistress of Hogwarts."
Without further greeting, she turns and walks away briskly. Finn follows the other first-years inside while Hagrid heads up to the staff table.
Professor McGonagall is standing with a scroll of paper in hand, a stool beside her holding a ragged, battered, and, in some places, charred, hat.
"That's the Sorting Hat!" David hisses at Finn, who grins and nods happily.
"When I call out your name, you will come forward and put on this hat, which shall sort you into your respective house." She says, loudly and clearly. "You will then walk to your table and sit down." She unrolls the scroll.
"Doesn't the hat usually sing?" Frowns Finn.
"It was supposedly damaged in the Battle of Hogwarts." David shrugs.
"Blake, Emily!" Calls McGonagall. Emily squeaks in surprise and hurries forward, hair changing colour as she walks, to a light blonde. She sits down and waits fearfully as McGonagall lowers the hat to her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Cries the hat after a few seconds. There's a cheer from the Gryffindor table. Emily stands, starts to run over, then, blushing furiously, runs back to the stool, takes the hat off and puts it down. A teacher nudges another teacher and they both laugh slightly, seemingly reminiscing. The nudged one looks like he's the Herbology teacher, covered in encrusted dirt.
Finn notices some people take longer to be sorted than others. David, for example, hadn't even put the hat on before it screamed "SLYTHERIN!", but a girl named Kenta Worth was sat there for almost three minutes before she was sorted into Gryffindor.
Finally, Finn, as the — he does a headcount — seventh last person to be sorted, hears his name called out as 'Jones, Finn' and hurries forward. When he dons the magical hat, after a second or two, the hat speaks in his head.
"Interesting..."
"W-What's interesting?" Asks Finn, muttering the words softly.
"You have no distinct house — Hufflepuff could do you well, smart enough for Ravenclaw, brave enough for Gryffindor and cunning enough for Slytherin.. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, I can see in your mind, that you don't care for, but you're torn between a Slytherin friend or a nobler house.. Not that Slytherin isn't noble..."
Finn chews his lip. "I... I don't want to be Slytherin..."
"Very well... In that case... GRYFFINDOR!"
Finn takes the hat off and walks to the Gryffindor table, trying not to look at David. But he can't help a quick glance over to the Slytherin table. His heart pangs — David looks absolutely downcast. Then Finn sits down at the Gryffindor table and watches everybody else being sorted, the last six people.
Finally, Professor Mcgonagall rolls up the scroll and waves her wand — the stool, hat and scroll vanish and she heads up to the Head's seat on the staff table, addressing the school.
"My predecessor for this job — excluding Severus Snape — was Albus Dumbledore, and he believed in short speeches before feasts, so as not to keep you all hungry, and I have upheld that tradition. So all I have to say is — tuck in."
Food appears on huge plates and immediately, people are helping themselves. Finn grabs some buttered toast, spreads jam on it, and digs in, not feeling up for much else. After two bites he can't stomach any more, still nervous despite the sorting having finished.
Halfway through the feast, Mcgonagall frowns slightly and walks out, left unseen for the rest of the feast. With nobody to make the after-feast speech, they all head up to their dormitories. Finn halts at the portrait of the Fat Lady, unsure of the password. Emily runs up beside him about thirty seconds later, hair incredibly blonde, eyes a sparkling oceanic blue.
"Hi!" She says breathlessly. The Fat Lady looks bored.
"Hey, Emily." Finn smiles in reply.
"What's up?" She asks lightly.
"Are you two going to stay here and talk all day or give me the password?" The Fat Lady says irritably. Emily smiles apologetically at the Fat Lady.
"Metamorphmagi." She says, then adds to Finn, as the portrait swings open, "Something I can remember."
"Are you a Metamorphmagus, then?" He asks interestedly. She nods eagerly as they walk into the common room.
"Yup. My father was, too."
"Cool.. Wish I was." Finn says enviously. Emily smiles.
"Yeah, they are pretty rare..." She gives a light shrug. "See you tomorrow!" She says, and hurries into the girl's dormitory. Finn heads into the boy's, and five minutes later he's asleep.
Please review! Tell me what you did and didn't like! (OCs still being accepted.)